#stop messing with the important spots schedules

[skiernerd]

It feels so wrong that the skijumping season has started but I’m not there to see it :(

[alexlwrites]

𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕

✿𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈: Jungkook x Reader

✿ 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚:  The one where everytime you get dumped you pretend that you never met the guy before to mess with their heads. To the point that if you run into them somewhere you reintroduce yourself and act like you’ve never seen each other before.

Enters fuckboy Jungkook who disappears after your night together, not knowing how much he was about to regret that choice.

✿ 𝑻𝒂𝒈𝒔:  Romance, Humor, Fluff, Angst, College AU

✿ 𝑨/𝑵: I’m truly sorry for this sad excuse of an update.

(Fanfic masterlist)

(support me on my ko-fi)

°•. ✿ .•°

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 - 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲, 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

(<<< part one)

“I can’t believe you’re doing this again” Jane’s voice rang through the phone as you walked down the streets towards your desired coffee spot.

You also couldn’t believe you were doing that again. You tried your best to live your life with no regrets, but men made it very hard.

“Have you seen him since he fled the crime scene?”

“Stop calling it a crime scene” you snapped.

“Well, have you?”

Your silence was enough of an answer. No, you had not seen or heard from Jungkook since he ran away from your bedroom in the dead of night, leaving behind only the smell of cologne and, funnily enough, a single sock. When you woke up that day to an empty bed, sheets crumbled and a mattress indented on the side where he had slept, all you could muster was a tired sigh of disappointment. 

And to be completely honest, you were disappointed with yourself, not Jungkook. You expected nothing less than a quick escape of him. But you should’ve known better than to hope for anything. Despite everything, you were still an idealist at heart and you thought that maybe just this once…

You shook your head obstinately. You had learned early on that no good would come from moping around for men who would never once feel any regret for their thoughtless actions and if your pain were to be always one sided, then it was better not to feel any at all. Not to dwell on it, move on, learn from it and be better. Or be worse, sometimes, as self-improvement was not always your goal.

Sometimes, you chose to listen to the tiny revengeful angel on your shoulder - who kind of sounded like Taylor Swift - that screamed for violence and vindication.

As your failed relationships started to pile up, you did reach a point where you had to wonder if you were the problem, as it was the canonical event of all 20 something women. But observation, therapy, critical thinking and hereditary pettiness brought you to the decision that it was not, in fact, your fault. At least not all of it. 

With that in mind, you left only the smallest of time slots in your booked and busy schedule to ponder and grieve over the fickle nature of boys’ interests. You had better, more important things to do, such as mindlessly scroll through Minecraft/AITA videos and save pilates routines that you were never gonna do. 

Still, in an experience intrinsically feminine, you allowed yourself a little treat to cope with the slight burn of despondency in the back of your mind. 

And so you directed yourself to the bougie coffee house near campus, hoping to drown your sorrows with an aggressively sweet and overly caffeinated drink. 

“You should slash his tires”

“Jane, please, we have talked about this.”

“You should totally slash his fucking tires!"

"Saying it louder is not gonna make me agree with you! Jane…"

Suddenly your eyes found Jungkook's across the room filled to the brim with depressed, financially irresponsible students, making you pause and hold back the urge to curl your lips in distaste. It bothered you that even with scared eyes as big as saucers and hunched shoulders to appear smaller, Jungkook still managed to look good. 

But you knew better than to let him know how much his presence and pretty face annoyed you. Boys like Jungkook only cared about having an impact on people’s life, very rarely caring if it was good or bad. He wanted a reaction out of you and you learned better than to give those away so carelessly.

So you frowned and looked away, the words practiced on your lips as you said “Some guy is staring at me.”

Jane laughed loudly on the phone “You’re a psycho, you know that?”

“I don’t know who it is, Jane, some dude” you stole a quick glance at him, finding vengeful glee at his shocked expression.

“Send me a pic of his reaction, I’m posting it on TikTok.”

You continued playing your part, ignoring your sister’s interruptions as you usually did “Of course I’m carrying a taser, Jane, I’m not an animal…”

“I’ll give you 5 bucks to tase him.”

“You know what, this coffee is not even worth the visual harassment, God I hate men…”

You walked out of the coffee house, hand empty but with a fulfilled sick sense of accomplishment as you stepped out into the street with a shit-eating grin.

“I hope you know what you’re doing” Jane said and you could hear the smile in her voice. Out of your two sisters, Jane was never the one to tell you to not do something, preferring to let you make your own mistakes.

And boy, did you. 

You left your big, beautiful, tattooed mistake behind you, ready to move on to something less prone to disappointment, such as fictional men and your Stardew Valley husband “Dont worry” you told your sister “I don’t.”.

—

“What are you doing?” Jungkook asked, left eye twitching slightly at your unbothered expression.

After your confusing exit from the coffee shop and a good amount of jabs from his friends, Jungkook had to hunt you down across campus, finding you sitting under a tree with a book in your hands, looking way too peaceful for someone who just had humiliated him.

You looked down at your book with an arched eyebrow “Kegels, clearly. Why?”

“No, I mean…” Jungkook’s frustration was rising by the second, the vein on his neck jumping out “Why are you acting like you don’t know me?”

You frowned.

 “Do I know you?” you asked, face doubtful.

“We have classes together?”

You blinked, impassive.

“We went on a date?”

A head shake.

“We slept together!”

“Nope, can’t say it rings any bells.”

That’s it. Jungkook was actually convinced you were clinically insane. 

“How can you not remember?”

“How can I remember something that never happened?”

“But it did! You’re crazy! I chased you for weeks!”

You smiled, a trap.

“So, you're, like, in love with me?” you ask, tone condescending. 

Jungkook scoffed and you weren’t sure if it was at the idea of love or loving you. “No, of course not.”

“So in this dream scenario of yours, we had sex but we weren’t together?”

“Trust me, this” he gestured between the two of you “is no dream scenario.”

“Well, aren’t you a charmer” you crossed your arms in front you, defensive “Let me get this straight. You, allegedly, chased me for weeks, but don’t really like me. Then, we had casual, out-of-relationship sex and then what? You banged my head against the headboard so hard I completely forgot about it? Your story is full of holes, my dude.”

You had to fight back the urge to smirk, energy spiking from feeding off of Jungkook’s stupefied confusion.

Nail in the coffin, you shrugged, turning your eyes back to your book “Maybe you weren’t that memorable and my mind deleted you like a childhood trauma.”

A slight left eye spasm was all the reaction you got at first, evolving to the pursing of pouty lips and the clenching of fists.

“You are insane” he said at last after seconds of turning clogs in his barely filled mind.

“Finally you said something true.”

Jungkook was equally bewildered and furious. He didn’t know what your deal was or what you were getting out of this, but your refusal to admit you had sex pissed him off deeply considering how much time and effort he put into getting you together.

“Also, I have to ask” you continued, clearly not done with your pursuit of driving him up the wall “what was your goal with this conversation? Chasing me for weeks to then sleep with me and then come here and tell me you’re not actually interested in me, but being upset when I don’t remember something that didn’t happen… What’s the point?”

Jungkook paused. Truly, he didn’t have much of an end goal in mind, actions fueled only by a bruised ego and a childish, borderline pathological need to prove himself.

When he didn’t answer, you stood up and gathered your things, keeping your head down to hide your poorly concealed satisfaction “I’ll let you ponder on that” you said “Don’t worry about reaching out with an answer, though.”

Finally, you looked up at him, face masked with faux awkwardness. “Anyway. Nice to meet you, I guess? No, actually, not really, this was weird as shit. You seem to have some things to figure out. Get help and take care, my dude.”

And so you left, leaving behind only a cloud of your bergamot perfume and a perplexed Jungkook blinking owlishly. 

There was a sudden influx of thoughts rushing through his usually much less busy mind, the general tone of confusion ringing amongst humiliation and frustration.

When Jungkook first set his greedy eyes on you, he had an inkling that you’d be a handful and in the beginning, you truly were. You took pleasure in making everything much more difficult for him, running from his presence like the plague and approaching the whole subject of him like one would the subject of warts - reluctantly and with caution.

And if he were honest, he wasn’t too sure on why he insisted, but one would be surprised at how far Jungkook would escalate things out of spite and resentment.

It was that same sick combination of flavors that drove him insane for weeks, moving him to pester you until you gave him a chance. And he took it, lord, did he take it.

That night, he made every possible effort to please you, cloaked in his best, non-ranch stained clothes and best non-arrogant behavior.

And when morning came and he opened up his eyes before you did, tired out from the epitome of his bestest behavior, there was a moment of quiet as he watched you eyelids flutter delicately, soft arm draped lightly over his waist.

The night before had been… Fun, he thought, even before you had reached your bedroom. You were weird and used a bunch of words he didn’t know, but you also made him laugh and listened to him babbling about his interest without once looking bored, even going as far as asking questions about his farfetched MCU theories.

And despite your many (too many to count, insurmountable really) differences, you had… Chemistry, one could call it. Thick chemistry, palpable tension, pushing you towards each other despite your previous attempts to go the other way.

But no amount of chemistry could break Jungkook’s routine as inertia pushed him out of your bed, practiced steps light as feathers as he escaped your apartment with one last look to your sleeping form and somehow one less sock on his feet.

And as he left, there was an undiagnosed pounding in his heart he tried to chalk off as the result of his Dorito and monster drink based diet, but his eyes kept flashing back to where you rested even when he was miles away.

He tried to make sense of your persistent presence in the back of his mind. You were cool, he’d give you that. Hot too. But it didn’t matter how your body fit his like they were manufactured together or how your passive aggressive way of flirting (or insulting, he had a hard time telling them apart with you) never failed to steal a snort from his lips. And yeah, it was kind of nice when you called him cute everytime he didn’t understand something you said. It brought a blush to his cheeks and wild butterflies to his stomach, because… Well, no one had ever called him cute after middle school. Hot? Yes. Sexy? Once a week. Biggest dick ever? Yes, both meanings.

But not cute. And deep down, under layers of aggressively oversized shirts and muscles… Jungkook kind of liked being cute.

Jungkook shook that thought away. Despite all that, you were a point he had to make.

And he did! Point proven and undisputed, up until you looked at him like he was a silly little kid throwing a tantrum (which he kind of was) and questioned him and his sanity,

But Jungkook was obstinate and, even more, the sorest of losers. He had proven himself once and would again! He was a man on a mission, he decided, watching you walk away from him while mouthing the words “I’ll pray for you!”. And the mission was to either send you into a psychiatric hospital or get you back into his bed.

And if the butterflies in his stomach fluttered excitedly at that second prospect, he didn’t allow himself to ponder on it for a single second.

°•. ✿ .•°

[Taglist: @artsxpe ; @010op10 ; @ladysandy ; @707sblog ; @notvantaes ; @borahaeb1ch ; @akshstudios ; @beautyiisterror ; @lovelycammy ; @mushysunrise-deactivated2022030 ; @hani0407]

My taglists are open! Click here to be added <3

[Permanent taglist: @imknewattis ; @dreamamubarak ; @onlythebest-106 ;@betysotelo18 ; @havetaeminforbreakfast ; @uno7 ; @chimchimmarie ; @anaya123world ; @junecat18 ]

[anikaluv]

I'LL ACCEPT YOU —

❤︎︎ pairing: Miles (e!42) × fem!reader

❤︎︎ genre: fluff

❤︎︎ cw:  suggestive, nudes, Mrs. Morales a lil mean to reader at first (motherly instinct at its finest)

❤︎︎ summary: You were at the dinner table, meeting Miles' mom for the first time, when he excused himself to use the bathroom. As you sat there you noticed a polaroid picture of your breasts on the phone case that Miles had left behind. Now, you had to figure out how to explain this unexpected and embarrassing situation to his mother.

❤︎︎ w/c: 2.1k

❤︎︎ a/n: Everyone describes about how you and Rio would be best friends, but ion know, I feel like she’ll be a little skeptical about you like she was with Gwen in the movie. It's her little boy we’re talking about here. <3

Today was the day you finally met Miles' mother, the most important person in his life.

You wished you could have met her sooner, but her demanding schedule at the hospital made it impossible until now, after seven months of dating Miles. You had plenty of time to think about what to say and do, but it didn't stop the nerves from fluttering in your stomach.

"Baby, you'll be fine," Miles reassured you, rubbing your back affectionately. He knew how much meeting his mother weighed on your mind, but he had no doubt that the two of you would get along. As he rang the doorbell, he placed his hand on your waist. "She'll love you, promise."

Though you nodded in response to his kind words, your mind still raced with anxiety. You understood the importance of this dinner and were determined not to mess things up. Your hands started to rub against your jeans, becoming sweaty from the nervousness.

The door creaked open slowly, revealing Mrs. Morales herself, wearing a kitchen apron around her waist. She immediately looked towards Miles, speaking as if you weren't there. "Miles! What's taken you so long to come home? You know you can't-" It was then she finally realized your presence.

She paused mid-sentence, turning her attention to you, giving you a quick up-and-down glance that made you feel insecure about your outfit choice. You knew you should’ve went with the sweater instead of this stupid T-Shirt. "Oh? Hello there, who are you?" she inquired.

Feeling put on the spot, you started to mumble a small introduction, but she asked you to repeat yourself. Before you could gather your thoughts, Miles came to your rescue. "Mamá, este es mi pareja, [your name]” (Mom, this is my lover, [your name] ). Even after Miles introduced you, you could sense that Rio was still on guard, her protective instincts clearly showing proudly.

You held up the little vase of flowers you had bought as a gift for her, feeling a bit on edge as you offered it to her. She took it with a skeptical look in her eyes. " [Your name], it's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Morales," you greeted her politely, extending your hand for a handshake. However, she merely stared at your hand and didn't reciprocate the gesture. Instead, she spoke with a hint of disdain, "Charmed to meet you," leaving you feeling a little embarrassed as you withdrew your hand.

Miles chuckled uncomfortably at the situation and attempted to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Mama! I can smell something from the kitchen all the way from here! Is dinner ready?”, he said, acknowledging the delicious aroma of the food. Like a switch, Rio turned to her son with a warm smile.

“Yes, mi chulo (cutie). I’m almost finished, come eat.” She started to turn around and walk back inside, but then paused and turned her head, giving you a cold stare that seemed to pierce through your soul. “Ah, and you too, I suppose.” You felt a pang of disappointment as you looked at Miles, realizing that things were going downhill so quickly.

He met your gaze with hopeful eyes and spoke to you, "She just needs to get to know you, that's all." It was meant to reassure you, and while you appreciated his support, you couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling in your heart. You sighed deeply.

This was going to be a very long night.

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, you’ve been eating for 30 minutes and it was just, awkward.

You could sense Mrs. Morales' disapproval lingering. Miles did his best to ease the atmosphere, cracking jokes and attempting to bridge the gap between you and his mother. However, it seemed that no matter what he did, Mrs. Morales remained distant.

You tried to engage in small talk and show genuine interest in her life, but your efforts seemed futile. Mrs. Morales gave brief responses and didn't seem interested in getting to know you at all. You felt like you were walking on eggshells, afraid to say or do anything that might upset her.

Miles held your hand tightly the whole time, providing you with a comforting anchor as you navigated the tense conversation. Rubbing small circles into your hand as you clenched his tightly every time you were being shot down in discussion . Miles was your rock, he supported you and helped you through everything. You were so grateful that he was always there-

“Hey, ill be right back, I have to use the bathroom.”

What the hell?

Mrs. Morales lifted her head from her food and nodded at him, “Okay, honey.”, however, you weren’t so ecstatic at the idea of Miles leaving you alone with his mother.

"Miles, what on earth are you thinking?" you whisper-shouted to him, panic evident in your voice. He chuckled at your anxious tone. "You'll be fine, trust me, mami. Here, I'll leave my phone here so you know I won't take long." Miles placed his phone on the table, but you couldn't spare it a glance, too busy giving him a look filled with betrayal. "I'll be right back," he reassured, leaving a tender kiss on your temple before standing up and excusing himself one last time.

“Well this is just great”, you thought. Your plate was finished 15 minutes ago, so you’ve just been with talking to Miles and trying to include Rio in you two's conversations, but now that he’s not here, you’ve settled at twirling your food on your fork.

Suddenly, Mrs. Morales cleared her throat loudly, catching your attention. Your neck snapped up weakly to meet her gaze. She crossed her arms, her posture becoming more assertive. "So, what exactly are your intentions with my son?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow in a challenging manner. Your posture straightened, and you swallowed nervously, your mind going blank. Desperately searching for something to focus on other than Rio's piercing gaze, your eyes landed on Miles' phone case.

That's when you noticed it.

Sat inside Miles clear phone case was a polaroid of your breasts. You gasped seeing the picture, trying to figure out when Miles even did this. It showed them cupped by Miles hand, nipples erect and outward, with bruises left by him all over your skin. You body instantly flushed, how long has Miles phone been sitting on the table? Has Rio seen it?

"Hey, what's that?" Rio asked, her voice pulling you back to the present moment. You realized you had completely forgotten about the current situation, causing you to hastily flip the phone to the other side and let out a nervous "Nothing!" You hoped to divert her attention, but Rio remained unfazed, her gaze fixed on your phone.

"Is that a picture of you on the back of Miles' phone case? That's… cute. Let me see," she said, her curiosity getting the better of her. Your heart skipped a beat, panic setting in.

You knew you couldn't let her see that polaroid. "No! You can't! It's really… embarrassing," you mumbled, your hand instinctively scratching the back of your neck as you tried to sound as convincing as possible.

In response, you could see Rio's eyebrows raise, her interest piqued even more. You knew things were getting out of hand but before you can attempt to change the subject, Rio stops you.

“Wait, is that what I think it is?”

Your heart rate spiked; did she figure it out? You were certain she'd be furious. The mere thought of not being with Miles was unbearable. These rapid thoughts flooded your mind, each one appearing before the last could finish. Before you could answer, you heard Rio burst into laughter.

"Dios mio (Oh my god)…that's hilarious!" The cold demeanor she once had towards you melted away as quickly as it came. You joined in her laughter, relieved that she didn't seem mad about the situation. The bonding moment between the two of you felt genuine and comforting. You had expected her to be more strict, but her laughter was a welcome surprise.

As the tension subsided, Rio looked into your eyes with warmth, a smile lighting up her face. "Jeff used to do that too, take embarrassing pictures of me hang them up in his room. I can see why you're embarrassed. You probably made a really silly face, huh?" You nodded along with her until she reached the last sentence. She thought the picture on the phone case was of you making a silly face?

You laughed awkwardly, shifting in your chair as you tried to play it off. “Yeah! I was making a really foolish face in there, haha.” Your hands waved around dramatically trying the explain the picture to her, anything you made up immediately coming out of your lips. She chuckled at your dramatic performance.

She shook her head taking a sip of the tea she made, “That boy and his tricks, he reminds me more of Jeff everyday…”. Her face slowly turned toward a framed picture of the three of them. Jeff having Miles in a headlock rubbing his head while they’re both laughing, Rio smiling as she took the picture.

The memory depicted a happy and complete family, and you could see the love in Rio's eyes as she looked at the photo. She turned back to you, her tone delicate, filled with the fear of losing her son again. "My son can't lose another person," she whispered.

Rio placed her hand on the table, leaning forward to speak directly to you. "Just promise me you'll always be there for my boy, and I'll accept you," she said, her words sincere and heartfelt. You placed your hand gently on top of hers and replied, "I intend to be there for him until his last day, Ms. Morales." The seriousness in your voice conveyed your commitment.

Rio hummed, processing your response, and then smiled, sitting back into her chair content with your answer. Maybe you were the one who could make this broken family complete again, she thought.

As Miles walked back into the room after using the bathroom, he immediately sensed the warm and playful atmosphere between you and his mother. He sat back in his chair, casually draping his arm around your neck, joining the conversation. "What did I miss out on?" he asked with a playful tone. Both you and Rio exchanged knowing smirks, teasing him with a simple "nothing," which only made Miles grin even wider.

As you answered Rio's questions about you and Miles relationship, Miles let you and her bond and decided to bring his phone out on the table and scroll through social media, accidentally leaving the back in Rio's line of vision. Suddenly, you heard Rio gasp loudly and choke on her tea, causing you to exchange concerned glances with Miles. Worried about what had happened, both of you turned your attention to where she was looking; realizing what had caused her reaction, you both fell silent.

Rio now had a lot of more questions than before.

EXTRA: You screamed at Miles as soon as you left the Morales home, play hitting him as he chuckled at your rage.

You screamed at Miles to keep going as you clenched the sheets as he layed kisses and bites all over your chest. Every bite harder than the last then met with kisses and whispers of sweet nothings that had you on the edge of losing your mind.

“Miles, how could you do that! You made me so scared!”, you complained. Holding his hand as he walked you home. Pouting as he laughed at you not taking you seriously.

“Miles, how are you doing that? You’re making me feel so good!”, you babbled, mumbling little praises to Miles as he marked you, pinching your nipples as you wiggled in his grasp with your wrists held above your head.

You couldn’t hold in your laughter anymore as he tickled you. “C’mon, ma. Don’t make that face at me. I’m sorry, really.” He bent down and kissed your cheek as you crossed your arms at him.

You couldn’t hold in your moans anymore as he made you his. You were almost there but you felt Miles shift and get up and come back with a object in his hands as you continued to squirm.

“You just looked so pretty mami, I had to memorize it.” Miles flashes his signature grin at you. You couldn't stay mad at him, he was too handsome, you'll just have to get back at home some other way.

“You just look so pretty mami, I have to memorize it.” The camera flashes, capturing your beauty perfectly as Miles grins, carefully placing the polaroid on his desk, for safekeeping, at least for now.

ENDING A/N: I DIDNT MEAN TO MAKE RIO THAT MEAN LMAOOO, but I feel like its also a lil cannon yk? After losing the love of her life, Miles is the only one she has left so yeah, she’s gonna be protective as hell over him. 

TAGLIST: @janaeby @bellstwd @nmgstuff @axeoverblade @zaddyskye69 @agstuffsworld @spidrstar @laylasbunbunny @missusmorales @popeheywardssecretgf @lumineliax

TAGS:

[eepywriters]

.✦°. • A kiss goodbye (*ﾟ∀ﾟ*)

warnings: suggestive 👀

If there was something you loved, it was lazing around in your big comfy bed, even more if there was a beautiful, sleep-deprived dark haired man next to you.

Unfortunately, today it wasn’t a lazy late morning.

“What time is it” Alex says with a hoarse voice, stretching his back lightly.

“Mhh I don’t care” you mumble sleepily, rutting your head onto his chest.

“Well I care” he mutters, gently running his fingers through your messed up bedhead hair. You feel him shuffle around before a whine of defeat leaves him “fuck its so late”.

You let out an annoyed sound, tightening your hold on him as to silently plead him to stay a little longer. You knew it wasn’t gonna change anything, the dedication to his work being way too strong for him to even consider wasting more time in bed, but it didn’t mean that you couldn’t try. He snorts at your weak attempt, leaving a sweet kiss on top of your head.

“Sorry baby, work calls” he sighs, sitting up with a groan whilst running his hands down his face, a deep exhausted moan leaving him as he tries to shove his sleepiness away.

You don’t find it in your heart to be mad at him, knowing how much he truly put his heart into his job, especially since the start of the Qsmp.

And really, being mad at him would be foolish, because throughout all the stress, the tight agenda and fucked up sleep schedule - you did scold him for that one, but that’s another story - he always made sure to find time for the both of you.

You smile fondly, head spinning as you also sit up on the bed.

“A goodbye kiss first?” you giggle, moving your head towards him.

He smiles, lowering down to meet your lips in a short, gentle, loving kiss.

But one wasn’t enough, not nearly enough.

“Another one” you whisper against his lips. He hums, chuckling softly whilst giving in into your wish.

And one turned into two, and two into three till you eventually lost count (not that you even care about it really, you just want to feel his lips on yours as much as possibile). You really, really couldn’t help it, warmth spreading in your chest every time you two connect again.

The kisses aren’t even special per se, they are mostly rushed and messy and mindless, yet God did it feel euphoric, almost like it was your first time kissing his pretty mouth, over and over again.

“(Name)” he breathes between the soft kisses “I really... need… to go”

“Last one” you whine softly when you separate, chasing after his chapped, but inviting puffy lips.

He really should’ve stopped you at the moment, seeing as he risked being late to an important online briefing, but he really couldn’t resist you. You were his weak spot, his kryptonite (plus he likes to see you desperate for him).

And how could he have ever say no to you, to your half-lidded, foggy, lovely eyes looking straight up at him, your hair still messy from your sleep.

“I’ll be sure to give you a good one then, no complaining after though” he murmurs, bringing one of his hands up to stroke your cheek. His thumb slowly makes it’s way to your lower lip, rubbing it gently, handling you like you’d break at any sudden movement.

Goosebumps travel up the back of your neck and down your spine as you watch him attentively, his enamored gaze enough to make your heart beat faster. How did you even pull him?

A faint cocky grin flashes on his face, eyes lowering to your mouth before he pulls you right back into him again, pinning his lips against yours.

It’s rough, hungry, yet passionate and full of love and devotion at the same time. You both can’t help but whimper when he deepens the kiss, firmly holding you against him by your nape.

His free hand sneaks around your middle, pushing you towards him to invite you to sit on his lap. You kick the blanket out of your way, shivering lightly at the loss of coverage but soon enough finding comfort in Alex’s body heat, enjoying the greater contact.

You can feel the blush creeping up your cheeks as you kiss him fervently, your chest constricting as time passes, begging you for air.

His hands carefully slip under your shirt, smoothing over the skin of your sides while yours go up his chest, arms hugging his neck.

You separate with a gasp, taking in as much oxygen as possible for your aching lungs. You expected Alex to run away, but he stays, pressing his forehead on yours and keeping you firmly against him. His own breath is ragged.

You slowly move back, just to have a good look at his state. God was he beautiful like this, panting for air with rosy cheek, his eyes still shut.

You let your impulsive thoughts win and leave a short peck on one of his moles. He smiles.

A mole after the other, a kiss after the other, you shower his face with kisses. You eventually forget your initial intention and leave them on every little inch of his face, mapping it out with short, affectionate pecks.

His temple, his forehead (you kiss his scar twice for good measure), his eyes, his nose, his cheeks.

