#that concentration exhausts me quickly though

[freebooter4ever]

that anon was so unnecessary. a year ago you were posting about running and adventure and now you can't even walk to get groceries. why is anyone trying to discredit your problems just because other people also have problems? wtf? illness isn't a competition, that anon was so out of line and hypocritical.

honestly im just too tired to deal with anons nonsense. if a friend actually has an issue with me they need to confront me with their name attached. if anon is not a friend then i literally do not have the energy to care.

also yeah i miss running like i miss air. i did thirty minutes of light (extremely light!) cardio today in the form of dance and even that set me back all afternoon :( but its better than last week where i couldnt even do cardio for longer than three minutes - i could only move in dance ish motions and try not to lose balance and tip over.

chronic illness is hard to talk about. its legitimately scary and most people who are healthy don't want to deal with it. im talking about it on my invisible little blog on the internet just to...have some place to put my own emotions about it. i invite anyone else to do the same. on their own blog.

[servicpop]

correcting wrongs nsfw teacher ! zhongli x student brat ! bttm m reader

Clad in a brown turtleneck with an almost unamused expression on his face, your professor was nothing short of being “the best in the business.” His stoic nature paired with those strikingly sharp features made him easy on the eyes, and strangely attractive.

He wasn't soft spoken, but his words were always delivered gently, tinged with a rasp from his low speaking register. A real heartthrob of a teacher.

Though he was kind to others, you seemed to be the one thing that made him slightly annoyed. Every conversation you had with him usually ended with a pinch of his nose bridge, a sigh, and a dismiss with the wave of his hand. Your bratty attitude towards him was almost bearable until it wasn't.

In a cliché fashion, Zhongli had asked you to come to his office in the afternoon when classes finished, and you did.

“Are my teaching methods not good enough for you?” You can hear the exhaustion weigh on his words as he pushes himself off the chair to stand.

You don't respond, the words seem to dissipate in your throat the moment he begins to scold you.

“What is the issue? I'm trying to understand,” A hand grabs your shoulder, and you lift your head to glance at Zhongli's face. He wears the classic 'teacher expression,' one that oddly reminds you of a parent.

“I'm more of a hands on learner,” you shrug, and its apparent in Zhongli's face that he picks up your little tease. There's a slight confusion in his eyes before it's masked to be unreadable. A sigh leaves his lips as his hands move to cuff the edges of his sleeve up, sliding his watch off and placing it on his desk with a small thud.

“I'm willing to adjust my methods if it means you'll behave more accordingly.” He carefully grabs your wrist, guiding it towards the papers on his desk, planting your hand firmly onto the sheet. Zhongli stands behind you, his chest almost touching your back from how close he was. He lets your fingers trace the printed letters to study the content on the page, but it's all a jumble of useless words to you, especially when your attractive teacher is right behind you.

“This is boring,” you whine, trying to pull your hand from underneath Zhongli's.

“Are you having difficulty concentrating?” He asks, the velvety tone of his voice violates your ears like it's crawling through your brain. It's a tingly feeling you can't shake off.

“As if it would be that—” You're cut off by the involuntary hitch of your breath as his cold fingers grace the side of your waist. They travel down to your hips, sneaking under your pants before they retreat.

“Maybe some concentration exercises? To help you stop getting distracted.”

You swallow. Thickly. You're about to jab a snarky remark at him before you feel his hand push down the back of your head, forcing you to look down at the worksheets on his desk. His free hand wrangles his tie, pulling it off to bind your wrists together. Zhongli rests his hands on your hips as he leans into your ear, his breath hot against the shell.

“Do you want me to stop?” Zhongli's fingers rest lightly on the waistband of your pants, like he's waiting for the greenlight to pull them off. He's too patient with you—he doesn't pry at all—and when you don't give him a response he kindly removes himself from you.

“No— um,” You stumble over your words as he pulls away, unable to conjure a coherent sentence in your head to respond. It's almost like your pride is blocking your throat but you push out a few words, just so he knows.

“It's fine,” you breathe, quickly turning your head away from him to save yourself some dignity.

You don't see it, but he smiled ever so slightly, returning to his previous position. Zhongli's fingers slip down, slowly dragging the zipper lower as he watches your eyes fixate on the pages infront of you. His hands—oddly soft and warm—meets your pelvis before they slide down to the elastic of your underwear. With a small flick of his wrists, he's able to pull your boxers off and down low enough that it sits neatly at your mid thigh.

Your breath hitches and you drag your eyes away from the text and to his hands that are gently running up the sides of your thigh. He clicks his tongue disapprovingly, using his free hand to tap the sheet infront of you.

“Focus. Eyes on the paper.” His hands pull away from your body—only to unbuckle his belt, though you misinterprete his actions—and you spin your head around to question him. He's already pulled his belt off and taps your forehead with the end of it. “Needy,” he scolds.

Fabric noises fill the empty office and you see him reach over to dish a packet from his wallet—he keeps those on him at all time. You recognise the sound, the latex rolling on, the slight snap as he fixes it to be more comfortable, and the feeling of wetness against your skin.

He uses his hand to push the back of your head down once again, “Don't pay attention to what I am doing, focus on the content.” He's probably mentioned the word 'focus' five times by now.

Zhongli uses his thumb to part your flesh, giving way for him to nuzzle his head against your hole. He's exactly how you imagined him to be, except all you can really feel is the condom rather than his skin, none of his veins and all—which was, really, the more important details.

Its a slow movement as he slides himself into you, gently kneading the plush of your waist—an absent-minded habit you assume. He's not excruciatingly thick; he's rather average, but there's something about the way he could reach so deep without causing any external pain makes your knees buck just a little.

All the words and educational paragraphs all become a blur the moment he fully sheaths himself inside of you. He pauses, letting you soak in the situation before he pulls out, only just to slam himself back in. Your little gasps and moans earns another cruel thrust, forcing you to arch your back as he holds you in place.

“It's difficult, is it?” He's using that teacher tone on you, but you can tell there's a slight mock in his voice as he watches you disregard the paper, crumpling it under your hands as you grip at anything you can.

“I can always assign you easier work if that makes you feel better.” He tilts your head back, letting you see him through the corner of your eye as he continuously pounds into you, the obscene sound of skin against skin loud enough that you started to worry the janitors wold hear.

“I can do it,” you grit through your teeth despite the pants and whispers.

“I don't think you can,” he cooes, gently holding your jaw as he lets you rest your head against his palm. The only reason he's holding your head up is to ensure you don't get a headache from how hard your body is recoiling from his thrusts.

He practically drags his cock in and out of you, angling his hips in a way that would hit your prostate almost every single time. His hands were gentle on your skin, holding you like you were a porcelain doll, but his thrusts were punishing.

As your whines grew, he knew you were getting close, seeing the way your legs trembled underneath you, barely holding you up. The hand Zhongli had on your hip moves to pick up your leaking tip in his hands, smoothing his thumb over the slit. He holds it there, denying you of any release.

“Are you ready to listen in my lectures?” He hums, leaning his head down to get a good look at your face.

“No more talking back?” he adds, marvelling in the way you're eyes dip in and out of focus. You nod, unable to find your voice from how hard you were yelling while he was hitting all the right spots. He flashes a polite smile, removing his thumb from blocking your urethra and gently massaging your tip to coax out a orgasm.

It hits you like a train, sparks darting across your vision as your dick stiffens, spurting out a copious amount of white all over Zhongli's desk. You go limp in his hold, chest still heaving from the intensity of your high. It takes a few more, slow pumps before he's pulling out, taking off the used plastic and throwing it into the trash can underneath his desk.

“How was that? Did I do your 'hands on learning' correct?” He could really enchant someone with that voice.

a / n : sorry this was short T T I just needed to get something out . I literally forgot how Zhongli acted halfway through so this is probably very ooc . . .

[jenosonlywife23]

Night routine complete.

The steam from the shower still hung heavy in the bathroom as you and Jeno stepped out, the faint hum of the exhaust fan filling the space. You both moved in sync—comfy, familiar—Jeno with his towel slung low around his waist, and you with yours wrapped snugly around your chest.

“Pass me the toner,” you said casually, twisting your hair into a towel while he reached for the bottle on the counter.

Jeno handed it to you, his own hair still damp and falling messily over his forehead. “You look like a little dumpling,” he teased, flicking the end of your towel as you applied the product.

“And you look like you forgot how to dress,” you shot back, glancing pointedly at the towel barely holding on at his hips.

“Give me a break, I’m air-drying,” he said with a smug grin, leaning against the counter to watch you. His abs flexed slightly with the movement, and you rolled your eyes, pretending not to notice.

“You’re impossible,” you muttered, turning back to the mirror.

Jeno smirked, “Why? Distracted?”

You shot him a look through the mirror. “No. Just cold.”

“Uh-huh,” he teased, stepping closer until he was right behind you, his chin resting on your damp shoulder. “Then let me warm you up.”

You gasped as his arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you flush against his chest. “Jeno! Your hair is dripping on me!”

He chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to your bare shoulder before letting you go—though his hands lingered at your sides for a second too long. “Fine. But only because I don’t want you yelling at me for messing up your precious skincare routine.”

“Exactly,” you said with a satisfied grin, passing him his cleanser as you started applying yours.

Jeno groaned dramatically as he turned to the sink beside you, squeezing the product into his hands. “I don’t even know why I do this with you. I didn’t sign up for this life.”

“Yes, you did,” you quipped, watching him from the corner of your eye as he lathered his face, his brows furrowing in concentration. Somehow, he managed to make even cleansing his face look stupidly attractive.

“You make me weak, you know that?” he muttered, rinsing the foam off his face, the water dripping down his jawline in a way that made you pause mid-application.

“Don’t blame me for being irresistible,” you replied, turning back to the mirror as quickly as possible.

Jeno smirked, grabbing the toner bottle from your side of the counter. “This one’s next, right?”

“Yeah—wait, not that much!” you squeaked as he nearly poured half the bottle into his palm.

He looked down at his hands, eyes wide like a guilty puppy. “Oops?”

You sighed, taking his hands in yours and dabbing some of the excess toner onto your face. “You’re hopeless.”

Jeno grinned, letting you guide his hands to his own face next. “See? I knew you’d help me.”

It was impossible to stay annoyed when he looked at you like that—his dimpled smile softening the teasing edge in his voice. Once you finished applying moisturizer, Jeno scooped a little onto his finger and dabbed it on the tip of your nose, making you gasp.

“Lee Jeno!”

When you finished, you grabbed your clothes and padded into the bedroom, slipping into a pair of soft, loose shorts and a tank top—one that might’ve been yours but probably came from Jeno’s side of the closet.

When you emerged, Jeno had ditched the towel and thrown on his gray sweats, hanging low enough to remind you why you never let him walk around shirtless in public. He looked up from his phone, his gaze softening when he saw you.

“Cute,” he said, lips curling into a small smile as he sat back on the bed, ruffling his still-damp hair.

You climbed onto the mattress beside him, nudging him playfully. “You think everything I wear is cute.”

“That’s because it is,” he replied easily, leaning back on his elbows as he looked at you. “Especially when it’s mine.”

You snorted, tugging at the hem of the tank top. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law, babe. It’s mine now.”

Jeno grinned, shaking his head as he grabbed your waist, pulling you down beside him. The bed dipped as he tucked you into his side, his warm skin pressed against yours.

You shifted slightly, your gaze catching on the tiny mole under his eye—a feature you’d always found so endearing. Leaning in without a word, you pressed the gentlest kiss to it.

Jeno blinked, surprised, his cheeks tinting pink as he looked down at you. “What was that for?”

“Your mole,” you replied, brushing your thumb under his eye softly. “It’s cute. I had to.”

Jeno let out a soft laugh, his dimple appearing as his smile stretched wide. “You’re really something else, you know that?”

“And you love it,” you teased, resting your head on his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he murmured, pressing a quick kiss to your temple. “I really do.”

The two of you fell into a peaceful, comfortable silence—Jeno’s arm draped lazily around you, his steady breaths against your skin, and his soft smile lingering long after you’d both settled into the quiet of the night.

(requests??)

[paulyenvol6]

Relief

Daemon Targaryen x Dornish POC reader

Based on this request

(Thank you for the request and feel free to send me whatever you would like me to write :))

Contains: smut, lactation kink, breast and nipple play, kissing, giving birth, mentions of pain during child bearing, very soft and kind husband Daemon, fluff

Wordcount: ~2.27k

Masterlist

You felt a stitch in your breasts just like you had the past days but still you remained feeling ashamed and tried to ignore the pain.

As if this pregnancy wasn't already exhausting enough and now there was an additional discomfort. You crossed your legs and tried to shift your position while holding your chest in an attempt to make the ache go away but it didn't work. In fact you knew what this was about; your body produced too much milk and it made your breasts feel swollen and sore and you hated it so much that tears threatened to well in your eyes.

It was stupid, it was unfair and you just wished it would magicially vanish. This hadn't happened during your pregnancies with Maela, your eldest daughter and Daerion, your son. Not that these pregnancies hadn't had their complications but at least your breasts hadn't produced so much milk that you nearly couldn't stand straight and had to rest against the wall in order to support yourself at times.

Your mood only worsened when guards came into your chambers, which you had visited this afternoon to seek some comfortability, to tell you that the hand of the king, Lord Dylvin had some business to discuss with your husband and you. You pressed your lips tightly together but heaved yourself from the chair.

"I'll be there. Just a minute.", you told the knight and he bowed. You didn't know what it was about and in truth didn't care either. That's why you didn't even receive the each person in the group of people standing in the corridor when the guards led you to Lord Dylvin. He was surrounded by the master of coin, master of whisperers, a steward and your husband, prince Daemon.

His sight brought you so much relief but at the same time you wished you could've remained in your chambers preferrably in a bath tub. But you were here now and when Daemon spotted you he immediately walked towards you and kissed you on your forehead.

"How are you, love?", he asked gently as though he could already sense that you weren't feeling fabulous. But you were too ashamed of telling him the truth and also simply didn't want to cause any trouble so you nodded.

"I'm fine, darling. Just a little tired." He took your hand in his' and then Dylvin cleared his throat and you found out that this meeting in the midst of the corridor was about the construction and refurbishments in the keep. King Viserys had ordered to have some parts of the castle renovated and had given your husband and you the task to watch over the work of the builders. So Dylvin led you through the castle while talking about things you couldn't receive. You really had tried and concentrated on his words but the discomfort was too much. His words faded into a bubbling in the background and your eyes were on the floor trying to collect yourself.

But Daemon had already noticed that something was troubling you. "What is it, y/n? You don't seem well."

You really were on the verge of breaking down but wanted to appear strong so you shook your head. "I'm well, really."

And for the next few minutes it seemed to you that Daemon believed you until suddenly when the group passed the small council chamber he gently pulled you with him and into the room. You gasped for air in surprise and confusedly looked to the door but were distracted quickly when your husband came close to you.

"I know that something is bothering you, sweet love.", he started. "Please, tell me how I can make it better."

"You can't make it better.", you insisted with a weak voice.

"What is it then?", Daemon said, softly caressing the side of your arms.

"It's hurting.", you whispered, because you knew that Daemon was so caring and protective over you that you actually shouldn't feel embarrassed telling him. He ran his hands soothingly over your shoulders and lowered his head so he could look in your eyes.

"What is hurting?", he asked softly.

"My breasts.", you said with teary eyes and pouted at him. "I think they're producing too much milk and so they're all swollen and aching and I feel like I can't do anything all day because it's always distracting me." Daemon pulled your head towards him and kissed your head.

"I'm so sorry, my love.", he whispered and your hands clung to his tunic. "I'm sorry, is there anything I can do?"

"No…", you said but your husband was determined to make you feel better so he held your face in his hands and ran his thumb over your cheek.

"Show me.", he whispered and you widened your eyes. "What?"

He smiled and looked down your body. "Please show me, sweetling. I want to help you."

You were suspicious and felt odd but did as he had told you so you removed one layer by one until your upper body was bare in front of him. His eyes ran over your figure and your swollen breasts and you nervously breathed. You knew Daemon for such a long time now that you were way beyond feeling embarrassed of being bare in front of him and yet you felt nervous with your aching breasts. But Daemon just reached out to you and caressed your waist.

"May I?", he asked looking to your chest. You were confused but even more curious so you nodded. His hands wandered up and he started to massage your breasts which made you sigh. It felt so good to have him distract you from the pain and though he couldn't make the swell disappear it felt so much better. Daemon was content with the look on your face and the way your eyes closed and smirked down at you.

His hands cupped and kneaded your breasts and you thought about if your husband could just do this for the rest of your pregnancy when he stopped and lowered his head. You wanted to stop and ask him what he was doing but something inside of you told you not to and because you trusted Daemon more than anyone else in the world you let him do what it was he was doing and felt him wrap his mouth around your left nipple. He had done this a million times already of course, almost every time when you had laid and created your children but this time it felt as though he had a purpose. His lips sucked at your nipple while his hand soothingly massaged your right breast.

Everything felt good to you and you wanted him to continue so you held on to his head as you felt him suck the milk that left your nipples. It brought you great relief and you felt your breath go slower than it had ever gone those past days.

"That's so good, Daemon.", you breathed and he licked and toyed with your nipple.

"I know, love. It's gonna feel so much better once I'm done with you."

You unconsciously smiled and dreamily watched his head as he was so determined to make you feel better and free you from the discomfort.

"You're so pretty, darling. Such pretty and sweet breasts. And the way you look pregnant with my child, it's making me go feral."

You quietly moaned as your left breast started to feel so much better and you were beyond relieved. As Daemon noticed it his mouth wandered to your right nipple and he repeated his technique.

"Seven hells, I can't believe the gods created something as beautiful as you and your pretty tits for me.", he moaned and roughly, but not so roughly that it would feel uncomfortable, kneaded your left breast.

You exhaled loudly and felt your milk spill and then being sucked up by your husband. It was odd, obscene perhaps, strange and new but you felt each and ever of your worries drop with Daemon's mouth on your tits and with him making the ache vanish.

"Yes Daemon.", you whined and wanted to let your eyes roll back. Your nipples felt vulnerable and sensitive so his swift tongue made them tingle with desire and then, you had lost your sense of time, he let go of your breasts and left you panting heavily and free of that uncomfortable feeling of your tits feeling too full. He crookedly smirked at you and you sighed feeling light.

"Thank you, husband.", you breathed and Daemon embraced you in a soft hug.

"No need to thank me, dear.", he whispered against your hair and his hand stroke your back.

"It's so much better.", you said quietly.

"From now on,", he then started and pulled you slightly away so you looked at him. "Every time your breasts feels swollen you'll come to me and I'll make you feel better."

Your heart fluttered and your knees felt wobbly and you felt like the young girl again who had laid her eyes on the rogue prince for the first time. You had been flushed, unable to speak an intelligent sentence, so taken had you been from his appearance.

"Thank you.", you breathed and he took your hand in his'.

"You're carrying my child, sweet love. That's the least I can do."

And then the two of you smiled at each other. The way a love couple did when they were in love and nothing in the world existed but the two of them. Daemon's hand reached down to caress your belly that was quite swollen by now and he lovingly watched the bump.

"I love you, y/n.", he spoke and in this moment you forgot why you had felt sad an hour ago. Tears welled up in your eyes, but this time from happiness rather than pain.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next months passed as they passed for a woman like you, pregnant with her third child. Or so you had thought because this pregnancy wasn't like the ones before but at this point you didn't know yet. Moons came and went and your belly grew bigger and bigger. As he had been with your first and second child, Daemon was at your side every moment looking out for you and caring only about your well – being and that of your children Maela and Daerion.

He joined you for baths, massaged your sore skin, dried your hair with towels, combed and oiled your hair, helped you get up from your chair as the pregnancy progressed and held you when you woke in the middle of the night because you felt sick. And as he had promised you, every time you felt that your breasts were filled with too much milk he put his mouth on your sensitive nipples and sucked at them in order to relieve you from the soreness. He would lick up the liquid, massage your breasts and afterwards you felt newborn.

And then you finally gave birth to your child with Daemon sitting by your bed and holding your hand while you pushed, pressed, screamed and cried. It was painful and exhausting just like you had already experienced it with the birth of your first two children but this time it was different. You had laid in your bed feeling tired but not the way you had before and then there was the maester's shout. "There is another!"

And you had gone through it again, pushed and pressed and then there was a second child. Twins, two little girls with the one crying and screaming while the other laid calmly in the maester's arms. Tears fell down your face as well but now it wasn't from the pain anymore but from feeling relieved and happy that you had just carried two healthy babes out in the world.

You were flooded with love and joy and Daemon's hand still enclosed yours as you ordered the maester to bring your children to you. And so he did after he had cleaned them. He placed the two small human beings on your breasts and your body trembled with this overwhelming feeling of love and relief. Daemon caressed the cheek of one of his daughters while you held the other.

"What should we call them?", you breathed while tears filled your eyes.

"I would like to call her Alyssa. After my mother.", Daemon whispered as he watched his child's small mouth that opened now and then to let out little noises.

You nodded. "Then she shall be named after my dear mother. Sheran." Your husband nodded as well and you even saw a tear rolling down his cheek while looking at his daughters.

"They are beautiful.", he breathed. "Like their mother."

You held your daughters carefully as if you were scared they could break. Another wave of tears flooded over you and Daemon soothingly ran his hand over your trembling shoulders.

"I love you, y/n. You are… amazing."

"I love you too.", you whispered and couldn't take your eyes off the delicate sweet creatures in your arms.

"Do you think Maela and Daerion will be happy?", you giggled and your husband scoffed. "It most definitely is unexpected. We were making them adjust to the thought of having one more sibling, but two? But I don't think there is a chance they can not love them."

You agreed and then the maester came back, who had previously left the room to give the two of you some privacy. Now he approached you as well to take a look at the twins, who contendly rested on your chest.

"Beautiful girls, my princess. They are strong, very strong."

Daemon smirked. "I should hope so. They're the blood of the dornish."

[moonstruckme]

hey if you don’t mind, I’ve been struggling with a lot of anxiety and it makes my chest hurt a bunch so maybe you could rwrite something like that with anyone you’d like, ofc if you’d rather not that’s totally.

have a wonderful day dearie

Thanks for requesting baby, I'm really sorry you're dealing with that! I hope maybe you're feeling a bit better by now.

cw: anxiety, chest pain

doctor!Remus x fem!reader ♡ 1.1k words

Remus knows you mainly watch this show because he likes it, and yet he’s dozing off. After a long shift at the hospital, the clashing of swords sounds about as lulling as a thunderstorm outside the bedroom window to his tired ears, and his head slowly slumps backwards against the couch cushion. When snuggle closer to his side, head needling its way almost into his armpit, he thinks you’re trying to get him to wake up. 

