#telling the group I was put into in band to do a small group video performance

[victory-cookies]

I’ve picked up instrument hoarding tendencies from my family which is fucked bc I refuse to actually get good at any of them so they just. sit there. but then I buy a new one anyway

[xinganhao]

🎸 vernon dates rockstar!reader.

anon → "vernon x rockstar!reader who’s a foreigner in an international rock band" ➤ see also: series masterlist

⌗ ┆ anon are u kidding meee. vernon dating a rockstar?!?! my bread & butter (｡･`ω´･)ﾉ hope this is to your liking!

‧₊˚✩彡 includes: international rockstar!reader, f!reader, long distance relationship, established relationship, pet names, fluff, can be read not in order + headcanons under the cut.

🎸 headcanons .ᐟ

— prologue.

vernon was never really a big believer in long-distance relationships. or relationships in general, if he's being honest. they take a lot of work, a lot of energy, a lot of effort. his life is already hectic as it is. why rope somebody in to the life of dating an idol? why be with someone if he can't give them his 100%?

it makes sense, then, that when vernon does find someone, it's someone who runs similar circles. someone who knows what it's like to constantly be on the road, to be in the public eye more often than not.

vernon has been a casual listener of your band for a while now. it's the type of sound that fits right in to his playlists. and, okay, fine. he thinks you're attractive. sue him. but he swears he's there for the music— most of the time. there is a part of him that's there for the performance videos of you shredding your guitar, or the ones where you're screaming in to the microphone.

alright. vernon concedes: he may have a little crush on you.

so you can imagine vernon's surprise when he finds out the two of you are in the same line-up for some american music festival. it's a rare thing, for vernon to ask his managers for anything specific, but he absolutely cannot pass this chance up. he tries to be discreet about it, too. "i really like this band," he sheepishly admits to his manager. "do you think— i don't know, i could just say 'hi' to them or something?"

that's how you and vernon meet. on the sidelines of a music festival, where he's so cool about the whole thing. he's more on the soft-spoken side as he tells you that he thinks you're a great performer and that he can't wait to see you live. you'll think he's cute, and you'll thank him for going out of his way tell you personally.

you'll take a photo together. he'll give you a signed copy of the group's latest album, and you promise to give it a listen. (prior to vernon, you might have not really known too much about k-pop. that's something the two of you briefly discuss— the differences in your industries.) but, as he starts to bid goodbye, you can't resist.

"tell me," you say, small smile in place. "how would a k-pop idol react to having a rockstar slide in to their dm's?"

vernon's brain short-circuits. your words steal every single thought out of his head, and he's reminded, yet again, of small cultural differences. how much more forward americans can be when they want to. he's about to respond when his manager clears their throat, and vernon remembers his place. he flounders through some lame response.

you apologize for putting vernon on the spot, feeling a bit bad yourself. you hadn't wanted to get him in trouble. there's a little more chit-chat, and then— "quick," vernon breathes while his manager's distracted with a phone call. "got a pen on you?"

he scribbles his phone number on the corner of the album he'd just given you. "dm's don't always work for idols. but this might," vernon will say with a smirk that's not quite a smirk, and oh. you know this is going to be fun.

it takes a while for vernon and you to agree that a relationship is something you want to attempt. it will happen after months of back-and-forth via text, months of 'will they? won't they?' flirtations. it's going to be long distance in more ways than one. there's thousands of kilometers between you, a thirteen hour time difference, opposite ends of the entertainment industry.

you two agree to give it a shot anyway, because what's there to lose? no hard feelings if it doesn't work out. that's your constant refrain. you'll try. you'll do your best. and if things fall apart— well, that's just how it is.

— the texts.

except vernon finds it increasingly difficult, as times go on, to imagine a life without you. it's hard to do long distance. of course it's hard. he just thought it'd be harder, but surprisingly, it isn't.

'catch ya when i can' becomes something exchanged as often as 'i love you'. the windows of time wherein the two of you can actually talk— especially when you're both busy— are small, and so it's a bit of a game. vernon races against his busy schedule to 'catch' you, and it always feels like the biggest win in the world. even if it's just a couple of minutes where the two of you are both online, where the texts don't have hours in between each of them? he'll take 'em.

facetime can be a bit of a luxury but it's something the two of you try to do at least thrice a week. a lot of it is quiet snapshots of your daily lives. vernon eats dinner as you go through your morning routine. you get ready for bed as he tells you his plans for the day. it's the epitome of long-distance, how he says 'good morning' and you respond with 'good night.'

there's the fact that it's secret, too. no one can know that the two of you are dating. occasionally, you're linked to other people in the business. it's a grace that vernon is so secure in your relationship that he doesn't really mind. he trusts you, after all, and sees no need to blow things out of proportion. every so often, he'll feel a twinge of envy. but he knows that it's him that you'll text at the end of every day, so it's okay. that makes it okay.

that's why vernon compensates as best as he can. there's a lot of red-eye flights, from incheon to jfk and vice versa. it's easier for you to be the one to come visit him, since your fans don't keep track of you the same way that k-pop fans do. when vernon does make the flights abroad, though, he's always careful to cover up his tracks. to come up with some story of spending time abroad to visit family, to work on 'projects' he never publicly reveals.

vernon goes to your shows when he can. mostly, he watches from side stage so he's away from the view of the public. he likes it that way, really— likes being the person you make a beeline for once you've taken your in-ears out. he'll laugh as you bear hug him. he'll keep an arm around your shoulders as he assures you that you did well. "you were so hot up there," he'll tease you. "how am i supposed to function now, huh?"

a cute little thing that vernon and you establish about midway in to your relationship is a 'couple' instagram account, except it's private and it's just for the two of you to see. @11203km (referencing the distance between you two) is a way for you to dump your thoughts/every day lives without flooding your text thread. when it's 🎸 posting, then maybe it's a carousel of your latest practice sessions or snaps of your recent attempts at cooking. when it's 🐻‍❄️'s posts, it's likely vernon's tiktok outtakes or his misadventures with the rest of the boys.

vernon had always thought that being in a relationship entailed giving your 100% all of the time. being with you has taught him otherwise. if some days, all he can give is 40%, then he can count on you to put in the rest of the 60%. the same goes for you: if you have weeks where all you can put in is 30%, then he'll step up with 70%. any relationship is work, but if it's you, then vernon is convinced that it isn't hard work. not at all.

— extra!

chwebacca 🤟 think i can join ur band now? ㅋㅋㅋ

📷 fansite photos from @Flechazo_0218.

[sea-of-dust]

You gotta be kidding...

5wirl x GN! Reader

Summary: They make a reference to something personal between you two while performing live. Almost putting a spotlight on you.

Notes: Modern AU, mention of irl video game and band: Remmber Sports (they're good recommend Tiny Planets),

Warnings: suggestive humor, swearing, never expect proof reading

He met you before he was an idol. High school to be exact. You two were in the same music class bonding over how much you dreaded your music teacher. "He sounds like a divorced mom.." "isn't he married?" "Exactly" you flop onto your desk

You two have been in almost every class together years afterward, just so you didn't have to work with a stranger for group projects. People would would find you two around school alot and walking home together. "And they were roommates," one of your classmates giggle as you two casually hold hands while speaking to eatchother, in reality, you both didn't notice

He was always so calm but also somehow could smell your problems?!? "Ughhhh" "Lemme guess they chewed gum loudly again?" You spring up placing your head back down. "Stop knowing based off my grunts!" "And you're mad at me for not noticing something earlier" "HA!-" "nm it's because I didn't let you sleep in" "...I genuinely despise you"

He started catching feelings midway through your first semester of the new school year. You did notice he sometimes hugged you tighter, looked at you a little longer, he even got small trinkets for you, noticing how fond he looked when you casually wore them.

It was by the end of the year he had told you he got a scouted as an idol, it took alot for him to tell you but it worked thank god you didn't ditch him like he thought.

"So uh..." "?" "I got scouted" your eyes widen, he thought all his fears came to life before you hugged him tightly and squealed. "I TOLD YOU YOU HAD A NICE VOICE!!" "You didn't have to yell" "Shut up you cry over stuff like this!" Now you were the one that oddly knew things about him...you were right...he did cry...alot like the whole group knew the next day.

The group try to hype him up into asking you out. "DUDEEEE COME ON THEYRE NOT GOING ANYWHERE" "I can ask to hangout" he mutters holding his phone in his hand "COME ONNN" venti and heizou sync up kazuha speaking up "ask them to go for dinner" his cheeks turn pink almost instantly "UH MAYBE NOT COME ON- WHAT IF-" "and sent" "WHEN DID YOU TAKE MY PHONE?!" "You'll live" Xiao rolls his eyes as aether bickers with him, his phone noti goes off. "Sure what time?" There's a silence in the room as Xiao gives him the phone. "At 4?" "bet ☆" you and those star emojis how are you like this. "ITS A DATE!!" "YEAAAAAAA" they sounded like a frat house.

He gets all giddy on that date and when you two finally go on one you finally hit the maybe were dating phase but you both don't wanna admit it to eatchother. So the rest of 5wirl planned something for you two. "Alr we know he likes them nowww...." "we...." "Why don't we perform for them" "on their friend ani?" "How do you know that..." they turn to heizou "because he saved it on his calander" "..." and so they planned out your ani for you two.

And so their evil plans acted out perfectly, you two went out on another date and later that day you dropped him off at the concert. What you didn't expect was heizou dragging you to a seat. "Stay right here and don't move alright" you watched them get on stage aether seeming to be looking for you, they get to performing when one of the lyrics hit you. "Hey why don't you meet me at four?" An almost slured pronunciation followed by aether finally finding you. His eyes so tender yet teasing. You felt your heart skip a beat a small wink only making you more bashful.

To think the performance would end there nope. As you tried to get off your seat aether greets you with a cheeky smile a small ring in his hand. You turn around quickly. "I guess I flustered you more than he ever will" he leans on you wrapping his arms casually around your waist while you continues to fluster you. "He was just a small crush..." "enough to have you gush for 4 months about it" he laughs softly kissing you cheek. "When did you even gain this much confidence" "small words of advice" your mind immediately goes to Heizou. "Alrighty then..." without a warning you pull your face closer forcing him to slouch over you. "Did heizou tell you what to do incase of this situation aswell?" Thank god that concert hall was almost empty and the seat you were at made it almost impossible to see you two because the next thing you see and hear are a bunch of idiots going YEAAAAAAAAAAA. Aether x y/n shirts and a poster held up by Xiao. They ship it.

You made cute accessories! He's seen your work on social media and reached out. "You're accessories are so cute do you have a store?" "Nah I only sell locally near my college" turns out you both went to the same college he's never did a double check so fast in his life. As soon as he saw you he cupped one of your hands, his eyes sparkling in pure joy. "GIMMIE EVERYTHING IN STOCK!" "HUH?!"

Number one fan he's following you around. He'd be your personal advertisement always wearing your stuff and flexing it to others. He WILL be the most annoying person on campus

When you tell him to stop he just kinda tilts his head until he realizes what your saying as if he finally loaded. "Oh! Alright!" That's when you make an almost massive mistake "I did enjoy your support tho but youre-" "SO YOU LIKE HAVING A FAN?!" And so began the simping. He's all over you. Every class your with him? He's leaning into you, whispering random stuff in your ear. Your eyebags got darker everytime he did this but he was more chill than your online fans.

The days you also leaned into him are the days you've never seen someone more flustered. "Hm?" You lift up your head watching him cover his face quickly. "Venti?" He turns away from you even more. "Don't look at me! Where did you even learn that-" "I mean you do that to me all the time" "don't say it outloud-" "did you just whimper?" He stops suddenly using is braids to cover his face as he mumbles to himself. You bring that up to traumatize him

He had to get used to you showing affection, you weren't even dating yet! Come on, don't do this! Even a small smile he'd tease you for it but he'd definitely scream into his pillow about it.

He only asked you out when you made your feeling for him known. A small note under his door telling asking him to meet up at an amusement park later that weekend was where it clicked he looked and sounded like a little girl you could hear his "YEAAAAAAAA" from your room.

He's doing everything he's on a call with the others he just needs them to hear his my story animated from start to finish. "Can you not play that effen punk music main stream shit can barely hear you" "Shut the fuck up hot topic this is important!" "This is why you fucked up your eyeliner" "I DID?!?!" He checked in his mirror realizing he didn't and mostly argued with Xiao. "If they ditch you you deserve it" "quit being a downer! Good luck Venti!" They all mostly wave at the camera before hanging up leaving you and him alone for the evening

He loved it. He was like a child pointing at things he wanted. "Do you have the money?" He looks away pounting "not an actual question I'll play for it" his eyes widen almost sparkling. You two left flexing your carnival game knowledge and venti covered in plush prizes you won for him.

As payback for the newfound plush army, he invited you to a concert. "Oh so you did have money" "Shut up" "hehe" your teasingly small laugh is so cute stop doing that. What you didn't know is that he strapped some keychains you made on his belt, and he NEVER STOPPED WINKING, if you had to drink everytime he found you in the audience and winked you'd have five drinks...per song. It was cute seeing him smirk whenever you slightly blushed at him.

"Y/n!!" He smiles as you wait for him outside the concert hall. "Lets go to another amusement park!" He giggles embracing you "right now?" "Yea!" He nuzzles his face into your chest "sure..when you take off all of those keychains Jesus how much did you-" "200 bucks" "...VENTI" "THEYRE CUTE I KNOW YOU EYED THEM!" You blush slightly smirking "I did...they look adorable on you" you struck him right in the heart leaving both of you flustered. "The amusement parks a few blocks away" "LETS GO!" as if it never happened you both headed to the amusement park.

You beat him at a rhythm game he liked. You got first in a video game event he liked since then him he's declared you his rival. "Who the hell is this guy getting in the way of the number one spot" he grits his teeth checking your profile. "347 full combed songs...300 all perfects...and maxed out cards" he rolls his eyes

He wanted to let off some steam at an arcade only to find out he got beat in that game also! With the same name tag as the rythum game champ. He nearly smashes the machine when he notices you step up to it. "Shame, this games kinda better when I'm kicking someone's ass..." You sigh only now, noticing him, smirking at this chance you take it. "You mind playing this with me?" You perk up. Thinking this is a good way to let off steam, he accepts. "I won't go easy." "Alright!" You let him pick the song and almost immediately grab the handbar

Strange, he thinks he doesn't need it. As soon as the song starts, he hears your feet absolutely slam on the board. He's shocked but doesn't look over he's focused on his side of the screen. By the end, you huff heavily, looking up. "You won." You put your fist up for a fist bump. "Ah that songs so annoying~" he dosent give you one back putting in his names for national ranks. That's when he noticed that you put in the name the person on every rythum game had and as soon as you pressed confirm he nearly pounces on you. "SO YOURE THE ONE TAKING THE NUMBER 1 SPOTS EVERYWHERE!" "Yea what about it-" he looks at you angrily, calming down a bit before turning back to you. "I declare you my rival" "well...If you wanna we could rematch sometime gimmie your number?"

Ever since then you two have skeduled days to go to the arcade to whale on eatchother and going out to eat afterword. "I'm pretty sure you'd like it reminds me of your face ☆" you say as you point to a horrible cgi skeleton. "Screw you" "heh". You'd eventually open up to him more and invited him out to places more often. He didn't wanna say it outloud but he genuinely enjoyed those moments

One of the times you two went, you try to teach him gutair hero, he kinda mumbles to himself. "You can just play on your lap" "hmmhmm mhm em You can't be this msm hm" "what-" he realizes he said that outloud and covers his face nearly dropping the gutair. "I didn't hear that last part" he sighs in relief "but do you think im cute?" And so he's even more ashamed of himself. "Context clues" you scratch your cheek in a bit of embrassment "I think you're pretty cute too" you embarssingly laugh leaning away

you're pretty sure you could see his heart skip a beat as he looks up at you, his face nearly entirely pink. Peaking at you through his hand. You decide to tease your friend. "Seems like you wanna date me~" He moves back quickly, covering his mouth to hide his blushing. "I'm fine with that ya know~" you lean into him him still covering his face. He looks away looking back at you,his eyes softening "I'm fine with the thought of kissing you..well maybe a little more than fine but-" your words were cut off as you feel his lips touch yours. Quick yet soft, his hands wrapping around your shoulders. You lean back trying to catch your breath "...how long have you've been waiting to do that?" "...a few months now" "That's kinda adorable Xiao" you lean in for another kiss. You two recount that day as your first date

Ever since then he's more willing to hang out a little more clingy too. Whenever he had a show he would ask you if you were busy that day before sending you the ticket link. "Hey are you busy on the 14th?" "No why?" He'd send you the link without a secound thought "you know I'm not really into idols that much" "I'm in the group..." "...bought"

He actively looks for you in the audience. You would text him where you were sitting beforehand, yet he'd still look like a lost puppy. As soon as he finds you, his eyes sparkled. He forced himself to calm down before giving you a small wave

It was by the end of the show where he was performing the last song and you noticed something about their dance it kinda looked like what you would do on a song you knew well. It was then that you realized Xiao made a dance routine inspired by your sweaty gaming dance. You covered your face in embrassment but peaked through your hands. You couldn't believe he paid that much attention to you. He smirks noticing this

As the show ends, he runs over to you, "That was...a little embrassing" you blush a bit. "..." "dosent mean I didn't like it tho!" Trying not to offend him further you mumble on of how great the performance was. At first he's pretty stiff with his arms crossed you'd think he was annoyed till he kissed you again leaning in to hug you. "I'm glad you liked it" he whispers ever so softly in your ear.

He offen saw you working on projects for bands he likes and decided to commission you. He invited you to a studio and you both began to focus on what he commissioned you on. "I'm looking for something calm yet something someone would listen to in the morning to wake them up..." "hmmm" you play a calm chord progression on your gutair. "Speed up a bit" he taps his foot as if keeping pace as you speed up your playing. "That's pretty good! Sounds like a Remmber sports song" " YOU LISTEN TO THEM?" "Yea?" "Oh my god I thought you wouldn't catch that-" "they're a bit of a guilty pleasure"

You two always worked together after that whenever he would be lost in thought you'd just play hall of the mountain king behind him. He'd turn around slowly as your playing got more intense. "You think of something?" "..."

You pretty much became 5wirl's offical gutairst after kazuha recommended you. They'd make fun of him for how long you two stayed at the studio together. "Kazuha~, you left us sleeping in the shopping cart again!" Venti grins ear to ear "must really like that gutairst." Kazuha smiles."They're just a friend I find it easy to get along with" he thinks about what you two were talking about his eyes softening as if it were an old fond memory "and he's doing it again" heizou sighs jokingly

A few months of performing together, they treat you as family, almost apart of 5wirl. As soon as Kazuha ever left the room they'd turn to you in a heartbeat. "You sure you don't kiss when we're not looking?" "Eh?!" "Does kazuha usually get all mumbly around you" "he does but-" "I KNEW IT" "dose he show you his unironic leaf collection" they all lean in expectingly. "No wha-" You made sure kazuha was too far to hear what you were about to say "...OK so this one time..." they listened to you like their lives depended on it.

The day you told them about that is the day you regret the most, they always looked you and kazuha up and down. Snicker to themselves. "How much you wanna bet they might kiss today" "CAN YOU TWO CUT IT OUT" you let out a sigh walking into the recording studio to practice, a familiar humming following you in a few secounds later. You two sing together and when you finish he finally speaks up. "You know... this the song I was playing when I first realized I was into you" "heh really" you stop strumming, realizing what he said "wait what-" he laughs softly at your reaction placing a hand on your cheek. "That songs kinda special to me..." he holds your hand tenderly with his unbandaged hand. "Reminds me of how much I love you" your eyes widen a bit as he looks at you with the most soft eyes. "I love you too kazuha" you smile gently, letting him lean in to kiss you

All of them noticed you two were dating it was odvious, the way you two acted around eatchother gave litterally everything away. "You two give eatchother less personal space than before are you dating?" "What?" "And you smell like him-" "how do you know what he smells like" "so you're dating?!" "How did you come to that conclusion?!" You and venti would bicker trying to hide your relationship with kazuha after he forgot to tell you he already told them.

Finally a show came along a small gig surprising a popular idol group would show, but still nice. You looked at the music sheet for the song looked up at him, sighed, and looked back. He looked so pleased giving you a few riffs and you look down to see another reason to go to therapy.

What he didn't put on hell on paper was a very veryyy familiar cord progression. He played it himself and put it in post. Making another version so if you ever asked you wouldn't notice, and a few weeks later they went live

You watched them in the audience, hearing the song you helped on and felt your smile fade into a straight face as you heard your solo along with the memorable melody gutair. He saw this trying to avoid a giggle while performing, he's suffering from you brainrot the rest of the show, some fancams caught him getting kicked by heizou or Xiao.

"So how did you like the show~" "Xiao almost kicked you off the stage..." There's a silence. "He dosent kick hard enough for that...but at least you enjoyed it" he smiles, pinching your cheeks and rubing your face, you look away hearing him giggle at your behavior. "I'll make you a coffee-" "don't you dare make a reference" he smirks at you "hehe"

You were online friends usually playing main stream games or random stuff you found. Youd always play together though, never single player! He hates that

"Are you playing a single player game..." "no-" "LIAR ITS ON YOUR STATUS" "SHIT- I mean I have no idea what your talking about" "...atleast stream it" he always got all pouty when he couldn't play with you

He'd definitely randomly interrogate you because you found something out on someone you both knew. "IS IT ABOUT-" "shush shus shu stfu quiet" "oh come on dude what is she gonna hear you?" "We're in a public call" "oh...LMAO" "DUDE"

When you combine both these loves, his love for you playing a co-op detective game with you has become the best thing for him to ever experience. "Who will be first to solve this?" "We're supposed to work together heizou" "oh...oh 😏" "nevermind I'm gonna play hitman without you" his avatar suddenly turns to face you and emotes a shocked reaction "OH COME ON"

He started catching feelings for a while. Ever since you two got on a call for the first time, your voice kinda intransted him. "Your voice Is so nicee" muttering into the mic yet you heard him clearly. "Thank you?" "It really is" its like you can see him currently slumped over his desk just day dreaming about you.

