#that was the only movie i saw with him in it and i thought he was gay af in it lol | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

itendtothinkalot · 15 hours ago

Text

& it was all yellow (strangers to lovers)

summary: yellow was never beomgyu’s favorite color—until you came along with your ridiculously bright yellow headphones that somehow made you look even cuter. he saw you on the bus once, just minding your business, and that was it—game over for him. suddenly, yellow wasn’t just a color; it was you. the only problem? beomgyu (yes, the choi beomgyu, who seems cool and confident to everyone else) turns into a shy, blushing mess whenever you’re around. now he’s sitting there, heart racing, trying to come up with any excuse to talk to you—without making a complete fool of himself. except he does.

genre: fluff!!! super mega fluff. no angst. none at all. i promise!

characters: beomgyu x f!reader

words: 11.9k

warnings: cursing? i think

a/n: im such a beomgyu simp. i just have so much ideas for this man...and legend has it hes not even my bias.........................

Beomgyu liked to think of himself as two different people.

There was Group Beomgyu—the one his friends knew. Loud, quick-witted, always cracking jokes that left everyone in stitches. He was the guy who could light up a room without even trying. The one who dared his friends to do the ridiculous, like singing karaoke in public or sneaking fries into a movie theater.

But then, there was Solo Beomgyu.

That version of him emerged the moment he was alone. Quiet. Thoughtful. A little unsure of himself. Solo Beomgyu found solace in the mundane—watching raindrops race down bus windows, people-watching from his favorite spot at the back of the bus, and trying to guess the life stories of strangers in passing.

The bus ride to campus was his favorite part of the day. It was his escape, his time to recharge before stepping into the chaos of college life. And lately, it had become even more interesting—because of you.

It was silly, really. The first time he noticed you, he thought you looked cute as you climbed onto the bus in a skirt and baby tee. Your hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and you wore a pair of headphones that were impossible to miss. Those headphones—bright, sunny yellow—were probably the most damning thing about you.

How could someone so effortlessly capture his attention with something as simple as a pop of color? Yet there you were, sitting a few seats away, bobbing your head to the music only you could hear, completely oblivious to the way you’d become the highlight of his mornings.

Life had a funny way of showing irony. Just the day before, after spending hours gaming with his buddies, Beomgyu had sighed into his pillow, the weight of routine pressing down on him. It wasn’t that he hated his life—far from it. He was content, in a way. But somewhere deep down, he felt like his world had lost its color.

Nothing excited him anymore. Life had become an endless loop: wake up, take the bus to campus, study, head home, game with his friends, sleep, and repeat. Sure, there were the occasional party invitations, and he didn’t mind attending one here and there. But even those didn’t light a spark in him. They were fun, sure, but not really his scene.

It was strange to think how much his days blended together—until recently. Because now, as silly as it sounded, one part of his routine had started to stand out.

You.

Or, more specifically, your bright yellow headphones. They’d added a splash of color to his otherwise grayscale world. Something about how unapologetically vibrant they were made you seem larger than life, even as you quietly kept to yourself. It wasn’t just the headphones—it was you. The way you looked so at ease in your own little bubble, head bobbing to music only you could hear.

It was ridiculous to feel this drawn to someone he’d never even spoken to. But then again, maybe those yellow headphones weren’t just a splash of color. Maybe they were the first brushstroke of something entirely new.

It had been weeks since he’d first noticed you. By now, he’d already memorized your bus schedule—not because he was a stalker or anything, but simply because you seemed to follow the same routine as him. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, like clockwork, you’d board the bus at the same stop, settle into your usual seat, and disappear into your world of music.

The two of you always got off at the same stop, though you’d inevitably drift in separate directions. He’d head toward the business building, his heavy bag slung over one shoulder, while you veered off toward the art center. That alone made him think you were an arts student. It fit, somehow. There was something creative about the way you carried yourself—effortless, like you were painting a masterpiece just by walking through the world.

And even though he didn’t know your name or anything about you beyond these small details, you’d already become a fixture in his mind.

–

“You should talk to her,” Soobin mumbled, biting off a chunk of his chocolate bar and waving it lazily in the air as if the solution were that simple.

“And say what?” Beomgyu shot back, slumping further into the worn couch in their shared dorm.

“I don’t know... things?” Soobin shrugged, barely looking up from the phone in his other hand.

Beomgyu rolled his eyes, running a hand through his already-messy hair. “You’re useless.”

Soobin smirked. “Says the guy who’s spent weeks staring at her like a weirdo.”

Beomgyu groaned, throwing his head back dramatically. “It’s not that easy, okay? What if she’s not interested? What if I mess it up? What if—”

“What if she’s waiting for you to say something?” Soobin interrupted, his tone suddenly a little softer. “Look, all I’m saying is, you’re not gonna get anywhere just memorizing her bus schedule and hoping she notices you exist.”

Beomgyu scoffed but couldn’t deny the sting of truth in his friend’s words. He’d spent so much time admiring you from afar, inventing scenarios in his head, but none of them ever involved him actually... acting on it.

“Fine,” he muttered, more to himself than to Soobin. “I’ll talk to her.”

Soobin raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.” Beomgyu straightened up, determination flickering in his eyes. “Next time I see her, I’ll... I’ll figure something out.”

Soobin grinned, leaning back in his chair. “Can’t wait to hear about how that goes.”

Beomgyu shot him a glare but couldn’t help the tiny smile tugging at his lips.

–

And just like that, he’d convinced himself he was ready to approach you. Except he wasn’t. Days had passed, and despite his mental pep talks and rehearsed lines, he couldn’t bring himself to even say hi.

Like he said, “solo Beomgyu” was a whole different type of Beomgyu.

In front of his friends, he could crack jokes and steal the spotlight without breaking a sweat. But in front of you? He became a nervous wreck, fumbling over words in his head that never even made it out.

Well, that was until one fateful morning.

The city had woken up to chaos. Roads were closed in multiple areas because of some big event Beomgyu didn’t bother to look up—probably a marathon or a parade or something equally annoying to his morning routine. Either way, it was causing a major disruption, and Beomgyu was not thrilled.

He stood at the bus stop, waiting impatiently as three consecutive buses rolled by, each one packed to the brim. It felt like an eternity. He rolled his eyes and groaned inwardly, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

Great.

The crowd at the stop grew thicker, and Beomgyu found himself shifting uncomfortably between clusters of impatient commuters. He hated waiting. Hated the feeling of wasting time when he could’ve been doing literally anything else.

And then he saw you.

You stood a little further down the pavement, your yellow headphones perched snugly over your ears, your gaze focused somewhere distant. You didn’t seem nearly as bothered by the chaos around you, which only added to the list of things Beomgyu found unfairly fascinating about you.

For a moment, he debated whether to move closer, maybe strike up a conversation while you both waited. But before he could make up his mind, the next bus pulled up.

This one wasn’t quite as crowded, though still far from comfortable. Beomgyu squeezed on, finding himself pushed toward the back, when suddenly, a voice interrupted his silent grumbling.

“Excuse me.”

It was soft but clear enough to make him glance over—and there you were, maneuvering through the aisle, your bag held close to your side as you tried to find a spot to stand. Beomgyu froze.

You were right there.

Fate, coincidence, bad luck—whatever it was, it had dropped you within arm’s reach. Beomgyu’s heart hammered in his chest as he tried to decide what to do. Say something? Smile? Pretend he didn’t notice you and stare out the window like his life didn’t hinge on this moment?

The bus jolted suddenly, and you stumbled, grabbing onto the nearest pole to steady yourself. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it—that pole was the same one Beomgyu was holding onto.

Your hand brushed his, just briefly, but it was enough to send his brain into overdrive.

“Sorry,” you said softly, glancing up at him with an apologetic smile before returning your focus to the window.

Beomgyu blinked, his heart still racing. He opened his mouth, words teetering on the edge of spilling out, but all he managed was a faint, “It’s okay.”

You didn’t hear him. Or if you did, you didn’t acknowledge it. And just like that, the moment passed, leaving Beomgyu kicking himself internally.

But as the bus rolled on, he found a tiny flicker of hope. Sure, he hadn’t said much, but you’d spoken to him first. That had to mean something, right?

20 minutes. The bus ride was 20 minutes, and the two of you were right next to each other. Beomgyu felt his palms sweating, his heart pounding in his chest.

God, she’s right beside me. He felt himself gulp, glancing over at you from the corner of his eye.

He’d never been so grateful for being almost a head and a half taller than you. It meant you couldn’t see the small, nervous glances he kept stealing in your direction.

The bus was growing more crowded by the minute. It was starting to get a little uncomfortable. You could feel yourself being pushed into Beomgyu, the pressure increasing with every jolt the bus took. His arms were propped up, gripping the taller handles above him, while you fumbled around, trying to find anything to hold onto. First, you grabbed the pole, then the handles near the seats, but as the bus rocked, you found yourself with nothing to stabilize you.

Beomgyu noticed. His heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, he reached behind you, his hand hovering near your backpack, fingers brushing against the fabric, just trying to hold you steady. He hoped you didn’t notice.

But the bus was moving like a rollercoaster. The driver swerved around a corner, and suddenly, the entire vehicle felt like it was on the edge of tipping. A pothole hit with a thud, and the jolt sent you stumbling.

You flailed for balance, but there was nothing left to grab. Before you knew it, you were teetering dangerously, feeling yourself lose your footing.

In an instant, Beomgyu’s hand shot forward. His fingers found your shoulders, steadying you before you could fall. The warmth of his hands against you was unexpected, sending a flutter through your chest.

You looked up at him, your eyes wide with surprise.

“Thank you,” you said breathlessly, your voice soft but clear, your heart still racing from the near-miss.

Beomgyu froze for a second, the sound of your voice like music to his ears. He felt the flush creep up his neck but tried to hide it with a casual, “No problem.” His grip lingered for just a moment longer than necessary, though neither of you seemed to mind.

The bus swayed again, and for a second, everything felt oddly... comfortable. Beomgyu could hear his heart thumping in his chest, but this time it was because of you—not the chaos of the ride.

—

The next day, the roads had finally cleared up. Beomgyu silently thanked every living being for that, especially since he had been about 30 minutes late for his class the previous day, missing out on a lecture he’d already been struggling with.

As he waited for the bus, his eyes automatically scanned the street, and there you were—your familiar yellow headphones bouncing as you made your way toward the bus stop.

You looked up, catching his eye from a few feet away, and offered him a smile.

“Hello,” you said, your voice light and friendly.

Beomgyu’s heart skipped a beat, and for a split second, he forgot how to breathe. “H-Hello,” he managed to croak out, cringing inwardly. Idiot.

You didn’t seem to mind, though. You gave him another smile, and it felt like the whole world slowed down for a second.

The bus soon arrived, and the two of you got on. Beomgyu’s eyes scanned the seats, and to his horror, all the empty ones were... right next to each other.

He froze. Great. Of course. Of all the seats.

Reluctantly, he made his way toward the row where you had already started to sit, mentally preparing himself for a potentially awkward ride. As he approached, you glanced up at him, your expression brightening.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

You shook your head. “It’s a free country.”

Beomgyu hesitated for a moment longer than necessary before sitting down beside you.

The bus jolted forward, and he instinctively reached for the pole above them, his fingers gripping it a little too tightly. Why am I so nervous? He couldn’t understand it.

Meanwhile, you settled into the seat, adjusting your backpack and glancing out the window. For a moment, it felt like the most natural thing in the world—sitting beside someone you’d barely spoken to but already felt strangely connected with.

Beomgyu had no idea how to break the silence. But then, as if on cue, you turned to him.

“So… how’s your day going so far?”

It was a simple question, but the way you asked it made his heart race all over again. He managed to smile, albeit awkwardly.

“Uh, good, I guess. The roads are less crazy today.”

You laughed, and it felt like the weight in his chest lightened a little. “Yeah, I noticed. It was a mess yesterday.”

He nodded, relieved that the conversation hadn’t turned into an awkward silence.

“So… you’re heading to the art center again?” he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

You nodded, your smile softening. “Yeah. I’m always there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.”

“Oh.” He pretended like he hadn’t known this little detail about you.

Beomgyu found himself relaxing a little more with each passing second. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. The awkwardness was still there, but it felt like a stepping stone—like the beginning of something that could finally get easier.

The bus continued to roll along, Beomgyu stole a quick glance at you, his heart fluttering as you hummed softly to the music in your headphones. For once, the awkwardness didn’t feel so unbearable.

The next few minutes passed in relative silence, with only the occasional rattle of the bus as it made its way through the streets. Beomgyu found himself struggling to think of anything to say. He could hear the faint melody of your music through the air, but there was no other conversation to fill the space. He tapped his fingers nervously against his thigh, stealing glances at you, trying to figure out how to start another topic.

His mind raced with all the things he could say, but none of them seemed good enough. This is so awkward, he thought, almost groaning internally. Why is this so hard?

His eyes landed on his phone. The distraction was tempting. He pulled it out and quickly opened Spotify, deciding that he could at least use the music to mask the silence between the two of you. Beomgyu scrolled through his playlists, searching for something that felt right for the moment.

The bus jerked again, and Beomgyu adjusted his seat, tapping on a song and turning the volume up, only to suddenly realize—Wait, I haven’t connected my AirPods.

Flustered, he fumbled with his phone, tapping at the Bluetooth settings and then back to the app, his face warming with embarrassment. Idiot.

But as the awkwardness hit its peak, you turned to him with a soft smile. “I like that song,” you said, your voice calm and easy, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “It really suits you.”

Beomgyu blinked in surprise, his nerves a little shaken by the unexpected compliment. He looked at you, his heart racing again. “It suits me?” he repeated, voice a little higher than he intended.

You shrugged lightly, a mischievous twinkle in your eyes. “Yeah, it’s got a kind of... laid-back vibe. Kind of like you, I guess?”

Beomgyu’s face flushed, not sure whether to laugh or be more self-conscious. He adjusted his AirPods in a hurry, trying to make himself look less flustered than he felt.

“Thanks,” he said, a small grin tugging at his lips. “I mean, it’s just a playlist... but yeah. It’s one of my favorites.”

You smiled back, then looked out the window again, but Beomgyu couldn’t help but notice how much more comfortable the moment felt now. The weight of silence didn’t seem so heavy anymore.

He tapped play on the song again, this time making sure the music was coming through his AirPods. The familiar melody filled his ears, and for once, the awkwardness didn’t feel so unbearable. Instead, it was like a subtle connection was forming, one little step at a time.

"And how would you know if I'm laid-back?" Beomgyu asked shyly, his voice barely above a whisper. He couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious, but the curiosity in your eyes made him feel like he could ask the question without it sounding too awkward.

You chuckled softly, turning to face him for a moment. "I don't know," you shrugged, smiling. "Just a guess? Call it a woman's intuition."

Beomgyu blinked, not quite sure what to say. “Woman's intuition?” he repeated, a little taken aback.

You grinned, a playful glint in your eyes. “I don’t know, maybe I just get a sense of things.” You hesitated for a second, then added, “But I could be wrong. I mean, I don’t really know you.”

He wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. But at least, for now, you didn’t seem to mind.

"I-I guess I do try not to let things bother me too much," he mumbled, still trying to figure out what to do with his hands. "Though, I wouldn't say I'm always that chill. I have my... moments." He let out a nervous laugh, hoping you wouldn't think he was some kind of mess.

You smiled, your eyes crinkling at the corners. "Everyone does."

Beomgyu blinked, surprised by how comforting your words were. For a moment, it felt like the world had slowed down again, and it was just the two of you, exchanging these small moments of understanding.

"True," Beomgyu said softly, his smile growing a little more genuine. "I guess I'm just not great at dealing with, you know, awkward moments."

You looked at him curiously. "Awkward moments, huh?"

Beomgyu nodded, his ears turning a little red. "Yeah... like this one." He gestured vaguely between the two of them, the words spilling out before he could stop them. "I mean, I don't usually... I don't know, talk to people like this."

Your smile softened. "You seem like you’re doing just fine to me."

His heart swelled a little at that. "Really?"

"Yeah," you replied, your tone sincere. "You’re doing great."