“Sorry.” His voice comes out raspy, drowsiness clinging to his vocal chords like a paste. 

You pull away, looking up at him. “Oh no,” you murmur, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” 

The guilt in your voice has him responding instinctively, “It’s okay.” Remus drapes an arm across your shoulders, encouraging you back to where you were. “I was only resting my eyes.” It’s a flimsy excuse and you both know it, so he moves on quickly. “What’s up, hm?” 

“I was wondering if I could have a hug,” you say quietly, tentatively, your eyes not quite on his, “if that’s okay.” 

Remus checks himself before he can look too surprised. “Of course it’s okay,” he says, tightening his grip on you. 

Granted permission, you go all out. You turn your body into his, both arms wrapping tight around his midsection and face burrowing in the soft material of his sweater. Remus adjusts his hold to get a better grip on you. He brings his other hand to your head, cupping the back firmly. 

Asking for affection like this, so explicitly, is unexpected from you. It makes Remus feel like he’s just had a cup of tea, spreading warmth through his insides and leaving a pleasant aftertaste on his tongue. You hate to need him, but he loves to let you. He’ll take any chance to take care of you. He likes to think a secretive little part of you likes to be cared for, too. 

The exhaustion in his bones melts into something heavy and fond as he pets the back of your head. “Everything alright, sweetheart?” 

You hum into his armpit. “Just felt like I needed this, for some reason.” 

“Any reason’s good enough for me,” Remus half-jokes, dropping a kiss onto the crown of your head. “Did you have a long day, too?” 

“Not really.” Your voice dips into a lower register, disgruntled and bemused. You turn your face up so you can see him but don’t pull away, scooting closer to tighten your hold. “Nothing’s happened, I just feel a bit off, I guess. My chest hasn’t stopped hurting all afternoon.” 

He can see the regret in your expression when his eyebrows go up, and Remus laughs. 

“Oi, what’s that look about?” 

“I’m not trying to put you on the clock.” 

“No,” he says, smiling as he kisses your hairline, “You’re not, honey.” But he does reach for the remote, pausing the TV and silencing your background noise. 

Your eyes narrow. “You’ve got that serious look, though.” 

“That’s just my face, I can’t really help it.” Admittedly, chest pain worries him. Remus is prone to worrying about anything that ails you; it's where his job and his boyfriend duties collide. Still, he doubts you’ve been having a heart attack for the entire afternoon, so he’s not going to frighten you by telling you about the vast number of things chest pain can point to. “Where does it hurt? Can you show me?” 

You sigh and lean back, putting space between your chest and Remus’ side. “Sort of here,” you say, flattening your palm over your sternum. 

“Is it a concentrated pain,” he asks, “or more of an ache?” 

“More like an ache,” you admit. “It’s sort of, like, burning? But that sounds more dramatic than it really is.” 

He ignores the last part of your statement, setting his hand on your chest and pushing down gently. “Does that make it worse?” 

You shake your head, and Remus hums. You haven’t been coughing; he would have noticed. He works two fingers under your jaw. 

“What else feels weird, sweetheart?” 

“I’m not sure,” you tell him, starting to sound a bit raw. “I just feel…not right, you know? Is that bad?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” he says, letting his fingers drop from your pulse point. ”I think you’re mostly okay.” He uses both hands to pull you into his lap. “C’mere, baby dove.” 

You seem far from unhappy at being moved, pushing your face into Remus’ neck and letting him rest his chin atop your head. “What?” you ask. 

“Did you have coffee this afternoon?” 

“Yeah.” You sound cautious. “Why?” 

“And did you eat before?” 

“Remus.” Your warning tone is undercut by unease. 

He kisses your head in apology. “I think your chest hurts because you’re anxious, honey,” he says. “The caffeine probably made it worse.” 

You go quiet for a minute. Remus rubs your back, sorry for the invisibility of your hurt but relieved that its cause isn’t something more sinister. When you pull away, you’re frowning. 

“I don’t think it’s that,” you say. “It’s never felt like this before.” 

Remus feels his mouth slant in sympathy. “I think coffee without eating is already a bad idea, but then if you got anxious and we started watching a stressful show,” he tries to convey some apology in his expression, “it might have made your nerves feel worse than you’re used to.” 

“I think I’m only nervous because my chest hurts.” You blow out a breath. “It’s kind of a chicken and egg thing, yeah?” 

Remus hums, running his hand up the length of your spine. He can feel your heart beating beneath his palm. “Humor me for a minute?” 

You sigh again. It looks strenuous. “Sure.” 

“Breathe with me,” he instructs, folding you back towards his front. You go willingly, though you seem tenser now than before, your hands nearly rigid on his back. “In for eight.” 

He listens to be sure you’re doing it with him, feeling your chest expand against his own. He lets his palm lie still beneath your shoulder blades, sneaking a gauge of your heart rate. 

“Hold for eight.” 

Remus feels your nose press into his collar. He turns his lips into your forehead, holding his lungs at their full capacity and knowing that if it’s difficult for him, it has to be considerably worse for you. 

By the time you’re finished breathing out it's a relief for you both, and you turn your face up to his with a bit less skepticism. 

“That was hard,” you admit. 

Remus bites back an I-told-you-so, but he knows his smile must say enough of it when you roll your eyes good-naturedly. 

“Why don’t I change it to something a bit lighter,” he says, nodding towards the TV. “We can do more breathing during the commercial breaks, yeah?” 

You appear to consider this. “And we can keep cuddling?” 

Remus’ chuckle lures a smile out of you. He’s exceedingly gratified to see it. “That was never up for debate.” 

[clawsdevour]

almost home

wc: 2.7k content warning: smut, car sex, established relationship, slight hand kink, fingering, creampie, mention of cock warming, not proofread, one-shot, multi-fandom x reader, shitty writing

₊˚ʚ ᗢ

Watching your husband hand over the bill to the waitress, you both stand up, about to leave the restaurant. You’re taking your handbag while he grabs his coat. It’s been a while since you had a regular dinner date with him. You walk out happy, clutching your purse in one hand and your other linked around his. The smell of his musky deep cologne wafting off into your direction. You ate, talked and laughed, and did everything a regular couple would do on a dinner date. You weren’t complaining though, the date was perfect, but it felt like it was missing something. 

He opens the door to your side of the car for you and watches you get fully seated. The smell of leather as it sticks to your thighs was always a welcoming scent. Shutting your car door, he quickly jogs over to his side and gets in, hearing a click of the door closing. Locking the doors and starting the engine, he takes a peek at you.

“You know, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you today. You’re just so gorgeous, all dressed up for me,” reaching for your hand, planting a kiss on the ring he proposed to you with. His gaze pierced you with his love and warmth, his gentle soft kiss planted on the surface of your hand.

“Haha, I love you. But, you’re gonna have to keep your eyes on the road.” He’s so silly you thought to yourself. He also really knew how to whoo you over with his words and sweet acts of love. You turn your head back to the front and hear him let out a low chuckle, causing you to grin.

He’s looking back to reverse out of the parking spot. His right hand is on the back of your seat, closing the gap between you. His face is a few inches away from yours looking behind, concentrated on keeping this ride home safe. You gulp, feeling the tension rise in the two seater. Placing the car into drive, he turns out and leaves the parking lot. You love the way he drives, it’s always a smooth and pleasant ride. The way he steers the wheel is always so attractive and satisfying. Palming the large wheel with his skinny long hands, releasing it smoothly to return back to its original state. You could watch him go on and on just driving around. 

“What do you wanna do when we get home baby?” Eyes focused on his hands whilst his are on the road, you snap back to your consciousness. Looking at his face that was beautifully illuminated by the light casted down by the moon. Wow, he’s so handsome you thought to yourself.

“Mmm.. I don’t know. I think I’m just gonna take off my makeup, shower, brush my teeth.. and get in bed with you.. And sleep till dawn in your arms.” that was all you could probably come up with. It was reasonable at best since it’s already pretty late. You bite down on your lower lip as he quickly looks at you from his peripheral vision.

“You don’t wanna watch a movie or anything before sleeping? I think we have time to squeeze in a short movie before snoozing,” You shook your head No. Thinking about what dress to wear and what to do with your hair for the date earlier made you exhausted. Thinking about doing anything else besides sleeping and being with your husband exhausted you. You just wanted to be in your fluffy fresh sheets in your husband’s warm embrace. 

At the red light, he looks at you with stern, but loving eyes. Placing his large hand over your thigh, you look back at him with your mouth parted. Scanning the traffic lights for time, he leans in, kissing your juicy glossed lips. You could feel yourself getting stimulated when he started to slowly stroke your thigh up and down gently, tracing circles onto your skin with his thumb. You squeeze your legs together, slightly trying to resist rubbing them or he’ll know what you truly desired that night. Looking back, the light’s green and you parted away from the kiss first.

“Mm.. The light’s green by the way!” Playfully you alert him to start pressing the excelerator to not cause traffic for other cars. His eyes filled with sin and lust, turning his head back and pressing on the pedal.

“Oh, right.” You can’t help but giggle as he paused for a moment. His hand was still on your thigh until he started to speed up, placing both hands on the wheel for more control. You knew what you were getting into, as he switched lanes trying to get home as quick as possible. He snuck in peeks through the mirror to glance at you, looking at your beautiful face that shined in the moonlight. Sometimes his glances looked down to see your exposed plush thighs. Almost home, he speeds up even more, surpassing the speed limit. Looking at the steering wheel, you notice something that’s staring back at you from behind the pivot.

He had a painful erection making itself known through his pants. All you could think about is how he’s racing home because of you. The thought of you in his arms right now, intoxicated his mind. You too were heavily aroused by just sharing a kiss at the red light. Not to mention, having his hand that did more than brush against your thigh as you tried not to rub them together.

Pulling into your driveway he parks and unbuckles his seatbelt. You do the same but before you could reach for the door handle, he grasps your chin and tilts you in his direction.

“I’ve been feeling so hard throughout the whole day because of you. Look how big it’s gotten just looking at you. You had me so excited throughout the whole date it was hard to cover up whenever people walked by our table. Ha.. even the scent of your perfume and glossed lips is driving me crazy. I love you so much you know that?” He’s smirking face to face with you. His heated touch still on your chin, caressing the side of your face. Exchanging a look back at him seductively, you bite on your lower lip. He too drove you crazy. 

“Then show me how much you love me.” Placing a finger on his lip, rubbing it signaling him to kiss you. He obliged and went in for a kiss which turned sloppy when his tongue was able to slip into your mouth, causing you to let out a silent whimper. 

Your tongue fought against his and collided, creating wet audible noises that were amplified in your two person convertible. Both his hands were off the wheel and moved towards your body. You sucked on his tongue to tease him, making him moan in your intimate kiss. You kissed for another good minute turning your face a flush red, until you pulled yourself off his now swollen lips, a strand of salvia connecting you both. 

You slightly get up from the passenger seat and hold onto his broad shoulders helping you stabilize yourself. He’s staring you down as you put your right leg over the console, then the left into the driver’s seat. Just slightly hovering adove him you sat on his thighs, grinding yourself on his hard clothed boner. His hands are holding your hips as you grind together, letting out subtle moans of relief. You took this time to unclasp a few of his buttons, letting his defined collarbone and chest breathe.

Peppering his face with kisses, you slowly sink down. Kissing his neck with your hot breath that tickled his soft skin, he watches you plant each kiss with his needy gaze. At his collarbone, you leave him your marks while moving down his muscular, toned chest. You watched his every reaction for each kiss you planted and each mark you made with hungry eyes shooting back at him. While you were at it, his hands had another thing in mind.

His hands moved down from your hip to under your dress. He’s fondling your ass, making you grind even harder on his cock. His hands start to linger around your warm sensitive area. He feels how wet you are by pressing his finger against the little valley of your panties, which was created due to the thin fabric separating his bare fingers from your raw pussy. You jolted when you realized he’s made his own way down there, but you continued your business while staring at him. Pressing your damp pussy on his fingers, wiggling your ass on his two slim digits on the right parts. You breathed out moans that made you pause between each kiss

His grip moved your panties to the side, giving him half of your exposed pussy to play with. While he holds your moist underwear on the side with his left hand, his right hand travels down to toy with your slick cunt. Feeling the wetness your arousal produced all over his fingers, he’s trying to prob around for your entrance. Upon finding your entry, he sticks his two fingers in at the same time. Inside your pussy, his fingers were getting sucked tightly by your gummy walls, moving at a consistent pace until he found your sweet spot. You’re squirming in his lap with your arms around his neck, your head tilted down as if you’ve surrendered yourself helplessly to him. 

Your moans and whining grew louder as well as the squelching noises your pussy created by his long fingers. He was curling and scissoring knuckle deep inside you. Poking at your sweet spot multiple times, you felt as though you were already halfway to an orgasm. You take your right hand down from around his neck and move it under your dress. Trying to find your clit, you accidentally touched his hand causing him to flinch inside you. Fighting back a whimper, you start to rub your moist swollen clit.

“You look so pretty touching yourself, knowing that my fingers are knuckle deep inside that pussy of yours.” His low voice howled in dark manner. He was snickering at you, what a tease he was. You still wanted his cock inside you though, and tried to quickly orgasm rubbing your clit faster. To which you were lucky and felt that shock similar to lightning racing through your body as your back arched, letting you release on his fingers. Wailing on top of him, you felt his cock grow harder beneath you. Trying to regain your composure, you move back a little. Giving him some space to unzip his pants and unleash his erection. 

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I’ll touch you in places that only I know.” Your mouth started salivating when his cock popped out of that god forbid cage, that you call slacks. You secure yourself on his shoulders once more, he’s holding you up by your plush curves. His right hand jerked his cock up and down, showing you his full size that was about to be inside you. He’s groaning getting it off under you, and your patients grew thin. Shooting him a pout while holding up your dress to expose your soaked underwear that was only covering one of your flaps, he got the idea you wanted to take him right now.

Again, using his nondominant hand to pull your panties to the side before lining himself up at your entrance. His cock stroked your swollen slit, collecting your juices before entering. You take in his cock, slowly almost like you're sitting down on his dick. Feeling him expand inside you as you had his full length in, you had to sit for a moment to let you adjust to his cock. Gradually you start to rise up, but before you could fully stand tall, his right hand that’s on your hip shoves you back down. You loudly cry out a screech of pleasure as he starts moving you with his metal grip. His other hand still has a firm grasp on your panties, pulling them to the side to not intervene with your love making.

“Ngh..! I've been waiting for this.. all day. I missed y-your cock so much!” You confessed while bouncing on his tasty cock, clamping it with your tight walls. He lets out a huff as if blowing off all his steam. At this point he started to thrust back into you as you rushed up and down, creating a frothy white ring to appear around the base of his cock. 

“You’re doing so good, baby. Keep going, hngh.. just like that,” holding back on his moans, he continued thrusting upwards even deeper into you, just enough to kiss your cervix with his tip. It was getting real hot and suffocating in the car as your windows fogged up. You take your hands off his strong shoulders and start to drop the straps of your dress down. The straps brushing off your arms and next came your bra straps which also fall to the sides. The front of your dress flopped down, revealing your bare breasts and your perky nipples that stared back at him.

“Fuck.. why didn’t you take down the t-top of your dress sooner.. watching them both jiggle while you bounce on my cock is so fucking hot sweetheart..” You ignore his words and continue pleasuring yourself on his dick, returning your hands back to his toned chest. Your face became even more lewd, hearing the car creak as you continued to recoil on his cock. The windows were starting to fog up even more against the cool air on the other side of the window, creating small droplets to form. 

“…Feel so good. I love you. Y-Your cock feels so good!” Were the only words that came out of your swollen lips besides your loud heavy moans, produced by each twitching sensation you created when you rode on his dick. The overstimulation started to kick in when you started to cry out of pleasure. Your body was so exhausted from doing the work, nevertheless you kept going. Starting to feel that built up tension in your abdomen start to bubble up, you were about to cum. 

“I.. gonna c.. cum,” your eyes started to roll back as you started to come to a halt.  He started to pound up into you, making sure you’re able to chase that release of yours. Your body loosens up from tensing up, unleashing your orgasm was like popping a balloon. You came so hard it was as if you saw static that made your vision to fade, making you see black. 

“A-Ah shit.. I think I might too..” he muttered between thrusts. You both moan loudly together mixing up the sounds, the car starts to heat up even more similar to being inside of a steaming sauna. The movement from riding his cock shook the vehicle at an harsh pace, the clouded windows collected its water droplets that dragged down.

“In.. inside me. Cum..” You rambled at him to cum inside you, to which he couldn’t decline that offer. His seed was ready to spurt at the tip. With a few more rough grunts and poundings, his white sticky fluid sprayed into your pulsating walls. His cum coated your clenching pussy with his thick white cum. His semen slowly dripped out of your messy cunt and onto the base of his cock. He thrusts into you one last time to ensure that his cum was deep within you, to prevent the further mess his cock made inside you..

Both of you were panting heavily. His cock was still inside you, as if you were keeping it warm for him. You sat motionless from fatigue in his lap with your arms around his shoulders, head laying on his chest. He sits still, wrapping his hands on your back as if he was giving you a hug. You sit like this for a moment to catch your unsteady breaths. 

Breaking the tense silence he stutters, 

“We should probably head in.. it’s getting late.”

*.༄ GOJO SATORU, GETO SUGURU, NANAMI KENTO, FUSHIGURO MEGUMI, KAMO CHOSO, ZHONGLI, DILUC, KUROO TETSUROU, SUNA RINTARO, BOKUTO KOUTARO, AKAASHI KEIJI, IWAIZUMI HAJIME, SAKUSA KIYOOMI, MIYA TWINS, OIKAWA TOORU, HAWKS, KIRSTEIN JEAN, LEVI ACKERMAN, REINER BRAUN, ARTEM (ALL AGED UP/POST-TIME SKIP), and of course any of your favorite characters!!!

masterlist here

[etheraltides]

HOME SWEET HOME

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Rafe comes back home to his pregnant fiancée shopping

Warning(s): nothing but fluff

A/N: I’ve been away ‘cause there are a lot of things happening in my life but I’ll be back to posting more often in a moment — Make sure you drop your feedback, loves! <3

The sound of Rafe’s key sliding into the lock barely registers over the gentle hum of your favorite playlist, which is softly echoing through the house’s speakers. The scent of lavender and something sweet, your cinnamon rolls, fills the air, and you don’t look up right away as the front door creaks open.

You’re sitting cross-legged on the plush rug in the middle of the nursery, your phone propped up beside you while you scroll through a website full of impossibly adorable baby things. The glow from your screen lights up your face, and your lips are pursed in deep concentration as you contemplate which shade of sage green would suit the crib sheets better. Should you get the tiny, extremely cute cream shoes to match the baby’s jumper?

Rafe steps inside, the door clicking shut behind him, and he pauses in the entryway just long enough to take it all in. His fiancée, in a pair of ridiculously soft-looking pajama shorts and a cropped top that rides up enough to show the gentle curve of your growing belly, surrounded by tiny socks, swatches of fabric, and an open box of miniature stuffed animals.

For a moment, he forgets how exhausted he is. Work had been a marathon today with deals to close, phone calls to make, numbers to crunch. But all of that fades away as he watches you, his heart swelling in his chest until it’s almost too much to contain.

“Hey, baby,” Rafe greets, his voice low and gravelly from a long day but warm, a little teasing.

You glance up, startled, and then your expression softens into one of pure delight. “Hi, handsome. I didn’t hear you come in.”

Rafe’s lips twitch into a crooked smile as he shrugs off his jacket and tosses it onto the arm of the couch. “You were busy,” he teases, gesturing to the chaos around you. “Looks like someone went a little wild today.”

“I can explain!” you say quickly, though there’s no actual defense in your tone. You hold up your phone, turning it so he can see the screen. “They were having a sale on nursery decor, and I got carried away but can you blame me? They’re so small and adorable.”

He chuckles as he crosses the room, his footsteps slow and measured. “No judgment. You know I’m a sucker for anything that makes you happy, pretty girl.”

When he finally reaches you, he sinks down onto the couch behind you with a heavy sigh, leaning back against the cushions. The top two buttons of his shirt undone, and his hair is tousled just enough to look charmingly disheveled. You twist to look at him, your brows knitting together in concern.

“You look tired…” you say softly, setting your phone down.

Rafe waves it off with a dismissive flick of his wrist. “Long day,” he admits, his blue eyes meeting yours. “But this… this makes it all worth it.” He gestures vaguely to the room, but his gaze settles on you, lingering like he can’t get enough. “Coming home to you.”

Your cheeks warm under his scrutiny, and you shake your head with a soft laugh. “You’re such a sap.”

“For you? Always,” he quips without missing a beat.

You roll your eyes, but the smile playing on your lips betrays you. Slowly, you start to shift to your feet, but Rafe is quicker.

“Don’t,” he says, holding up a hand. “Stay there. I’ll come to you.”

He’s on the floor before you can argue, sitting cross-legged in front of you with an easy grin. His large hands reach out, brushing against the fabric of your pajama shorts before one of them settles over your bare knee. The other comes to rest gently on the curve of your belly, and his expression softens immediately.

“Hey there, little one,” Rafe murmurs, his voice dropping to a near whisper. His thumb strokes over your skin absently, as though he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. “You giving your mama a hard time today?”

Your heart melts at the sight of him like this – so completely captivated by the tiny life growing inside you. “Not really,” you reply, your voice equally soft. “Just a lot of kicking. I think someone’s going to be a soccer star.”

Rafe’s lips twitch into a smile, and he leans in closer, resting his forehead lightly against your bump. His other hand slides up to join the first, cradling your belly like it’s the most precious thing in the world.

“Hey, you,” he says again, his voice full of wonder. “It’s your dad. I hope you know how much I love you already.”

The words make your breath catch in your throat, and you reach out, threading your fingers through his hair. Rafe glances up at you briefly, his blue eyes shining with something raw and unguarded. Then he presses a soft kiss to your skin, just above your belly button.