Didn't stop your offline friend for teasing you about him too. "Ooo he's into you~" "nuh uh nope nope!" The tips of your ears turn a pink. "And you like him back might aswell seal the deal" "STOP IT!" Blushing heavily you slam your hand down. Unsurprisingly Heizous in a simular situation 4nemo teasing him over just how much he talks about you. "Ohhh they're so cool" "they smell nice" "stop mocking me" he huffs "then get with them" they say in sync "stop weirdly harmonizing" he sits down covering his currently pink face.

Didn't help when you two first saw eatchother. "What the hell you live so closeby" "I know right what's next you're at my favorite Cafe conveniently the next table over" you turn over your shoulder seeing someone smile at their phone turn back and type "you mentioned before you had moles under both eyes right?" The persons face dropping looking around."Yea?" Without typing back, you walk over sitting infrot of him. "Bro, someone's sitting at my table, hold on" you smile at him typing back "oh sorry lemme just leave then my mistake 😔" "WAIT HUH?!?!" his eyes widen as he grabs your wrist "y/n?" small tears forming in his eyes pulling you into a hug with desperation. "Heizou" he hugs you tighter when he hears his name come out your mouth. "You're as pretty as I thought you'd be..." patting his head as he nuzzles into your chest. "You wanna go back to mine after this" "Yes!" With sudden enthusiasm, you two talk about your irl lives while bullying his drink of choice. "Pumpkin spice.." "oh my god shut up my again" "it's nasty" "it's good to me!!" "Shut up mom with 2 kids living in a van"

He's been going to your house at least once a week now "we should play together" he overbites his lip "I barely charged my secound controller" you overbite your lip back at him "then let's just hang out then I got news bby" visibly cringing at that last bit you let him in with him near instantly showing you a picture of him being accepted into an idol group. "Ohh you're gonna have real fangirls now" "Shut up!" "I'm gonna lead them just to make fun of you" "you're the only fangirl I'd date" "..." You visibly cringe "OH COME ON" "HAHAHA"

And so you were invited to the hell known as a debut concert and dear god was it near impossible to not be as hype as the crowd. Especially catching the fancams with him winking at you. Anyone could tell he was super inlove with whoever he was winking at especially after the group stopped in between a song witch you were barely paying attention to until you heard "I hope you guys never have to play solo!" Could have swore you felt him glare at you "speaking of solo the next songs title is-" all you paid attention to yet you look like you just woke up from a really loud noise.

"Y/n! Did you see it! Did ya like my moves" he smiles at you like a happy little dog. "It was surprisingly great Heizou" "surprising huh?" He pouts as if saddened by that comment. "But the show was amazing Heizou I'd go again" that bright glow of a smile you had is something hell never let go of, without hesitation he holds your hand "marry me" "come again?" "I mean it we should date!" Accidental slip up. He's screwed, you're gonna reject him so blatantly he's never gonna bother you again. "Heizou...that's so sudden" your eyes meet warmly "but I've been thinking the same" kissing his cheek you walk off letting him process what just happened. "WAIT WAIT WAIT YOURE NOT DITCHING ME AFTER SAYING THAT" "MAYBE I AM!" You had to run home that day but it was worth it laughing at him trying to keep up.

[brights-place]

Hii! I saw one of your posts and I was wondering if you could do headcannons with john dory and/or branch with a Bounty Hunter troll s/o? Maybe part of K-Pop if that's okay! Thank you! :D

Branch and John Dory dating an K-POP S/O

Pairings: Branch X Reader, JD X Reader (Seperate)

Warnings: None

A/N: OMG YESSS As always Broppy will not be cannon if I'm doing an X Branch unless it's an poly relation ship with branch and poppy! Anyways I had fun writing for the K-POP trolls CAUSE THEY ARE SO COOL! I had another request for K-Pop trolls for john dory so I'd write that too ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

John Dory

- You guys met when poppy was inviting the sub genres to pop village to show them pop music since it was their turn to show around the different genres of their style of music

- John dory was suppose to be helping sort out different sub genres when it came to you and the K-pop group he paused and stared at you and your group

- You appearance was gorgeous you had an unique texture to your silver-colored bodies which gives off a glossy rainbow chrome effect - you had an voluminous f/c hair swept to the side above their right eye with a smaller tuft of hair above your left ear and wearing a glossy leotard of matching colors you fit in with your group well but you stood out to him. - Your thick eyeshadow of different colors and how you glowed made him stare at you as Wani tried to get his attention to help sort out the groups - Stared at you as you glanced at him giggling before leaving with your group as John Dory walked over to branch to ask about your group

- “The K-pop group? Oh there just pop but in Korean… it’s horrifying aswell how good they are” Branch mumbled “Thanks Bitty B!” - He saw you again when he was gonna preform to show some of Pop music to you all he noticed how you stared at him the whole time how you smiled and glanced to your K-pop group who nodded together and you all quietly in sync danced abit with the music

- After the show he walked up to you and asked you about yourself to get to know you better while Wani, Ari, Kim-Petit, Gomdori, and Baby Bun were giggling and leaving you two alone - John dory walked over with an smile that made you blush slightly on your slightly shiny skin as you two shook hands "I'm JD it's nice to meet you?" "(name)! My name is (Name)" you said smiling as he smiled "Your K-pop right?" You nodded as he asked questions and you'd answer them the two of you exchanging information - which soon turned to talking about other music and then turning to your own personal life's and things you likes - You went on an whole rant about your music genre telling him that K-pop was caracterized by catchy hooks, polished choreography, grandiose live performances, and impeccably produced music videos, K-pop including music by groups like BTS and BLACKPINK which where most popular and now frequently tops the Billboard charts, attracts a fiercely dedicated online following while you and your group were small you planned on going bigger. - You started to bond together and he asked if you can teach him some K-pop dances and he could let you go to all brozone concerts for free

- You were happy the deal worked out be he was even happier that you wanted to g see his concerts

- You two exchanged dances you even taught him your K-pop dance for one of your bands is songs 'Feel My Rhythm' which he loved so much - As an surprise he preformed it with his brothers on the concert as he posed and pointed an finger towards you playfully before going back to dancing

- You two would be laughing together back stage as you complimented him so much "John dory you put my bands song in your concert?" John dory smiled "we did an english version you translated it all for me thats why I wrote it down"

- You literally teared up "정말 친절해요!" you exclaimed hugging him as he blinked confused as Wani appeared from thin air and whispered to John dory "They said you were really kind" Wani soon ran off once again giggling

- He was slowly learning Korean just for you even though he absolute SUCKED at it you found it adorable

- You two slowly started to get comfortable with each other so sometimes you'd be staying over with him or he's staying over with you.

- Branch was going to grab John dory for rehearsel saying good morning to rhonda opening the door to see you sleeping in john dorys arms drooling and john dorys head on your neck sleeping aswell

- Branch literally deadpanned as poppy squealed so happily at the scene

- Denies he has feelings for you due to the fact your too good for him... like he fels bad that he even likes someone like you so he wanted to ignore you cause your too good for him

- You on the other hand get teased by Wani, Ari, Kim-Petit, Gomdori, and Baby Bun while practicing for an concert of yours - He was ignoring you which made you feel hurt so you invited him to your concert begging him to come after finding him and asking him to just go so he could just see you on stage

- Literally whipped for you so he 1000% agreed to hugging you and apologizing for ignoring you and you even asked for the others to come as well!

- When he went to the concert his eyes were wide when seeing you sing in Korean and dance happily as you noticed john dory in the crowd you grinned even wider dancing before posing while panting - He heard Better place being played along with his brothers and turned to you dancing and singing his parts made his eyes widened while he blushed an deep shade of blue as his brothers teased him - After the concert as usual you tackled him in an hug excitedly telling him you did what he did for you at his own concert with brozone

- You two grinned him holding your waist with your hands on his shoulders as you giggled happily as he chuckled looking down at you before you kissed eachother - The others cheered as Baby bun was shouting an "FINALLY!" so loud as you started to curse your friend out in Korean as john dory chuckled holding you back by your waist "사랑해요" You literally froze - Once he said that you literally tackled him once more to pepper his face with kisses for learning how to say 'I love you in Korean'

Branch

- Like with the reggaton trolls post I made Branch met you when you were with Wani, Ari, Kim-Petit, Gomdori, and Baby Bun  to take him to barb the queen of rock to save your music aka K-pop

- You were playful you stood out just like your other bounty hunter k-pop trolls. - You toyed with him the most like your friends before grabbing him quickly after you were moving quickly around the area and tying him up - You and your group stood out to him well but you stood out most with your appearance even if it was the same as the others - Your unique texture to your silver-colored bodies which gives off a glossy rainbow chrome effect. You had an voluminous f/c hair swept to the side above their right eye with a smaller tuft of hair above your left ear and wearing a glossy leotard of matching colors you fit in with your group well but you stood out to him. - Your thick eye shadow of different colors and how you glowed made him stare at you as Wani called him an crybaby and asking him if he was poppy - The Reggaton trolls appeared and Branch noticed how your grip on him tightened abit as you stared worriedly towards your fellow K-pop trolls who where smirking knowing who they where - When you started to dance unwrapping him quickly from the rope you started to dance while singing loudly and happily - In the dance battle with the reggaton trolls he noticed the fact you bopped your head and vibed a bit to the music made him slightly smile - Though you were the first one to listen to him when he brought up all music being saved as you turned to your group and back to looking at him as Tresi "Okay Pop troll were listening" Tresillo said crossing his arms turning to branch as You were whispering to Ari on how Tresillo sounded hot as an joke -When you hopped into the hot air balloon you greeted the reggaton trolls happily and asked about their genre while they asked about yours while you soon went to talk to branch right after grinning

- You asked him alot about himself, him giving blunt replies but he was quite shocked how there was another hyper like troll like you were talking to him you acted close like poppy but less hyper - You were laid back and asked him questions about pop village and asked if he knew about the other genres which he didn't so you happily explained your style and music - You went on an whole rant about your music genre telling him that K-pop was characterized by catchy hooks, polished choreography, grandiose live performances, and impeccably produced music videos just like normal pop but yours was more... Well more mixed with some styles! K-pop including music by groups like BTS and BLACKPINK which where most popular and now frequently tops the Billboard charts, attracts a fiercely dedicated online following while you and your group were small you planned on going bigger. (yes I added this again for branch cause YES I'M STILL INVESTED AND HAPPY! ABOUT FUCKING TROLLS!) - Branch nodded his head as he kept quiet but listened to you about all your rambling even asking questions if you could show some dance moves to him later - After saving all music and becoming in harmony he noticed you showing some random trolls K-pop and he joined in when seeing poppy rush over when seeing you dance

- You were hyper and bouncing and being playful with him as he was invested with your dancing and singing

- You started to bond together and he asked if you can teach him some K-pop dances and your language so he could talk shit if needed as an joke as you laughed and took his hand "Were best friends now!" "Wait what?"

- After awhile you two soon started to get close and talk alot together and would dance together. He'd sing songs you'd request if you sang some Korean songs as well

- You two would be seen together and when your apart it's only just for an few moments until one of you appear later

- Branch has gotten use to when you visit his bunker randomly and tackle him into an hug especially when he's drinking his coffee and gets surprised to see you on the kitchen counter when he turns around with your glittery figure

- He'd speak Korean to you to make you flustered which works very well for the both of you. Him seeing your blushing face and you hearing him speak Korean

- when you two are together and your speaking in Korean in annoyance or arguing with someone Poppy and the other pop trolls have to turn to each other then turn to branch who has to explain with an bored expression

- You two soon realized you acted more like an couple then friends in some moments so poppy had to force you two to get together

- Wani, Ari, Kim-Petit, Gomdori, and Baby Bun gave branch advice and tips on how to try date you

- you two started to date when you went to save floyd he introduced you as his partner as poppys jaw drop asking you when it happened and asked you to tell her everything but you had to tell her to be quiet

- When you saved floyd he shyly introduced you to his brothers as you waved hello as they questioned you about branch and your love life which you enjoyed as you got to tease your boyfriend and see hsi baby photos.

reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

©brights-place 2024 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact!

[richea]

[Translation] Kratos of the Expiation: Chapter 1 parts 2-3

This update brings us to page 28/317. As I mentioned in my prior post, please think of this as a first draft translation. Starting with this post, I'll be linking to a playthrough (both dubbed and subbed) for those who wish to watch along to the corresponding game cutscenes as they read. Dubbed / Subbed (video picks the wrong choice, here's the choice in Japanese)

Chapter 1: Part 2 of 6

It has been 15 years since Kratos last descended onto earth.

Long ago, Kratos betrayed Cruxis and defected from the organization. He had since then rejoined Yggdrasill’s side, but only on the condition that he wouldn’t be allowed to descend onto earth as he pleased.

Northwest of the Tower of Salvation lies an area thick with trees. Along the shoreline, at the foot of a small mountain, a village can be seen. It’s Iselia, which was known to be the headquarters for the Church of Martel. This is the place Kratos set off to visit.

The entire world has its watchful eye on Iselia. This is due to the fact that the Chosen One was born within its hold, of whom would set off on the Journey of World Regeneration, saving the world from destruction. On the Chosen’s 16th birthday, she is to receive the oracle from an angel of Cruxis and set off on her journey. Today is that very day.

Thinking of the phrase “World Regeneration” brought back harsh memories for Kratos. It was as if a pain pierced his heart. However, there was nothing Kratos could do at this point. He had become completely void of any way to fight against Mithos. In a way, maybe that was for the best. Even if the path there wasn’t pretty, so long as the world would be regenerated, then―

The sound of people fighting grated Kratos’ ears the second he looked at the plateau to his left. He has a heightened sense of hearing. The range of which he can pick up sounds is expanded, and he is able to hear things with clarity that are not normally able to be processed by the human ear. The same is true for his vision. By focusing his attention on something, he is able to see things far away, down to their very texture. Thanks to this, he’s able to tell that there’s a rather intense battle happening atop the plateau.

Kratos took a deep breath before spreading a radiant blueish-white light from behind his back. It glistened and swayed, like the shimmer of hot air. Protruding from his back were wings of condensed mana which allow him to fly. A circulation of his bodily mana takes form and is expended from his body in the form of radiation.

Kratos’ body lifted into the air, and he beelined it towards the plateau. Below him, he could see a cluster of corpses spread about. They were all priests of the Church of Martel. It seems a scandal unbefitting the Day of Prophecy has taken place here.

Atop the plateau lies the Martel Temple. A fight was breaking out there. Kratos landed at the base of the plateau without a sound, put his wings away, and dashed up the stairs towards the temple.

What he found in front of the temple was a band of infiltrators that seemed familiar, and a group of kids who were picking a fight with them. It was immediately clear to him that the kids were at the disadvantage.

“Man, this guy is really tough!”

One of the boys had floundered about in his stance, and the enemy took advantage of that. The giant man he was fighting was swinging around an iron ball above his head, and brought it down to strike the boy.

In the nick of time, Kratos put himself in between the iron ball and the boy, unsheathing his sword to strike at the weapon. He cut the chain that held the ball in a flash, rendering the weapon useless.

“Huh? Who are you?”

“Get out of the way.”

Kratos ordered the boy to stay put and closed the gap between himself and his opponent. He leaped towards him and thrusted the tip of his sword towards the man’s throat.

“Are you the rats I was told to exterminate?”

“Rgh...”

The large man froze and awkwardly turned his gaze towards his superior. That was enough of an answer for him. Without hesitation, Kratos plunged his sword deep into the man’s neck, and then pulled the blade out as he kicked his body backwards. Using the recoil he hopped back, as a rain of blood poured onto the spot he had just been standing.

“I never thought you’d show up.” The man’s superior stood on the other side of the pool of blood, glaring at Kratos. “Retreat for now!”

At that order, all of the soldiers left in a hustle. The remaining survivors carried the corpses of their fallen allies and skillfully scampered down the stairs of the plateau. Kratos shook his sword to fling the blood off of it and sheathed it.

I see, so it’s just as I heard. This Chosen is a perfect match. That must be why the “rats” are making their move.

As the enemies dispersed, the children who had been discouraged all of a sudden perked up. He kept his back turned to the teenagers who were being their typical, noisy selves, and an old woman approached him. He could feel an air of refinement from her. He could immediately tell she wasn’t just any ordinary old lady.

“How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?”

At this, Kratos turned his head to look at the children. The silver-haired one seemed to be in his early teens. He used magic during the battle, so he must be either an elf or a half-elf―Kratos found the latter more likely. He felt something off about the boy in the red outfit, but it was probably nothing to worry about. In any case, both of them are boys, so it’s not either of them. The Chosen of Regeneration would be a girl.

“...I see. So this girl is the next Chosen.”

Kratos shifted his gaze towards the blond-haired girl, who the two boys were guarding. When the girl met his gaze, she seemed startled for a second, but then innocently smiled at him. He wondered if she was aware of the fate set before her. Kratos frowned, and the girl’s face suddenly lit up.

“That’s right! I have to go accept the oracle!” The girl rushed over to the old woman, continuing on with a dignified voice. “Grandmother, I’m going to undergo the trial now.”

“What trial?” asked the boy in the red outfit.

“The monsters, I assume. An evil presence radiates from inside this chapel.”

He wasn’t lying. The temple was normally under a holy presence, but he could sense monsters lurking about. Since Kratos was pretending to be a mercenary, he figured flaunting this knowledge might prove useful. He needed to show off a little so they’d let him guard the Chosen.

As expected, the old woman seemed impressed by his analysis and turned to face him.

“Yes, that is correct. The Chosen is to receive judgment from heaven. But the priests that were to accompany her fell at the hands of the Desians.”

Kratos’ mouth twitched at the word “Desian.” I see, so the rats are doing a good job at hiding who they really are. But what good would killing the priests do if they just left the Chosen alive anyway? It seems like their leader’s habit of never being able to do anything right rubbed off on his subordinates.

“Then I’ll take on the job of protecting Colette.”

All of a sudden, the boy in the red outfit cut in between Kratos and the old woman. So the Chosen’s name is Colette. Kratos couldn’t believe how ridiculous the request the boy made was. He was probably self-taught, but the way he wielded his dual blades was hard to watch. Kids can really have way too much confidence sometimes.

“Lloyd? ...I would be uneasy with just you.”

Hearing this, Kratos’ entire body jumped. He whipped his head around to look at Lloyd, this time really studying his features.

The image of his lost baby son popped into his head. It was as if the memories he had tried so hard to bury came bursting out the door of his recollections.

Fifteen years ago, he had a family. It was him, his dearest wife Anna, and their son, Lloyd.

But his son is dead. By all means, he should be dead. He was 3 at the time, and had he survived, he would be the same age as the boy he sees here, but...

“Your name is Lloyd?”

“Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name?”

Lloyd gave Kratos a sharp look.

Fifteen years had passed since then. There’s no way he’d know for sure. Children grow fast, and their faces totally change. And Lloyd was only 3 at the time; there’s no way he’d even remember him. Really, he had no proof that this boy was his son, Lloyd.

As if to escape Lloyd’s gaze, Kratos turned back to the old woman. His mission took priority right now.

“...I am Kratos, a mercenary. As long as you can pay me, I’ll accept the job of guarding the Chosen.”

The old lady sighed and nodded.

“...Under the circumstances, I have little choice. Please be of service.”

“It’s a deal, then.”

Kratos nodded back at her. That was a relief. Now he could guard the Chosen. That’s the most he could do. He started walking alongside the Chosen, Colette.

“W-Wait! I’m going, too!”

Lloyd ran after them.

“Lloyd, you’ll only get in the way. Be a good boy and wait here.”

Hearing Kratos’ rejection, Lloyd’s face bubbled with anger.

“What did you say?!”

“Did I not make myself clear? You’re a burden. Go home.”

As if to prevent Lloyd from running his mouth further, the Chosen, Colette piped in.

“Um... Mr. Kratos, would it be okay to take Lloyd along, too?”

“But...”

“Please. I get nervous when Lloyd’s not around.”

There was a warm smile behind Colette’s words, and Kratos sighed. He figured the Chosen always stuck up for Lloyd like this. Well, it’s not like the monsters in the temple were that bad anyway.

“...Do as you wish.”

Kratos said this with his back turned to them and made his way towards the temple’s entrance. World regeneration can’t even begin until the first trial is cleared. And the Renegades will likely become a hindrance along the way. He really wanted to get this first trial over with, quickly.

“...Let’s go, Genis!”

“What?! I’m going, too?!”

“Of course!”

Kratos heard Lloyd and the silver-haired boy―Genis, apparently―bickering behind him.

He let out another sigh. Such a bustle brought back some memories of long, long ago.

“This isn’t a field trip, you know.”

While trying to conceal how pleased he was at the nostalgia he was experiencing from overhearing them, Kratos entered the temple.

Chapter 1: Part 3 of 6

The base of Cruxis, Derris-Kharlan, is a massive comet. The central part of the comet houses the residential area, Welgaia, as well as Vinheim, Mithos’ castle. It is rumored that a part of the facilities are recycled from when the ancient elves lived there, but the details are not fully made clear. Even among the Angel Class, only a tiny portion know the truth behind it, so there is no way that Pronyma―who is of the Desian Class―would know about it.

Holding such a massive celestial body in place above the earth would normally be impossible. What makes the impossible possible is a sword known as the Eternal Sword, which the Summon Spirit Origin gifted to Yggdrasill. This sword is capable of manipulating both space and time, so Yggdrasill used it to both split the world in two as well as hold Derris-Kharlan in place. Pronyma admires him, honoring him as such a magnificent person.