Beomgyu’s face lit up with a smile he couldn’t contain. "Thanks," he said, feeling a little less nervous than he had before. "That means a lot, actually."

For a moment, the two of you sat in comfortable silence, the sound of the bus’s tires on the road and the faint music in his ears the only background noise. Beomgyu felt a strange sense of peace settle in his chest. Maybe this wasn’t so hard after all.

He glanced over at you, catching you humming softly along to the music, and realized that, somehow, this was one of the most comfortable conversations he’d ever had.

"Hey," Beomgyu said after a beat, his curiosity getting the best of him. "What about you? What’s your favorite type of music?"

You turned to him with a thoughtful look, clearly enjoying the question. "I guess I’m all about the acoustic stuff mostly."

"Acoustic, huh?" Beomgyu said with a smile, intrigued. "I can see that. Seems like something you’d like."

You smiled, the sound of your laughter filling the space between you. "You got that from…?”

“Call it an idiot’s intuition.” He chuckled.

You laughed, “What about you?"

Beomgyu chuckled, trying to hide the grin that spread across his face. "I’m pretty into all kinds of stuff, but right now? Definitely some chill pop. Y’know, maybe I’m starting to agree with you on the whole laid-back thing."

You raised an eyebrow, playfully teasing him. "So, you admit it?"

Beomgyu shrugged, leaning back a little, feeling a little more confident with each word. "Yeah. I guess I do."

And in that moment, Beomgyu finally realized that maybe, just maybe, the things he’d been too nervous to do or say weren’t as difficult as he’d once thought.

—

Beomgyu slumped back into his bus seat, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Idiot," he muttered under his breath. After weeks of stealing glances and summoning every ounce of courage he had, today had finally been the day he talked to you. Well, kind of. It was small talk—weather, classes, and music. But it was progress.

And yet, in his nervousness, he’d forgotten the most important thing. He hadn’t asked for your name or your number. He groaned inwardly, glancing out the window as the bus trundled down the familiar route. It was Thursday, which meant he wouldn’t see you again until Monday. Four whole days.

“Great,” he muttered, slumping further into his seat. “Four days to kick myself for being an idiot.”

Monday arrived far too slowly, and Beomgyu was oddly fidgety, his leg bouncing as he stared at the bus stop from his seat. The bus slowed to a stop, and his heart leapt in anticipation—only to sink when you weren’t there.

He glanced out the window, confused. Maybe you were running late. Or you’d taken an earlier bus? He brushed it off, convincing himself you’d show up tomorrow.

But then Tuesday came. And Wednesday. And still, there was no sign of you.

Beomgyu found himself staring at the seat you always sat in, empty and glaringly obvious. He hated how it bothered him so much. He barely knew you—he didn’t even know your name—and yet he felt like something was missing. Like the bus rides were quieter without the possibility of you being there.

By Thursday, disappointment had settled heavily in his chest. He sat near the back, earphones in but barely paying attention to the music. The world outside the window blurred past, but his thoughts were stuck on you.

Where were you?

—

It had been approximately two weeks since Beomgyu had last seen you. You had vanished like the wind, leaving him frustrated and more restless than he wanted to admit. Every day since, he’d made excuses to linger outside the art center, hoping for some sign of you. Desperation had even driven him to approach the center’s custodian, awkwardly asking if he’d seen anyone with bright yellow headphones.

“Yellow headphones?” a voice behind him piped up, catching Beomgyu off guard. “You mean this girl, right?”

Beomgyu turned to find a tall, sharp-featured guy holding out his phone, displaying a picture of you.

Immediately, Beomgyu’s stomach twisted. He took in the guy’s confident smile, the casual air about him, and the way he spoke about you like he knew you well—too well. He didn’t like it one bit.

“Yeah, that’s her,” Beomgyu said, his voice measured. “Who are you?”

“I’m Yeonjun,” the guy said, sliding his phone back into his pocket. He extended a hand, but Beomgyu hesitated for a second before shaking it. “I’m her friend.”

Friend? Beomgyu’s eyes narrowed slightly. Yeonjun was a little too good-looking to just be a friend, wasn’t he?

“So, uh…” Beomgyu cleared his throat, trying to hide the slight edge in his voice. “Do you know where she’s been?”

Yeonjun’s expression softened, a flicker of concern crossing his face. “Yeah. Something happened a couple of weeks ago. She’s been taking some time off to deal with it. But she should be back next week.”

Beomgyu felt a wave of relief wash over him—until Yeonjun added, “She’s been doing okay, though. We’ve been texting, and I’ve checked in on her a couple of times. You know, just to make sure she’s alright.”

Beomgyu’s jaw tightened. Texting? Checking in? Was that really necessary for a “friend”? He tried to keep his expression neutral, but a pang of jealousy flared in his chest.

“Right,” Beomgyu said, forcing a small smile. “That’s good. It’s good she has…people checking in on her.”

Yeonjun tilted his head, studying Beomgyu for a moment. “Who are you, anyway?” he asked casually. “Do you…know her?”

Beomgyu froze for a split second, the question catching him off guard. He shrugged quickly, trying to play it off. “Not really. We just…take the same bus sometimes.”

“Oh,” Yeonjun said, his lips quirking up into a small, knowing smile. “I see. So you’re, what? A bus friend?”

“Something like that,” Beomgyu mumbled, suddenly feeling like an idiot. He wished he’d thought of something cooler to say, but it was too late now.

“Well,” Yeonjun said with a grin, “that’s cute. But yeah, don’t worry—she’ll be back soon. And maybe I’ll see you around too, man.”

“Yeah. See you,” Beomgyu replied, watching as Yeonjun walked away.

As soon as Yeonjun was out of sight, Beomgyu exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. He felt ridiculous. He didn’t even know your name, and yet here he was, stewing over some guy who probably wasn’t even competition.

Still, as he walked back toward the bus stop, the thought lingered: What if Yeonjun wasn’t just a friend?

—

And Yeonjun was right. You were back the following week, except you were dressed in the darkest colors Beomgyu had ever seen you wear. Your expression matched your clothing—cloudy, somber, and weighed down by something unseen. Strangely, he found it almost endearing that you seemed to dress the way you felt.

Still, it made him worry. Not that he had any right to, given that you two weren’t exactly close. But the thought lingered: What could’ve happened to make her look this upset?

When he finally gathered the courage to take the seat beside you on the bus, you didn’t even glance at him. You were completely absorbed in your thoughts, your body language practically screaming, Leave me alone.

“Life sucks, doesn’t it?” Your voice cut through his thoughts suddenly.

“Huh?” he asked, blinking in surprise.

You didn’t look at him, your gaze fixed out the window. “It sucks, doesn’t it?”

He hesitated for a moment before nodding. “It can suck,” he admitted. “But it can also be really great.”

You turned your head slightly, finally acknowledging him with a raised brow. “Oh, yeah? How’s it ‘really great,’ exactly?”

“Well,” he started, leaning back in his seat, “it’s great because… it’s unpredictable. You never know when something good might happen. Even when everything feels like it’s falling apart, sometimes the universe throws you a surprise. Like…” He paused, glancing at you meaningfully, “…sitting next to someone who’s too cute to be upset.”

The corners of your lips twitched, the faintest hint of a smile breaking through. “That’s cheesy,” you said, but there was no hiding the slight blush creeping onto your cheeks.

“Cheesy, sure, but also a fact ,” he replied with a grin. “See? You’re smiling already..”

You shook your head, laughing softly before falling quiet again. After a beat of silence, you sighed. “I’m not usually like this. I don’t like moping around. It’s just…”

Beomgyu tilted his head, waiting patiently for you to continue.

“…My parents decided to sell our old childhood home,” you admitted, your voice soft and tinged with sadness. “I had to go back and clear out all my things. It’s stupid. A first-world problem if you must, but I didn’t think it’d hit me this hard.”

He studied you for a moment, his gaze warm and understanding. “It’s not stupid,” he said gently. “It’s your childhood. It’s where you grew up, made memories, and felt safe. It’s okay to be upset about losing something that meant so much to you.”

You looked at him, your expression conflicted. “I guess. It’s just… I feel so silly. Like, there are bigger problems in the world, and here I am crying over a house.”

“It’s not just a house, though, is it?” he countered, his tone firm but kind. “It’s a piece of you. And no one gets to tell you how to feel about it, not even yourself. Your feelings are valid—every single one of them.”

Your lips parted slightly, taken aback by his sincerity. For the first time in days, you felt a weight lift off your chest.

“Thanks,” you said softly, offering him a small, genuine smile. “I didn’t realize I needed to hear that.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” he said with a wink, making you laugh despite yourself.

As the bus rolled to a stop near campus, you glanced at him and hesitated for a moment. “Hey, Beomgyu?”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe life doesn’t suck that much after all,” you said, your smile widening just a little before you stood up and stepped off the bus.

He stayed seated, watching you walk away, and couldn’t help but grin to himself. Maybe life didn’t suck that much, indeed.

Then it hit him.

How’d you know his name?

—

It had become second nature to save each other a seat on the bus. Whether it was an unspoken agreement or just something you both fell into, neither of you questioned it. For the next two weeks, your mornings began with a quiet understanding. You’d sit side by side, talking about the most mundane things—complaints about the weather, funny things you’d overheard, or random thoughts that popped into your heads.

Still, you hadn’t exchanged names, let alone numbers. It was almost absurd at this point, how you knew snippets of each other’s lives but not the most basic details. Except you did know his name—and Beomgyu was still wondering how.

Beomgyu found it funny too. But he didn’t mind. He liked your conversations, no matter how random they were.

Then one day, Beomgyu didn’t show up.

You found yourself glancing down the street more than once, your brows furrowed as you searched for any sign of his figure walking toward the stop. The bus pulled up, and you hesitated, standing on your toes to peer down the block one last time before climbing aboard.

You took your usual seat by the window, feeling a small pang of disappointment. The bus rolled forward, the rain outside picking up again and blurring the city beyond the glass. You stared at the streaks of water running down the pane, wondering where he could be.

That was when the bus jerked to a sudden stop.

You glanced toward the front, curious, only to see someone hopping up the stairs, drenched from head to toe. It took you half a second to recognize him, but when you did, you couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of you.

Beomgyu stood there, panting slightly, his hair plastered to his forehead and water dripping from his jacket. His sneakers squeaked against the floor as he caught his breath.

“You made it,” you said, grinning as he shuffled over to your seat.

“Yeah,” he replied between breaths, dropping into the seat beside you with a sheepish smile. “Barely.”

“Did you seriously chase the bus?” you asked, trying not to laugh too hard.

“Well…” He scratched the back of his neck. “I couldn’t miss it. Someone’s got to save you a seat.”

You shook your head, biting back a smile as you handed him a tissue from your bag. “It’s the other way around, is it not?”

“Maybe,” he admitted, taking the tissue to wipe his face.

As the bus rolled forward again, the rain continued to pour outside, but it didn’t bother you as much anymore. Beomgyu was here, sitting beside you again, and for reasons you couldn’t quite explain, that made the day feel a whole lot brighter.

“Y’know… I still don’t know how you know my name while I don’t even know yours,” Beomgyu said, leaning back in his seat as he looked at you with curious eyes.

You grinned sheepishly, fiddling with the strap of your bag. “I… It’s stupid.”

“What’s stupid is that we’re practically best friends now, and I still don’t know your name or have your number,” he said with a pointed look.

“I like our friendship. It’s low maintenance,” you teased, biting back a smile.

“I’d like it more if I could talk to you more often instead of just on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays,” he countered, his lips quirking into a small pout.

You laughed. “But isn’t it fun this way?”

“It’s a whole amusement park,” he replied with a chuckle. “Though we’re threading off-topic—how’d you know my name?”

“Who doesn’t know your name, business boy?” you shot back, laughing softly.

“What?” His brows furrowed in confusion.

“You’re the infamous business boy on our school’s social media page. You don’t know about that?”

“Oh, I heard Soobin mention something about it a couple of times, but I don’t really check the app. I just use it to look at the lunch menu,” he admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

“Well, you’re always making appearances on there. Especially from new students. ‘The dude from Econs 305 is really cute,’” you mimicked in a high-pitched voice, earning a laugh from him.

“Oh, so you’re saying you frequent the page often to find me?” he teased, leaning a little closer with a smirk.

“No! I’m just saying it pops up on my feed,” you said quickly, feeling your cheeks heat up. You looked away, embarrassed by the way he was watching you now.

“Hmm.” Beomgyu’s smirk deepened as he tapped his chin dramatically. “You’re blushing. Are you sure you don’t check it on purpose?”

“Absolutely not,” you huffed, still avoiding his gaze.

“Okay, okay,” he relented, though his grin didn’t fade. He leaned back in his seat and looked at you thoughtfully. “Still, I’m flattered. Infamous, huh? Guess I’ve got quite the reputation.”

You rolled your eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Too late,” he said with a playful shrug. Then, after a moment of silence, he tilted his head and added, “So, are you ever going to tell me your name, or are you going to keep the mystery alive?”

You hesitated, biting your lip. “I don’t know… The mystery has a certain charm, don’t you think?”

“Oh, come on,” he groaned dramatically. “Throw me a bone here.”

You laughed, finally relenting. “Fine. I’ll tell you—on one condition.”

“Anything,” he said eagerly, his eyes lighting up.

“You’re going to have to wait a little longer,” you teased, grinning at the look of mock horror on his face.

“Is this some kind of game for you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe,” you grinned, feeling a little mischievous. “But don’t worry, I’ll tell you soon enough.”

Beomgyu sighed, shaking his head. “You’re impossible.”

Your conversation was abruptly cut off by the bus driver’s voice over the intercom, his tone apologetic. “Sorry for the delay, folks. There’s a small flood up ahead, and we’re going to have to take a detour. We’ll be going around, so it’ll take about 20 more minutes. Please bear with us.”

You sighed, leaning back into your seat. The rain outside was relentless, tapping against the windows in a rhythm that made your eyelids heavy. Gradually, you drifted off, your head tilting toward the window. Every so often, you jerked awake, only for your head to fall back against the glass with a soft thud. Beomgyu watched you, his lips twitching as he stifled a chuckle. He shifted closer, his gaze softening. Carefully, he leaned over and gently placed your head on his shoulder.

You didn’t stir. The comfort of the moment made you relax further into him, unaware of the quiet smile on Beomgyu’s face. After a few moments, an idea sparked in his mind. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a Sharpie, the black marker feeling oddly significant in his hands. Glancing down at your arm, he softly grasped your wrist, guiding it gently. He wrote quickly, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips as he scrawled:

‘Text me, I’m trying to be your best friend on all 7 days of the week - Beomgyu’

Once he was done, he sat back, his heart racing a little as he looked at your sleeping form. Pretending like nothing had happened, he adjusted his posture and looked out the window, as if he hadn’t just written his number on your arm.

About 15 minutes later, the bus jolted as it finally approached your campus, pulling into the stop with a slight screech of the wheels. The ride was almost over, and you began to stir, your eyes fluttering open slowly. You blinked a few times, squinting in the morning light that filtered through the windows.

Beomgyu glanced over at you casually, his face neutral as you yawned, rubbing your eyes. You stretched and groggily looked around, your gaze landing on him.

“Hey,” he said, almost too nonchalantly. “We’re here. Campus, I mean.”

You nodded, still dazed from sleep. “Yeah, I guess we are.” You glanced down at your arm, and your eyes widened when you saw the writing on your skin. A small smile tugged at your lips, though you tried to hide it.

Beomgyu didn’t acknowledge your surprise, pretending to look out the window, his fingers tapping rhythmically on his bag. “Didn’t want to wake you up, but… it’s kind of hard to miss, huh?”

You rubbed your arm, trying to act casual. “Hmm, what’s this?” You raised an eyebrow, playing along.

“Nothing,” Beomgyu said, voice smooth. “Just figured it was a good time to share my number. You know, in case you need me for… any reason.” He grinned, his gaze flicking to you for a moment before he quickly looked away, feigning innocence.

You couldn’t help but laugh softly, your heart fluttering a bit at his casual confidence. “Smooth, Beomgyu. Really smooth.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to make sure I’m not just a bus stop friend,” he said, a playful tone in his voice. “I’ve got big plans for us to hang out… all week long.”