“You’re going to be spoiled rotten, you know that?” he continues, his lips brushing against you as he speaks. “But I’ll make sure you’re tough, too. Just like your mom.”

You let out a soft laugh, and Rafe grins at the sound, lifting his head to look at you fully. “What?” he asks, feigning offense.

“Nothing,” you reply, shaking your head. “You’re just… really good at this.”

His brows knit together, his expression turning serious. “At what?”

“Loving us.” you say simply, your voice thick with emotion.

Rafe’s smile softens, and he leans up to kiss you – a slow, lingering kiss that makes your heart flutter. When he pulls back, he rests his forehead against yours, his hands never leaving your belly.

“You make it easy,” he says, his voice low and earnest. “You make everything easy.”

The two of you sit there for a while, wrapped in the kind of silence that doesn’t need to be filled. Rafe shifts after a few moments, lying back on the rug and tugging you gently so that you’re leaning against him. His arms wrap around you, his hands splayed protectively over your bump as he presses another kiss to your temple.

“I can’t wait to meet them,” he murmurs.

“Me too,” you whisper, your hand covering his.

Rafe turns his head, pressing another kiss to the side of your belly. “Until then, though,” he says, his tone teasing, “I think I’ll just keep stealing all your attention.”

You laugh, swatting at his chest lightly. “You already do.”

His grin is smug, but his eyes are soft as he looks up at you. “Good.”

[bumblesimagines]

Doomcoming

Request: Yes or No

Summary: After Flight 2525 crashes in the Canadian wilderness, (Y/N) Palmer is forced to acquaint himself with his sister's surviving teammates. He unexpectedly finds himself growing closer to their former team captain.

Pronouns: He/Him/His, M!Reader

CW/TW: Typical Yellowjackets warnings, sexual content, mentions of the roofied stew, mentions of attempted murder, the whole doomcoming episode essentially, mentions of cheating and teen pregnancy (Shauna)