Though “respect” on its own doesn’t convey the magnitude of the feelings she holds towards him. Perhaps “affection” or even “yearning” fits the bill better. She finds Yggdrasill so awe-inspiring, and even finds herself attracted to him.

Half-elves are viewed as heretics just for existing. Humans fear them for their outstanding powers, while elves abhor them for having human blood. Among all of the people who live on earth, half-elves are considered the race that nobody loves; they’re considered the people in the middle, and are oppressed.

Pronyma was once a victim of such oppression. She was ridiculed, abused, and recruited as a weapon for battle due to her abilities. Had Yggdrasill not saved her from such a fate, she likely would have met her end on the battlefield, never seen as more than a weapon. Yggdrasill is a savior in Pronyma’s eyes, and he is her hero for trying to make a world for half-elves to live in. She would do anything if it meant helping him. Being used by him is enough to make her happy.

Pronyma is currently working as one of the Five Grand Cardinals, which commands over the Desian Class.

Cruxis is made up of two classes: the Angel Class, who are given hi-Exspheres―Cruxis Crystals, and the Desian Class, who are given regular Exspheres instead. The Desians operate to terrorize the people while the angels instill an offering of peace to them via spreading the word of the Church of Martel. Between the both of them, they have full control over the hearts of mankind.

Those in the Desian Class are given all sorts of jobs. They always operate in the declining world. By doing so, the people in the declining world will pray for salvation, while the people in the prospering world will fear their eventual decline. This setup ensures that both worlds turn their prayers to and rely on the Church of Martel.

Just recently, the Tower of Salvation appeared in the declining world, Sylvarant, marking the beginning of World Regeneration. Though describing it as “appearing” is a tad misleading―the tower is always there, it’s just hidden behind a sort of shield so that people in the declining world can’t see it. To ensure that the two separated worlds aren’t sucked up into the dimensional rift between them, there are two points in which the worlds hold contact with one another. One of these is the Tower of Salvation. The top of the Tower of Salvation is connected to Derris-Kharlan, and it’s used to allow the angels and the Desians to communicate with one another.

What made the tower visible is that Sylvarant's Chosen of Regeneration had embarked on her journey to become Martel’s vessel. Pronyma needs to hold a meeting with an administrator in Welgaia in order to move the Desian Class into action. This is just a practice that’s held every time a Journey of Regeneration begins, but to Pronyma, it means something more. It’s an exciting time, where she is able to closer visit the place where Yggdrasill resides.

Pronyma used the transporter to teleport from the Tower of Salvation to Welgaia. However, the angel that was normally there to give her the order was nowhere to be found.

“I was under the impression I was to receive orders from Lord Kratos.”

Pronyma inquired this to the gatekeepers by the teleporter, and one of them replied to her.

“Lord Kratos is currently on Sylvarant on a mission. I regret to inform you that you will not be able to meet with him.”

“Lord Kratos is down on Sylvarant?!”

Pronyma couldn’t help her face from warping with fury.

“What is the meaning of this? He is a traitor, who defected from us 70 years ago. Mi... Lord Yggdrasill may have forgiven him, but to think he would be permitted to go down to earth!”

“Not another word, Pronyma.”

“...I know. It is not my place as one in the Desian Class to speak poorly of one of the Four Seraphim.”

Still, Pronyma couldn’t accept this. Sylvarant was where Kratos fled to when he betrayed Cruxis so long ago. When he was eventually accepted back into Derris-Kharlan, he was forbidden from going back down there.

Pronyma never liked Kratos. He’s the only human among the Angel Class. Him being a human was irritating enough, but he’d also taken advantage of Yggdrasill’s trust and betrayed him without warning. He disapproved of the Age of Lifeless Beings and left the organization. In the end, all he’d accomplished was finding a lover, having a child and playing make-believe at having a family. All he did was run away from reality. The damage he did to Yggdrasill from his silly game of playing house was immeasurable. Pronyma saw his suffering up close, and due to this, she started to seriously distrust Kratos.

“Pronyma. The messenger has arrived.”

A gatekeeper called to her and Pronyma turned to look at the central part of Welgaia. Amidst the soulless looking angels silently floating about, she saw a messenger angel headed her way. But it wasn’t one of Kratos’ messengers. Based on the color of the band on the arm, it was one of Yggdrasill’s.

“On Lord Yggdrasill’s orders?!”

The unexpected development had Pronyma’s heart pounding out of her chest, and she took a deep breath to calm herself.

Pronyma wasn’t in a position that allowed her to see Yggdrasill very often. The last time she had seen him was when Kratos shamelessly came back 15 years ago.

Pronyma was determined to not let Yggdrasill suffer like that again, and she vowed to do whatever it took to ensure that.

[mazeofyeni]

⭕. !!: ° ... YOUTUBE : SKZ-LOG !! ‧ ₊˚

↺ ▪️ ࣪ ˖ ∿ 07.31.24 , skz-log for 2024 stayweek !

OUTFIT FROM VIDEO ! ׁ ׅ ୨ ❪ mayas' masterlist! ❫ ୧ ⊹ ࣪

Walking down the streets of Milan, Italy with the rest of the group , maya holds the tiny camera up turning it on.

" walk on this side of the street there's a car ." chan moved her to the side. "today we're in milan ." she said. "we're going ...." turned to chan. "oppa tell them where we're going." she put the camera in his face. "somewhere." she deadpanned at him , he smiled at the girl. "ah, so annoying."

"who's going in what car ?" seungmin called out. "you're in this one." chan pointed to the car he was in. "let's go stay."

she got in the back seat with felix and chan , turning her camera off now that they were in a car with a camera set up.

"maya ." chan handed her a mic to hook up to her shirt. "thank you." she took the small device , hooking it on her shirt like so.

she munched on a sandwich as they took off down the roads of milan. "it's good." she gave the camera a thumbs up. "every single time i'm forced to sit in the middle." changbin then spoke up. "shortest goes in the middle."

"you can confidently say that knowing we're the same height." felix laughed next to her. "yah , youngest , youngest sits in the middle." the elder said clearly a bit flustered from the girl.

she sat quietly , listening to them talk back and forth , changbin telling random stories and occasionally shouting to the top of his lungs , she glared at chan through the mirror as she covered her sensitive ears. "you picked me for this personally i feel." he laughed. "have i wronged you in any way oppa?" she said. "ah cute." he just smiled at the girl.

chan put down the roof before driving off , her hair going all over the place. "yah , maya." han laughed as her hair wrapped around her face , they all laughed. "maya? you okay?" chan asked , she smiled. "yeah." she gave him a thumbs up. "i'm okay." felix helped her move her hair from her face , smoothing it to the wrapping a hair that he kept in his wrist around the loose ponytail. "there you go." he swept the fly-aways from her face.

they finally arrived at the dessert place. "if someone asks what we do , just say we're a rock band." han said. "like paramore?" she said humming their song from the band. "just say we're youtubers." jisung said.

they got out of the car , walking into the loud restaurant , her stomach growling at the sight of the desserts , making changbin turn to her , she smiled her face turning red in embarrassment. "i guess that sandwich did nothing." he said she nodded.

"that one." she pointed to the chocolate mousse. "can I have that?" she spoke to the cashier. "and a chocolate creme puff?" she smiled. "thank you so much."

"maya." felix handed her a latte. "your teeth are gonna rot from all this sugar." she took the drink. "yongbok." she said. "your nagging again."

they continued on their way down the streets , the convertible back down as she sipped on her latte , sitting back watching the scenery. "you look at peace." felix said , she nodded. "it would be a perfect picture time if i wasn't scared to move to get my phone."

they finally reached their destination a pretty villa , she pulled out the small camera again. "look at this." she turned the camera. "it's like a movie oh my god." she gasped. "it's so pretty."

she filmed random places as they toured the house. "I'm gonna make a lot of money and move back here in my old age." she said. "it's gonna take a while." lino said. "I'm not worried as long as 3racha keeps making music i will always have employment." she shrugged.

"you make music too." chan said. "yeah , but you three could also buy it for me." the trio turned back to her. "you three are the richest if we do the math." she said. "if you three put your life savings together im almost certain it should be enough to buy me that house." han scoffed , the older two turning away. "you thought really deeply about that didn't you?" she nodded. "that's good , you should always have an imagination."

after finishing the tour of the villa they made their way out to find food. "there is a car coming." hyunjin pulled her out of the way. "don't walk on the side , walk in the front." he maneuvered her through the streets. "i've must've gone back to kindergarten or something." he pinched her cheek. "yah!"

they found a nice pizza spot , but half of them stayed outside , while the other went to order the pizza; she set up her camera to take a few photos. "ah , pretty." she smiled looking at the outcome. "i'll keep a few." she said to herself.

they had some time to spare before the pizzas were ready so they walked down further until they found a gelato place.

she got her gelato , sitting down on the bench eating it. "let me try." hyunjin took a bit from hers. "here." he gave her some of his. "i do not like that." she said scrunching her face up. "it's grape." he said. "i don't like it." she said taking a bite of hers.

she finished her treat on the way back to pick up the pizza , but it would take a little longer , so she just walked back to the villa. "I'm alone right now." she said. "fortunately I'm not lost." she laughed. "it would be scary if I was." she said. "they probably wouldn't even look for me— no chan would , but do I really want to hear the nagging that comes with that." she shook her head. "absolutely not!"

she walked back into the villa , sitting down at the table. "what took you so long?" lino asked. "i waited a while , but it got too hot so i came back alone." she said.

everyone came back eventually and they all sat around to eat pizza. "here." chan handed her a kebab since she really didn't eat pizza. "thank you." she smiled , unraveling the food taking a bite. "good?" she nodded giving a thumbs up. "good."

the conversation of their new dorm arrangements came up. "maya you're moving in with hyunjin and changbin?" she nodded. "not sure when i drew the short straw , but yes i am." she said, both of them turning to her. "yah what does that mean!" they laughed at the loud man. "well no i take that back , hyunjin wakes up before me so that's good and oppa can cook so." she said. "that's all it takes to raise a maya." changbin said. "I need someone to wake me up and cook me food , if I was capable of doing those I could live alone."

"well that and you're paranoid about everything else." seungmin said. "well yeah , so no actually I couldn't live alone."

"does anyone have a fan they remember." changbin said once the topic of fans was brought up. "ah!" she said. "there was a fan from debut days when I was really struggling and she gave me a heat pack and told me everything would be okay , and in that moment everything felt like it had magically switched." she explained. " like she took all the stress away." she nodded. "exactly like that."

they spent the next hour or so just talking to each other , laughing and reminiscing about the last 7 years as a group. "I'm sure it's the same for everyone, but with skz continuing as nine members I didn't hesitate at all."

they all agreed, "how else would we be able to work?" she said. "we can't function without each other." they nodded. "i don't see myself making music if it's not with stray kids , I couldn't do it." she said.

"it would be too hard."

©️MAZEOFYENI

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Ask Me Again Tomorrow

Pairing: Rockstar!Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~3.1k

Warnings: angst, forgetting an anniversary, feeling like he found someone better than you, fluff at the end

Request by anon: Hey can i request a rockstar Dean where the reader is her girlfriend and he miss them anniversary for some reason and never called the reader to tell her and she go mad and stop talking to him? Happy ending

Summary: Dean is a world-famous musician/singer who is currently on tour. Your five-year anniversary is coming up on a day that he is scheduled to do a show in Japan. What happens when he forgets to call you on this most special day?

Square Filled: celebrity for @spnonewordbingo (deleted bingo)

Author’s Note: i appreciate any and all comments! <3

x

The concert isn’t for another hour but there are already so many fans in the stands and on the floor. One of your favorite things about being in a relationship with a famous musician/singer is to meet their fans. Everyone knows you and Dean Winchester are in a relationship since you’re all he talks about whenever he goes for interviews. They’ve seen plenty of videos of you two together, and both your Instagrams are filled with each other. Your lives are private but you love to share him on all of your social media. You’ve gained a lot of followers since announcing your relationship but you don’t mind.

None of the fans are expecting you to show up even though they’re secretly hoping you do. Not every seat on the floor is filled but a lot of them are. Fans from all over the country grab their seats and mingle with each other, gossiping about the latest news about you and Dean. One girl from a small group sees you and visibly freaks so now everyone is looking her way. Once they see you, they get so excited to meet the elusive Y/N.

“Hi! It’s so nice to meet you guys!” you grin and give hugs to those who want them.

“Can I take a picture with you?” someone asks.

You pose with as many fans as you can, making friends and complimenting everyone on their outfits.

“I love your dress! You look so cute in it!” you gush to a fan.

“Oh, my God. Thank you! You look amazing!” she grins. “Would it be too much to ask if you can sign this?”

“Me? You want my signature?”

“Of course! You’re amazing!”

“Okay,” you smile and sign whatever she has for you.

You’re not used to people asking for pictures and signatures since you’re not the famous one, but it’s nice to be recognized. You’re with Dean all the time so all of his fans know who you are. Where he’s the breadwinner, you’re the stay-at-home girlfriend who takes care of the plants and pets. You don’t like working so this is a good setup for you two. You two talked over how this was going to work and both came to the compromise that he would make the money. It’s not like he minded. He loves touring, interviews, and making music with his band. Plus, with no job to hold you down, you get to go with him to different countries and see his shows.

Once you’re done on the floor, you head backstage where your boyfriend is. He’s sitting down on the couch tuning his guitar. The opening act is just about to go on stage so he has some time before he needs to go on stage.

“I found her!”

Dean looks up when he hears his brother from across the room.

“There’s my girl,” Dean smiles and puts his guitar down. “I wonder where you went off to.”

“You have the nicest fans,” you grin and sit next to him.

“They’re all women. Of course, they’re nice.”

Dean wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you into his side.

“I don’t know, I know some women are monsters.” Dean only smiles at your comment and kisses you slowly. God, it feels so good to kiss him. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, Winchester.”

“You know me. Give me ten minutes and I’m golden.” He pulls away from you with a sly grin. “Are you staying for the whole show?”

“Of course.”

You two relax on the couch as he tunes his guitar. As soon as the opening act is finished, it’s Dean’s turn to get ready for the stage. He and his band make their way under the stage so they can be lifted up onto it. You walk back onto the floor and over to the VIP section where some other celebrities have come to see his show. It’s also amazing to be friends with actual celebrities. You never thought you’d get the chance t be friends with so many of them.

As soon as Dean and his band are lifted onto the stage, the crowd goes wild. Dean is so happy on stage playing his music for people who make what he does possible. The smile on his face says it all, and you scream along with the fans. The entire concert is about two hours including the opening act which is more than enough time for Dean to get through many of his new songs including a few older hits that are played on the radio. He also plays his version of “Simple Man” as an acoustic set which the fans adore.

When the concert is over, you make your way backstage where Dean is celebrating with his brother, his band, and his manager for yet another successful show. Dean sees you enter the room and his eyes light up. He runs over to you, picks you up, and spins you around.

“I’m so proud of you, baby!”

He sets you down and kisses you quickly.

“Let’s go back to the trailer.”

“You have things to do after every show.”

“Not tonight.” He turns to Sam who only nods. He already knows what he is going to ask. “Thanks, Sammy!”

Dean whisks you back to his trailer which is empty. He has his own that he shares with Sammy while there is another one for the rest of the band. It’s a plan they all came up with since you’re usually with Dean and they really don’t want to hear you two on the road. You two stay in for the rest of the night as Dean shows you just how good it feels to be with someone who is good with his hands.

In the morning, you’re the first one up. The curtains next to his bed don’t cover the entire window so the sunlight on your eyes is what woke you up. You turn to face Dean who is still naked from last night’s activities. His cheeks are naturally rosy, his freckles dance across his face, it seems like his long lashes are touching the top of his cheekbones, and his mouth is slightly parted where soft snores come out. You could stay like this forever but you know you have to get back home.

You’re so much in your own head that you don’t see Dean open his eyes to show you his bright green irises. It’s still early so there is no one asking Dean to do things or needing him. It’s just you and Dean and that’s all you ever want. Dean raises his hand to push back the hair that has fallen in front of your eyes, and you grab his hand to run your finger over his calluses. He’s gotten a lot of them from playing guitar but you don’t mind. You like the roughness of his hands against your soft skin.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks in his morning voice.

“How much I love you. How much I wish we could stay like this.”

You lean up and kiss him, not caring that you both have morning breath.

“But?” he chuckles.

“You know me so well,” you smile. “But I can’t stay. I have to get home. Molly and Amber must be missing me so much.”

“Yeah, I know. I can’t keep you all to myself. I’ll be thinking of you, though.”

“Same here. Don’t forget, our anniversary is in a month.”

It’s marked for a day that is the same day as one of his shows in Japan but you have that weekend to do whatever you want together.

“I have it marked in my calendar. I won’t forget.”

Your small bubble of paradise has to end sometime, and when it does, you pack up your things to head back home to Austin, Texas. The flight is long but you’re kind of glad to be back home. Your big protective dogs, Amber and Molly, are happy to see you once you’ve picked them up from your best friend’s house. She is eager to hear stories from your travels so you stay at her house for a couple of hours.

“How was his concerts?” she grins and gives you some coffee.

“Really good. I’ve met so many fans and hung out with so many celebrities. It was insane! I even met Ryan Reynolds and his wife. They were so nice.”

“You bitch. Take me next time,” she jokes, and you both laugh.

“I wish I could be with him every day but I have girlfriend-household duties to take care of. For instance, these two,” you grin and pet both your dogs.

“Your anniversary is coming up, right? Any big plans?” Winona asks.

“I’m planning on flying out to Japan to surprise him the weekend after the date. He’s going to be in concert on the actual date. I’m taking him to a Japanese restaurant we’ve both been wanting to try. He doesn’t know I’m doing this.”

“That’s so exciting! Think he’s gonna do it this year?”

“I don’t know. I hope so. It’s been five years. I know he wants to do it but he might not since he’s in the middle of a tour.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. He might surprise you,” she winks.

The house is a bit lonely without Dean there but you make do for the three weeks. Amber and Molly are certainly glad to be back in their home with you, and you keep the house looking clean and better than ever. You’ll bring the dogs back to Winona when you leave for Japan next week even though you want to bring them with you.

You wake up on the day of your anniversary with a smile on your face. Today marks five years you’ve been with Dean and you’re so excited to spend another year with him. He is two hours ahead of you so when you wake up at eight, you’re shocked you don’t see a message from him. Every time you have a birthday, he’s always messaging you at midnight so he can be the first one to celebrate with you. He’s done the same thing for anniversaries but you don’t have a message this time. He probably spent last night partying with his bandmates so you’re not too concerned about it.

You get up, make breakfast, enjoy it in the sunroom, and do the dishes afterward. It’s a good day to spend outside in the garden or to relax by the pool so you change into your swimsuit and throw a light sundress over it. The day is spent in the sun and tending to the garden with beautiful vegetables growing. You might pick what you can make a hearty dinner later.

However, as the day goes on without a message or call from Dean, you grow worried. He didn’t forget, did he? You debate on calling him or not to see if he’s okay. No, if he forgot then that’s on him. The day turns to night, and you’re scrolling through TikTok for lives from his concert. He seems so happy on stage without a care in the world. Yeah, he forgot about you. Even well after the concert, he still doesn’t text or call you.

You go to bed with tears stains on your cheeks and a heavy heart.

You wake up the next morning and remember why you feel so shitty. Dean never called or texted. He forgot about you. You’re not upset that he forgot to tell you “Happy Anniversary”. It’s the fact that he could forget you. He’s out in different countries with his bandmates and brother, meeting girls in bars and fans on the floor while you’re back at home taking care of the dogs. You’re not with him while he’s out living this fabulous life. You’re pissed that there is a possibility he found someone better than you. You’re pissed at the possibility that he doesn’t love you anymore.

Your last relationship ended horribly and stuck with you even years into your relationship with Dean. He knows your fear of abandonment and he still didn’t call you.

You decide to head over to Winona’s house and hang with her instead of letting the silence sink into your skin. She is more than happy to have you over, and there is already a pot of coffee going when you arrive. She has a bottle of Baileys on the counter that she’ll add to make the coffees more spicy.

You sit at her kitchen island and put your phone on the tabletop. Just as you let go, Dean’s name pops on the screen. You quickly deny the call because you don’t want to hear his voice right now. Winona sees you deny the call and decides to add a bit of extra Bailey’s to your cup.

“Wanna talk about it?” she asks.

“He forgot our anniversary. He didn’t call or text me. I don’t even want to go to Japan anymore.”

“Are you sure that’s all that’s bothering you?”

“I don’t care that he forgot. I’ve forgotten some pretty important dates. I’m scared he’s gonna leave me for someone else. He’s out there partying with girls from all over the world.”

“Y/N, that man loves you. So he forgot. Big deal.”

She won’t get it. She doesn’t know the details of your three-year relationship with your ex-boyfriend.

Dean calls you again and this time, you turn your phone off without answering him. Winona is a good friend and she helps you through a lot, but this is something you have to deal with on your own. She won’t understand how you’re feeling because she’s never had her heart broken. She never stays with someone long enough to get her heart broken, and she’s the one who breaks it off. She has flings, which is completely fine, but it doesn’t warrant advice about something she doesn’t know.

You keep your phone off for the rest of the day until you’re about to go to bed. You turn it on to see there are fifty missed calls, over a hundred missed texts, and twenty voicemails. All from Dean. You don’t check the messages or the voicemails but instead, call Sam. He picks up on the first ring and explodes in a panic.

“What the fuck, Y/N! Why haven’t you been answering the phone?”

“Is that Y/N? Let me talk to her,” you hear Dean in the background.