You chuckled, shaking your head. “You’re something else, aren’t you?”

Beomgyu only grinned, looking down at his bag as the bus doors finally opened. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

As you both stood up, gathering your things, there was a lingering sense of something unspoken between you two, the kind that felt both thrilling and comforting all at once.

—

Beomgyu glanced down at his phone again, his finger hovering over the screen, but there was still no text from you. It had been a day or two since he wrote his number on your arm, and he couldn’t help but wonder if you were just too busy or, worse, playing hard to get. The thought made his chest tighten. He didn’t like that feeling, the uncertainty, but it was all he could think about. God, he wanted you so much, but now... now he wasn’t so sure.

He sighed, shoving his phone into his pocket and heading toward the campus bus stop. His mind kept replaying the moment he'd written his number on your arm, hoping you’d text him. He should’ve just asked for your number, but for some reason, he’d held back. What was wrong with him?

And then, as if on cue, he saw you standing there. His heart skipped a beat. You were just as he remembered—yellow headphones hanging around your neck. But there was something different this time. Something he hadn’t expected.

Someone was with you.

Beomgyu stopped dead in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat. Yeonjun. Of course, it had to be him. The guy was tall, confident, and... his arm was around you. Beomgyu's stomach twisted, the jealousy creeping up on him. He wasn’t the type to feel this way, but seeing the two of you together felt like a punch to the gut.

He told himself it wasn’t a big deal. That you’d never given him any indication you liked him in the first place. You were beautiful, funny, smart—of course, you’d be taken. He shouldn’t even be surprised, but damn it, it stung more than he expected.

Beomgyu glanced away, his feet itching to leave. Maybe it was better not to make a fool of himself.

Just as he was about to walk off, a loud voice rang through the air. "Beomgyu!"

He turned, and there you were—waving at him, smiling that infectious smile of yours. His heart fluttered. You looked so happy to see him. For a brief moment, the jealousy melted away, and all he could do was return your smile.

"Beomgyu, right?" Yeonjun said, raising an eyebrow. He grinned, the kind of smile that made Beomgyu want to roll his eyes. "I remember you. You’re the one who asked me where she was when she disappeared for two weeks."

Beomgyu’s face flushed instantly. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to vanish into the ground or laugh it off. "No, no. That’s not me," he muttered, shaking his head quickly, trying to downplay the awkwardness of the moment.

Yeonjun raised an eyebrow. "No, I remember. It was you. I mean, you're the Business Boy, aren’t you?" He smirked, clearly amused. "I was a little surprised you were asking about this idiot here."

You shoved Yeonjun lightly, but Beomgyu could see the playful affection in your eyes. And in that moment, his heart sank. So this was it. You and Yeonjun. He had hoped he was wrong, but now he could see it clearly. You were a couple.

"You asked about me?" You tilted your head slightly, your eyes catching his.

Beomgyu’s cheeks flushed pink. "I mean, you were gone for so long, so I was just... wondering where you went."

"You came all the way to the arts center just to ask about me?" Your voice was light, teasing, and for some reason, it made his heart race.

Beomgyu quickly waved his hand, his face growing even warmer. "It’s not like that," he said, trying to downplay it. "I was just curious, that’s all."

But before he could say anything more, you grinned, eyes sparkling. "That’s so sweet!" You suddenly rushed over to Beomgyu’s arm, linking it with yours, much to his surprise.

He froze for a moment, caught off guard by the sudden closeness. He wasn’t sure whether to pull away or enjoy the moment. His heart thudded in his chest as you looked up at him with a playful smile.

"Okay, okay," Yeonjun chimed in, his voice teasing. "I get it, you two have some weird little connection, but we have to get going. I’ll let you two catch up later." He gave Beomgyu a knowing look before nudging you gently, a playful grin still on his face.

You looked a little embarrassed, but you didn’t let go of Beomgyu’s arm. "Sorry, I just... haven’t seen you in a while, Beomgyu," you said, your voice quieter now, your gaze softening. "It’s nice to know you cared enough to ask about me."

“It’s only been two days,” Beomgyu thought bitterly, but didn’t say aloud. He couldn’t help the twinge of disappointment that surfaced, especially after the number exchange that had been left hanging.

"Also, you haven’t texted me back," you sighed dramatically. "To think you were the one who told me to text you."

Beomgyu blinked, slightly taken aback. "You did?" His voice betrayed his confusion. "I didn’t get anything from you."

"You did!" You shoved your phone in his face. "See?"

Beomgyu grabbed your phone and checked the message history. "I didn’t get anything," he said again, scrolling through, but as he looked closely, he raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you saved my number wrong. It’s an 8, not a 6."

You stared at the screen in disbelief. "It’s a 6. I’m sure of it. Hold on, I even took a picture of it! See!" You quickly opened your gallery and shoved the phone at him again, showing him the snapshot of the contact info.

Beomgyu frowned, shaking his head. "No, that's definitely an 8," he said with a laugh, trying to hide his amusement at your determination.

"You have terrible handwriting!" you retorted, hands on your hips.

"No, I don’t!" Beomgyu shot back, now laughing. "You just have terrible comprehension skills!"

The two of you continued to bicker, your playful banter creating an almost natural rhythm. Yeonjun, standing beside you, cleared his throat loudly, interrupting the back-and-forth.

"Love, we really have to go," he said, his tone flat and a bit impatient, but still affectionate.

You blinked, suddenly realizing the time. "Oh, right! Sorry, I got carried away." Then, turning to Beomgyu with a bright smile, you said, "I’ll text you tonight, Beomgyu!"

Beomgyu, still processing the sudden turn of events, gave you a nod, though his chest felt oddly tight. "Alright," he said, his voice soft. "I’ll be waiting."

With that, you waved one last time and walked away with Yeonjun, leaving Beomgyu standing there, staring after you. He couldn’t help but wonder if the playful banter had meant something more—if maybe there was more between you two than just casual friendship. But until he heard from you, he could only hope.

—

Beomgyu laid in bed, his mind racing. Strangely, it wasn’t you that occupied his thoughts now—it was Yeonjun. Who was he, really? He wasn’t one to stalk someone’s Instagram, but tonight, he found himself doing just that. Scrolling through endless dance videos, selfies, and posts, he finally stumbled upon a highlight reel with a familiar yellow color—your yellow headphones.

Without thinking, his fingers tapped the screen, and video after video started playing. There you were, laughing, giggling, screaming, clearly having fun with Yeonjun. The two of you were obviously close—closer than he had imagined. His chest tightened as he watched, feeling a knot form in his stomach. He didn’t know how to feel. Jealous? That seemed silly, especially since you had never shown any signs of liking him back. His crush on you felt like a one-sided affair, and if anything, this just confirmed it.

Beomgyu chuckled to himself, still feeling that flutter in his chest. He quickly typed another response.

He sighed, shifting uncomfortably under the covers. Time to move on, he told himself. It was just a silly crush, and he had no right to keep dwelling on it. You were probably just being nice, and Yeonjun was clearly in the picture. Beomgyu had no business lingering on something that wasn’t even real.

Just as he was about to close the app, a notification popped up on his screen.

Yellow Headphones: Beomgyu!

His heart skipped a beat, and a rush of warmth spread across his chest. So much for moving on, he thought again, his thumb hovering over the message. He hesitated for a second before responding.

Beomgyu: Yellow headphones~ Yellow Headphones: Is that my new nickname? Beomgyu: Well, depends, it’s either that or bus girl and that doesn’t really have a ring to it. Yellow Headphones: I suppose. Anyway, whatchu doing? ^^

Well, Beomgyu couldn’t tell the truth, now could he? Stalking your potential boyfriend sounded really stupid.

Beomgyu: Just using my phone. You? Yellow Headphones: With Yeonjun right now. He’s been stressed over his dance recital and I’ve been helping him with it, but he’s still feeling all over the place. Beomgyu: Oh. You and him seem really close. Yellow Headphones: Of course! We’ve been friends since we were 10 ^^ we’re practically brother and sister. Beomgyu: Oh! You two aren’t dating? Yellow Headphones: God no, ew… besides, he has a girlfriend, and he is not my type.

Beomgyu’s eyes widened as he read that. Not my type—those words felt like a weight lifting off his chest. The knot in his stomach loosened, and he felt an unexpected surge of hope.

Beomgyu: Oh!

Beomgyu smiled—actually, he beamed. His excitement made him jump out of bed, letting out a quiet scream of joy, before realizing he was making too much noise.

“BEOMGYU, SHUT UP, I’M TRYING TO FUCKING SLEEP!” Soobin yelled from across the hall.

Beomgyu winced, sheepishly holding his phone closer to his chest. "Fuck, sorry!" he whispered, grinning to himself. He had a reason to be happy tonight, and that was enough for now. He quickly typed another message, eager to keep the conversation going.

Beomgyu: Haha, my bad. Yellow Headphones: Haha, it’s okay! Anyway, do you have any plans for tomorrow?

Beomgyu hesitated for a second, heart thumping. Was this really happening?

Yellow Headphones: Maybe we can hang out? I’d love to take this friendship out of the bus.

Beomgyu grinned wider, practically bouncing on his bed.

Beomgyu: I’ll see you at our usual bus stop at 3 then? Yellow Headphones: Sure!

—-

Beomgyu had been waiting at the bus stop for 10 minutes, it wasn’t that you were late, he was just really early, his excitement bubbling up as he checked his phone for the time again. He was nervous, but in a good way. Today was the day. The day he was meeting you outside of the usual school routine, just the two of you. And from the messages he'd gotten earlier, it was clear you were as excited as he was.

Then, as if on cue, he saw you.

You appeared in the distance, looking like a burst of sunshine in a bright yellow dress. Your hair was styled in a half ponytail, held up by a cute bow, making the whole look even more playful. Beomgyu felt his heart race as he took you in. Adorable. He couldn’t even put it into words, but his grin stretched from ear to ear. He had to force himself to stop from gushing about how cute you looked, biting his lip to keep himself from saying it out loud. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to—he just didn’t want to seem too eager.

You skipped over to him, a playful energy radiating from you, and nudged his arm. "There you are," you giggled, poking his sides, making him flinch in surprise but laugh all the same.

"You look great!" you added, eyes twinkling as you looked him up and down.

Beomgyu’s heart fluttered at the compliment. He’d styled his hair with a bit of gel, making it tousled in that effortlessly cool way. He’d chosen a simple, casual dress shirt and slacks—nothing fancy, but enough to look presentable. Enough to say, yeah, I look good. Because, well, he was Beomgyu, and he always did.

“Do I look any different from how I dress on campus?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow, trying to play it cool, though his smile betrayed his excitement.

You chuckled, crossing your arms in front of you as you assessed him. “Well, yeah. You only wear hoodies to school.”

Beomgyu couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m a hoodie guy, what can I say?”

“You’re a hoodie guy with potential,” you teased, poking his side again.

His grin widened. “Guess I’ve got to wear more than just hoodies around you then, huh?”

You shrugged playfully. “Maybe.”

Beomgyu chuckled, feeling a strange warmth spreading through him. This was nice. Really nice. He found himself staring at you, the way you carried yourself with such ease and confidence, making it impossible not to smile. He was genuinely looking forward to this.

“So, uh, what’s the plan?” he asked, wanting to make sure he didn’t come off as awkward, though he was fighting back the urge to let the conversation tumble into something that would sound way too cheesy.

“Well, I thought we could grab coffee first,” you suggested, grinning mischievously. “Then maybe take a walk around the park or something. Just… relax.”

“That sounds perfect,” Beomgyu replied, his voice a little softer than usual, but full of sincerity. He was definitely not about to complain about spending time with you.

You both fell into an easy conversation as you waited for the bus, and Beomgyu couldn’t help but steal glances at you when you weren’t looking, his heart racing in a way he wasn’t used to. Being around you felt different. He’d always been around people, but this—this felt like something he couldn’t quite put into words.

It didn’t matter, though. Today was the start of something, and he was finally okay with the fact that he was feeling it.

—

Beomgyu felt his palms starting to sweat as he sat across from you at the coffee shop. He had no idea what had gotten into him, but suddenly he was nervous. Really nervous. His usual confident demeanor was nowhere to be found, replaced by a strange fluttering in his chest. Every time you laughed, he felt a little spark, and when you looked at him with that warm smile, it was like his heart skipped a beat. It was all so much more than he had anticipated.

You were saying something about how cute the coffee shop was, but Beomgyu was only half listening. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from you—how effortlessly you moved, how you interacted with the people around you, your kindness radiating in everything you did. You said thank you to the barista, smiled at a little kid passing by, and his heart couldn’t help but swell. You were starting to feel a little too perfect, and it was making him swoon.

“So,” you said with a smile, taking a sip of your coffee, “this is a pretty cute first date, isn’t it?”

Beomgyu nearly choked on his drink. “Date? This is a date?” he blurted out, wide-eyed. His heart leaped into his throat as soon as the words left his mouth. He hadn’t even thought about it that way.

You looked up at him, your cheeks instantly turning pink. “This isn’t a date? Oh… I just assumed… this is really embarrassing,” you said, your voice trailing off as you awkwardly shifted in your seat.

Beomgyu felt a wave of panic wash over him. His brain short-circuited, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say. He’d been so wrapped up in the idea of spending time with you that he hadn’t even considered the possibility of this being a date—and now you were embarrassed, and he didn’t know how to fix it.

"I—I'm sorry, I didn’t—" You sputtered, your words tumbling out in a mix of embarrassment. Then, in a flustered panic, you stood up and accidentally knocked over a glass of water onto your dress. "Oh my god!" you exclaimed, your face flushing in mortification.

Beomgyu’s heart dropped. “No! This can be a—” He rushed to stand up but hesitated, unsure of what to say to make things better.

You started to gather your things, clearly upset. “You don’t have to pity me, Beomgyu. I’ve been in this situation before,” you muttered, looking away and clutching your things tightly. “I’ll just—”

"No, you don’t get it!" Beomgyu almost shouted, his voice a little more desperate than he intended. "I don’t—it's not like that. I didn’t—this can definitely be a date if you want it to be," he stammered, feeling the heat rise to his face.

You froze, your hand still gripping your bag, and turned back to look at him. The nervousness in your eyes faded slightly, replaced by a hesitant curiosity. “Really?” you asked softly, as though unsure if you should believe him. “Because you don’t have to lie—”

“I’m not,” Beomgyu replied quickly, his voice more certain now. “I’ve had the biggest crush on you. Ever since you took the bus in those big, bright yellow headphones.”

“Oh,” you whispered, your eyes widening slightly. For a moment, everything was silent except for the chatter from everyone else in the coffee shop.

Beomgyu scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, unsure of how to continue. His heart was pounding in his chest, but he couldn't look away from you. “I know this probably isn’t how we both pictured this would happen,” he admitted, his voice softening.

This time, it was you who fell silent. You didn’t know what to say, so you just stood there, frozen in place. Then your eyes flickered downward. You realized your dress was wet, a small stream of water dripping down your leg.

“Right, my dress,” you mumbled, suddenly panicked.

“Here,” Beomgyu said quickly, handing you a napkin.

“Thanks,” you replied, your voice small as you dabbed at the wet fabric.

There was a brief moment of awkward silence, the realization of what had just been said still hanging in the air. So, you both clearly had feelings for each other, but neither of you seemed to know what to do with them.

“So, uh…” You both spoke at the same time, your words overlapping, before you both chuckled nervously.

“Yeah, uh…” Beomgyu trailed off, his hands shifting uncomfortably in his lap. “This is… a lot.”

“Yeah, a little,” you agreed, your voice tinged with a mixture of laughter and embarrassment.

For a moment, neither of you spoke again. The noise around you, the clinking of coffee cups and low hum of conversations, seemed to fill the space between you, making it feel both cozy and utterly awkward at the same time.

Beomgyu was the first to break the silence, his voice quiet but sincere. “I really like you, you know?”

You smiled at him, your heart fluttering. “I like you too, Beomgyu. I really do.”

He looked at you, his eyes soft and a little shy now, but there was something else there too—hope. “Before we, I guess… become a couple…” He cringed, and you couldn’t help but laugh at how endearing he was. “I’d love to take you out on a few dates first. I’d really like to get to know you better.”