divider by saradika-graphics!

~~~

There was something daunting about the wilderness around them, something that made his stomach turn with unease, and had anxiety clutching his heart so tight he feared it'd burst in his chest.

He once thought he liked the woods, thought he enjoyed the beauty of something real and raw and untouched by the hands of mankind who so often sought to destroy what they couldn't control. He thought he saw beauty in the towering trees and the natural cycle binding the forest together.

It was hard to appreciate a cage once you were locked inside it.

Even as the girls giggled and bustled around with sticks and dying leaves to decorate the clearing for their own version of homecoming, he couldn't help but fidget with the sticks and moss he'd been given to convert into whatever he liked. His lips remained twisted downward into a hard frown and his facial muscles were beginning to hurt from how long he'd kept his brows furrowed. He couldn't help it. His concentrated face had never been pretty. His mother used to say it reminded her of his grandfather, a man worn down by grief and time unable to escape his past as a soldier. She never said it kindly.

"Fuck," He hissed quietly in frustration when another twig broke between his fingers, and in one quick swoop, he shoved the pile off his lap and let them clatter onto the forest floor to be forgotten as he stood and listened to them crackle and snap underneath his dirtied sneaker. The hot flash of emotion evaporated as quickly as it'd reared its head, and his shoulders sagged with the exhaustion that followed. 

(Y/N) had never been the type to fall so easily into the jaws of anger, that was a quality he attributed to Travis or Natalie, sometimes even Taissa when things didn't go her way.

Not him, though.

He'd always been the quiet one who preferred solitary over company, the guy with few friends who spent his time listening to music on his walkman with a book in hand and a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips before and after school, the guy forced to accompany his little sister even though she was only a year younger than him and perfectly capable of standing up for herself. 

God, how he wanted a cigarette. It was a nasty habit, one he tried to quit for the sake of Van, but it was familiar and kept him busy whenever his mind wanted to run in everlasting circles.

His last pack, one he'd shoved into his bag at the very last minute before they had to leave to catch the godforsaken plane, had gone up in flames alongside his beloved walkman, a few books, and the unlucky few who hadn't escaped the ruins of the plane.

He managed to catch himself in time before he barreled into one of the girls, spitting out an apology and stepping aside to go around them before a hand firmly grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and held it in a tight fist. Almost instinctively, he jerked his arm away and frowned, the frown only deepening at the sight of Taissa staring at him with a grimace. "What?"

Her brows twitched. "Excuse me? What's with the atti-"

"I don't want to hear it, Taissa." (Y/N) gave a heavy sigh. "What do you want?"

"I.." Taissa trailed off and her typically composed mask crumbled before his very eyes.

Her cracked lips pressed into a tight, thin, almost nervous line and she tucked in her chin to look down at the objects she cradled in her free hand as if they were precious china dolls she couldn't risk damaging. His eyes dropped down to them and his brows lowered at the sight of the handmade masks from cloth and leather stitched together. 

"I know Van doesn't want to join us because she's self-conscious so I.. I made us masks to wear. Do- Do you think she'll like them?"

The tension circulating in his weary body dulled for a moment as he stared down at the masks, lovingly crafted just for his sister's sake and happiness. He and Taissa had never seen eye-to-eye, no matter how hard Van tried through various means; attending parties together, catching lunch at the local diner, dragging him to the after-parties of their games. They begrudgingly co-existed for the most part, forced to be amicable so the girl they both cared for could be content.

Taissa was too headstrong, too stubborn, and too often refused to admit her wrongdoings for his liking.. but his sister loved her and embraced all the flaws he found too irritating to deal with. She took a girl most people walked on eggshells around and loved her as if she were a rose and not a thorn.

He ran a delicate finger over the soft fabric of one of the masks and felt himself soften up at the sweetness of it all, the thought that went into it. His mouth tugged into a strained smile. He wondered if their mother hoped her little girl was being taken care of, or if she even knew what day it was without them watching over her. "Yeah, she'll love 'em." 

"Good." Taissa let out a shaky breath of relief and nodded, offering him back one of those genuine smiles she reserved for those she cared about. "I'll see you at the party?"

His smile dropped. "I guess."

If it hadn't been for his Van's insistence that he pack some nicer clothes (he barely had any, to begin with) for the awards dinner they'd never get to attend, he would've had to suffice with one of his nicer-looking flannels or jumpers; instead, he slipped on the only polo shirt he packed, some jeans, and the cleanest pair of sneakers he could find even though he knew they would be caked in dirt by the end of the evening.

His hands remained shoved in his pockets as he strolled into the clearing and took in what they'd transformed it into. It could never compare to the clean, chilly, and neatly decorated gym where all the formal school events were held, but it radiated with the love and care poured into it. It almost felt.. homey. Comfortable.

In the middle of the clearing was a small campfire surrounded by fallen logs covered in moss that acted as their tables and seating. They'd used sturdy branches embedded in the ground and covered in cloth as torches, the crackling of the flames adding to the serene atmosphere. The jugs of juice Mari had accidentally fragmented over time sat surrounded by cups and the large pot of stew waiting to be eaten.

Most, if not all of the girls wore the dresses they'd packed for the awards dinner, makeup they managed to find or salvage decorating their usually bare faces. Even Misty, who he'd only ever seen wearing mascara, had her cheeks powered pink and eyelids colored purple. They'd styled their hair with crowns made of sticks, autumn leaves, and dying flowers.

With the songs of birds and insects serving as their music, everyone began to settle down around the clearing, cradling wooden bowls of the stew or drinking every last drop of the juice poured into their cups in hopes of getting even the slightest bit drunk.

(Y/N) curled his fingers around his plastic cup and swirled the dark purple juice remaining in it, a bittersweet tart flavor dancing on his tongue but not quite filling him with the typical warmth alcohol did. He stared down at the liquid, practically willing it to become wine so he could forget about everything for just a night.

The death of Laura Lee still hung over them like a thick blanket, but in the short time he'd been around the optimistic blonde, he knew she would've preferred a celebration of life over the somberness of grief that clung heavily to those who knew her best.

His gaze raised to search for Lottie in particular and he found the raven-haired girl sitting in front of the bonfire with a blank stare that only tugged on his heartstrings, even as she offered small smiles to her friends and teammates. Nobody had been able to pull her away from the lake after the explosion for hours, and her quiet sniffling often kept him up throughout the following nights.

"Hey," A voice cooed from behind as slender fingers pressed into his lower back, nails dragging along the fabric of his forest green shirt in a teasing manner. Jackie batted her mascara-coated lashes at him and offered a coy smile when her fingers danced their way to his forearm where she casually looped her arm around his. "Havin' fun?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head, big hazel eyes peering at him with focused attention he wasn't used to getting from the friendly striker. 

"Uh-"

Her smile widened when some of the girls began to sing (or rather scream) the lyrics to Kiss from a Rose at the top of their lungs, their gleeful cackles and snickers cutting through the lyrics. They swayed and spun, twirling their dresses and somehow avoiding spilling their drinks despite the occasional stumble here and there. "We should dance." 

Before he could say anything against it, because the only woman he'd ever danced with had been his grandmother when he was seven, Jackie scooped his cup out of his hand and set it blindly aside before tugging him toward the others. Her arms circled his shoulders and she drew him close, the act foreign to him yet welcoming.

He spent his whole life fussing over Van and ensuring their mother didn't drink herself to death, taking Van to and from soccer parties or parties or secret dates, pleading with Mr. Clark to let his mother keep her job at the diner 'cause his job at the old rundown theatre wouldn't be enough for the bills; he never had enough time for the girls who showed interest, let alone entertained the idea of involving himself with someone like Jacqueline Taylor whose childhood home was practically a mansion in his eyes.

Tentatively, he placed his hands over her hips, and Jackie responded with a soft giggle, her eyes sparkling with the sunlight peeking through the trees. She looked nice, nicer than she had in the past couple of weeks, maybe the last month.

He stopped keeping track of the time that passed a while back when he found it too depressing and consuming. The leaves changing from shades of green to varying shades of orange and red, combined with the temperatures subtly dropping, told him more than enough. The world was still spinning, they were still stranded, and they were probably going to die before winter finished settling in.

"You look handsome," Jackie said softly, her hands carefully adjusting the back of his collar before she tilted her head, brows quirking with expectation he wasn't surprised to see.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and gave an amused huff. "You look pretty."

Her eyes crinkled with delight, not even pretending to act bashful, and her hands moved down, first pressing over his shoulders and then dragging over his arms until they curled around his wrists. Her teeth caught her bottom lip and she batted her lashes at him again, the tips of her ears turning a soft pink.

"You want to, uh.. go for a walk?"

Ever since Lottie discovered the old, cobweb-covered bones in the attic, (Y/N) ensured to make it a point he was never going up there, especially after the girls decided to 'communicate' with the 'spirit' and the night ended with Lottie splitting her forehead open on the window after a so-called possession. He didn't believe in that sort of crap, but he wasn't about to go messing with it either.

Taissa and Shauna had taken advantage of everyone's hesitance and taken residence in the attic, leaving them with more than enough space and only the hissing wind to disturb them throughout the night. He almost envied them, but he would rather fall asleep listening to Coach Ben's snores than risk confirming that ghosts were real and haunting the only place offering them shelter.

"This place is..." (Y/N) trailed off with a sharp inhale, goosebumps rising along his arms as he soaked in the eery and desolate attic. 

It was dark, the only light pouring in coming from the two windows on either end that were far too dirty to look through, and every inch of it was covered in dust collected from however long it'd remained abandoned before they stumbled upon the cabin.

Taissa and Shauna's belongings, their luggage and blankets, were messily scattered around, the only thing that provided him with a hint of normalcy. But it was quickly chased away with unease as his eyes fell onto the symbol carved into the wooden floorboard, the same one he sometimes saw carved into the trees around the cabin. The weight of anxiety settled on his chest, threatening to cave it in. 

He wished Laure Lee had brought some sage with her.

"Romantic?" Jackie finished for him with a tilt of her head, her tone mixed with hopefulness and amusement. She clasped her hands together in front of her and let out a shallow breath, the ends of her mint dress brushing over the laces of her sneakers with each nervous sway from her hips. 

Lifting his head to look at her, he arched a brow. "Yeah, 'cause nothing screams romantic like a dusty old attic someone died in, Jackie." 

Her shoulders shook with agreeable laughter and she reached up to carefully pull the crown from her head, gently tugging and smoothing back the brown strands that'd grown tangled in the sticks.

Everything about her felt... off, as if she was a husk of the optimistic and enthusiastic girl everyone back home followed like ducklings. She looked distant, her body in the attic but her mind far away, likely back home in her old bedroom thinking about everything she could've been doing instead of starving.

"What's wrong?"

It felt dumb to ask a question like that when everything was wrong. They were stranded in the middle of the wilderness with food they had to forage or hunt for, water they had to boil, clothes they had to share and wash in lake water, and the ghosts of dead classmates haunting the edges of their minds. Laure Lee, the most faithful of them all, had died, leaving a gaping space no one could fill because no one else could replace the kind-hearted, sweet, pious girl who poured her heart into praying for them all. Her god hadn't even granted her the mercy of a peaceful death.

Jackie's jaw shifted with her teeth grinding together, jaw clenching and unclenching. "Shauna was fucking Jeff." She revealed with a bitter, shaky chuckle, her chest stuttering with a deep inhale before she spun around to face away from him. (Y/N) hoped his sharp inhale hadn't been noticeable. "My best friend was having sex with my boyfriend behind my back. My best friend is pregnant with my boyfriend's baby and- and she hasn't had the balls to tell me. All this- this fucking time I've been waiting for her to say something, anything."

The crown slipped from her fingers and her hands raised to bury her face in them, body trembling with muffled sniffles and whimpers. He winced and walked toward her, hesitating for a brief second before he placed his hands over her arms. "Hey," He murmured, gently nudging her toward the pile of blankets on the floor. "C'mon, sit down."

He'd done this dance plenty of times before that it became second nature. He always found himself cradling his sister in his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head and eyes gazing into the distance as she sobbed for this or that reason, or letting his mother bury her face in his chest when the alcohol heightened her emotions instead of dulling them. He was familiar with the dance, so much so it was instinctive for him to comfort.

His arm slid around her shoulder and she crumbled into his side, her whimpers turning into hiccupped cries as she released everything she held in her chest. He dragged his thumb and forth over her arm comfortingly and pressed his cheek against the top of her head, her frizzy hair tickling his skin and smelling subtly of the flowers she'd used for her crown. 

"God, this is so- ugh." She raised her head and wiped at her tear-stained cheeks in frustration, rubbing away the blush and slightly smearing her mascara when she swiped her fingers over her eyes. Her ears turned pink, a color that crept down her cheeks and neck. "This is so embarrassing. I-I didn't bring you up here to- to cry in your arms like a baby. I-" She shook her head.

"You needed a good cry, Jackie. It's normal." (Y/N) shrugged his shoulders and squeezed her arm reassuringly, drawing her teary-eyed gaze toward him. Her features softened and she pressed her lips together until they ceased quivering with emotion. "Honestly, I'd be worried if you weren't upset." He breathily chuckled, leaning back into the blankets and staring up at the cobwebs clinging to the slanted ceiling. 

Jackie reached behind her to tug her hair free from the hairstyle she'd pulled it back into before mimicking his actions, her hair sprawling out around her in a short halo. "I.. I know it looks like I'm only interested in you because my only choices are you and Travis but I always thought you were cool."

"Cool?" He echoed with a snort and lolled his head to look at her. "Poor guys who drive beaten-up cars and always smell like popcorn are ​​​​​​your definition of cool?"

"Oh, shut up. At least it's better than dumb football players who cheat on you with your best friends." Jackie laughed and threw a gentle punch at his arm, her voice hoarse from the crying but slowly clearing up. She gave a wistful sigh and rubbed her fingertip over the smeared mascara, her eyes tracing the lines in the ceiling. The corners of her brows dipped, forming creases in her skin.

"I used to pretend I didn't know if I loved Jeff, when the truth is, I didn't even like him that much. I used to think losing your virginity was supposed to be special, and then Shauna went and lost hers to my boyfriend. It- It doesn't matter, anymore. It's all.. bullshit. Love is bullshit."

"I thought love was bullshit too once." (Y/N) told her quietly, eyes flickering past her to gaze at Taissa's things. "My dad left us when we were young. He... up and left one day and never looked back, never bothered calling or sending a letter. He just walked out and disappeared as if we didn't matter, as if my mom hadn't bent over backward trying to be a good wife. I thought that.. if it was that easy to leave your own family behind like they're nothing, then love wasn't real.. that it didn't matter."

"What changed?"

The ghost of a smile passed over his face. "I watched Van fall in love. I listened to her talk about Taissa like she- she hung the fucking stars in the sky and I watched her face light up like a kid on Christmas whenever Taissa came around. I watched them mold themselves to fit each other because they care so much that they don't want to risk doing something wrong. If Van can find that much love in Tai, I think you've got a chance, too. You matter to a lot of people, Jackie. There's still a chance we get rescued.. there's still a chance you get your happily ever after."

After a beat of silence, Jackie moved, propping herself up on one elbow and peering down at him with an unreadable look. She reached out toward him, her fingers barely grazing over his neck before she pressed her palm against his skin and leaned down to give him a close-lipped kiss, and then another.

"Maybe you can be my happily ever after." She spoke quietly, voice barely about a whisper, and kissed him again, this time an open-mouth one that smeared her bubblegum pink lipstick over his lips.

(Y/N) always considered himself too busy for girlfriends. He'd tried once in freshman year but he never managed to keep up with the dates and hanging out in between work, school, homework, and taking care of his family.

The relationship only lasted a month but he'd been able to check out the 'important' firsts everyone else fussed over during high school just to avoid the teasing from the other boys. But, be it from the time since or the chaotic situation they found themselves in, kissing Jackie felt different. 

It was a surge of emotions muddling together yet immediately overridden by an overwhelming desire to be touched, to simply be in someone's embrace and escape the harsh reality they'd been forced into. It was easy to get lost in surviving and forget about the joys of living.

He kissed her back and her body relaxed, tension he hadn't noticed fading from her muscles. Her fingers dug into his neck and pulled as she tilted herself backward to resume laying on her back, her other hand crinkling her dress with tugs until it slipped down her thighs and freed her legs. He moved over her and settled between her parted legs, feeling her hand move from his neck to clutch his arm, half her fingers pressing into the sleeve and the other half pressing into his skin. 

Almost instinctively, his hips rolled and grinded against her, pulling a shaky gasp from Jackie. She tilted her head back, her grip tightening with each grind against her most sensitive area, and her chest beginning to heave with heavy inhales of air as her legs fell further apart.

He pressed kisses to her jawline and down to her throat, the cool chain of her gold necklace pressing into his lips and leaving small imprints behind. She pushed her upper half into him when he pressed his lips against the center of her chest just above the heart charm and momentarily released him to unclasp her bra peeking out from underneath the dress. 

She tossed it aside as if she hardly cared to find it again, and perhaps she'd leave it just to irk Shauna when it'd be undoubtedly found. She pulled on the straps of her dress and then tugged firmly at it to reveal her breasts, hazel eyes darting up to study his features, hoping to find some sort of reaction that'd boost her ego, only for her eyes to flutter shut when he palmed at her. She had fading tan lines he traced with his mouth, the skin typically unexposed to the sun a paler color. 

"I-" Jackie cut herself off with a breathy sigh, back arching and naturally pushing her newly exposed chest into his face when his thumb flickered over a hardened nub. "I-I want to." She exhaled, back dropping back onto the blanket beneath them and eyelids parting again, half-lidded as if she were dazed. 

"We don't have to." He murmured, face burying into her neck briefly, seeking out warmth from another. He missed being held. 

"I want to." She repeated with a self-assured nod, the light of the setting sun peeking through the trees and pouring in through the window, lighting up the attic in a gentler light. It seemed less hostile than before. "I really do."

Nodding, he leaned back onto his knees and pulled the polo shirt off by its collar as Jackie fumbled with the button of his jeans. When his hands were free, she dropped hers and lifted her hips, tugging off her underwear and dropping it aside. He pushed his pants and underwear down enough to expose himself, a curse leaving his lips when she wrapped her fingers around him and gave a few experimental pumps. 

"Jax," He exhaled. "What if-"

"I don't care." Jackie cupped the back of his neck and pulled him downward to kiss him again, hot and needy and more teeth than tongue. "I just want you."

(Y/N) complied, teeth grazing her bottom lip as he braced himself on one arm and reached down, hearing her soft gasp as he dragged the tip along her slick folds. She swallowed thickly and placed her hands over his shoulders, her knees knocking gently against his hips. When he kissed the side of her neck, he could feel the rapid pulse of her heartbeat. 

Jackie gasped loudly when he pushed inside and then winced, her nails digging into his shoulder blades hard enough to leave imprints and features scrunching up. He gave her a moment to breathe, to adjust to the new feeling, waiting until her nails relented to push further. Soft murmurs of comfort flowed into her ear, his free hand moving up to rest over her hip and squeeze comfortingly. He knew it hurt for some during their first time, sometimes it hurt always for others. 

He took his time, pushing and waiting for her to grow used to it, swallowing groans and whimpers when she unknowingly clenched around him from the sensations. He gave one last nudge to reach the base and she pulled him into another kiss, heavily panting against his mouth and apologetically rubbing her fingertips over the countless half-moon marks she left on his skin. 

"Okay," She swallowed, blinking away the glistening in her eyes and offering a giddy smile. "I'm okay."

Slowly, he moved, trying to focus on her features as they morphed from furrowed brows trying to grow used to the feeling to ones raised with pleasure. (Y/N) shifted his weight onto his knees and propped himself slightly on them, the hand on her hip growing firm to stabilize her before he began moving quicker. The sound of skin slapping on skin mixed with the grunts and heaves and moans that slowly grew in noise and the soft squelch from where their bodies were connected. 

Jackie pulled him as close as humanely possible, her palms dragging over his back, tracing the muscles and healed scar he'd obtained during the crash. One of her hands moved downward, passing over his hip and grasping the back of his thigh, almost willing him to go deeper, to somehow melt into each other and become one. Her lips remained parted, babbled words ranging from pleas to curses interrupting the choked breaths and whiny moans. 

The heel of her sneaker dragged along his clothed calf and he breathed comforting words into her flushed cheeks, each praise drawing a whimper from the back of her throat. He kissed away the tears of pleasure that dripped from the corner of her eyes, occasionally pressing into her temple when his mind escaped him, growing foggy and needy until he forced himself to focus again. Taking someone's virginity was as big as losing it, at least in his opinion. They were having enough bad experiences as is.

"Shit!" Jackie practically squealed in his ear, her back arching off the blankets again and head tilting back. "(Y/N)-"

(Y/N) moved fully back onto his knees and grasped Jackie's hips with both hands, listening to the thud of her sneakers planting themselves on the floorboards to hold up her weight as her hands flew down to hold onto his wrists. The new position seemed to hit exactly the right spot because a few seconds later, Jackie tensed up and then cried out, her body convulsing and feet stomping onto the floor wildly. He chased after his own high, the slowly formed knot in his gut threatening to burst at any moment. 

Jackie fumbled, quivering thighs struggling to maintain her weight until he had half a mind to slip one hand under her lower back and help her up. She flung her arms around his shoulder and he moved his hold onto her thighs, helping her clumsily bounce until he suddenly released, toppling them both over onto the blankets where they went limp in a tangled mess of limbs. 

"Jesus," Jackie laughed, brushing away the strands sticking to the sweat along her hairline and giving a soft whine when he dragged himself out of her and rolled over. She reached downward to cup herself, sweaty thighs pressing together, and he turned his head away from the sight as he spurted the last of his release on his lower abdomen. "You don't think one of the girls has plan b, right?"

"If you'd said something beforehand I could've swiped one of Travis's condoms. I don't think he's even using them with Natalie." 

Jackie's head whirled around to look at him, squinting through the growing darkness in disbelief. "Travis packed condoms?"

"I guess."

(Y/N) huffed out a laugh, and then couldn't stop himself from laughing some more when Jackie began giggling at the absurdity of Travis Martinez, who hardly ever even spoke to girls at school because he was always too busy sulking, packing condoms for a trip to Seattle with his father and little brother.

Their laughter died down into coughs and snickers, slowly ceasing when they gazed at each other. Jackie stared at him with crinkled eyes and slipped her hand out from between her thighs, rubbing the mixture of fluids on her dress. 

"We should do this more often." She said, but all (Y/N) could focus on was the distant sound of guttural screaming and... howling? 

He moved immediately, nerves lighting ablaze out of fear and panic for his sister, and got dressed again, almost stumbling over his legs as he struggled with the zipper. Jackie blinked at him, hurt flashing over her face before she flinched at a closer scream and scrambled to pull her dress straps over her shoulders. 

"What the fuck is that?" 

They hurried down the ladder and into the old pantry, the light from the lit fireplace shining over the group of girls in the living room attempting to corner a frantic, wide-eyed shirtless Travis. 

"What the hell are you doing?" (Y/N) hissed, bewildered at the sight of their ragged breathing and dirtied dresses.

The girls turned their heads to look at him, their eyes wide and wild, mouths twisted up into grins or snarls. Some of them swayed as if intoxicated, and even Travis looked out of his mind as he stared at empty air and muttered quietly to himself. He stared questionably at Van but she simply turned on her heel and left with Taissa.

Lottie walked toward them, her hand flying out to grab the skirt of Jackie's dress and turning it around to peer at the patch of blood staining it. She huffed out a mocking laugh and Jackie's cheeks flared red. "Stay out of it." She sneered and shoved the brunette back, her body colliding with (Y/N)'s and forcing them back into the pantry. 

"Lottie-" 

The door rattled shut with a slam, and the lock clicking followed after. There was manic giggling and the thumping of heavy footsteps he assumed belonged to Travis, and then the shrill shrieks and shouts about 'the stag' getting away before a chorus of footsteps seemingly followed after the boy. (Y/N) could only stare at the door in disbelief.

"The hell was that?"

Jackie slammed her palms into the door, pounding against it and shouting for help until her voice grew scratchy. Her body was still struggling to retain its energy and she stepped back, panicked bursts of breaths escaping her.

Getting the wild, frantic, borderline hungry look in their eyes out of his head was hard. They flashed in his mind each time he blinked, his throat seizing with confusion and worry for Van and Travis, for the girls who looked out of their minds. For Coach Ben who was easy prey with only one working leg.

"Move." He whispered, letting Jackie step aside before he rammed his shoulder into the door repeatedly, each hit making his arm sore until it began to ache.

The door groaned and creaked with each hit, rattling violently and beginning to splinter from the force until it was forced open, its rotting age betraying it. They stumbled out of the room and (Y/N) immediately took note of the missing knife, the one used for carving meat whenever Natalie and Travis managed to hunt something good enough to eat. 

As if on cue, Natalie appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide and glistening with tears. Her outfit was disheveled and dirty, and he could only begin to imagine what she'd been doing between the time they left and then. Natalie swallowed and blinked hard, looking as if she were trying to focus her vision but something was stopping her.

"Misty-" She staggered and braced herself on the door frame. "Misty put shrooms in the stew."

Jackie groaned. "Oh, my god. Of course, she did."

"Where's Travis?" Natalie's head spun as she searched the cabin. "I-I need to talk to Travis. Where's Travis?"

(Y/N) stared at the crackling fire, watched the flames lick up the stone walls and embers disappear into the chimney to be blown up into the wind with the smoke.

Maybe it would've been better if they'd all gone up in flames, he thought. It would've been better than dealing with a bunch of idiots who were too prideful to admit any wrongdoing, even if it meant ignoring the fact they would've cut Travis's throat open if Natalie hadn't intervened in time. And now they were nowhere to be found. They were probably better of that way.

Part of him wanted to shove Misty into the fireplace so she'd stop staring at him with an accusatory glint for not saying thanks to a dead bear, to Lottie for taking the creature out of its obvious misery, to 'ancient gods' and the damn dirt. It was laughable, and yet his sister encouraged it.

Misty drugged everyone who ate the damn stew, to begin with. They should've all been blaming her and her stupid crush on a man half her age who only looked at her with discomfort and pity.

Instead, half the girls chose to gang up on Jackie after Misty loudly pointed out that neither of them had said thanks. He'd mostly tuned out the argument between Jackie and Shauna as they sneered and took jabs at each other, heated revelations and insults spewing out of their mouths in hopes of twisting the knife and plunging it deeper into each other until Jackie pointed at the door. 