“Don’t put him on. I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Listen, Dean is freaking the fuck out. He’s threatening not to do the show until you call him back.”

“Well, that’s not gonna happen. Look, something came up and I won’t be able to make it to Japan.”

“What the hell happened between you two? He has no clue what’s going on.”

That breaks your heart a bit. If he doesn't know then you’re not going to be the one to tell him.

“Nothing. Tell Dean he’s being a fucking idiot and to do the damm show.”

You hang up on Sam and turn your phone off again. You won’t want to hear from either of them, not for a couple of days at least. Dean can party with his friends and fuck all the women he wants to over there. The next couple of days are like this. You only have your phone on when you wake up and go to sleep because you know Dean will try non-stop to call you. You’d rather get cut off from the rest of the world than take Dean’s calls.

Those few days are spent with Winona since being in that big house by yourself isn’t ideal. Everything reminds you of Dean and the memories of being happy. She allowed you to sleep in her guestroom even though you two stayed in her bedroom like you were kids again having a sleepover.

Eventually, you had to get home so you begrudgingly walk up the front porch steps. You unlock the door and step inside. There on the floor are dozens of rose petals all leading to the back bedroom you share with Dean. On both sides of the petals is a line of fake candles to show the path you need to take.

You walk carefully to the bedroom to see a dozen more fake candles and much more rose petals. Standing in the middle of the room wearing his best suit is Dean. He turns to face you with a single rose in his hands.

“What are you doing here?” you gasp and step inside the bedroom. “You’re supposed to be in Japan. You’re supposed to be in concert right now.”

“I am so sorry for forgetting our anniversary.” You look at the ground as the feelings you have come rushing to the surface. “I love you so much. There is no excuse I can give you as to why I didn’t call you that night.”

Before you can say anything, Dean kneels to the ground on one knee. He reaches into his jacket pocket and takes out a small velvet box big enough to fit a ring. He opens his mouth to say something but you hold your hands out to stop him.

“Wait, Dean, are you proposing because you’re sorry or because you want to?” He doesn’t say anything to that which tells you it’s the former. You chuckle and kneel down in front of him so you’re the same height. “Baby, the reason why I was so upset wasn’t because you forgot. We all forget. I was scared you found someone else while you were off being a famous rockstar. I was here and you were there and I thought you forgot because you didn’t love me anymore. I was pissed at you for that.”

Dean sets the rose and ring down to grab your hands.

“Sweetheart, you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. I wouldn’t be me without you. No one can ever replace you.”

“Are you sure?” you whisper.

“I wouldn’t cancel a show for just anyone,” Dean laughs.

“You canceled a show for me? What about your fans?”

“My fans wouldn’t be my fans without you by my side. You’re the one who pushed me into playing. I owe everything to you.” You lean in and kiss him on his full lips, enjoying that you can do this after so long of being apart. He pulls away and rests his forehead on yours. “So, that’s a no on the proposal?”

“Ask me again tomorrow,” you whisper and kiss him again.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[aflame4goinghome]

Part Of The Band

j.t.k x f.reader

part one

a/n: this is my first time writing Jake and I have to admit that it’s been so intimidating. he was the one I was soooo scared to write, since he’s my main lane. I plan to make this into a series, so I really hope you all enjoy it :)

word count: 5k

summary: your best friend asks you to come with her to a concert for a band that you’re unfamiliar with. your decision to go proves to have more repercussions than you thought when you run into the band at your favorite bar after the show. you never would have imagined the pull that you’d feel toward their guitarist, or that you would somehow manage to capture his attention…

warnings: yearning, some cussing, mentions of alcohol, smoking. some parts are slightly sexually implicit, including: light groping, kissing, and some sexual language. minors beware! the next part will definitely contain smut.

You’ve never been one to pass up on a night out, especially if it involves music. Music is something that you actively search for constantly, it defines you. You’d do anything to just be able to listen to live music, to close your eyes and just feel it flow through your body. Since you lack any actual musical talent besides half-decent singing, you just listen to it as much as you can.

So, when your roommate and best friend, Sophie, asked you to come with her to a concert tonight last minute, you could hardly just say no. Did you have a big midterm tomorrow afternoon that you needed to study for? Maybe. But live music always comes first. Sophie was always finding last-minute concerts for you to go to together- it was kind of your thing. This time, however, it was a band you didn’t really know.

You’re pretty sure you’ve heard one of their singles, Heat Above, online somewhere a few times but that was the most knowledge you had of Greta Van Fleet. You don’t know much about their background or their names, just that they make rock music and that’s all you need to be convinced to go. You and Sophie had always found yourselves at the Greek Theatre for just about any kind of concert, so this wasn’t a new thing for you.

The show is meant to start at 7:00 pm, but Sophie is always determined to be as close to the stage as possible, so you’re getting ready in the afternoon to get there around 2:30 or 3 o’clock. In the name of comfortability, you opt to wear ripped black skinny jeans, a white halter top, and your Doc Martens. You keep your hair down, wavy and lying right below your shoulders. You put on some simple makeup, just to cover up any blemishes you might have, do some tight-lined eyeliner, and put on a bit of your favorite silver eyeshadow. You take a deep breath. Okay, you’re ready.

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────

Sophie calls your Uber over to the Greek and you both arrive there just in time. You see about 50 people there already, so you both know that you’ll have a great spot in the small pit. You guys sit down at the end of the line and make yourselves comfortable to wait in the line for several hours until you’re let into the venue. Late October in LA can be pretty comfortable, today is in the mid-70s, so it isn’t a terrible day to camp out. You and Sophie talk about schoolwork, gossip about your friends, and play various games until it’s suddenly 6 o’clock and it’s time to head into the venue.

The group walks down the steps of the Greek and security has the line start all the way to the left of the pit. You and Sophie end up standing toward the front of the right side of the stage, which you’re perfectly content with. It’s not long before the openers come on- they were all great. The energy in the theatre was amazing and the weather was beautiful, it was like a dream.

Next thing you know, the lights go out and it’s pitch black. The crowd goes wild, screaming for the band to come out. Ominous music starts to play over the speakers and a short video plays on the screens on the sides of the stage. You can tell that the band enjoyed building suspense and it certainly works.

Suddenly, you see a dark silhouette emerge from stage left and appear right in front of your gaze. He’s holding a guitar, stepping up to the front of the stage where you assume his pedals are, and strikes a loud chord, bringing everyone’s attention to him. The lights turn up, with a sole spotlight on him, as he starts to play a dark, hypnotizing melody that almost takes the air out of your lungs. You turn your focus to the drummer and keyboardist entering the stage now, adding to the mix and making the sound grow even larger and darker than before.

The crowd then screams as the singer walks out with an enormous smile on his face. You can immediately tell what fans would love about him, he exudes brightness and kindness from the second you look at him. He begins vocalizing and you’re taken aback by his singing abilities, his voice is truly amazing.

The first verse begins and you decide to turn your attention back to the guitarist. You study the way he moves on stage; how he walks upstage then downstage with this confident strut that you can’t help but feel mesmerized by. You notice a theme of blue in their outfits but are drawn specifically to the design on the guitarist’s suit, covered in stars and astrological symbols of the Taurus, paired with dark boots. It’s honestly beautiful.

As you’re admiring what he’s wearing, you take a moment to truly look at him. He has long brown hair with a slight wave to it, falling an inch or two below his collarbones. His eyebrows are dark and quite thick, knit tightly as he’s concentrating on what he’s playing. His eyes are equally as dark, though it's hard to tell their exact hue from this many feet away.

You catch yourself staring for too long and want to make the effort to shift your eyes elsewhere and as you do, his eyes meet yours. It’s a concert, of course the band is going to make eye contact with their fans, it’s a small pit. But he seems to hold his gaze for several seconds to the point where you think he might actually be looking at you specifically. You give him a shy smile, which he returns, and then moves on with the song.

The rest of the song continues and you think you’re really starting to like Greta Van Fleet, the music is truly fantastic. The singer’s voice is beautiful and like nothing you’ve ever heard before. Suddenly he stops and the guitarist approaches the end of the stage, seemingly for his guitar solo. It’s nothing short of amazing, the way that he plays the guitar is so captivating, it’s like your eyes can’t look away.

You hear the crowd go insane for it, screaming things like “Yeah Jake!” “Do it, Jakey!” “Fuck it up!!” and you’re sure that he’s eating it all up. Jake, you think to yourself. Interesting. It becomes clear that the girls go crazy for him and you know that must give him some sort of complex. He seems so confident and you can’t blame him, with all the praise that he’s receiving- praise that is very well-deserved.

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────

All of the following songs go the same exact way. You can’t seem to take your eyes off of Jake. You’ve also deeply fallen in love with their music and the love that it emits. You feel very glad about your decision to go to the concert tonight- you can feel that this has changed the course of your life in some way. Throughout the show, you notice that sometimes Jake would catch you watching him, which you didn’t mind. Surely he was used to being watched on stage like that, in amazement and admiration. You truly do admire him and his talent, it’s something very special. All of his riffs are so satisfying to hear and the chords blend so perfectly.

Once the encore ends, the band goes to leave the stage. You watch Jake as he walks toward the end of the stage, which you assume is to hand out his guitar picks before leaving for the night. Much to your surprise, he looks right at you as he leans over and tosses it to you. Your cheeks turn a shade of pink and you look up at him, smiling and thanking him. What a night to remember. You think that this would be it, but you are dead wrong.

You and Sophie turn to exit the pit, which takes some time considering how close you are to the front. You’re eventually able to exit the theatre and wait on the sidewalk for a game plan. “So… you wanna go to the Tavern?” Sophie asks. The Tavern is your go-to bar in Beverly Hills; it has a good atmosphere, great cocktails, and isn’t too far from campus. You and Sophie go there at least once every weekend, they all know your names there. You glare at her with a concerned look, “Soph, I have such a big exam tomorrow, are you serious?” She rolls her eyes, “Come on! Live a little! You’re telling me you don’t wanna at least get a little drunk to take your mind off of it? We just saw an amazing show, let’s go celebrate!”

Sophie always knew how to convince you to do anything, no matter what it was. She knew your weaknesses every time. You groan, “Ugh, fine. But if you have to wake my ass up tomorrow at 2 pm for my exam because I’m too hungover, you'll have no one to blame but yourself.” She smiles wide and says “I know, I know. I’ve already called the Uber to take us there now.” Cheeky girl, she knew she’d convince you.

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────

It's already midnight by the time you arrive at the Tavern. The last call is always at 1 am so you know that you won't be there too long. You both walk in and find your favorite booth in the back, placing your jackets down before going up to the bar to order your drinks. Sophie orders you both a shot of tequila, then gets herself a margarita. You order a bourbon punch and turn back to take a seat in your booth. You both take your shots when you sit down, then you debrief tonight’s events.

“So, what did you think of the band? Did you like them?” Sophie asks.

“Yeah, it was amazing actually. I don’t know how I hadn’t found them before now. The music that they make is extraordinary,” you reply with a smile. You do have some questions, though. “So what’s their deal? The lore?”

“Oh, well they’re from Michigan. They’re actually brothers, besides the drummer- though they all grew up together. Josh, the singer, and Jake, the guitarist, are twins.” You nod your head. I did think they looked alike, you think to yourself. “Sam is their younger brother, and Danny is his best friend. They’ve been making music for a while but they blew up a lot in like 2019 and then this new album skyrocketed their fame.”

“Well, that doesn’t surprise me. This album is absolutely breathtaking. From what I heard tonight, their music is so mind-blowing. It really took my breath away,” you explain.

“I knew you'd love it. I’m so glad that you’re into them now. Especially Jake, it seemed,” she smirked.

You reach over to smack her on the arm and exclaim, “Sophie! That’s crazy! I don’t know where you got that idea! I was not into him.” The blush that’s made its way to your face tells a different story, however.

“You so were! You couldn’t take your eyes off of him that entire show, I watched you. I think he might’ve been looking at you too, you know,” she jests. Just the thought that Jake might have been actually interested in you made your stomach turn. You shake your head.

“No, Soph. There’s no way. Sure, we might have locked eyes once or twice, but there were thousands of people there. I’m sure he looks at all of his fans like that…” you trail off, wanting to shut this conversation down as soon as possible to save yourself from any further embarrassment. You pick up your glass, which is half empty, then chug the whole thing. “Oh, look at that, my drink is gone. I’m gonna go get another, I’ll be back.” You smirk at her, successfully avoiding the conversation for now, and then get up from your seat to walk back to the bar.

As you approach the bar, there’s a group of men leaning against it, ordering drinks. You go to stand on the right of them to wait your turn and the man next to you senses your presence and turns to look at you. As he turns in your direction, you see the long chestnut hair and are met with dark chocolate eyes. You’re immediately hit with the realization: Oh my god. It’s Jake.

He looks at you and offers a soft smile as a greeting. “Hi…” you manage to let out, looking up at him. “Hey,” he replies. You glance behind him and see the rest of the band. Oh my GOD. Greta Van Fleet is at my bar. You just stand there leaning against the bar for a moment looking at him, unsure of what to say next. You find yourself looking him up and down, analyzing what he’s wearing off the stage.

He has on a different pair of boots now, a light brown color. He's wearing some tattered blue jeans and a navy blue, long-sleeved button-up shirt, of which the top four buttons are undone, leaving his upper chest partially exposed. The lighting in the Tavern reflects off of it in such a mesmerizing way. You realize that you’ve been staring for far too long and go to say something, but luckily he beats you to it.

“Were you at our show tonight? I think I remember your face…” Jake says, looking into your eyes as though he’s piercing right into your soul, studying you. You feel stuck, though you’re not sure why. Up until today, you weren’t a fan of theirs and you wouldn’t have thought anything about this interaction at all whatsoever. So why were you so flustered? You finally work up the courage to answer.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I was there. It was… spectacular,” you say with a shy smile, finally meeting his gaze. He smiles back at you when your attention is suddenly pulled away by the sound of a loud voice coming from behind him.

“You really liked it? I’m so glad. I get so in my head sometimes, y’know, I was so nervous. So it’s lovely to hear that I didn’t totally crash and burn.” The man that you now understand to be Jake’s curly-headed twin reaches over the bar past Jake and extends his hand out to you. “I’m Josh, by the way,” he adds with a wide smile. You reach your hand out to shake his, in total shock that this is actually happening.

“Hi, Josh. I’m Y/N, which I was just about to tell your brother here…” you joke, making him realize that he’d accidentally interrupted something. He makes an “oh that’s awkward” kind of face and pulls at his collar, causing you to laugh. Jake watches as you interact with his twin with a look on his face that you can’t quite place. Like he’s trying to figure you out.

“Sorry about him, Y/N, sometimes he just speaks first and then thinks after,” you hear from further down the bar. You look up to see that voice coming from Sam next to him, who gets a shove from his older brother and erupts into contagious laughter. You watch Danny shake his head, chuckling, and you laugh along with them. Jake looks over at you, smiling. You smile back at him and he speaks up, drawing your attention back to him and him alone.

“What are you drinking, Y/N?” he asks. “Oh, um, a bourbon punch,” you answer. “Another bourbon punch for this lovely lady here, please,” he says to the bartender, “You can put it on my tab.” You look at him in shock and try to protest but he sees it coming, saying “No, I insist. As a thank you, for your support and for making my brother happy for a moment there with your compliment- he’s easy to please.”

He leans one arm onto the counter and smirks at you as the bartender places your drink down in front of you. “Cheers, sweetheart,” Jake says, raising his glass to yours. You glance down at the glass to see what he’s drinking, which seems to be whisky, neat. It suits him. You smile at him and say “Cheers” and take a sip of your fresh drink. His eyes are looking into yours so intently that it almost feels like they’re burning into you. Something about him is so intriguing yet slightly intimidating that you want to learn more.

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────

“Are you here alone?” he asks. “Oh, no, I’m here with a friend. She’s back there at our table.” Jake looks behind you to see Sophie, who has been intently watching this entire interaction unfold. He smiles and gives her a little wave to come over, so she stands up and comes up to the bar. “Would you both like to join us for a round? We have a larger booth upstairs with a few of our friends.” His eyes look down at you for an answer, waiting and hoping for a yes. Before you can answer, Sophie chimes in to answer for you, “We’d love to!” she says, elbowing your side to encourage you to agree and you nod along. “Yeah, sure, we can stay for a bit longer,” you reply, looking up at Jake, who seems satisfied with that answer.

The rest of the guys get their drinks and you follow them up the winding staircase to the large booth that they reserved. When you arrive at the table, you see a few other people waiting there whom you assume to be part of their management, security, and some personal friends. Danny and Sam slide in first to the left to join their friends and Josh goes for an open spot on the right side. Jake extends his hand out, offering for you to take a seat between them, and then slides in on the left next to you. Sophie opts to sit next to Sam on the end, across from you.

You both introduce yourselves to the rest of the group. Their friends seem unsurprised that they managed to make friends in the short time they’ve been in the bar. From the few minutes you’ve spent with them, you can tell that their social and charismatic tendencies would likely often lead to new friendships everywhere they go. It’s something you’re starting to admire about them.

As you’re getting to know the group, it’s impossible not to notice Jake’s eyes on you. He’s studying you as you speak, watching the way your lips move and admiring you. It’s difficult to ignore, though you try your best to. He starts speaking and you turn your head to look at him, taking the time to look him over as well. You look at his eyes, mostly, a mesmerizing dark chocolate color that turns into amber when the light touches them. His nose is straight and pointed, his lips look soft and full.

He catches you staring at him, just for a moment, and uses the opportunity to place his right hand on your knee, exposed by the large rips in your jeans, rubbing small circles on top of it. It makes you jump a little at first touch, startled by his actions. You couldn’t believe this was real life. You look up at him and you both lock eyes. It falls silent for a moment and Josh starts a conversation with Daniel across the table, everyone else engaging and chiming in. Jake takes this opportunity to lean into your ear a bit to talk to you on his own, which he’s been dying to do.

“I know you were watching me earlier, at the show…” he whispers in your ear, loud enough only for you to hear. Your heart nearly stops, but he continues. “It’s okay, you know, I don’t mind it. If anything, I kind of liked it,” he says, his breath feeling hot on your skin. “Maybe I was,” you answer shyly, turning your face toward him a bit so that he can hear you more clearly. Your eyes meet and you watch as his eyes quickly dart to your lips, then back up to look at you once more.

“I was watching you too,” he says, sliding his hand a bit higher above your knee, resting on your inner thigh, slightly gripping it. “Watching you study me… and how my fingers worshipped the strings…” he continues, leaning closer to your ear, his lips grazing lightly over it. Shivers run down your back and continue down toward your core, causing you to silently yearn for more. You inhale deeply, then ask “And what did you think about that, Jake?” saying his name in a honeyed tone, causing him to squeeze your thigh and look deep into your eyes, piercing through them. You knew exactly what he was thinking, but you wanted to hear him say it. You wanted to be absolutely sure that what you thought was about to happen was actually happening.

“Do you wanna go outside for a smoke, Y/N?” Jake asks, slightly loud enough so that the others can hear. Sophie looks at you, smirking; she clearly can tell exactly what’s going on. She nods at you, encouraging you to go. “Uh, yeah Jake, sure,” you mutter, a bit awkwardly. You weren’t expecting him to try and get you alone, you had felt all this time that he was just playing with you. It’s clear now, though, that this was not a game.

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────

He stands up from the booth and offers his hand to help you up as well. Despite the dark aura that surrounds him, he still appears to be quite the gentleman. You stand up from the booth, shoot Sophie a nervous look, and then turn around to head back down the stairs. Jake follows closely behind you.

You get to the bottom of the stairs and head to the back of the Tavern to go out the back door, to the smoking area. It’s an outdoor patio behind the bar, illuminated with low-lit string lights and decorated with some picnic tables with a few ashtrays. You exit through the door and turn around to face him as the door closes silently behind him. His eyes are darker now, piercing into you as he approaches you. You back up slowly until the backs of your legs hit one of the tables and then sit on the edge of it while Jake takes out a pack of Marlboro Reds and a black lighter from his back pocket.

He pulls a cigarette out of the pack, places it between his lips, and then brings the lighter up to light it. He takes a long drag out of it and blows it to the side, avoiding blowing any smoke in your face, then steps closer to you until he’s standing between your legs, only inches away from you. He puts the cigarette down to sit on the ashtray for a moment and he finally speaks.

“Y/N/ I can’t seem to stop thinking about you. You’ve captivated me from the second the lights turned up on that stage tonight. I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you…” he says, bringing his hand up to your cheek and running his thumb along your cheek. He’s watching your eyes, how they look up at him with anticipation, waiting for him. He can feel the power that he has over you.

“I can’t stop thinking about you either… Seeing you for the first time on stage tonight has caused you to completely take over my thoughts ever since. No matter how hard I tried to watch the others, my eyes kept getting drawn right back to you. It was like I couldn’t control it,” you say, glancing down at his lips and then back to his eyes longingly. “I don’t feel like I can control myself around you, baby… I’m being tempted to throw out all of my rules for you,” Jake says in a low whisper, bringing his face closer to yours.

Your eyes look up at his, pleading. He can’t hold himself back anymore, finally closing the gap between you. He kisses you so deeply that it takes the air out of your lungs. He leans into you and his hand that was once on your cheek grasps the back of your neck tightly, causing you to let out a quiet whimper. Just the sound of it lights a fire within him, he takes his other hand to hold your hip in place and groans into your mouth. You place your hands around his neck and pull him closer to you, your bodies now flush together.

Jake pulls away, his face still only a few inches from yours, and tries to catch his breath. His left hand squeezes your hip as the other leaves your neck in order to reach behind you to grab his cigarette, still lit. He takes a drag from it blowing it to the side, but keeps his eyes locked on yours and watches as you stare at his lips when he blows the smoke out. He takes note of your interest in the way he’s blowing the smoke and says, “Open your mouth.”