You grinned. “You’re almost too perfect, I fear.”

Beomgyu smirked playfully. “I was thinking the same thing.”

You laughed again, the sound light and easy between the two of you. It felt good—comfortable, even—and you couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt so at ease with someone.

—

Two years had passed since that awkward coffee shop moment, and here they were again, at the same bus stop where it all began. Beomgyu and you stood side by side, hand in hand, but there was a noticeable difference now—two years of laughter, moments, and quiet affection between the two of you.

“This is ridiculous!” you exclaimed, frustration clear in your voice. “Why didn’t we think of moving somewhere else? Why do we insist on staying in this godforsaken area?!”

Beomgyu just chuckled, squeezing your hand lightly. “Baby, c’mon, this is where our roots are. Have you forgotten? Bus buddies and all that crap?”

You shot him a playful glare, rolling your eyes. “Gyu, this is getting crazy.” You gestured towards the crowded bus, which was slowly pulling away. “It’s the third one we’ve had to miss today. We’re never going to get to work on time at this rate.”

Beomgyu shrugged nonchalantly. “We could always just skip work. You know, pretend we’re working from home?” he teased.

You playfully shoved him. “Not funny,” you said with a soft laugh, though the frustration was still there. “But seriously, this is becoming a bit much. You’ve been saying for ages that we need to get out of this neighborhood.”

He took a step closer, his thumb brushing across your knuckles. “You really wanna move out of this area?” he asked, his voice quieter now, almost a little hesitant.

You turned to face him, looking up into his eyes. There was a seriousness in his expression that made your heart skip a beat. “I love the memories we’ve made here, but the buses are a nightmare. And we don’t even live that far from each other anymore…” You sighed. “I don’t know. I think I might be ready for a change. Something a bit quieter. Closer to our workplaces.”

There was a brief silence as Beomgyu let the words sink in. He stood there for a moment, his hand still in yours, before a smile spread across his face. “You know,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’ve been thinking about something too…”

You raised an eyebrow, your curiosity piqued. “What’s that?”

Beomgyu’s smile grew, his eyes glinting with excitement. “What if we, uh, moved into an apartment closer to work? Somewhere we could both call our place… together?”

Your heart skipped a beat at the suggestion. “What do you mean?” you asked, trying to hide the sudden rush of emotions.

“I mean…” he trailed off, his voice suddenly softer. “I know we’ve been living separate lives in our own places, but what if we took the next step? What if we moved in together, like a real couple? Maybe in an apartment just a few blocks away from our workplaces? We could make it our own… just us.”

Your breath caught in your throat as the gravity of his words settled over you. For a moment, you just stared at him, unsure if you’d heard him right.

But then, his hand gently cupped your cheek, and the sincerity in his gaze melted any doubt away. “What do you think? I’ve been saving up, and I thought… maybe it’s time. Time for us to be closer. To have our own space.”

Your heart was racing, your mind still trying to process everything Beomgyu had just said. You had dreamed about this moment, but hearing him actually say it out loud felt surreal. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” you whispered, the excitement bubbling up inside you.

“I am, if you say yes,” he replied, his voice full of sincerity, yet there was a hint of playfulness behind it.

You looked at him, a teasing smile tugging at your lips. “Now, how could I ever say no to that face?”

Beomgyu deadpanned, “You say no to me all the time.”

You raised an eyebrow, crossing your arms over your chest. “That’s because your requests are ridiculous. We’re not having dino nuggets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We need some variety.”

“Mayo, ketchup, ranch,” Beomgyu replied nonchalantly, as if that was a reasonable combination.

You scrunched up your nose. “That’s gross.”

“And yet, you still kiss me,” Beomgyu said with a grin, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

You rolled your eyes but couldn't hide the smile that tugged at your lips. “Unfortunately, I do.”

“Unfortunately?” he said, his voice dropping in pitch as he wiggled his eyebrows at you. “You didn’t seem to complain last night.”

You immediately flushed, quickly shooting a look around to make sure no one was nearby. “No bed talk in a school zone, idiot,” you shot back, trying to stay serious but failing miserably.

He grinned even wider, leaning in a little closer. “There are no kids here.”

You pointed at him accusingly. “There’s one right here,” you said, laughing despite yourself.

Beomgyu threw his hands up in mock surrender, still chuckling. “Alright, alright, I’ll behave.” But his grin never faded.

You couldn’t help but laugh, the energy between the two of you so effortless, so right. It felt like two years of inside jokes, shared moments, and quiet affection were all wrapped up in this one little exchange. You took a deep breath, squeezing his hand tighter as the bus pulled up, and just before it came to a stop, you said, “So, where’s our new apartment gonna be, huh?”

“Well…call me crazy but I’ve already been looking up on some apartments for about a few weeks now and since we’re not in a rush–we’ll be working from home today, by the way,-- and we can check out this new apartment listing I saw.”

You rolled your eyes, thinking aloud, “Hm, I don’t know. Work is kinda my only time to get rid of you.”

“Get rid of me? Baby, you need me.” He said, smugly.

“Alright fine. Is it open right now?”

“The open house ends in 30 minutes we can make it in time.” Beomgyu mumbled, glancing over to his watch.

“Fine.” You grunted.

—

The two of you made your way to the apartment Beomgyu had told you about. A laundry room, an island counter, a big enough living room to do late night acrobatics (Beomgyu does that when he’s drunk sometimes)—it almost felt too good to be true. But as you wandered through the space hand in hand, inspecting every corner, it wasn’t just good. It was perfect. The rent was within budget, and the apartment was a short walking distance from both your workplaces. It felt like everything was falling into place.

Until it wasn’t.

“No. NO!”

Both of you turned sharply toward the doorway, where Yeonjun stood with a look of pure horror on his face.

“I’m not having you two rabbits as neighbors,” he declared dramatically, crossing his arms. “I’ve already suffered enough when I stay over at Beomgyu’s place.”

“We never ask you to stay over,” Beomgyu shot back, rolling his eyes. “You choose to do it.”

Yeonjun scoffed, pointing an accusing finger at you. “It’s not my fault she runs my social media page and always posts updates late at night!”

You shrugged innocently. “Well, if we’re neighbors, we could communicate much more easily, don’t you think?”

Yeonjun narrowed his eyes. “No. Absolutely not. I can’t possibly have the world’s most annoyingly clingy couple living next door to me. It’s a nightmare scenario.”

Beomgyu sighed dramatically and stepped forward, throwing an arm around Yeonjun’s shoulders. “Yeonjunnie~,” he cooed, tilting his head and batting his eyelashes. “I love you.”

You grinned, quickly sliding to Yeonjun’s other side and clinging to his arm. “We love you~,” you added, mirroring Beomgyu’s syrupy tone.

Yeonjun looked utterly betrayed, glancing between the two of you as though you’d just sentenced him to a lifetime of torment. “I’m calling Taehyun and asking him to raise the rent,” he grumbled, attempting to shake you both off.

Beomgyu gasped, clutching his chest as if he’d been mortally wounded. “You’d betray me like this? After everything we’ve been through?”

“Everything we’ve been through? We’re only friends because this freak decided to date another freak,” Yeonjun retorted, glaring at the two of you.

“Hey!” you pouted, crossing your arms. “Don’t say that. He’s a cute little freak though, isn’t he?” you added with a grin, reaching over to pinch Beomgyu’s cheeks.

“I’m going to throw up,” Yeonjun groaned, looking genuinely pained.

“Don’t do that on my new carpet,” Beomgyu warned, straightening up and swatting your hands away.

“What do you mean, your new carpet—wait…no.” Yeonjun’s eyes widened in horror.

“Yes.” Beomgyu smirked smugly. “Hi neighbour!”

“Fuck this shit! I’m moving out,” Yeonjun declared, throwing his hands in the air and storming toward the door.

“Love you too, Yeonjunnie~,” Beomgyu called after him, laughter bubbling in his voice.

“Enjoy your new carpet,” Yeonjun shot back, slamming the door behind him.

—

Beomgyu sat cross-legged on the floor, holding a paintbrush like it was a weapon, his cheek already smeared with a streak of light blue. “Baby, stop!” he warned, narrowing his eyes at you.

“You painted my face first?!” you exclaimed, holding up your own paintbrush, dripping with pale yellow.

Before he could react, you swiped the brush across his nose, leaving behind a bright streak. Beomgyu gasped dramatically, dropping his brush to grab yours, but you jumped up and dodged, laughing.

“Come back here!” he yelled, chasing after you around the room.

You yelped, trying to escape, but he caught you around the waist and spun you around, both of you laughing so hard you could barely breathe. “Hm, I win.” he said triumphantly, dipping his finger in paint and smearing a heart on your cheek.

“Gyu!” you squealed, trying to wriggle free, but he only held you closer, grinning at his handiwork.

“Perfect,” he declared, his face close to yours now. His grin softened as he looked at you, his hand resting on your cheek. “Okay, you’re the cutest thing I’ve ever painted.”

Your laughter faded into a warm smile, your heart fluttering. “You’re such a dork,” you whispered, leaning in to press a soft kiss to his lips.

You looked up at him, a mischievous glint in your eyes, and dipped your hands into the blue paint. Pressing your palms gently against his lips, you smirked. “How about we make green?” you teased.

Beomgyu raised an eyebrow, dipping his fingers into the yellow paint and smearing it across your lips in retaliation. “Challenge accepted,” he said with a grin.

“We’re definitely going to get serious stomach pains from toxic paint,” you muttered, unable to hide your laugh.

He leaned in anyway, pulling you closer as his hands rested gently on your waist. His lips pressed against yours, the faint, messy blend of colors forgotten in the warmth of the kiss.

After a few more playful smears of paint and an awful lot of kisses, the two of you sat on the floor, finally taking a breather. Beomgyu pulled out a small wooden frame from one of the boxes, holding it up with a sheepish smile.

The bright yellow headphones sat perfectly preserved in the shadow box. “I thought we could hang this on the wall,” Beomgyu said softly, his voice laced with nostalgia.

You stared at it, your heart swelling with emotion. “You kept them?”

“Of course,” he murmured, his tone quieter now. “It’s cute how you gave these to me on our first anniversary, don’t you think?”

“Well, you did say the theme was memories,” you said with a small smile. “And I think meeting you is one of my favorite ones.”

“Who are you, and what have you done to my mean and sarcastic girlfriend?” Beomgyu teased, his lips twitching into a playful grin.

You rolled your eyes. “Remember how sweet you thought I was in the beginning?”

“You were sweet. For like…the first two months,” he said, feigning deep thought. “Your true colors came out right after I introduced you to Soobin.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve been mean way before that,” you laughed. “It’s called trying to impress the cute boy I liked.”

“You should win an Oscar for that performance,” he quipped.

“Against who? You?”

“Oh, please,” he shot back with mock indignation. “I’ve never pretended. I’m 100% authentic.”

“Laid back? Remember that? You were all like maybe I am laid back.”

“I am!”

“Baby, you scream and jump around the apartment until 2 a.m. You’re a menace.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not laid back,” he said, grinning. “Just means I’m loud.”

“Very loud. You’ve been pretending to be a soft boy this entire time, haven’t you?”

“You caught me,” he admitted with a laugh, leaning in to press a quick kiss to your lips.

After a brief struggle with the frame, he finally managed to hang it up on the wall. “Tada!” he announced proudly.

The two of you stepped back to admire it, your shoulders brushing as you stood close together. Beomgyu slid an arm around your waist and kissed the top of your head. “Welcome home, baby,” he murmured, his voice warm and tender.

“Welcome home, Gyu.”

#txt fic #txt oneshot #txt x reader #txt fanfic #txt fluff #txt imagines #txt scenarios #beomgyu x reader #tomorrow x together #choi beomgyu au #choi beomgyu x reader #choi beomgyu fluff #choi beomgyu fanfic #beomgyu x you #choi beomgyu x y/n #beomgyu x y/n

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georgeweasleyslostearhq · 19 hours ago

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MOVIES, KISSES, AND BIRTHDAY CAKE

Pairings: Eddie Munson x fem! Summary: a few days into being the new 'freak' in school, you come to find out the truth. Though, Eddie doesn't seem to like that truth. Warnings: none. A/N: IN HONOUR FOR THE WONDERFUL JOSEPH'S BIRTHDAY! AHH.

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The bell chimed above you as you walked through the glass door of family video.

Your eyes scanned the store, looking for Robin, perhaps, you weren't entirely sure, because you knew where the movie you were here for was.

You wouldn't expect many people on a Wednesday afternoon at 5pm.

So, for you to be the only person in the store is probably why there were no workers at the front.

You walked to the left to the romance section, looking at the sea of bright colours of all the lined-up VHS tapes.

You picked up Sixteen Candles and looked around again when you walked up to the counter.

The doorbell rang behind you and you turned, seeing a teen around your age look at you and frown before going to the Horror section.

You had gotten used to these looks over the past week, the party being almost 2 weeks ago.

The first day or two you had sat by yourself, finding yourself with no friends before you decided to embrace being the new freak in school.

So, you took Eddie up on his offer, finding a seat on the Hellfire table.

The rest of the club were skeptical about you at first, Though Eddie made sure they made you feel welcome after the next lunch break.

It was awkward at first, being friends with a bunch of guys, one being someone that you found yourself thinking about way too often.

After Monday, 2 days after the party where you had a go at Eddie for the spread rumour, you hadn't brought it up again, afraid that it would cause more damage than good, and seen as though you found yourself in his friend group, and that he took you in, you figured you should keep him happy so at least you'd have friends for the next few months before you graduate.

Steve had entered the store from the back, smiling as he saw you.

"Well, if it isn't miss party rocker" He smiled, typing onto the computer

You frowned, tilting your head, looking behind you to make sure he's talking to you. When you realise, he is you look back at him, still confused

"I'm sorry?" you raised your eyebrows, leaning on the counter

"Lewenski's party? you were going pretty hard that night" he chuckles, scanning your VHS tape.

Your face visibly relaxed when you realised, he might have heard that rumour...or-

"You were there?" you questioned, leaning closer

He nodded his head, placing the tape down with a smile

"Yeah, mostly in the backyard smoking, but yeah"

You opened your mouth, wanting to say so many things, but he cut you off

"You were pretty drunk, so I don't expect you to remember bumping into me, literally, but y'know. didn't take you as the one to get high with the town freak" Steve tapped the desk, shrugging

you looked around, not seeing the boy that came in a minute ago, he's probably going to the 18 plus section, behind the curtain, which is why you leaned away, shifting on your feet.

"You didn't happen to see me with Eddie that night, did you?" you asked, really hoping that Steve had the answers you needed to hear

He nodded again "yeah, you were with him for a while outside, who did you think you got high with?"

You raised your eyebrows again, trying to hide your smile.

He went to say something when you cut him off, hurriedly talking

"-didyouseemeandeddiemakingout?" you huffed

He tilted his head, his eyes widened, and he let out a chuckle "what was that?"

You sighed "did you see me and Eddie making out at any point of the night?"

he shook his head, his lips in a thin line as he thought about your question "no"

Steve was so confused, now that he was out of high school, the only way he got gossip about that stuff was through the kids- mostly Dustin.

Which is mostly why Steve went to the party, to feel like he once did in school, to get himself in the inside scoop of what was Hawkins high.

He had no memory of you two kissing or making out, and he would never peg you as the type to go after Eddie Munson

"I wasn't exactly watching you or anything- but actually" he swallowed, his fingers pausing the tapping as he looked at you weirdly.

This was it, the answers to your questions, the truth behind why you were a freak.

"I did see you go in to kiss him, though, but he stopped you- probably because he wasn't drunk" he nodded "but you seemed pretty upset about it, actually, stormed away, if I remember correctly"

You felt a weight on your shoulder lift, and you closed your eyes in relief, this was such good news, you never made out with Eddie.

You weren't a freak.

But deep down, you knew it was too late, nothing you could do or say would make any difference, you were a freak.

It was just nice to know the truth, even if no one else would care for it.

But as much as you were happy, you were embarrassed that even drunk you wanted to kiss Eddie stupid.

At this point you thought you were sick, a little under the weather because why would you want to kiss Eddie Munson so much you want to when you're drunk?