"Get out." She spat, intending to sound authoritative but her voice trembled with emotion, with hurt and betrayal. Shauna remained still, her chest rising and falling in deep breaths and nostrils flaring. Jackie shoved her shoulder. "Go on, get out!" 

"No."

"I can't be around you, I-I can't even fucking look at you right now."

Shauna swallowed. "Well, that sounds like your problem. So maybe you should leave."

Jackie scoffed and turned her head to look at the others, searching their faces until her head tilted toward him. She looked at him pleadingly, her hazel hues glittering with unshed tears, from the argument or lack of support, he couldn't be sure anymore, but he heaved a sigh and stood up nonetheless. 

"Nobody's going anywhere." 

"What, are you her little attack do-"

"Shut the fuck up, Mari." His head snapped toward the long-haired girl and she flinched, once smug eyes widening. His jaw ticked. "It's no fucking wonder Danny dumped you for his cousin, you don't know when to keep your mouth shut."

Predictably, she flushed a bright red and ducked her head, strands of her dark hair falling over her face to hide the shame and humiliation that sparked across her face. Only Akilah reached out to place a comforting hand over her shoulder, but even she remained quiet. It was no secret, hell, most of the girls had laughed about it at some point. They'd be hypocrites to stand up for her, and they knew it.

"Nobody's going anywhere." He repeated, enunciating each word slowly and clearly, and locked eyes with each of them to get his point across.

Lottie looked the most relaxed, her face serene and blank, like that of a mother waiting for her children to finish a pointless argument. It was unnerving, as if a switch had flickered inside her and changed her into something completely different from the quiet girl she was once.

"Winter's almost here, if not already, and the days are getting colder. We don't know how to treat hypothermia or frostbite or anything like that, so nobody is going to risk it. I don't care if you want to dance around fire and thank the trees for your food. But we're not kids anymore, not here at least. So stop bitchin' like we're in the hallways at school and start acting like you give a shit about surviving for a little longer." 

[writing-the-stars]

Hiii! You’re fics are amazing i’m in awe of your writing & the tension that you build between characters💞

I was wondering whether you could write an Aaron Hotchner fic which maybe follows on from your most recent fic about him, where Aaron and reader have their first kiss. I feel like it would all be in the little moments, like him being so gentle & reader being so nervous 🥹🥹🥹

Unraveled, Unveiled

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Reader

Summary: After finally breaking through Aaron Hotchner’s walls, a quiet, undeniable tension begins to build between you— one that can no longer be ignored. What starts as an evening of uncertainty and vulnerability gradually unravels the emotional barriers between you both, leading to a deeper connection neither of you expected.

Warnings: Angst (But it's not that bad. They're just nervous and awkward), Fluff, No Use of Y/N or Physical Descriptors (Hotch does call reader beautiful though), Smooching. Let Me Know If I Forgot Something

Word Count: 4.3k

A/N: Hi Anon! I was so excited to see your message in my inbox!! Thank you for requesting this!! Honestly, so happy you all loved my previous fic so much and I am so appreciative of the support! This is a continuation of the previous fic, but can be read as a stand alone. Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoy!! Have a wonderful day!

Masterlist | Criminal Minds Masterlist

There’s a familiar tension in the air of the bullpen—the kind that comes with working a case. This one, a series of abductions around McLean, Virginia, has a particular edge to it. While a local case makes it easier for the team to collaborate, it still never sits right when the danger is so close to home. 

A flurry of activity surrounds you—agents moving in and out, phones ringing intermittently, the steady clicking of keyboards and pens. Yet, despite all the motion, your attention is elsewhere.

You sit at your desk, eyes skimming through the case files in front of you. But you’re not really reading. You’d like to blame it on the exhaustion you’re experiencing from the long hours of work, but it is something else entirely— a subtle pull that keeps tugging at you, an energy that hums quietly beneath your skin.

Across the room, you find the source of your distraction, Aaron Hotchner, standing near the whiteboard. His posture is stiff with concentration as he discusses how the latest victim correlates with the other abductees. His usual commanding presence is softened tonight, more by the weariness of the case than anything else. But his jaw remains tight with that familiar, quiet intensity.

The air between you has shifted ever since that quiet night in his office—a soft electric current that pulses in the spaces between your words. It fuels the quiet moments, sitting in the presence of each other, silent exchanges unnoticed by your unwitting team. The stolen glances, charged with something deeper than the usual camaraderie you used to trade. The brief brush of his hand when he passes you by. It’s consuming, this energy growing between you, undeniable.

As if pulled by the same magnetic undercurrent, his eyes meet yours and your heart stutters caught in that spark. His gaze lingers, longer than it normally would, eyes skimming every part of you before quickly snapping his attention back to the board— your shared moment of connection ending just as quickly as it began. 

You lean back in your chair, case files momentarily forgotten as you let the cool air from the ventilation above wash over your face. Everything in the room feels louder now, sharper. Your heart squeezes at the thought of what’s to come. In the week that’s passed, things have been quieter. No grand gestures. No long talks about where things are going. You aren’t trying to rush anything. You know Aaron needs time, but you’d be lying if you said the burgeoning tension wasn’t about to make you snap. You long for a space with him where case files don’t matter, where the professional boundaries of the BAU are nothing more than an illusion. Somewhere far from the constant pressure of work—where you can just be.

Deciding you have spent far too much time ruminating over this, you sit up, ready to return to your case files, and are surprised to find Aaron’s eyes already on you. He doesn’t smile, doesn’t even seem to breathe for a moment, but there is a flicker of understanding there. A soft, unspoken promise. 

And then, the text. 

“How about I pick you up at 7:30 tonight? I’ll take you to dinner— just us. No cases.” 

The words are simple, but the implications hit you all at once. Aaron Hotchner wants to take you on a proper date. The realization makes you feel suddenly vulnerable. Nerves pulse through you, but you can’t help the flutter of excitement that curls in your gut. You’ve been waiting for this.

-*-

As 7:30 draws near, you find yourself standing in front of your hallway mirror, second-guessing every outfit you own. Is it too much? Too little? Will you seem too eager? Or too reserved? You want to look nice, but not like you tried too hard—something that says this didn’t take nearly as much effort as it actually did.

After your fourth change, you finally settle on a simple look: the outfit you wore to your cousin’s wedding a few years back. It’s one of your nicer outfits, but you can’t help the small seed of doubt that lingers. You’ve never worn anything like this in front of Aaron before. Usually, it’s sharp business attire, tailored suits, and the professional look you know best. But tonight? Tonight is special. You want your appearance to match the moment. 

There’s a knock at the door, and your stomach flips. It’s time— no more second-guessing. You take one last glance in the mirror, smoothing a hand over your hair, and open the door.

There he is. 

Aaron Hotchner stands in front of you, and for a moment, your breath catches. His usual impeccable suit has been swapped for a crisp button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up just a touch, paired with well-tailored slacks. But it’s not the way he looks that steals your breath; it’s the way he’s looking at you. His gaze trails over you, not overtly calculating, but with something more subtle, more intense. There’s awe in his eyes, and for a moment, it’s as if he forgets how to breathe. His lips part slightly, like he’s about to speak, but the words get stuck in his throat.

The sight of you standing there, bathed in the soft light of your hallway, makes his heart stutter in a way he hadn’t anticipated. Your outfit is simple, but somehow, it accentuates everything that makes you... you. Aaron has always admired your professionalism, your sharp mind, and the way you carry yourself. But now, something else hits him— your grace. It’s as though he’s seeing you for the first time— not just as his colleague or close teammate, but as you. And he can’t help but think how stunning you look.

He swallows, forcing himself to regain his composure.

You feel your pulse begin to thrum, a nervous flutter you can’t quite control. You knew he’d be here, but seeing him now— seeing him look at you like this— is a shock to your system.

You swallow and break the silence. “Hi,” you manage, even though it feels like the most inadequate word you could say in this moment.

“You look…” he falters, his voice deeper than usual, a slight rasp. He clears his throat, but there’s no masking the way his gaze softens as he looks at you. “You look beautiful.”

The compliment is simple, but the way he says it— like everything else between you and him— feels loaded with meaning. The words settle into your chest, warm and comforting. No one’s ever made you feel seen quite like this. No one ever looks at you the way he does now, like you’re the only thing that matters in this space.

An uncontrollable smile stretches across your face, warmth pooling in your chest. You try to calm yourself. This is just Aaron. Just Hotch. You’ve worked together for years. You’re friends. But this? This is something different. And everything about tonight feels new.

“Thank you,” you reply shyly, wishing you could say more— something that could convey how much his words mean to you. But you’re not sure how to verbalize it, how to make sense of the nerves suddenly wreaking havoc on you.

He smiles, a small, genuine smile that makes your chest tighten. It’s a rare crack in his professional exterior. His gaze flickers down to your lips for just a moment, a quiet hesitation before he meets your eyes again. The silence stretches between you—almost too long—before he reaches for you with a gentle, almost hesitant gesture. His hand is steady, but you catch the slight tremble in his fingers.

“Shall we?” he asks, the words hanging in the air like a soft invitation, a gentle nudge into the unknown.

With a nod, you slide your hand into his and allow him to lead you to his car. Like a true gentleman, Hotch opens the car door for you, letting you slide inside before he closes it gently and moves to the driver’s seat.

You buckle your seatbelt, your hands trembling slightly as you adjust it, but it’s hard to focus on anything other than the way Aaron sits beside you. He starts the engine, the soft hum of it filling the car, but it’s as if neither of you knows what to say. The conversation between you, usually easy and casual, feels foreign now.

You glance at him— he’s focused on the road, his jaw set, his hands gripping the steering wheel, but there’s a tightness in his posture that wasn’t there before. You’re used to Aaron’s stoic, controlled demeanor, but now, there’s a slight edge to his movements, a quiet nervousness that surprises you.

For once, Aaron doesn’t feel like he’s in control. He doesn’t feel like the Unit Chief of the BAU or the calculating prosecutor he once was. He feels like a man standing on the precipice of something new— and he doesn’t know how to navigate it.

He didn’t expect this. Didn’t expect to feel so much. But this is just like him, always a step behind when it comes to his own emotions.

He steals a glance at you, only to find you already looking at him with that same wide-eyed gaze he has come to adore. A small smile tugs at the corner of his lips. He thinks back to that fateful day, the moment he feared he would lose you— that you would never look at him that way again. A frown tugs at his lips. His grip on the steering wheel tightens. He had come so close to watching one of his greatest fears come to life.  

You feel the drastic shift in Aaron’s demeanor, the subtle change as his tension takes on a darker form, something more than just nerves.

“You okay?” you ask softly, your voice barely above a whisper, but it’s enough to break the quiet bubble between you two.

He glances over at you briefly, his dark eyes catching yours for a moment, and there’s something unspoken in that brief exchange. His expression softens, and his hand— still on the wheel— flexes slightly before he answers.

“I’m fine,” his voice is calm, but there’s an underlying warmth in it now— something unguarded, vulnerable. “Just…” He hesitates, and you can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tries to find the words. “Just glad to be here with you.”

You blink at the simplicity of his words. It should’ve been obvious, but you hadn’t expected him to be so open— so real— about it. You nod slowly, a smile tugging at your lips.

“I’m glad too,” you reply, and the words feel more truthful than they ever have before.

-*-

The restaurant is quiet, intimate—just the right place for a first date between two people who have spent more time working together than anything else. The low hum of conversation and the clinking of silverware fills the air, but in your small corner booth, it feels like the world has narrowed down to just the two of you. No team, no cases, no distractions. It feels like the first real moment where you can both breathe without the weight of the world on your shoulders.

Aaron is polite, professional, just like usual, but there’s still an edge to him that wasn’t there before. His movements are slightly more careful, his glances lingering just a little too long. It’s subtle, but you can feel it. The air between you feels thick with unspoken words, with things that haven’t yet been said— haven’t even been acknowledged.

An unexpected shyness swells up inside you. The weight of this moment finally settles over you. You had longed for a moment like this. A chance to be with Aaron in a more intimate setting, to step away from the roles you’ve both played for so long, to just be. The chemistry between you, the moments that lingered just a little too long, the small touches that didn’t feel quite so professional anymore— these things have been building to this exact moment. But now that it’s finally here, you’re terrified.

Not of Aaron. Not of the way he looks at you, but of yourself.

What if you ruin it? What if this is just a fleeting moment of warmth and compassion on his end? What if it’s an illusion that will vanish just as quickly as it appeared? And if it does— what will that do to you? To Aaron? To the team?

You realize just how fragile the balance you and Aaron have been maintaining is.

You reach for your napkin, fingers restless as you fiddle with the edges. You haven’t been on a date in years— not since college. Back then, everything seemed so simple. You were so carefree, your heart open and unafraid of the consequences. But now, everything is complicated. With all the history between you and Aaron, the stakes feel higher, the potential for things to go wrong just a little too real.

You shift in your seat feeling the awkwardness of the space between you. The tension between you both builds with every passing minute, the unspoken words sitting between you like a quiet invitation.

Clearing his throat, Aaron breaks the silence.

“Jack really enjoyed that recipe you gave me. Although I’m sure he’d much prefer it if you made it instead of me.”

You laugh, a genuine sound that has Aaron’s chest tightening in a way he isn’t ready to admit. There’s something about it— your laugh that feels more open, more real than the usual quick exchanges you share at work. You seem more... vulnerable tonight. Softer, in a way he wasn’t prepared for.

“Well, you earned Jack’s approval, so it sounds like your version is just as good,” you tease, but the smile you share with him falters for just a second. There’s a certain hesitance in your eyes, an unease that he can see you try to cover up.

But it’s there, unmistakable.

The silence falls again, this time a little heavier, a little more awkward. You take a sip of your wine, the cool liquid offering some comfort as you try to find your footing again. Aaron, ever the profiler, picks up on every shift in your body language. The tightening around your eyes, the slight tension in your shoulders, the way your gaze flits to his face before bouncing anywhere else. This is a reaction he didn’t expect. You’ve always been calm, collected, and self-assured. But tonight, you’re something else— he can sense the uncertainty beneath the surface.

Aaron had been so focused on his own nerves, on maintaining control. He never stopped to consider that you might be feeling just as uncertain as he is. It’s a humbling realization. 

“What are you thinking about?” The question comes out softer than he intended, like an invitation to share something more than just surface thoughts. You realize, in that moment, that Aaron is asking for something deeper than just a simple response. It surprises you, though it really shouldn’t.

You meet his gaze, and it pulls you in, making you feel like you can’t hide behind your usual calm demeanor. “Nothing really... just nervous,” you admit, a shy smile spreading across your face as your eyes flicker down to your wine glass before meeting his again. “I’ve never really done... this before.”

Aaron’s brow furrows at the confession, and for a split second, his mind scrambles to find the right response. “A date?” His voice is soft, unsure if he should push or give you space.

You chuckle, a little self-deprecating, like you’re embarrassed by your own admission. “Well, no. Not since college. It’s been a while,” you confess to him, your fingers absently tracing the rim of your glass.

The revelation hits Aaron with an unexpected weight. He hadn’t anticipated this— hadn’t considered that you might be just as vulnerable as he is in this moment. It stirs something protective within him, an instinct to shield you from the unease you’re clearly feeling, though he doesn’t quite know how to do that yet.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was the one giving you nervous butterflies.” 

 There’s a playful edge to his voice, but it’s gentle—reassuring in its own way. He’s trying to lighten the mood, trying to ease the tension. He wants you to know it’s okay to be this nervous, that it’s okay for both of you to be feeling your way through this.

You laugh again, the sound more relaxed this time. It feels good to admit it, to share something so personal with him. Something that feels so... human.

“It's not you,” you clarify quickly, shaking your head with a soft smile. “It’s just... been a long time. And this is, well, different.”

Aaron leans in slightly, as if trying to understand the weight of your words. “Different how?” His voice drops, a hint of curiosity threading through the quiet.

You hesitate, searching for the right words. You weren’t expecting this kind of openness from him— this willingness to understand what’s remained unspoken. It makes something in your chest loosen. But you’re not sure how to articulate it. Not entirely. So you start slow, the words coming out haltingly.

“I don’t know,” you say finally, feeling the weight of it as it settles in your chest. “It’s just that... all these years, we’ve always been on the same team, right? Always professional, always focused on the job. And now...” you shrug, a little self-conscious, but there’s a warmth to your smile as your eyes meet his. “There’s a new dynamic here, and I’m not sure how to handle it.”

Aaron watches you for a moment, absorbing what you’ve said. He feels a slight shift inside him, a slow understanding of the weight of what you’re saying. You’ve never hesitated before, never seemed unsure. And now, here you are—open, fragile in a way he’s never seen. It makes something twist inside him, protective and tender in equal measure.

“I get that,” he says quietly, his voice low, steady, “I’ve been feeling it too.”He pauses, then adds with a half-smile, “Though I didn’t think you’d be the one who needed more time to adjust.”

That pulls a soft laugh from you, the tension easing from your shoulders. You shake your head in mock exasperation. “I didn’t realize you were so smooth. But now that I know you’re actually just as nervous as I am...” you raise an eyebrow, teasing him a little, the playful banter easing the air between you.

Aaron chuckles, his eyes warming in response, “Guess we’re both pretending to be less nervous than we really are.”

The way he says it, so openly, makes your heart settle a little. You take a small sip of your wine, considering your next words. “I didn’t think we’d ever get here,” you admit quietly, your voice soft, unsure. “I mean, I had let myself hope, but with everything that’s happened.”

Aaron’s expression softens, and there’s a quiet understanding in his eyes. “Yeah. I’ve thought about that too,” he murmurs, his jaw tightening just a fraction, as if the memories are sharper than he’s willing to admit. “We’ve both been through a lot. And I wasn’t sure what this... us could look like.”

The rawness of his words catches you off guard. There’s an honesty in them that feels almost like a relief. This isn’t just a date. It feels like a kind of truth that has been long overdue— something neither of you has ever fully addressed, but always carried.

“And now that we’re here,” you say softly, your voice tentative but sincere, “What do we do with it?”

Aaron exhales slowly, leaning back just slightly, his gaze flicking to the table before returning to you. There’s something different about the way he looks at you now, as if he’s no longer trying to figure out the next step, just... accepting it.

“I don’t know,” he admits, his voice steady but with a hint of vulnerability. “But maybe... maybe that’s the point. We don’t need to have it all figured out right now.”

The weight of his words lands between you  like a small relief, a shared surrender. The uncertainty, the not-knowing, doesn’t feel heavy anymore. It feels like a mutual acceptance, a quiet understanding that, for tonight, it’s enough to just be here. To let whatever happens next unfold without needing answers.

“I think I can live with that,” you murmur, smiling softly, your heart still beating a little faster than usual.

Aaron gives you a small smile, that familiar flicker of warmth in his eyes. The air between you both shifts again, this time more relaxed, less tense. There’s no more pressure, no need to define everything in this moment. Instead, it’s just the quiet promise of now, and maybe, just maybe, that’s all either of you needs.

The rest of dinner passes in a warm blur. The nervousness from earlier dissipating. You begin to feel more at ease, more sure of yourself in his presence. His presence has always had a grounding effect on you, but tonight is different. There’s no longer any distance. No professional separation. 

He listens intently when you talk, eyes never straying from your face. There’s something about the way he is so present with you— like he’s hanging on to every word, absorbing everything you give him. 

And when he laughs? When he smiles like he truly means it— it’s a rare thing. It makes your heart flutter. It’s the first time you’ve seen him so... unshielded. No armor. No walls. Just Aaron.

As he walks you back to your apartment door, you can’t stop thinking about him. About the way he looked at you all evening, like he was struggling to maintain control. But even through his efforts, you could see the way his gaze kept drifting over you, lingering just a bit longer when he thought you weren’t looking. There was something in it— something that made your heart flutter, a warmth spreading through you.

“I had a really great time tonight, Aaron,” you tell him once you reach your door, your voice soft but sincere.

Aaron smiles at that, his heart inexplicably light. “I did too.”

And then, his hand brushes yours, and suddenly you’re aware of how close you are. The contact is small, but it feels like everything. It sends a jolt through you, and your pulse quickens— nerves, anticipation, excitement all rushing through your veins.

You had wanted this. Wanted him. But now that you’re standing here, so close, it feels different. More real, more tangible than you ever expected. You’re afraid to move forward— afraid of what could come next.

And yet, in the silence, you don’t need to say anything. You feel it— an unspoken invitation in his eyes. The way he steps closer, ever so slightly, until there’s no more space between you. Aaron understands exactly what you want. 

“Can I…” he hesitates, his hand lifting slowly, then pausing for just a moment before it gently cups your cheek. His touch is so soft, so tender, like he’s waiting for permission. Like he’s afraid to rush this. You feel the warmth of his breath against your skin, the scent of his cologne— familiar and comforting— encapsulates you, making your pulse race. His chest rises and falls just as erratically as yours. 

You lean into his touch, your eyes fluttering closed, the warmth of his hand against your skin a silent promise.

The world seems to pause just before his lips touch yours, and for a breathless moment, you’re not sure if it’s the right decision. But then his lips are there— soft, gentle, asking without words, and you know it’s the only choice that matters.

It’s tentative, careful. He’s holding back, as though afraid you might break. But the tenderness of it only makes the ache inside you deepen. You’ve waited for this. Both of you have, in your own ways. And here, now, it’s finally real.

You kiss him back with all the softness you had been holding inside, feeling the months of longing, of unspoken desire, finally spilling out. It’s nothing like you had imagined. No fireworks. No grand, sweeping declarations. It’s tender. It’s soft. But it’s everything. It’s an unspoken conversation between the two of you. An acknowledgment of everything that’s been left unsaid, of the quiet trust between you. Of how, despite everything— despite his professional walls, despite the stakes of your job— he’s letting you in.

The way he holds you so carefully, like you’re something precious. The way his lips move against yours, as though asking for permission, as though he doesn’t want to take anything from you— just offer it.

His hand moves to your cheek, his thumb brushing the curve of your jaw, a touch so intimate, it feels like a promise. The kiss deepens just slightly, but there’s no rush. It’s everything you’ve wanted without either of you saying a word.

You pull away slowly, forehead resting against his absorbing the intimacy of the moment. 

“Wow,” you whisper, the words escaping before you can even think about them.

Aaron chuckles softly, a quiet sound that makes your heart flutter. “Yeah,” he agrees, his voice thick with emotion.

With a final, tender smile, he leans in to kiss your forehead, a gesture so intimate it almost feels like a promise. He steps back slowly, eyes holding yours as if making sure you know he’s leaving, but he’s not really leaving.

“Goodnight,” he says softly, voice hoarse.

“Goodnight, Aaron,” you smile, the dreaminess of the moment filling you up, still feeling the warmth of his kiss lingering on your skin.

As you close the door behind you, you lean back against it, your hand resting for a moment on the handle. Your heart is still racing. You hadn’t expected a kiss like that—gentle, sweet, full of promise. But as you sink back against the door, a soft, satisfied smile tugs at your lips.

It had been worth the wait.

If you want to be a part of my taglist, please submit an ask specifying series, fandom, or all and I will happily add you!

[lovelettersfromluna]

⋆ ★ Once again, for the first time ⋆ ★

{Ellie Williams x Reader}

Summary: Being in love with your best friend has got to be one of the most emotionally exhausting things someone can experience, so it’s time you put your foot down and moved on….at least, try to move on

an: God it almost feels wrong to just come back after so long without a continuing chapter to what I’ve been working on, pls don’t be mad at me 😵‍💫. I’ve been really busy you guys! I just got home yesterday and while I know you’ve all be asking for other things, I just haven’t been feeling super inspired to continue them RIGHT NOW, and I feel that’s why I’ve been MIA for so long. While I say I’m not inspired to continue them right now, that doesn’t mean I’m abandoning them! I will be coming back to them don’t worry! For now, I hope this little angsty fic is enough for you all, and I hope you’ve stuck around to read it, and if you haven’t, that’s okay too. Anyways, I’ve missed you all so much, and I hope you like this one 🖤🖤🖤.

Warnings: ANGST!!! Eventual smut in future chapters, Ellie is an oblivious idiot, Quiet!reader, momentary alternative love interest (it’s just for the story I promise 😉), jealous!Ellie, possessive!Ellie, Please let me know if I missed anything!

Part 2 can be read, here!

The warm glow of your tv screen became blurry with each passing second. You could barely make out the erratic movements of the video game characters beating each other to a pulp as Ellie’s fingers tapped away at the buttons on the game controller, soft huffs leaving here lips ever so often. “Fucking dick..” She mumbled under her breath, eyebrows knit in deep concentration, eyes almost growing watery from her lack of blinking.

You on the other hand, you were nearly fast asleep. Cuddled into your sofa, resting your head against a pillow that was propped up against the arm of the couch, a plush blanket draped over your body as you watched your best friend control a scantily clad character to violently fight the opposite person.

This was tradition for you and Ellie. She’d come over, you would force her to study with you because she was often too stubborn to do it without you, you’d order shitty take out, watch her play video games, and then you’d fall asleep. It always ended with her dragging you to your bedroom, staying with you for a bit before she left, and then in the morning, she’d be waiting for you outside your apartment to go to school together.

And that was life, life with your best friend that is. It had been that way since you were practically babies, your routines changing and adapting to whatever phase of life you were both in within that moment, but it was always more or less the same. And you couldn’t complain, you wouldn’t change it for the world.

Not even if you were given the chance to have her as something more.

Ellie had always been a charmer, and unfortunately, the extent of her charming demeanor had made its way to you. It was something you noticed early on, as soon as you were able to decipher feelings of love, you were able to link those with Ellie. When people would explain love to you, or you’d see it in others, you thought of Ellie. You realized quickly after that though, that Ellie was your best friend, and feelings would greatly complicate the long history that you two had together.

And so, you swallowed them down.

It wasn’t like it was painful or anything. Sure, seeing Ellie with other girls wasn’t great, but you coped. Life went on, and you promised yourself you’d never let your feelings get in the way of Ellie’s life, your life, or your friendship.

“Man…I’d let Mileena rip my head off any day…” Ellie sighed out, the girl never a stranger to gawking at the make believe video game characters in her favorite games. You let out a sleepy hum, giving her a nod as you cuddled further into the couch, not fully able to comprehend your friends words due to your sleepy state.

The sounds you made caught Ellie’s attention, causing her to sit forward a bit so she could catch a glimpse of your nearly sleeping face. She chuckled softly, shaking her head a bit as she reached forward for the controller, turning off the console followed by the tv before she stood up, taking your hand in hers and pulling you slightly.