You immediately obey, knowing you’d do anything he asks you to, and open your mouth. He takes another drag of the cigarette and kisses you again, blowing the smoke into your mouth and you breathe it in as you lean into the kiss. This elicits another moan from him, clearly turned on by the act. He leans into you harder and bucks his hips into you slightly, trying to release some tension. You moan quietly into his mouth at the sensation, your desire starting to pulsate between your legs.

His lips leave your mouth and place kisses along your jaw then down your neck, causing you to let out a small sigh. “You don’t even know what you do to me, sweetheart,” Jake mutters against your skin. He brings his mouth back to yours and kisses you once more, but you pull yourself away.

“Jake… I want this. I want you, but… not now.” He looks disappointed by your words but backs away slightly, sliding both of his hands down to your waist. “I’m sorry, I just- I have this big exam tomorrow and I’ve already stayed out so much later than I ever even intended to. I have to go home.”

He nods his head in understanding, then it seems like a lightbulb lights up in his head. He smiles and says, “Come to the show tomorrow night, then. Please… I need to see you again. I want to see you front and center when I play.” You’re taken aback completely at his kind offer. You know you need to see him again too, and you’d like nothing more than to watch them perform again. You nod your head, “Oh, Jake. I would love to go. That’s so sweet,” you say, smiling bashfully. Jake’s face lights up at your answer, “It’s gonna be a great show, baby. You won’t regret it. I’ll have Jenn email you the tickets as soon as we get back to our hotel, one for Sophie too.” You thank him and place a soft peck on his cheek, causing a hue of pink to form there. You both go back inside and return to your friends upstairs.

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────

“Soph, you ready to go home?” you ask her. “I really gotta get up for this midterm tomorrow,” you explain to the others, who all nod and wish you luck. Sophie nods and says goodnight to everyone. Jake offers to walk you both out to the bus stop to wait for the bus to take you back to your apartment. Sophie goes to sit on the bench as you wait a bit behind with Jake.

He places a soft goodnight kiss on your lips and you hum into it and smile as he brings his hand up to cup your cheek. “Here, let me see your phone,” he says, taking it and typing in his phone number, putting his contact name as “Sir Jacob ⚔️”, which makes you giggle. “Text me when you make it home safe, sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says with a smirk. “See you tomorrow, Jake,” you reply as he turns back to the front door of the Tavern. He turns back around and gives you a soft smile, and you wave goodbye before he goes back inside.

You turn around and sit down on the bench next to Sophie, who finally wants to know all of the details. The bus arrives and you fill her in on everything on the ride home, causing her to laugh and scream in excitement, much to the dismay of the other exhausted people who are on the city bus at one o’clock in the morning. You tell her that he’s sending you tickets for both of you to go to the next show tomorrow night and that he’s asking security to put you in the front row, which she is so psyched about.

You both finally arrive home and you take your makeup off, put some comfier clothes on, and collapse into bed. What a night, you think to yourself. It was nothing like you ever could have imagined. You turn over and plug your phone in, then open up the messages app and type in “Sir Jacob ⚔️”.

You: home safe <3

Sir Jacob ⚔️: Good. Sweet dreams, beautiful.

You: goodnight, jake

You place your phone down on your bedside table and flop down on your back, letting out a long sigh. You think about your exam tomorrow and the excitement that will come thereafter. You wonder where tomorrow night will lead you as you close your eyes and try to fall asleep. God, what have I gotten myself into?

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────

this story will be continued... comment to be added to the taglist! thank you so much for reading!

part two

[dean-a-mean-tae]

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ WITH 𓆩⟡𓆪 WESTERN ARTISTS ｡･:*˚:✧｡

Nicholas' friends from the US WARNINGS: (Let me be delusional) Someone being racist, Nicholas getting scolded, Nicholas' height being painful for pictures, and mention of scandal? Mention of Cardi and Nicki scandal. "Fans" being weird about Nicholas and his friendship with women. I don't know if there's anything else.

NICKI MINAJ

✧. ┊ POPULARITY — ✧. ┊ SHIP NAME — ✧. ┊ DESCRIPTION — The Mother He Never Had

Surprisingly, some of STAY and the Barbz brought him to her attention during one of her Lives. She did a little research on him and saw his talent. She read about the little snippets of his past that reached the internet. Somehow, they managed to get in touch.

Nicholas sends her his ideas, and Nicki helps him find his own style in music. She ships him snacks from America. Nicki constantly calls him to check on him. She ensures he takes his medication and eats at least 2 meals and 2 snacks daily.

Nicholas looks up to Nicki. He's seen all the hard work she put into all her work. He strives to make her proud. Nicki's view of him is important to Nicholas. She's helped him find himself and showed him the things he missed during his childhood in the US.

There's obviously a time zone difference, so sometimes, in the middle of their conversation, Nicki tells him to go to bed and continue the discussion later. "Isn't 11 at night over there? Get in the bed!"

Bonus: Though Nicholas is taller than her, Nicki loves to hold him. She'll sit on the couch, and he'll lay across her lap while she rubs his back. Sometimes, Nick will sit in front of her while she does his hair.

They’re no longer friends

NORMANI

✧. ┊ POPULARITY — ✧. ┊ SHIP NAME — ✧. ┊ DESCRIPTION — His Safest Friend

She overheard someone mention a "black boy in a Korean band" and how he "didn't belong." She didn't know who they were talking about, but race shouldn't stop you from doing something like making music. Without knowing who Nicholas was, Normani defended him. It went viral, and Nicholas was allowed to publicly thank her.

They call each other and watch the same movie or series together. Usually, Normani picks so she can expand his movie knowledge, but on the rare occasion that Nick chooses, Normani is proud.

The "small" things make her proud of him, like writing at least two sentences for a project. The "bigger" things make her proud, too, like mastering the choreography for their latest comeback. "You have this energy. It makes people feel safe. Never lose that, okay?"

SZA

✧. ┊ POPULARITY — ✧. ┊ SHIP NAME — ✧. ┊ DESCRIPTION — Sister From Another Mister

She found out about him while scrolling around on TikTok. The video was a soft edit of Nicholas, thanking him for showing that "Famous" people are people. She read the caption saying he talked about his condition and watched it. Somehow, they managed to get in touch.

They text more than they call simply because of Nicholas' schedule. SZA will call him in the middle of her filming a video and ask for his help on something. It's her way of secretly getting him to explore new things.

Different time zones usually mean a struggle with communication. Not with these two. One might fall asleep, so the other will text the rest of whatever they were gonna say, and they'll continue the conversation when whoever wakes up. "Did this- He actually sleep."

MEGAN THEE STALLION

✧. ┊ POPULARITY — ✧. ┊ SHIP NAME — ✧. ┊ DESCRIPTION — Tight-knit, Ride or Die, Friends For Life

The Normani Defending Nicholas incident brought him to Megan's attention. An Afro-Korean boy in a Korean boy group is being defended by an African-American singer. Normani at that? Megan had to know more.

She read more about Nicholas and his past. She reached out to Normani and found out that the girl barely knew him. Somehow, Megan got ahold of Nicholas.

She spoils Nicholas beyond content. You wanted this bag, but it's only sold in America? It's being flown over now. Did you want these chips? A box will be there in half a week.

Nicholas has a room in Megan's house. She FaceTimed him while she shopped for it and the next time he could visit her, he helped decorate the room. After they finished, she told him the room was for him. "You know this yo room, right? Boy, you are family! You gon have a room!"

Bonus: Megan and Nicholas are always doing something. Megan Thee Stallion and Nicholas Ross from Stray Kids were seen on a shopping date. Megan Thee Stallion and Nicholas Ross from Stray Kids were seen awfully close. Megan Thee Stallion and Nicholas Ross from Stray Kids were seen on a date at a Waffle House. It's always something going on, and they're consistently being blown out of proportion.

BILLIE EILLISH

✧. ┊ POPULARITY — ✧. ┊ SHIP NAME — ✧. ┊ DESCRIPTION — Menaces To Society

Nicholas was a fan of Billie since Ocean Eyes. He eventually reached out to congratulate her on making it big, and give her a heads up on what to expectation versus reality on the spot light. He told her to reach out if she ever needed anything or just to talk to him.

Surprisingly, Billie reached out very randomly and just needed to rant. She claimed it felt "better to rant to someone not in the situation because then they wouldn't be biased." She was right. Nicholas was able to give her multiple perspectives on what she was going through while coming to a conclusion on how she felt. They've been friends since.

Nicholas kind of adopted Billie and now they have a great friendship. Unfortunately, there are some people who think it's creepy for Nicholas to be friends with Billie and continuously express that. It doesn't stop Billie from posting about Nicholas being a dumbass. "It's moments like this where I question your logic. Cause what made you think that was a good idea?"

Bonus: Billie is aware of some of Nicholas's trauma thanks to the few videos he's done on them, but she wants, and is waiting, for him to tell her himself.

CARDI B

✧. ┊ POPULARITY — ✧. ┊ SHIP NAME — ✧. ┊ DESCRIPTION — I'm Won't Fighting You, But She'll Do It For Me

Unsurprisingly, Megan is the one who introduced them to each other. She wanted to know if the three of them could do a collab. Unfortunately, JYP didn't approve of this so the idea was scrapped. But that didn't stop Cardi and Nicholas from keeping in touch.

The feud between Cardi and Nicki started the distance between Nicholas and Nicki. Nicholas knows the Barbz, or Nicki's fans, started the feud but it irritated him that the two continued it. He, of course, never spoke on it no matter how many times people asked about it. Nicholas's continuous stance of staying indifferent in the situation, even though he knew Nicki before Cardi, is also what pulled her further into nurturing him.

Shortly, after Nicholas and Nicki had a fall out, Cardi stepped in to help take care of him. When Nicki stopped checking in, Cardi checked in. When Nicki stopped responding, Cardi would respond and constantly reach out. "Listen, you ain't gotta worry about her no more, aight? Ima look out for you."

Bonus: Cardi made sure she told Nicholas about her pregnancy with Wave (her son) before he found about the news. She said it made it more special to hear it from the momma rather than some news person.

COCO JONES

✧. ┊ POPULARITY — ✧. ┊ SHIP NAME — ✧. ┊ DESCRIPTION — The Funniest and The Hottest

Nicholas is known by American Stays to say Coco Jones quotes. There are so many compilations of him quoting other famous people and eventually it got onto Coco's feed. She tweeted a clip of him quoting her word for word with a goofy look and all.

Their friendship isn't really known because they don't interact in public. With them living on different sides of the planet, the time zones, and the lack of interaction on the internet, it's not a easy thing to point out.

They're such bad influences on each other. Stay already knew Nicholas was a goofball, but when he met Coco and they did video collabs together with Terrell, everyone realized Nicholas was a idiot who needed to be protected at all costs.

LAY BANKS

✧. ┊ POPULARITY — ✧. ┊ SHIP NAME — ✧. ┊ DESCRIPTION — Tall & Lean and Short & Slim

Ironically, Nicholas learned about her through TikTok because of her song Ick. He played the song in front of his father, and the man was disgusted that this was the music his son was listening to. For the whole time he visited his family, Nicholas had the song on repeat.

Nicholas sent Lay a DM to thank her for helping him piss his parents off. After explaining what happened after a very confused response from her, she found the situation hilarious and posted about it while making sure to keep his identity hidden.

If you thought people went crazy about Nicholas and Billie, imagine their reaction to his friendship with a 19 year old. After this Nicholas just kind of adopted Lay and added her to his list of adoptive children. It only consists of Billie and Lay, but it's the fact he has "kids" that leaves him tickled.

They're is a time difference so they kind of just spam each other and wait for the other to reply. Usually, Nicholas is up late so it means he can respond when Lay is getting up in the morning.

©️DEANAMEANTAE2024 | Nicholas Ross Master List

TAGS LIST: ...You can be added by asking in the replies, sending me a message, or doing an ask thingy.

[kyojurismo]

★ — spider-man!bakugo part 2 !

character : katsuki bakugo

tags : spider-man!au, fem!reader, 2.9k words (yeah i got carried away), this is a continuation of a series of hc i posted a while ago, bit of angst, injuries, mention of getting shot, kissing, happy ending i guess? both r & katsuki are 18 by the way, half proofread so don’t look at it too closely.

part one

notes : hi guys !! okay so i finally finished writing it, i was way better in my mind but i wanted to post it anyway since spider-man!bkg is bringing me loads of comfort — idk if i’ll post more about him, for now that’s all i guess >_< so anyway, i hope you’ll enjoy it. plus, i take this opportunity to thank you those who showed love for the part 1, it means the world to me <3

“katsuki!” you rushed to his side as he finished putting some books into his locker. he turned his head to look at you. “what is it?” he tried to hide his nervousness, the look on your face seemed that of someone who discovered something big. “i know who’s behind spider-man!” you said excitedly, but not that loud to let the whole school hear you.

bakugo’s heart skipped a beat and he had to fight for his expression to remain calm. “ah? r-really?” he chuckled as he closed his locker, gulping down. “tell me everything.”

“it’s a student. i wasn’t too sure about this before, but i watched a couple of videos and he had a backpack with a pin from our school! isn’t it cool?” you explained while walking beside him. bakugo sighed in relief in his mind, grateful you had no real information about spider-man.

wait… a backpack?

he was grateful you didn’t seem to notice but he mentally noted that he must change backpack as soon as possible.

“you don’t seem so interested in spider-man, huh? you don’t like him?” you then looked at his face, noticing that he seemed rather distracted. “no no! uh, i just… i’m not a big fan of superheroes, y’know? i trust the police and the government,” he explained offering a small smile before looking away. “hm.” you seemed to be thinking too much about his answer so he changed subject. “today at 4? mine or your place?” he pulled your attention over homework. “i live closer to school, so…” you shrugged and he nodded, before you two entered your classroom.

─────────────────────

“welcome, katsuki!” your mother greeted your friend with a huge smile, happy to see him. he seemed to be liked by your mother a bit too much in your opinion. “hello,” he smiled timidly. you grabbed his hand and pulled you with him towards your room. “keep the door open a little bit!” your father shouted from the living room. you rolled your eyes and stepped into your room, followed by an amused katsuki.

“i’m not a kid anymore, for god’s sake,” you murmured and closed the door anyway. katsuki sat by your desk, as usual, and followed you moving around the room before grabbing your notebooks. “alright, can you help me with this math exercise before we start with biology?” you pleaded, showing him the reason behind your distress. “yeah, sure. it’s nothing too impossible,” he comforted you with a smile.

after hours of studying your mother came and offered katsuki to stay for dinner but he politely refused, saying that his mother was waiting for him as his father was out of town for a couple of weeks due to work. “oh, you don’t have to add more. i totally understand! maybe next time, okay?” you hid your face behind your palms in embarrassment as she left.

“she’s sweet,” he commented, chuckling at your status. you groaned in response and hit his chest playfully. “just with you,” you said and watched him pack his things.

a couple of pins attached to his backpack caught your attention, resembling a bunch of superheroes and a group band. you remembered katsuki told you that he wasn’t too fond of superheroes, so it confused you a bit.

“hey, ‘tsuki… what do you think about that superhero who helped spider-man last week?” you try to sound casual, playing with your pen. “uh, he was cool,” he answered while shrugging. “i saw him on the news, i don’t know if he actually is,” he was quick to add, laughing. he gulped down and finished to put his books away when you threw your pen at him and he caught it without even turning around.

you gasped and quickly got up to your feet as katsuki groaned and turned to meet your face, your hands covering your lips as you tried to process what just happened.

“l-listen…” he tried to think of something to justify his reflexes but you were quick to start throwing small objects at him, to see him do that again.

“why aren’t you catching them? you’re doing it on purpose?” you tilted your head to the side, your tone showing a bit of annoyance. “no, it’s just that the way you’re throwing them is not gonna hurt me so… fuck,” he groaned and sat down at the edge of your bed. “forget it, please. it’s just a thing my father taught me, it doesn’t mean anything,” he lied straight to your face.

did he not trust you enough?

“you’re spider-man, right? it-it just makes sense! god i’m so stupid!” you started pacing around the room, connecting the dots. “when you got hurt, that one time you came here… the next day you couldn’t play basket because you said you fell or something. it was because the wound would open up right? and when you showed up with a big bruise under your eye, it was because of that criminal hitting you with… whatever that thing was,” you spoke fast, your hands shaking slightly as you kept explaining all the things that gave him away — they didn’t, actually. you caught him just because he stopped the point of your pen from hitting his nape a bit too hard.

“[y/n], take a deep breath and sit down for a moment, hm?” he moved closer and grabbed your hands making you sit down on the bed. “you’re spider-man,” you squeaked, covering your mouth once again. “spider-man kissed me, so you kissed me…” you added and katsuki sighed at the memory, regretting it not because he didn’t like it but because it was extremely dumb for him to do something like that.

“you idiot!” you then hit his chest, for real now. he looked at you in confusion. “what was that for?” he asked, stopping you from hitting him again. “you nerdy coward! why would you kiss me as spider-man?” you asked in an angry tone.

katsuki let go of your hands and simply shook his head before going to grab his backpack and reaching the door. you swiftly reached him and planted yourself against the door so he wouldn’t open it. “you can’t just walk away as if it’s nothing, you know? why didn’t you tell me? we grew so close since the last year… don’t you trust me?” you didn’t seem angry in that moment, you seemed… hurt?

he took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before glancing at you, his hand timidly took yours and his thumb started caressing your palm. “it’s not exactly something you shout when entering a room, y’know… plus, no one knows it.”

you were the only one?

“be serious,” you gasped, not expecting to be the only one to know his secret. “i am!” he swore, not breaking eye contact not even for a second. “oh ‘tsuki…” your eyes filled with tears as you suddenly hugged him, holding him tightly. he looked confused as you held him, his eyes staring at the door in silence. “it must have been so hard… but now you have me! i’ll help you, like a sidekick or something!” you smiled enthusiastically at him. katsuki’s face darkened at your statement and pushed you away as gently as he could in that moment, you frowned.

“help me,” he spat, walking to your window instead. “you can’t help me without getting involved or worse, killed. i can’t allow it, so forget about your silly discovery,” he shook his head, his voice was firm as he said all that. you tried to move closer to him but he turned and glared at you with a cold look, you froze in place at that. “forget about it. i think it’s better if i distance myself from you.”

those were his last words and they hurt you deeply. you could only watch him exit your room through your window and swing away, leaving you standing there in silence.

─────────────────────

for the following month, katsuki kept his word. he barely waved at you in class, you didn’t meet up to study anymore. he became something similar to a stranger. your friends noticed how you two became distant and you shrugged it off with a simple ‘we had a fight and he never apologised so i don’t wanna be friends with someone like him.’

your own words hurt. katsuki heard them too, but he thought it was for the best so he was okay with what you told your friends.

this whole situation worked until spider-man was attacked by a strong group of criminals and got shot. you heard the news about how he helped capturing them but no one heard about what happened to spider-man after that. what scared you even more was that he was missing school, something that was unusual for someone like him.

after three days you decided to go to his house, using the notes from the lessons he missed as an excuse.

you rang the doorbell and waited patiently, an anxious feeling biting at your heart. when the door opened you noticed that you were actually holding your breath. “hello!” katsuki’s mom, mitsuki, offered you a warm smile. “h-hello, i um… i brought the notes from the lessons katsuki missed in the past days,” you explained, gripping your bag tightly.

“oh, thank you! come inside,” mitsuki nodded and let you enter inside. you followed her and quietly glanced around, it was the second time you visited his house after all. “i can make you some tea?” she asked while entering the kitchen, glancing at you. “uh, no. no, thanks. i’m fine,” you shook your head before smiling politely. she nodded and sighed, losing herself in her thoughts for a moment. “katsuki is upstairs, first door on the right” she turned and smiled at you. “got it,” you thanked her and reached the stairs.

now you could feel your heart racing in your chest, wondering how could you initiate an actual conversation with him. you bit your lips and knocked on his door, waiting to hear his voice. “i told you i’m not hungry!” he shouted from the other side, making you realise he didn’t know you were there. you sighed and decided to open the door anyway.

he was sitting by his desk, his headphones were covering his ears. you closed the door and slowly reached him, jumping when he suddenly turned ready to shout to get out of his room. he was about to say something before deciding to keep his mouth shut as he took the headphones off.

you noticed the bandage on his right temple and the bruise on his cheek, his rest of his body seemed alright but you were sure he was hiding other bruises and minor injuries. you felt a sense of relief fill your chest, as you realised he was alright after all.

“t-tsuki, i…” you glanced at the floor and gripped your bag nervously, trying to find the right words. “i uh… well,” you bit your lips before simply pulling out the extra notes you took for him and putting them on his desk. his eyes followed your actions before he glanced up at your face, your eyes not meeting his.

“i-i’m glad you’re okay, i just came here to make sure… so i’m leaving, alright,” you spoke after a couple of moments of silence, turning around and walking towards the door. before you could open it, his hand planted itself on its surface and his shadow towered over you. you gulped down and held the doorknob nervously.

the silence was suffocating, you felt more and more anxious as you didn’t know his intentions.

“say something!” you finally snapped, shutting your eyes closed. “thanks for the notes,” was all he said, his deep voice making you shiver. “not about that,” you turned to look at his face, visibly upset. katsuki tilted his head to the side, looking at you in a way that made you feel small. “what do you want me to say then?” he asked, his voice was low now.

“y-you got shot, katsuki!” you screamed as low as you could, not wanting his mother to hear. “you could have died a-and all you can say is thanks?!” your eyes started filling with tears, making it hard for you to keep eye contact. katsuki felt his heart clench at the sight, knowing that he was the reason you were feeling like that.