Your eyes stop at his lips, eyeing them hungrily while a devious little thought makes it’s way into your fogged head. You leave one last tiny kiss on the corner of his mouth.

His mouth twitches in anticipation. Nothing comes.

He raises an eyebrow expectantly, but you don’t move.

Alex huffs.

His nails paint little half moons on your flesh as he impatiently captures your lips again, eliciting a small giggle from you. You felt drunk, or rather, you were drunk, on his lips, his reactions, his impatience, on him.

One of your hands slowly sneaks foward, now on his nape.

A little alarm sounds in Alex’s head, getting rid of the hazy, lustful smoke that was clouding his mind, as he realizes something; your hands are approaching dangerous territory: his hair.

Don’t get him wrong, Alex is having the time of his life with you on his lap, lips melded and moving together in tandem, but as much as he’d love to spend the rest of his life right here, tangled with you, he knows that the moment you’ll be playing with his hair he’ll be putty in your hands. He begrudgingly leaves your mouth with a shaky sigh, bringing his thumb on your lips again, this time to smear the tiny string of saliva between you across your red, swollen lips.

Your pants fill the quiet bedroom. Your chests heaving together.

“I’ll see you later” he says, swiftly getting up from the bed to prevent himself from getting too caught up with you.

“Yeah, yeah you definitely will” you snicker, biting your lips as you stare at his growing hard-on.

“Oh shut up”.

[watchmegetobsessed]

DECODE

A/N: okay wow, it's actually here, but let me say a ew things first: i am no it proessional so there are some made up stuff so don't come after me if there are untrue things in the story lmao. also, the ending... im not entirely in peace with it, but i've been sitting on this story for way too long so i just bit my tongue and finised it. don't come after me if you don't like it... but anyway! hope it didn't turn out as bad and you'll enjoy the story!

WORD COUNT: 13.7k

SUMMARY: You're up for the promotion you've always dreamt about, but right when you need to prove everything goes downhill. Lucky for you the cute, quiet IT guy, Harry, is there to help you out.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

There’s that feeling when you wake all by yourself, a moment of peace takes over you for not starting the day off with your one true enemy, the alarm, but then panic instantly stabs you in the chest when you realize it’s a weekday and there’s absolutely no way you just woke up before your alarm, feeling this rested. 

Your eyes pop open and you sit up in a frenzy looking around in the room, figuring out what happened and what should be done now. First you check the time on your phone and when you see that it reads 8:32 you almost start crying, but there’s no time for that, so you jump out of bed and sprint into the bathroom, stopping on the way when you spot Eric in the hallway, fully dressed, ready to leave.

“Eric?! Why didn’t you wake me up?!” you snap at him. He turns to you with innocence all over his face.

“I thought you were off today,” he simply says.

“Off?! We have the board meeting today, how could I be off!” you practically scream as you rush into the bathroom to get ready in less than two minutes hopefully.

“I’m sorry!” he calls out from outside. “I’ll see you in the office!”

And the next thing you hear is the front door opening and closing.

“Motherfu…” you mumble as you start washing your face like a crazy woman.

You leave in ten minutes, but you’re fifteen minutes late already, no matter how magically fast you got ready. You don’t have time to get a bagel for breakfast and you’re already halfway into the office when you realize you left your lunch at home too. You somehow shorten the route and win a few minutes on your way in, but you still arrive ten minutes late, looking like a hot mess, completely out of control as you make your way to the twentieth floor to your desk, pretending you haven’t just had the absolute worst morning of your life. 

The elevator almost closes right in front of you, but before you could smash against the sliding doors a hand sticks out and stops it, letting you slip in last minute.

“Ah, thank you,” you breathe out, your purse sliding off your shoulder and your folder almost falls from your hands.

“N-No problem,” a sweet and smooth voice answers, but your hair is such a mess, it covers your vision and you don’t see the kind man that saved you a few minutes with his move. The moment the elevator arrives to your floor you jump out and rush towards your desk.

“You alright, boss?” Zaya, your intern asks, who is more like a personal assistant at this point. She eyes you curiously from her desk as you gasp for air and try to soothe out the wrinkles on your blouse, though there’s absolutely no use in it. 

“Everything is perfectly fine,” you force a smile on your face as you start your computer, emails flowing in like crazy the moment you open your inbox. “Just had a rough morning.”

With Zaya’s help you go through everything at light speed, it’s one of your biggest strengths, being fast and productive, so in just about twenty minutes you reduce the thirty-seven unread emails to just two. 

You’ve cleared your schedule beforehand so you can have a practice run for your big presentation. Today’s board meeting is gonna be an important one. There’s a promotion at risk, one you’ve been working your ass off to get and now it’s so close, you can almost feel it between your fingertips. This presentation and what stands behind it all is what you’ve worked for night and day for the past month and you have never been more confident in yourself, though you can’t shake the general nervousness off.

You make your test run to Zaya who says her mind is blown and there’s no chance you won’t get the promotion. 

“You got it, boss,” she fist bumps you, something you’ve grown to like, it’s her form of appreciation. 

“I hope so,” you sigh. “Alright, I’ll grab a coffee quickly before the meeting.”

You head a few levels down to the main kitchen area that has the best coffee machine in the building. It’s already past the morning rush, so you’re delighted to see that there are just a few people lingering around. Including Eric.

“Hey!” you huff out a smile as you stand next to him at the coffee machine. He peeks at you, just a tiny smile on his lips, but it doesn’t reach his eyes like usual.

“Hey.”

“If you’re curious, I was only just a bit late this morning,” you chuckle to yourself, grabbing a cup while Eric waits for his own coffee to get ready. 

“Mm, great. Sorry about… the morning.”

“It’s okay, are you nervous? About the presentation?”

Funny enough you’re running for the promotion against Eric, the guy you’ve been hooking up for the past few months. It’s nothing serious, no strings attached, mostly just sex, though you believe that if you spend at least three nights together every week and spend time outside of bed as well, that has to mean more than just a regular hook up.

Right?

“Not really,” he shrugs, but it doesn’t sound genuine.

“It’s okay, you’ll do good,” you smile at him warmly as you place your hand on his arm and give it a squeeze, but you’re surprised when he moves out of your touch, shooting you a look.

“Not… in the office, Y/N,” he grits through his teeth, looking around to check if anyone saw the tiny gesture while you’re just blinking at him dumbly.

Yes, you usually keep your… whatever it is out of the office, but he hasn’t been this distant to you before. Before you could ask his phone starts ringing and he mumbles an apology before running off.

You write it off as nerves, you know Eric to be highly competitive, it must be a new field for him as well, running against someone he is involved with. 

Your heart is racing when you enter the boardroom, welcoming the people that will decide your future at the company, the CEO, the CFO, the head of marketing and a few others you’re not that familiar with, but you know they have power.

For the promotion you had to come up with a plan to boost the numbers on the website that hasn’t been doing much lately. You worked up a plan for a marketing strategy that would reach the target audience in a better way, it’s pretty awesome, you’re quite proud of it and you’re convinced you’ll kick ass with your presentation.

There are a few more minutes left until the meeting, you pour yourself some water and go ahead to open your slides on your computer so you have it all ready when it’s your turn.

“What… Oh no,” you whisper, when your computer starts lagging and the cursor freezes. “No, no, no!”

“Everything alright, Miss?” the CFO notices your panic.

“Yes!” you force a smile on your face. “Everything is… perfect.”

He nods and turns back to his previous conversation while your panic intensifies. You keep pushing buttons and trying to move the cursor, but it looks pretty dead, so you decide to shut it down and try to restart it, hopefully it will come back from the dead. 

Eric strides into the room, but as he takes his seat he doesn’t even look at you, just sets out his own laptop and paper notes and stares ahead of him. No matter how you try to catch his attention, he ignores you fully and it’s just another punch in your stomach.

What the hell is happening?

“Alright, everyone ready?” Daniel, the CEO claps his hands together. “Eric, you’re up first,” he gestures at him and while you’re still desperately trying to revive your computer. 

Eric sets up and when his presentation appears behind him your stomach drops instantly. 

The title, the topic, the colors… everything. You know all of it, because… because you made it. It’s yours.

You forget about your computer as Eric starts talking and he presents your idea, everything you came up with and worked hard on, he hasn’t changed a bit about it and now he is making it look like it’s his own. If you were panicking before now you’re about to set on fire.

That would be probably nice, because you wouldn’t have to go up there and most likely embarrass yourself. 

How did he get your presentation? Why did he steal it? You can’t blame him just out of the blue, you need proof and right now the only device that could have it is dead in front of you. 

You are so screwed. 

“ Holy fucking shit, oh my God!” you keep mumbling under your breath as you approach your desk, holding your dead computer to your chest, eyes wide from what you just went through.

“Boss? You alright?” Zaya’s eyes widen when she sees you all shocked and traumatized.

“No! I’m anything but alright!”

Luckily, the small meeting room near your desk is vacant so you’re quick to take it, Zaya following you right after, shutting the door closed so you can unleash fully.

“Oh my God I can’t fucking believe him! The asshole! How did he fucking do it?!” you snap, throwing everything to the table so you can anxiously start pacing the floor with your hands on your hips. “I cannot believe this, what the hell!”

“Y/N, what happened? You’re starting to scare me,” Zaya eyes you and she actually looks scared which is a new thing, the girl is fearless.

“Eric! He stole my… my whole fucking presentation!” you whisper-yell, throwing your hands up into the air. “Every slide! Every detail! It was all mine! And he sold it as his own!”

“W-what? But… how? And what did you present then?”

“I have no idea! He was up first, as we all knew ahead of time, he went up there, opened his presentation and it was mine! I thought I was about to fall off my seat, fucking hell,” you groan, rubbing your face with your hands. Thanks to your rushed morning you’re not wearing any makeup today so at least you can’t turn yourself into a panda bear. “My laptop died right before the meeting started so I could use it as an excuse and… fuck, I made up a whole other plan on the spot!” You’re about to start hyperventilating, maybe even crying which you’ve never ever done at work before.

“But… that’s good, right? That you came up with something new?” Zaya tries to see the bright side of it, but you shake your head violently.

“You know what I came up with? I said I’m planning to rebuild the whole fucking website! All of it!”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes! I basically set myself up for failure!”

Everyone knows a full makeover could easily be a death sentence, especially with such a short notice. You have no structure to it, no plan and most importantly no IT support to do the actual work. Because you can dream up any idea, but you cannot actually write the code for it. 

Zaya tries to cheer you up but you both know you’re not only knee high, but probably neck high in deep shit. She promises to take up extra hours to help you figure out what to do and though it’s nice, the situation still feels pretty much lost.

You’re on the verge of tears when you make your way to the IT department to have your computer checked out, which is still pretty much dead. You’re already dreading the interaction, Steven, the head of the IT department is a real pain in the ass, he never wants to actually help with anything so it’s always a fight to get things done with him. 

When you walk into their office he is the first one you see and you almost groan out loud, but manage to keep quiet as you approach him.

“Hi Steven, do you happen to have a moment?” you ask, as politely and nicely as you can in the light of what just happened, but apparently it’s not enough for him, because the look he gives you makes you want to turn around and run away.

“What’s the matter?” he grimaces, fixing his glasses as he leans back in his seat.

“My laptop just died,” you hold up the device. 

He stares at you, then at your laptop and then his eyes flicker back to you and he stays silent for what feels like forever before he speaks up.

“I have no time for this now,” he says, returning to his own computer and your shoulders fall forward in defeat, but then he speaks up again. “Go to the back and ask for Styles.”

“Thank you,” you breathe out and are already on your way away from his desk.

Maneuvering between the desks you’re trying to find out who’s Styles or who to even ask to tell you where to find him and you’re just about to stop at one of the desks when you see a big screen, a sticker on the back of it that says H. Styles, so you make your way over there.

As you’re approaching the desk a head full of chocolate curls appear and soon you spot the guy sitting behind the screen, peering up at you with curious, green eyes from behind his glasses.

“Are you… Styles?” you ask, feeling weird that you only know his family name. He stares at you for a second with wide eyes and you start to think you’ve got the wrong guy, but then he nods, the curls bouncing along with the movement.

“Y-yeah. I’m Harry Styles.”

“Great! Steven said you might be able to have a look at my computer, it’s completely dead.”

“Sure,” he clears his throat as he pushes back from the desk while you round it to give the laptop to him. “W-what happened?” he asks as he opens it up and tries to turn it on, but the screen remains black.

“Um, basically it froze right before the most important presentation of my life and then it died and hasn't turned on since then,” you summarize with a sad smile as you watch him grab some kind of cable to connect your laptop with his computer.

Harry hums as he opens some kind of program that has a long, complicated looking code running in front of him and he clicks and searches in it so easily as if he was reading a children’s book. 

“Is it fully dead?” you ask after a couple of minutes. 

“No, but you got a virus, it might take some time to restore everything and some files might not make it, I’m sorry.”

You let out a shaky breath, feeling like crying again, but you manage to swallow them back as you lean against the edge of Harry’s desk. He looks up at you like a frightened kid.

“I-I can try to get everything back, I promise, it’s just that–”

“No, I know it’s not up to you. Thank you though. I’m just on the verge of… would it be weird if I started screaming right now?” you ask rhetorically as you pinch the bridge of your nose. 

“I can set up another one for you to use with all the access cloned from yours, but you won’t have the files in the meantime.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Is there any file in particular you want me to try to recover?”

“There’s this folder that would be nice if I had it, here, this is the name,” you say as you grab a post-it and a pen and scribble the name down with all the files in it. 

“Okay, I will try to restore it. Give me a few minutes to set your replacement computer up.”

Nodding sadly you wait by Harry’s desk, watching him work on his computer like it’s an instrument and he is pretty much a professional. You know nothing about programming, but Harry seems like a wizard, you have no idea why Steven makes him deal with all the tiny things when he could pretty much redeem the world. 

“Here, this is the password, everything is set up,” he hands you the new computer.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll give you an email when I have something about your old one.”

“Okay, my address is–”

“I know, I just… I literally just logged you into your account,” he reminds me with a shy smile and you realize he’s right.

“Oh. I forgot. Well, thank you so much, Harry. And I’m sorry you have to deal with it now.”

“It’s fine, I’m the newest on the team, this is how it goes. Rookies get to deal with all the device issues,” he chuckles shortly.

You nod with a sympathetic smile and pay one last look to your savior. He looks young, around your age, but he’s sporting a slight stubble that adds some harshness to his otherwise boyish face. He’s got kind eyes behind his glasses, the prettiest pink lips you’ve ever seen on a man and his curls are screaming to be touched, though you’re not sure HR would take it well if you were just walking around the office, touching people’s hair. Oddly, it wouldn’t be the first time they would have to deal with a situation like this. Bobby DeMarco was a weird dude who worked in sales and he had an even weirder obsession with playing with women’s hair randomly. He didn’t last too long at the company, luckily.

When you return to your desk it takes everything in you to focus on working and A, not find Eric to claw his eyes out and B, not anxiously wait to hear anything from the board about today’s meeting. They are supposed to give feedback today and approve if you can continue working on your project and they can easily just kick you out of the whole thing as well. If that happened Eric would still have to prove himself to be a good fit for the role, but you’d have no chance to ever step up at the company.

You’re a mess, to say the least. You’re panicking over having to do a full website makeover in just a month, you have no idea where you stand with Eric and honestly, you’re torn between never wanting to talk to him and also screaming at him until your lungs give up.

God, your sister will be so mad, she was right! Jeanie warned you. She said it right at the beginning when you started hooking up with Eric that it’s not gonna end well, but you thought she was talking about being dumped eventually, not getting your promotion stolen from you!

When Zaya comes up to you with a question later in the day you’re still so shaken up you can barely make out an answer for her.

“I think you should report it,” she suggests, holding her notebook to her chest.

“And what do I have as proof? My computer is totally dead with all the evidence I made the presentation,” you groan, leaning back in your seat.

“Let’s hope the hot IT guy can restore everything.”

“Hot?” you chuckle. “How do you know he’s hot?”

“You said it’s Harry doing it, right? Curly hair, glasses?” You nod. “I know him, he is definitely hot,” she shrugs smirking, shifting her weight to one leg. “You know what would be nice? Hooking up with him to get revenge on Eric!”

“H-Hooking up? Why would Eric care about who I hook up with?” you clear your throat, pretending like you haven’t had a thing going on with Eric these past months. Zaya gives you a look that clearly says you shouldn’t think she’s stupid and blind.

“Please, Y/N.”

Sighing you roll your eyes as you give up the act.

“Judging from the betrayal Eric gives absolutely no shit about me.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” she shrugs just when your computer pings, signaling two new emails in your inbox.

One from the board and one from Harry.

“Oh shit,” you gasp as you lean forward so fast you almost fall off your seat and Zaya runs behind your desk to see what’s happening as you open the email from the board.

Your eyes skim over the lines several times before you finally process what was written in it.

They approved your plan. You’re still up for the promotion.

“Congrats! You made it!” Zaya cheers.

“Fuck,” you whisper under your breath.

“What’s wrong? I thought this was what you wanted.”

“The chance and the promotion? Yes. But now I have to do a full website makeover in a month which is practically impossible.”

You’re still moping and silently panicking when you’re approaching Harry’s desk for the second time today. When he sees you he jumps to his feet and you almost break a smile because he looks like a puppy for a second, but then you see that he has taken his sweatshirt off, wearing only a simple black t-shirt that puts his tattoo littered arms on display.

Fuck, Zaya was right. He really is kinda hot.

“Hey,” he waves at you when you finally reach his desk.

“Hi, how did it go?” you ask with a deep breath.

“Actually kinda good, I could save most of your stuff,” he says as he sits back and you walk behind his desk, seeing your laptop still wired to his computer. “I saved the files onto a harddrive, but I don’t recommend you to keep using the laptop, it’s… it’s pretty fried,” he chuckles, pushing the glasses further up on the bridge of his nose and for a moment you just stare at his side profile instead of focusing on what he’s showing you on his screen.

“Uh, that’s okay, I’ll be fine with the files,” you clear your throat.

“So um… I don’t know if it matters or not, but I-I thought you might want to know that you didn’t just get the virus because you clicked on something, it was… well, someone put it on your computer and it started attacking the firmware.”

You blink a few times as you process his words and then it all starts to make sense.

“What do you mean someone put it on my computer?”

“Well, there was a malware hidden on your computer that basically attacked the firmware which made it impossible for you to use the laptop and it also attacked the files saved, I found an implanted code that was giving access to–”

“Harry, I don’t really understand what you’re saying,” you remind him, his words sounding absolutely foreign to you.

“Sorry,” he breathes out with a nod. “So basically, the virus stopped your computer from working and it also gave access to a third party to reach your files.”

“So someone could use my files?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

You feel like fainting again, because now it all makes sense. And you’re starting to see red.

“Can you see what files they messed with?”

“Actually, I’m glad you asked,” he smiles proudly. “I was able to find everything they duplicated and there’s a folder they tried to get rid of, but I restored it.”

“Is it by any chance the folder I gave the name to you?”

“It is,” he nods, his fingers starting to type on his keyboard at lightspeed. “Here. See these lines?” he asks, pointing at a code you understand nothing of, but you nod. “It’s basically something they should have paid attention to if they wanted to leave no trace, but I found it so now we know what they were trying to put their hands on. I even have time stamps too. The virus was on your computer for a while and then it was activated to attack the firmware today.”

This is all like a movie, it feels like you’re in Mission Impossible or James Bond, except it’s not a great villain who is working against you but the guy you trusted to let into your bed. The guy you considered your friend and even something more than just that lately.

You made a mistake, you see it now and you want to dwell on it but you know you have no time for that, you have to keep moving forward.

“Do you know who did it?”

“Unfortunately, no. I could only get proof if I had access to the other person’s computer who was hacking yours. I’m sorry.”

Harry seems genuinely sad, as if he failed, but he did so much for you already.

“It’s okay. Thank you so much, can you… like, make a record of all these? So we have all this as proof at least.”

“Already done,” he nods. “Do you want me to file a report?”

“No. No need for that,” you shake your head. “But… I want to ask a favor from you. I know we barely know each other and you probably have a lot of work, so feel free to say no.”

“What is it?”

“Do you want to help me redesign our whole website?”

You’re anxiously chewing on your bottom lip as you wait for the Skype call to be answered, your sister’s name flashing on the screen until her pixelated face replaces it.

And she looks mad, just as you expected.

“Y/N, I told you so! I literally told you so!” she starts off, the voice cracks a bit as the call stabilizes.

“Can we skip the part where you tell me off like a child for hooking up with a coworker who ended up fucking me over?” you flash a smile, but she rolls her eyes at you, leaning back on her couch, her right side getting more illuminated by the lamp beside her couch. It’s past seven in the evening in Tokyo while it’s just six am for you. For the past six months this has been your usual, trying to call each other at a time that’s reasonable for the both of you with the insane thirteen hours of time difference. It’s definitely a hard task and sometimes you have to plan a call days, even weeks ahead.

“No, because I’m so mad!” she groans. “Mostly at the fucker, but you as well!”

“I really don’t need to hear how much I fucked up,” you mumble, looking down at your lap.

“Sorry,” she sighs, realizing she is making you feel even guiltier. “I’m just… you worked so hard for this and now he is ruining it.”

“I’m still up for the promotion,” you shrug.

“Yeah, but you said it’s almost impossible to do what you presented.”

“Well, things are looking a bit better now.”

She listens intently as you tell her about what Harry found on your computer and how you ended up asking him to help you out. You truly didn’t think he would say yes, but he didn’t even think about it before agreeing. So now you have the IT part covered by him, you just have to come up with all the rest.

“This Harry guy…” Sammy starts and you hold up your hand.

“Don’t give me the speech again, I learned my lesson.”

“No, actually I wanted to say that I like him.”

“For real?” you ask, raising your eyebrows. 

“I mean, he is willing to work an immense amount of extra time on your project and he basically has no benefit from it. I hope you do realize how big of a sacrifice he is making for your promotion.”

You knew how big of a deal it has been from Harry to help you out but now that Sammy said it out loud, realization hits. It’s not right he gets nothing out of it, so you note to yourself to go over it with him when you meet him in the morning for your first planning session.

“I’ll talk to him about it. Now let’s talk about something else.”

Harry was afraid he wouldn’t be able to wake up so early in the morning and make it into the office for the meeting with you, but it turns out his excitement to be working with you is kicking him out of bed even before his alarm goes off. 

He does his usual morning routine, shower, get dressed, breakfast and checking he has everything he needs in his backpack for the day and then he’s on his way. When he walks into the café that’s two blocks away from his apartment the bell gently chimes above his head, catching the attention of the owner, Frida. 

“Harry! You’re up early today!” she greets him with a beaming smile, her grey hair is in her signature low bun, her blue eyes twinkling at the sight of him.

“I have an early meeting,” he mumbles with a shy smile, the tip of his ears turning red and she doesn’t miss it, but she knows how closed off he is so she doesn’t even try to tease her about it. 

“The usual?”

“Um, yeah, but can you make it two?”

“Of course,” she nods with a knowing smile, her suspicion is getting proven that this early meeting is with someone special. 

The two chat lightly while Friday makes the coffees to go, handing the paper cups to Harry once they’re done.

“Have a lovely day, Harry,” she waves after him and he nods back, pushing the door open with his hips, a cup in each of his hands.

He can’t deny there’s a pep in his step as he enters the building that’s eerily empty so early in the morning. He did not expect his day to take such an unexpected turn yesterday. He’s seen you around the office a few times before but he knew nothing about you, just that your laughter is ridiculously contagious. Then you jumped into the elevator with him in the morning, looking a bit messy but very pretty nevertheless. He could only blink as the elevator sped up and moments later you were out of sight.

But then you strolled into the IT department with your ruined computer and he finally learned your name. While he wanted to help with your laptop as much and fast as possible, he was also dreading the moment you’d pick the harddrive up with all your files and then never talk to him again. He felt silly, crushing on a woman he only officially met just a few hours before, but he couldn’t help it. Even when you were visibly stressed and worried he thought you were enchanting. 

He was not expecting you to ask for his help, but luckily his brain clicked instantly and agreed without hesitation. For one, he’s been dealing with boring projects as the rookie on the team and this seems like a great challenge for him. 

On the other hand, he would have said yes to anything you asked him, literally. 

So now as he walks into the meeting room where you’re supposed to meet his excitement is mixed with some anxiety, because as much as he is curious about this project he is nervous to spend so much time with you all of a sudden. He can only hope he won’t seem like a freak to you.

Thanks to the early Skype session with Sammy you’re on time too, arriving to the office building just minutes after Harry. He’s setting his laptop up when you arrive, his head snapping up when you approach the desk and take the seat next to him.

“Morning,” you smile at him warmly.

“Good morning,” he smiles back, fixing his glasses to sit straight before reaching for the extra cup of coffee. “Um, I brought you this. Actually, I realized too late that I don’t know how you like your coffee, so y-you don’t have to drink it…”

“Oh! That’s very kind, thank you! I drink coffee however I can,” you chuckle. “I just need the caffeine.”

You see a small smile flash across his face before he returns to his computer while you settle next to him. 

“Before we start, I wanted to go over something with you.” Harry turns to you curiously as you try to figure out what to even say. “This is a huge thing and I know it needs a lot of time and work. I don’t feel comfortable letting you do it without getting anything for the work you do.”

“Oh, I-I don’t need anything, I’m glad to help.”

“That’s very kind, but it still doesn’t feel fair. If there is anything I can do for you, literally anything, just feel free to ask. I would feel better if I knew you’re getting your reward for your work.”

Harry thinks about it for a few seconds before nodding to himself.

“Do I have to come up with something now?”

“No,” you chuckle. “Just promise me you’ll think of some way I can pay you back.”

“Okay.”

In the next hour you learn two things. One, working with Harry is incredibly easy. He is efficient, communicates well and simply a great at teamwork, it’s like a breath of fresh air after some of the people you’ve previously worked with.

The other thing you learn is that he is incredibly smart and it makes him very… sexy.

God, you shouldn’t be having these thoughts after what happened with Eric, but you’re not immune to a good-looking man with so much knowledge, especially when it’s in IT. You know nothing about coding and when he pulls up his miles long codes, types quietly for a few minutes and then shows you what he did, explaining to you the science behind it… it’s making you feel things you shouldn’t be. It’s so attractive when someone knows so much about something and they’re passionate and devoted to the field. It’s clear that Harry’s field is programming and he is ridiculously good at it. 