“You have the energy of a seventy year old woman…come on, let’s get you to bed grandma” she teased, and it only causes you to whine softly. The couch is so comfortable, and you’re more than happy with sleeping there for the night just so you didn’t have to move and lose the blissful drowsy feeling that came with the sounds of Ellie playing Mortal Kombat lulling you to sleep.

“I’m fine here…” You tried, knowing that she wouldn’t settle for you sleeping there on the couch all night. And she didn’t need to be told twice, she let out a soft hum, one that almost sounded like she’d leave you there, but suddenly you’re being lifted off of the couch, into Ellie’s strong chest, even stronger arms wrapping around your body, which once again caused you to whine.

No matter how tired you were, how close to sleep, you can’t ignore the burning fire in your chest when she holds you like this. Even though being Ellie’s friend was the furthest thing from painful, it was times like this that it got a little too hard. Ellie was always a very affectionate person, especially with people she was close to, and you happened to be at the top on that list.

So, when she’d do things like this, pull you up into her arms and carry you to bed, or slip her arms around your waist and spoon you from behind when you were watching movies together, or when she’d pull you close to her when you were in a crowded room, it was easy to imagine how things would be if it were different, if you were able to have her in the way you wanted.

Only for a moment though.

Ellie hummed softly as she gently rested you on your bed, making sure to pull your socks off because she knew you’d kick them off in your sleep anyways, and pull the blanket, not the duvet, over your body because it was how you preferred to sleep. She knew exactly what to do with you, and it always made your heart tug.

She smiled softly down at you, watching as your heavy eyes grew even heavier once your head hit your soft pillows. She gave your elbow a gentle nudge before she turned off the lights in your room, closed the door, and left your apartment.

And even though you were already falling asleep, you couldn’t ignore the urge you had to ask her to stay. The urge you always had to ask her to stay with you.

You let out a soft yawn, rubbing your eyes a bit before you began writing down in your notebook again. Your headphones played soft music into your ears, the blessing of a noise cancelling headset always making it easy to study in your college library, for a moment, pretending as if you were the only one there.

Until Ellie showed up.

She gently pulled one side of your headset up, her lips close to your ear as she approached you. “Hey stranger” she giggled softly, causing you to whine as you pulled the headset down to rest against your neck. You gave your friend a soft smile as you set your pen down, watching as she promptly took the seat next to you and tossed her bag onto the table.

“Hey yourself…came all the way to the library to see me?” You teased her, propping your elbows onto the table and resting your head against your hands as you watched her slump down into her chair, oversized hoodie hanging on her broad shoulders, light washed denim jeans hanging loose on her hips, short hair lazily tugged up into her signature half up half down ponytail, pretty strands falling down and framing her face perfectly.

God she was a fucking dream.

Ellie groaned softly, her head falling back as she blew air past her lips, staring up at the ceiling of the library. “I have time between classes…so I came to bother my favorite little scholar” She hummed out, giving you a lazy grin as she turned her head back towards you, causing you to roll your eyes at her words.

“You know, you could use this time to study” you try, narrowing your eyes at her playfully, which causes her to roll her eyes right back at you. “Ahhh, please. You’re probably the only one here that actually does that shit” she hummed out, which causes you to shrug, closing your books and stacking them upon one another. “True, but I have the grades to show for it” you nod to herself before you push your things to the side, turning back to your friend and giving her your attention.

“So? What’s happening. You look like you’re just itching to tell me something” you smirked softly, knowing your friend all too well. Whenever became fidgety, or absolutely needed to find you, there was something on her mind.

Ellie smirked softly, staring down at her ring clad fingers before she let out a soft hum, purposefully keeping you waiting with anticipation before she began speaking.

“Do you think Sofia is into girls?”

For a moment, the twinkle in your eye, and the soft smile on your lips as you watch your best friend drops completely. You’re glad she isn’t looking, because you’re sure anyone would be able to see the visible disappointment written on your face as soon as she says it. You only let it fall for a moment though, because you’re immediately collecting yourself, picking yourself up off the ground and giving your friend a soft, reassuring nod.

“Has being straight ever stopped a girl from being into you Ellie?” You tease her, recalling the frequent times girls claimed they were straight, yet somehow always ended up chasing after Ellie after they’ve had one too many drinks.

Ellie groans softly, shaking her head as she sits forward a bit. “No man…I don’t wanna just hook up with her..or..or be her fantasy or something. I wanna…ask her out or something” she mumbled out, cheeks burning red as she toyed with the shiny rings on her fingers. You blink a few times, trying to find the right words to encourage your friend to do it, to pursue whoever it was that she wanted.

No matter how much the words tasted bitter on your tongue.

“Well…ask her, or you can ask around? A close friend of hers would definitely know if she was interested in girls or not” you tried again, watching as your friend frowned in concentration, eyebrows furrowed, green eyes narrowed.

Whoever this girl was, Ellie was doing her head in over her….

It almost bothered you that this was your first time hearing about her.

“You think? I’ve just…I’ve had my eye on her for a while and I think I’m ready to finally make a move, you know?” She sighed out, and you nod slowly, giving her a soft smile paired with a reassuring nod.

“Then go for it, Els. The worst she can say is no, and even then, there are plenty of other fish in the sea” you assure her. Because it’s true, Ellie never stayed single for long. There were always girls interested in her, or her them, and it wasn’t long until she was introducing you to a new, pretty girl that she’d have on her arm for the next however many months.

She smiled softly as she nodded, your words clearly getting through to her, as they always did. She gives a determined nod, moving to stand up from the chair she was sat at. “You’re damn right there is…hey, I’m gonna try to find someone to talk to, but I’ll catch you later, yeah?” She nods, slinging her bag over one of her shoulders, already walking away from the table as her eyes never left yours.

You give her a soft nod, eyes lingering on her form as you let out a low hum. “Always” you confirm, knowing that it was true. You’d always be there when Ellie needed you.

She beamed back at you, giving you a nod. You could practically see the excitement shining off of her body, seeping through her pores. “And I’ll catch you this weekend! Your place!” She shouted, causing your eyes to widen at her volume, the other students instantly shushing her. You give her a quick nod, your hands fanning away as you shoo her out of the library, a soft giggle leaving your lips.

You ignore the little cracks in your heart, because the smile on her face makes up for it. You know it’ll pass, you know this is merely a phase of your life that you’ll look back on and laugh at once you’ve found the person that was right for you, one that filled up the little holes that Ellie left in your heart.

And oh how you couldn’t wait for that day to come.

You don’t see Ellie that following weekend.

In fact, the last time you actually saw her was that day in the library, with the few times you saw her in and out of classes that the two of you shared.

Ellie ended up talking to Sofia that same day, and it turns out she was interested in girls. From the texts that she sent you that night, she was raving about the day that they had set up after hours of talking out in the courtyard. She tells you she’s sorry, that she can’t make it out to your place for your routine weekend together, and you tell her it’s fine, to have fun and tell you all about the date the next morning.

And suddenly, you can’t remember the last time you spent more than five minutes with your best friend.

You text here and there, and she catches you outside of class when you happen to make it there at the same time sometimes, but you don’t really have lunch together anymore like you always do, you don’t sit outside in the courtyard to kill time between classes together, she doesn’t visit you in the library, all of those things just suddenly stop.

And then she tells you, she’s dating Sofia.

She tells you they made it official after the first four dates, and at first you feel it’s a bit fast, but you realize they spend all of the time that you and Ellie used to spend together, with each other instead, and it suddenly makes sense. Ellie had a girlfriend now, and it was the explanation for the sudden lack of her presence, the absence of your best friend on weekends. While you stared at your tv screen alone, she was with Sofia.

And you were happy for her, of course you were happy, why wouldn’t you be? She was your best friend and she had gotten the girl she wanted for so long, just as you expected she would…

But the happiness you felt for her lived alongside the sadness that you felt. The two emotions becoming tenants in the home that was your heart, sitting across one another, glaring at each other as they battled for control of you, controlling how you dealt with the situation, how you coped with the sudden disappearance of your best friend.

So, you didn’t give either one control, you ignored them both after a while, and you simply carried on as if nothing had ever happened.

Ellie really was the only person you occupied any free time with, opting to be with her rather than anyone else, because it felt good. You liked it when it was just you and Ellie, it was easy, and it was easy to not overthink things and simply be, rather than worry about how you were behaving.

So without her, you simply did all the things you did with her, just on your own.

Ellie tried to make time for you, while juggling the escapades that come with the early stages of a relationship, you couldn’t take that away from her, but you saw how hard it was. You didn’t want her to feel bad, or feel like she was neglecting you, or her friendship, even if she sort of was. You convinced her it was fine, that she deserved to enjoy her new relationship, and that it needed more attention than your friendship ever would, not right now at least.

And Sofia was great. She was beautiful, and kind, and sweet, and after meeting her a few times, you considered her to be somewhat of a big sister figure. Seeing her made it clear to understand just why Ellie was so keen on taking her off the market as soon as she could.

But that seemed to make it even harder to deal with.

It was on days like this one where it hit you a bit harder, Ellie’s absence. You didn’t mind being alone, but walking to and from classes without her constant banter and jokes definitely wasn’t the best, and heading out to the cafes for lunch was far too quiet on your own, but, you prevailed.

You were making your way out of your third and last class for the day, a soft sigh leaving your lips as you adjusted your bag on your shoulder. The week was finally closing in, and you couldn’t be happier. You yearned for the warmth of your home, your cozy little bed, your favorite mug filled with your favorite hot chocolate, it called to you as you pushed past the large doors of your college building, making your way out to the brisk outdoors of your campus.

The sound of quickening footsteps behind you was almost drowned out as you took your headphones from behind your neck, and began setting them onto your head. A hand suddenly pulled them down, forcing them back around your neck, which caused your eyebrows to furrow as you turned around to see who in their right mind would try to fuck with a girl and her music.

You almost passed out when you were met face to face with your best friend.

Seeing her made you realize just how long it had been since you saw her. You tried convincing herself it had only been a few weeks, but you found it hard to remember the last time you were staring up into those big green eyes, and not imagining them instead.

Your frown was quickly replaced with a soft smile, adjusting your bag on your shoulder as you stared up at Ellie. “Ellie…god…I was ready to start throwing punches” you joked, pulling your headset from around your neck and pushing them down into your beg before you looked back up at her.

Ellie chuckled softly, watching as you went about putting your things away. Her smile was so bright, eyes twinkling, cheeks red, all signs that pointed towards the same thing.

Ellie Williams was properly smitten.

“I’ve been looking for you, dork…you’re always hiding these days” she groaned out, which caused you to hum softly, giving her a slight shrug. “Been busy studying Els…I’m sorry” you tried, giving her a half smile.

Knowing that your studying was not the cause of the divide in your friendship, and neither was it you hiding.

She pouted softly, stepping forward so that you two could walk together. “I miss you…” She hummed out, staring down at the Nikes on her feet, nearly swallowed up by her baggy jeans. Her words make your heart tug as you stare up towards the large trees, swaying with the autumn wind, sun peeking in between the thick foliage of the leaves.

“How are you And Sof? Things going well?” You questioned, opting to ignore the way you heart beat faster when she said she missed you. You were also genuinely curious, you wanted to hear more about Ellie’s relationship, you wanted her to confide in you and trust you as anyone else would trust their best friend with their relationship.

Ellie instantly smiled bashfully at the mention of the girl, a soft hum leaving her lips as she nodded. “Fuck…she’s amazing, man. She’s like a fucking dream, I swear, I’m honestly not sure what I’ve done to deserve her” she sighed out, voice sounding so dreamy and love sick, you can’t help but smile.

“You like her…don’t you? I mean…you’re my best friend, your approval is one that’s pretty fucking important to me” she chuckled out as she looked over at you, head dipping down a bit to try and her a glimpse of your down casted face, her hands shoved into her pocket.

Her words make you hum, and you’re giving her a soft smile as you look up at her. Her expression is written with one that is concerned, concerned that you approve of her relationship, that you think she’s making the right move with Sofia.

And you know in that moment, you have the power to break it all. You have the power to rip things to shreds, just by telling Ellie you think Sofia isn’t the right girl for her, because you know she’ll listen to you. You know she’ll take your feelings into consideration, because she trusts you.

“I think she’s perfect for you, Ellie” you breath out, giving her a reassuring smile.

Because just as much as you know you have the power to be horrible, and rip everything away from them both, Ellie doesn’t deserve that, and neither does Sofia. They don’t deserve to hurt for the sake of your feelings, at the expense of what you feel for Ellie.

And the smile you see your best friend shoot your way makes it all worth it, because it’s like she’s been waiting for those words to leave your lips to go all the way, to give herself to Sofia completely and give into her as she wanted to this entire time.

“Fuck…you don’t know how happy that makes me” she sighs out, looking up towards the sky and letting her eyes flutter shut as she takes a deep inhale, and you know she’s truly happy.

And that makes you happy.

“Hey, are you busy next weekend? There’s a party Sof and I are going to, you should come with us” she says as she looks down towards you. You know it’s a bad idea, because it means you’ll third wheel the entire night, tucked away in a corner to avoid watching them make out all night long until it’s time to go home, where you’ll be just as miserable there as you are in your house.

But you know Ellie won’t take no for an answer.

You let out a soft sigh before you give her a nod, paired with a half smile, and she’s already cheering loudly, causing people around you to stare, and you groan softly as you give her a gentle shove, urging her to stop.

“I’ll text you the details! Sof and I will pick you up” she confirmed, and you give her a soft giggle before you nod. “Get out of here…I’ll see you then” you promise, and she’s smiling brightly as she begins walking away.

And despite the fact that it’s the first time you’ve talked to her in far too long, and it was mainly about her girlfriend, you can’t ignore the way your heart ignites for that small interaction on its own, and the excitement you feel knowing you have plans with her in the near future.

It’ll be fine, you remind yourself. It always has been, and it always will be. And with that, you made your way home.

The following week, is when you met Alex.

You were making your way to your first class of the day, the early morning sun shining down on you, giving you only a bit of warmth from the brisk air that swirled around you and the other students scattered about within the large courtyard that served as a main point sprouting out to all other campus buildings.

Your eyes were trained on your feet, a habit you had that had caused you to run into many people, many times. It was an easy way for you to stay deep in thought, focusing on the way your shoes sounded hitting the pavement with each steps, watching as they crunched against leaves.

“Excuse me?” A soft voice broke you away from your locked gaze on your feet, your eyes blinking a few times as you looked up to figure out who it was that was trying to get your attention.

When you laid eyes on the person looking at you, you nearly passed out.

It was a girl, she was tall, with pretty eyes and a charming smile. Her jacket hung loosely on her shoulders, bag draped over one of her arms, a paper in one of her hands. Her features were strong, yet soft at the same time, mixing together both masculine and feminine and almost making your mind go completely blank as her beautiful eyes stared into yours.

“Um…could you help me? It’s my first day and I’m sort of lost” she chuckled out bashfully, her hand reaching up to run through her hair as she tried handing you the paper in her hand. You simply blinked a few times, watching the girl almost in awe as she stared down at you, before you realized you were in fact gawking at this woman.

You cleared your throat, giving her a quick nod before you giggled. “Yes! Yea…sorry..I…can I?” You question as you gestured towards the paper, which caused her to chuckle softly and nod as she handed it to you.

Your eyes scanned over the paper, furrowing a bit in concentration before you zeroed in on the first class she has in her schedule, and it made you smile.

“Oh, that’s where I’m going! You must be the new transfer student the professor was talking about” you explain, your heart beating a bit faster as you come to the conclusion that not only is this insanely hot girl speaking to you, but she’s also in your first class of the day.

She smiles brightly, pearly white teeth flashing your way as she raises her eyebrows. “No way…would you mind if I walked with you then?” She hums out, eyeing you carefully before you look up at her from the paper, giving her a shy smile as you nod. “I wouldn’t mind at all…come on”

You learn that her name is Alex, and that she was supposed to start the semester with everyone else, but there were issues with her documents so she had to transfer instead. The entire way to class, you take your time together, strolling along the pathways and hallways of your school, getting to know one another. You realize that although it’s your first conversation with her, you feel as comfortable with her as you do with…

As you do with Ellie.

When you realize that, you realize that you’d gone the longest without thinking about Ellie than you had in a long time. Alex takes her off your mind completely, because she’s pretty, and her smile makes you swoon, and being with her feels comfortable.

And you reckon you could get used to it.

When you both finally reach your classroom, there are students scattered about, waiting for the professor to arrive and for the lecture to start. You hum softly as you look over at your usual seat, turning around to look up at Alex. “I sit over there…there’s an empty right next to me if you want” you suggest.

The empty seat used to be taken up by Ellie before she started dating Sofia.

Alex smiles brightly as she nods before you can even finish your words, and that alone prompts you to grab her hand and drag her along through all of the seats to get to the two seats tucked away in the corner, the ones you used to look forward to making your way to almost every day that you had class.

When you two are settled, you fall into a comfortable conversation, your head resting against your hand as you listen to her speak. She tells you about her old school, about her favorite books and movies, her favorite music. You’re so caught up in the conversation with Alex…

That you don’t even notice Ellie walk into the room.

She walks in as she usually does these days, laughing softly at something Sofia said, her arm draped around the girls waist, keeping her close. Had it been any other day, she would’ve made her way down to the usual seats in the front that she has recently taken with Sofia, but the sound of our laugh quickly catches her attention.

At first, she realizes she hasn’t heard the loud sound in quite some time. The only thing she’d received from you in the small moments she shared with you were tiny giggles, or small hums, but never that deep, belly laugh that she loved so much.

Then, when she looks at you, head tilting back as you cover your lips, laughing loudly at something she was oblivious to, her eyes finally fall on the person your body is turned towards. A head of short hair and a leather clad, broad back is turned towards her, and suddenly Ellie is frowning.

Because that seat, is hers.

Ellie gives Sofias waist a soft tap, mumbling for her to wait for her at their seats as she presses a soft kiss to her cheek, green eyes never leaving you and Alex as she continues to make you laugh uncontrollably.

She doesn’t think about much, other than the annoyance she feels that someone is in her seat, regardless of the fact that she’d left that seat empty, leaving you alone for weeks on end. All she knows, is that she doesn’t like that someone is sitting in her seat, she doesn’t like that this is the first time she’s heard you laugh in weeks…..

And she sure as hell doesn’t like that it’s this mystery person that is causing that laugh in the first place.

“I know! I can’t believe you like that show too, I was convinced that-“ your words are cut off by the dark, looking presence that is suddenly hanging over you and Alex. It makes you frown softly, looking up to find a very angry Ellie standing in front of both you and Alex.

“Ellie? Hey! What are you doing here?” You question softly, unable to remember the last time you’d seen Ellie up there at those seats with you. The question is genuine, and for a moment you assume something might be wrong, but Ellie’s expression seems to be even more annoyed than when she first got there.

Instead, Ellie completely disregards your question, the girl annoyed with how innocent and genuine your words are, your big eyes blinking up at her with a twinge of worry as you await her reasoning for being there with you. She looks at Alex, her tongue pressing against her cheek before she nods her head towards the seat she’s sitting in. “That’s my seat” she deadpans, not leaving any room for argument.

Alex raises her eyebrows, staring up at Ellie before she turns to you for a moment, humming casually as she gives a half shrug. “I was told no one sits here anymore” she hummed out, staring up at Ellie in a challenging manner. It causes Ellie to scoff softly, rolling her eyes before she inhales deeply, and you know it’s because she’s trying to control her temper.

“Well I do, so you should find a different seat” she barks back, her tone progressively becoming more and more irritated with Alex. Alex simply chuckles softly, clearly taking Ellie for a joke as she sighs out. “Doesn’t have your name on it…so I’m not going anywhere” she finishes off, clearly done with the conversation with Ellie. Ellie raises her eyebrows, finally looking over at you as if to silently ask if you’re just going to let someone speak to your best friend that way.

And it annoys you to no end.

It annoys you because Ellie didn’t care about the seat for the past however many weeks since she’d been dating Sofia, you were sure it had been a good month at least, and suddenly she cares about it when someone is taking up the spot.

Taking up her spot.

You frown softly, staring up at your friend before you let out a soft sigh. “I think Sofia is waiting for you, Ellie” you try, giving her a slight nod as if to remind her that her girlfriend was in fact waiting for her down at the bottom of the sea of chairs. You hope it’ll clear her head, and whatever this sudden urge to come and check up on you with it. You see a flash of something ripple across her face, something you can’t quite make out for a moment, but once you do, it’s clear as day.

Betrayal.

She inhales deeply, eyes never leaving yours, only when they dart over to Alex. She wants to stay and say more, try to get the idiot next to you to sit somewhere else, anywhere else, but suddenly you’re turning your attention back to Alex, a soft smile on your lips as you fall back into conversation with her as if Ellie wasn’t standing right over the both of you. Ellie feels like she could burn a hole through the floorboards with how much it makes her seethe.

And the worst part is? She couldn’t even understand why it made her feel that way.

Soon, she’s stomping off like a child, down the stairs of the lecture room towards Sofia. She gives you an apologetic look from her spot at the bottom where she sits with Ellie, and it makes you so confused because why is she even looking at you that way? As if she was to blame for her girlfriends behavior? You give her a small smile back, and she turns around towards Ellie, her small hands rubbing the girls back gently as she bent her head down and pressed a soft kiss to her head.

You eye them for a moment, but your eyes don’t linger like they used to. You’re quickly looking back at Alex as she speaks to you, making you forget all about the very strange behavior your best friend just exhibited.

“Sorry about that…she’s…she’s great, I promise. I’m sure you two would like each other” you nod, giving Alex a reassuring smile. Alex hums in response as she looks down at Ellie, her eyes narrowing down at her for a moment before she nods. “I’m sure we would” she smiles out, and you can tell despite the rude interaction they just had, she’s genuine, and she seems to want to know more about Ellie.

But you save that for later, because you’d much rather get to know Alex than talk about Ellie.

[inthelibrarybtw]

you’re gonna go far | two - the country club

SERIES MASTERLIST pairing: rafe cameron x pogue!reader

summary: where Rafe who hates pogues has a soft spot for one, who couldn't care less about him, she's too independent and too focused on graduating college and making it out of the Cut to pay attention to him or where they say they don't like each other yet for a reason they are always at the same place at the same time, him making time for her and her never pushing him away but again they don't like each other. word count: 4.5k content: kelce being an asshole, tension, angst, manhandling (not from rafe), cursing, suggestive, probably inaccurate golf talk, topper being nice for once. authors note: it took me too long to finish it i apologize, i'm not the biggest fan of this but i had to set the scene and introduce some very important characters for the story to continue and to finally get on to the juicy stuff. i read it like 4 times but if you see a grammar error let me know i can always miss things. enjoy!

Working on Figure 8 for a pogue was very common, those were usually the better paid jobs so naturally that’s where usually everyone wanted to work or went looking for a job. You actually spent more time on Figure 8 than most of your friends. You had been on multiple jobs over the years, bookshop, coffee shop, retail, babysitting, waitressing in different places, the one night fancy events were the best, the check was big even though you would usually end up almost passing out from exhaustion. The job you were in was one of the best, it was at a cute bistro aimed at girls. The vibes were very girly, the uniform was pretty, everything about the job was good, everything but the clients, the older clients were the problem most of the time. You couldn’t stand another minute more of these stupid older women in their 40s treating you as if you were a freaking alien and all you could do was smile and nod even when you wanted to spill their drinks on them, scream at them or even spit on their food. 

You would expect trashy behavior from girls your age and they had their moments but usually they didn’t care or if they knew you through Sarah they were nice but the problem was usually their mothers and one kook girl group and oh they made sure to make your life a living hell. And that’s why now your patience was at negative 100 and you were looking for a new job that was as good as this one in the financial area and that you could enjoy at least a bit. 

The days after the Boneyard party you were focused on looking for a new job which had help you ignore everything that had happened with Rafe that night, but some of the things you said and he said were replaying in your mind making it a little bit harder to concentrate and since you spent too much time on Figure 8 you had been on edge not wanting to bump into him but again that little bistro was aimed at women and too girly for him to even set foot in so that was the only thing keeping you at ease.

You wanted to find another job on your own, this one Lily had helped you secure it and you were forever grateful but you didn’t want to ask for her help again or Richard’s. Lily and Richard were this old couple you had met around a year and a half ago, give or take. You had met them in the coffee shop you used to work at before. They were regulars and usually came by on slow days so you always sat with them and quickly they became your friends. They had helped you one to secure a better job and two to know when you could apply for a scholarship at community college last year. They were in a sense like godparents, they had always wanted a daughter or granddaughter and it didn’t happen so when they met you, a girl around their grandsons age and with how sweet and kind you were to them they just wanted to look out for you while that wasn’t the only reason or even the main one it was the one they gave you, you still didn’t understand it but you never pushed them to tell you the truth. Your mom was aware they were your friends and in how they had basically made you their goddaughter and as a little strange it was for a 20 year old to be friends with a couple in their 70s she was so grateful for how much they had helped you. They had pushed you to make decisions like going to college and helped you find a job, your mother couldn’t thank them enough for the big impact they had in your life. Sometimes people just needed someone external like a mentor to make them do things they wouldn’t normally do and that’s what they were for you. 