“but i’m not, so it’s fine,” he shrugged, sighing. “don’t look down on me, i know what i’m doing,” he then added, clenching his fist. “oh? then explain this!” you pointed at his head and he caught your wrist before you could even touch him, making you flinch. “i got distracted, it happens you know?” he said while gritting his teeth.

you shook your head and turned around, trying to open the door. “you’re so self-centred you don’t even acknowledge the feelings of those around you,” you muttered coldly and were about to walk out before he grabbed your arm and made you turn around, surprising you. katsuki cupped your cheeks and pulled you in for a kiss.

it took you a couple of moments to reciprocate it, your hands grabbing hold of his shoulders as you closed your eyes. katsuki pulled you even closer as he moved one of his hand down to your waist, pulling you inside his room and closing the door. your back was pushed against it as he kept kissing you with more desperation now, his hands holding you more firmly. you had to push him away to catch some air, your cheeks warmed up now as he looked at you.

you were the one being silence now and he started to grow nervous as you simply rested your hands on his shoulders. “oi, say something, dammit.”

“it was definitely better than the first one,” you murmured before chuckling. katsuki rolled his eyes before kissing your forehead, his warm hands caressing your cheeks. “i missed you. keeping you away was the hardest shit i’ve ever done in my life,” he confessed and pulled you to his chest, resting his chin on your head. you silently cried into his t-shirt, holding him even tighter. “i’m so sorry.”

“don’t push me away again,” you pleaded, sniffing. he smiled and held you even tighter. “how can i push my little sidekick away?” he chuckled and you gasped, pulling away to meet his eyes. “sidekick?” your face lit up and katsuki was quick to pull you back to reality. “my sidekick that keeps her butt at home and stays in contact with me,” he clarified, making you pout like a little girl. “that’s not a real sidekick, ‘tsuki.”

“i gotta make sure you’re not getting hurt,” his voice was dead serious, he was promising to protect you. “hm. ‘kay,” you nodded before kissing his bruised cheek softly.

“i’m dating spider-man,” you jumped a little while smiling happily as you reached his desk. katsuki chuckled at your reaction and smiled while looking at you, his eyes shining.

tags : [ since multiple ppl were interested in reading more, i thought it would be okay to tag you guys in the second part… if you want to be removed just lemme know !! ] @doumadono @reyathens @ohwhale-exo @its-claude-time @nikoruropesu @selfindulgenthoe @sigmaswaist @archer-fb

[tiredlilguy]

The Flags HC's

(that nobody asked for... but i love them and I have no where to put these) note: these are just general hc's :P if you want me to make other ones lmk!

Pianoman: - his ass cannot play piano, when people asks if he can because of his name, he changes the subject because he feels embarrassed - is the oldest sibling in his family - since he's a perfectionist, he's also kind of his own worst critic (can be in a really shitty mood if he's alone with his thoughts for too long) - his hair is a result of vitiligo - is an anxious person, but somehow his anxiety goes away when he's with The Flags - whenever he handles something physically using his hands, he's very cautious and tends to treat whatever is in his hands gingerly (like if he's given a gift, he will gently hold it in his hands instead of just taking it like normal) - has naturally shaky hands (i want to give him a big hug and kiss :( ) - going along with his hands, they're very thin, so his gloves are thick enough to where you don't really know what they look like underneath - has a really shitty sense of humor and will laugh at that one meme video with the bread falling on it's side - has defined canines and it shows if he opens his mouth or smiles

Lippman: - gets to know all of the celebrity drama before it gets out in the media: sometimes he uses it for blackmail or just tells the others and they all become a little gossip group (it's mostly just him, iceman, and chuuya though...) - he can make really good tea, like knows every little detail that comes with making tea: not leaving out a single step so you can get the best flavor out of the tea - polyglot, he once had to learn english for a role that he had and then proceeded to teach himself any language he thought was cool (sometimes mumbles in a different language under his breathe to mess with chuuya) - flirts with Pianoman a lot, says it's for fun, but he might have a little crush - wears that really dramatic silk robe with feathers and drags on the floor, it's either white or baby blue - paints his nails and will paints Chuuya's nails sometimes to practice, Chuuya says he's only doing it because he's his superior, but secretly enjoys it - unintentionally fixes The Flags outfits or hair, mostly Chuuya: like he'll adjust Iceman's collar if it's standing up, or he'll comb Chuuya's hair back into a nicer ponytail if it gets messy throughout the day

Iceman: - has a niece, and is the BEST uncle to her, likes to spoil her and will literally do anything for her (i read this from a fic and i can't stop thinking about it) - loves hearing gossip despite not talking that much - insomniac, spends most of his nights listening to his records with whiskey unless he has a job to do - plays his records really loud, but his listening room is sound proof so he can hear every little detail in the music - likes records, but he actually prefers live bands instead, thinks records are classy - gifts Chuuya records if he notices that Chuuya is singing a song to himself, usually tries to find the song and gets Chuuya that record of the album - is slowly becoming deaf, the only person that knows is Pianoman and Lippman, and he's slowly teaching The Flags sign language when they're on missions with him (he'll say it's because he wants to be quiet) (he won't admit it, but he will miss not being able to hear the others banter in the background anymore) - doesn't actually care about his ego/reputation at all, he's pretty confident in his assassinations, but if he fails a job, he'll just sigh and smoke a cigarette and move on - does not style his hair, he wakes up in the morning and moves it around a little bit and that's his hair for the day - he can't see out of his right eye that has the scar, but when he feels invoked with an emotion, he'll open that eye - notices small details... like extremely small details: one's that you won't even be thinking about; probably remembers what people like when they mention they like it once, knows when someone gets a haircut or they change colognes

Doc: - silly guy (canon) - he judges people's fashion taste despite not wearing any sort of outfit himself: likes to give pointers to Lippman about how to style his shirt or will judge Chuuya's strange outfits; will put on a good outfit if he's feeling like it - is very good at video games, but he doesn't really play them in his free time, but once Chuuya offered to play a video game with him and Doc beat his ass (Chuuya is still salty over an old Mario Cart match) - avoids walking long distance otherwise he'll start to feel tired, Albatross offers to take Doc everywhere - really good at darts... like his accuracy is scarily amazing, but guess you can't expect less from a doctor with his credentials - his way of showing affection is by being... very uncomfortably close to someone and then waiting to see if they're going to react, if they acknowledge his presence he smiles and then just walks away - very fidgety when he's doing something that isn't his job, will often fidget with something in his hand like a paper clip or rubber band, but suddenly that all goes away when it involves work - youngest sibling in his family... idk he gives me that energy

Albatross: - uses text emojis like ":D" and ":O" and so on; it does not matter who he is texting and he can and will accidentally text that to Mori on the phone (then proceeds to get lectured heavily by Pianoman) - answers his phone/messages immediately the moment that he gets them - can and will talk his ass off for hours on end, sometimes he does it to annoying Chuuya, but sometimes Chuuya actually wants to listen to it all - metalhead, this is canon actually i'm asagiri - gives the best hugs, like he gives big bear hugs; greets all of the Flags with hugs despite they're reactions - human heater, is always warm and it doesn't matter what season it is... he's just strangely warm all of the time (sometimes Doc sits next to him during the winter or if he's cold because he gets cold easily, and is a lot thinner than the rest of them) - openly bi, like he talks about it all of the time if he finds a man attractive

" I mean I know this man is our next target, but his ass looks nice in this file photo- " " Albatross." " Sorry.

-has freckles on his cheeks - has heterochromia, his eyes are blue and red

Chuuya: - has freckles... like everywhere, used to cover them up with makeup when he was younger and around The Flags, but then forgot one time and then Lippman said that it fit him and he stopped covering them up - can pick up any instrument he finds and owns a couple of guitars - huge audiophile and will judge every pair of headphones or recorde/cd/speakers that he's given; the record player in his house is very extra and over 2000 dollars - sings to himself when he's doing chores, or if he's playing music in the background, he will dance and sing while sweeping the floor - despite being musical, his dancing tends to be very clumsy (was once caught by Albatross and he made fun of him for a whole week) - can speak French and will cuss in French without thinking when he gets annoyed - knows all of the Mafia gossip, but no one knows he's a gossip-y kind of person... he knows everything about everyone, often finds himself hearing two different sides of one story - shopaholic (he cannot close his closet door anymore because the door is broken because it's so crowded in there)

[themultifandomgal]

From 2010- This Is Us Movie

2013

Part 36

Ok so before we get into this one this will be written in 3rd person as if the reader is the one watching the film (does that make sense? I have no clue) it will probably jump around a little from scene to scene and I also won’t really be including anything on stage. Anyway I hope you enjoy.

29th August and everyone is waiting in anticipation for This Is Us Movie to start. Chattering can be heard until Niall’s voice is heard The screen is black as Niall says

“When I was small I had a desk, it was weird because I wrote on it ‘when I grow up I wanna be a singer’ I like scribbed it in. And it’s still on the desk”

“Life at home was my mum, dad me and my three sisters” Zayn now speaks as photos of the boys houses and where they lived start showing “you can say I had a heavy woman influence from a young age”

“We lived in a tiny house and I used to have a little bed in my mum and dads room” Niall’s voice says again the screen showing a picture of when he was younger

“I used to sit on the windowsill and imagine things like winning the lottery” Liam says

“When I was little I knew I wanted to entertain people I was a proper show off” Harry says as photos of Harry are shown

“When I was at school I was the class clown I’ve always been that guy who made people laugh” Louis’s voice says

“When I was younger, I was shy. I didn’t want to be the centre of attention. It was my mum who was the outgoing one, she could sing, I guess that’s where I got it from” YN says as photos of her family are shown “it was just me, mum and dad growing up, mum tried to get me to join different activities, but I was to shy”

The photos transition from family pictures to photos of the o2 arena which then transitions to video footage. Music playing and Liam is seen walking out onto the stage singing ‘up all night’ before the rest of the band start singing.

The first song ends and video footage of fans stood out side the arena is show chanting and screaming. More footage is shown of different tours and news anchors talking about then band.

“Wether we’re together or apart we can both remove the marks and admit we regret it from the start” the boys and YN sing, harmonising while walking backstage towards the front of the arena

“Oh my….” YN gasps holding her dog cookie in her arms

“Its scary being here now. I feel a bit nervous” Liam says to YN.

Harry and Louis are playing football as Paul the choreographer tells the boys and YN to start rehearsals

“Louis your on that end YN move into the middle” the screen shows the boys and YN rehearsing before it changes to them trying on outfits

“Sometimes I feel like I’m the mum of the group getting the boys to do as they are told” YN tells the camera in a dressing room while Harry is taking funny photos “H take a serious photo would you!” YN scolds and immediately Harry takes a nice picture of him in his outfit.

———

“That is sick” Louis says looking at the stage

“Holy… wow” Liam says stunned at the lights

“I wish my mum could be here to see this, to see us”

“She is. She’s always here” Harry hugs YN as the screen transitions to YN sat down

“When I auditioned for X-Factor I truly didn’t think I was going to get through. My mum always thought I should go on and since I was able to I knew I had to do her proud” a photo of YN and her mum are put on screen. It’s a photo of them smiling while out at a flower field “I miss her so much everyday” YN tucks a loose piece of her hair behind her ear revealing the tattoo she has in dedication for her mum.

The boys talk about their experience being formed

“It was crazy the day YN joined” Liam says sitting down in a room “we had only just gotten used to each other then there was Simon bringing in a girl to join us at judges houses”

“YN and I actually met during the auditions and when I saw her walking in with Simon I felt confused”

“Seeing Niall there I felt my anxiety lower, all I could think of is thank god one member will be ok with me. I was so scared joining the band”

“It was vital that we became friends before we became colleagues” a video of YN, Harry, Niall, Liam, Zayn and Louis is shown. They’re all sat outside on a hot day laughing at something Harry had said.

———

“I’m going to miss you” YN says to Cookie as they lay on the floor while Harry is packing his bag. Cookie then licks YNs face

“She loves that dog more than she loves us” the music stops and Louis laughs from across the room “see doesn’t even deny it” the screen switch’s to Niall then Liam then back to Harry and YN “are you going to pack? Our flight is in 4 hours”

“Soon. Let me just cuddle Cookie a little more”

“See loves her more than us”

———

“Madison Square Garden. The worlds most famous arena. Just sums it up. I don’t know where we go from here really. It’s mad” Liam says next to a banner

“I’m really nervous”

“Me to bro” Niall and Liam are sat down on some chairs looking out as the crew move around to build the stage.

The screen changes to the boys and YN on the stage doing a rehearsal, but YN is on the floor with an ice pack on her ankle

“YN went over her ankle with her heals on” footage is then shown of YN running on the stage and slipping and Zayn trying to catch her “so we’re just waiting to find out if she can perform tonight or if she needs to go to the hospital” Harry says to the camera then back to YN when she starts saying ow as Niall and Liam help her up. Harry then walks away from the camera and grabs a chair for her to sit on. The camera zooms in on YNs face in pain.

———

Niall is seen running down the halls with YN in a wheelchair then into a room where Liam and Louis are

“I’m so nervous for tonight” YN says “not only are our parents here tonight but I have a bad ankle”

“Are you doing the show in the wheelchair?” Niall asks YN

“No going to take paracetamol and wear trainers. Hopefully I don’t hurt it more, but I’m performing here” YN says determined.

The next scene is of YN getting out of her wheelchair and running to her dad who walks into the area with Anne and Robin. Tears can be seen in all of their eyes

“I’m so proud of you” Thomas says holding his little girl in his arms. YN let’s go of her dad and give both Anne and Robin a hug before Harry is seen bringing back her wheel chair and demanding she carries on resting her ankle until they go on stage.

———

After live while we’re young the camera switches to Harry, Louis, Liam, Zayn and YN all lying down in an airport lounge trying to catch up on sleep while Zayn has a voice over saying that it’s non stop. It then shows an airplane flying over Tokyo and the band leaving the plane. Cameras flash and paparazzi call their names

“This is a little strange. This many photographers aren’t allowed in the building in the Uk” Harry says walking next to YN who is trying to keep her head down. The airport is crazy full of fans. The band all take time to sign autographs and take photos

“I never thought I’d be here in Japan with this many fans wanting to take a photo of me or have my autograph. Sometimes I feel like I’m in some crazy fever dream that I’m going to wake up from and find that is 2010 again and I haven’t auditioned”

The next scene is of Harry reading a Japanese news paper, Liam balancing a tea pot on Louis head. He then pours milk into the cup. The camera pans between Harry and YN who shakes her head smiling

“I work with children and I’m actually the youngest here” YN chuckles as Louis runs off spilling the tea and cracking a plate. Harry shakes the news paper and then his head.

———

“Right lads and lady were tourists for the day” Liam says taking a photo of YN, Harry, Louis and Niall stood in front of the Eiffel Tower

“We don’t often get to explore the country we’re in so if we ever get the chance to we definitely take it”

“It feels like an adventure everyday” Niall says

“It’s like a big holiday really. With a lot of work involved” Liam says to the camera

“It’s a good job I enjoy my job and my coworkers” YN says “well sometimes” YN then walks off leaving a stunned Harry

“Hey that’s rude”

———

“I’m just a natural aren’t I really. I don’t mess around that’s the main thing for me” the camera points to Liam who’s fishing, Harry who’s lay down with his eye closed and YN who’s looking out to sea “I think the Europe trip so far has just flown by. When you think about tour rehearsals and everything, it seems such a long time ago now”

“I know” Harry says putting his hand in front of his face trying to block the sun while he looks at Liam. YN turns to look at her best friends

“Do you remember when you walked in and Simon said we would be working together?” Harry asks YN

“Yeah. I was so scared you guys were going to hate me or something. I mean when I first joined there were little clashes here and there but it wasn’t anything huge”

“Yeah we were just trying to change dynamic a bit. Like be respectful to you a stuff” Harry says looking back at YN

“If I wasn’t in One Direction right now I think I’d be in a factory or being a fireman” Liam says

“I’d probably be living back home in Shrewsbury doing something at Uni. Would you have opened your own bakery?” YN turns to Harry

“I was a great baker”

“And yet we’re still waiting for you to bake us something”

“I will… one day”

“Fish!

“Yes!”

“Ahhh don’t you dare” YN squeals as Liam brings it over to her

“Come on YN give it a kiss”

“No!”

“When we’re on tour they’re still young people who like playing games” Preston one of the security guards says as video clips off Harry running away from him is shown

“I am their dad on the road” Paul Huggins says “the only issue I have is that they’re all a pain in my ass. Yes even sweet little YN” the next clip is YN hiding under a table then grabbing peoples legs making them scream “the boys have corrupted her”

“We’ve got some days off scheduled. The boys are going home, Im staying in LA for a bit. I’m going to miss them. I spend so much of my time with them, I live with Louis and Harry so it’s hard when we’re not together. It’s like somethings missing” YN hugs her befriends as they leave her alone at the airport “I know I’ll see them soon, but part of me wants us to stay together. Love you!” YN shouts. 

———

“Sometimes the media can get to me” YN shows a photo of YN and Liam walking around LA “this was taken when I stayed in LA for a little bit before going back home to see my dad. Im in Australia right now, the boys are coming soon because we will be doing the last part of tour here then in Japan. I guess like any job there positives and negatives. I love what I do, but it’s had when you get hate for living your life. It can be hard, but I have some of the most amazing friends and family who help me through all of that” the camera then shows a video of YN running up to Niall who picks her up and swings her round “there’s truly something special about our friendship. I never feel separated from them because I’m a woman” another clip of YN Harry scooping YN up into a bear hug is shown “they’re part of my family”

“I’m so proud of YN” Thomas, YN’s dad is shown on screen sitting in his kitchen “she’s always been rather shy and after her mum died that shyness almost took over her” again another clip of YN and the boys is shown, this time of them racing each other in an arena “if she hadn’t of joined the band I don’t think she would have coped. The boys have become her befriends and have brought this other side out of her. A more happy and confident side that I haven’t seen since before Lisa passed away”

“We’re back baby!” YN shouts having a group hug with the band as ‘one way or another’ starts playing and the clip changed to them on stage singing.

———

“I can’t believe you threw water on each other and got me wet” YN laughs looking at the 2 culprits while they all sit on the tour bus

“Own up! Who’s farted!” Louis says

“Niall own up” Harry says laughing

“You know, sometimes when its really smelly, Niall doesn't admit it” Louis continues

“Hold on who here never admits to them but we all know they’re the worst” Niall then points to YN

“No don’t blame me. I don’t admit to them because I don’t do them on the bus”

“No she saves them for stage” Zayn laughs

“Hey it’s not my fault I have nervous farts”

“Kinda is” Harry says and YN is seen hitting Harry playfully making him laugh.

———

“How the hell did you get me to agree to go camping with you” YN laughs carrying a large back pack

“Is there any bears in Sweden?” Liam asks

“Where we putting the tent?” Louis asks

“Put it over here” Niall directs the boys and YN

“I’m hungry” YN groans

“We need to make a fire first”

“I’m on pine cone duty” Louis says sounding extremely happy

“Oh it’s good the instructions are in Swedish” Liam saying looking at the little booklet

“We don’t need instructions Liam”

“I’m hungry” YN moans again

“Are you gonna come and help?” Harry asks YN

“But I’m hungry” YN now pulls out at a packet of crisps and sits down on a chair

“Where… how did you… you know what you sit there and eat your crisps”

The day turns into night and the band are sat around the campfire. YN and Harry are sharing a blanket to keep them warm

“Do you think if one of us wasn’t in the band we wouldn’t be this big?” Liam asks

“No, definitely not” Harry shakes his head

“I don't think so either. I think we each balance each other out” liam replies

“What’s mad is one day we won’t be doing this” Louis says

“No mater what we do or where we go in life, I just want you all to know that this has been the most amazing experience of my life”

“Awww YN!” Harry hugs YN tightly into him

“I mean it. I’m proud of us. Whether we last for 10 year or just another year. I will always look back at these memories with fondness”

“Do you think we’ll still be mates?” Zayn asks

“I hope so. Even if don’t talk all the time I think we will always be proud of one another”

“Ok YN your getting to soppy!” Harry says.

———

“It’s the last day of tour and while a part of me is excited to have a break, I’m going to miss being here on tour, being with these idiots every day” YN says “I can’t believe that we are able to do what we love and it’s all thanks to the people who are supporting us. Weather they’ve supported us from day one on X-Factor or have only found out about us today. Thank you, it truly means the world to us all” with that the the video fades of a video of the band bowing before it cuts to the credits.

[noneedtoamputate]

The Vault in Our Stars (Band of Brothers Olympics AU) - Chapter Two

Thanks to @mercurygray for letting me borrow Marj and Eileen for this chapter and the wonderful suggestions and editing help (any mistakes are entirely my own) and for @shoshiwrites for always seeming to like my favorite parts of things I write. Enjoy! And here's a link to Chapter One if you missed it.

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Four days before Opening Ceremony

Breakfast tray in hand, Carwood found a table in a quiet corner of the cafeteria. He took a much-needed sip of coffee and enjoyed the silence. The team had been eating their meals together since arriving in Paris. But Dick had an early interview this morning, George and Tab decided to sleep in, and Harry was nowhere to be found, meaning he was probably with Kitty. 

The tension between the guys had lessened after Dick returned to the room last night, but the words from earlier in the day still echoed among the group. Carwood hated conflict, and the stress he felt between his teammates wasn’t helping his concentration. He looked forward to a quiet breakfast, without George cracking jokes or Tab talking about their next TikTok video or Dick being judgmental about what was on his plate. 

“Mind if I sit here?”

He looked up and saw a tall woman - well, taller than him, anyways - with honey-colored hair styled in a wavy bob wearing the warmups issued to the American athletes. 

He nodded and smiled, trying to look polite despite feeling slightly disappointed at the thought of having to make small talk with a stranger. He really did want to meet fellow athletes, but he wouldn’t have minded waiting until after some caffeine kicked in.