You were afraid the task would turn out to be impossible and every time he spends just a little more time silently staring at his code you’re expecting him to give up and tell you he can’t do it.

But he comes up with something every time and by the time the meeting ends you feel oddly enthusiastic and optimistic about the whole makeover that was scaring you to death just yesterday.

“Harry, you are… truly a life saver,” you sigh contently as you lean back in your seat, a long list of tasks on your screen, but you can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now. 

“I’m happy to help,” he smiles shyly, nodding to himself. 

“Do not forget about the payment, I really want to pay it all back to you.”

“I won’t, I promise,” he chuckles softly.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Tomorrow,” he confirms before packing up his stuff and leaving.

You stay in your seat for a little longer, just having a break before starting your actual work day. Opening up your calendar you check what meetings you have today and that’s when you face what you’ve been religiously ignoring since yesterday’s ordeal.

The weekly marketing sync where most of the time it’s just you and Eric, because Dominik, the third person who should be present likes to cancel last minute. 

It’s ridiculous that you still haven’t gotten into contact with him. Part of you was expecting him to come to you, to give you any kind of explanation though there is nothing he could have said that would have explained why he did all of that.

It’s been radio silence on his part and now you have to face him and talk to him.

You’d rather throw up in the middle of the office than do it, but you have to suck it up and deal with him.

He is there in the meeting room when you walk in, typing away on his computer like nothing happened, like he didn’t just try to ruin your career.

“Eric?” you call out, your voice sounds a lot more confident than you were expecting luckily.

He looks up, his face remains completely blank and it just angers you even more.

“Hey,” he nods without batting an eye.

“Hey?” you chuckle, as you close the door behind you, shutting you away from the rest of the people outside. “Don’t you have something to say to me?”

“Y/N, do you really want to do this?” he sighs, as if it was tiring to even think about the situation.

“Eric, you stole my whole presentation and sold it as yours!”

“Are you sure about that?”

You’re seeing red. And you’ve never been this close to actually punching someone in the face. 

“Of course I’m sure about it! That was my presentation! Are you fucking kidding me?!”

Eric stands from his seat, taking his sweet time as he walks closer, trying to intimidate you with the height difference, which used to work, you even found it hot when he towered over you, but now it’s like his existence is giving you the ick.

“You have no proof, Y/N. And you didn’t say a word at the meeting. That ship has sailed, now it’s time to move on.”

“It was all just a joke to you?”

“I told you at the beginning I didn’t want anything serious, that wasn’t a lie.”

“But did you do it just to fuck my presentation up? We literally started hooking up when the open position was announced.”

“Does it matter?”

“It does!” you laugh in disbelief, tears stinging your eyes, but you refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing you cry because of him.

“Okay,” he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I just wanted to get to know you and see what you’d come up with for the presentation, but then one thing followed the other and… I went with it.” He shrugs and then goes back to his computer like you just discussed the weather and not how he used you and then threw you away.

You can’t hold yourself together any longer, so you turn around and get as far from him as possible as you try not to start sobbing in the middle of the office. Fuck, this shouldn’t hurt this much, but you really trusted him, you thought you could have something serious, you were hoping Sammy wouldn’t be right about him, but she was. Unfortunately.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you mumble under your breath as you approach your desk Zaya is not in today, so it’s pretty calm around your desk, but then you spot someone lingering there.

“Y/N?” Harry sees how shaken you look as you finally reach him at your desk. “A-Are you alright?”

“Hi Harry,” you force a smile out, but you can’t fool anyone with it. “Did we… Do we have a meeting or something?”

“No, I just wanted to show something… Y/N, are you about to cry?””

“N-No,” you shake your head, but your lips are already wobbling and you fail to prove your words right.

“Uh, come on, let’s have a break. Want to come up to the roof?” He gently circles an arm around your shoulders and you let him lead you back to the elevators.

“Roof? We can go out to the roof?” you ask, wiping your tears away.

He doesn’t reply, just makes sure to shield you from the curious eyes as you make your way up to the top of the building. You genuinely didn’t know the roof could be used and when you see Harry push the heavy door open that leads outside you’re guessing it’s not exactly a public spot, but you don’t question it.

It looks just like how a rooftop should look, it’s definitely not open for public use but when Harry leads you over the corner and you see a little bench there, facing the panoramic view, you know you have just found a secret spot.

“Is this where you hide from Steven?” you attempt to joke as you sit down with him. 

“Sometimes, yes,” he chuckles. “Not my spot though, I think the janitor comes up here to smoke, but I haven’t run into him yet.”

You sit in silence, Harry gives you time and space to pull yourself together, not rushing you to talk at all and you’re grateful for his patience. Staring ahead at the view you take a few deep breaths, telling yourself not to let Eric’s bullshit get to your head. 

“I’m sorry you had to… deal with my tantrum,” you chuckle sadly at last. 

“That wasn’t a tantrum,” he smiles softly. “And don’t be sorry, everyone could have a bad day. Want to talk about what happened?”

“I trusted the wrong person,” you purse your lips. “Um, the virus you found on my computer. Someone from the company put it there to fuck up my chances for a promotion I’ve been dreaming of for a long time.”

“What? Are you… are you serious?”

“Yeah and the worst part is that… god, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve been kind of… hooking up with him and he said it was all just to get closer to me.”

Harry opens his mouth to say something, but then ends up closing it, processing what you just told him. You don’t blame him for being lost and confused, it’s a shitshow, to say the least. 

“That’s… That’s awful, I’m sorry,” he clears his throat, gently shaking his head. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” you chuckle. “I trusted the wrong person. Learned my lesson,” you shrug, and you wish you could actually end it all in your head with that, but you know it will bother you for a while at least. 

“Can I ask who this person is?”

“Eric Sonders.”

“I think… I know him. Didn’t think he could be this… vile.”

“Me neither!” you laugh. 

“So… he stole your idea and presentation, so now you have to do something else? And that’s the makeover?”

Nodding you briefly tell him what happened at the meeting, he listens intently and then shakes his head in disapproval, probably just as upset and lost about Eric’s behavior as you are. 

“You should report him, this is incredibly unethical and unacceptable.”

“I have no proof. We can’t prove that he did it all to my computer, you said it yourself.”

“Shit, you’re right.”

While Harry is deep in his thoughts you just stare ahead of yourself, doing a short assessment of your current situation. This should have been an exciting, professionally challenging time in your life, working on something that would earn you your promotion, but now, you feel like it’s more out of your reach than ever.

“We’ll make it work,” Harry speaks up, as if he could read your mind. “We can do it.”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah. It’s gonna be a tight stretch, but… It’s not impossible.”

“You are truly a life saver for agreeing to do it, Harry. I have no idea what I would do without you.”

He turns to you with a sheepish smile and you notice the slight pink shade on his cheeks as he nods.

“I’m happy to help.”

Part of you knew this would be deadly, but even after expecting the worst, it hits you like a train.

In the next two weeks you feel like you spend every waking moment working on the project with Harry. Sometimes you do it together, sharing ideas, discussing them, sometimes you’re together but work in silence and sometimes you do it apart. Whichever it is, you eat, drink and dream with the new website.

While Harry is taking care of the coding, you do everything else, that means content writing, planning, organizing and also designing. It’s been ages since the last time you designed anything, once upon a time you thought you’d end up in that field, but then somehow marketing came into the picture and now you have to combine your two passions. 

It’s destroying you absolutely, but slowly it’s starting to add up and you can see the progress. 

On a Friday evening you’re still in the office after seven, practically everyone has left by now, but you’re deep in work with Harry beside you. It's one of those quiet sessions, when you’re working together, but only speak when there’s an issue. Neither of you said anything for about an hour when the silence is interrupted by Harry’s ringing phone.

“Ah, sorry,” he mumbles, jumping in his seat at the sudden noise as he reaches for the phone, checking the caller ID before his eyes go wide. “Oh shit,” he mumbles and you look up at him as he answers the call. “Hey Mitch!”

You hear a voice from the phone, but it’s too muffled for you to make out what they are saying.

“Um, I’m kind of still at the office… No, I didn’t forget!” he protests, but the look on his face clearly tells you he did forget something. “I-I don’t know… Yeah, I’ve been just working with Y/N… No, I won’t– Mitch… No!... Uh, okay…”

He holds the phone away from his ear, covering the mic with a hand as he looks at you with anxious eyes, he looks like a reindeer caught in headlights. 

“Um, I forgot I was supposed to meet two of my friends for a few drinks. Is it okay if I leave now?”

“Oh God, of course! Harry, it’s so late, I shouldn’t have kept you here so long.”

“You didn’t keep me,” he chuckles, before the worried look returns to his face. “Actually, would you… I mean only if you want to–So do you maybe… want to come?”

It’s adorable how he stumbles over his own words and you see the familiar pink shade tinting his face again, it’s a color you’ve seen a lot lately and you’ve grown to quite like it. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to intrude on your time with your friends.”

“You wouldn’t intrude, I mean, I’m asking because I want you to join, obviously.”

“I-I’ll just go home and work some more, it’s fine–”

“Y/N, we’ve been working all day,” he chuckles. “You deserve some free time as well.”

You think of his words, these two weeks has been so busy you didn’t even do anything else than working and sleeping practically. Some off time would be actually amazing for your fried brain.

“Only if you truly don’t mind,” you say at last.

“Let’s pack then,” he beams with a smile as he shuts his computer down.

Twenty minutes later you’re walking into a bar you’ve never been to, joining Harry’s friends for drinks and though you can’t put your finger on it, but for some reason you feel a bit anxious. 

“Hey guys,” Harry waves at a couple sitting in a dimly lit booth. The woman is the first one to look at you with a beaming, bright smile as she slides out and holds her hand out for you.

“Hi! You must be Y/N! I’m Sarah and this is my husband, Mitch,”

“It’s nice to meet you,” you breathe out as you shake hands with Mitch as well.

You’re instantly bombarded with questions from Sarah as you slip into the booth and don’t even notice that Harry leaves and then returns with two drinks.

“Oh, thank you,” you smile at him as he sits beside you.

“So how is the project going?” Mitch speaks up, lazily draping an arm to the back of the seat behind Sarah.

“It’s going good,” Harry hums with a small nod, very humble about how much he has gotten done in just the first week.

“Mostly because of Harry’s hard work,” you add, praising him the way he deserves and it brings back that pink shade to his cheeks.

Sarah and Mitch are very easy to talk to, they seem curious about the projects the two of you are working on and just you in general. You’re having a great time hanging out with them and you feel like you’ve known them for a long time even though you literally just met.

You don’t even notice how time flies by, only when Sarah checks the time and lets Mitch know that they need to be heading home so the babysitter can leave.

“It was really nice meeting you, Y/N. I hope we can do this some other time,” Sarah hugs you.

“If Harry doesn’t mind me interrupting his time with his friends, then I’m in,” you chuckle, looking at the man in question who just shakes his head with a shy smile, letting you know he definitely does not mind.

“Alright, then it’s settled!”

They say their goodbye to Harry as well and suddenly it’s just the two of you in the booth and Harry is noticeably more nervous than before.

“Um, w-we don’t have to stay, if you want to go home, you co–”

“I’m happy to stay, Harry,” you smile at him without hesitation. He seems surprised, but excited at your answer.

You order another round of drinks and with the previous ones already consumed, it seems like Harry is slowly opening up, leaving his shyness behind and you get to have a peek behind his walls. The more you find out about him the more sure you get that he is truly an amazing, brilliant person and you wish you had met him earlier.

Maybe then you wouldn’t have fallen for Eric’s bullshit. Maybe then you would have fallen for him.

The drinks you’ve had don’t actually let it register, but you’re already developing a crush on him. How could you not? He is sweet, caring, smart, very thoughtful, basically the polar opposite of Eric. It’s making you question what you even saw in that asshole, you really put the bar too low.

“Oh shit, it’s already three in the morning,” you chuckle, when you finally check the time. “I should head home, I can’t sleep all day tomorrow,” you sigh, rubbing your face with your hands, realizing just how tired you feel. 

“I’ll call an Uber, is it okay if we share one?”

“It’s more than okay,” you smile at him lazily.

Minutes later you’re out in front of the bar, waiting for the ride to arrive. It has gotten significantly chillier, you did not dress for a night out so you’re holding your blazer jacket tight on yourself. When Harry notices he shrugs off his jean jacket without a word and drapes it over your shoulders.

“No, you’ll be cold!” you try to protest, but he shakes his head.

“I have a hoodie in my backpack,” he shrugs and pulls out a black hoodie, putting it on right when a car pulls up in front of you.

“Thank you for inviting me out tonight,” you quietly speak up on the backseat of the Uber, staring at Harry’s dimly lit handsome face. His glasses slid down on the bridge of his nose and you had enough drinks to have the courage to reach out and push them back gently. The gesture seemingly surprised him, but he doesn’t protest, just keeps his eyes focused on you.

“It was nice hanging out with you outside of the office.”

“Now we know we have things to talk about outside of the project,” you chuckle, making him grin as well. “We’re a great duo, Harry.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure about it at first, I have never had to work this closely together with an IT guy and I was afraid I might be too intense for you. But it all turned out so good, I like spending time with you.”

“Really?”

“Is it that surprising?” you chuckle, letting your head fall back and rest on the back of the seat. “You’re a cool guy, Harry Styles. And very handsome.”

The last comment rolls off your tongue before you could bite it back and though it’s too dark to see it, you just know he is all blushed. Before any of you could speak up, the car comes to a stop, you’ve arrived at your building. Harry gets out of the car with you and walks you up to the door. 

“See you on monday?” he shyly kicks the dust, hands in his pockets. 

“Yeah. Thanks for tonight,” you repeat yourself and there’s a heartbeat of silence where you feel that moment.

You probably should not be feeling this way, not after getting yourself burnt so bad, but you can’t help it. You want to kiss Harry and for a split second you believe he wants to do the same. His eyes flicker down to your lips and you move just a tiny bit closer to him, time stands still and just when you think he’ll do it, he clears his throat and steps back.

“Good night, Y/N,” he mumbles nodding before he walks back to the car. 

You stand there, feeling stupid as you blink after him before snapping out of your trance, forcing yourself to walk inside. As you take a quick shower and get ready to bed you get into a spiral. 

First of all you’re such a needy idiot for jumping from one man to the other. You should not be looking at men at all after Eric and yet here you are, crushing on yet another coworker of yours, what is wrong with you?! 

And second, why were you expecting him to kiss you? You’ve barely known each other for a few weeks and Harry is a reasonable man, he is probably not at all like you, he probably doesn’t want to get involved with a coworker especially not you. Some signs were giving you a feeling that he might have liked you more than just a friend, but you must have totally misread him. 

You have to control yourself and not scare him away, especially since he is doing you a huge favor, the last thing you want to do is to make him uncomfortable.

Harry hasn’t stopped thinking about you all weekend. Specifically about that moment in front of your apartment building where he would have sworn he felt you were expecting him to kiss you, but he couldn’t do it. Not when you were clearly intoxicated.

He didn’t want you to think he would ever take advantage of you like that.

The next week starts oddly. He gets some extra tasks and you get involved in another project as well, so you can’t work together like last week. Monday and then Tuesday rushes by without the two of you meeting. By Wednesday Harry is craving to see you again and it seems like it’s finally happening, because you don’t cancel your morning meeting. He arrives in a good mood with coffee for you and him, excited to show you everything he finished in the past days.

But then he can feel the change in you when you walk in.

You seem off, but at first he can’t tell why. You’re not your bubbly self, you seem very closed off and oddly professional compared to the times the two of you met earlier. Harry tries to tell himself it’s nothing serious, but the more time you spend together the more obvious it’s getting and he can’t take it anymore.

“Y/N?” he quietly asks at the end of the meeting. “Is everything alright?”

“Sure,” you nod, but it’s like as if you didn’t even believe it yourself.

“Did… Did I do something that upset you?”

“Nope, I just…” You sigh, giving up the facade you’ve been trying hard to keep up. “Listen, about Friday, I’m very sorry, Harry.”

“Sorry? For what?”

“I feel like I overstepped a line and made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry about that. If I made you uncomfortable. I want us to work well together and my unfiltered mouth was not at all professional that night, so I’m really sorry about that.”

Harry is blinking at you, confused and lost about what you truly meant by all that. He did not see this coming and now he has no idea how to react other than just looking at you with a startled expression.

“Can we just go back to where we were before that?”

“Where… I don’t-I mean, um…”

“Let’s just forget about when we parted ways, please?”

“So… Uh, yeah,” he at last nods, trying his best to mask his disappointment. He thought there might be something more between the two of you, but this conversation is proof that you just had too many drinks and you didn’t mean any of it. 

“Thank you so much,” you breathe out in relief. “I wouldn’t want to ruin our work together.”

Harry nods silently and doesn’t ask more about it. 

He is trying hard to hide his disappointment and part of home wants to know if you felt even the slightest spark on Friday or it was all just the alcohol, but he is not one to dig into things that might end him up in an awkward situation. He just swallows it all down and pulls his walls up again.

You can feel a bitter taste in your mouth as well after your talk with Harry. Something felt off, but you can’t put your finger on it and soon you have something else to worry about. 

You’re surprised to see Eric chatting with Zaya when you return to your desk. Your intern, bless her heart, is trying to keep a straight and professional face but you can tell she wants to scream at the man who definitely thinks he is charming the young girl with his small talk. 

“Eric? What are you doing here?” you ask, biting your tongue so you don’t tell him to leave and fuck himself.

“Hey, can we talk? Privately?” 

You look at Zaya and her eyes tell you what she thinks: it’s the literal worst idea ever. And you want to say no to him, but judging from his antics lately he would somehow use it against you so you don’t have much of a choice.

“Sure,” you mumble and the two of you take an empty meeting room. “So?” 

“Look, I want to apologize.”

What? Is he for real? That was unexpected.

“My behavior was uncalled for and very unprofessional.”

“Do you mean the way you stole my idea and presentation or the way you talked to me when I confronted you about it?”

“Can you not attack me, please?” he gives you a look that would have put you in place before, but now it just annoys you. He is trying to make you be the one in the wrong and you want to snap at him for still being such an ass, but you want to be the bigger person and stay professional. No matter how much you hate him, you’re still colleagues. 

“Go on,” you sigh, folding your arms over your chest.

“I know I can’t change the past but I think it's best if we deal with it in a decent way.”

How noble of him, pulling the rug from underneath you and then acting like he is this decent, peaceful man who just wants to work together. You want to throw up, but you swallow it back and force a smile onto your face.

“Sure, of course,” you tell him.

Seemingly Eric is satisfied with the work he did, but he is so tone deaf it hurts. He smiles nodding and heads out of the room with you behind him.

“Great talk!” he enthuses before walking away.

Zaya turns to you with wide eyes and you just shake your head.

“He wanted to apologize, though he didn’t really succeed, but I feel like it doesn’t matter to him,” you shrug as you sit behind your desk.

“You’re not forgiving him, right?”

“Of course not,” you scoff. “But we’re still colleagues, I can’t keep up the beef, it’s too tiring. I’ll just ignore his existence.”

You don’t think much of Eric’s ridiculous attempt to make peace, you keep your focus on your own project. 

There’s a bit of awkwardness between you and Harry after your little talk, but you feel like with time it eases and you write it off as just him not fond of situations like the one you put him into on Friday. 

Thursday afternoon the two of you are having another session together, working on some details he’s been trying to figure out himself, but he needs your input to finish them as well. It turns into brainstorming which results in a bunch of new things you want to include, but it will also add more work to your plate.

“I’m really sorry I always just keep adding new stuff to your load,” you sigh, truly feeling like you’re constantly overstepping boundaries, but Harry just shakes his head.

“I’m excited about these all. These are great functions and I’m looking forward to writing the code.”

“That sounded so nerdy,” you chuckle, but notice that Harry’s smile has disappeared.

“Sorry.”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that! It’s great, I love it when someone is so passionate about something. I love it when you get deep into the tech talk. I think it’s amazing how much you know about these stuff.”

“But you can always just tell me to shut up, I know a lot of people don’t like it when I talk like that,” he mumbles, noticeably avoiding looking you in the eyes.

“Has… someone told you not to talk about programming?”

“Um…” He shifts uncomfortably and you’re about to tell him he doesn’t need to answer, but then he speaks up. “My ex girlfriend hated it when I talked about IT stuff,” he shrugs, but you can tell it’s something he struggled with. 

You can’t imagine ever telling him to stop talking about something that brings him this much joy. It’s clear this is his element and any woman that would try to restrain it is an idiot and can’t appreciate how wonderful this man is. 

You watch him quietly finish up on his computer before he starts to shut it down and you know you have to say something.

“She did not deserve you.”

He blinks at you surprised so you continue.

“Anyone who wants you to stop talking about something that makes you happy is not a person you want in your life, Harry, I hope you know that.”

“Uh… thank you,” he mumbles, that lovely pink shade taking over his face once again.

“You can always talk tech with me. I like listening to it.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. It amazes me, because I know nothing about it.” And it’s really hot, you want to add, but then bite your tongue. 

There’s a tiny smile on his pink lips and you can tell this moment matters to him more than you could imagine and you’re glad you could make him happy like that.

“D-Do you want to grab something to eat?” he suggests as the two of you head out of the meeting room.

“That sounds great! I’m starving!” you groan. “Let me just grab my bag from my desk.

Harry nods and follows you, he already has his backpack with him. You’re musing about what you should have and Harry is telling you about this amazing bagel place he loves when you spot the familiar figure near your desk. 

“Eric, what are you doing here?” you ask, but you’re tempted to phrase your words differently, because it’s quite obvious he was snooping around your desk, not expecting you to show up after office hours.

“Y/N, hi! I was just… I thought I left some papers here the other day,” he clears his throat, stepping away from your desk. 

“You had no papers with you,” you simply say, knowing well something is off with him.

“Maybe I remembered wrong,” he chuckles. “Alright, see you later,” he waves and then leaves quickly before you could ask any more questions. 

“What was that about?” Harry asks as you launch at your desk, checking what might have changed.

“He was looking for something. He is trying to play me again,” you hiss through your teeth, frantically examining what he could have put his hands on, but you see nothing out of place. But then you realize that he must have thought you left your laptop, that’s what he was looking for. “Oh my God,” you gasp, quickly starting your laptop to see if there is anything wrong with it. 

“What? What’s going on?”

“Harry, can you, uhh—Can you check if there is anything wrong with my laptop?” you plead as he rounds your desk and sits nodding, though he is a tad bit lost about what’s happening.

“Like, check if there’s another virus, or something?”

“Yes. I think he was trying to tamper with it again, I can’t know for sure if he hasn’t touched it earlier.”

You knew his half-assed apology was tactic, but you didn’t think he would do it all over again. Eric really isn’t the person you thought him to be.

You watch Harry type away on your computer, anxiously waiting for him to say anything and in the meanwhile you’re planning how you’ll get rid of Eric the moment you finally get your well-deserved promotion. There’s no way you’re letting a snake like him work at the company. 

“I don’t see anything,” Harry finally leans back and you exhale in relief.

“I can’t let it out of my sight from now on,” you grumble, shaking your head. 

In this moment you feel like you’re running out of energy, all because you trusted the wrong person. Feeling defeated you collapse into Zaya’s chair, pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Harry softly says, as if he could read your mind.

“I’m in this situation because I made all the worst choices. I can’t blame anyone else but myself.”

“You couldn’t have known this is how it would turn out to be.”

“I know, but…”

“No but. Just… You know what? I’ll install an extra security program on your laptop so only you can access it, alright?”

“Really?” you sit up straight.

“Yeah, just give me a few moments.”

He gets down to work, works his magic and a minute later he is explaining to you what he got set up on your laptop to secure it.

“Harry, I owe you so much at this point,” you sigh in relief when it sinks in that Eric will not get his hands on your things again. “I have no idea how I will be able to pay you back.”

You notice a slight shift in him as he clears his throat, looking at you nervously.

“About that… I-I think I know h-how–I mean I thought about what… you could…”

“You know what you want in return?” you perk up, happy to do something for Harry after everything he did for you. 

“Y-you can say no, it’s okay, I just–Um…”

“Harry, whatever it is, my answer is gonna be yes,” you chuckle, placing a gentle hand on his arm. He looks at your hand and then up to your eyes before finally speaking up.

“Go on a date… with me?”

Harry has been working up the courage to ask you all day, but he didn’t think he would have the balls to say it out loud. Sarah and Mitch urged him to shoot his shot, even after the kind of awkward conversation you had earlier. His friends were convinced you were into him regardless, but he’s been struggling to believe it himself.

It was kind of random he blurted it out, but now it’s been said and he is about to faint, waiting for your response. You’re staring back at him, eyebrows slightly raised, lips parted, but no words have left your mouth since his question.

“Y-You don’t have to, I-I understand–I mean, it’s–”

“Harry,” you cut him off. “I would love to go on a date with you,” you finally tell him and it feels like a stone has been lifted off his shoulders, his heart is about to jump out of his chest any moment.

“But I won’t take it as your payment,” you add and now it’s his turn to be surprised. 

“What?” he breathes out, not sure what to make of your words.

“I would never take it as a payment, because I would go on a date with you regardless, Harry. Think of something else and we will have the date as well.”

“Really?” 

“Of course,” you chuckle. 

“Okay, alright, um… then… it’s a date!”

Harry is late.

He promised to be there at the meeting room on time to support you and answer any tech related questions that might come up in connection with your presentation. Eric is now presenting his (your) idea, he has added some features to it since he stole the whole thing, but it’s still mainly yours. 

“Thank you very much for your attention,” he nods as he finishes his talk and the board claps shortly before it’s your turn to stand in front of them. 

You’re plugging your laptop together with the projector when the door of the meeting room opens and Harry’s head pops inside. Relief washes over you as you watch him apologize for his late arrival and take a seat. Your gaze meets his and he smiles at you sweetly, holding his thumb up for you as you load the presentation. Now you feel braver, knowing he is here to support you.

You desperately wish you could read minds as you go on with your presentation. You’re met with mostly blank faces, but they were the same during Eric’s presentation as well, so you can’t tell what they are thinking about. It’s going smoothly, you rehearsed it a million times instead of sleeping in the past few days and when it’s time for questions you ace all of them, even the few tech ones. You’ve spent so much time with Harry that you can easily give an answer to everything at this point.