You'd have enough of it.

You quickly paid for the tape and rushed out of the store, going over to Eddie's trailer.

You'd never been there before, and you don't think he knew you knew which trailer he lived in.

You had only known about it when visiting Max one night, seeing him pull up with deafening loud music blasting.

So, you drove to Eddie's, planning to tell him the truth, thinking he'd be happy knowing it just as much as you are.

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You walked up the creaky steps to Eddie's trailer, unsure of what to expect, but you were determined to share the good news. You were almost giddy with the thought that you hadn’t actually made out with Eddie at the party. It was a small victory, but it was something you needed to share with him.

You knocked on the door, nervously shifting on your feet. It was then that the door swung open, revealing Eddie, looking somewhat surprised to see you standing there.

"Oh...hey" He smiled brightly

"Hi" you beamed

"Out of all the club, I would've expected Dustin to show up for my Birthday, not you" He shook his head, looking behind you

You frowned, trying to rack your brain

"Come in, I just ordered a pizza, so I hope you like pepperoni, if you want cake you'll have to wait until 11... That's when Wayne gets back from the plant so...Though... I uh- I don't expect you to stay that long..."

You stepped through the door when he moved out of the way.

You were so confused, until you remembered a few days ago it was briefly mentioned when you were too busy staring at his lips.

It's weird how you got so defensive and upset about the thought of you two making out, when all you want to do a lot of the day when you're with him is kiss him.

"Oh" you chuckled dryly, looking around the trailer that was his home "yeah, happy birthday!" you smiled

He grinned "thanks, sweetheart"

You blushed, feeling nervous and a little guilty as he guided you to sit on the couch

"Want some of the good stuff?" he said, walking down the hall

"Sure, I uh- I have a movie in the car if you want me to get it?" you nodded, getting up when he laughed

"Is it some cheesy romance?" he asked, peeking his head out of his room, a wide smile on his face, dimples on show as his hair hangs.

You shake your head, trying to suppress your smile, knowing you're lying.

He rolls his eyes, groaning "fine-UH" he said, dragging out the syllable

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"Sorry! No, no way," Eddie shook his head quickly, waving a dismissive hand and grabbing the remote to pause the screen just as Sam and Jake leaned in to kiss.

The frozen frame captured the couple mid-embrace, the soft glow of the TV light flickering against Eddie's disapproving expression. a greasy pizza box on the floor crimpling as he moved his foot to kick it away.

"They’re just kissing," you scoffed, furrowing your eyebrows as you leaned back against the couch. The worn fabric pressed into your shoulder blades, and you crossed your arms, giving him a pointed look.

"Yeah," he huffed, almost indignantly, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I don’t want to see it."

"Oh, you’re just salty that you’re twenty and still a virgin to everything," you teased, throwing an exaggerated grin his way as you sank further into the cushions. “And besides, you’re lucky this is the ending scene.”

Eddie’s eyes narrowed, his lips twisting into a scowl. “Excuse me? No! And to what I’ve heard, we’ve made out, so I’m not a virgin to that, am I?”

He leaned back into the couch, crossing his arms in defiance as his gaze flickered to the TV, clearly trying to act unaffected.

You couldn’t help but smile, finding his irritation oddly endearing. “Oh yeah! No- I totally forgot- which is weird because it’s literally what I came here to tell you. We didn’t make out!”

Eddie’s frown deepened, and he leaned away from you, his brows knitting together.

He licked his lips, his gaze drifting to the side as he processed your words. “Did we think we did?”

You tilted your head, watching his confusion with a small shake of your head. “Well... for a second, I thought maybe we did... but I found out from Steve-”

That set him off. Eddie snapped his head back to you, his dark eyes glaring. He shot up from the couch in one fluid motion, pacing a few steps before spinning on his heel to face you.

“Oh, Steve? How does he know anything?” His voice was sharp, almost accusing, as he ran a hand through his perpetually messy hair, his rings catching the dim light of the room.

“W-well, I went by Family Video,” you stammered, sitting up straighter. “And he was working, and he was at the party, so I asked him, and he said we didn’t, so- that’s- that’s why I came here... to tell you!”

You didn’t understand why Eddie seemed upset. His shoulders were tense, his jaw set, but the news felt like a relief to you. So why didn’t he feel the same way? You kept the smile on your face, trying to hold on to that positivity.

Eddie turned to you, his expression unreadable as he glared at you, his voice suddenly quieter but no less biting. “I thought you came here for my birthday?”

The words hit you like a weight to the chest. You blinked, your mouth opening as if to explain, but the guilt tangled your tongue.

“You didn’t even remember, did you?” he mumbled, his face dropping as he shook his head, almost laughing in disbelief.

“Eddie, no-I-I did! I just-” You sighed, searching for the words. “I thought this was good news.”

Eddie’s laugh was humorless, and he threw his hands in the air as he walked dramatically across the room. His steps were heavy, the floor creaking under his boots. “Good news? That what, turns out you aren’t a freak so you can throw my name under the bus and get your friends back?!”

“What?!” you shot back, standing up now, your voice rising with frustration. “What are you talking about, Eddie?”

He closed the distance between you in three quick strides, leaning down so his face was inches from yours, his finger pointing accusingly.

“I bet you’re happy, though, huh? That you didn’t kiss a freak, right?”

His words stung, and for a moment, you froze, your thoughts spinning back to what Steve told you at the video store. You remembered him saying you’d leaned in to kiss Eddie, and Eddie had stopped you. Eddie wasn’t drunk that night, so...

“How do you not remember that night?” you murmured, the words spilling out before you could stop them.

Eddie’s glare didn’t falter, but his confusion was evident in the furrow of his brow. “Huh?”

“Steve told me he saw me lean in to kiss you, b-but you pushed me away because you weren’t drunk... if you weren’t drunk, how do you not remember that night?” you asked, your voice softer now as you shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

His expression faltered for a split second, a flicker of guilt crossing his face before he frowned again. He closed his eyes, running a hand down his face. “I-I don’t know what to tell you... I don’t remember... I must have gotten drunk afterward,” he said, his voice quieter, almost unsure.

You licked your lips, your throat suddenly dry as you looked away. “Why aren’t you happy? That we didn’t kiss? I thought...” You shrugged, your voice trailing off. “I just thought maybe it would be nice to know.”

Eddie laughed then, a low, bitter sound that didn’t reach his eyes. He looked down at the ground, his dimples deepening with the ghost of a smile that felt forced and hollow.

Eddie’s laughter faded, and the room fell uncomfortably silent. He rubbed the back of his neck, his head tilted down as if he couldn’t bear to look at you. When he finally spoke, his voice came out sharper than he intended.

“Why would it be nice to know?” he snapped, his dark eyes meeting yours, his tone biting with frustration. “Why would it be so great to find out that the girl I like didn’t end up kissing me?”

The words hung in the air like a firework that had exploded too close, the weight of his confession pressing down on both of you. Eddie froze, his mouth still slightly open as if he couldn’t believe what had just come out. His chest rose and fell as he stared at you, wide-eyed, his anger dissolving into sheer panic.

Your jaw dropped, your confusion only deepening as you tried to process what he’d just said. “What?” you managed to whisper, your voice barely audible.

“I-” Eddie started, but his voice cracked. He looked away, pacing a few steps toward the window, one hand tugging at his hair. He muttered something under his breath that you couldn’t catch, but the tips of his ears were red, and he looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.

“I didn’t mean to say that” he blurted, turning back to you. His hands gestured wildly as if trying to claw the words back out of the air. “I didn’t mean- it just slipped out, okay? Forget I said anything.”

But you couldn’t forget. Not when his words were echoing in your head on a loop: the girl I like.

“You...” You blinked, your heart racing as you took a hesitant step toward him. “You like me?”

Eddie let out a short, humourless laugh, shaking his head. “No- wait, yes, but not- Jesus, this is so stupid.” He groaned, covering his face with his hands. “Forget I said anything, alright? Let’s just pretend this didn’t happen.”

But you weren’t about to let it go. “Eddie,” you said softly, stepping closer to him. “You like me?”

He let his hands drop, and the look on his face was almost painful. His shoulders sagged, and for a moment, he looked like he might actually admit it. But then he shook his head again, his voice barely above a whisper.

“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered, avoiding your gaze.

You didn’t let him finish.

“It does matter,” you said quietly, stepping even closer. The distance between you closed to just a few inches, and your voice softened as your heart pounded louder in your ears. “You just said it, Eddie. You like me.”

Eddie’s breath hitched, and his eyes darted to yours, his guarded expression crumbling. He opened his mouth to respond, but the words never came. The tension between you thickened, magnetic, drawing you closer to him.

You weren’t even sure who leaned in first, but suddenly the space between you wasn’t enough. You could feel the heat radiating off him, see the flicker of hesitation in his dark eyes as they flicked down to your lips.

“Eddie…” you whispered, the sound barely audible, trembling in the charged air between you.

For the first time, he didn’t pull away. His hands twitched at his sides, his body leaning closer, as if every fiber of his being was fighting the instinct to back off.

The world seemed to still, and the only thing that existed was him, so close you could feel the ghost of his breath against your skin.

This was it... you were going to kiss him, after almost 2 months of staring at his lips and wanting to know what they felt like on yours, you were actually going to know.

Eddie didn't know what to think, his eyes were focused on your lips, but his mind was focused on that confession he just told you.

He doesn't like you, so why would he say it?

He wasn't thinking, it just slipped out, right? he totally wasn't thinking about how he liked you before he said it.

Truth is he doesn't know how he feels, you're pretty. beautiful, hot, funny...the way you laugh at his jokes, the way your eyes light up when something excites you, the way you blush when you get nervous, the way you fiddle with your fingers when you grow flustered and save a seat next to you in class- even though no one sits next to you anymore- shit.

He does like you.. but He wishes he could take it back so you wouldn't know... but that secret was out before he even realised what he said.

But he was going for it, he was about to kiss you

"Ed? I'm home" the door opened as a raspy groan echoed through the room, Eddie's uncle stepping through the door as you and Eddie jumped apart, your lips never meeting.

Your faces flaming as you stumbled backward and Eddie’s hand shot to his hair, tugging at it as he turned toward the door, his expression a mix of panic and frustration.

Wayne stood in the doorway, his lunchbox in one hand and a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. He stopped short, his eyes narrowing as he took in the scene.

"Oh," Wayne said, blinking. "didn't tell me we were goin have company tonight"

Eddie groaned, his hands slapping over his face. "Wayne, what are you doing you're supposed to be here at 11?"

Wayne raised a hand in mock surrender, the corner of his mouth twitching like he was fighting a smirk. “oh yeah? why was I interuptin' somethin'?”

Eddie groaned and you looked away as Wayne's eyes met yours.

"No-" Eddie started before his uncle stopped him

"-plant shut off, gotta come home early" Wayne huffed as he walked to the bathroom, the tap running with water as Eddie turned to you, smiling tightly as he motioned to the bathroom, raising his eyebrows, his look saying 'well, that's my uncle'

You laughed softly as Wayne stepped out of the bathroom, shaking his hands from the water.

He moved to the kitchen with deliberate slowness, his eyes flicking between the two of you like he was watching the most entertaining drama he’d seen in weeks.

As Wayne grabbed a knife from the drawer, he glanced back at you with a raised eyebrow. "You stayin' for cake, Eddie's friend?" he said with a cheeky grin, winking as he went to the fridge

You Looked at Eddie as he introduced you to Wayne before turning back to you

"Do you want cake?" he mumbled, looking down as he played with his sleeve

You nodded with a shrug "sure.. if you want me to stay"

Eddie sat down by the two-seater table attached to the trailer wall and Wayne motioned for you to sit down on the other as he brought over a cake, it was a bit messy, but it looked perfect

He lit the candles, and as the lights were turned off, the warm glow bathed Eddie’s face, catching the curve of his cheekbones and the soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

For a moment, everything else faded- the near-kiss, the awkwardness, the unspoken feelings. All that mattered was the quiet hum of the moment, the flickering candles, and the way Eddie looked at you, like maybe, just maybe, this was the start of something neither of you could deny.

The glow of the candles danced in Eddie’s eyes; his usual bravado dimmed into something quieter, softer. You sat across from him, hands folded awkwardly on the edge of the table, not entirely sure where to look. Wayne stood behind him as he motioned you to start singing 'happy birthday' with him.

It was out of sync and very rough, but Eddie kept his embarrassed smile on his face, and once you finished the song, Wayne continued, humming off-tune as he waved his cigarette like a conductor's baton.

Eddie rolled his eyes but couldn’t suppress the small smile tugging at his lips. “Alright, Wayne, you can stop now,” he muttered as Wayne’s humming grew louder and more dramatic.

Wayne smirked, leaning against the counter. “Hey, it’s not every day my nephew turns- what is it? Twenty-three? Twenty-four?”

“Twenty,” Eddie grumbled, though there was no real bite in his tone.

“Right, Twenty,” Wayne said, feigning a look of realization. “A big year for big moments, huh?” His eyes flicked meaningfully between the two of you, his smirk widening.

Eddie groaned, slumping in his chair. “Wayne, for the love of God-”

“Alright, alright, I’ll leave you two kids alone. After cake.” Wayne winked at you again, pulling a chair over and sitting down like he had all the time in the world.

You tried to stifle your laughter, stealing a glance at Eddie. He looked equal parts mortified and amused, his fingers drumming nervously against the table.

“Make a wish, Ed,” Wayne said, gesturing toward the candles.

Eddie leaned forward, pausing for a moment as if debating what to wish for. His eyes flickered to you briefly, so quick you almost missed it, before he blew out the candles in one swift breath.

Slicing the cake with the knife he’d grabbed earlier, he smiled, putting the pieces onto napkins “Alright, here we go. One slice for the birthday boy, one for the lovely guest, and—” He plopped a third slice onto his own plate. “One for me, Since I made the bloody thing.”

Wayne’s antics had you laughing now, the tension from earlier easing like a weight lifting off your shoulders. Eddie, despite his initial embarrassment, seemed to relax as well, his knee brushing against yours under the table.

“So,” Wayne began, taking a bite of cake. “How’d you two meet?”

Eddie nearly choked on his first bite, coughing violently as he waved his hand dismissively. “Wayne-”

"Oh, for the love of God, boy, stop being so dramatic" The older man rolled his eyes grumpily.

You hesitated, glancing at Eddie for guidance, but he was too busy glaring at his uncle to notice. Finally, you decided to take the reins. “Uh, school,” you said, your voice a little unsure.

“Yeah,” Eddie interjected quickly, recovering from his coughing fit. “School”

Wayne raised an eyebrow, his grin widening. “School, huh? Didn’t know they taught awkward staring contests in class.”

You and Eddie exchanged a look, both of you visibly mortified.

“Alright, alright,” Wayne said with a chuckle, raising his hands in surrender. “I’ll stop meddlin’. For now.” He stood, grabbing his napkin and wiping his face, heading to the kitchen to fetch a beer

Eddie let out a long-suffering sigh, shaking his head. “I swear, he lives to torture me.”

“Seems like it,” you said, unable to keep the smile off your face.

For a while, the conversation drifted into safer territory. Wayne eventually retreated to his room, leaving the two of you alone once again. The clock ticked softly in the background, and the leftover candles sat forgotten in the corner of the table.

You frowned, looking back at Wayne's door after a while of silence"did you get a present?"

He raised an eyebrow as he wiped his mouth, nodding "yeah.. got it before school"

You smiled "what'did you get?" you bounced your leg, eating the last bite of cake on your napkin

"uh-" he scratched his arm, right over his bat tattoo "new dice set..n'some figurines"

"Mm" you hummed, nodding your head "cool"

Eddie glanced at you, his fingers tapping nervously against the table, silence filling the air for a brief moment. “Thanks for staying,” he said, his voice softer now.

“Of course,” you replied, meeting his gaze. “it's not everyday you turn Twenty.” you teased,

His lips twitched into a shy smile, the earlier awkwardness creeping back in. “Yeah, well...”

For a moment, neither of you spoke, the air between you heavy with unspoken words.

“Eddie…” you began, your voice trailing off. You wanted to ask about earlier, about what he said- about you. But the words wouldn’t come, tangled in the knot in your chest.