“Marjorie Gordon, rugby,” she introduced herself while placing her napkin on her lap. “But call me Marj.”

“Carwood Lipton, gymnastics,” he replied. 

“Oh, the other NixWorks team! Blanche Nixon started sponsoring us last year. She’s done so much for us,” she said before digging into her oatmeal. 

“Yeah, Lew’s been great for us, too,” Carwood agreed. He was still getting to know their corporate sponsor. Calling him by his first name felt strange but calling him Mr. Nixon felt even stranger. Lew wasn't much older than Dick, and Lew himself had already made all the jokes about the name Nixon. He’d forgotten there was a sister.

“I don’t think it hurts that Blanche has a thing for our captain, Connie.” Carwood’s eyebrows raised at Marj’s admission, but he said nothing. “Connie’s too focused to even notice, but maybe she’ll realize after the games are over.”

He tried to think of something to say, but she beat him to it. “When does your competition start?” 

“Two days after the opening ceremonies. How about you?”

“We’ve already started pool play,” she said, like this would mean something to him. He nodded and tried to look like he knew what that meant. “We had a match yesterday, and we have another one tonight.”

“Did you win?” he asked as he cut into an egg. 

“Of course!” she said, assuredly. “We’re here to put USA women’s rugby on the map.” She took another bite of her oatmeal and seemed to study him for a moment. “So, are you an all-rounder or a specialist, and what’s your favorite apparatus?” She smiled at his confusion. “I studied sports medicine in college - did a whole internship with our gymnastics team. I couldn’t do any of it but it’s beautiful to watch.”

The way she said beautiful made him nervous for a moment. Carwood explained that, yes, he was an all-arounder, meaning he competed in all six events, but pommel horse was his favorite. 

She gasped. “I love pommel! The physics of it all amazes me,” she explained. 

“Don’t tell me, physics was your second major.” He couldn’t help himself. The joke just tumbled out.

She grinned. “No, but maybe it should have been. At the end of the day, rugby’s all about forces and objects.”

“I’m studying engineering,” he said.

And their conversation took off after that. Marj didn’t let up with the questions, and she learned where he was from (West Virginia), what he thought about his team (“they’re great guys, but they can be …a lot”), what he liked to read (military history, especially World War II), and she didn’t get weird when he mentioned his dad died in a car accident when he was ten. 

“Did the network ask you about that when they interviewed you for your profile piece?” It was no secret that viewers loved human interest angles, and stories of perseverance over loss resonated the most, even with people who didn’t care about sports.

He signed. “They almost had me convinced I wouldn’t have made the team if he was still here. And they kept asking me if I thought he was looking down on me and smiling. I don’t know, it’s just not something I think about …”

“Or something you want to share with strangers and a camera in your face?” Marj finished for him

“Exactly.” He looked at her for a moment. “Are you always this nice?”

She grinned like this was part of a longstanding joke.  “I’m from Minnesota. It’s in the water.”

He laughed - actually laughed, out loud - and then felt self-conscious about it. “So, what did they ask you during your interview?” he asked, sticking his fork into a piece of cantaloupe. 

“Oh, the usual. Tall girl, tomboy, loved sports. Never felt like she fit in until she found rugby and became part of this team.” She rolled her eyes. “I might have felt like that for two weeks at thirteen, when everyone felt awkward. But I played hockey and softball growing up and always felt like I belonged.” 

Carwood noticed the way her eyes twinkled when she smiled. 

“I’d wanted to go to U of M since I was little, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to play hockey there. The competition is just too good. But a girl on my floor told me about the rugby team and the rest is history.” She took a sip of orange juice and sighed. “It’s too bad they did the interview a few months ago. If they had interviewed me at the beginning of this month, they would have had a real story.”

“Why, what happened?” he asked.

“My boyfriend dumped me after five years.” She said this with the extreme calm of a woman who’d already made peace with it. “Said he was tired of me putting rugby before him and our plans, which wasn’t true. But here we are.” She shrugged her shoulders. “What can you do?”

“He dumped you three weeks before the games?” Carwood asked incredulously. He didn’t realize he could be so angry at someone he never met, whose name he didn’t even know. 

“Allen was the star quarterback in high school,” she explained. “He played in college, too, but never good enough to go pro. Which was fine for him, because he always had this plan of going back home, getting a teaching job, getting married, having kids right away, and coaching the little league team. I don’t think he liked it when my plans made a detour and when the spotlight was on me for a bit.”

“A detour to the Olympics.”  Carwood couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Marj shrugged. “Allen sounds like an asshole,” he said, loud enough so that athletes at the table across from them turned their heads. Sorry, he mouthed their way. 

He turned back to Marj. “I’d be proud as hell to have a girlfriend in the Olympics.” He realized how that might have sounded while he was staring at her across a table sharing life stories and took a quick tactical detour “My teammate, Harry, has been with Kitty Grogan for years, and he loves it when people call him Mr. Grogan. He’s even said he’ll change his name to hers when they get married.” He was rambling now, and he needed to find an exit. “A real partner doesn’t make you change who you are.”

“Thanks. He really is an asshole,” she agreed, speaking softer than Carwood.

For a while neither of them spoke. “What did you do after that?” he asked. He couldn’t imagine going through that kind of emotional turmoil in the middle of training for the most important competition of your life.

“Well, I went out with my team and got really drunk. I mean, really drunk. I woke up the next morning and felt like a truck had run me over. I looked in the mirror, and all I could see was my hair. He loved talking about my hair. So, I cut it.”

“You cut your own hair?” Carwood asked. He had enough memories of his mother discussing haircuts with his sisters to know this was a big deal.

Marj, however, did not seem bothered by this. “Hacked it off, really. And then Doris - she’s my best friend on the team - came over to my apartment to check in on me. She took one look, gasped, called her stylist, and asked if he could work a miracle.” She patted her hair. “And now I get to wear cute headbands and start trends for short hair.”

“I really like it. It suits you,” Carwood shared. 

“It does. A new me.” She looked down at the remains of her oatmeal like she was deciding something. “You should come to the match tonight. Bring your guys. It’ll be fun.”

“Um …” he trailed off. Athletes didn’t get automatic admission to other events, and even when tickets were available, they were often expensive.

“There are free tickets available for the qualifying rounds,” Marj added, recognizing his hesitance. “Just ask for them at the USA hospitality desk. Or Blanche should have extra tickets, too.”

Breakfast seemed to be coming to an end - Carwood was finished with his eggs. But there was still something else on Marj’s breakfast tray - one of the chocolate croissants George had been going on about all week. “What about your game later?” he asked, thinking about what Dick would say about the importance of breakfast before a competition.

“One pastry’s not going to kill me. And if it did, I’m in the wrong sport.” She picked up her pain au chocolat, examined it, took one bite, and let out a moan. This might be the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.”

He cleared his throat, trying not to think of other connotations of that statement. “My teammate, George, loves them, too. He’s interviewing Team USA about them for his TikTok, if you’re interested.”

“Well, now he has to come! We can meet up afterwards and he can do the whole team. The girls eat them any chance we get. Are you on Insta? WhatsApp?” He nodded.

“My username is scrumptiousmarj. A scrum is a pack of players in rugby,” she explained, noticing the look on his confused face.

“I’ll look you up,” he promised.

“Great. See you later, Lip!” she said as she walked off.

Lip. No one had ever called him that before. 

He liked it. 

-

Thursday, July 24, 2024

Three days before Opening Ceremony

 Lew saw Blanche sitting on the table outside the caf��, looking at her phone and smoking a cigarette. She wore a pair of oversized sunglasses in an attempt to hide her bloodshot eyes. Her jet-black hair looked uncombed, and her maxi dress needed the help of an iron. Well, as long as she’s having fun. He certainly wasn’t in a position to lecture anyone about appearances.

She stood up to greet him. “Mon frère,” she said, kissing his right cheek and then his left.

“Did you ever make it back to Grandmère’s last night?” His Grandmother Ryer kept an apartment in the 7th arrondissement, arguably the best neighborhood in Paris, just in case she - or other family members - happened to be in town. It was a handy landing pad for continental tours, trips to Cannes, or - in this one very particular instance - avoiding the absolutely insane price of hotel rooms during the largest sporting event of the year.

She shook her head. “I was with the girls after the match,” she said, referring to the rugby team. “And then I met up with some friends to catch up.”

“That must have been some catch up,” he said. 

“I’ll nap later.” She waved her hand holding the cigarette. “This bothering you?” she asked, in a way that clearly said she didn’t care if it did.

“No,” he lied. Lew hadn’t smoked in four months. Everyone said it would get easier.

Everyone was a liar. 

“You know you can have one. It’s Paris. It doesn’t count,” she reasoned.

“I’m pretty sure it does,” he said, as a server walked over to take his order. 

“How’s your team doing?” Blanche asked while looking back down at her screen. “I saw some of them yesterday.”

He held in a laugh. His team, like he did anything except throw money towards a group of guys who could really use it. Throwing money at a problem - a Nixon family trait. NixWorks had started these sponsorships as a way to burnish up the company image - supporting serious, deserving athletes to replace the overriding image of his father’s multiple marriages, drunk driving charges, and poor skills with the press. And it was almost working. 

How is my team? he thought. His talk with Dick the other day went as he hoped, and the team captain seemed a bit more relaxed when he saw him yesterday. The guys had a good practice, and Dick seemed okay with the guys going to the women’s rugby match, especially when Carwood explained matches were only fourteen minutes long. Come to think of it, Carwood had dropped a lot of rugby knowledge yesterday. Lew didn’t know he was such a fan. George had gained some more TikTok followers with his pastry posts, and people were talking about the team more on social media. 

“Good,” he said simply. “But I think they’re getting anxious for the competition to start.”

Lew’s cappuccino arrived, and the siblings started sharing tech industry insider scoops and family gossip when a passerby caught Lew’s eyes.

It was easy to spot Americans in Paris. They were always louder than anyone else, for one thing. But they didn’t have that, well, je ne sais quoi. They looked a bit sloppier, walked with a little less confidence. 

But not this woman. She looked smart in her black wide-legged trousers and fitted striped shirt. Her minimal makeup was expertly applied, and Lew had dated enough women to know that her messy bun took time to style just right.

No, this woman wouldn’t be mistaken for an American. The only reason he knew she was from back home was because of an unfortunate encounter and he hoped she wouldn’t recognize -

“Eileen!” Blanche shouted out. The woman turned, smiling and waving in recognition of his sister. She walked back towards their table.

Speaking of loud Americans, he thought, shooting a look at his sister as the rest of the cafe side-eyed her shout over their breakfast pastries.

“Join us!” Blanche invited, pointing to the extra chair. 

Eileen set her Louis Vuitton clutch on the table and looked at Blanche. “Could I bum a cigarette?” she asked.

Blanche handed one to Eileen and lit it for her. “I didn’t know you smoked,” Blanche said.

“I don’t. But it’s Paris,” Eileen said, as if that explained everything. Blanche smiled and looked over at Lew.

“That’s. Not. How. It. Works,” he said back, no longer hiding his aggravation. 

Blanche ignored her brother’s tone. “Eileen, I don’t know if you’ve had the pleasure of meeting my charming brother, Lewis. Lew, this is Eileen Hammond. Is your title influencer now, or are you going for something different?”

Eileen waved a hand lazily in the air. “Model, influencer, brand ambassador, host - take your pick.”

“She runs a travel blog and channel called Eileen Over the World. It’s what, nine hundred thousand followers now? A million? Are you filming an episode here or just here for pleasure?”

Eileen took a long drag and blew the smoke out a little too close to Lew’s face for it to be an accident. “Work mainly, but I’m trying to schedule some down time here and there. And actually,” - she looked directly at Lew - “your brother and I have already met.”

Lew silently groaned. Well, damn.

“Oh really? Do tell,” Blanche urged Eileen on.

The woman leaned back in her chair, cigarette in hand and impossibly good looking for it. “It was two years ago. I’m at some boring party in L.A., wondering if it’s too early to leave, when a man with a very nice smile and extraordinary eyebrows walks up to me. We chat about Hollywood, about modeling jobs, about influencing, about whiskey, which he knows a great deal about. Anyway, he’s very witty, and not just in the Hollywood way, and I am just about to give him my number - which I rarely do - when who walks up but his girlfriend.”

“Oh Lew,” Blanche said, sounding a bit disappointed but not surprised. She turned her attention back to Eileen. “Was it Kathy?” she asked.

Eileen shrugged. “I don’t know. She didn’t offer a name. What does Kathy look like?”

“Tall. Tan. Big boobs.”

She shook her head. “No, this one was blonde and petite with a pixie cut and a rather posh English accent.”

“Oh, Irene.” Blanche was making a face. Blanche never had a problem sharing her opinions about Lew’s love life. Kathy had been known to have something of a temper, but Irene had been absolutely territorial when it came to Lew.

“I’m right here,” Lew reminded them, not appreciating the round down of girlfriends past, but they ignored him.

“Maybe he confused the both of you. Eileen. Irene. They sound a bit alike.” She laughed at her little dig.

Eileen shrugged. “Anyway, I didn’t even know his whole name until the pictures of her shouting at him afterwards were all over some gossip site. To be honest, I was a little surprised he didn’t lead with ‘owner of a major tech company.’” She stared him down like she was expecting him to deny it. “They usually do.” 

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“Excuse me? What did you just say?” Blanche asked, needing confirmation that her brother had just apologized for something he did.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, ignoring his sister and looking directly at Eileen. “It was a terrible thing to do. Yes, Irene and I were just about to break up, but we hadn’t yet, and I shouldn’t have done that to her, and I shouldn’t have done that to you.” It was a weird point in my life, and I’ve figured a few things out since then - like not getting involved with someone immediately after a breakup, or when substances are involved, and not starting something until you’ve finished what you’re in the middle of. 

“Aren’t you going to say something?” he asked Eileen. It wasn’t everyday he admitted a mistake. The least she could do was acknowledge it. 

She stared at him and crossed her arms. "I'm not sure what to say - is this one of the famous Nixon public apologies?"  

Lew's face burned. His father’s apologies were the stuff of legend - delivered often at the point of a sword - or a lawsuit - and usually about as hollow as they came. 

He heard Blanche let out a small gasp. 

Lew felt his body tense up, and his heart rate increased. He wanted to make the feeling go away as fast as possible. He wanted a cigarette, a whiskey, a shouting match with the woman across from him who had caused all of this.

Instead, he took a deep breath, held it for four seconds, and exhaled for six. 

“I am nothing - nothing - like my father,” he finally said.

He stood up, took his wallet out of his jeans pocket, and threw one hundred euros down on the table without a second thought.

“Coffees are on me. Enjoy your day, ladies.” 

He walked away, not knowing where he was going, only that wherever it was, he wouldn’t have to see Eileen’s face.

[northwestofinsanity]

About REO Speedwagon breaking up…

So, earlier this week, an announcement went out on the official REO Speedwagon social media pages that blindsided pretty much every REO fan… including the very small handful of REO fans here on Tumblr.  It’s been a rough week.

I’ve done some digging around for information, and have managed to get somewhat of a blurry picture of what happened from everything I’ve found, so here’s a post to hopefully help the small few of us here make sense of it all.  Due to the length, I’m keeping this under a read-more, and I’m going to try to (aside from where I must clarify) put the timeline of basic information I’ve gathered up top, and analysis down lower, so that those who don’t want to read further don’t have to sort through it. 

Two Disclaimers before jumping into it:

1 -While it is fair that anyone might have their opinions from the information here (as I do, too), this post is not an invitation to hate on the members of the band, and I do not condone the making hate comments toward any of the members on any social media pages with posts on the matter.  At this point, talking smack about Bruce Hall, Kevin Cronin, or Neal Doughty is not what’s going to change the situation -if anything will at all.

2 -For every Facebook post I mention, I do have screenshots, though I will not be posting them in the main post, as some social media screenshots have a way of being removed here.  Most of those pages are publicly viewable even to those not logged in, so I will link to REO’s official page and Bruce Hall’s official page to those who would like to look, and anyone who would rather not look there at all who would still like to see is welcome to request that I DM the screenshots.

Alright, let’s do this, starting with the Basic Timeline of Events:

Starting with the line of perspective given on the official REO Speedwagon Facebook Page (and I believe everything on there is cross-posted to their Instagram for anyone who has that). This Facebook page is viewable without an account. Kevin Cronin makes a lot of posts here himself in a blog-like format, so we can consider posts here as Kevin’s side of the story.

-Back on November 7th of 2023, it was announced by Kevin on social media that Bruce Hall, the longtime bassist of REO Speedwagon, would be off the road and replaced with a substitute to undergo back surgery and the subsequent recovery.  Matt Bissonette, who has been with multiple groups, was the bassist who took over touring duties while REO has been on tour with Train.  As Kevin’s post read, one line stated, “Bruce is our brother. And times like these test us all. We have faith that Bruce’s surgery will be successful, that he will make a complete recovery, and that he will be back to being the hard rocking bassist/singer that we all know. Bruce has our love and support, as we have encouraged him to take all the time he needs to get himself back to 100% strength.”

Very little information has been given there on Bruce since, up until recently, but going back through, I found:

-November 27th, 2023, at the end of Kevin’s “Happy Thanksgiving” journal entry, a PS note stating, “Received a photo of the newly repaired Bruce Hall, sitting up in his hospital bed and smiling. The nurse in the shot was all smiles and hands in the air, reacting favorably to Bruce making progress. I am giving him space, while my thoughts are with Bruce and wishing him a full recovery.”  So by this point, Bruce had undergone his procedure and was doing well in early recovery.

—June 1st, a post from Bruce on the Official REO Facebook Page, mentioning he had been featured on “A Fishing Story With Ronald Green”.  No telling if this was filmed before or after Bruce’s operation.  He does look good in the video, and is on his feet, though not holding anything of substantial weight.

—One of Kevin’s journal entry-like posts on July 12th, 2024, where Kevin was talking about the Milwaukee Summerfest performances, and mentioned, “Bruce told me he would love to be out here, but we both agreed that his health and recovery need to come first.”  So by Kevin’s account here, Bruce was not in condition to play.

……..

Nothing further came on the REO Speedwagon page until the recent unfolding of events within the last week -so let’s jump over to Bruce’s official Facebook page, Bruce Hall of REO Speedwagon, (also viewable without an account) and backtrack to get his side of the story:

-On November 7th, 2023, Bruce made his own announcement letting fans know he would be off the road, stating that he had been powering through a “traumatic back injury” for quite some time and was unable to do so any longer.  He assured fans that REO had a plan to find a good substitute while he was away.

-On November 20th, Bruce’s wife, Kimmie, made a post saying that Bruce had his surgery that morning.  She assured that “Everything went really well”, and that Bruce had “already gotten up and walked a couple of steps”.

-On December 10th, Bruce posted his first picture of himself with his then newborn grandchild.  He looks a bit rough (rightfully so), and is sitting on a couch, so unsure how steady he was at this time, but he was at home in recovery.  In his post, he stated “My surgery was a huge success, and I’m getting better everyday.” 

[I’m not going to list every one of Bruce’s posts, because there were a lot while he was home in recovery, but over the next month or so, there were several around the Holidays where Bruce was with his family, back on his feet and looking better, and even a few where Neal Doughty was visiting with him]

-Worth mentioning, on January 27th of 2024, Bruce mentioned in a post that he had been working on bass tracks for an album his daughter was recording over the last couple of days.  A post came the next day featuring a video of Bruce playing bass, if sitting down and leaned over, but playing as great as usual for him.

[Multiple posts continued of Bruce living life in recovery, including a trip to Disney World with his wife in February, his feature on Ronald Green’s fishing show in March, confirming that it was filmed at that time, and another family gathering with the Doughty’s in early April]

-On April 8th, Bruce made a post with pictures of an REO Speedwagon Make-A-Wish Benefit show, in which he did come onstage for one song and perform.  He excitedly mentions this as the first time he had performed since October.  Pictures show him playing standing up, if bent over.  (Very strangely, there are no posts about this show on the REO Facebook page, when they are typically very prolific with posts made about benefit shows).  The day prior, the 7th, Bruce had a video featuring him and Neal Doughty at soundcheck (Neal had also shown up and was playing Piano for “Can’t Fight This Feeling”)

[More posts follow, including ones where Bruce posted Facebook-generated “memory” posts of pictures with him performing with Kevin and Dave, stating how much he misses this, and pictures of being out and about fishing and golfing.]

On June 14th, Bruce made the first post directly addressing the length of his time absent, accompanied by a picture of playing bass while sitting down.  Within his statement, the most notable information is as follows: “I'm feeling better every day and have been cleared by my doctor to perform.  If it were up to just me, I'd be there rocking tonight...but it's unfortunately not.  The consensus feeling is that I don't have good enough posture to perform at the level expected by our fans.”  Amid assurances he was still undergoing physical therapy and training to continue recovery, he added, “Trust me, I have no intention of retiring or walking away from the band I have loved for almost 50 years.  I would never ever walk away.”

[More generalized Bruce living life and being physically active in recovery follow]

On September 5th, Bruce made a post with a picture of his wife that seems a bit cryptic, stating that he appreciates the support of fans and misses them.  It seems this coincided with an article that had come out on September 3rd by Ultimate Classic Rock, regarding Bruce’s absence, titled “Is Bad Posture Keeping REO Speedwagon’s Bruce Hall Off The Road?”  My guess is this is what began stirring up a lot of talk from fans, and led to the official statement eventually being made, and Bruce was answering to concern given by fans who might not have been following his page to be aware of his condition until this time.  Now, Ultimate Classic Rock is somewhat of a clickbait site (there’s no other way to get around putting it as such), and the article was quoting information from Bruce’s post made back in July, but in this case, it is true to Bruce’s post.  Anyone who is trying to avoid Facebook who would like to see it can find it here.