“Thank you for your attention,” you nod smiling at the end and disconnect your laptop from the projector, walking back to Harry.

“You did amazing,” he smiles at you proudly and his approval means the most to you. 

“Thanks.”

“I’m sorry I was late, I had to take care of something.”

“It’s okay. I’m just happy you’re here.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have missed it.” The CEO stands up and all heads turn in his direction.

“Thank you for the presentations, I would like to ask the candidates to leave the room so we can vote.”

You gather all your stuff and head out with Harry by your side. Eric ignores your existence, as if he didn’t lie and cheat his way to this moment, but you’re not stressing yourself anymore about it. 

You definitely believe in karma.

“You’ve got this,” Harry smiles at you softly and your heart melts at his expression. 

You’re planning to have your date tonight. It’s gonna be either a ‘you’ve got the promotion, now let’s celebrate with our date’ occasion or ‘you didn’t get the promotion so let’s cheer you up with a date’, you’re fine with both, truly. You know you put everything you had into this promotion and if they still decide not to choose you, that’s their loss and your sign to move on. 

You’re beyond excited about your date. There’s been an obvious change in your dynamic since Harry has asked you out, there are more glances, little touches, compliments and some very apparent sexual tension that’s still within the lines of comfort, it’s not too hard to control yourself, but you keep noticing more and more things about him that are pulling you towards him.

“I will miss our little work session,” you smile back at him shyly.

“Little? They usually lasted hours,” he chuckles, making you laugh too.

“Loved them all,” you shrug and the look on his face tells you he did too. 

The board takes some time to make their decision and when the door opens fifteen minutes later your heart skips a beat. The CEO asks you all to return to the room and you take your previous seat, Harry sitting next to you. His hand brushes against your knee shortly and you look at him, your gaze meeting his as he gives you an encouraging smile.

“Thank you all for these amazing presentations, we were very pleased with the plans and projects,” the CEO starts as he stands at the head of the table. “We had no doubt you two are the best applicants for the position and it’s been hard to decide who to choose, but at last we made a decision.”

Oh God, you’re about to throw up. Is it you? Is it Eric? You hope you won’t cry. That could happen in either case, but you really don’t want to cry in front of all these people. 

“The person we chose to fulfill the position is…” His eyes scan over the both of you as you hold your breath and then it finally lands on you. “Y/N Y/L/N. Congratulations.”

And just like that, your lungs fill with air again and it feels like a rock has been lifted off your shoulders. 

“I told you,” you hear Harry beside you and when you look at him you see pride all over his face and you can’t stop yourself from throwing your arms around his neck to hug him.

“Thank you, it wouldn’t have happened without you,” you mumble as you squeeze him tight before letting go of him, going up to the board to shake hands. 

At first you don’t even process it, but then Eric’s voice hits your ear and you realize he is turning red across the table, complaining nonstop about the outcome.

“...The whole thing was so fucking out of the blue! Redesigning the whole website? That’s like suicide!...”

You don’t even have the chance to react to his comments, the CEO speaks up for everyone.

“Y/N’s idea is daring, innovative and brave, just what we need. We don’t want to play it safe and your idea was definitely in the safe zone.”

“His idea,” you scoff under your breath.

“Actually, there is something I would like to show you, if you have a few more minutes,” Harry speaks up as he starts his laptop and moves over to where the board is. You’re watching him completely puzzled.

“There’s been an unfortunate incident about the presentations. Y/N’s original idea was stolen, a virus has been planted on her computer to cover up the deed, but I could not recover enough information about the perpetrator to make accusations, that was until a few days ago.”

What?!

You see Eric’s red face turn completely white as Harry types away on his computer and then shows something to the board. They curiously eye the alleged proof as Harry continues.

“Proof could be only found on the perpetrator’s device and a few days ago I had access to Eric’s computer when he brought it in for a check up, since it’s been working too slow. As expected and told, I make a full check on every device in these cases and found unquestionable proof that Eric stole Y/N’s presentation through the virus.”

Oh lord. 

You watch as everyone on the board processes what they see on Harry’s computer and you can feel the switch in them towards Eric.

“Eric, let’s have a chat in my office. Now,” the CEO says and it’s definitely an order and Eric doesn’t try to go against it, just nods and follows him out of the room.

“Harry, why didn’t you tell me you were planning to do this?!” you ask as you rush up to him. The board members are leaving the meeting room, leaving the two of you alone. 

“I uh– I wanted it to be a surprise. Eric showed up at the IT department the other day and I got his case without him knowing so I could snoop around. Found the evidence right away so I thought the board should know what he did.”

“Why did you wait until they announced who got the promotion? This could have kicked him out of the contest right away.”

“I knew you’d get it,” he smiles shyly. “I had no doubt they would choose you, I wanted you to experience defeating him after what he did to you.”

To say you’re touched is an understatement. He didn’t just help you immensely to get this promotion, but also went out of his way to serve you justice. He has done more for you than anyone ever. 

You just know you can’t let the moment pass and ignoring the fact that you’re still at work, though no one is around to see, you close the distance between the two of you and press your lips against his.

This kiss has been hanging there for a while and you’d be lying if you said you have never fantasized about what it would be like to kiss Harry, but reality is a thousand times more magical. His lips are soft and warm, go so well with yours and once his first wave of shock passes he finally returns it and you melt in his arms. 

You had a feeling Harry was a great kisser, but the way he claims your lips just blows your mind. He is sweet and gentle but also demanding at the same time and if only you weren’t in the office you’d pretty much jump into his arms and let him do whatever he wants to you. 

Somewhere in the distance a phone rings and it breaks the spell, making you realize that you shouldn’t get carried away. 

“Sorry,” you smile, your lips barely just an inch away from his still. “I got… I just–Thank you. For everything you did for me.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he returns your smile and pecks your lips shortly one more time. “And I will always be here to support you.”

You might look like a lunatic as you watch the guy on the other side of the glass door of your office finish up the sign on the door.

Y/N Y/L/N, Head Of Digital Marketing.

God, you still can’t have enough of the sound of it even though you got the promotion two months ago. Okay, the first month you spent in your old job, teaching the ropes for your successor before you could start your transition into your new position.

Now it’s official and you couldn’t be happier about it.

Checking the time you sit back to your computer to finish up work for the day. It’s been one hell of a week, you’ve worked overtime three times so it’s great that today is finally Friday. You answer some more emails and check your calendar for the next week, making sure everything is settled.

There’s a soft knock on the door and when you look up your heart skips a beat, seeing Harry walk in, his backpack on one shoulder.

“Hey. Are you done?”

“Just one moment,” you smile and he nods, walking over to the window, patiently waiting for you to finish everything up. 

When you turn the computer off and look up at him, you notice that he is staring at you already.

“What?” you ask, packing up.

“Nothing, just… you look so pretty.”

You still haven’t gotten used to his compliments, though they always just keep on coming and coming. You love them.

And you love him.

Walking over to him you wrap your arms around his waist as you steal a kiss. Usually you try to keep the PDA out of the office, but sometimes he is just too hard to resist. Like now.

You’ve been officially a couple for two months, your first date after your big presentation was like a dream, Harry took you to all of his favorite spots in the city and then you just spent hours stargazing on the roof of his apartment’s building, he had a whole setup with a mattress, blankets and pillows, it was the sweetest thing ever, the best way to celebrate your win. Since then, it’s been endless dates, movie nights, trips on the weekend, you’ve been kind of inseparable. Well, outside of the office, because you try your best to stay professional at work. 

“What was that for?” he chuckles softly, his cheeks have that soft pink shade on them that you just want to kiss all over. 

“I’m just happy. That’s it.” Reaching up you fix his glasses before taking a step back and heading out.

Usually you just walk side by side to the elevator, but today you feel extra upbeat, so when you step into the elevator you gently take his hand and lace it together with yours and you can’t help but smile every time you’re in here with Harry.

Because he told you this is where he saw you for the very first time that day you overslept before your disastrous presentation. He was the one who held the elevator’s door for you. You were so disoriented that you didn’t notice him then and he likes to tease you about it, saying that he knew that moment he was into you, all while you didn’t even look at him. In return, you always bring up how you were the one kissing him for the first time. 

It’s crazy to think how much has happened between those two things or even between that morning and today. He was the quiet IT genius who you dragged into your madness. He is still a genius, but you’ve gotten to know the sides of him others can’t see and you love all of them, it just took you some time to open him up. To decode him.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

[haunt3dh3art]

Heyoo! If requests are open then can i ask for jealous yandere ghost with an s/o. Man would shred the person like chedder cheese😭😭

im so sorry for getting to this so late! it got buried lol but omg i don’t even want to think about what ghost would do🤭🤭 anyways here you are!! female pronouns used throughout

˚ . ✦ . ˳ · ˖ ✶ ⋆ . ✧̣̇☽༺♰༻☾✧̣̇ . ⋆ ✶ ˖ · ˳ . ✦ . ˚

| Carved | Jealous!Yandere Simon “Ghost” Riley X Reader

Synopsis: Ghost hears multiple rumours of you and an unknown recruit being seen on base together. He decides to act.

t/w's: death threats, graphic descriptions of violence, canon-typical behaviour, Ghost isn't really in the right headspace throughout the fic, obsessive and possessive behaviour throughout, FEMALE pronouns used, male lover, very brief reference to menstrual cycle, stalking, lil mention of sex, Ghost flat out refuses to call your lover by his name, calls him "it" most of the time lol

˚ . ✦ . ˳ · ˖ ✶ ⋆ . ✧̣̇☽༺♰༻☾✧̣̇ . ⋆ ✶ ˖ · ˳ . ✦ . ˚

Soap made a thoughtless joke at mess a few weeks ago about you and your new "boy toy" that made Ghost freeze at the table.

"She's a good lass, but working out her "play" muscles, wouldn't ya say, Gaz?" The Scotsman laughed, playfully nudging his friend's shoulder.

Gaz snickered while Soap had to clutch his belly. Price gave a disapproving look to the lads.

"Give it up, boys, leave her alone."

Soap looked at the Captain with an innocent look on his face. "Oh, c'mon! I was messing wi'ya!"

Price shook his head.

Meanwhile, next to him, Ghost went rigid. He had been keeping an eye on you for a while. How could he miss something as important as this?

Ghost's blood relentlessly pumped to his head, making him feel like it was going to implode. The world had started to turn upside down.

The soldier cursed himself for being so ignorant. He had your schedule committed to memory, your address back home, phone number, your family members and even was starting to learn the timings of your menstrual cycle, but he hadn't noticed a potential lover. It's the most significant things he had a fucking blind spot for.

Holding his plate, Ghost rose from the dinner bench.

"Where ya goin', Ghost? Ya barely touched your scran!" Soap called out after him.

Ghost waved him off, scraped his food into the bin and put his plate on a cleaning rack. He left the mess hall with a dark cloud swarming around him.

---

Ghost wasn't seen for hours.

He had infiltrated your room and stolen your laptop without you realising. He already knew your password and logged in.

Pictures upon pictures of you and this intruder were plastered all over the device and a photo of you two together was the wallpaper. Ghost felt sick to his stomach and could feel his throat start to burn. He stormed through every photo in your gallery, read all of your messages and even saw some.. photos that made his cock stir.

You made a different kind of heat rise to his belly every time he saw you, but actually seeing some of your bare body instead of imagining it made his hands shake a little. To feel his body against yours, his hands around your perfect tits, just the slightest graze of his teeth against your neck..

Soon. Not soon enough, though.

---

The next time he saw you, you were in the on-site gym, running on a treadmill with your new.. thing.

Ghost hadn't learnt it's name, knowing it wasn't going to be around for much longer.

He decided to lift weights for his session and stayed in the gym until you both left. When you walked past the silently raging solider, you smiled and waved.

Ghost felt himself become Simon for a brief moment, letting his heart feel like an inferno in his chest as you acknowledged him. He knew such a small amount of attention from you was pathetic to react so intensely too, but he couldn't stop himself.

When you finally both left, Ghost flipped like a switch and turned back to the cold-hearted bastard he was used to being.

He let you get ahead for a bit and then left the gym with a towel over his shoulder. He'd brewed up a plan while lifting that was guaranteed to get the creature out of the picture and move you closer to his arms.

As soon as nightfall came, Ghost shed every innate trace of his human nature and embraced the waging inferno inside him.

---

Ghost went to dinner the next day as usual.

The boys exchanged banter and swapped stories as they always did. Ghost ate everything off his plate to avoid suspicion and cleaned up after himself. Then, he walked over to where your partner was sat.

You weren't there by some grace of the gods and Ghost said a silent prayer.

The soldier was well aware how threatening he looked sometimes, but he lived up to his name. Ghost blended into the crowd effortlessly, and cleared his throat when he got to the table.

Your partner turned around and flinched, making Ghost supress a snide chuckle. The man had to raise his eyes to meet Ghost's and scoffed.

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk. Outside," Ghost gestured with his head, keeping his voice low.

The man laughed, rising from his seat. His friends started to laugh and made sounds like they were teenagers. "Fine, let's go."

Ghost led the unsuspecting soldier out of the canteen and down the hallway to a hidden cargo bay. He knew no one would be here and once the soldier had walked into the room, Ghost locked the door.

He slowly turned around, cracking his knuckles.

"Look," The guy said as he raised his hands. "I'm sure we can work this out, whatever it is."

Ghost took a step forward and it took a step back.

"Say a fucking prayer while I'm giving you the chance."

Ghost didn't give him a chance to say anything more; he didn't want to hear another sound but screaming and the flat packing sound of flesh hitting flesh.

The first punch Ghost threw made a sickening crack against the other soldier's jaw. One tooth was already on the floor, and Ghost planned for many more to fall out.

Ghost had the soldier on the floor within seconds, relentlessly smashing his fist into your lover's face, not stopping as he began to choke on blood.

Even through all of the animalistic violence, Ghost could saw flashes of your gentle, soft face in front of his eyes. You smiled sweetly in the haze.

The images only made him punch harder.

For you. You..

"For Y/N.. Y/N.."

He muttered your name under his breath constantly like a madman, like you were his lifeline, his call to arms. At his beck and call. You only needed to say the word and he would gladly do this over and over and over again for you, to anyone, for any reason.

The soldier gripped his arms onto Ghost's with a vice grip, leaving raw, bruising fingerprint marks behind. It would be the last trace of your lover and it would never be seen.

Ghost didn't stop punching even when his opponent was dead. He lay limp on the floor, but darker shades of red kept on creeping around the edges of Ghost's vision, spurring him on.

---

Ghost returned to the canteen hall with a fresh set of clothes on, but a distant look in his eye. As he sat down at his table, he saw you looking for your lover.

Eventually, you gave up and sat down.

He went on to visit you later that night.

---

Ghost knocked your door lightly, a foreign touch when compared to earlier.

You opened the door in a long t-shirt, obviously about to go to bed. "Ghost.." You started, but yawned. "Sorry, what's up?"

Ghost shed his skin, slowly becoming Simon once again.

"I know you're worried about your.. partner, but I promise you that it will work out. If you need me.."

Nodding, you leant against your doorframe. "I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere. Thank you for looking out for me, though."

You smiled and Simon felt his heart beat faster. "If you don't want to sleep on your own tonight, I'll sleep on the floor."

A stupid, stupid fucking offer. Who says that?

"I'd like that, actually. But I've got a chair you can sleep on, would be better than the floor for your back, I think."

Simon felt like he was floating as he walked into your room. It's not like it was his first time, but it was his first time with permission.

He shut the door silently behind him and watched as you fished a second pillow and blanket out of your wardrobe. "I brought these from home," You said proudly. "The chair I stole from the library, that's why it's got cushions. Soap helped me with the heist in the middle of the night."

Simon chuckled, taking the pillow from you. You started laughing too and he watched creases appear in the edges of your eyes. It was nice to see you forget about..

He shook his head and moved closer to you, touching your arm with his free hand.

"Y/N.."

You looked into his eyes, hypnotised. "Mm?"

Simon held on to your arm a little tighter and pulled you towards him. He threw the pillow onto your bed and leaned down by your ear.

"You have no idea about the things I would do for you, have done for you, even."

His voice went impossibly low and sent a shiver down your spine. The hairs on your arms stood up on end.

"You don't have a fucking clue of the things I have done to get this close to you."

Simon raised his mask with one hand and kissed the shell of your ear.

He spoke with deliberate precision and slowly, to burn his words onto your pretty head. He hoped you would never forget them.

"I am.. captured by you. The way you walk," He softly bit your ear and kissed over the mark it would leave. "The way you talk, the way you look, at me, especially."

He chuckled lowly, the sound reverberating through your soul.

"I am yours, and you are mine."

˚ . ✦ . ˳ · ˖ ✶ ⋆ . ✧̣̇☽༺♰༻☾✧̣̇ . ⋆ ✶ ˖ · ˳ . ✦ . ˚

[afewfantasies]

🏔️The Retreat 🏔️- Chapter V

Prologue | Chapter I | Chapter II | Chapter III | Chapter IV | Misc references & details

Summary:  Through the promptings of others Lorena and Gale are both forced to confront their personal feelings for each other, while acknowledging the potential for romance & their future.

Pairing: Gale Cleven x Lorena (black fem oc)

Warnings:  None

Tropes: Slow Burn, opposites attract, forbidden love

Word Count: 2K

PART V - Major

Gale had never witnessed a winter prep like this before. Lorena had a strange way of making everything feel like a party with all her personality and ideas to make the mundane fun. There were wood splitting competitions among the boys and stacking competitions. There was no quarrelling as Lorena and Rose were in charge of the harvest and for the first time they were ahead of the schedule in September. A freak frost would have very few consequences on their way of life. Lorena’s sister's visit seemed to do wonders for her well being and in the weeks since her departure there’d already been two letters. Gale kept Felicia’s words close to his chest. He found himself admiring Lorena more and more. Admitting the way her eye’s light when she smiles, the cadence of her laugh, her sense of humour and glamorous nature. He found himself indulging her stories and whims more too. If Felicia thought there was a possibility of happiness between them, then Gale thought there could be a possibility that Lorena could see him the same way all the others did.

“What are you moping about Gale, us soldiers not moving efficiently enough for the Major?” Lorena asks, coming in with a basket of apples to be sliced and hung to dry. Gale smiles at her teasing.

“Wasn’t moping, I just resent there’s nothing to complain about. It’s not good for my reputation” Gale admits. Lorena lights up before laughing a touch. Gale had been opening up to her, it was a wonderful thing. Absolutely wonderful that he was finding his way out of his shell, and beginning to trust her like she trusted him.

“I’ll make a mess of something, you can be sure of it so keep some complaints in your reserves Major” Lorena mocks. He’d inherited the nickname not as a form of respect but admonishment. His small margin for error and serious precision had garnered him the nickname from Lorena. She didn’t understand what surviving a Montana winter was like, what preparation was required to ensure comfort and survival but Gale did. He’d survived the prison camps with next to nothing in terms of food and clothing, and would never endure anything like it again.

“I don’t think you understand how the chain of command works,” Gale says, taking far more than he should. His heart had never let him be too harsh with Lorena. From the moment she appeared in the lodge he had a soft spot for her and that would never change.

“I’m just being a pest, I don’t need a court martial for insubordination” Lorena winks filling the sink with water, it only proves her knowledge of the chain of command. She’d learned a thing or two about the military structure during the 101st’s reunion a few months ago.

“Food is important, it’s always better to have too much of it stored just in case we get snowed in, or the trains get snowed out and provisions stop making their way here. Or we have a long winter” Gale explains.

“When’s the last time anyone can really get in or out?” Lorena asks.

“Depends on the year but after November you’re stuck until around March” Gale explains truthfully. Hesitation washes over Lorena as she does a quick calculation. It would be five months away from her family, five months without consistent communication with them. She’d been silently weighing her options since Felicia’s departure. The heartache of her ex had settled into a bearable wound. As much as she wanted to see them she didn’t want to be forced to remain in a town that felt too muddled by a complicated past and a would be increasingly frustrating present. Lorena didn’t know if she could ever truly be okay with the sight of the man she once loved more than anything happy with someone else. It was the defining reason she had yet to return home, and somehow that bit of self preservation felt cheap. Especially around the likes of Rose and Gale who faced insurmountable challenges head on. A war hero who survived with his sanity intact, and a window making her own way in the wilderness.

The sound of the water stops and Lorena looks up to see Gale has stopped the sink from overflowing. The playfulness is gone from his expression and has been replaced by concern. In a perfect world Lorena could have it all. Her family, friends and home, along with Gale, Rose and the others. Allowing her a moment to herself Gale places the apples into the water where they bob to the surface.

“What is it?” He asks finally.

“My parents miss me a lot, this will be my first Christmas away from them” Lorena confesses.

Her words are just that and Gale can’t help but wonder if there wasn’t another reason for her hesitation. The indication that she missed her ex, that he was one of the reasons she wanted to return. Felicia had been right about his feelings for Lorena, perhaps the older sister was also correct about her sister’s inevitable willingness to take the scoundrel who betrayed her back.

“You can get back home in the spring, it’ll be safer to travel to and from. Felicia can come back with you” he offers now that a world without her under his roof has become inconceivable to him. Lorena scoffs knowing full well that it wouldn’t just be Felicia, it would be her brother and mother as well. Reaching into the basin Lorena begins scrubbing the skin of the apples in preparation for their preservation. Gale stands by her side instead of returning to his task of unloading the hay with the others. His eyes wash over her as stands carrying more than she should emotionally. To Gale there were too many positive qualities to the woman that she should have no insecurities. Feeling the weight of his gaze, Lorena meets him. Something about his blue eyes always seemed to ground her, settle her restlessness and put her at ease. It had been so since the very first time she saw him.

“Gale, we need you - there’s another delivery to be signed for” one of the guys yells from outside.

Gale, we need you. Lorena smiles at the truth of the statement.

“I’m coming!” he shouts, turning back to the door before looking back at Lorena. So it would be a fight after all.

“Whenever you decide to leave I’ll make the trip with you, and if you don’t want to go back your family is welcome here” Gale says with the same commitment to his people that he’d had in the war. It brings a genuine smile to Lorena’s face. The thought of Gale waking through her hometown where he’d stick out like a black swan.

“Maybe you could spend a winter with me sometime and enjoy all the perks of city living.” She suggests making him smile. As long as Lorena saw her future intertwined with his, Gale could be at ease.

“Definitely, I’ll probably be in late. Have dinner with Rose”  He says far more comfortable with stepping out now. Even if it was only a few feet away Lorena’s melancholy weighed him down more than anything else. Lorena’s smile had made it into his dreams and into his heart. It was the only way he wanted to see her now.

…

Rose and Lorena sit on the porch swing watching the boys finish up loading the last few bales of hay for the day. Rose had prepared a hearty dinner that would surely put them to sleep after providing them with adequate nourishment.

“You’re good for him,” the older woman says.

“Huh?” Lorena questions.

“You’re good for him,”  Rose repeats, looking directly at Gale. “He was so angry last year - this entire experience was a nightmare. He hasn’t been angry in months and now he’s finally starting to settle” she says.

“Benefit of time” Lorena says.

“Not just time Lorena, you” Rose says.

“Well, I’m glad I can help,” Lorena responds, making Rose smile.

“Life’s too short to deny yourself the good because of those who’ve mistreated you. We’re all on borrowed time, don’t squander it. You’re young and beautiful and deserve to be loved.”

“Rose? Are you feverish, have you been smoking wild herbs?” Lorena asks, appalled by the older woman's frankness.

“I see the way he looks at you, I’m around. Gale doesn’t make a decision without considering your opinion of comfort. He’s too good a man for most and you’re too good a woman for most. Aside from the obvious facts there’s chemistry there that can’t be denied. Just think about the kind of love he’s capable of Lorena. If he’s been kind, generous and fair with you when you were a stranger.” Rose says hitting Lorena with sobering truths. Looking away from the boys Lorena turns to face Rose who nods with all knowing eyes.

“Gale’s a good man, his heart is set on that gorgeous starlet fiancé that ran away” Lorena sighs knowing intimately.

“He deserves far better than a woman that left him, the man he is and ignored what he was going through.” Rose says and it’s a point Lorena can agree on. “And so do you. I can’t imagine the amount of stupid on that ex-husband of yours. A lady like you being overlooked after staying and being loyal even to this day. Darling you’ve done enough for him. It’s time for you to live for you.” Rose suggests.

Looking at Rose it’s clear as day she’s full of wisdom, she’d always had an omniscient quality to her. Lorena’s silence is only further confirmation of the complicated web of feelings between Gale and herself. Reggie had courted her differently; with large declarations and ostentatious presentations of his affections. Reggie was loud in his love and it was all Lorena had come to know. Gale loved his corners, the quiet and operating in the peripheries if his expertise and leadership were not required.

“So you think I should do what my Ma says and remarry?” Lorena asks, looking into wise eyes.

“I think every woman deserves a taste of the best life has to offer them. You haven’t had it yet and you owe yourself that experience. Someone who cares so much they start digging out an extra cellar in August to prepare enough provisions so that the live-in princess is comfortable” Rose winks before heading into her home.

Lorena sits at a loss for words. Gale stands across the field leading the men in the loading of the barn. Lorena had thought him handsome from day one but she hadn’t thought she was even a contender for his affections, her head hadn’t been in that space when she first arrived. She was nursing her wounds. There was no longing for passion. Only longing for the heartache to cease. And it had. When and where Lorena didn’t know. She could place it. Sometime during the summer after many good days and full weeks. Among the smiles and laughter she’d found peace and Gale had been there every step of the way. Every breakfast, every supper, every night. Every morning he waited to hear movement before getting his day started, and every night he walked across the hall to look in on her before going to bed himself. There’d never been any room or reason for her to think it was something more than otherworldly courtesy. But perhaps with Gale love was the little things, the subtleties, the small kindnesses that add up over time, the careful consideration that makes life easier. The quiet consistency and loyalty that makes you feel a little invincible.

Authors Note: Thanks for reading 💖 I've been in the worst funk lately but the social media algorithm gods have been force feeding so much Austin that my creativity was "re-sparked". Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know how you feel in the comments and re-blogs. The next part is coming and its 🍵 😉

[hyunfilms]

blue side of the sky (lmh) | seventeen.