He looked at you like he was waiting for something, his expression open and vulnerable in a way you’d rarely seen. “Yeah?”

“I…” You faltered, shaking your head with a small laugh. “I’m really glad I came tonight.”

Eddie nodded, his smile softening. “Me too.”

And though nothing else was said, the quiet understanding between you spoke volumes.

Maybe you'll get to kiss him another time.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Taglist:

@exploding-bonbon @xlostitx @pupwrites @carolineesnell @foreveranexpatsposts @itsmadamehydra @thedoubleexposurephotography @g3n3zshack @dontputyourfckingdrinkonmytable @emxxblog @nubedeoctubreval @bimboshaggy @sheneedsrocknroll92 @callmytherapistplease-blog @ifeelbadbutimhot @littlemissholy @sammybrrr @alastorssimp

ahhh, can't believe Joe's 31, currently crying

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

#x fem!reader #imagines #fluff #eddie munson #joseph quinn #stranger things #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x fem #ami's new series!#eddie stranger things #eddie munson x reader #stranger things fic #agnst #kiss you series

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storiesfromafan · 1 day ago

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Missing Him/Her Was Dark Grey

A/N: I know I'm late to post, on day 3 of a migraine but it's moving on slowly. I bring you the last part of whatever this is 😅 I couldn't find the names of Johnny and Betty's girls, so I gave them names. Pls correct me if they do have names.

Previously: part one, part two

There will be a note at the end, it's a little important.

Warning/s: possible spelling/grammers mistakes

Tag list: @charmingballoon @strayrockette

Being gone for almost three months – open road, his bike and no responsibilities – gave Benny a lot of time to think. Thinking and weighing up the pro's and con's of his relationship with you, which he fully admits was left the worst way. Never had any relationship of his had a moment remotely as bad as that. Yet, no relationship was ever like what he had with you. Sure, there were women before you, but they never lasted or effected him like you did.

You were the light in a dim time. The calm to his storm. Yet that calm did bring on the storm too. If there wasn’t passion there wouldn’t be intense fights. Benny could see that. When you fought he would be passionate about it, about you, but that voice in his head. It was hard to tune out. But from years of being not good enough, it was always there loud and clear. Even when he knew better with you, that it wasn’t like that with you. It was different this time.

You had seen him before he saw you, but Benny was the first to fall. Flirting with you and putting himself out there, while you tip toed around him, doing everything to avoid getting close to the Vandal. But he got you on the back of his bike, and that was it. Sure, slow to start, but slow turned to a moderate pace before fast. A speed Benny was use too.

That was why he came back, he was back for you. No matter how much he tried to turn it off, he couldn’t stop thinking about you or loving you. So he had put on his grownup pants – metaphorically of course – and was back in town for you. Benny was ready to do anything and everything to get you back.

Unfortunately it didn’t look that way for you. As he rolls into town, passing the movie theatre, there you were. And not alone. It was brief but the man beside you looked like a complete square, the ideal man to bring home to your family. First there was anger that some guy was out with you. And secondly that turned to utter anguish that you were out on a date with someone else.

Unable to approach you without loosing it, Benny chose to ride on. And right to Grand and Division. Sure, he’d thought about heading to your house. But it would only be the same, or worse if you were planning to take the guy back to your place. That thought truly gutted him. The idea of another man touching you, kissing you and in your bed. He was close to just not even stopping, just riding back out of town. But Benny had been on the road for hours. He needed to stop, not to mention a beer or three.

Before he even entered the bar, just parked his bike, Johnny and a few other familiar faces came rushing out of the building. Benny had just gotten off his bike when Johnny patted him on the back, laughing and saying how it had been a while. Ushering him into the bar, Benny remained silent while the men around him fussed over him. They were truly happy to see him after being gone. Benny had hoped this was the reception he’d have gotten from you. Instead he was greeted to you and your new beau.

It was a blur of men and drinks, and yet he hardly spoke, unless he had too. Moving around the room to different groups. Even a quick game of pool, which he had no real interest in. Finally stepping out into the night, Benny pulled out a cigarette and lit it while standing in the semi dark street. Other than the muffled noise of the bar, it was quiet. Just what he needed after the night he’d had.

The doors behind him opened, but Benny didn’t turn to see whoever it was. He didn’t really care, so long as he was left alone. Unfortunately Johnny didn’t get that memo. Stepping up next to Benny, he too lit up a cigarette and enjoyed the first inhale. Both men stood there in silence. For Benny it was perfect, he was happy to not speak. Yet Johnny was fidgety, uneasy even. For he’d kept an eye on the young Vandal all night, and could see he wasn’t himself, coming to the conclusion something was up.

“So...” Johnny started, “what’s goin' on? Ya more quiet then usual...”

Benny sighed. Knowing this was coming. “Rough ride...” he offered, hoping that would the end of it.

Johnny studied Benny's profile, knowing that wasn’t it. “Nuh, it’s somethin' else. Talk to me kid...”

Johnny was trying to remain calm, voice soft. Not to spook or anger Benny. He truly wanted to know if the younger man was alright. Because whatever was going on, it showed that it was weighing him down. Diming the light that Benny always had. To Johnny, Benny was like a brother, and he worried about him all the time.

Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, Benny released it was a long sigh. “I saw her, with a...date”. The word date almost being spat, like it was poison.

Johnny slowly nodded his head, the man’s words sinking in. “Oh...I see".

“I saw ‘em as I rode back into town...” Benny paused, taking another drag of his cigarette. “They were by her car. It was a brief moment, but it was her...” He dropped the cigarette and proceeded to stomp it out, like how his heart was feeling.

The older Vandal watched the younger beside him. Seeing how this was really affecting him. That was when Johnny realised Benny had come back for you. All this time away and riding around, he’d made up his mind, and chose you. That he wanted and needed you. But now, having seen you with another guy, the man before him looked crushed and defeated. Though Benny only had himself to blame. Taking off in the first place hadn’t helped, or for so long. If he’d stayed around or came back sooner, maybe you wouldn’t have moved on like you have.

“Well kid...what did ya expect?” He questioned, knowing this was going to be a hard pill for Benny to swallow. That the truth would hurt. “Ya left, and she went through the break up process. It would only be a matter of time before she started seeing someone...”

Benny swallowed hard, trying to accept what the man was saying. Though he didn’t like it, or that he was right. “Yeah, I know...” he paused for a moment. “I-I just didn’t expect it to be so soon...”

Yet again Johnny patted him on the back, but this one was full of sympathy. “Yeah, I know kid...”

Silence rolled in after that. Neither having anything to say, or that there was really any more to be said. Johnny had kept an eye on you, seen you go through the motions and process Benny's absence and the breakup. Yet he didn’t think you’d be dating yet. To him there had to be more to it, but didn’t voice these thoughts. Not wanting to fire Benny back up, for he had finally settled.

The following days Benny had kept to sticking around Grand and Division. Playing pool as a way to distract himself, as well as keeping his hands busy. For Benny feared if he wasn’t kept busy, he just might do something he’d regret. Be it tracking down the man he’d seen with you, or confronting you and that going down in a blaze of heated words, with many he’d come to truly regret.

This was on him. He knew that, and could see it. He was to blame. Benny had done his soul searching while away, finally ready to take ownership for his part in your final fight, and breakup. He was ready to admit to all his short comings, manning up to carry the weight and do what was required of him to fix the relationship. But now he wasn’t sure about it. And with his doubts that voice began to surface, getting louder and louder. Sowing the seed of doubt deeper in him, wanting it to take root for good. So that doubt and that voice would never leave him.

And Johnny could see it. Watching the young Vandal, he could see the doubt taking root. Shutting himself off more to the world around him. This wasn’t the Benny he knew. Nor did he want too. Johnny wanted to see the laid back, care free and madly in love with you Benny. The one who would enjoy being around his club, with a passion for riding. Not this shell of a man that was playing pool with Corky.

Johnny knew he had to do something, anything, to help his friend. Now he just had to figure out what to do to help Benny...

After the blind date incident, you had been keeping your distance from those friends. If you could really call them that. They were barely friends anymore, when you were younger and in school together, you were more alike. But after school, years of working and then Benny, you weren’t like them anymore, not entirely at least. Of course Sally phoned the next day, wanting to know how it went after they left. You told her exactly how it went, and that you weren’t interested in being set up with any other men.

“Oh come on (Y/N/N)!” Sally sighed on the other end of the phone. “You have to put yourself out there, you aren’t getting any younger, Hun”.

Hun. How you detested that word. It was Sally's affectionate word to use when she was pissed off. Looking back on your friendship, you noted every time she used it when frustrated, angry or not getting her way. And that’s when you realised how entitled she was. How she was the one to influence those around her so everything was what she wanted or expected. This time she was not getting her way.

“I am serious Sally. I don’t want to be set up or blindsided into dates" you stated firmly. “I am not ready to move on, I am still processing my breakup with Benny. So I kindly ask that you don’t put me in that position again".

You wish you could see her face, as you just know she would be mad. And her tone told you that she was. “Look Hun, I was just trying to be a good friend. I am sorry that you weren’t happy. But I truly had your best interest in mind”.

You smirked, just feeling her holding herself back. “I understand, I just hope you’ll be more considerate from here on out, yeah?”

There was a knock at your front door. “Sorry Sally, I have to go. Someone’s at the front door".

Before Sally could respond to you, you hung up the phone. That being the best feeling so far of the day. There came a knock again, so you quickly moved from the kitchen and across the lounge room to the front door. Upon opening it you were greeted to Betty, soft smile upon her face and some beers.

“Had a bad day?” You asked her with a laugh.

“I thought you might be havin’ the bad day” Betty replied, moving to sit on your porch.

You followed her out, taking a seat next to her on the bench. “Oh it wasn’t too bad" – you took the beer she offered you – “but hanging up on one of the girls from the movies the other night, the high and mighty one, just perked me up".

Betty laughed as she cracked open her can. “You didn’t!” – you nodded your head – “oh she’d love that. She was the one we ran into a few weeks ago, right? Blonde and wears those high-end dresses? Husband has a cushy office job?”

You nodded. “That’s the one, Sally" you took a sip from the can. “She tried to act like she was helping me by setting me up on that blind date. Said you’re not getting any younger, like I don’t know that. I see myself in the mirror every day!”

“You ain’t old" retorted Betty. “You are young, and look young! Have kids and you’ll be old".

You both laughed, not taking the jest seriously. You continued to moan and groan about Sally and Ann, along with how you were keeping clear of them. You were different, better than who they are. You’re a person who is kind and caring, not a harpy that is mean and manipulating.

You enjoyed sitting there, having a few beers and just bitching about life. This was what Betty and you had been doing since Benny left. At first, she did it to check on you, make sure you were alright. But as you got yourself together it became more of bonding time for you both. And now you’d consider the older woman a dear friend, maybe an older sister. You even spent time with her and her young girls.

Before Betty left, she had invited you out shopping tomorrow with the girls. Which you accepted. Retail therapy was just as good as a beer and a chin wag. With plans made, you sat and finished your beer, before heading in for the night. Yet once alone, you found yourself thinking of Benny. Question after question running through your mind. Along with this longing for him. But you knew he didn’t want you, or else he’d have shown up by now. Those two harpies, that you had called friends, and their blind date had to be the reason for him not coming around.

Or he really was done with me... you thought, feeling the weight of those words on your heart.

The following day, you met up with Betty – and her girls – outside a clothing store. Lori, the oldest girl, hugged you first, then her sister Mary, while you greeted Betty. The girls both took a hand of yours and dragged you into the store, while Betty trailed behind you three laughing. Seeing the happy faces of the two girls warmed your heart, it was nice to be wanted by someone, even if it’s from two young girls, who were just the sweetest.

You and Betty chatted while looking around at dresses. She was trying to find a decent dress to wear for a school function. I have to look like those damn prissy witches, of course watching her language around her girls, who still giggled. As did you. You showed her options, and she did the same. Eventually finding a few for her to try. While she did that, you were looking at clothes with Mary. Being funny picking clothes two sizes too small. Which made the girl laugh, and correct you. To that you acted surprised and told her to stop growing.

“How does this look?” Asked Betty stepping out onto the shop floor. “It’s the better of the two, believe me".

You smiled looking her over. The dress was nothing glamorous but suited the older woman nicely. The red colour suited her fiery nature. The shirtwaist dress really gave that house wife look, and that was what Betty wanted.

“It’s perfect, screams house wife” you said with a small laugh, which both young girls giggled at.

Betty roller her eyes. “Good, I’ll fit in then".

The older woman then went back into the change room to get back into her clothes. You continued to entertain the two young girls. But the sound and sight of motorbikes caught your attention, along with the two girls with you. Mary was saying dad over and over again, moving to the change room to tell her mother.

You felt this coldness wash over you, if Johnny and a bunch of Vandals were nearby, so was Benny. The look Betty gave you, as she was pulled from the dressing room by Mary, told you she was thinking along the same lines as you. Mary of course kept pestering her mother about seeing Johnny, her father.

“You alright with it?” Betty asked you softly as you both headed for the registers.

You sighed but gave a short nod. “Yeah...best way to get a band aid off is to rip it off, right?”

“That’s not the best way! It hurts too much!” Mary cut in. Making you and Betty laugh.

With the mood lightened just a smidge, Betty proceeded to pay for the dress. Once it was bagged up and in Lori's hands, the lot of you left the shop. Moving down the street, further down you could see the cluster of motorbikes, and their riders. With every step towards them you felt your stomach sinking. A touch of fear rising from the thought of seeing Benny. Would he look to you? Or speak to you? Or would he act like you didn’t exist?

Reaching the corner, which was adjacent from the Vandals group, Mary spotted Johnny and called out to him. He of course looked around before spotting his daughter, his face lighting up at the sight of his girls, Johnny even returned the young girls wave. It was a sweet moment, you thought.

But when you looked upon the group of men again, that was when you saw him; Benny. He was standing with Cal, cigarette between his fingers as he took a drag. They were in conversation, Cal fuelling the conversation with lit up face and hand movements. But Benny, he looked as good as always. Just adding to the ache in your chest. That listening but aloof look and air to him. It gave him that mysterious but sexy appeal.

Then those stormy blues of his were looking at you. Your step faltered for a second under his gaze. Even from this distance you could see the anger and hurt in his eyes, his face just showing it slightly by the subtle changes. Such as his jaw clenching, eyebrows drawing together. Finally you looked away from him, unable to take it anymore.

Reaching Johnny, Mary launched herself at her father. Who didn’t hesitate to pick her up and hold her close. Betty leaned up to kiss Johnny's cheek, and Lori moved to stand beside her parents. They were the kind of family you had hoped to have one day with Benny. The thought now seeming like a silly dream.

“Hey (Y/N)” greeted Johnny, an awkward smile on his face – possibly due to you and Benny being in close proximity. “How are ya doin’?”

“Hi Johnny" you smiled softly, a little uneasy. “I-I'm alright. How are you?”

The older Vandal softly chuckled, possibly nervous. “Yeah, can’t complain...got my girls here, which is good".

Johnny then jostled Mary, who was still in his arms and laughed from her father’s movements. Your smile turned warm from the sight. “That’s good...they are very lucky...”

Johnny beamed at your words but didn’t say a word. He didn’t need too. The pride and joy on his face said everything. Even with the club, the man tried to maintain a balance of both worlds. He loved Betty and his girls dearly. The way he cared for both his family and bike, and club. It was something you wished Benny understood. But it never took root in him.

Eventually the girls took to running around the park, that the Vandals were parked at. Lori forced to chase her sister, as you continued to talk to Betty and Johnny. Different Vandals joined you all at different times, before moving on to another group. Before you knew it Cal and Benny stepped up to you all.

You tensed when Benny stood across from you. But he didn’t look to you, if he could help it. He was treating you like you weren’t there. And that saddened you, but also angered you more. He just listened as Cal or Johnny spoke. Maybe saying a word or two. His voice – a sound you hadn’t heard for so long – cutting deeply, missing how he would speak to you. All you got now was nothing.

“Where have ya been (Y/N)?” Cal asked, casually sparking up a joint.

You tensed, swallowing before answering. “J-just working...nothing special...”