This ends anything relevant on any Facebook page up until everything unfolded within the last week, so the next part of the timeline that follows, I’m going to mix posts from the REO Speedwagon Facebook Page and Bruce’s page in chronological order, rather than separating them out.  I will also attempt to hot link the individual posts to the dates here (Tumblr tends to limit how many of these I can do, which is why I have saved that for the most pertinent posts).

-On September 14th, 2024, on the REO Speedwagon Facebook Page, Kevin made an announcement entry along with a performance video regarding the end of the Summer Road Trip Tour, and expressing gratitude for the good touring partners Train have been.  He then addressed REO Speedwagon having to miss the last two shows of the tour, revealing that he had emergency surgery, and suggested that he was making this post from the hospital.  Kevin then went on to leave this somewhat cryptic message, “I have so much more life to live, and have re-examined what I want to do with the rest of my time here, and who I want to be surrounded by while I do it. I need to be lifted by those around me, and in return, to lift them. I feel excited at the prospect of creating and playing the best music I have in me, with the best artists, musicians, and people who will have me.”

Many comments were left on the September 14th post, requesting clarification on what Kevin meant about this, as well as asking “What about Bruce?  When will he be back?”  

One person made a comment claiming that they had privately spoken to Kevin on Facebook, and that Kevin had said that Bruce had quit the band on his own.  Bruce himself came into the comments on his verified account to say that Kevin does not have his own Facebook page, and that it was a fake imposter account whom that person had spoken with, warning to look for blue checkmarks after the names.  In his first of two comments clarifying this, he noted, “I would NEVER leave the band.”  This was less than two days before major news came to light.

The speculation on this post inevitably led to the next…

-On September 16th, an announcement came up on the REO Speedwagon Facebook Page that most REO fans have seen by now -if not on the band’s socials, by many news articles featuring it.  This one was worded as if written by management.  It stated that if it were up to Bruce alone, Bruce would be back to touring, but “it’s not up to just him”, and stated that there was a consensus that Bruce could not perform up to expected standards.  It also stated that Kevin had never had any intentions of leaving the band, but then cited irreconcilable differences between Bruce and Kevin as cause that REO Speedwagon will stop touring at the end of this year.

Comments were disabled on this post, as well as the next couple that followed.  Many people still shared this post and commented on their own pages

—Bruce shared the post on his own page, expressing that he is heartbroken that it has ended this way, that he in no way expected this, and that he and Neal did everything to try and keep the band going after his recovery. (Should be noted that while Neal has retired from touring, he is still very much a member of the band with some background control).  Many fans commented on Bruce’s shared post, expressing anger toward Kevin, and some suggested that Bruce and Neal should find a singer who can do justice to Kevin’s voice, as well as a strong guitarist who can back them.  (To the effect of “Do what Journey did”, etc).  Bruce has said over and over again in responses to those comments that he believes Kevin is the voice of REO and that he will not tour as REO without Kevin, that he is protecting the legacy of the band and the wishes of Alan, Neal, and Gary’s family.  (Also, we don’t know if there’s some contractual agreement between Neal, Bruce, and Kevin as owning members where it’s a tiebreak situation, and Kevin can’t continue permanently by himself, and if Bruce and Neal refuse to do this.)  Even though he has been deemed healthy and ready to return by his doctor, he has said that if Kevin would rather “go solo”, he cannot stop him from doing so.  He has suggested through these comments that despite being upset, he does not want anybody talking disrespectfully about Kevin in his comments.

—A share that I will not be linking, but I have a screenshot of that anyone may request by DM, Eric Richrath, the son of late classic era guitarist, Gary Richrath, whom in the past has occasionally joined REO onstage for a couple of songs, shared the post, making some scathing comments about his feelings on the situation.  For the sake of keeping this part of the post neutral, and for the sake of his dignity, I will not repeat publicly what he said about Kevin.  The relevant point he makes is that he believes this is a sad way for the band to have gone out, that fans and the members deserved at least some proper farewell shows, and brought up the good point that Alan Gratzer and Neal Doughty may have wanted the opportunity to rejoin the band for a couple of songs at said shows to send off the band they founded in a good way.

…………………………………

Alright… phew.  That was already a lot.  Now, discussion, analysis, if anyone wishes to continue further:

From what I can understand from all this, is technically, Bruce is medically cleared to travel and perform, but he is under certain limits as to how he is allowed to perform.  For the sake of putting on a good show, is the show diminished somewhat if Bruce can’t jump around as he has in the past, or if he’s required to play sitting down for part of the show?  To a point, yes… However, this has been done before.  Members of various bands have sustained injuries before and have had to do this, and some found their ways to still make it fun.  (Actually, more recently, Bruce posted a throwback picture performing onstage, where Kevin was sitting down after injuring his foot, so this isn’t the first time REO has dealt with something like this… in the comments, when asked about Neal’s stance, Bruce stated that Neal is his best friend, and that Neal is “100% in [his] corner”).

And honestly, none of our aging rockers are able to jump around the way they used to.  That’s life, that’s fair whether anyone likes it or not, and that’s what’s going to happen.  Sure, I have more fun when I watch live videos of -say, let me pick on Heart, and compare just the videos from even the late 2000s/early 2010s to now.  Nancy Wilson isn’t kicking and jumping as high as she did less than a decade ago, but I still love her.  And she’s 70 -it’s lucky she was still doing that as long as she was, and that she can still kick at all.  I don’t see any reason to view Bruce any differently.  Now, maybe not ideal to continue for years like that, but for the sake of having some official farewell shows here and there, as many fans, and Gary’s son have suggested they would have liked to have, it would have probably been feasible.  It is worth mentioning that traveling for multiple shows in close proximity can be a little harder on the body (it’s ultimately why Neal chose to retire even though he can still play fine).  Bruce has traveled, per the timeline posts I went through, though there could be some valid risk.  Nobody’s necessarily saying that farewell shows would have to be close together, though -one a month in different locations could limit the toll of the traveling.

And then, the side of the issue with Kevin.  My intent here is to put this into an objective viewpoint, because some people who know me well may know I have some opinions about what happened in the past with Gary, and I’m not alone in that among REO fans -and I have seen it brought up in comments on Facebook.  Which is fair, and I especially find it fair for Eric Richrath to leave the comments on his share he did, after he had to witness the impact of that fallout on his father -but let’s put the situation with Gary aside and look at this as an isolated incident, because this is about Kevin and Bruce.  And while I’m not here to defend Kevin, I’m also not here to trash talk him -and I would discourage anyone who has decided to side against him to not go wild with negative comments, as Bruce’s Facebook comments have made it abundantly clear, he doesn’t want this.

Is it kind of cruddy for Kevin to just spring this on everyone suddenly the moment he decides he wants to do something else?  Yeah!  Could he have handled this better, and would it have been more fair of him to just agree to stick around to do even just a couple of official farewell shows?  Probably so.  But the reality is, while Kevin does share a great deal of what goes on in his life on REO’s official pages, there’s a lot we still don’t know about, because we don’t know Kevin.  We do know he recently had emergency surgery.  We don’t know what for.  We don’t know what’s going on in his life or his true health status, or whatever news he’s potentially been given.  Apparently, based on Bruce’s replies mentioning “going solo”, he’s decided he’s got other things he wants to do, and I hate saying it (because it breaks my heart), but we’re not going to have these guys around forever.  So again, while it would have been great for Kevin to stick with it for a farewell tour even just a week long, he’s got a need to do something else, and the reality is, there’s only but so much time he’s going to have to make that happen.  If that’s what he’s choosing to do with the remaining time he has where he is still able to perform, that’s a choice that has understandable and respectable merits, regardless of how much there might be to disagree over.

My advice to fans who have chosen to pick sides in this situation?  If you’ve sided with Kevin, keep your eyes out for whatever he’s going to do next.  It won’t be REO, but maybe it might just be something worthwhile -so give him a chance.  If you’ve sided with Bruce, and you feel the need to say anything, go show him some love on any of his socials, but please keep comments expressing frustration toward Kevin to yourself or to your own private posts away from him.  I cannot stress this enough (I’ll say it again), Bruce has politely suggested that he does not want that.  I imagine comments of such on his socials at this point are only serving to rub this in his face.  I can also imagine that if Kevin can see any comments like that, it’s only serving to fuel whatever animosity he might feel toward Bruce right now, and it’s making any small chance of reconciliation in the future smaller.  So please don’t do this. 

And for those neutral in the situation, let’s just stand back and watch this situation.  Give Kevin a chance, show Bruce some love…  Maybe Kevin will get whatever he feels he needs to do out of his system and will rethink things and decide maybe he wants to get together again for some farewells (situations in the past -including the fallout with Gary -have told that he doesn’t go back and change his mind after making a big change like this, but who knows… time will tell).  Hopefully, everyone will make good choices, and as the shock settles, “irreconcilable differences” may seem a bit less than they were in the moment.  We can only love these guys while we’ve still got them.  This situation is hard, and nasty thoughts aren’t going to make it any easier.  We know what’s said before every live performance of “Ridin’ the Storm Out”, and I think it holds true here as we process all this.

[marimayscarlett]

It makes my heart ache every time i think about how truly amazingly extraordinary Rammstein is and how it will never be truly appreciated by its home country, frankly it's disgusting

Hi 👋

I think here we need to make a small but significant distinction between the press and the general public. The traditional press in Germany mostly never really liked Rammstein, if we exclude the music press which has always shown considerable interest in the band. Even though there have been newspapers and such that were neutral/interested towards the band, there has always been criticism and mistrust towards them, to the extent that things were deliberately misunderstood — Richard once said that it is generally just exhausting to always have to justify oneself. He also offered a possible explanation for why they simply don't come across well with the press (from an interview in 2010):

"We are choosing certain things, we always had a dark side and we are interested in certain things. I guess that’s why people think we are controversial.

When we first started in our own country, we got blamed for being sympathizers of right wing direction. That hurt a lot because deep down we are a band, and if you are going to put us in a direction, we are liberal. There was lots of misunderstanding especially with the German generation at this time. It has changed a lot in the last six to eight years, but coming from German history, there’s always a lot of guilt. There’s certain kind of jokes you just can’t laugh at. Also, it comes from education, and there are certain things you shouldn’t do as a German. And we’ve overstepped some boundaries. I was never aware of things where I was hurting anyone.

We do believe if you want to make true art, you have to follow your instinct. Everyone in the band has morality, and there are certain things we’d never do. But Germany is still wounded by its own history. That’s why there was some kind of misunderstanding." (source)

It was also very telling that the "Deutschland" music video was quickly misunderstood in Germany itself, while press outlets and journalists in other countries understood the message behind it and the lyrics. It almost seems sometimes as if the press doesn't even want to give the band a chance. And that certainly hasn't improved since last year.

As far as I can tell, the general public has varied views on Rammstein. Many aren't really interested in the band and are indifferent or mildly sympathetic; some are fans or simply like the music (the German concerts are almost sold out again this year), and since last year there has been an increasing number of rather militant groups that would love to see the band in the pillory and won't relent.

Everyone should decide for themselves how they want to deal with the band. The most important thing, I think, is that we fans in Germany stick together and support the band, simple as that 🤲🏼💗

[allora1233]

𝕁𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕪: ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕛𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕩 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

𝔽𝕝𝕦𝕗𝕗

ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕛𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕐/ℕ 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕦𝕪𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥.

Word Count: 2.4k

"Come oooon Y/n, it'll be fun! Just a small hang out sesh. No cameras, none of that. All the guys will be there. I promise you're gonna love it!" 

You sighed softly, pinching the bridge of your nose as you listened to probably the 5th plea today from your boyfriend, Kim Namjoon. The two of you have been dating for about 5 months now, but since he was in such a popular music group, you two decided to keep your relationship a secret. You never told anyone, even the friends he was in the band with, and you were honestly okay with keeping it that way for a little while longer. However, Namjoon couldn't be more of the opposite.

Namjoon cherishes his friends almost as much as he cherishes you. He is very proud of what they've become since they first got together. They are basically his second family. It would be an absolute dream for him to see his best friends and the love of his life meet each other and get along. Not to mention that he takes great pride in you and would show you off to the entire world if he could. You know this almost as much as he does.

Truthfully, the problem for you wasn't that you wouldn't like them or a fear of getting found out. Namjoon has already told you plenty of stories about them, and the videos they post online of their daily life pretty much confirm that you'd love to hang out with them. You were more afraid of the possibility that the others wouldn't like you. You've heard all about the infamous "V Test" and you had a strong feeling you wouldn't pass that, or the other guys' judgment tests for that matter.

"Joon, please. I'm really not sure if I want the others to know I'm your significant other yet. I know how much they mean to you, and I don't want to intrude... especially if they don't approve of me. Besides, what if someone outside of them sees us? As much as I love your fans, you know how some of them can get. I don't want to put either of us, or the guys, in that kind of situation..."

Your boyfriend was quick to silence your concerns with his reassurance. "I understand baby, I really do, but no one will know. I promise I'll do everything in my power to make sure no one recognizes either of us before we get there. I know plenty of tricks to get us there safely. Furthermore, I'm not asking you to tell the guys who you are to me. We can just say we're friends. But I really just want you to meet them at least. They're really cool and they'll love you, trust me."

Namjoon gently takes your hand in his, lifting it up to press soft kisses to your knuckles. You couldn't help but melt a little at his tender touch. He looks back up at you and smiles. "At least think about it, okay? If you still don't want to when I leave tomorrow then I'll drop it." Even though you knew it would mean the world to him if you tagged along, you were still very grateful that he was also willing to wait until you were ready. You nod, returning the smile. "I will. Thank you."

And indeed you did. It kept you up a little later than you usually would stay up, outweighing the pros and cons of finally going out and introducing yourself to Namjoon's friends. After a long night, you turn over and cuddle close to the already asleep popstar, finally finding yourself drifting off to sleep content with your decision.

- - -

"I'll go."

The way Namjoon's face lights up at your words makes you feel even more sure of your decision. You'd have to meet his friends eventually, right? So just go for it. Besides, as long as you were with him, you knew everything would be okay.

Your boyfriend wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you in a tight hug from behind as you finish making your breakfast. "Thank you baby. I promise you won't regret this. But if you do ever want to go home, just tell me and I'll take you back, okay?" You nod as he pecks a few chaste kisses against your cheek, which elicits a giggle out of you. After the two of you finished your breakfast and got dressed for the day, you both head out to a studio where you were meeting today. Apparently it belonged to one of his friends, Yoongi if you remember right.

You were a little nervous, and even though Namjoon texted the guys ahead of time and told them he'd bring a guest with him, you couldn't help but gently squeeze his hand anxiously. He looks down at you and offers you a gentle smile, one that helps you ground yourself before you spiral down a path of anxiety. It doesn't take much longer before the two of you are standing in the building of the studio.

After going up a level of stairs and down a hallway, you find yourself in front of a door. "Min Yoongi" was on a plaque that hung on the door. You turn to Namjoon, who looks around the hallway to make sure the coast is clear before giving you a quick, reassuring kiss. It definitely helps. After taking one deep breath, you open the door and walk in.

- - -

Out of everyone you met, the one person you definitely hit it off with was Jin. The two of you had been talking since the moment you walked in. Admittedly, it was partially due to the fact that during your viewings of the Run BTS episodes, you knew for a fact that you wanted to talk to Jin. The way he tries to keep respect because he's the oldest while also being one of the most childish people in the group was absolutely adorable and hilarious. Which, in its own way, is funny considering how much of a parental figure he really is to the rest of them, especially the three youngest. And it really seemed like he enjoyed your company too. Not like everyone else didn't, in fact, they were all really sweet and funny guys.

It has been a couple hours now since you arrived. You and Jin were practically attached at the hip, joking about anything with the others, making fun of the guys when they do something stupid, and just generally having a good time. It was such a relief that they made you feel comfortable. It didn’t feel like you had hijacked their group and added yourself in; you are a part of the group now. And Jin was especially accommodating.

After a while of hanging, you were getting a little hungry. Jin notices you staring at the empty candy bowl on the table for just a little bit too long. “You alright? Do you need anything to eat?” You look up at him and smile. “Oh, yeah. That would be nice. Thank you.” Jin smiles and gets up to grab you some snacks. In that moment by yourself, you decide to check up on your boyfriend. You didn't mean to go this long without saying something to him, but things just turned out that way. As you looked over to him, you noticed that he looked a little off. Namjoon was slightly slouched in his chair, arms folded over his chest as he listened in on Yoongi and Jimin's conversation, the corners of his pretty lips turned down into a frown.

Before you could catch his attention and ask him if he was alright, Jin came back from the kitchen with a nice assortment of snacks, sitting back down next to you. “Thanks, Jin.” You reach out to the table and grab one of the snack bars. Jin nods as he leans back on the couch. "So, how long have you and Joon known each other? We usually know most of the other guy's outside friends and we've never heard from you before."

"Yeah, well we only met a couple months ago. I guess that it just never came up. But he invited me to come out here today, and I'm very thankful that you guys have seemed to accept me into your group." Jin smiles and runs a hand through his hair, fixing the stray strands. "You're a really amazing person Y/n, of course we'd let you hang out! I'm glad he brought you. It's no wonder you and Namjoon became friends. Hopefully we can all get to know you as well as he does." You couldn't help but laugh a little under your breath, knowing no one was gonna know you as well as Namjoon does. "I'm glad you feel that way. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with you guys more, if that's okay." 

"Of course that's okay! I love having you around, and I'm sure the others do too. You make a very nice addition to our little group. Your personality really lights up the room and you're nice to talk to, not to mention you're easy on the eyes." He winks. You laugh, pushing Jin's shoulder who simply laughs along with you.

"Dork! Flattery will get you nowhere. Not that I don't appreciate it." Jin shrugs, a knowing smirk on his lips. A loud groan grabs the attention of both of you, looking up at a clearly amused Jimin. "Get a room! Some of us want to talk in peace." He jokes as he shoves Jin to you, causing him to lose his balance and land with his head on your lap. More laughter erupts from the two of you as you roll your eyes and turn your head away from the others.

It was only at that moment that you actually got to steal a glance at Namjoon again. It didn't take a genius to realize that he wasn’t happy, except, you have never seen that kind of expression on his face before. You could see him biting the inside of his cheek and the line forming between his furrowed brows. He looks... bitter? No, no it's not that. More like he’s spiteful about something. Like he's trying to bite his tongue and keep himself composed, but the way he keeps clenching and relaxing his fists clearly shows otherwise.

He sees you looking at him, obviously confused by his demeanor, and simply rolls his eyes. He stands up and calmly walks out of the room. Honestly, that hurt you a little bit. He's never acted like this before, especially not towards you. You look around at the others, but no one seems to have noticed Namjoon’s exit nor how upset he seems to be. Without thinking, you gently lift Jin's head from your lap and get up off the couch to follow Namjoon outside the room, granting you some eyebrow raise from the others, especially Jin.

You walk out into the hallway, looking around before noticing your boyfriend leaning against the wall around the corner, back facing towards you. Cautiously, you walk up to him, keeping your voice quiet so as to not startle him. "Joon..? Hey, what's wrong? Why'd you leave-" Before you could finish your sentence, Namjoon turns around and quickly pulls you into a deep kiss. You squeak, not quite expecting the sudden affection. Before you could do anything in response, he pulled away, resting his forehead against your shoulder.

"Sorry, I just really needed that right now." You wrap your arms around him, gently playing with his hair. "Hey, it's okay honey. I’m just worried about you... Can you tell me what you're so upset about?" Your boyfriend looks up at you dumbfounded. "You really don't know...? You didn't see it?" You shake your head, brows furrowed in confusion. Namjoon shakes his head and lets out a breathy laugh, almost like he was relieved. "Jin's been flirting with you all day." It takes you a second to process what he said before you feel your face heat up in realization.

"What..? No, no he was just being nice. I just thought he was like that with everyone... Are you sure?" Namjoon laughs again before gently kissing your forehead. "Yes baby, I'm positive. Everyone saw it." You bury your face in your boyfriend's chest, hiding your shame. The fact that all of it went over your head made you feel like an idiot. "Oh my God, I'm so fucking stupid..."

"No, no you're not. And actually, I'm glad you didn't notice. It makes me feel a bit better." Now it was your turn to look up at him bewildered. "Why would that make you feel better?" 

"Uh... I may or may not have gotten a little jealous of you two." As soon as he says that, all the little dots slowly start connecting in your mind. "Really?" Namjoon sighs softly and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, and I really started to get frustrated at everything and myself. I didn't know I could feel that way, but I guess I'm just a protective person. Especially when it comes to you, baby. I'll do absolutely anything for you and to make you happy and keep you close to me." You couldn't help but smile at that last part. "And I was also mad at myself because I knew it wasn't yours or Jin's fault. It's not like we told anyone about us so I can't blame him for hitting on you, I'd do the same if we weren't already together. And I know you’d never do something like that to me. I just didn't like feeling angry at one of my best friends... I'm sorry. I was the one who said everything would be okay and now I'm messing things up."

You smile, gently wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him down for another soft kiss to let him know that everything was okay now. "So, that's why you were upset when you left, hmm?" Namjoon looks up at you and nods. "And is that why you kissed me like that when I followed you out here?" You tease, finding the whole situation quite amusing. He nods again, this time a little more sheepishly.

You coo at your boyfriend's embarrassment, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "You’re too cute. If you wanted a moment all to ourselves, you could have just asked honey.~" You wink, very satisfied with the flustered reaction you got. It wasn't hard to see the rose color that bloomed up on his cheeks, and his sudden speechlessness always made you giggle. You gently grab his hand and squeeze it, bringing him back down to Earth. "Come on, let's go back. We can't keep everyone waiting forever."

Tag list: @starstruckfangirls @parkdatjimin @twendou

Lemme know if you want to be added