♡ spotify playlist | series masterlist

—summary: waking up after 3 months with no recollection of your past, your friends do what they can to help you remember. except, they omit an important piece to the puzzle - afraid you would remember the heartbreak and hurt all over again.

—pairing: lee know x f. reader

—genre: (18+) exes to lovers, bestfriends to lovers au | fluff, angst, smut

—word count: 4.1k

—chapter content/warnings: nothing too much for this chapter, cussing, crying, unloading lots of feelings, mostly oc x san centered, the start of turning a new leaf..

—a/n: merry christmas & happy new year, my loves! 🤍 the upcoming updates may be slower / may not be posted on time during my usual schedule just because i'm a little behind on where i wanna be with blue side. <33 there will probably be 5 more chapters left + 3 more cloudy days so we are slowly reaching the end! thank you for supporting me throughout this journey, you have no idea how much i appreciate you all. 🥰

San honestly doesn't think he's ever driven this fast in his life. But, as soon as he picked up your call and heard how distressed you were— he panicked. He races over to the floral shop as safely as possible, pulling up to a spot near the alley. When he jiggles the door knob, he realizes it's locked. He peeks in and doesn't see you in clear view; though, he does catch wind of something hitting the floor and shattering to pieces.

"Y/N?" He turns the corner and heads towards the back door, following the noise. He finally catches sight of your figure, back door slightly ajar. Your bent over on the counter before shoving the small vase next to you onto the floor. "Woah, Y/N. Hey." San says, pushing his way through the door. You don't hear him, or maybe you just don't seem to care right at this moment, but San calls for you again when he finds you tossing another piece to the floor. "Y/N." He says a little more sternly while gently grabbing at your arm. "You'll hurt yourself, please stop. Talk to me." Once you're able to let San's voice sink in, it finally pulls you out of the trance you were in.

"Sannie." You look at him before digging yourself into his arms, crying against his chest.

"Hey, what happened? Talk to me." San repeats, eyeing the mess on the floor— your broken pottery projects lying everywhere in pieces. "You're gonna hurt yourself, let's get you away from this." He says, navigating you through the broken parts until you hit the counter where the register is. You press your back against the edge and slide down to the floor, crying into your hands some more. "Y/N, it's gonna be okay." San says as he sits next to you on the floor and pulls you into arms again. 

"Sannie, they really hid it from me."

"Hid what?" San is asking a true, genuine question. Because again, he only knows the surface details of the accident. He only knows the surface of your breakup with Minho. He truthfully doesn't know what ensued before, during and even after— now. And even though you are heartbroken and torn about your friends, it feels a bit relieving to hear San question you.

At least you weren't the only single person in the dark. It felt like you were.

"Everything. They hid everything from me." You repeat, finally able to look San in the eye. You wipe away at the straggling tears, feeling like you could breathe for a moment. Maybe this was needed, maybe it was warranted. 

"Elaborate whenever you're ready. I'm all ears." And so you take another deep breath before relaying exactly what Minho said about you two. You started from the beginning, outlining how you met in high school and got close. How Minho ended up confessing his feelings for you during your junior year. Your blossoming relationship.

San nods. He listens. He hears you.

Then, you've turned to the sad parts. How Minho said he felt like you two had run its course. How he was truly infatuated by Kat, leaving you out of pure curiosity. How you've taken so long to rebuild that trust when he came back to work things out— just for it to come crumbling down again.

Felt much like the clouds that take over the blue sky when it's getting ready to rain. To storm.

"That night of the accident." You pause, letting out another shaky breath as you sniffle and fiddle with your fingers. San gives your shoulder an encouraging squeeze, nodding for you to continue on. "We got into an argument because Kat had texted him for help with something. I-I didn't really let him explain what it was about because I was so angry. I blew up. I assumed. I didn't wanna be there so I left." You look at San. "It makes sense now, you know? I remember seeing her at the café being all upset and Minho had to take her outside to talk."

"Yeah, I remember that." San adds softly.

"He had been seeing her even while I was in the hospital. Until after." You shake your head. "God, I feel so dumb for letting my feelings take over. I should've pressed on this more."

"No, don't blame yourself. He should've just told you." You sigh. 

"San. I still feel like I played a part in this because I let it happen." Your bottom lip pokes out, and the tears start falling. You're not even sure why you're crying at this point— maybe because you're hurt knowing the one person who you felt like would never hurt you, really hurt you, or because you feel a tad bit of regret for having given into Minho instead of San. You know you would have been forcing it if it were San though; unfortunately, you just feel the way you do for Minho. It hurts so, so much to think about. It still feels like after everything, Minho did choose Kat. Even though he says he loves you, and feels love when he sees you, you feel like his actions had spoken louder than everything else. 

At one point, you were his main priority, his everything.

Then, you became a second choice; another option.

To someone you love, still love dearly, and feel so much for.

That's what hurts the most.

Even though you love him and you crave his comfort, crave his kisses and his 'it'll be alright's,' you will need your time and space from him. From Jisung, too. From your friends. But, mainly him. 

To heal, to grow, to love; yourself, for you.

"It's such a mess. I feel like I took so many steps backwards, and it hurts." San is hurting for you. To be quite honest, he didn't expect all of this tonight. He didn't expect to hear these details, he didn't expect you, Minho and Kat to be in one huge mess. He didn't expect your friends [even JJ] to hide it for this long. He understood the need, but it was about time. The timing of it all.

Throughout all of this pain and hurt, he can still see how much you love Minho. It's the same look in your eyes from the beach that night. It's the same look because the person you love so, so much, is the same person who is capable of hurting you just as deep.

Nonetheless, it's the same look. You love Minho. You will always be his.

And that is probably the root of why it hurts you so, so much.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N. I know it hurts, but it's gonna be okay." San tries to shush you and calm you down. "You just need to take time to process this. No matter how long it takes. Let yourself feel it. Let yourself stash it away in the past when you are ready to. But for now, let yourself feel it and be hurt. You need to take time away from him and everyone else. That's all okay. They need to understand that."

"Why didn't they just tell me? Why didn't Minho just tell me? We—we were—" You look at him all doe-eyes, more tears threatening to spill from your bottom lid. 

"You don't have to explain. I know." It's the truth, and it only gives San validation. He knows you and Minho had been rekindling the flame, he knows you two were working on something. "He should have told you beforehand."

"I don't know how much it'd change, but I probably would have stopped myself before falling too deep. I would've given myself time before opening up to him. I really opened myself to Minho and let everything go. I felt safe to do so."

"And it's okay if that feeling comes back. It's okay if it doesn't. Either way, this is a learning experience for everyone and I only hope everyone takes the opportunity to grow from it." San really means that towards Minho. He loves JJ, and though he isn't entirely close to Minho, he does have respect for him. He wishes things happened differently. He wishes Minho was a bit wiser. But, we are humans who make mistakes. The only thing he can do now is learn and grow from it— avoid making the same mistakes, especially if he wants to continue having you in his life. However that may look like.

It will take time.

"You know.." He adds. "You don't have to respond to this or anything. I'm here for you, but I'm also trying to play devil's advocate because of JJ and the guys." San says. "I know your friends deeply care about you and love you. I can see why they did this. The timing of everything was just horrible, and I'm sorry it unfolded this way. It shouldn't have, and there were better ways to approach it. But, at the same time, I know they tried their best." San just holds you and lets you cry against him because he knows this is all you need right now. You were given the information you needed to know, now it's time to process it. And San will be there for you. He will help you no matter what.

So you cry, and you cry.

And you cry.

Letting yourself feel this out until you have nothing else to give.

"San?" You push off of him once you've been able to keep your crying to a minimum, gathering enough energy to break the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I shouldn't love him after all of this, right? I shouldn't." San shakes his head. "It would be so dumb of me to."

"Nah. Never dumb." He smiles a bit. "Love isn't an easy thing sometimes. You can still love someone even after all of that and that's valid. Your heart knows what it wants." He says. "Right now, you just need to make sure you put yourself first. That you love yourself first. All of it will fall into place as it should afterwards." You continue to look at him before shifting your attention to the hem of your sweater. San isn't sure what else to say because he doesn't want to make you feel worse. But, he chimes in once more with his two cents before holding space and allowing you to just be. "I probably sound like a broken record but things will get better." San lifts your chin to meet your eyes briefly. "You've been through so much already, Y/N. I'm sorry life has been difficult. You'll overcome this, and it will only make room for the things meant for you this time around." He allows you to rest your head on his shoulder while the two of you continue to sit on the floor in silence.

You're not sure where you stand, but you need time.

You need space.

No matter how hard it will be, you will need your space.

"Thank you, Sannie."

"Of course." He responds close to a whisper.

"I think I'll be okay now."

"You sure?"

"Mhm." You nod.

"Can I ask then? What was all of that?" San points to the broken pieces and you let out a heavy sigh.

"I made some stuff for Minho at the pottery class and stashed it here so I could surprise him with it. Gone now, I guess."

"I'll clean it up for you so you don't hurt yourself." He gives you a small smile, but you shake your head.

"I made the mess, so I should—" San stands to his feet and immediately grabs the broom and dustpan that sits nearby.

"Y/N. Seriously. Please. I'll take care of it. I really don't want you to hurt yourself. You've been through enough today." You sigh and stand to your feet, dusting yourself off as you follow San to the back and eye the mess you've made.

Just broken pieces of art lying everywhere on the floor. Your heart poured into those pieces, literally. Part of you regrets it, and it's painful to look at.

Much like everything else.

Despite San turning down your efforts to help clean, you do eventually tidy around in some parts so that Mrs. Pak doesn't come in wondering why things were messy and misplaced. At the same time, you're able to prep a few small things ahead of time before your shift tomorrow.

"Ready? Let's get you home so you can rest." San looks at you and you give him a simple nod. You shut off the lights and lock up, following San to his car around the corner. San opens the door for you, allowing you to slide in and silently strap on your seatbelt. As he begins to drive off, he adjusts the temperature in the car and lowers the volume a bit. "That okay?" You look at him and nod, leaning your head against the window and shutting your eyes.

"Yes. Don't mind me. I didn't eat much so I feel a bit queasy."

"Wanna grab something?"

"I'll just make it at home. Thanks, San."

"Okay, just let me know." And with that, San allows you to be. He is worried about you, but he knows the time will do you good. Even if you needed space from him too, he'd give that to you. He knows you are the priority, and he would do whatever it takes to help you heal.

When you finally get home, San quickly walks you to your door— giving you a big hug and holding you close. He reassures you that you can always call or text him if you need him, and that he'll try to drop by if he isn't too swamped with work tomorrow. You thank him again before softly closing the door and retreating into your quiet, humble abode.

Once you've washed up and gotten comfortable, you finally glance at your phone and quickly skim through the texts from Chan, Seungmin, Jisung. Your heart breaks a bit because you know they tried their best.

You will still need time.

You can't even begin to think about Minho right now because you're not sure where you lie with him. You opened up to him, laid out everything so genuinely, so raw— your feelings for him, your need, your attachment. 

His touch, his kisses. Everything.

But, no.

You know he was planning to tell you, you remember that very clearly. You're just having a hard time understanding why he didn't tell you sooner. Maybe you should've pressed on it more, maybe you should've tried harder to get it out of him before anything.

Either way, you are grateful he told you. But you wished it was earlier than later.

You are sad.

And you probably will be for awhile.

Rightfully so.

"Hi Mrs. Pak." You greet her as you prance into the shop. You're feeling a bit better today, given that you didn't answer any texts or force interactions with your bestfriends. Seeing San and being able to open up to him about everything definitely helped. Though, it is probably a little obvious to Mrs. Pak that you aren't functioning at 100% because—

"Hi sweetheart." Her eyes linger on you for a bit, even as you busy yourself around the back room. She can mainly tell by the way you don't follow up with anything right away. On top of that, you haven't been able to really meet her eyes. You are still bright, and you are still glowing. But you're quieter, and your movements are softer; safer. As if you're trying to keep yourself contained in one, small bubble for now. "Is everything alright?" You look at her and let out a shaky breath, feeling the sudden tears prick your eyes at the question.

"It will be." You barely let out, swallowing the lump in your throat as you try to hold back your tears.

"Want to tell me what happened? If you're ready." You nod. You do the same as you did with San yesterday, giving Mrs. Pak details from the very beginning. Of course, she'd have to step away in between to help customers— reassuring you that you didn't have to face most customers if you weren't up for it. You told her you'd be okay, admitting to her that you were here with San the day before just because you needed a place to run to that was away from family, friends. A few tears had escaped and ran down your cheeks during the time you had opened up to her, but you knew there wasn't much tears left to cry. 

Mrs. Pak looked you in the eye and apologized on their behalf, but she also believed that they only had good intentions. It's not surprising coming from her at all, no. As a matter of fact, she supported Minho in a certain way. She knew his decisions were stupid, she knew he made dumb mistakes. But, she believed that this was all necessary for his growth— for him to realize who was meant to be in his life, and how much they truly meant to him. Unfortunate it had to be this way, but she also reassured you that life had its weird ways of working, and that it just had to happen this way.

Things happened for a reason.

And it's totally okay to forgive, but never forget. It serves as a reminder that you only deserve the best, and that your friends, Minho especially, should have learned from this mistake— not taking steps backwards.

"Thanks Mrs. Pak." You give her a soft smile. "For everything."

"Everything will be okay. For all of you. Take your time. Your friends will understand." Mrs. Pak basically repeats what San had said. 

"Mm, yeah." Is all you respond with. Mrs. Pak gives your arm a reassuring squeeze before leaving you in the back to tend to more customers. You continue to prep more special-ordered bouquets, following specifics down to the T in order to keep customers happy. It isn't until a few hours later when you hear a familiar voice speaking to Mrs. Pak at the front.

"Is she here today?" You peek through the blinds seeing Jisung.

"I'm sorry, she—"

"It's okay." You walk out and give her a nod before your eyes shift to Jisung. 

"Cielo." You let out a breath. 

"Let's go outside." You look at Mrs. Pak and she sends a small smile, giving you the green light to step outside for a second. You lead him out the door and to the side, crossing your arms just as you turn your attention to him. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. Y-you didn't answer my text, I kinda got—" You sigh and give him a sympathetic look. You do miss Jisung, and you know he deeply cares for you. But even with him, you feel like you need your time. You need your space.

You cannot be the same way you were with him right now.

"I know, I'm sorry." You let out a small sigh. "Jisung, when I said I needed time, I meant it. Not just a couple of hours, or a day or two." You emphasize. "Time."

"I'm sorry, I know you do." He says lowly. "I get worried. I'm afraid."

"I promise I'll reach out when I'm ready." His eyes soften while he continues to look at you. "Pachi, I need this." You remind him and he finally nods, eyes scanning his feet below him.

"Right, okay. Sorry cielo. Don't hesitate to call me whenever you need something. I'll be there."

"Thank you." You give him one last look before you scurry back into the shop.

"Are you okay, dear? I'm sorry, I wasn't sure if you wanted to see him."

"I'm okay, and I appreciate it, Mrs. Pak. Jisung.. he's just.." You purse your lips. "I think we've always been together so he's not used to this."

"That's okay. He just wanted to check, but I'm sure he understands now." 

"Hope so."

"Are you sure you want to finish your shift, Y/N? I can handle the shop today." You chuckle and shake your head.

"I'm okay, Mrs. Pak. I wanna be here." You throw your arm around her and give her a gentle squeeze. "Now, we still have four more of these bouquets to finish." Mrs. Pak giggles in agreement.

Meanwhile, Jisung's head hangs low as he walks back to his car. He's not gonna lie— he feels a bit defeated after seeing you, but he knows he can't force you or pressure you. He just misses his bestfriend, and the thing that scares him the most is letting you out of his sight once more.

He's afraid of possibly losing you again. He doesn't wanna revisit that moment, that feeling— ever.

His drive home is completely silent as he doesn't even wanna play his music. He stops by for a quick bite to eat, buying something for Minho since he hasn't been 100%. At least, he can focus a bit on being there for him while giving you the space you respectfully asked for and deserve.

"Yo." Jisung says, dropping the bag onto the dining table. "Got you something." Minho looks at him from the couch and gives him a small smile.

"Thanks."

"Are you heading anywhere today?" Minho shakes his head.

"JJ told me he had the café under control. Was gonna pop in and keep myself busy."

"You have class tonight?"

"Mm, yeah. Hyunjin's teaching." Minho stands to join Jisung at the dining table, sitting directly across from him. "Did you see Y/N today?"

"Yeah, I did." Jisung pops his container full of rice open, dipping a spoonful into his kimchi-jjigae. 

"She okay?"

"Think so. Didn't really get a chance to talk to her. She told me she really meant it when she asked for time." Minho nods, following Jisung's actions with his own food. "Feel kinda stupid, I didn't wanna pressure her or make her think we didn't care, but I just got worried and needed to see her."

"Yeah, I know." Minho clears his throat a bit. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For all of this. For the dumb shit I've pulled and for not telling her right away." Minho does a slight head tilt. "I just didn't think, that's all. Got way too caught up in having her back that I should've prioritized this first. You guys got all roped into this too, so I'm sorry I fucked it all up. It's on me."

"It's alright." Jisung says. "We all could've done better. We learn and we grow."

"Yeah."

"Are you doing okay, though?" Jisung can tell he isn't, but he figured posing the question could help Minho open up about it more if he chooses. Minho's eyes are red, slightly puffy. He's been tossing and turning in his sleep, and he feels awful. But, he knows it could never equate to what he put you through. And for that, he is sorry.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I wish I could talk to her but I'll wait until she's ready. However long that takes." He knows he shouldn't text you, call you. He won't. He'll respect your time and space and he'll let this fall into place as it should. After all, he fucked up. He messed this up. He acknowledges it, and he knows this is what he needs to give you.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" Minho hums.

"What if she doesn't wanna get back together with you? What if she's ready to put that in the past?" Minho shrugs.

"Then so be it. I'm not gonna force her. It'll be hard, but I'll always put her first and be her bestfriend before anything. She deserves to be happy, however that looks like for her." Minho sighs. "I've put her through a lot so if she's ready to move on, then she is."

"Mm, yeah. I guess so."

"It'll hurt, yeah. But, can't blame anybody but myself for not doing better in the first place."

"I see." Jisung nods. "Everything will be okay. Over time."

"Hope so."

"You know, despite everything, I know you made Y/N really happy."

"Maybe, maybe not." Minho chuckles. "I mean, I hope I did at some point."

"You're still my bestfriend and I hope you don't let your mistakes define you. You've always been a good person, even through the dumb decisions and all. You have a good heart."

"Thanks." Minho swirls his spoon in his soup. "For always being there for me."

"I could say the same."

"Wanna play in a bit? Get your mind off of things before class?" 

"Yeah, we can." Minho chuckles. The two continue to talk about work and other updates before finishing their food and tidying up the table. Minho runs to his room to quickly change and get into his class clothes before hopping on a game with Jisung. Just as he's about to snatch his watch off of the stand, his eyes land on the picture sitting on his nightstand. He stares at it for a good minute and purses his lips— hoping the blue skies will return again.

⇢ 17.5 [cloudy days]: here

♡ taglist: @ppiri-bahng @jihanlovic @meloncremesoda @sweetlikecherry @asjkdk @hoes4lino @skzddicted @skzho @edgaralienpoe @harui-zen @bestleeknowstan @havenwithleeknow @septicrebel @heesdazed @borahae-reads @yoontaethings @pearbunny @bintificreads @lukeys-giggle @ajxreads @everglowdaisies @allaboutsan @endzii23 @leeknowsramen @heres-your-ramen2000 @morningstardada @mal-lunar-28 @downbadreading @lilysophie @feelikecinderella @urmomma0324 @ddazed-lhs @djeniryuu @melanctton @i8rsie @maru-matt @sleepyleeji @taerifin @nattisbored @jisunglyricist @m111nho @drhsthl @nixtape-foryou @arminseas @guiltycoco @syuuji @sulkygyu @cadihyo @reianagarcia @leeknowyah @smndjdufuehr @dprkbyn @xxibreinaxx @mxnsxngie @reiheis @mellowmentalitydragon @vixensss

[abyssalzones]

What's your comic writing process like? I'm starting to get into making my own comics and I really admire your work!!! Any advice?

Ah, intrepid traveler, you've done well to journey to this secluded mountaintop spire, in search of the answers you seek. I indeed can provide such forbidden comicmancy knowledge... at the cost of your mortal soul...

coughs. anyway, I'm going to warn you immediately that what works for me does not work for everyone else, and in my experience the way I do things can prove very slow and discouraging for anyone who is more interested in the actual "drawing the damn comic" part of the process. I only do it this way because I enjoy weaving a narrative web that feels not only fully contained but re-readable, but my projects are often so long and my memory so shitty that I can't just keep all of it in my head! It would spill all over the place and make a really embarrassing mess of brain-juice. Not ideal.

but as for my own process, uhh... I suppose a comic would be fitting, right?

a little choppy but you get the idea.

as for turning words into art, I've been experimenting with figuring out the best way to do that for a little while now. Originally what I was doing for something like Ad Astra Per Aspera was to take my "script" and sketch it out on paper very loosely, before transposing that onto my canvas and working from there:

...but, I've found that can make it kind of difficult to space everything around on your standard page-size, and the thing I'm having the most problems with currently seems to be finding the sweet spot of panel-size proportions. So, I've taken to printing out standard thumbnail templates (you can just find these on google) and sketching very tiny panels in those, which seems to give me a slightly better sense of scale... (mild chapter 5 spoilers, sorry ad astra fans)

but I have yet to totally pull through on this, so who knows, maybe I'll try something else in the future!

As for advice, this is probably most applicable to me, but as a disabled artist I have a very hard time managing my workload without literally working myself into injury. I don't think I talked about this publicly but when I was working on that ten year anniversary comic I was literally drawing every single day for 3 solid months. Sometimes, in my case, I really can't bring myself to stop once I've latched onto an idea, and sometimes I find the most rewarding thing I can do with my time is to draw- but I seriously cannot overstate: Do not fucking do this.

You will fuck up your wrist, your back, your neck, your eyes, and probably your mental health. It's a well-known fact that mangaka have a lower life expectancy than the average japanese person due to the intense workload imposed on them by deadlines and personal expectations. Comics are a very demanding artform, and even though I'm not on any sort of mandated schedule there are times where I've toiled away at something when I likely should have been exercising or taking vision-breaks. Therefore the best advice I can give you is to chill the hell out.

Namely, find parts of the process you can be lazy about, and embrace the laziness! You don't like digitally sketching? Don't do it! Skip it, or maybe find a way to traditionally sketch things out in advance like I do. Hate lineart? Don't fucking do it. You really don't feel like wasting your time writing 72k words of comic scripts? ...then, don't be like me. skip that part. I'm a flawed human being and what works for me might not work for you.

The second most important piece of advice I could give is to read comics. Of all kinds. The reason for this is pretty self explanatory: In order to figure out your own comic-making style, you should first pick out bits and pieces from the artist's buffet to add to your plate. Manga, graphic novels, american comics, european comics, weird niche little webcomics, funny papers, anything and everything. This advice rings true of pretty much any art form, but I find it to be essential to honing comic-making skills because so many things you feel will just come intuitively often don't. and that's okay! nobody is born knowing how to leave space for speech bubbles or shape their panels in a way that imitates stretches of time. The best way to figure out stuff like this, in my experience, is to study the "masters", and then after becoming well accustomed to the basics, figure out what rules you want to bend or break to create your own style.

I consider myself to be in equal parts a writer and an artist, which lends itself well to making narrative comics, but maybe you're a bit more of an artist and want to focus on panel-by-panel visual storytelling. Or, conversely, maybe your talents lean closer towards writing, and the art itself is more of a secondary skill. Regardless of your unique blend of talents you can and should make a comic, you should just also be aware of your strengths and try to hone in on those- there will always be opportunities to build up skills you lack, but focusing on what you do best will always lead you in the right direction.

Anyway, that being said, here are some recommendations in no particular order:

Monster, Naoki Urasawa (!!)

Bone, Jeff Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Kamome Shirahama

The first IDW run of Transformers comics (namely More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light)

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (!!)

Through the Woods, Emily Carroll (really any Emily Carroll comics)

Kill Six Billion Demons (webcomic) (!!)

Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

The Third Person, Emma Grove

Tintin, Hergé (can be super racist please be wary)

Dungeon Meshi, Ryoko Kui

Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Watterson

Maus, Art Spiegelman

Cucumber Quest (webcomic)

Jellyfish Princess, Akiko Higashimura

Golden Kamuy, Satoru Noda (!!)

Note that I did not grow up with manga so I am seriously behind on a lot of extremely influential japanese comics such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, basically any of the original Shonen Jump comics, but they're widely considered building blocks of the genre so if you love the artform I think you should give them a try! Same goes for classic non-shonen manga genres like various Shoujo, Josei, Yuri, Gekiga, ETC.

same as above applies to a lot of classic DC and Marvel works, I unfortunately am just not a big fan of superhero comics... but I'm sure there's good stuff in there. a couple of my mutuals talk about booster gold and the blue beetle all the time so I'm assuming there has to be something worthwhile.

...and many, many, many more that I'm forgetting! I noticed as I made this list that, to my knowledge, hardly any of these are made by black or just non-japanese-mangaka BIPOC artists, which makes me sad about the gaps in my own comic collection. Therefore, anyone is welcome to add their own recommendations in the replies!

now go forth, and combine images with text!!!!!!!!!!!

[ech0schamber]

Hello do you still take requests for Bsd?

If you do would you mind writing one for either Poe, Fyodor, Ang, Kunikida or Akutagawa.

It can be a oneshots or headcannons I don't mind and yandere if you care comfortable with that.