Cal nodded as he took a drag of his joint. “But ya haven’t even been too Grand and Division for about three months...”

You shrugged trying to not cast a look to Benny. As he’d been the reason you hadn’t gone back to the bar, he’d left town after all. “I didn’t feel like going to the bar...”

Benny scoffed, but didn’t say a word.

Betty shot him a look, before she looked to you in sympathy. “Things change Cal" was her sharp words, telling him to drop it.

Said man held up his hands, starting to catch on that this was not a road to go down currently. “A-alright...” Cal sputtered, choosing to leave it at that.

You felt lighter, knowing it was being dropped. Unfortunately Benny wasn’t done. His gaze drew in on you. Hearing you speak so airy got under his skin. How you didn’t disclose that you had been busy with another man, or men, and going on dates. That had to be what filled up your time, right? It’s what Benny had concluded on. The last month or more, you were out and about, trying to replace him.

Dropping his cigarette to the ground, Benny stomped it out. The aggression and sound caught everyone’s attention. And when looking to him, yourself included, his dark gaze was set on you. A chill ran down your spine, telling you this was not good. He had been so calm, but here was the storm. And you were in its path.

“Why don’t ya tell the truth" Benny’s voice boomed, the gravelly tone deeper and off putting. “Ya didn’t go to the bar because ya were getting around town with different guys".

The tone and the accusation he made left you dumbstruck. Benny had seen you with one man. Where did he get the idea, it was more than that one? Betty was sputtering, coming to your defence but you couldn’t make out what she was saying. The sounds around you turned fuzzy, almost like static, as you stood there in shock. You hadn’t been running around town with Tom, Dick or Harry. You’d been heartbroken and trying to get yourself back together.

Slowly the anger in you rose, with it the fire clearing the fog in your brain, bringing you back to the present. Grasping what Benny was saying, accusing you of not caring, you found that backbone. It was like that night all over again. His lack of seeing or understanding, jumping the gun. You stood tall, shoulders lowering as you drew your gaze in on him. And when Betty quieted down, you knew she could see what was to come.

“For your information, which I really don’t have to give you, the other night was the first date I’d had in forever" you stated eerily calm, but with a touch of sass. “I was blindsided into it. So maybe, in future, get your facts straight Benny”.

There was more you could say, wanted to say, but the way he looked at you like you were lying kept you from airing it all out. He wasn’t listening to you, like usual. He had made his mind up for good. So it wasn’t worth your time or energy to make him see or believe you. This was the Benny you knew all too well. If you continued to fight it would be a loosing battle, as he had made his mind up.

Taking a step back you turned from him, casting a look to Betty and Johnny, who looked like deer in headlights. But there was sadness there in their eyes. Betty knew the truth, she knew what you’d been through. She was there for you, seeing how hard you took his absence. Johnny might have known, for Betty could have kept him in the loop, but he also checked on you. But you never went into depth of it all like you did with his wife.

“Betty, I'm going home. I’ll talk to you later, tell the girls my goodbyes and I’ll see them soon" and with that you turned around and headed the way you came.

You held your head high, striding away like you were on a mission, which was one to keep it together. No crumbling in front of Benny, or Betty or Johnny, no one would see you fold. As you walked away you could hear Betty fire up at Benny. If you couldn’t do it, she was. You know she would give him a good dose of reality. Yet didn’t care. There was no coming back from this now. Right?

A/N: yes, I lied. Sorry, not sorry 😅 but the next part will be the last, I promise. And it will be steamy/smutty. Who doesn't enjoy a heated argument leading to make up sex?

Till the next, final part...

#benny cross x reader #benny cross x y/n #benny cross x you #the bikeriders x reader #austin butler x reader #benny the bikeriders

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late4the-party · 1 day ago

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Many things I want to say, I hope I won't forget anything. I'm not part of any mob. It's just me, one tiny blog that if people had taken the time to look at they'd see how little I post. Please, do take a look at my archive. At the beginning I had made only three posts about TDP. I'm not a blog dedicated to this show. If the first blog that reblogged my post hadn't done that I bet no one would had noticed my words. I didn't want this to blow even more so I had muted that post. I'm still getting notifications, so I guess the muting didn't cover my reblog too. I would like to mute the whole thing now because the more I reply the more it will really look as if I were part of that mob. And I don't have the time nor the interest in making a campaign against the show. I just wanted to speak my mind and that be it. Btw, taking a quick look I saw someone saying that if I don't like the show then just don't watch it. I did take it out of my list after I finished the season. I'm genuinely surprised when I read you saying that there's a mob wanting the cancellation of the show. At Rotten Tomatoes it is rated with a 100% likes. At twitter I just found three comments in Aaron's tweets. And a couple of videos at YouTube. All these expressing their discontent, not promoting cancelation. Maybe that mob is mainly just on Tumblr? If anyone reading knows of a website or an app that helps finding a person's comments on other people's posts on Tumblr, check me. I'm not on the look out for new posts related to the show, throwing hate on those who think different than what I think. I don't do that. I see your point in how my words are contradicting themselves. What I meant was this. If they have material that cannot be covered in say 5 seasons, they need 10. Ok. Go, present your project and leave it there. I don't like when they see their show doing good and then extend it more and more seasons. Stretching the story through filler episodes.

The show premiered in September 2018. That's 6 years, 4 moths ago. For 5 years, 10 months it was going to be 7 seasons long. People has complained about how the story slowed down after season 3. If there hadn't been filler episodes I would had thought "Ok, no biggie, they just didn't plan correctly". But those filler episodes,... it's hard not to think that they are trying to stretch the story as much as possible to get as many seasons approved as possible. To gain as much as possible. Filler episodes don't contribute to the development of the story. They build nothing or very little. Now, how to stretch the story and not get the fans bored? That's what I was talking about when I first wrote about them just giving us cute moments with our favorite ships. It's no secret Netflix in general only approves 3 seasons. They approve more only if a show is doing incredibly well. There have been many shows that even after ending in a cliffhanger they didn't get approved. This is no secret. Aaron cannot claim ignorance on this. They could had ended the story in season 7 as they had originally planned. They could had chosen not to slow the pace. They took the risk of not getting renewed. With that tweet Aaron is trying to get the fandom to pressure Netflix into approving more. Sorry but he do is manipulating the fans here. I think it's so clear I don't understand how people are choosing not to see this. About what you wrote about offering criticism. I did write a previous post mentioning some points about season 7. Previous seasons to that I didn't have the blog to write them on. In this previous post there's something that will be contradictory big time: Among other things I wrote how the show deserved a better planned ending or end it with a movie. At that point I didn't know Aaron wanted that 3rd arc. Someone's comment on my post made me aware of it. I checked his twitter and saw that message from him. My head went through all those thoughts that I explained after the Facebook screenshot. I got mad at him. Again, he could had chosen to stick to his original 7 seasons plan. (Sorry to be repetitive) If every episode had been loaded with things that were really building the story then I wouldn't had gotten mad. It would had been bad planning. I cannot see how this is not greed from his part. That's what changed my mind from "come on, at least one movie to give us closure", to "no, no green light so other show creators don't start doing the same". As I mentioned in my first post, this is not the first show to do this. There is one other who has been using this same technique. It is frustrating seeing a show starts being so good and then slowly turn into this. "What? Did I say 3 seasons? No I meant 7." Then on season 6 "Did I say 7? I meant 10". The story is affected by this stretching but most of the fandom are so obsessed they don't see that. They don't care. It's frustrating seeing this. Do you really think ATLA would had been as epic as it was if that same story had been dragged for 10 seasons? That's what I'm against of. That's my reasoning. @lawchan89 I never wrote that they don't deserve to have jobs. Don't change my words please. I agree that there is a lot of unhealthy toxic behavior is going on in social media. Believe me when I say part of me wishes there were no social media at all. Or at least that creators didn't listen to it. On one hand because there are some who have altered their stories just to do fan service. On the other hand because all that fanatism is what fuels this never ending series. "The fans are loving it! See how you can stretch the story!" I did say I didn't like season 7. And as I said before I had muted the notifications. (didn't know I also needed to mute my reblog or I wouldn't had seen both of your comments) I did remove the show from my list. I seriously think a future trailer could make me want to retake the series. There's a chance this will start more reblogs from other ppl. I don't want to keep this soup cooking any longer. So I may need to mute this too.

Thanks for reading.

It is normal to develop some emotional attachment to fictional characters in a TV show or a book. It is not nice of him to use that attachment to keep his show going, to keep making profits.

This is not the first time a show creator does this. They add beautiful moments with the couples that we love to keep us obsessed and asking for more. And there we go falling for this manipulative trick. I’m so glad I found that tweet by Alexandria. Be conscious of this people and have a little bit of pride in yourselves. Don’t let them use you to keep making more money.

Seven seasons was more than enough to develop a great story with a satisfying ending. I’m sorry but I hope Netflix won’t greenlight more. Creators and producers need to stop doing this.

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sevikaslapdog · 2 days ago

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A Secret..

(but not really)

Summary: You always thought your brother’s best friend was cute, but him being his best friend made him off limits. Thought Geto couldn’t contain himself when it came it Gojo’s little sis.

Warnings: highschool au, no curses au, two year age gap (he’s 18 reader is 16), cursing, suggestive themes, use of y/n, fem reader, reader is Gojo’s sister

It was winter break which only meant one thing, your brother Gojo would have his friend over the whole two weeks you were out of school.

They were both seniors while you were a junior, you didn’t mind most of Gojo’s friends since they weren’t as annoying as him. But Geto was your favorite of them all, he was always respectful towards you and nice despite Gojo being the opposite.

Whenever he had friends over he would practically lock you into your bedroom claiming ‘No one wants to see your ugly face.’ Though you never listened as it was your house too, duh.

Right now was the second day of winter break and you were working on a project one of your teachers assigned to do during the break. You wanted to get it done as soon as possible so you had more free time, and so you didn’t forget about it. Your hand started to cramp as you had been typing for the past two hours, cursing to yourself as you shook your hand around to get rid of the pain.

Letting out a huff you stretched out your body thats been hunched over your desk for the past two hours. You stood up and slipped on your house slippers before exiting your room, silently padding down the stairs. You could hear your brother and Geto in the living room watching some movie, walking past them to go to the kitchen.

You decided to make some ramen, a quick lunch before you continued your essay. As you were waiting for your water to boil you head footsteps easing towards the kitchen. Your eyes flickered to the entrance as soon as Geto walked in, he hummed whenever he saw you “What’re you making?” He inched closer towards the stove. “Some ramen, want me to make you some?”

He glanced over at you before walking to the fridge, “Yea, id appreciate it.” You only nodded at him, grabbing another pack out the cabinet.

He couldn’t help but let his eyes flickered to your ass when you bent over, those tiny shorts left really nothing to the imagination. He let out a low whistle, smiling as you quickly stood and turned to face him with a glare. “Stop being a pervert” He only laughed slightly walking over to you, he placed a hand on top of your head and patted it twice before leaning on the counter next to the stove.

“I was only messing with you, calm down.” You rolled your eyes as you opened up the ramen packs, placing the noodles in the pot. You went over to the cabinet grabbing two bowls, “Grab some chopsticks” Geto huffed but complied. He got you both a pair of chopsticks and placed them on the counter next to the bowls, “I’ll bring you yours when it’s ts done.

You flashed him a small smile before stirring the noodles, he mumbled a small ‘alright’ before walking out the kitchen and sat down on the couch. You could hear your brother ask him what took so long and Geto telling him to shut up and watch the movie.

Shortly the noodles were done, and you made your bowl along with his. You cleaned up your messed before exiting the kitchen, walking up behind the couch. “Here ya’ go” You held out his bowl, not missing the way his hand brushed against yours. “Hey why didn’t you make me any?!” You looked over at Gojo, “Cause you’re a grown man who can make his own noodles.” Geto smiled slyly as he slurped up some noodles.

He flashed you a small smile before you turned around and went back upstairs.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

It’s now been two hours and it’s pushing eleven pm, you ended up procrastinating the essay and went on your phone. Now you were trying to get back into the grove of it but it just wasn’t working, you kept typing a sentence but then it didn’t make sense so you delete it. You’ve been doing this for the past twenty minutes.

You heard a soft knock on your door, “come in” you didn’t bother to see who it was knowing it was Geto. Cause Gojo never knocked, always barged in like it was his room.

You heard the door shut behind him and his socked feet padding against the rug in your room, you could feel his body heat as he stood behind you. You continued to stare at the essay before you tipped your head back, the top of your head now pressed against his lower stomach. He looked down at you with an amused smile.

“Struggling?” All you could do was groan and pick your head back up, “This makes no sense.” You saw his arms come around you, him now leaning over you as he stared at your screen. A hum left his mouth, “Ah I remember doing this.”

You quickly let out a gasp, “Oh my god please help me Suguru, I cant do it.” You let your voice slip into a whine as you shamelessly leaned back against him. He let out a sigh, but picked your laptop up off your desk. “Yea it was pretty easy for me anyways.”

He walked over to your bed, sitting down with his feet hanging a bit off the side with his back against the wall. He was wearing a loose black long sleeve and black sweatpants, while you were wearing your favorite hoodie and still in the same sleeping shorts from earlier.

You slid off your desk chair and sat down next to him with your legs in a criss cross, your left knee was slightly on his right leg due to the closeness. “How come you’re not with Gojo?” He was easily typing away, “He fell asleep on the couch, i’m not tired yet so I decided to come hang out with you.” You let a small smile sneak onto your face, “Well I am the better sibling so that makes perfect sense.”

You and him both laughed for a moment, you leaned over to your nightstand to grab your phone off the charger. Once you sat back down half your left leg was now resting on his. He didn’t seem to mind so you didn’t bother moving, “I dunno if Gojo told you but i’m staying over the whole break, my parents went out on some ski vacation.”

You hummed, looking over at him. Your eyes widened slightly when you saw the small earring on his ear, “You got your ears pierced?!” You didn’t care to hide your shock. You lifted your hand to the side of his neck with your thumb brushing against the blue jewl in his ear.

He snickered at your reaction, turning his head slightly to look at you. “Yea, got ‘em a couple weeks ago.” He used the opportunity to look at you, his eyes scanning your face and resting on your lips that were slightly chapped no doubt you were biting on them earlier. “Yea, they look nice.” You subtly ran your thumb against his jaw before pulling your hand away.

“Y’know now since you’re eighteen you should totally get a tattoo, would make you look hot.” You raised your brows a couple times, clearly teasing. Geto rolled his eyes and looked back to your laptop, but a sly smirk was etched on his face.

You let out a huff as he ignores your teasing, “Can I ask you a question?” He turns back to you, nodding with curiosity. Tilting your head to get a good look at him before you ask, voice soft due to the personal nature of the question “How come you’re never at home? You’re always here, I mean I don’t mind i’m just curious.”

You could see the way Geto’s expression changed slightly darker, shaking your head “Never mind pretend i didn’t ask, ‘m sorry.” He could only smile slightly, grateful he didn’t have to explain his complicated home life to you. You shift closer towards him, uncrossing your legs and instead laying them out with your left leg pressed against his.

His hang off the bed more than yours due to the height difference, you and him sit in silence besides the soft noises of him typing, and the hum of your fan that stays on even during the harsh winters.

Minutes later he places the laptop in your lap, his fingers brushing against your thighs as he pulls them from under the laptop. “It’s all done, you can change some things if you prefer. Im gonna head to bed,” He gets up off your bed “goodnight y/n.” You looked up at him with a grateful smile. “goodnight Suguru.”

As he left your bedroom he tried to forget how plush your thighs looked while squished against the mattress, the way you looked up at him with your pretty eyelashes, how his name sounded in your voice. He shook it off and went into Gojo’s bedroom, lying down on his bed despite him still being downstairs.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

The next morning neither you or Geto mentioned last night, knowing that your brother Gojo would flip out and complain. But also it kinda felt like.. your own little secret. The whole day you two shared glances, like whenever him and Gojo were sitting in the kitchen eating some takeout, your brother hurriedly pushed you some food and told you to get out. You looked over at Geto, making eye contact as his eyes grew slightly softer.