You had already been studying for a year and in a couple months you were starting your sophomore year of college, nursing had always been your dream but you were going to study to be a teacher until by grace meaning Lily, had talked to you she finally convinced you to go for what you really wanted, your mother had been fighting with you about it and when you finally made the decision she could almost kiss Lily. That’s another reason why your mom was grateful for them, their advice went through more easily probably because of the age and well your mom knew how stubborn you were, you were like her so she couldn’t really blame you for not listening to her all the time. But you did listen to her this time and that’s why you ended up knocking on Lily and Richard’s house that day. You felt like a puppy with her tail in between her legs, you were unsuccessful at finding a new job on your own and your mom told you to ask for help. It took a while to convince you but there you were. 

“Oh sweetie what an amazing surprise!” Lily smiled when she opened the door to greet you, letting you in their house, it was crazy how familiar it felt. “Richard! Look who came to visit us” she said with the warmest smile ever. 

She let you in, or more like dragged you inside, it felt familiar. Still you felt like you were abusing their trust and their kindness, they didn’t see it like that but you did “Well hello you!” Richard says “what brings you here today? More of Lily’s food? Because i can’t blame you if you do” he chuckles 

“Uh not precisely” you smile, feeling like the worst person it’s okay to ask for help you kept repeating in your mind. Lily noticed your uneasiness and decided to distract you. 

“Why don’t you sit here?” she pointed to the kitchen island “I was waiting for some cookies to cool you can help me decorate them God knows Richard won’t do it” 

“I can help to eat them” he pointed out while walking to sit on the couch, the kitchen had a little sitting area “so tell us what brings you around?” you silently sigh, grabbing a piping bag to help Lily decorate the cookies

“Richard shut it, she can come by with no reason if she wants, she’s always welcome” Lily says while putting the icing on the cookies and giving you a knowing look, how on earth does she do that? 

He rolls his eyes playfully “No, I didn't mean it like that, you know that, right Y/N?” Richard is used to Lily’s attitude, you chuckle and nod. For a while you kept quiet, indulging in the talk, finding the courage to finally speak up and ask for their help. 

“So how’s work?” Lily asked, you didn’t notice the knowing look she had given you, she knew you weren’t liking it, you haven’t told her anything but she knew since she usually went by to get together with her friends but she always noticed the disgust in your face when talking to certain people. You had never been good at hiding emotions with your face, maybe you didn’t talk but your face sure did. 

“Uh it’s good yeah” you tried to sound convincing, dodging her gaze. They exchanged a look, Lily had told her suspicions to Richard and they had already thought about a new job that you had mentioned you would like to get. 

“So there’s no chance you would like to change jobs?” Richard asks as he keeps going through his phone. You stare at him, like it’s a joke.

“Oh…” is the only thing that comes out of your mouth. Lily turns to look at you, lifting one eyebrow. 

“Don’t worry sweetie, if you’re happy where you are don’t let us push you to do something you don’t want to” You didn’t notice but Lily mouthed you’ll see to Richard

“I wouldn’t mind knowing, i-” you pause for a second “if it’s not for me maybe I know someone who might need it” you try to make it sound as if you’re okay with your current job. 

“It’s at the Country Club as beverage cart girl it has great pay and tips can be really good too, with how you are we’re sure you won’t have problems with that but if it’s not for you please let us know of someone who might be interested” Lily kept explaining “I’ll admit it can be a little tedious since you have to be on a cart all day around the golf course” your eyes light up bev cart girl, you wanted that job for a while but there were no openings. 

“I want it, if it’s okay” you admit, but you look down you can’t stop feeling guilty, it’s okay to let people help 

Lily smiled kindly “Well that’s terrific, right Richard?” 

“Of course it is, now we’re gonna see you more” he says kindly, you relax. They always meant good, you slapped yourself mentally for feeling guilty or ashamed 

“They want you there on Friday so they can train you” you nodded at Lily and spent the rest of the afternoon with them. 

—

During the week after the Boneyard party, Rafe had been in a sour mood, he had been snapping at anyone, Sarah was so over his tantrums to the point that she even went out of her way to talk to Topper so maybe he could help or take him out of the house because she couldn’t stand another second with his bitchy ass.

So that’s how he ended up in the Country Club with Topper and Kelce. Topper didn’t think much on why Rafe was in such a foul mood. Normally it was because of a fight with his dad so he thought it was that again. Wrong, everything was reminding him of you and he tried really hard to just ignore what he was feeling and all the awful things he had said to you but it was like his subconscious was torturing him and he was beyond frustrated. 

Golfing with his friends usually helped him get distracted but this time it didn’t work, he was more quiet and not very into the game. He was attempting (and failing) to play golf, getting even more frustrated because the one thing he did to take his mind off things was not working and to make things even worse he saw you driving that stupid golf cart. 

“You gotta be fucking kidding me” he mutter to himself

One thing that didn’t cross your mind when you accepted the job was the fact that Rafe liked golf and that he actually spent a lot of time at the Country Club, maybe because you didn’t know he liked golf. It had been five days since you had started working there up to that point you hadn’t thought about Rafe until you saw him, you cursed mentally, it was a rule to stop every time you saw a group of golfers just in case they needed something. You parked the cart, Topper and Kelce started approaching. 

You can do it, it’s your job now you told yourself, you put on a fake smile that was very easily wiped off. 

“Well, well, well if it isn’t our favorite bev cart girl?” Kelce said, his voice dripping something that made you feel uncomfortable 

“This is the first time you’re seeing me around” you stated as you got out of the cart. The glances Kelce was giving to you made you feel uneasy but you tried to ignore him the best you could 

“Yeah but it doesn’t mean we haven’t heard from you” Topper was staring at you, not intentionally but he was, he wasn’t gonna lie you were very pretty, easy on the eyes. Rafe noticed the way they were looking at you and unlike Kelce he was not amused. 

“Shut it both of you” he snaps at them. Topper finally looks away but in confusion as to why Rafe was so annoyed, Sarah was not lying was the only thing he thought. 

“Uh… anything you guys want?” you asked focusing again on why you had stopped and not them for a second 

“Oh we definitely want something”  Kelce said, his tone dripping with something else you didn’t like. You stood near the cart allowing you to put some distance between them, Kelce more specifically “Got something planned after your shift?” Topper rolls his eyes at the flirting attempts of Kelce, while Rafe just tenses up a little more seeing you’re just awkwardly smiling trying to avoid whatever Kelce is trying to do. 

“Back off idiot, you’re making her uncomfortable” Rafe speaks up, his tone firm and with a hint of warning. You looked at him for a second, silently thanking him but you didn’t forget how awful he made you feel, you knew you had to get over it but you were only human and his words had hurt you a little too much for your liking and seeing him again just brought it back.

“What’s up with you man? Can’t a guy just flirt with the pretty bev cart girl? I'm not doing any harm am I?” Kelce said with a hint of arrogance, you would’ve slapped his face right there but you were working and if you did you would be fired and you needed to work. 

“Since you guys don’t need anything I have to go back to my rounds” you said ignoring everything that Kelce had said and walking back to the driver's seat. Much to your disgrace you felt a hand grabbing your arm. Kelce’s hand. 

“Wait- don’t leave just yet we’re having a nice little conversation aren’t we? Can’t we have a little fun?” Kelce grins, while Topper just stands there not knowing if he should intervene or not, he is gauging at Rafe’s reaction and at what Kelce might try to do. 

“Let go” you say your tone firm, you might be getting too stressed but you’re not letting it show 

“Aw don’t be like that, just wanna talk” he keeps the grip on your arm, not willing to let go 

“You don’t need your hands to talk, so let go” you pulled your arm back, his grip unwavering

“Feisty, I like that” his eyes roam shamelessly over your body, you feel so uncomfortable and helpless. In any other scenario you wouldn’t but right now it was either you kicked him and lost your job or try to handle the situation the best you could. 

“I really need to go, unless you guys want any drinks” you kept trying to deviate the conversation back to the original reason for your stop. 

“How about we start with your number?” Kelce said, Topper widening his eyes in shock and Rafe just clenched his jaw more, how much more was his friend gonna push you? And how much longer until he breaks? “Although I know one thing I want to drink” Kelce added his tone as suggestive as it could get 

“Jesus, Kelce stop” Topper looked at him and put a hand over his shoulder, he had felt the tension in the air and either he stopped him or he knew Rafe was gonna do something so much worse 

The grip on your arm loosened a bit when he turned to Topper but then he looked back at you “Come on pretty face, just give me your number, it won’t hurt” you shook your head immediately 

“I really need to get back to work” you looked at Topper and Rafe, silently pleading to make Kelce stop, you would’ve never expected to be silently asking Rafe to do something but this was getting out of hand. He was having an inner turmoil, he wanted to beat Kelce’s ass and help you but he was completely frozen in anger. 

“Aw come on we’re not done here yet” he fake pouts for a second, getting a little closer to you, you try to pull back but unfortunately he’s stronger than you. You glance again at the other two, at that point you didn’t care who did something but you needed help. 

Topper notices how Rafe is clenching his jaw and his veins are popping out. He takes one step up but before hell breaks loose Topper speaks up with a firm tone “Kelce that’s enough. Let her go” you feel like you’re about to relax but much to your disgrace Kelce is still holding your arm and harder this time.  

“What? We’re having fun aren’t we? She’s fine” 

“No, she’s not, you're making her uncomfortable, let her go now.” Topper notices how he didn’t let go and notice how Rafe was about to break and he knew he was gonna regret it not because Kelce didn’t deserve it but because you were gonna see it, it was an unknown thing for you but he had beat up a guy once or twice at parties when they said some comments just like the ones Kelce was making but worse. But he always made sure you weren’t around or ever found out about it. Yes you had seen him fight JJ or John B but that was purely because they were pissing him off and it wasn’t related to you. 

“Dude she doesn’t want your ‘fun’ This isn’t about what you want but what she wants and clearly is not this. Now back off and let her go” Topper’s tone was firm, at that Kelce let you go. Rafe on the other hand was fuming one at how far Kelce had taken things and two at Topper for defending you, he knew being mad at his friend for defending you was a bit childish but it was more because he had stepped up instead of him. 

At the second Kelce had let you go, you gave Topper a small smile and he basically dragged Kelce away. 

“If you need anything I’ll be around” you didn’t want to be around them for one more second. You glanced at Rafe one more time before leaving, his gaze filled with something you couldn’t understand, you ignored it and got back to the cart and drove away. 

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Rafe finally spoke up, pushing Kelce back a little too hard “Think you’re funny?” 

“Jeez calm down, it was all in good faith” Kelce smirked, Topper shook his head and intervened before it could escalate to something else. 

“Kelce… you’ve done enough. Didn’t you have that meeting with your parents today? You should leave” Topper tried searching for excuses to kick his friend out before Rafe could beat him up. Kelced huffed but he did in fact have something else to do so he left. 

After he left Topper brought back his attention to Rafe “Hey man, you okay?” he was actually trying to be a good friend, while Rafe was seething still angry about everything that had just happened. 

“Just peachy” the image of Kelce grabbing you, your face… damn it your face, the stress and maybe even fear, why didn’t he do something? He cared for you, yet he didn’t do anything. He was even more angry this time with himself. 

“Come on, let’s play, it'll help” he nodded. Yes, golf should help but it didn’t, he kept looking where you had driven away. After what felt like an eternity you showed up again, you were surprised they were still playing, you noticed just two sets of clubs meaning Kelce was no longer there, it gave you peace.

“I hate this game” Rafe mutters under his breath after hitting the ball with more force than necessary. He was so in his head he hadn’t noticed when you showed up until you talked. 

“Hey” you talked in a soft yet cold tone, catching him off guard

“Hey” his face was serious, angry even but his tone had gone soft when he noticed it was you

“Do you guys need anything? Snacks, water, ice?” your tone was cold, only made him feel even more guilty. 

“No, we’re good for now” until that moment he didn’t notice your uniform, it suited you, the color, everything, it accentuated your body in ways he found enticing and infuriating. He shook his head “But you could stick around for a bit” Topper looked at him confused and interested in the change of demeanor once you had showed up. He was trying to make up for what had happened at the party and with Kelce without addressing the issues. 

“I-” you had been caught off guard but you recovered quickly “I can’t, there’s other golfers who might need something and I’m still working” 

Rafe seems disappointed? He knows you have to work but he doesn’t want you to go. Topper catches the way his shoulder slightly slump and decides to intervene “Not even a five minute break? I bet it can be tiring having to go around in this heat and serving a lot of people” he was not wrong but still you couldn’t

“I can’t, I have scheduled breaks and that’s in an hour… unless you guys buy something from the cart I can’t stay” 

“How about a refill on golf balls? I lost some already and I’m running low” he has a slight smirk on his face trying his best to make you loosen up, he’s lying he never loses a golf ball but it was the first excuse that came to mind and it was believable.

“I'm not the girl for that” you admit with a serious face “but I know someone who can help” 

“Can’t make an exception? We won’t snitch” he smirked at you, what was he trying to do? You wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. 

“I don’t know… I could but only if I get a good tip” you shrugged, you could do it yes it wasn’t something you would normally do but in your training they had told you that even if it wasn’t part of your job description you had to learn in case of an staff emergency. This was far from being that and you were still annoyed at everything revolving around him so you were gonna try everything to make him back off. 

“You got yourself a deal” he agreed almost immediately. You had said that so he could stop asking, but it had caused the opposite reaction. You sighed giving up, at least you were gonna get money out of this. 

“I’ll be back then… how many do you need?” 

“I’ll take three” his smirk was still plastered on his face, Topper looked in between the two of you, he tried to suppress a smile at the palpable attraction between the two of you, or more the attraction Rafe had for you. The very noticeable change in his demeanor and humor once you had shown up it was like you had brightened up his day. 

“Okay, Topper do you need anything?” you asked being polite 

“No no, I’m fine thanks” to which you nodded once and walked away saying a quiet I’ll be back, leaving the cart there and making your way to go pick the three golf balls. Once you were out of earshot Topper turns to Rafe and grins widely 

“Dude, you’re like down bad for her” he chuckled 

“Shut up man” Rafe says as he glares back at Topper 

“No, seriously it's like you’re almost drooling over her” He knew it was true, he wasn’t going to admit it but he knew you had some kind of power over him even if it was just by being there. 

“You’re being insane” 

“Oh I'm insane?, when have you ever been like this? You’re trying too hard to get on her good side, I really never thought I’d see the day, Rafe Cameron pining over a girl, that by the way doesn’t seem to like you” Rafe feels exposed at what Topper is saying so he tries to cover it up

“It’s not like that, she’s just… nice to look at” key on tried to cover it up, he failed miserably, but much to his luck before Topper could keep poking him you showed up again. 

You walked back with the three golf balls in your hand “Better tip me good, I went out of my way for these three balls” you gave them to him gently, he was a member you had to be nice.

“Oh don’t worry sweetheart I’ll tip you good” he smirked, he didn’t intend to sound so flirty but it came out so naturally. Topper had to bite a laugh, it was too funny for him seeing Rafe like this. 

“Are you guys really sure you don’t want or need anything from the cart? Snacks? Water? Shots?” you ignored his comment and asked once again getting a little annoyed. 

“I’m really okay, thanks though” Topper answered your question

“You guys make my job harder” you admit to both of them 

“Well maybe we like making things hard for you” Rafe teased back and you rolled your eyes

“Yeah I see that, you sent me for golf balls when im a bev cart girl emphasis on BEV” you crossed your arms

“Maybe I just wanted to see you walk away in that outfit” his tone was dripping with flirtiness and playfulness like he didn’t mean it but he did, which didn’t make you feel like you were being objectified unlike Kelce had made you feel “Besides I’m sure you have some way I can reward you for all this good service” his smirk unfaltering 

“I accept cash right now” you smile knowingly putting your hand out, you would never ask for tips but it was Rafe, he had been an asshole, his friend had basically harassed you, and he made you go look for stupid golf balls, a little money was nothing. 

“Ah ever the businesswoman” he chuckled “Fine” he pulled out his wallet a 20 dollar bill and placed it in your hand, the brief contact sending a jolt down his back 

“Just that?” you pushed “I think I deserve more for all the emotional damage I had to go through” you perked a brow at him, he huffed. 

“Emotional damage are you…” he trailed off biting his tongue, he could tell you were already angry and from The Boneyard party he knew better than to poke you more, so because he had felt awful he let it go “Fine” he pulled another 20 dollar bill “are you happy now?” he rolled his eyes

“Very” you faked smiled “Now if you excuse me there’s people who will not waste my time and will tip me without me having to ask” you rolled your eyes, walking back to your cart and driving away. 

“Fuck…” he muttered to himself 

“Rafe, my man, you got it bad” Topper said, grabbing Rafe’s shoulders and shaking him “Also what did you do to that girl? It was like she was shooting daggers at you” 

“Shut up will you?” he shook his head “let’s finish this game I can still beat you”

taglist: @starkeyvhs @oxpogues4lifexo @persiar9 @lenasvoid @zyafics @angelicameron if you want to be added send an ask or comment! :)

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INTHELIBRARYBTW ✧.*

[melminli]

Cold Coffee

pairing: young coriolanus snow x fem. reader

summery - you liked working, and someone else liked you working for them.

word count: 2k+

contains: young president coryo, crack, fluff, secretary reader, coryo being lovesick and shy

You had a routine. A routine that you strictly followed every day and it started with your alarm clock waking you up at 5 o'clock in the morning. The first thing you did was get up and go to the bathroom to wash the sleep off your face, otherwise you couldn't get anything done. After you had finished everything else concerning your hygiene, you continued with your outfit of the day.

You liked to play around a bit when it came to your fashion choices. After all, you were living in the Capitol. Your job still demanded a certain formality and professionalism, which is why you were perhaps not as free in your choice as others, but that wasn't a problem for you. You always managed to find something elegant to wear since you had all kinds of clothing in different colors and fabrics that were perfect for combining with various other items. Whether vests, suit jackets, skirts, trousers or everything all together, it was entirely up to your mood. (Even though combining everything together was something you hadn't done since your school days at the academy.).

Then the last thing left missing was your hair and maybe some make-up, before you could step out of the house with your pre-packed bag. After a 15-minute drive in your car, you would arrive a few minutes early and were able to go about your duties as planned until it was time to leave at around 4 pm (if you were lucky).

You've been doing this every day for three years. Every day. That may sound exhausting (because it is), but you were also kind of happy about it since missing work would just mean that you had more to do on the following one. You rarely got sick, but when you did it was usually nothing serious so you came to work anyway. On the two rare occasions when you were really seriously ill, you were once off work and once you were lucky (or unlucky) that it was at the time of several public holidays. So yes, you haven't missed a single day of work - until today.

Your alarm clock died in the middle of the night.

"...huh - what's happening?" You asked, slightly drowsy, and it felt like you'd been asleep for far too long, a suspicious amount of long. Your eyes glanced at the clock on your wall, and you had to concentrate to keep the image from blurring. "...It's a quarter past seven." You finally realized, before widening your eyes and jumping out of bed. "It's a quarter past seven! I'm going to be late!"

In your stress to get ready quickly, you decided to get dressed first and quickly picked something out before scurrying to the bathroom to get ready. That was your mistake because while being a bit too hectic when brushing your teeth, you were clumsy enough to get toothpaste on your shirt. "No, no, no - ugh. I can't believe this." You whined and hurried so you could change again.

Hair? fine, make-up? Fuck it - okay, just go out and get in the car. At this point, you were already a whole hour late. When you arrived at the place where your car was supposed to be and couldn't see it, you started to panic and it didn't stop when you realized why. It's in the repair shop! Why, does this have to happen to me?!

"Okay, let's calm down for a minute." You said to yourself and took a deep breath of the cold morning air. It was quiet, only the chirping of the birds could be heard, it was still early in the morning. "That's just the way it is now. I'll just let someone know I'll be late and - " You said and took out your phone, only to realize that it was dead. This all was probably due to a power cut in the night, which also explained why your alarm clock wasn't working this morning. " - alright, I won't do that then. It's cool. Everything's cool."

Your day was off to a pretty bad start already. It would take you at least half an hour to get to work with the train, and you'd have to wait another half an hour since the last one left five minutes ago according to your watch. Yes, the morning commute wasn't exactly popular in the Capitol - the people here usually preferred to sleep in.

"You know what? I'm just going to treat myself to my favorite drink in my favorite café. I really can't do this right now." You finally decide and set off a little more relaxed. "I would argue that I don't get paid enough for this, but I actually get paid pretty well." You admitted but didn't care any more than to laugh about it.

Of course, no one would assume that the secretary to the president of Panem would get a bad wage.

Hm. Coriolanus looked at his watch again. His eyes had been darting there strangely often since this morning. Well, he didn't see you at all today, and normally you would greet him on the way to his office, and he would greet you back. After a while, you would come through the door and ask if he wanted coffee while you were already carrying it to him in your hand. This was followed by a little summary from you about what appointments he had today, who he was meeting and so on - it's not that important, the point is that he hasn't seen you yet and he didn't know why.

He got up from his seat and opened the door of his office to look out, but like before, you weren't sitting in your seat at the reception desk.

He then decided to look for his nearest employee. "Excuse me, Mr. Pox. I hope I'm not interrupting anything. " He announced his presence as he knocked lightly on the open door with his knuckles.

The man immediately stood up slightly nervously in order to appear respectful. He was older than Coriolanus, but he also wasn't the president. "You're not interrupting anything, sir! How can I help you?" He asked, a little confused. Oh no, he never asks me anything personally, I hope it's nothing serious. I'm not in trouble, am I?

Coriolanus reassured him as he subtly asked his question. "Well, I was just wondering where my secretary was. You wouldn't happen to know anything about her whereabouts?" He said, thinking it was a little stupid of him for not wanting to appear conspicuous. She works for me. I have the right to know where she is. This is not in any way inappropriate.

Pox was relieved when it turned out that this wasn't about him, but immediately felt a little guilty because you seemed to be in trouble. You were his nicest colleague, he liked you a lot. But I can't just lie to the president either. He's literally the president! He'll certainly find out if I do. "No, sir. Unfortunately not, she didn't tell me anything." He replied and just watched as the man in front of him hummed absently, which is why he quickly added. "Maybe she's just late?"

If that were the case, you'd already be three hours late. That was not like you, and Coriolanus began to subconsciously worry a little. She would let me know if she was going to be late. He thought to himself until he realized that you had never been late before, so he couldn't be too sure of his theory. Because that was what it was - just a theory. "Hm. All right, thanks for your time, see you then." He said goodbye to Pox and decided to go back to his office.

There wasn't really anything else he could do - well, except maybe call you. He stopped his steps for a moment at the thought. That feels wrong. Usually, you were the one who called him regularly or barged into his office so he didn't really have to. Well, sometimes he wanted to, but he doubted you would appreciate it if he contacted you after your working hours. He sometimes wished that his thoughts of you would end with your departure, but he hadn't really been successful yet, and for god's sake, he didn't know why. Well, I do - but it's complicated. She's my secretary and this isn't a stupid rom com.

He saw you all day. That is enough. It should be enough. It wasn't like he was looking forward to monday or anything since you started working for him - well, he was, but that was because of other things, for sure. It could be because of other things, he could find joy in other things.

"Oh, Mr. Snow. There you are." Your voice surprised him as he opened the door to his own office and was greated with your face in front of his. "I wanted to talk to you, but then you weren't here. I'm sorry I got in without your permission." You apologized sincerely and took a step to the side so he could enter.

"It's all good. You don't need to apologize." Coriolanus said calmly and sat down in his seat, subtly watching you move in front of his desk. "What is it?" He asked, appearing unaffected - as if he hadn't been thinking about you and what you were doing since this morning.

You looked slightly confused. "Well, I'm three hours late for work." You announced, sure that he would have noticed. "I know this can't be excused, and I'll get straight to work to make up for it, I promise. It's just that my car has a few issues and, well..." You assured him and placed a paper cup on his table. "I know I usually bring you coffee, and this is not the expensive one from here, but from my favorite café around the corner, but well..." You started rambling a bit and were a little more talkative than usual, which didn't go unnoticed. "...It also got cold on the way, and I spilled half of it because someone ran into me on the train." You added when you noticed how his gaze shifted to the stain at your side.

"Sounds like you had a pretty exciting morning. It's all right, don't worry, I'll turn a blind eye since it's the first time." Coriolanus replied with his slightly charming smile. You usually told him so little about your personal life that he unconsciously began to appreciate the little things he got to hear from you.

Like no, he didn't want to hear another stupid story about Mr. Aliose and his fucking hamsters. He almost felt sorry for the guys patheticness, maybe he could live a happier life if he put more effort into finding a wife than getting his pet to do a roll. Or from his other employees who tried to entertain him with uninteresting personal stories he didn't care about - because he didn't care about them.

And the one person he did actually want to hear from, kept their personal and work life very separate. He hated that it wasn't the other way around.

You nodded. "You don't even know. I don't expect you to drink this, by the way. As a matter of fact, I'll make you another one right now. It's just that - I worked really hard to get this to you, and it felt wrong to just throw it in the trash in the end." You let that bit out before returning to your professional self. "I just wanted that at least one thing would go right today."

Stay cool, Coriolanus. Don't freak out, and also, stop romanticizing this. "It's all good. I'm honored that you thought of me." He said, hoping he sounded natural.

A smile graced your face. "Of course, Mr. Snow. I'll be right back." You promised him as you stepped out of his office and made your way to the coffee machine.

As soon as the door closed behind you, Coriolanus let out the breath he had been holding. His hand reached for the coffee cup and turned it in his hand only to discover a small note on it. "For my boss and the boss of Panem :)" He read out loud and smiled as his thumb ran over the drawing of the snowflake. He couldn't help but take the little gesture to heart. "That's so sweet."

I should send out a car to pick her up tomorrow - for business reasons, of course.

[yan-lorkai]

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Day two: Rook scaring his darling.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/n: Any and all excuses that let me write for Rook, I'm happy. He is my silly little guy with his silly ways 🥺

The phone rang, shattering the serene silence of your room. You glanced at the clock, your eyes tired and strained from the intense focus on your alchemy homework. It was 10:30 PM and pretty chilly, as you took to wrap yourself on your warm covers while studying. You ignored the first ring, your head already aching from the complexities of your studies.

Like... Why is alchemy so hard? And why you have to learn this? And why you need to know this?