Thanks for your time and no pressure with this!

hi!! sorry, but i don't do yandere content, but i'll gladly do some headcanons! you didn't specify what type of headcanons, so ill just do general relationship headcanons ^.^

☆Poe! he's an absolute sweetheart

☆will definitely buy you anything you want, he just wants his s/o to be happy

☆i can see him not exactly being a fan of pda, like, he wont stop you from holding his hand or giving him a kiss, but he will become incredibly flustered

☆in the beginning of your relationship, you will definitely see Karl dragging Poe towards you since he wouldn't stop mumbling about you and it was annoying Karl

☆you are Karl's parent now, and he claims your lap as a great napping place

☆speaking of naps, please make this man get some sleep, he overworks himself too much

☆doesn't care if he's the big spoon or little spoon, he just enjoys cuddling

☆fyodor. this man is mysterious to everyone, you are no exception

☆dont get me wrong, if you somehow end up in a relationship with him, you will know/understand him more than anyone else, but he still keeps some secrets from you. he is a terrorist after all

☆this seemingly emotionless man does have a soft spot for you tho, but its still probably not best to surprise him with hugs and such

☆its been stated in canon that he will gift a whole nation to the one he loves, so expect him to spoil you.. in his own way

☆doesn't like pda, but he does like when you hold his hand when your scared. its probably his ego tho

☆will let you cling to him in private, if thats the type of person you are. his only rule is that he can still do his work

☆good luck getting this man to be anything but a big spoon

☆another man who has a 'secret' soft spot for you

☆please drag this man away from his work. it may be very important work, but his health is even more important -and your need for affection-

☆another man who doesn't like pda, he wants to be professional in public

☆i can see him being an absolute sucker for kisses tho, you could probably kiss your way into getting him to do anything you want

☆probably won't tell you about his past, but you do eventually notice that he visits a cemetery pretty often. its probably not best to ask him, its still an open wound for him

☆very worried about your safety, could probably get a bit possessive without realizing it, but he just wants his s/o to be safe

☆hmm.. i see him as mostly being a big spoon, with the occasional small spoon when he's really stressed

(im so sorry if this doesnt fit him, his character is hard to read)

☆who doesn't love blondies

☆woo boy, i see him as having mixed feelings about pda. as long as it doesn't mess up his schedule, i cant see him having a problem with it

☆he actually doesn't scold you that often. he knows he can be a bit scary when he scolds certain people *cough cough Dazai cough cough* the only time he really scolds you is if you do something that severally hurts you

☆big cuddlier, but will only be the big spoon, he'll use some excuse like 'i need to protect you in case something happens' but in reality, he doesn't know how he'll react if he's the little spoon, mans not used to being cared for

☆will wake you up at 5am if it means keeping his schedule right. will buy you ice cream (or any treat of your liking) if you bother him enough as an apology tho

☆also, kind of a dumbass when it comes to feelings, you will have to confess to him first. he'll eventually get the hang of it

☆pretty boy

☆you somehow ended up in a relationship with an emo cat??

☆please give this boy time to warm up to this, he doesn't know how to handle it

☆you're one of the first people to find out about his illness (Gin was the first), he doesn't want you to worry about his coughing. it doesn't help, you end up worrying more

☆shy. but not in the 'uwu im so shy' way.. more like 'idfk what to do shy' he probably freezes up a lot

☆you will have to initiate everything. i promise that he does actually try, he's just so nervous that he's going to mess something up and you'll hate him bc of it

☆please reassure this boy, he is full of insecurities.

☆honestly, small spoon. he absolute adores the feeling of being held, its probably one of the only times he fully relaxes.

☆god forbid if someone ever hurts you, he will hunt them down. please scold him (lightly) when he comes home covered in blood, that shit is not easy to get out of clothing

---------

hope you enjoy this! <3 please feel free to request more

[moody-alcoholic]

Surrendering Control

Work Summary: Simon x Johnny. 141 are tasked with finding and stopping a new terrorist organisation using chemical weapons to wreak havoc across Europe. Simon has just come back from a 3 month stint in rehab after being injured in the field. While still struggling to get back on his feet, he expresses his true feelings to Johnny. Suddenly they have more to worry about then chemical bombing terrorists.

Chemical bombing terrorists... Sexpollen fic confirmed..?

—————————— 

Chapter 1 -To Tell You the Truth

CW: +18 MDNI. use of weapons, mentions of near death experience, mentions of injuries, PTSD, kissing lot’s of kissing, mentions of bombs, defusing bombs, military inaccuracies.

WC: 5.5k

Previous - masterlist - next

AO3

Enjoy <3

Johnny

3 months later.

“LT’s back from rehab tomorrow.” Gaz says, shoving more food in his mouth. 

“I know Price won't shut up about it.” Johnny replies, like he hasn’t been counting the days himself. He pushes the mash round his plate, he’s not hungry, he’s too excited to see Simon again. It had been 3 weeks since they got back to the UK. Price had been putting off jobs for awhile so they could be back in UK ready for when Simon was going to be discharged.

Price went to visit him, said he was doing well. This was the big test though, see if he really was ready to be in the field. Price had scheduled 2 weeks of intense training unless there was a call somewhere more important. It was mainly all for Simon really, ease him back into the routine since he’s been stuck in rehab for 3 months. 

“You think he’ll be different?” Gaz asks. Hope not, Johnny thinks.

“Na I’ll bet ‘es the same annoying bastard.” 

“I bet he can’t wait to get back. I can’t imagine he enjoyed being told what he can and can’t do for 3 months.” Gaz chuckles. 

“‘E’ll just be happy he can yell at someone for once.” Johnny says, giving up on the food putting his fork down. 

“What do you think Price has planned for us?” Gaz asks. 

“I heard him talking ‘bout a drill out on the urban training compound.” Johnny says. That made him excited too. Plenty of fake bombs to fake defuse. Gaz huffed next to him. 

“I’ve been there all week watching the recruits go through drill after drill.” He explains.

“Wanna switch? If I ‘ave to sit through another medical lecture I might as well become a doctor.” Johnny says as Gaz laughs.

“Know what time he’s getting here?” Johnny asks. 

“Afternoon probably.” Gaz replied shaking his head. 

“Missed him?” Gaz asks. Johnny doesn’t know what to say. Yes he’s missed, him way too much. It’s been like a piece of Johnny’s life has been missing for the past 3 months. He finds himself looking for Simon everywhere, expecting Ghost’s silent feet to sneak up behind him and make him jump.

When he’s in the field he misses Ghost having his back, finds himself unsure constantly double checking corners, having to rely on strangers. He never really realised how well they worked together until he was gone. 

“Haven’t missed his snoring.” Johnny replies. Gaz chuckles. 

“I think Price has missed him the most.” 

“Missed having someone do all his paperwork for him.” Johnny scoffs. Gaz stretches finishing off his cup of tea, and putting everything back on his tray.

“I got surveillance training. You?” Gaz asks getting up. 

“Free.” Johnny smiles. Gaz rolls his eyes picking up his tray.

“Catch you later Soap.” Gaz calls back as he walks away. Johnny watches him leave. He looks at the empty spot Gaz was in, he imagines Simon being there. Spouting off one of his witty remarks.

‘Eat up sergeant, wouldn’t want you wasting away.’

‘‘Course not LT, maybe if they served some decent grub it’d go down easier.’ 

Johnny smiled picking up his fork full of mash and taking another mouthful.  

Simon will be here soon.    

—————————— 

It was midday the next day when Johnny and Gaz got the radio to come to Price’s office. Johnny was on his way to the mess when it happened. His hunger instantly forgot about at the prospect of seeing Simon again. He was practically skipping as he bumped into Gaz in the hall outside Price’s office. Gaz knocked as they waited for a response.

“Come in.” Price calls. Gaz opened the door and they both walk in. Simon get’s up out the chair he’s in as soon as they enter the room. Gaz is first to hug him, he accepts the hug even patting him on the back. Johnny walks up to him next wrapping his arms round the bigger man breathing him in. He smells like Johnny remembers, he lets out a long breath. Simon’s back and he’s fine. 

“Good to see you did ya get fat?” Johnny asks as he pulls away from Simon. It’s a joke he’s just desperate for a response, anything to hear his voice.

“Not as much as you did MacTavish.” Simon says. Johnny smiles, he knows Simon is smiling too he can see it in his eyes. Simon turns to sit back down and Gaz takes the other spare seat while Johnny stands. 

“We got a general here who want’s to observe us in action. He’s planned a drill for us tomorrow in the urban training compound.” Price says. He’s doing this on purpose, making it out like it was someone else’s idea so Simon won’t feel like a burden. 

“Perfect time for you to come back then mate.” Gaz says, Johnny’s not really listening to Price’s brief, hes too distracted with Simon. Not that it really matters apparently Price is as much in the dark as they are. Simon looks thinner, his muscles less defined, no heavy bags under his eyes. Johnny wonders how his hair looks, if he’s let it grow out or had it cut. He could be hiding a beard under his mask for all Johnny knows, he tries to imagine Simon with a beard, it makes his blush. 

“Tomorrow at oh-six-hundred, think you'll be ready by then?” Price asks smiling at Simon. 

“‘course sir.” Simon says. Johnny can't help smiling too. The thought of having Simon back even if it’s just a training exercise is too exciting. Having Simon back on the team again, watching their backs, bossing them around. Price is almost ecstatic, happy to have his lieutenant back. Johnny can feel the energy in the room, having the whole team back together again.  

“You should head to the range you’re probably rusty.” Price reaches into a drawer handing Simon a key. “All your gears been stored, just ask whoever’s in the pit to show you.” 

Simon nods then Price looks to Johnny and Gaz. 

“You’ve been down at the place all week what you think?” Price asks. Johnny realises he hasn’t seen Price much since the got here, other then in his office. Everything really has just been on hold until Simon came back. 

“I could walk it blindfolded.” Gaz replies. Price smiles. 

“Good, you and Johnny should spend sometime going over it, it will be useful for tomorrow. We’ve got to put on a good show for them.” Price says looking round the room, he seems nervous. Probably because he’s also in the dark about what’s going to be happening. Also because it’s Simon’s first day back and he’s going to be rusty.

Johnny’s not worried Simon is great at his job, he’ll slip right back into the usual routine like duck to water. He probably has been itching to get back since he was told he had to go to rehab. Besides Johnny already decided long ago that he would do everything in his power to keep Simon here, he’s not going to lose him again. 

—————————— 

Johnny could hear the shots in the shooting range from outside. Large calibre weapon, must be Simon. He should walk away leave Simon be, he definitely does not need any distractions. He waits a few more seconds hearing more shots fired, he takes a sigh and walks in.

Simon is in the shooting pit his sniper resting on the stand as he fires off another round. Johnny watches as it kicks back and Simon holds the recoil. He opens the gate to the pit which makes a light turn on in Simon’s booth, letting him know someone’s stepped in. He turns to look when he see’s Johnny he takes the weapon off the stand.

“Burning the midnight oil sir?” Johnny asks as he walks towards Ghost. He pushes the ear defenders off his head and they fall round his neck. Johnny stays where he is almost waiting for Ghost to give him permission to step closer. 

“Sneak up on everyone with a gun in their hands?” Ghost asks.

“Only on a bad day.” Johnny replies, smiling. He takes another step forward to Ghost’s booth. He peaks at the shot’s he’s been taking. They’re off. 

“Looking forward to the drill tomorrow?” Johnny asks not really knowing what to say. Ghost looks at him taking the mag out his sniper. Ghost hums placing the mag down in the booth. Johnny takes another step forward. 

“So how was rehab?” He asks.

“Boring, long.” Ghost replies. Johnny looks down at him watching him clench his right hand into a fist until his knuckles turn white then opens it again. His hand is shaking. 

“Bet there were a lot of hot nurses to look at.” Johnny says trying to keep the conversation going. Ghost looks at him in the eye. His beautiful brown eyes that look darker with black paint around them. Johnny knows what they look like when the sun hits them, swirls of caramel and brown, he can never keep his eyes off Simon for long when it’s a nice day out.

“You never came to visit.” He says picking up an empty mag and pushing bullets into it. 

“Well. Price said you might not want visitors. So he went to see you alone.” Johnny explains, all of a sudden feeling guilty. He digs his toe into the dirt floor of the shooting pit.   

“Did you want me to come and visit?” Johnny asks. 

“Would have been nice to see you, and say thank you.” Ghost replies. Johnny meets his eye line trying to read his expression through his mask. It’s harder then it looks, he’s well rested. No extra effort to keep his expression neutral. His body is relaxed manoeuvred in such a way so Johnny can’t see his right arm. 

“Thank you for what?” Johnny asks. Stepping closer to Ghost who has stepped out his booth.

“For saving my life.” Ghost says. The words hit Johnny, he feels like he’s been punched in the gut. He remembers feeling Simon bleeding out in his hands. Watching him stop breathing in the hospital. The hours of waiting and not knowing if he would make it. Coming back from the mission to see him awake, the relief Johnny felt, it was like all things were right with the world once again. Then the pain of Price sending him away, even if it was for his own good.   

“Don’t have to thank me.” Johnny says feeling heat rush to his cheeks. He looks down at the floor. 

“Ya would’a done the same fer me.” Johnny says smiling. Simon nods picking his sniper up.   

“Still would want to thank you.” He says bringing the sniper back up and looking down the scope. Johnny can see the tremble in his hand. Simon puts the weapon down again sighing, it’s a bad sigh, a frustrated one Johnny can tell that much. 

“Did you need something sergeant?” He asks. Johnny almost says yes, making something up if not just to spend a few more minutes with him. Seeing him safe, watching him shoot, being near him. He pushes the thought away, he's never been a good liar especially round Ghost. 

“No sir. Anything you need?” He asks, Ghost looks at him for a second then shakes his head. He turns to pick his rifle up taking one last long look towards Johnny. 

“see you tomorrow then.” Johnny says turning to walk away. 

“Get a good nights rest Soap.” Ghost calls back, Johnny turns back to look at Ghost one more time, the defenders back on his ears holding his rifle up. Johnny smiles then walks away back into the cool evening breeze.

 —————————— 

It was a typical cold, overcast morning as they made their way to the urban training compound. Ghost was walking with Price. Johnny couldn’t quite hear what they were saying as they made it down the hill. Gaz was walking beside him, also trying to listen to the conversation. It felt good everyone being back together again. Johnny could see a group had formed round the bottom of the hill. Some are the general’s Johnny had come to know over the time they had been spending at the base others where just recruits of varying level. Some of them are already stood at the top of the observation stand, getting the best spots to see into the compound.

“Couldn't keep away huh?” Price says shaking the hand of some general Johnny does not recognise.  

“I would not miss the opportunity to see you in action before I leave.” He says smiling. 

“Hope you made it easy for us then.” Price chuckles. The general explains what’s waiting as he leads Price to the compound doors. There are 2 hostages, 3 bombs, no friendlies, potentially civilians. It’s like a checklist in Johnny’s head. Price looks back to make sure everyone is listening.  

“Ready?” He asks looking back. Everyone nods. 

“Ghost you split with Soap, Gaz on me. You want to take left or right?” Price asks Ghost.

“Left.” He replies, Johnny smiles. He’s glad he’s with Ghost, he wants to be with Ghost. Price nods and opens the doors to the compound. They’re stood at the top of the main road, there are various buildings to the left and right. The bombs and hostages could be in any of them. Johnny follow’s behind Ghost as they slip through a garden gate to the first building.

It becomes methodical again. Letting Ghost lead checking each room. Firing shots off at pieces of paper with terrorists drawn on them. It’s like Ghost had never been missing slipping back into the familiar routine. Johnny clears the top floor meeting back up with Ghost to move to the next building. Johnny let Ghost handle the radio, he needs the practice anyway. They clear the building moving to the next. So far only enemies. 

“Soap we’ve got a bomb here.” Gaz’s voice comes over the radio. 

“IED?” Johnny asks clearing the next room with Ghost. 

“Looks professional, American?” Gaz says. Johnny smiles. So it’s a challenge. 

“Look for a serial number, it might be on the bottom.” He replies down the mic. Johnny is blindly following Ghost when they make it into the next room.

“Got a bomb here too.” Ghost says. Johnny swings his weapon by his side going over to inspect it. It does look American.

“Got a serial number.” Gaz says as he reads it out. Johnny looks for the one on his bomb. He finds it and it matches Gaz’s read out. Johnny’s eyes flick up to Ghost who’s stood out of place, staring like he’s looking at something far off in the distance.  

“Wanna watch the door Ghost.” Johnny says. Ghost’s head snaps to Johnny. There’s something in his eyes something Johnny hasn’t seen before. He looks scared his eyes wide open, empty, vacant, it’s like he’s not quite here. It almost imminently makes Johnny panic, hairs standing up on the back of his neck. He can see the tight grip Ghost has on his weapon. He’s stood in the middle of the room his back to the wall, he need’s to be on the door.  

“It’s not real.” Johnny hears Ghost say but it’s quiet. Johnny forces himself to relax, take in a deep breath. He has to get control of the situation, not let Ghost spiral.

“No, but we wanna give them a good show right LT?” Johnny says thumbing behind him at the observation deck. Simon nods and moves into place guarding the door. Johnny’s heart is beating rapidly in his chest, he doesn’t even realise he’s been holding his breath.

“Focus, MacTavish.” He whispers, as loud as he dare forcing himself to look away from Ghost down at the bomb.

“Gaz the front panel you should be able to take it off see 3 wires what are the colours?” Johnny is only half listening to what Gaz is saying. Keeping an eye on Ghost watching the door. Johnny tried to ignore the goosebumps rising on his body as he remembers the look in Ghost’s eyes. What if he does have PTSD, what if a simple training exercise is too much?

Price would have no choice but to bench him. It’s his first day back, he’s allowed to have slip ups, that’s what this training is for. Johnny pushes the thought away, he’s not losing him again. He buries his head in the bomb as he instructs Gaz, he hears Ghost move across the room to the back door. Johnny cuts another wire looking to see if the timer has stopped. 

“You know for a fake bomb this is pretty well done.” Johnny says as he stands up rubbing his hands together.

“Two down one to go!” Johnny says walking up to Ghost and hitting him on the shoulder. He watches as Ghost tenses. 

“You good LT?” Johnny asks. 

“Always.” He replies and they push to the next building. 

“Got a hostage here.” Ghost calls over the radio while Johnny clears the ground floor. He makes his way up to Ghost seeing the fake body on the floor. Ghost is looking around for the casualty card. Johnny finds it and picks it up.

“Broken arm, broken leg. Christ, GSW to the upper arm, unconscious.” Johnny looks at Ghost for a second. 

“Do we even save him at this point?” Johnny jokes. 

“He’s got a family sergeant.” Ghost says pulling a tourniquet off his vest and throwing it to him. Johnny rolls his eyes.

“So what he’s got a wife and kids?” Johnny asks while he ties the tourniquet on the dummy's arm. 

“2 a boy and a girl, she does ballet, he plays football.” Johnny smiles listening to him, maybe that’s the life Ghost wants eventually. 

“How do you think he broke his bones?” Johnny asks moving the dummy around. 

“Fell of the roof, obviously.” Ghost says looking back over at Johnny. 

“We need medevac.” Johnny says standing up. Ghost nods and calls over to Price. 

“Copy, our casualty is walking wounded. We’ll meet you and hold out till evac gets here. Cover us while we cross the street.” Price says. Ghost nods moving to the window as he bends down resting his rifle on the windowsill.

“Soap.” Ghost calls.

“Watch the other direction.” Ghost nods at the window behind him which Johnny sets up on. Johnny hears Simon fire off shots while his side of the road is clear. Before he knows it he hears Price and Gas making their way up the stairs. Johnny turns to look back in the room as Gaz drops the dummy next to the other. 

“Ghost, Soap, clear the last building it has to be where the bomb is.” Price says. Johnny and Ghost move from the windows heading back downstairs. They cross over to the last building, it feels like there are more enemies then normal. The building is bigger too. Ghost leads Johnny into the last room, there’s bombs everywhere.

“Christ, someone's been busy.” Johnny says, he can’t hide the smirk in his voice, he’s almost licking his lips walking over to the first device. Johnny forgets about Ghost for a few minutes hopping from bomb to bomb, all IED’s all easy to defuse. So much for a challenge. 

When Johnny makes it to the last table he looks back at Ghost stood in the door. He can tell Ghost’s smiling now, the way his eyes shift, they’re glistening in the harsh light of the room. Ghost nods his head then looks back out the door. Johnny can hear Ghost’s voice in his head.

‘Good job Soap.’ 

He lets himself imagine the praise, Johnny will take all the praise he can get from Ghost. He cuts the wire on the last fake device watching the LED screen go dark.

“All done!” he calls standing up and putting the wire cutters back on his vest. Ghost has turned to look at him as Johnny brings his weapon into his hands. He makes it over to the door slapping Ghost on the back then he hears it. 

Beep. Beep. Beep. 

Johnny looks back in the room his brow creased, squinting as he looks around scanning the bombs he just defused. He can’t see any lights but the beeping is still going, he walks back in trying to pinpoint it. 

“Soap c’mon.” Ghost calls walking back into the doorway. Johnny’s not listening as he puts a finger up to shush Ghost. The beeping’s getting louder, Johnny has pinpointed it to one half of the room. Ghost steps in and comes to stand with him, they make their way over to a stack of old looking wooden crates.

Johnny tries to open the top one but it’s locked, he pulls it off to get to the crate underneath. This one has no lock and when he opens it there’s another bomb. This one is different, there are cylinders on the side of it this is a chemical bomb. It’s designed to release a gas instead of explode.  

“Shite!” Johnny says as he thrusts hands into the crate. It’s been months since he’s worked on chemical bombs they’re so rare. There’s a chance he won’t be able to defuse it before it goes off. 

“What is it?” Ghost asks, as he looks over Johnny’s shoulder.

“Chemical bomb you should get out of here.” Johnny says trying to keep his voice level but serious. He hears Ghost updating Price while he tries to remember the sequence of defusal without accidentally triggering the release. That’s the tricky thing with these bombs one wrong step and it could go off anyway. Even in a training scenario they sometimes fill them with chlorine, or worse mustard gas. 

“-I’m staying.” Johnny hears Ghost say.

“Ghost get out of here!” Johnny snaps, this is not a good place for him right now. Johnny doesn’t have time to see if he’s left or not he’s too busy working up a sweat with this bomb. Especially now he cut something wrong and the timer is counting down twice as fast.

He hears Price over the radio ask for an update. The timer is still ticking down the beeping getting faster. If this was real he would have pushed Ghost out the room and locked the door behind him. If this was real they would have intel there was a chemical bomb. 

‘Focus!’ Johnny scream's at himself, no time to be slacking as he cuts another wire. The beeping stops but the timer doesn't.

“What the hell?” He says through gritted teeth, that should have been it. He rolls the bomb over to see the back. More wires, this isn’t like anything Johnny has seen before. He takes a breath trying to think what to do. He’s almost cutting blind, he looks over at the timer less then a minute left, he needs to make a decision.

He sucks in a breath and holds it, his hand is almost shaking as he clips the wires. Almost. The times stops. He lets out a sigh of relief and hears the bell signalling the end of the simulation. Johnny turns looking at Ghost who’s still in the room. He shakes his head but walks over to him patting him on the shoulder.

“I thought I told you to get out of here?” Johnny says, he can’t help smiling. He’s glad Ghost stayed, even if it was the wrong thing to do. 

“I knew you could defuse it Johnny.” Ghost says as they walk out the room. Johnny hums not believing it. Price and Gaz come out the adjacent building as the doors to the compound open and the general from earlier walks in. 

“Fantastic as ever captain Price.” The general calls shaking Price’s hand.

“What did you think of our little surprise ending?” The general asks turning to Johnny.

“Would ‘ave been nice to know what we were dealing with.” Johnny scoffs as Price turns to look at him. 

“I head you were good sergeant MacTavish. I needed to see that for myself.” He says Johnny goes to open his mouth again but Ghost grips his arm stopping him in his tracks. Johnny turns to see him shake his head slightly. 

“Come meet me after your debrief captain we have some things to discuss.” The general says shaking Price’s hand. Johnny watches as he walks out the compound and Ghost lets go of his arm.

Johnny’s not listening to Price, annoyed for some reason. Was he being tested? Did Price know? When Johnny cut the wires it was 50/50 the whole thing could have gone up in his face. They he would be smelling of sulfur or chlorine for days. He looked over at Ghost listening to Price answering questions when asked. Ghost stayed with him, of course he did. 

‘Never leave a man behind Johnny, we’re a team.’ 

Johnny knew if he’d failed to defuse the bomb Ghost would have been the one to pull him out of there. He would have been the one to save him. He looked up at Ghost and smiled, Ghost wasn’t looking but it didn’t matter. 

“Good job everyone, we made the general happy for another month. Maybe next time there will be no surprises.” Price said looking at Johnny. 

“Go get some breakfast, have a break. I’ll catch up with you all later.” Price said dismissing them. 

“Hold on a second Soap.” Price says as he's about to follow Ghost and Gaz to the compound exit. Johnny stops and turns back to see Price. 

“How was it with LT today?” Price asks. 

“Good.” Johnny replies. He wonders if he should tell Price about the incident, maybe Simon has PTSD? That’s a normal thing to get after a near death experience. Price nodded like hes waiting for Johnny to say more.

“Knew what he was doing?” Price asks.

“Always knows what ‘es doing.” Johnny replies. Price sighs. 

“Something you're worried about sir?” Johnny asks.

“No, go on Johnny get some rest, you did good today.” Price places his hand on Johnny’s shoulder and gives him a reassuring squeeze. 

“Cheers sir.” Maybe he should have told Price. If he tells him Price Simon might get benched. Johnny can't risk losing Simon. Not again. 

  —————————— 

There was a knock at Johnny’s door. He stood up pulling on a shirt checking his watch. It’s almost midnight. He frowned, not expecting anyone at this hour. The knock came again.

“Alright keep ya hair on.” Johnny called walking to open the door. It was Ghost. Johnny looked at him confused. 

“Did I leave the toilet seat up or sumtin?” Johnny asks. Ghost doesn’t say anything for a second. 

“You got sass on demand?”   

“‘Course sir, got to be ready for anything.” Johnny replies smiling. Ghost hums. 

“Mind if I come in?” Johnny scrunches his eyes but moves to the side anyway. Ghost steps in and Johnny closes the door reaching over to turn his bedside light on. Johnny can feel Ghost behind him the room is small, only big enough for a bed, a bedside table and a wardrobe. He turns to look at him as he pulls his mask off. Johnny stands watching him, his heart picking up in his chest, thumping getting louder in his ears.

Simon looks down at him gripping his mask in his hand. Johnny has only seen Simon without the mask a few times, it still makes him smile every time. His dirty blonde hair, scruffy from the mask, stuck to his forehead. His chocolate brown eyes that sometimes glow golden in the sun. His lips, the part Johnny likes the most, plump and rosy. He has scars, more then Johnny realised. His cheeks were flushed pink, and Johnny thought he could see the twitches of a smile on his face. 

“I missed you Johnny.” Simon says eventually. Johnny’s smile just grows, he sees Simon shuffle closer to him. 

“I missed you too LT. been boring without you.” Johnny says, Simon’s looking directly in his eyes, Johnny’s letting himself get lost in them. Watching as Simon’s expression softens even more as his eyes soaked up every part of Johnny’s face. He didn’t even realise Simon had moved his arm to grip Johnny. 

“I had a lot of time to think in rehab. A lot of time to think about what could happen if I couldn’t get better. What would happen if this was the end.” He says, Johnny looks a little confused. 

“Thinking retirement? A house with a white picket fence? Maybe a cat?” Johnny says. Simon shakes his head.

“I’m a dog person.” Simon says smiling. Hes leaning closer to Johnny, so much so, Johnny can feel Simon's hot breath on his face. Johnny wants to kiss him his lips just inches away. Simon’s hand grips Johnny’s arm. 

“I like dogs too.” Johnny breathes, leaving his mouth hanging open as he flicks his eyes down to Simon’s lips. It happens in a flash. Not like Simon to be the most romantic, his lips lock on to Johnny’s who instantly kisses him back. Simon presses Johnny’s body against the wall as Johnny’s hands work their way up Simon’s top. 

“I was worried you might not come back.” Johnny finally admits between kisses, feeling a weight lifted off him. 

“Same.” Simon says pulling away looking in Johnny’s eyes. 

“How’d ya know?” Johnny asked, already missing Simon’s lips.

“You’re not as subtle as you think.” Simon breathes almost feral pressing his mouth back on Johnny. Johnny can’t help but smile while he lets Simon play with his tongue. Of course Simon knew, that’s what Simon is good at.

His hands move to Johnny’s waist gripping the hem of his shirt. He raises his hands almost automatically letting Simon pull his shirt over his head. Simon’s hands run over Johnny’s chest his fingers stopping on a recently healed wound.

“What happened here?” Simon asks. 

“Shrapnel.” Johnny says. “It’s fine Simon.” Johnny insists wanting to get Simon’s shirt off too tugging the bottom. Simon’s fingers run over the wound.

“I thought I was going to die.” He says, the words make Johnny’s heart skip, a lump forms in his throat. He swallows it away, letting Simon’s shirt drop from his hands. He can see that vacant look in his eyes again, just like earlier in the training. He pulls Simon’s chin to look at him. 

“You’re okay.” Johnny says, Simon swallows. He looks sad, Johnny strokes his cheek. 

“Let’s lie down, you’re exhausted it’s been a long day.” Johnny suggests, Simon nods his expression still somewhat vacant. Johnny kisses Simon again, pushing hands on Simon’s chest. He can feel Simon’s heart beating rapidly.

“I'm sorry I didn't come and visit you.” Johnny says changing the subject as they sit down on the bed. 

“Sorry I didn't say anything sooner.” Simon says. Johnny turns to look at him, his features sharp in the low light, Johnny forgot how handsome he is. His hand rests on Simon’s thigh, Simon turns to look at him, he’s not sure what to say.

“I heard you visiting when I was in the hospital. I remember you holding my hand, telling me not to die. I thought it was a dream.” Simon says after a few seconds of silence. Johnny smiles pulling him in for another quick kiss.

“Price said you'd never left my side until he pried you away for a mission.” He says breaking away. “when I woke up alone I thought you'd left, thought I wouldn't see you again. When you came through that door smiling, gushing about the mission. That's when I knew.” 

“I thought we were gonna lose you. I thought I was gonna lose you.” Johnny says. Simon gets up off the bed heading over and locking the door. He turns back to Johnny reaching down and pulling his shirt over his head. Johnny smiles as he watches Simon kick his boots off. Johnny can see the scars, the gunshot to the abdomen and the one to his shoulder. Simon comes back over to the bed standing in front of Johnny. Johnny sits up soaking him in, each muscle each scar, each hair.

Johnny reaches out pressing his hand on Simon’s chest letting it run up to his pecks. Simon looks down at Johnny's hand, placing his on top and bringing it to his mouth to kiss Johnny’s fingers. Johnny pulls his legs up into the bed and moves to the other side leaving room for Simon to climb in. Johnny pulls back the covers as he gets in laying down beside him.

The bed is small but Johnny doesn't care, he’s laying in bed with Simon. Simon places his arm round Johnny’s shoulder pulling him onto the chest. Johnny reaches over Simon’s chest turning the light off, breathing Simon in. He smells of gunpowder and cigarettes. It's exactly what Johnny remembered, he could get drunk off that smell. Simon kisses the top of Johnny's head and he snuggles down into Simon’s embrace.

“Si?” 

“Yeah johnny” 

“Is it too early to say I love you?” 

“No johnny,” Simon says as he pulls the duvet over them. 

“I love you Si.” Johnny says.

“I love you too Johnny.” 

—————————— 

Next

[vemaro]

How did callums and astarions first meeting go? sorry, I’m just a sucker for asty boy with kids

I saw this ask in my inbox and knew I wanted to write it out. Tho I intended to make this a little blurb instead of a long mess lol. In the end, this thing kinda got away from me

Astarion makes some assumptions and you know what they say when you assume things.

…

“Astarion? Is … that really you?”

Fuck, maybe he shouldn’t have returned. Maybe he should leave. It’s been almost a year since the wedding and they last saw each other. What if she’s upset? What if she hates him for avoiding her for so long? He was avoiding her, except he doesn’t want to know he’s avoiding her.

Unfortunately for the vampire, all of his other friends have mentioned how much she asks about him. He’s been able to brush it off for months, ignore the urge to see her—and the love he still carried for her— but a foolish flame of hope has reignited in his heart. If Tav’s asking for him, perhaps he still has a chance. It’s a sign from the gods he stopped praying to centuries ago that maybe it’s still a possibility.

So here he is, on her stoop, feeling like an idiot. Too late to back out now.

He puts on a sharp toothed grin and gives her a bow. “In the flesh.”

Her eyes drink in everything, from his impeccably styled hair, to his blood red eyes, the bite marks peeking out from the collar of his shirt, and those laugh lines used to tease him about. He’s usually comfortable in the spotlight, but under her scrutiny, he’s horribly self-conscious. Tav has always been able to see right through him, whether he liked it or not. Except, of course, in the matter of the romantic feelings he harbors. He was never sure if that was a blessing or a curse.

Astarion breaks the silence. “Kobold got your tongue? Or has my sheer beauty left you speechless?”

His words seem to snap the druid from her reverie then she all but jumps on him for a hug. “Where have you been? I thought you were dead!”

He relaxes into the embrace. Gods, he missed being this close to her. “Technically, Tav, I’m already dead.”

She abruptly shoves him away, anger splayed across her face. “That’s not funny. I was worried, Astarion. I sent letters and you never sent any back. I couldn’t tell if the others were telling the truth when they said they’ve seen you, or lying to make me feel better.”

If only she knew the reason behind his lack of appearance. “My deepest apologies. I was busy dealing with a horde of ravenous vampire spawn.”

That seems to mollify her. Tav plants her hands on her hips and waggles a finger at him. “I understand, but if you can’t visit, at least write.”

“Fair enough,“ he concedes. “I’ll try to find time in my schedule.”

Content that she got her point across, Tav smiles and crosses her arms. “Thank you.” Then she steps aside and cocks her head past the entryway. “Come on in. I have something important to tell you.”

The last time she had to tell him something important, she announced her upcoming nuptials. At least not much else can top the heartbreak that wrought.

Unless …

No. No, someone definitely would’ve told him if she’s … His eyes drop to her middle. Absolutely not. He refuses to believe it. Damnit, he never should’ve come to see her. He never should’ve let himself hope.

Her better half walks into the foyer. “Tav, I can’t find my—” He stops when he spots the third wheel. “Oh. We have company.”

Astarion detests the man on principle, but he is Tav’s spouse so he’ll play nice. “Pardon my intrusion, Terrick.” He holds out a hand. “Astarion Ancunin. I’m—”

“One of my wife’s former allies. Yes, I recall our introduction at the wedding.” His eyes flicker to the bite marks on Astarion’s neck. His expression eludes to nothing, whether he was aware of his vampiric condition until now or had previous knowledge. He steps closer to Tav and puts a hand on her waist. “Welcome to our home.”

He retracts the offered hand. “It’s quite lovely,” he says, voice honey drenched. “Which is surprising. During our travels, her tent was always filled with trinkets and mementos from our adventures.”

Terrick arches an eyebrow. “I’m not one for clutter.”

Astarion shrugs. “A little clutter won’t do any harm.” He makes eye contact with Tav. “Each souvenir is associated with a happy memory.” She smiles and it feels like a small victory.

Terrick changes the subject. “I can’t find my blue doublet.”

Tav snickers. “You lost it a month ago.”

He purses his lips, displeased with the answer. “Ah. That slipped my mind.” He walks past them, heading for the steps that lead to the pathway. “Then I need another made.”

“If I could make a suggestion. Figaro’s shop—”

Terrick shakes his head. “Shops in the Lower City are of poor quality.”

Tav clasps her hands behind her back. “Actually, his clothes are very high quality and he offers a hefty discount.” They did save him from a murderous dwarf.

The man’s whole body palpitates. “Do I look like I require a discount?”

“No, but—”

He cuts her off. “We’ll discuss it later.” Astarion’s hand is on the hilt of his knife. He could throw it and have it land right between the eyes in two seconds flat. “I’ll be back later. Don’t wait up. Goodnight.” He makes sure to lock eyes with the vampire one more time. “Astarion,” he spits.

He has to hold back a sneer. “Terrick.” And he walks off into the night. Astarion glowers as they watch him disappear around the corner. “Charming, he is.”

“I didn't marry him for his personality.” Her tone is dry and flat, almost bored. “He’s gotten a bit moodier since the wedding though. Moreso recently.”

A scary thought comes to mind. There’s no subtle way of asking, so he just asks. “He doesn’t … hurt you, does he?” He waits for the slightest confirmation of abuse. Cazador’s death will look like child’s play by comparison if he has to hunt him down.

She swats the air. “No. Terrick huffs and puffs for show. As long as he funds the repairs and my projects, it’s fine.” But then her face softens. “But thanks for the concern.”

First comes the relief, followed by annoyance. He’s relieved no harm has come to the woman he loves, annoyed he doesn’t have reason to hate the man—more reason. That’s too bad. “Now that your loving husband has left the premises, what is it that you wanted to tell me?”

Her eyes light up with manic glee. “Oh yes!” Tav leads him inside, to the closest armchair and sits him down. “Wait here.”

Without another word, she hurries off, leaving behind a curious Astarion. So … perhaps he was worried for nothing. He was jumping to conclusions, coming up with worst case scenarios. Tav’s not going to tell him she’s with child. She doesn’t love Terrick. She’s admitted that on several occasions even before the wedding.

“Close your eyes!”

He does as he’s told. “Ooh, did you slip into something more comfortable?”

She stomps a foot. “If my arms weren’t full, I’d chuck something at you. Are your eyes closed?”

Her arms are full. Does she have a present for him? “Yes, dear.”

He hears her approach. “No peeking.” He holds his hands above his head, twirls them a couple times, and covers his eyes. Not long after that, he feels her presence just ahead of him. “Ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Open your eyes.”

When he opens his eyes, his heart shatters into a million pieces. Swathed in a bundle of blankets, is exactly as he feared; a baby. A shock of blue hair. Topaz eyes. Pointed ears. Freckles sprinkled on the apples of his cheeks and across his button nose. Pale skin, though not nearly as pale as the vampire’s.

Tav bounces and sways in place. “Astarion, I’d like you to meet my son.” The mother is sporting the biggest and brightest grin he’s ever witnessed. “Callum.”

The words echo in his mind. Meet my son. They have a son. Tav and Terrick have a child together. Those two will forever be connected through this child and there is nothing Astarion can do to sever that bond. He’s not so selfish to wish for an unhappy marriage. The innocent soul brought into this world by the woman he loves doesn’t deserve that. He deserves his real father, not a man with fantasies of coveting his mother.

What honestly hurts most is the betrayal from his friends, if he can even call them that at this point. They knew, but elected to say nothing when they fussed at him for keeping away. Worse yet, she also chose not to tell him in any of the letters she sent. He never wrote back, but he read them all.

With the betrayal comes a fierce jealousy. He envies Terrick. Not for the intimacy of creating a child, but the bond a child brings. Astarion never fathomed fatherhood, never entertained the thought, not even after taking down his former master. He’s only just attained his freedom. It’s too soon to settle down, let alone start a family, if that was even possible for a vampire spawn. Now though, seeing the joy her son brings her, he would’ve been willing to try for her. He could picture himself with a child, their child, if that is what she asked of him. What would they look like? Like he used to before transforming into a creature of the night?

The baby voice she’s using is both nauseating and adorable. “Callum, this is one of my very best friends, Astarion,” she coos. “Say hi.”

“He’s …” Terrick’s. And Tav’s. “Beautiful, Tav.”

“Isn’t he?” she gushes. “You’re the first to see him. Gale and Wyll just barely missed it, but left before he came.”

He bows his head. “An honor, truly. And I must say, you look amazing for a woman who recently gave birth.”

She jerks her head back. “I’m sorry, what?”

He holds up his hands in surrender. “I mean no offense, my darling.”

Tav opens her mouth, shuts it, opens it again then bursts out laughing. She speaks between peels of laughter. “There has been … a misunderstanding … a huge misunderstanding.”

He frowns. The vampire is missing something, clearly. What is he missing? Is there somehow another child? Does Callum have a twin? “What?”

She reaches over and flicks his forehead. “I didn’t have him. Callum is adopted.”

There’s a prolonged silence of Astarion gawking up at Tav. “Adopted?” he parrots.

“Yes, adopted.” She perches herself on the edge of a table in front of the armchair. “I’m sorry, I thought it was obvious.”

He slaps his hands on the wooden handles. “How was it obvious?”

“Callum looks absolutely nothing like me. Or Terrick.” She lowers her head so her hair falls in the baby’s face. “Notice the difference in hair color.”

What would it take for a giant hole to appear in the ground and swallow him up? “What was I supposed to say when you tell me he’s your son? Oh wow, he doesn’t have your hair, eyes, nose, or complexion. Neither your husband’s. Do you have a mistress?” Astarion. Astarion would like to throw his hat in the ring if the position is open.

That makes her laugh even harder. “No! Oh my gods, Astarion. You thought I hid an entire pregnancy?” He’s too embarrassed to say anything. “You know Karlach can’t keep secrets. Not when they’re not life or death. She’s the reason we found out about Lae’zel and Shadowheart.” She blushes and avert her eyes. “And me and Halsin.”

Many emotions are coursing through him and he’s not sure which to process first. Callum is Tav and Terrick’s child, but not in the same sense he assumed previously. Blood relations are irrelevant. Though. He’s still their child. It must be a druid thing. Jaheira has a house in the Lower City, though he wouldn’t call her mother of the year. Halsin has been taking in some strays as well. What does that mean for Tav? Will she and Terrick continue to adopt more children?

He allows himself a half-hearted guffaw. “I forgot you and the bear rolled around in the leaves.”

Tav shudders. “I have no desire to have a child with Terrick. Even when we—” There’s an implied sleep together Astarion would prefer not to acknowledge. It conjures some images he’d rather not think about. “I don’t want children with him.”

He could drop to his knees, throw up his arms, and shout his praises to the gods right now. “There’s no need. You have the perfect child right here.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” She stands back up, beaming. “Would you like to hold him?”

He really should’ve seen this coming, but he didn’t. “Oh, uh, is it safe? Babies are fragile little things. I don’t want to, er, break him.” He sits as far back in the chair as he can, hands tucked underneath his thighs.

She slides over to one side of the chair. “Please?”

“I don’t know, darling.”

“Pretty please?” It’s difficult to turn her down while staring into those wide, trusting eyes. And then there was the baby. Eventually he gives in, holds up his hands with a deadpan expression on his face. Tav smirks. “Fix your arms.”

Ten seconds later, he’s holding an infant for the first time in two centuries of undead life. He peers down at the little boy. He’s probably wondering who the hells is this monster holding me? Astarion has no idea what to say besides an awkward, “Hello.”

One Callum’s hands break from the blankets and finds its way to lightly smack Astarion’s cheek. It doesn’t hurt really, but then he does it a couple more times. When he tries to stop the low level attack, Callum grabs one of his fingers and tugs as hard as his little body can manage.

Oh.

He’s only had Callum for ten seconds, but if anything were to happen to him, he would massacre everyone along the Sword Coast and then himself.

[daydreamingyuta]

The Flower Shop Owner | Mark Lee

Mark used to not be the type to believe in fate, but now that he’s twenty-three and the proud owner of the flower shop, “Bloom”, he knew fate was a very real thing. 

This wasn’t always the path that he thought his life would go down, starting with getting a job here when he was sixteen because they were the only people that would hire him. But ever since his first day working, he knew that he had a passion for flowers that, until then, was unbeknownst to him. Getting to help people find the perfect flowers for such beautiful moments in their life, a first date, a wedding, or valentine’s day, was something he loved more than anything. 

⸻

It was Friday, so Mark was on the phone with a florist scheduling a delivery for Monday, when he saw you looking at the flower display outside. Doyoung, one of his employees, also saw you and went over to ask if you needed any help. Mark knew your answer before you even got the chance to shake your head and say that you were just looking. It’s what you did every morning on your way to work, admire but never buy. 

Mark had begun to look forward to seeing you, even though he never talked to you, but he sees the way your face lights up when you look at his flowers. Particularly the way you look at the orchids, and to see someone have a love of flowers like him always made his heart happy. (And maybe he always looked forward to seeing you because he thought you were even more beautiful than the flowers that surrounded him.)

Thoughts about getting the courage to get to know you more always plagued him whenever you stopped by, but you were gone before he could ever get the chance. That changed when you came back to the shop on your lunch break. This was not something you normally did but you had the extra time since a client canceled your 1:00 meeting. “Bloom” just had the prettiest orchids you have ever seen. You always wondered how they get them so vibrant and they seemed to last forever but whenever you bought flowers, they were quick to die. Since you had the time, you decided to actually go inside the flower shop around look around. 

The inside of the shop was a bit overwhelming honestly. There were flowers everywhere and you wanted to look at every single type. Your eyes were glued on the elegant lilies when you started to back up to try and get a better view of them. You didn’t notice the shop owner behind you, carrying three full vases of roses. Your back hit his and he tripped over his shoes causing the three vases to shatter. 

“Are you alright?” He says a little panicked until he looks up at you and realizes that its you. “Hey, you’re actually inside the store this time.” He says surprised but with an adorable smile. 

“Huh?” Caught off guard by the fact that he was trying to make conversation instead of cleaning up the shattered glass. You see a broom behind the counter and go to grab it to start cleaning because you didn’t want anyone to get hurt. 

“Hey, no you don’t have to. I’ll get it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He says with another adorable smile that makes you start questioning why it took you so long to come into the shop. 

“I’m Mark by the way, I own this shop.”

“Oh really! I’m y/n. I actually was wondering about your orchids-” You were cut off by the phone ringing at the counter. You stare at Mark, expecting him to get it but he doesn’t move. 

“What about the orchids?” He asks in anticipation and you can see a genuine sparkle in his eyes.

“I- aren’t you going to get the phone?”

“Huh? Oh.” He says looking over a the phone but still not moving, like he’s torn between talking to you and answering what could be an important call. Eventually he decides to get the phone because it would be unprofessional not to. 

While Mark is on the phone, Doyoung seemed to come back from his lunch break. He spotted the mess on the floor and immediately started cleaning it up. It was a bit awkward because you were unsure if you should try and help him but he seemed to have everything under control so you continued to browse the flowers in the shop, not yet leaving because you did want your questions about the orchids answered. 

Once Mark was off the phone he came back over to you, eager to finish your conversation. “Sorry about that so-”

“Oh no i’m sorry I just realized what time it is, I have to get back to work.”

“Ok, come back soon so we can talk about the orchids.” He says with a smile. You can’t help but feel a warmth in your heart at his words. It was so cute that he genuinely seemed to want to have this conversation with you. For a second you could have sworn you felt your heart flutter, but that couldn’t be, you aren’t the type to catch feelings for someone upon first meeting them. And anyway, you were very busy with your job and didn’t need any distractions. But coming back to the shop tomorrow for an innocent conversation about orchids should be fine right?

⸻

You gave your boss an excuse so that you could have a longer lunch break the next day. Something in you was so excited to see Mark and you weren’t sure why. The short walk from the office to “Bloom” wasn’t enough time to figure out why so before you knew it you were in a very in-depth conversation about orchids. 

“It’s actually a good thing that we couldn’t talk yesterday because it gave me some time to research some more about orchids and I found out some stuff even I didn’t know. Did you know that orchids were around thirty million years ago? They discovered this because they found a bee carrying pollen from an orchid that was trapped in amber all that time.”

You laugh a little bit. Not at him or anything, you just found his enthusiasm for his job to be extremely adorable. “You’re cute.” You didn’t exactly mean to say that out loud and when you looked up at Mark, his ears had turned bright red. 

He acted like he didn’t hear your comment but his slight stumble in his words told you otherwise. But he quickly caught himself and went on another tangent about orchids which of course you were listening intently to every word. 

You knew that you wanted to buy a bouquet from him, not only because they are some of the prettiest flowers you have ever seen, but because he was being so nice and it felt wrong not to especially when he had spent so much time out of his busy day to talk to you. But when you tried to pay, he refused, insisting that you take the bouquet for free. 

“No, really, I want to pay. And anyways it was on my new year’s resolutions to support more small businesses.” You say as you try to hand your card to him. 

“Well, my new year’s resolution was to be more generous and that includes giving out free flowers especially to someone as lovely as you. I’m so sorry that was unprofessional.” He starts to stumble and moves slightly franticly, clearly surprised by his own words. You put your hand on his to try and get him to relax. “It’s completely fine, it was a nice compliment, thank you.”

“I don’t really know what’s happening, I promise you I never act like this around customers.”

“I would hope not, if you did I would feel a lot less special right now.” 

⸻

After that encounter, you were being kept up at night with a smile on your face and thoughts about Mark. The early signs that a full-blown crush was developing. It had been such a long time since you had felt these feelings and you had forgotten about the lovely warmth the filled you every time he crossed your mind. But like always, you start to overthink and overanalyze everything to the point that you come to the conclusion that you are delusional and Mark is just a kind flower shop owner who was just trying to do his job. 

This thought process caused you to start taking the long way to work so that you could avoid walking in front of “Bloom”. The last thing you wanted to do was seem like an obsessed stalker who came by the shop everyday. 

If you only knew that Mark always waited for you to walk past in the mornings. When you stopped coming by, he started to think that he had done something wrong. 

It wasn’t until a little over week later that he finally saw you again. You had time after lunch so you decided to go to a cafe to get some coffee and a muffin. You saw Mark inside and he was trying to hold four coffees and two bags of pastries in his hands. He was visibly struggling and when he saw you he almost dropped everything out of surprise. You rushed over to him and took half of what he was holding. 

“Thank you so much y/n! They usually have drink holders but they were out.”

“No problem, are you taking this back to the shop?”

“Yeah! They aren’t all for me, I got the rest for my employees.”

“Yeah, I figured. I’ll help you bring these over.” You say as you and Mark walk out of the cafe. You two walk across the street and into “Bloom” where you are greeted by a very excited Doyoung. Apparently it was a little tradition that Mark did every Wednesday afternoon where he would buy everyone at “Bloom” coffee and pastries. 

“Financially it’s probably not the best idea to give out free coffee and free flowers all the time.” You say, turning to Mark.

“It’s a good thing that you’re the only person I’ve ever given free flowers to then.” He winks at you, which you can tell he immediately regrets afterwards by the way his face cringes in response. “Hey, I just realized that you went into the cafe and didn’t get any coffee, we can go back and I’ll buy you some since you helped me.”

“Oh no it’s fine, I actually need to get back to work. I just went in there because I had some time to kill.”

“Well... then let me take you out for a cup of coffee some other time. Or maybe even out to dinner?”

“You wanna take me out to dinner?” You say unable to hid your smile. 

“Please?” 

Your heart was fluttering so fast but you tried your best to stay calm. “Yeah I would like that.”

⸻

You had forgotten just how much fun and completely nerve wracking getting ready for a first date was. The only thing that was calming you down was that you knew Mark was such a sweetheart and you really didn’t have anything to worry about. And you were genuinely excited to get to know him more and to see him outside of the flower shop. 

You weren’t exactly sure what would be the best thing to wear so you settled on a flowy dress that made you feel comfortable. Your doorbell rang right at 6:30, exactly the time you two had planned. You take one last look at yourself in the mirror and then open the door where a very handsome Mark stands with a bouquet of flowers. 

The look of surprise on your face as you look at the flowers makes Mark laugh.

“Come on, you can’t tell me you weren’t expecting me to get you flowers.”

You absolutely were expecting him to get you flowers, because of his job you would actually be a little bit offended if he didn’t. Your shock wasn’t because he got you them, it was the type of flowers. 

“Lilacs?” You say still a little bit in shock. 

“Yeah! So... I figured that orchids are your favorite right? So I was totally planning on getting you some but then something in my heart told me that I needed to get lilacs. Like it felt like if I didn’t get you these specific flowers, I would be making the biggest mistake of my life. Which doesn’t make sense at all and I know I sound crazy. I really don’t know how to describe what I was feeling or why I was feeling that way but I got you these lilacs and I really hope that you like them.”

You can’t help but to stand there, a little stunned at what he was saying. There happen to be a little tradition, if you could even call it that, in your family. Your grandfather had gotten lilacs for your grandmother on their first date. And your dad had gotten lilacs for your mom on their first date. This was something that you held close to your heart, that when you met the right one, he would bring lilacs on your first date. Never did you think that it would actually happen, it was more of just a dream. 

But here Mark was, lilacs in hand, going on about how he wasn’t sure if they are the right flower to have gotten you. Oh, if only he knew. You wanted to kiss him right then and there, but you refrained. 