The phone rang again, persistent and noisy. Your annoyance grew with each shrill ring, breaking your concentration at each passing second. You just wanted to get done with this and then to sleep. Finally, you picked up the phone, noticing the caller ID was from an unknown number. Usually you wouldn't answer.

But you were exasperated and tired. "Hello?"

A raspy, menacing voice replied, "Oh my, you finally answered. I hope you're enjoying your quiet night?"

Your heart skipped a beat, unsure. For a second you though you were dreaming but quickly discarded this when you blinked, drowsiness still present on your eyelids. "Uh… who is this?"

"That's not important," The voice hummed softly, a little laugh escaping his throat. You strained your ears, trying to hear something, anything at all as you let your notebook and pens at your table, rubbing your eyes slowly. "What is important is that I have been watching you for the last few hours. Your face is so cute when you don't understand a simple concept. Don't know what those ingredients are used to? I could help you with it."

Your mind raced, trying to place the voice. It was familiar, yet distorted with a sinister edge to it. "What do you want?"

A low chuckle came from the other end. "Oh, it's not what I want but what you fear. Do you remember leaving your window slightly open last night?"

You stiffened, recalling the slight breeze that roused you in the middle of the night, thinking nothing of it at the time. "How do you know that?"

"Let's just say I have my ways," The voice continued, dripping with malice. "You should be more careful, mon lapin. There are dangerous people out there, and they might want to pay you a visit."

A cold sweat broke out on your forehead, your heart pounding as you fiddled with your pen. "If you're trying to scare me, it's working. But you won't get away with this."

"Oh, but I already have," The voice taunted. You could almost feel his smile through the phone. "Look behind you, mon amour."

Fear paralyzed you, your breath hitching as you slowly turned around, expecting the worst. You were ready to strike whoever was behind you with your pen. But there was no one there. Just your room, exactly as it had been for the last few hours. You exhaled a shaky breath.

You rethink everything for a second, massaging your temple as you placed the phone back to your ear. "Ha ha, very funny, Rook. Only you throw around some french words"

Of course this was a prank, you thought bitterly.

Then the voice on the phone burst into laughter —familiar, musical laughter. Your fear turned into exhaustion. And the laughter continued for a moment before the voice softened, becoming the one you knew so well.

"Ah, mon trésor, you should have seen your face! You were so brave, so deliciously frightened. Pardonne-moi." Rook's breath hitched. He sounds like he was running or climbing something. You'd rather not know.

You stared at your shaky hands, your heart still racing. You wondered why you still loved him, then his smile, blushy face came to your mind. You sighed, you loved him, that's why you put up with his antics. "One of these days, your pranks are going to give me a heart attack."

"Forgive me, my love," Rook said, half chuckling half meaning his words. "But you must admit, life with me is never dull," His voice was full of warmth and affection.

You shook your head, a reluctant smile tugging at your lips. "Yes, Rook. Life with you is definitely never dull. Just… next time, maybe choose a prank that doesn't involve scaring me half to death?"

"Ah, mon ange, I will consider it," He promised, though you could hear the playful tone still lingering. "But I cannot make any guarantees. After all, where is the fun without a little thrill?"

You rolled your eyes, feeling your heartbeat finally returning to normal. "Alright, alright. Just get over here, you mischievous hunter. I think you owe me a relaxing evening after that scare."

"I'm already here, my love," Rook purred. Then you saw; he was climbing through your window, still wearing his vampire costume, little red details clinging to his face and lips. His face blushy and a trickle of sweat running through his temple. "And as a token of my apology I brought you something sweet to soothe your nerves."

"Oh! That sounds perfect," You replied, locking your eyes with his. "Won't you share those sweets while we cuddle, mister Hunt?"

"As you wish, mon trésor."

Hanging up the phone, you couldn't help but shake your head again, a fond smile playing on your lips. Life with Rook was certainly unpredictable, but you wouldn't have it any other way.

[daegutowns]

to be in love (csc)

tags: idol bf!cheol, non-idol!reader, fem!reader, reader is referenced as ‘noona’ and ‘girlfriend’ by svt, 95 line!reader, you surprise cheol (and the rest of svt) during practice one day, svt loves you a lot, you also love them a lot, cheol is more whipped than frosting, not proofread, i'm just going insane don't mind me

no matter how much your boyfriend choi seungcheol told you that his members probably loved you more than him, actions always spoke louder than words. as the leader of the group, seungcheol never held back in spending for the sake of his members. he affectionately called them ‘the kids’ or even sometimes ‘his kids’, and he liked giving out allowance/spending money to them. 

but, none of that mattered. at least, not right now. 

tonight was one of those nights where they had to stay up learning choreography so they could begin cleaning in the following week. by this time, their head choreography instructors were long gone and it was just the thirteen members in their dance studio. when seungcheol’s phone rang, he was at the other side of the practice studio as he went over the choreography with hoshi, mingyu, and jeonghan. 

seeing the display name ‘baby’ on seungcheol’s screen, seungkwan picked up instead. “hello? noona?” 

“oh, is this seungkwannie?” your voice asked back, excited. “hi, seungkwan-ah!” 

he smiled, greeting you back. “hi noona! seungcheol hyung is going over choreo right now with hoshi hyung, so i picked up instead.” 

“really? that’s okay,” you hummed. “i’m down in the lobby. if you or someone else isn't busy, do you mind letting me into the rest of the building?”

seungkwan’s eyes scanned around the room, trying to remember which group came next in the choreography. “i think i can send shua hyung and dokyeom hyung?” 

“okay, thank you! make sure you keep it a secret from cheollie. i’ll see you soon, then,” you replied, then ended the call. 

soon, joshua and dokyeom were excitedly making their way down to the lobby after telling everyone else they were just “going to the bathroom.” (this made woozi ask why they were going to the bathroom together, but he quickly lost interest just as fast as he asked the question.) 

when you saw the elevator doors open, you got up from the couch where you were sitting and gave them both a hug. “hi, shua,” you greeted your friend with a hug. when you pulled away, you were immediately swallowed up in another hug by dokyeom. “did dokyeommie miss noona?” 

his cute yes~ made you laugh. you held up two bags of food and two bags of drinks. “help me carry these?” you asked.

the two boys chatted with you as they took all the bags -- because no way would your boyfriend forgive them if they made his girlfriend carry their stuff. they told you that you didn’t need to bring them food, but you could already hear their stomachs growling. you knew your boyfriend like the back of your hand. he was definitely hungry right now, and he would let the boys take a bite of his food before he got started. 

when the door opened to the dance studio again, seungcheol, hoshi, mingyu, and jeonghan were still working on the choreo together. but, there concentration was broken as soon as seungcheol heard your laugh. his head whipped around, confused and wondering if he was so delirious from exhaustion that he was now hallucinating your voice. he was pleasantly surprised when he saw you laughing as you pinched vernon’s cheeks as his eyes lit up at the food. (“y/n noona,” he simpered, hearts in his eyes as he grabbed a container labelled ‘bononie’.) 

hoshi called for a break, excited to see you too. it seemed like suddenly, a room full of people were swarming you, saying ‘thank you noona’ or ‘thanks y/n’ to you. by the time he got to you, seungkwan was excitedly thanking you for bringing him his favorite iced americano -- even though it was decaf. (you wanted him to be able to sleep!) 

seungcheol wrapped his arms around your waist and nuzzled his head into the crook of your head. immediately, one hand reached up to affectionately pat his cheek while the other squeezed his arm around your waist. it was so natural, the way your bodies responded to each other without even needing to talk. 

“i missed you,” he mumbled into your skin. 

you turned around, your eyes warmly gazing at him. your arms draped around the back of his neck while his own arms snaked around your waist again. (the boys were too busy digging in and talking to each other to mind the both of you flirting in front of them.) “aw, i missed you too, my cheollie. i brought your favorite from the kimbap place you like. there wasn’t anything else open this late, so i just stopped by the GS--” your words were cut off by a bunch of kisses around your face, causing you to burst into a fit of giggles. 

“i love you,” he said before he leant in to give you a proper kiss. 

before your lips met, jeonghan screamed, “YAH! take that outside. we have food in front of us.” 

seungcheol pursed lips and closed his eyes, wondering what he was going to do about his friend. you, on the other hand, were still gracious. “did our jeonghannie get sick watching us?” you asked in a baby voice, making fun of him. “tsk, just enjoy your food.” you stuck your tongue out at him, making him laugh. 

while the both of you sat down on the floor with the rest of the members, seungcheol opened his box that was labelled with his name. he even caught the order instructions stapled to the bag, where you asked for extra meat on his and to add a bunch of hearts to his name. god, just when he thought he couldn’t fall in love with you any more than this after being with you for so long! 

he admired the way that you talked to the other members, making sure to hand them napkins if you noticed food around their mouths. he admired that you had gotten off a hard day of work and the first thing you did was take care of him and the people he cared about the most after you and his blood family -- his other family, seventeen. 

when you first started dating, he was worried about them. he knew what it would be like based on other idols’ stories. you date one, you date the whole group. but, you didn’t mind it one bit. if anything, you were always excited to see the boys and were often more worried about them liking her than she was of liking them. whenever he asked you about it, you would say, “of course i love them. they’re your members.” the way you said it like it was so obvious and that any other answer was ridiculous still made butterflies swarm in his stomach. 

feeling more in love by the second, seungcheol pulled you in close, so appreciative he had someone like you in his life. he had never met anything as kind, caring, and genuine as you. he made a mental note to order whatever he had loaded into his cart for you whenever he got home that night. oh, he was going to spoil you so hard. you deserved everything you ever wanted and more.  yeah, he is so in love with you.

[hyuneskkami]

astronomy

𝓽sukishima kei x f!reader

masterlist . . . ✰

𓆩♡𓆪 𝒶n : cassie!!!!! ilysm for requesting this <3 + i'm sorry I didn't write this sooner 😭 I had the best time nerding out about stars in this fic fr! alsoalso it's pretty short, so i'm sorry about that too 😩

𓆩♡𓆪 𝓌arnings + tags : stargazing , friend!tsukki x friend!reader , both of them like each other but are oblivious , no actual moves are made (maybe part 2) , very very short drabble , reader rambling about constellations (<3) , shooting stars ;

𓆩♡𓆪 𝓌c : 0.7k

“the sky is so pretty tonight,” I sighed. tsukishima and I sat cross-legged on our school’s roof.

since we were both a part of the student council, as co-sports captains, we had to stay back after hours to work on setting up everything for next week’s inter-school volleyball tournament that karasuno’s hosting.

we had just finished setting up all the stalls outside the court, and decided to call it a day since it was nearly nine in the night.

exhausted, I flopped onto my back. I pulled tsukishima down with me, and pulled out his arm to rest my head on.

“my favourite cushion,” I mumbled, smiling.

“my time as a cushion is very valuable, I must say.” he said, joking. “I bill by the hour.”

“yes, sir! you’ll get paid for being the best cushion ever.”

“I better.” he grumbled, and the both of us laughed.

after a while of just looking at the stars, tsukishima broke the silence.

“which constellation is that?” he asked me, pointing at the sky.

“oh! that’s hydra! it’s the longest constellation that’s ever been officially named.” I said, starting to ramble about it. “it’s made of, like, 17 different stars. oh my god, i’ve never been happier about how less pollution there is, in our prefecture. anyway, the brightest one there, if you see it,” I pointed at one star. “that’s alphard, or alpha hydrae. it’s like the defining star because it’s brighter than the rest, in the hydra constellation.”

“what about the one above that?” he asked, pointing to a quadrilateral-looking arrangement of stars.

“I think that’s… corvus? it’s symbolised by a crow or a raven. the four ends of the quadrilateral you can see, are gamma, delta, epsilon, and beta corvi. it’s associated with the greek god, apollo.”

I turned to check if he fell asleep, but he was staring at me quietly. he quickly whipped his head ahead, masking his smile.

I traced my fingers over the freckles on his cheek, under his eyes.

“this constellation’s my favourite one of all, though,” I whispered, observing his freckles. no matter how faint at night, everytime I saw them, I had this urge to trace every single one of them. join them like stars join to make constellations, and name them all.

his eyes fluttered close slowly.

I turned back to the sky, my cold fingers still resting against his warm cheek.

before I could continue telling him about the other constellations I could spot, a shooting star appeared at the edge of my vision. I sat up suddenly, and slapped tsukki’s arm.

“it’s a shooting star!” I exclaimed, in awe. “make a wish, tsukki! quick!”

I closed my eyes, and clasped my hands.

I wish I get amazing grades forever. and… I wish this moment with tsukki… lasted forever. I also wish for cute stuffed toys for my birthday this year!

I opened my eyes and turned to tsukishima, who was already looking at me.

“did you make a wish?” I asked, smiling.

tsukishima’s pov:

“make a wish, tsukki! quick!” y/n said.

my heart fluttered at the nickname, even though she called me that a lot. get a grip, kei! I chide myself.

her eyes closed, and her eyebrows pinched together in concentration.

I took in all of her features. the shape of her eyes. the slope of her nose. the curve of her lips. her beauty.

“did you make a wish?” she asked, opening her eyes and turning to me.

heat crept up my neck after getting caught staring at her. twice.

“yeah,” I lied.

every smile she sent my way, and every laugh i’d heard from her. every low moment in our volleyball careers we went through together. every win we celebrated with each others’ teams.

she was my dream come true.

what else could I wish for, if all i’d ever wanted was right in front of my eyes?

kozumesphone © 2024 | don’t repost my works onto other platforms, or edit and post them even on tumblr, without asking me first • don’t steal my works, steal my heart instead • reblogs and comments are more than appreciated !

[sleepynoons]

TIP TOE BY HYBS – higuruma hiromi (jjk) x afab!f!reader, post-canon!au, nsfw / 18+

genre – fluff, smut word count – ~2,900 warnings – manga spoilers, brief sub!higuruma, oral (giving), body worship, marking, edging, cum eating, praise kink synopsis – it's been weeks since the last time you and your husband have spent quality time together, and now that it's christmas, the two of you can finally spend an intimate evening together.

HIROMI: Be there in 10 minutes.

Promptly, you head downstairs, making your final adjustments as you slip on a vintage gold watch and rub a spritz of perfume behind your ears. Your clutch, coat, and shoes are already at the front entrance, and as you finish adorning the accessories, you’re all set. 

You stand in the entryway, fiddling with your phone to send your final work updates for the night before setting it aside and concentrating all of your attention at the door, waiting.

The silence and idling are unfamiliar, you think. Usually, there’s never a moment of peace in your routine. In a typical day, you wake up at dawn to the sound of your husband already brushing his teeth and washing his face; afternoons are spent driving around, enduring the Tokyo traffic that is characterized by impatient businessmen and consecutive red lights, as you drop off sorcerers at their missions and make subsequent reports; by nightfall, you return home completely spent, but you still rush around, pitter-pattering about, so that you can quickly make dinner.

It's Christmas, though, so your day's been anything but routine.

There are five more minutes before Hiromi comes, yet they feel never ending. You can only chalk the feeling up to your restlessness, eagerness, to see your husband, who’s been away for a few days on a business trip. And even before this business trip, he was out every day from morning to midnight to tend to shorter missions. When the top brass said they would work him to the bone, they weren’t lying, and it’s been months since the two of you last had any time to yourselves.

The sound of wind, gravel crunching, a slow roll into a stop echo outside. Glancing at the mirror one last time, you shake your shoulders out and stare at the door handle. As soon as the knob twists and the door moves, you look up and beam as his face comes into view.

Though he’s clearly exhausted, there’s also a small smile adorning his face, and he steps forward to kiss you gently on the crown of your head.

You laugh, soft sighs under your breath. “You should’ve asked me to pick you up instead. It’s not good to drive when you’re already drained from fighting.”

He shakes his head. “It’s no problem. Thought you needed a breather, since you’re always in the car. Anyway, here.”

From behind his back, he pulls out a small bouquet, a bundle of red and fuchsia peonies wrapped in white tissue paper. Delighted, you take the flowers into your hands, being sure to handle them with care, and you let your eyes wander over every bulb and petal.

“These would look great in our bedroom,” you muse, already sliding off your heels to put the bouquet into a vase.

You’ll arrange them once you get back, you think, as you head up and down the stairs.

Soon enough, you and Hiromi are on your way to your favorite restaurant. It’s a spacious, quiet place, on the top floor of a hotel where diners have a picturesque view of the Tokyo skyline, and it serves the best wine you’ve ever had. In fact, the two of you come here whenever there’s a special occasion, and the waiter recognizes the two of you and immediately gestures towards a table near the windows.

As always, Hiromi’s the perfect gentleman. He pulls out your chair and helps you settle into the seat before sitting down himself. He extends his arm out on the table, so you can hold his hand in yours. He chooses one of the two desserts you’re debating between, so that you don’t really have to make a choice in the end.

But you can tell he’s a little distant, or rather, distracted. When you glance at him, his eyes aren’t on yours like normal. His grip is looser, and you’re pretty sure he isn’t breathing much.

“Hiromi?” you mutter.

“Yes, love?”

You tilt your head. “Are you here? With me?”

His stoic expression breaks into one that is more embarrassed, shy even. He runs his other hand through his hair, sighing at being caught.

“Sorry,” he chuckles.

“What are you thinking about?” you ask, peering over the rim of your wineglass.

“Work. And how great you look, of course.”

You take a pleased sip. “You as well, handsome. But tell me, how was your mission?”

“Fine, as always.”

You roll your eyes. “Hiromi, that doesn’t mean much coming from you. You say ‘fine’ even when you’ve been told a colleague has died or when you’ve been hacking away at cursed spirits for days on end.”

“I suppose that’s the new norm for me. Though, not surprising to you, is it?”

You can’t help but huff unhappily. You’ve been an assistant manager to jujutsu sorcerers for years now, so you’re more than used to the inevitable fate that most of your colleagues succumb to. Arguably, you have it the worst because, sometimes, you’re the last face they ever see before they die on the frontlines. 

Sometimes, you disassociate from that realization. How haunting it must be, to die and share your last words with a mere acquaintance, to die without getting to see your most beloved one last time. Your job is to send sorcerers off to their death, only able to offer trite platitudes before you enforce the veil that separates them from the rest of humanity.

While you worry about Hiromi, you have no doubt he’s as much of a genius as Gojo Satoru when the latter was still alive. Truly, nothing can kill your husband. Besides, Hiromi’s no stranger to death, even before becoming a sorcerer himself.

You hum, barely bothered. “Not really. But it’s important that you take care of yourself, and I’m here to help, of course.”

The food comes, and you think it’s time to pivot. You clear your throat and say, “Now, if you’ll excuse my callousness, it’s Christmas, and I think my husband should have a full night off. Let’s eat!”

And like that, Hiromi nods and follows your instructions.

That’s the crux of your relationship. While Hiromi’s incredibly responsible and intelligent, he’s no different from any other person, and needs a shoulder to rest on at times. You’re witty, optimistic, and, most importantly, willing to provide him that support, so you’ve grown to trust and respect each other immensely. 

When your husband’s especially tired, like tonight, you steer the conversation, guiding, leading, redirecting. It’s all part of your ruse to get his mind off of miserable things, to distract him before his pondering thoughts and moral compass overtake his sensibilities once again.

As you’re eating, you inform Hiromi of Itadori Yuuji’s latest adventures and progress, as well as any updates you’ve heard about the higher-ups through the grapevine. You also tell him about the radish stew recipe you perfected the other day and the neighborhood cat that’s somehow been getting thicker. He also speaks of the missions he’s been sent on, the outcomes of criminal cases his juniors have been in charge of, the latest email he received from one of his law professors. 

The evening’s pleasant, and just as you’re taking your first bite of raspberry tart, you watch as Hiromi’s brows furrow, his eyes staring at the tufts of snow drifting down.

“No need to frown, my dear,” you comment.

He asks instead, “Are you cold?” 

You shake your head, but he insists on standing up and sliding his blazer off to drape over your shoulders. You thank him with a quick kiss on the back of his hand, but in your mind, you know your usual tricks don’t seem to be getting him. You internally sigh, knowing you won’t be able to discern the real reason for his listlessness until you get back home.

Luckily, upon arriving home, Hiromi visibly is more relaxed. His brows are no longer wrinkled with concern, and his jaw, though always defined, is not as set or tense. You lead him to the dining table, gesturing him to sit, as you pad over to the kitchen and fill up a kettle. As you wait for the water boil, you feel around in your cupboard for containers of lemon zest, ginger slices, and honey, in addition to your favorite set of teapot and teacups.

But Hiromi can never stay still for too long. When the kettle’s switch flips, he makes his way over to you and takes the handle before you can. He mutters something about the boiling water splashing onto your bare arms, and you can only giggle as he begins pouring on your behalf. It’s his consideration, his constant attentiveness towards your needs and surroundings, his protectiveness – just a few of his many admirable traits that you deeply appreciate, and there’s no better time than tonight to let him know.

You excuse yourself to the bathroom briefly, before coming back to find that everything’s already set on the dining table. You remain standing, however, sauntering over to your husband and resting your hands on his shoulders, dipping down to kiss the top of his head. Slowly, your hands slide down the plane of his chest, feeling the definition of his brawn and muscle underneath his shirt, fingertips stopping right before they hit the buckle of his pants, then treading back upwards. At the same time, you line kisses down to his shoulder, slight traces of your gloss and lipstick marking your path, before pulling away and leaning close to his ear.

“Hiromi,” you murmur, “what was on your mind during dinner?”

You press your palms a little more firmly against his body, applying pressure as you drag your hands back down. This time, you don’t lean back up, so your fingertips stay and fiddle with the leather band of his belt.

“Sorry, love,” he says. “I didn’t mean to be so aloof.”

You click your tongue, though there’s no ill-intention behind it. “That’s not what I asked, my dear.”

He chuckles. He knows nothing can get past you, yet he still tried. “Just you,” he mumbles.

“What about me?” You manage to undo his belt, so you stand up and walk around to kneel in front of him.

He sucks in a breath as your hands come to rest on the insides of his thighs. You spread his legs apart and, resting a cheek on one, you look up at him expectantly.

Hiromi scowls, his ears an adorable pink, and with shaking hands, he rakes one through his hair. The other comes down to rest on your face, where he rubs a thumb gently into your temple.

Finally, he answers. “Everything about you, love.”

Your heart flutters. “Tell me more,” you urge him.

He shakes his head, in disbelief at your insatiability. But it’s only fair, he supposes, after all this time apart. And so, he continues.

“You look gorgeous in red. Your blush, lipstick, dress… The dress is new, right?”

You nod, very pleased to know he noticed.

Quite uncharacteristic of him, Hiromi trips over his words. “It’s… very lovely on you.”

You trace a nail over the zipper of his pants. You’ve got him now. And so, you continue to press, musing, “What about it is lovely?”

Your husband knows what you’re up to, so he sucks in a breath through his teeth before letting himself go, throwing all embarrassment and caution to the wind – because, really, why should he be shy in the first place?

Hiromi admits, “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, love. I haven’t seen it on you before, and there aren’t any sleeves…” He gestures vaguely around your bare shoulders and collarbones.

He’s so darling like this, you think, as you try to stamp out the laughs bubbling in the back of your throat.

“I appreciate your honesty,” you say. “I love it when you’re so good to me.” You look up at him, down at his zipper, back up again.

And that does it for him. You can see him swallow thickly, as well as the slight bump in his pants. His face is also completely flushed, and the kitchen lights reveal some sweat lining forehead. You can’t help but purse your lips, more than ready to give him some loving.

Biting the metal zipper of his pants, you pull it down as you undo the button and pull out his tucked shirts. He lifts his hips slightly to make it easier for you to roll down pants just enough so that you can see his boxers and the obvious bulge it barely covers. Using your teeth yet again, you peel down the band of his boxers, until his leaking cock is freed of all confines.

You resist the urge to drool and lick your lips. If you did, it would ruin all the lipstick you had used in the bathroom earlier. As a result, to keep your mouth busy, you begin kissing and biting everywhere, except for his cock. Hiromi’s lower belly, square hip bones, even his balls – you leave splotches of stubborn, messy rouge and bruising hickeys in your wake. From the corner of your eye, you can see your husband fisting and unclenching his hands, but you quickly put a stop to it when you reach over to redirect his hands to the back of your head.

“Do you want me to?” you ask, peering up at him with smudged, wet lips.

He bites at his lips, clearly holding back a moan. With a barely concealed groan, he nods and pleads with a shaky “yes.”

Immediately, you take the head of his cock into your mouth. Moaning around it, you suckle on it and lap at the generous amounts of pre-cum that coats it. The pre-cum’s a little bitter, but nothing you can’t handle, especially when you love the way your husband tastes in general.

Then, you begin to take more of his cock into your mouth, adding centimeter by centimeter of his length. The entire time, Hiromi’s holding the back of your head, neither shoving or tugging, but you need him to use you with a little force, want him to let go just a bit more. He can be quite stubborn, so you know you need to push him more.

You decide to assist with your hands. One hand clings onto his hips, while the other holds and plays with his balls. Occasionally, when you need to take a quick breath, you leave a trail of red from the base of his cock to the tip before swallowing him whole again. You can feel his legs shaking, shuddering, with every bob and suck of your throat, and from above, you can hear him take breath after shaky breath.

Finally, as you take him in your mouth completely one last time, you time everything perfectly. Your nails bite into the skin at his waist, your palm tightens slightly around his balls, your tongue grazes over that particular vein on his shaft, you glance up at him with pearly, teary eyes – it’s more than enough to throw him over, and his hands tighten and shove your head down.

He groans, “Cumming!” He holds your head down, causing you to gag and tighten your mouth around him, as he shoots rope after rope of cum down your throat. You can’t help but moan at the stronger, stickier taste, and you do what you can with your tongue to extend and help him through his high.

After a few seconds, Hiromi pulls you off of his cock, watching as you use a finger to scrape up the cum that’s dribbling down your chin and push it back into your mouth. He sighs at the sight of your seductive beauty and the masterful way you handle him. Just a few teasing remarks, slight gestures, a cunning smirk, and you have him losing his mind over a slow-paced blowjob.

He leans over, loops his arms underneath your shoulders, and lifts you up from your knees.

“They must be bruised,” he notes with concern.

You pat his cheek and settle down on his lap. “It’s worth it,” you say with a shrug.

Hiromi thinks you’re quite stubborn, too. He knows you won’t give in or say yes, so he takes it upon himself to take initiative.

He slides his hands underneath your dress and traces up your leg until he reaches the thin string of your underwear. You shiver at the fleeting touch of his fingertips, and he glides his palm over the top of your thigh until he’s close to the heat radiating from your core.

“You’ll let me enjoy myself more for a while longer, right?” he asks as he inches closer and closer to your core.

You can’t help but squeeze and press your thighs together, but to no avail as Hiromi slides his hand down your panties, his fingers nudging your legs apart.

But then, he stops. Right as he’s about to reach your aching bud, he retracts his hand.

You’re about to whine, complain under your breath, but he silences you immediately by rasping into your ear, “Let’s go to the bedroom.”

You wrap your arms his neck as he picks you up, hugging you tightly to his chest and sharing wet, desperate kisses with you as he takes the stairs, two or even three at a time, to your bedroom.

And as he places you on the edge of your shared bed, he tells you what’s exactly been on his mind throughout this whole evening.

With a smoldering gaze and a gravelly, deep voice, he says, “I can finally undress you, love. I promise I'll give you all of my attention.”

winter event masterlist