⸻

Maybe it was the lilacs that were clouding your brain, but dinner with Mark proved to be one of the most fun nights of your life. You hadn’t realized just how funny he was. It’s probably not the best manners on a first to be constantly laughing to the point that you can’t breathe, but that was hardly your fault. It was so easy to get wrapped up and lost in conversation with him. Everything just felt so natural and familiar. 

You both hadn’t noticed the several hours that had passed by until a waiter came to your table to politely tell you guys that the restaurant was closing. You looked around and everyone was gone, you both apologized and quickly left. 

⸻

“Is it weird if I say that I don’t want this date to end?” Mark asks as you both walk to your front door.

“No, I feel the same way. I had such a nice time tonight. And thank you again for the lilacs, I really love them Mark.”

“I’m so happy that you like them, I was really freaking out on the way here about them.” Mark says while he looks at you with the cutest smile you have ever seen. He moves his hand closer to you and moves a piece of hair that had gotten in your face slightly. He tucks the hair behind your ear and leaves his hand there for a moment while he builds up the courage to kiss you. 

It only takes him a minute though before he leans in and gives you a kiss, grabbing your waist slightly to pull you in. Just like the date, the kiss was over before both of you would have liked but considering how things are going, there will be plenty more of both to come. 

You and Mark say your goodbyes, both of you giddy and a little bit all over the place. As you walk into your front door you see the bouquet of lilacs and yet another wave of happiness rushes through you. One day you’ll get to tell Mark why exactly those lilacs shocked you so much, but in the meantime you couldn’t wait until you got to see him again. 

(part two here!)

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

i think i found my fav arcana blog, i rlly love ur hcs and writings!!! (and i don't even usually read that much,,)

i wanna know how the m6 would react to mc, who does journaling but never had anyone read their journal, offering the m6 if they want to read their private journal

The Arcana HCs: M6 reading MC's journal

~ I kept a journal for several years until my siblings were old enough to decipher my handwriting and use it as blackmail lol. Thanks for the prompt anon, enjoy! - brainrot ~

Julian

Noticed you writing in it every day and has been dying of curiosity to know what you're writing about but respects your privacy too much to even bring it up

There have been one or two times when you left it on a table (not open) and he spent a good five minutes fixated on it from across the room, mind going crazy

You finally walk in on him one afternoon, draped across one side of the couch and twisting his gloves while staring holes into the notebook on the opposite armrest

So you sit down next to him and let him read it with you

Double checking multiple times that it's okay for him to be reading this - "are you sure that you're sure?"

Reading about himself from your perspective and how he makes your life better makes him so happy

He also notices how you've kept his love notes and flowers pressed between the pages and the sheer romance of it will make his brain melt

Blushing, stuttering mess

Now whenever he writes you something or picks a flower for you he's thinking about the best way to make it relevant years later, since he knows you'll save them

Asra

Journaling started for you as a daily exercise when you were relearning to write

It was Asra's way of giving you a piece of your life that you had total control of, and of encouraging you to chronicle your days to cope with your memory loss

Over time it also became a place to write down all the things you wanted to say to them while they were gone

So late one night, when you're stargazing together and you find you're on the second to last page of the notebook he gave you so long ago, you reread it with him

It's one of the most precious moments you'll ever share with them. No magic or adventure involved, just the sweetness of revisiting your history together

It also gives you the chance to let him read all the things you felt you couldn't tell him, which brings so much resolution

By the time you're finished reading and talking and snuggling the birds are starting to chirp and the sky is getting lighter

For them, reading about all the ways you noticed and thought about and loved them when there was so much distance between you two makes their heart so full it aches

Nadia

At first she assumed it was something like a planner, where you would write down leads and information and connections

But then she saw the different notebooks you kept for studying, and the system you had to keep track of your scheduled events

She was a little embarrassed at how long it took for her to realize that it was a journal

Once she knew, she was intrigued. She wasn't going to pressure you to show her at all, but she's certainly curious

One day you're flipping back through your entries and you begin to giggle. It's the last thing before she caves and asks

"MC, my darling, what's making you laugh?"

You're immediately scooting over to make space for her next to you and pointing to the right spot on the page

It's a small anecdote you had recorded of Natiqa pranking Nahara and Nazali when Nadia wasn't around

Once you two start reading together she doesn't stop. With your permission, you spend the next two hours reminiscing

You write about her like she's the most important, wise, and confident person in the world, and it fills her with humble gratitude

Muriel

Noticed on the trip south. Wasn't curious. Didn't ask.

Now its been months, you two live like an old married couple in the woods, and he has no idea how to bring it up this late in the getting-to-know-you game

Practices the possible words to ask you in the early mornings while he's feeding the chickens and you're still asleep

The chickens don't have much feedback

You, on the other hand, have mistaken his stoicism for disinterest, so you haven't taken any initiative to let him know that you're open to talking about it

Inanna gets fed up one day and grabs your journal in her mouth, leading you on a chase through the woods, right to where Muriel is fishing

Casually drops it as soon as he tells her to, right into his lap, and heads away for a nap

You sit down next to him and check for torn pages. As soon as you feel his interested gaze, you're offering to read it to him while he waits for the fish to bite

He's not ready for how often he features in your stories, but hearing the way you describe him as safe and gentle and precious makes him feel so fuzzy inside

Portia

The first time she sees you writing she's already asking what it's for

As soon as you tell her it's a journal, she's asking you to let her read it. If it's written by someone as mysterious and exciting as you, it has to be good!

At this point you've known her for all of two days, so you say no

Disappointed but understanding. She doesn't pester you about it, but she makes sure to let you know that she's very interested if you ever feel like sharing

You take your time, but one evening after dinner while you're snuggled up by the fire you'll pull it out and start reading to her

The best audience you've ever had. She is honed in, hanging onto every word while she covers a very happy Pepi in scritches

As someone who fell in love with novels because they whisked her away into adventures she didn't feel important enough for otherwise, hearing you recount your shared story like this tugs on all of her heartstrings

She'll laugh and cry and gasp at all the right moments. From now on, she treats your journal like a sacred thing. After all, it's the most important story in the world

Lucio

He was already sneaking peeks over your shoulder when he was stuck to you as a not-ghost. Man has 0 concept of privacy

You knew he was looking because he was commenting on your handwriting and gossiping about any tidbits he thought were juicy

Considering how you barely knew him at that point, you didn't write in front of him again for a very, very long time

It actually created a lovely habit - at some point during the day, you'll take half an hour to yourself and journal

It's been months now and you've forgotten why you had the habit in the first place, so when it's raining one evening you just stay in the inn and write next to the fire

The difference in Lucio's approach speaks volumes. He asks what you're doing, and when you tell him, he asks if he can hear some of it

He makes no move to get up from where he's polishing his sword (it got wet)

He listens while you read, interjecting with a comment or two, perfectly content

He's a bit sheepish about what you had to write about him in the beginning, but hearing how much he's changed fills him with healthy pride. Oh, he adores you

[couple-write-fics]

Falling for the Mad Scribe

(Alhaitham x AFAB!Reader)

(MDNI!!! Content Warning: Possessive!Alhaitham, Bratty!Reader, Female-Anatomy, Cunninglingus/Oral, Fingering, Degrading, Praise, Bondage, Dom/Sub play, Power Dynamics)

"Ugh... Tighnari owes me a whole Forest Watcher's Choice for making me come to Sumeru City while Alhaitham owes me Sabz Meat Stew for making me attend the meeting in his stead. He knows if none of them can't stop his bluntness, then how am I to control my tongue when it comes to Grand Sage Azar or rather, anyone from the Rtawahist aside from Layla." A groan escaped from you as you flung yourself backward onto the bench outside the Scribe's office, awaiting his return since he was the only one with a key to get in. 

You were just a shy and meek 3rd-year Researcher at the Akademiya of Sumeru. Your Darshan was that of Amurta: the Darshan of biology, ecology, and medicine. You were assigned to help Tighnari after the Head-Sage of your Darshan, a man named Naphis, asked you to assist him with the Forest Rangers while keeping an eye on the Withering Zones that seemed to form at random times. 

Yet, Tighnari sent you to become an assistant for Alhaitham. He was last spotted by Cyno to have not been "Looking Well" and Tighnari asked you to keep an eye on him. That was 3 months ago, and this man has refused to let you go back to Gandharva Ville, stating different problems and that Tighnari has ordered your current location to be your new home for the foreseeable future.

"Hmmm, and here I thought you were best friends with those of Rtawahist Darshan?" A fellow researcher, Dana, had asked as you shook your head.

"Most of them think they are more knowledgeable than the next Researcher of any other Darshan. I mean, I understand that their research is important, all of our research journals, and the amount of effort everyone puts into it is vast."

"If I didn't know any better, I say you deeply despise the Rtawahist Darshan?" She moved closer as you moved away. You were not in the mood to deal with her crazy ideas today. She clearly had been spending too much time with the “Lord Sangemah Bay”, Dori you thought was her name.

"Despise is too loose of a word while hatred is too strong and a vastly overused word." You explained

"Have you tried Loathe or maybe Detest." a new voice caught your attention. It was like honey to your ears. 

"Oh! Scribe! I apologize, I shouldn't have kept her from her duties." Dana expressed as you shook your head.

"Come on, it's not he and I are dating; I am simply his assistant while he is my senior, that's all." You laugh but fail to see a change in the atmosphere around Alhaitham. It was almost as if he was insulted and rather put-off by the conversation at hand.

"If that is the case, can you and I get lunch sometime?" Dana asked and you said you have to check your schedule. She was really your only friend in Sumeru City since you were essentially locked in the Akademiya due to the unusual hours of your work.

"If you excuse us, she has filing work to do and I need to check applications," Alhaitham growls, pulling you into the office and away from the fellow Amurta Researcher.

Once in the office, you were told to go to your "corner" and fill out the documents from Tighnari and Cyno then file the documents as Alhaitham goes into his part of the office. You were about to question him on what is up with him, as he seemed even more pissed than usual but his "office door" slammed into your face.

Okay then...you will just investigate those weird mushrooms you found on your way to work this morning after you do your tasks. As you walked back to your desk, you noticed how clean your desk was as you left it an "organized mess" (as you call it) before the meeting this morning.

You sigh and go to the office door. You could tolerate how insufferable he has been, you could handle dry humor and you could somehow deal with his demands. But messing with your desk crossed the line. 

You pound on the desktop and are ignored. “If this man is ignoring his work, I WILL LOSE IT!" you inwardly expressed before knocking on the door, seeing it finally open from all your violent action on the door.

"Alhaitham! Did you mess with my desk?" You hollered as you walked into the dimly lit room before hearing the door slam behind you and you were pushed up against his vast desk. At this point, your eyes were as wide as a Ruin Guard's own optical window, you had never been so scared of him yet he also seemed to excite you for some reason.

"I read that Ovulation heats up a woman's body by as much as half a degree Fahrenheit. Before ovulation, most women run between 96 and 98 degrees F (35.5 to 36.6 degrees Celsius). Right after ovulation, body temperature goes up to around 97 to 99 degrees F (36.1 to 37.2 degrees C)." His husky voice is heard on the shell of your ear as it seems impossible to look behind you by the way he had you pushed against the desk.

"Alhaitham?! What are you doing?" 

“Did you have fun? Teasing me like that?" Alhaitham whispers and for some reason, it was turning you on. 

“What are you talking about? Dana is a friend, nothing more.” You rebuttal.

“That girl was not what I was referring to…I was instead speaking about the man you were haphazardly close to after the meeting you went to this morning.” He protested.

“What man ...wait, you mean Namhu? He is a junior-”

“You were close to him, teasing me in the process. Stay away from him”

"Mr. Alhaitham, I wasn't teasing. He is only a fellow researcher-"

"I also read that women have issues with pleasure in the bedroom when with another. Perhaps women can take things into their own hands, or minds, as other research has found a lack of erotic thoughts, and even negative thoughts, during sex are linked to the trouble some women have reaching orgasm. These negative or distracting thoughts fell into six categories: thoughts of a traumatic past, sexual failure, a partner's lack of affection, sexual passivity, and control, things that had no erotic nature, and body shortcomings." He growled before spanking you, surprising you. "Yet, we won't have to worry about you not being able to reach your climax; I will assure you of that."

You wanted to talk, tell him that this wasn't him. But before you could speak, he flipped you over, your chest to his. His usually cold and serious eyes had full-blown pupils and looked wild. You wanted to argue and tell him it was unprofessional until the audible sound of fabric being torn alerted you that something was clearly not going the way you were thinking. What you thought was a scare tactic, was something really horrible or really exciting, depending on who you are asking when it came to the man before you. 

You realized he had torn off your clothes, he then pinned you to the desk, his lips on your neck as he growled for you to remain silent. You knew you needed to stop, that he was only feeling the effects of the mushroom you, yes you, had been studying for its possible medicinal qualities, just as the Qingxin of Liyue and Wolfhook of Mondstadt had been.

"You will be a good girl for me or do I need to teach you about Loyalty, my disobedient yet exotic Calamity." He whispers into your ears.

Part of you wanted to scold him, telling him you know what calamity means but before you could open your mouth, you felt something around your legs and looked down to see blooming vines sprout from the nearby samples you brought back from outside the city. The vines bound your hands and feet to the desk, ensuring that your escape idea proved to be null and void.

"The only things I wanna hear you say are 'Yes Sir' or 'No Sir' along with thanking me. I will make you behave one way or another for even talking to another man in my presence." Was all that muttered from him before he stole your lips with his.

Your mind went from a million miles an hour to absolutely nothing as he took control. And, without warning, his thick fingers entered your folds, causing what you thought would be a whine to stop, to come out as a cry of pleasure.

"Please...please" was all you could mutter as soon as his fingers rubbed and teased that one bundle of nerves . You had never done anything like this to your body yet, it was no denying that it felt so good; it felt right.

“Please; Please what, my little temptress? Please go faster?” He teased, moving 2 fingers now in a slow and deliberate motion. You wanted to cry but instead of the desire to run from him, it was from lust. “Such a beautiful sound from you. Moan more for me.” 

As he spoke, you made the mistake of looking down. The scene before your eyes was that Alhaitham already had his pants off and, oh boy. That monster between his legs made you mentally drool. It was at least 10 inches, veiny and thick. It was standing at attention and seemed to already be leaking. Suddenly, you feel him hit a spot inside of you. You were not paying attention to him or his magical touch before suddenly feeling the pressure of being penetrated. You felt tears welling up in your eyes as he shushed you.

“Shhh, such a good calamity with a beautiful vice-like grip on my 2 fingers. I can tell you are a novice. Consider this a reward for all the good work you do.” He praises and placates you as you feel what could only be described as a euphoric high he was helping you reach. It felt so wrong because he was technically your superior but in its own way, it felt so right. Like this is why no one else attracted you until you met the smart mouthed scribe that most thought was too egotistical for his own good.

You suddenly felt something about to snap inside of you, almost like it was a too taut rope about to break under the pressure. You were trying to desperately hold back from letting it snap and you gasped as he covered your hand with his hand. He was originally holding his cock with it yet here he was intertwining his fingers with yours as the tears fell from your eyes. You looked up at him, an urgency to let something explode hitting you as he smirked.

“This will be one of many orgasms I will give you. Go ahead, cum all over my hand like the little slut you are.” He spoke darkly as the feeling of something snapping inside of you breaks and out comes a sudden rush of unfamiliar fluids. He smirks and keeps going with his fingers. You gasp again as more fluids gush out as he moves between your legs. 

You go to tell him to not do that, that it is possibly unsanitary but a sudden feeling of euphoria erupts as his long hot tongue begins to lick up the fluids. It was a rush and judging by the moans he gave between your thighs, he was enjoying this too. In no time, another orgasm hit you just from the action his tongue was giving your little bundle of nerves. Despite your panting and whining, he rises and licks his lips.

“As sweet as a Zaytun Peach; just how I like my snacks.” He emphasized as he locked eyes with you as your juices dripped from his chin. It looked embarrassing but he seemed content. He then tightened the vines and smirked as he lifted his cock again, making you unconsciously drool again. “I see you like what you see. Don’t worry, little one, I will be gentle but first, I need you to provide lubrication to it.” He spoke in a husky voice.

Confusion must have been evident on your face as he lifted his own throbbing member. You went to open your mouth in an exclamation but when the tip entered your mouth; all thoughts of forming a functioning coherent sentence went out the moment he entered your mouth. It was salty and slightly musky but he did keep it trimmed so you didn’t have to worry about choking on pubic hair. He grunts and forces his member down your throat and that's when you realize he was staking his claim, not just using your saliva as his lubrication. 

“I know I am being rough but I know you can take it. Besides, you run your mouth with your constant lectures to me, why not put your mouth to better use as my personal toy.” He growls and his words make something inside you excited but also a little rebellious. So, in an act of defiance, you hummed around his tip and that's when it felt better to take him deeper into your throat.

“Fuck’s sake…are you trying to kill me?” He growls and makes it damn near impossible to breathe.

“For now on, I am the only one you speak to here. None of the others or even the Sages. I am the only one you will come see, you will crave this by the time I am done.” He threatened before pulling out of your mouth and throat. You took in the air, coughing and choking on the sweet oxygen. You remembered what you wanted to ask but the look in his eyes said to focus on him and him alone.

“We’re going to get into trouble, are we?” You ask, looking up at Alhaitham as he tilts your head up and leans down. You close your eyes and feel his lips brush against yours, his right hand caressing your face. His lips were like pillows but also seemed to have a certain spark to them. You could compare it to being shocked but also, it felt like your body was burning in the fires of Natlan while also freezing in the icy winds of Snezhnaya .

Alhaitham whispers, “You say it like you are innocent. You haven’t been innocent since the moment I laid eyes on you.” He growls. “We won’t get caught as long as you keep your voice down.” He then closes the distance between you two.

Your surroundings become blurry afterward, and you find yourself propped up on his desk. Your arms are trembling beneath you; both of your hands are planted on the wooden desk, and sweat trickles down your face and splatters on the wood below you. 

“The safe word is Flower…do you understand?” He mumbled into your ear. You could only nod before he spanked your ass with such force, you were sure it would leave a mark. “Do you understand?” He repeats.

“Yes Sir” you breathed.

“Good little one” He smirks as a small whimper escapes from your lips as you shut your eyes tightly, biting down on your lips as you try to refrain from letting out a single sound. The feeling of Alhaitham’s cock sliding in your entrance makes your eyes roll to the back of your head. You then realize he had only gone in about an inch, you still had 9 more to go.

"Keep your voice down...unless you want all of the Akademiya to know how much of a slutty girl you are." He murmurs out the warning as you could feel how violent he was with your body, especially between your legs. “Besides, I told you, I am ensuring that you only think about me and I am sure that judging by the look on your face, you look ready to die of ecstasy already, my little Calamity.”

He was not wrong as you knew that if it already felt this good, you could not wait for the other 9 inches. Yet, before even a whispered word could be said, a sudden and violent thrust pushed you into the wooden desk. An audible gasp is heard from your mouth as you hold the edge of the desk.

“Going to break already-”

"Sir, harder, please" You choked out quietly as he smirks and what you thought would be a kiss turned out to be a bite, claiming you physically so others could see you were not to be flirted with.

"Such a glutton already, aren't we? I never took you for that but now, I can clearly see that I had miscalculated so much about you.” He grunts as he thrusts harder. 

You were seeing stars in the dim office you both were in. The only sounds you could hear was labored breathing, the sound of skin slapping against sweating skin. You thought you were dreaming but that was until he pinned you harder to the desk.

"So, tell Tighnari that those mushrooms you found have an aphrodisiac effect and can be used as such....now, I wonder if Mr. Kaveh would miss his spare key.” He smirks after several more thrusts and then looks down at you. “Clean yourself up; you and I have work. After work though, I will bring you back home with me, make an honest woman out of you.”

By the Archons, this smug bastard will be the death of you yet you are not complaining. You just hope tonight will entail more of that sweet sweet power dynamic.

[behoright]

your fuse is fireside (love countdown series) | a. svechnikov

summary: part 4! thirsty andrei has a big realization about you.

wordcount: 1.4k

warnings: 18+ - minors dni! sexual situations (preeetty sure jrkn off is smut). Also, this is still bad.

⅄ 　  ◌  　💌  ˖　 (´-﹏-`)

“Alright everyone, great job this morning. I have great expectations about tonight - just, you know, get some food in and rest before the warm up okay?” Rod announced after morning skate.

“Before I let you go, quick reminder about what our schedule is going to be looking like. We have tonight’s game, tomorrow off and then we will all leave for our special roadie in the afternoon. How’s everyone feeling about that?”. The room erupted in whistles and claps, but Andrei couldn’t help but blush and look down. “Do we all have someone special to bring?”. That’s when he felt all eyes on him. The guys tried to be as discreet as possible about it, but they couldn’t help looking at their teammate, always cocky and confident, turn into a mumbling, blushing mess at the idea of a trip with his best friend.

“Yep.”

The quiet answer was received by some whistles, pats on the back and an eye roll from him. He simply couldn’t understand what about this whole “friend” situation was so funny to everyone else. Y/N was a girl, but she wasn’t like that. It’s not like Andrei had a crush on her or anything like that. It was perfectly normal from him to be nervous about showing so much of the most important part of his life to his friend. That’s why he was so flustered.

Andrei obviously knew you were attractive. But he recognized that that was just an objective opinion. A fact, if you will. Any man would have found you attractive. It had nothing to do with all those moments you had together - like that one night you fell asleep on your couch, after forcing him to watch a movie.

That night that he picked you up, just to take you to bed, and the way your hair felt on his forearm, how your fingertips seemed to automatically wrap around the back of his neck…; The moment your head found a spot to nuzzle in his shoulder, face pressed against his chest, and he thought his heart was going to stop. He remembers clearly how he stood in the middle of your living room, staring at you, trying to memorize your touch on his skin. How tiny your body felt against him. Somehow, the memory now seemed to jolt a different feeling for Andrei, as he felt his pants get tighter.

The growing of his bulge made him snap back to the now empty locker room, all the guys having gone out to get a bite to eat. Andrei shook his head, grabbed his bag and decided to get to his car as fast as possible. Instead, his mind kept flashing back to that night, when he slowly took you, sound asleep, to your room. He knew he was going towards the parking lot, but all he could see in his mind was the vision of his arms wrapped around you. The smell of your conditioner intoxicating him as he set you down in your bed. Andrei could have sworn that that night you didn’t want to let go of him - that he thought he heard you groan once he took his hands away from you when he made sure you were comfortable in your sheets.

That reminder, something he hadn’t thought about in a long time, stopped him dead in his tracks. A swarm of memories seemed to flood him right then and there. The way you tucked your hair behind your ear when you were studying, your smile when he saw you behind the glass during warm up, and how you put your forehead, your hands up to it waiting for him to get close; the smell of your perfume, your giggle when he would tickle you and poke your sides out in public. Your jokes and the banter - god, the constant, constant banter between you two that never failed to get a laugh out of him.

Holy shit.

He liked you.

It hit him like a ton of bricks, right then in the middle of the hallway. Andrei undeniably and unequivocally had fallen for you. Bag in his hands, mouth struck open. He hadn’t even showered or changed; hair stuck to his forehead, his shorts failing to hide how he really felt about this. The pit in his stomach mixed with butterflies and unending desire. He quickly picked up the pace, got to his car, and tightened the grip on his steering wheel as he raced home. He knew this was bad.

He was about to play a game, right in front of you, before you spent a whole night in his apartment, before you spent a week together traveling.

All knowing he had immense feelings for you. And he couldn’t understand what about these memories made his cock throb so hard he could barely control himself. Andrei slid lower in his car seat, involuntarily buckling his hips upwards. He had never felt this flustered before in his life - he felt like a teenager again. His stomach was basically doing somersaults, he had enough energy to shoot endless pucks into the net, but all he wanted to do was take you in his arms and bury his dick inside of you.

After a poor parking job, a very long ride up the elevator, Andrei dropped his bag and basically sprinted to his shower. Turning it ice cold, his freckled chest heaved at the sensation of the freezing droplets hitting his body. Head tilted back, every time he closed his eyes he only saw you. Only you. Growing impatient, he quickly turned his back to the shower head, spit on his cock, and started stroking it. He didn’t know what to do - he had never felt anything like this. He had girlfriends in the past, sure, but they were…different. They were very different. You weren’t a model, but somehow he found you incredibly more attractive than anyone he saw on his Instagram feed.

Andrei swore he liked a specific type of girl, not ones like you. His exes had always liked to go out and they were always all over him; they dressed differently and went along with everything he did, no complaints. He could have asked them to fly to Russia for one night with him and they would have all said yes. Andrei knew for a fact that you were just too busy for that. However, whenever he wasn’t feeling like himself, or after a bad game, you were always there. He couldn’t remember a time he hadn’t felt your embrace when it mattered the most. The warmth of your body, the way you could always hold space for him, for his life; he could rest his head on your legs and drift off. Your legs, your soft legs - he couldn’t understand how someone’s skin could be so tender. Your fingertips tracing the skin on his temples, trying to lull him into sleep.

He wondered if you ever traced your fingertips down your legs, laying down on your bed, opening your thighs up. If you took those fingertips he loved on his skin so much, ran them through your slick folds, throwing your head back with a sweet moan. He wondered if you talked dirty all alone to yourself, what your fantasies were, when you massaged your swollen clit late at night. He thought about you rubbing your breasts, moaning while you fingerfucked yourself while thinking about god knows what. The thought of your cleavage accidentally spilling out of your top while you edged closer to your climax made him slam his back against the shower door, preventing his knees from buckling. Andrei squeezed his eyes shut and let his desires run wild as he gripped his leaking cock harder and stroked faster. The more he kept thinking about you, the more the desire seemed to build up in his lower belly. Every time he would roll his eyes, let out a groan, he could only picture you. In all positions, your hair wrapped tightly in his fist. Andrei smacked his hand against the wet tiles, forehead leaning against the wall. Eventually, the idea of your eyes staring deeply into his while he kept a steady rhythm inside of you sent him over the edge. Fully flushed with his eyes squeezed shut, Andrei’s muscles flexed around his twitching cock as he let out a groan and finished all over his shower wall. It took a while before the pleasure let down and his breath found its way back to normal, throwing his body back under the stream of icy water to cool off. Whether he wanted it or not, Andrei realized this was happening, and it was all starting in a couple of hours.