Even whenever you walked past Gojo’s bedroom, with the door open you looked in and made brief eye contact with him before you walked past.

Thats how it went the whole day, until it was nighttime again and you were watching your new show you started on your tv. Not caring it was a little too loud for the time it was now, you shamelessly wished Geto would sneak into your room again tonight.

Of course, minutes later a soft knock sounded against your bedroom door. You couldn’t help the small smile that tugged on your face, turning down the tv just a bit as you spoke “Come in.”

Geto pushed open the door, closing it behind him. He walked over to your bed. You were sitting against the headboard with your legs covered by the blankets, he slipped off the slippers he always wore and crawled up next to you. Sliding his legs under your blanket.

You looked over at him with a smug expression “My brother must be really boring huh?” He let out a huff, lightly kicking your leg with his foot. “He fell asleep again, plus you’re not bad company.” A smile slipped on your face again before you turned back to the tv.

As more time went on it seemed you two only got closer, his thigh was now pressed against yours along with your shoulders. You could hear the blanket shuffling a bit and before you could question it you felt cold knuckles brushing along your thigh. You sucked in a sharp breath which he picked up on, he took you not saying anything in protest as a sign to continue.

He unfolded his hand and moving his hand to rest on your thigh, resting it there unmoving. You bit your lip as you glanced down, obviously you couldn’t see his hand due to it being under the covers but that only made the blush on your face worsen.

Geto spared a glance to your face, fondly smiling as he saw your flustered appearance. “This ok?” You turned to look at him, nodding your head “Yea ‘s fine.” He hummed, thumb brushing against your skin before focusing back on the show.

As time passed you let your head fall to rest against his shoulder, and you ignored the way your eyelids grew heavy. Inevitably you drifted off to sleep, it only took him a couple minutes to realize. He stared down at your face, feeling his heart beating a bit quicker when he took in how adorable you looked.

His hand slipped off your thigh, as he moved away from you he supported your head with his hand. Softly and slowly guiding you to lay down, once your head was against the pillow he moved out the bed. He paused once he heard you grumble before slightly sitting up, “Goodnight Suguru.” He smiled and walked over to the side of your bed, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of your head. “Goodnight sweet girl.” You hummed as you tucked yourself back under the covers, Geto grabbed your remote off your nightstand and turned off the tv.

As he walked to Gojo’s room he could only smile, blushing like a flustered preteen when he remembered how you said his name so affectionately.

Though all that disappeared whenever he had to move Gojo’s unconscious body to the other side of the bed so he could fit, cursing to himself whenever he wouldn’t budge.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

It’s now been a couple days since then, Geto hasn’t come to your room the past few nights so whenever you realized he was probably on the couch you slid off your bed. Just to be sure you peeked into your brother’s room only to see him alone on his bed, knocked out.

You let out a huff, smiling once you saw some droll. You closed his door before walling quietly down the steps, padding into the living room. Geto looked up expecting maybe Gojo woke up but when he saw you a fond smile slipped onto his face.

He was laying down on the couch, watching some movie you didn’t recognize. You stood in-front of him as he lifted the blanket for you, sheepishly you crawled under the blanket. Lying down while your back was against his chest, his arm snaked around your waist.

You knew you’re were blushing, you could feel it. He hooked his chin onto your shoulder “Hi sweet girl,” hearing the pet name only worsened your flustered state “was about to come up to see you.” You smiled, rolling over to face him. “Guess I beat you to it.” He could only smile at your competitive nature.

“Guess so.” He kept his arm around your waist, he pulled you closer. Instinctively your leg draped across him, “What if my brother wakes up?” You couldn’t help but worry, you were practically on top of his best friend right now where he no doubt was just sitting earlier.

His eyes glanced over to the stairs before shaking his head, looking back at you “He’s out like a light, don’t worry your pretty head.” Smiling at his little compliment you nodded, as you both stared at each other you realized. What were you two doing?

Seemingly Geto noticed your mind drifting, lifting his other arm to snake his hand under your chin. “What is it?” biting your lip nervously you glanced away before sighing. “What are we Suguru?” He huffs out a breath at your question which only freaks you out more.

Maybe he didn’t want to be anything you, maybe you read into it wrong, maybe, maybe, maybe. Your mind was running a hundred miles per hour at this point, and of course he noticed. He brushed his thumb over your bottom lip, “Wanna be yours.” He smiled as your eyes widened slightly, how you breathed out in shock.

“Really?” He nodded to your question, placing a soft kiss to your cheek. “Yea, been waiting to make a move on your sweet girl. But just for now we gotta keep it a secret, just until I find the right time to tell your brother yea?” All you could do was nod, out of words.

Silence took over the room for what felt like minutes before you spoke, “So we’re dating?” He laughed shortly at your question. Placing another kiss to your cheek, “Yea were dating pretty girl.”

A smile broke out onto your face, biting your lip to try to fight it but it was no use. He was already smiling back at you, moving the hand from under your chin to brush through your hair. “Wanna take things slow, do it the proper way.” You nodded along “Mhm, me too.” You placed another kiss to your forehead before pulling your head to rest on his chest.

Unfortunately, you and him both fell asleep on the couch. Tangled together, and seemingly on top one another. Whenever you woke up you were immediately greeted by yelling, as you groggily opened your eyes. Realizing where you were your blood ran cold.

Suguru was already awake, of course still next to you but he was sitting up. You then heard your brother, “What the hell are you two doing?!” You sat up and snapped your head to your brother. Once his eyes landed on you its like your heart stopped, you were scared for his reaction. Wondering if he’ll be mad at you, yell at you, maybe even drag you away from Suguru.

“What the hell are you doing huh!?!” You glanced away from him momentarily to look at Suguru, he looked just as shocked at you to be awoken like this. You looked back at your brother who now hand his hands on his hips waiting for either of you two to respond.

He then turned his gaze to Suguru, you sucked in a breath. “I mean cmon I know you were always ogling at my sister but doing it on the couch?!” At this your jaw dropped, as his eyes widened. You both began to shake your head, “No, we didnt do that you idiot!” You spoke first, standing up off the couch.

The blanket slipped off this couch and much to Gojo’s delight you were both fully clothed and no.. substances were on the couch. He let out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank the heavens.” His shoulders sagged slightly at he looked between you both, “Well I don’t care,” turning back to you “but that doesn’t mean you get to hog him to yourself.”

It grew silent for a while, then Gojo walked into the kitchen out of your sight. You turned to face Suguru as he shrugged. You both looked at each other for a moment before breaking out into giggles, you sliding back onto the couch next to him. He placed a kiss onto your lips, you both still laughing slightly.

He rested his forehead against yours, “So much for a keeping it a secret huh?” You smiled, placing a small peck onto his lips before your brother came back. Ruining the moment and shooing you away upstairs.

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#geto suguru #jjk suguru #jjk geto #jujutsu geto #geto x reader #jujutsu kaisen suguru #suguru x you #oneshot #jjk fluff #jjk gojo

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secretswiftymarvelfan · 3 days ago

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Boston Bears: Fake Out - Rugby Player! Ari Levinson x Reader (Part 2)

Summary: After a week back on the East Coast you start your new job at the Boston Bears only to find out your boss has an interesting job for you.

Word Count: 7.6k words

Warnings: Language! Angst! Mention of Cheating! Sexual Tension!

Rugby Explained

Dividers by Me!

Fake Out Series Masterlist /Boston Bears Masterlist / Masterlist

Chapter 2

You were sat with your chin resting on your knee, on Elena’s bed which technically was your bed now. You glanced around the room which was now yours, the entire apartment was yours. The first thing Elena did Tuesday morning was put your name on the lease and take her name off. That evening she started packing up her stuff and helped unpack yours.

It didn’t feel like your apartment though. You wondered whether it would when she was fully moved out and only the small collection of your belongings remained. But then it would just be as empty as you felt, most of your things were back in LA and you wouldn’t get them back for another couple months.

Even now the apartment felt quiet. Elena was at work and it was just you. The silence was deafening. Elena had asked if you wanted her to stay a couple night to keep you company but you lied and said you were fine. Last night you had just stared up at the ceiling until exhaustion finally took over.

You were pulled from your thoughts by your laptop coming to life. A video call from your parents. You’d been expecting this, your mom had texted you yesterday to ask what was going on. You hadn’t felt ready to tell them yet so you said they could call you today.

“Hey mom, hey dad” you forced a smile as the call connected and you saw the concerned faces of your parents.

“Hey sweetpea, how you feeling?” Your dad asked with a sympathetic look.

You let out a weak chuckle “shit” you admitted. There was no point denying it, they knew how you felt even if they didn’t know why.

“Has this got something to do with Dan calling us to ask if you were here?” Your mom asked softly.

You nodded, you expected that too. Dan had called Elena Monday evening, she played dumb and said she didn’t know where you were and if she did she wouldn’t tell him “did he tell you why?”

“No he didn’t, he just asked us to call if you turned up” your dad told you.

You scoffed and shook your head. He didn’t tell Elena what he’d done either, didn’t admit his mistake “Did you tell him I was with El?”

Your mom shook her head “No we didn’t, we knew that you clearly didn’t want to be around him and we respected that”

“Thank you” your voice felt weak as you looked down “The um- the wedding’s off… he’s been cheating on me with the wedding planner”

“The motherfucker!” Your dad growled shooting up from his seat, only sitting down when your mom grabbed the back of his sweater and tugged him to sit back down.

“More like wedding planner fucker” you joked weakly.

Your mom sighed “I’m so sorry sweetheart you don’t deserve that, he doesn’t deserve you either”

“Is El looking after you?” Your dad asked.

You nodded “She’s at work now but yeah she has, she’s given me her apartment and her and Chris got me a job working in the PR department with the Bears, I start tomorrow they’re gonna give me a bit of an induction ahead of the game again Washington on Friday night”

“That’s good, will you be travelling with them?” your dad asked.

“No the PR and comms team takes it in turns to go on the road and report back, I’ll just be shadowing the team who stay in Boston and post updates on the match etcetera” you explained.

The new job was a bit of a step down, not just in pay. You’d gone from one of the best PR firms on the West Coast that handled movie stars to being a PR and Comms staff for a sports team. But it was just temporary, you’d find something with better pay once you were a bit more settled.

“Well I’m sure you’ll smash it darling” your mom said, making you snort quietly they’d been living in the UK for less than a year and the British vernacular had already snuck in.

“Thank you and I’m so sorry that the wedding has been called off, I know you guys have put a lot of money into it” you sighed, guilt wracking your body.

“Sweetpea, money means nothing if you’re unhappy, we’d rather you be happy than marry that piece of shit because of the money that’s been spent,” your dad told you.

“And look the wedding wasn’t going to be until spring so we might be able to get some of the deposits back,” your mom said “Why don’t you leave that with us to sort and you just focus on yourself and your happiness”

“Thanks mom, that would be really helpful,” you said, a lump of emotion forming in your throat.

“What are you going to do about Christmas? You’re more than welcome here” your dad said.

“I don’t know, I’ll have to look into it, money is gonna be a bit tighter now and I don’t know what my work commitments will be” you sighed with a shrug of your shoulders.

“That’s okay let us know as soon as you know what you’re doing, you know we’d love to have you” your mom smiled.

“Thanks Mom,” you said before chuckling quietly “I don’t know why I was so scared to have this chat”

“You never have to be scared to talk to us, the only person who should be scared is that piece of shit, I swear he’s dead when I next see him” your dad swore.

You chuckled “that’s good to know, so how is rainy Britain?” You asked to change the topic.

You and your parents caught up for the next hour or so, by the time you finally ended the call you felt so much better. You wished they were here to hug you and make you feel better but just talking to them did enough to make you feel a little less empty. It made taking on the next chapter of your life less scary.

Your first couple of days working at the Bears had been a whirlwind. While you were mostly shadowing over the weekend it still felt like you had been dropped in the deep end. The entire office was a hive of activity during the game. You were used to this level of activity being a bad thing because it meant someone was having a PR disaster. But in this new world, it was a good thing because it meant the team was winning.

You had to admit the excitement was a little contagious, the entire PR team were avid fans. Cheering and complaining at the ref as the game played on the big screen. You didn’t know much about the sport nor the players so you couldn’t follow it very well. You did see Ari get sent off for a yellow, one of your colleagues said he was lucky it wasn’t a red but there was enough mitigation that his high tackle remained as a yellow. What that actually meant you had no clue.

It was Monday morning when your new boss, Steph called you into her office.

“Is everything okay? I haven’t done something wrong have I?” You asked as you followed her into her office.

“No, no, you’ve been great! Frankly, you’re overqualified” She smiled as she sat down “I just want your input on something that’s all” She gestured for you to sit.

“Oh I’m very flattered, I know I don’t know much about the rugby world,” you said bashfully as you sat.

Steph smiled softly “You’ve done a lot of PR work with celebrities back in LA right?” She asked leaning back in her chair.

“Yes my company worked with a lot of celebs” You nodded shifting in your seat.

“Did you do a lot of PR relationships?” She then asked.

You nodded your head again “Yeah there are not as many PR relationships in Hollywood as people think, but I have worked on quite a few”

“Good, so what makes a successful one?” She asked.

“Um well, it depends on what image you’re trying to get across” you explained.

“Someone settled, someone you can trust and is moving past their wildcard days” Steph supplied gesturing with her hands in a vague manner.

“Right well you want someone who is that kind of person, no one who grabs the spotlight for the same reasons you’re trying to fix” you told her.

She sat forward and started taking notes “What else?”

“You have to make sure the people are well matched, if one of them has a clear type then you need the meet that type. So if someone has publicly said they like a woman with curves you can’t set them up with a Victoria’s Secret model” you explain.

She hummed studying you for a moment before returning to her notes “Anything else?”

“A mutual connection helps, makes it more believable. If fans and media outlets can easily trace how they would have potentially met then they’re more likely to believe it. So in this case if it was someone a fellow teammate knew, there’s a clear link, if you pick someone who has no connection to the player people are going to be suspicious” you continued.

“And you’re close with Elena and Chris aren’t you?”

Your brows furrow for a moment confused as to what the relevance was “uh yeah Elena is my best friend, I don’t know Chris that well though” you shrugged your shoulders.

“Okay” she hummed tapping her pen against her chin in thought.

“Are you considering it for one of the players?” You asked.

“Yes, I’ve never suggested one before though, usually you just send the players to charity events but he needs a long-term solution” she explained.

“Well if you want I could maybe take the lead, or advise?” You suggested.

A smile tugged at her lips “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you for your insight I have a lot to think about before my meeting with him tomorrow”

“No worries glad to help, is there anything else you need?” You asked.

“No thanks, can you go with the team who will be filming training content? Familiarise yourself with that?” She suggested.

“Of course” you nodded before getting up from your seat.

As you walked back to your desk you wondered which of the team needed a PR relationship. You barely knew any of them, so you could only go on what El had told you. Chris was out for obvious reasons, from what you knew of Curtis you doubted it was him. Ari came to mind but you instantly shook that thought from your head. Not because you didn’t think it was him, but because you didn’t want to work with him. You settled on Johnny instead, even though El said he was a bit of a secret softie he was known as a player.

You nodded to yourself, yeah it had to be Johnny. You instantly thought of different strategies for him, where to stage the dates. He’d be an easy client too, the only problem would be getting him to keep it in his pants. You just hoped that whatever reason he had would be incentive enough to keep him in line.

Ari grunted in pain as Elena dug her hand into the back of his shoulder “Jesus fuck woman” he complained, fists clenched “Do you get off on torturing people or something”

Ari hated physio, he swore it was just the medical team’s excuse to get some revenge.

“It’s your own fault you’re here” she pointed out as she continued to work on his shoulder.

He knew she meant his high tackle that resulted in a yellow card and sore shoulder “There was mitigation” he reminded her.

“You were lucky, if Chris hadn’t tackled him too your shoulder would have gone straight into the wolves’ head and it would have been a red” Elena pointed out as she finally stopped working on his shoulder.

“Like I said mitigation” Ari said as he sat back up sending a smirk her way.

She rolled her eyes “That’s not the only reason I’m pissed at you” she said with a pointed look as she grabbed a towel and wiped her hands clean.

Ari dropped his shoulders with a heavy sigh instantly knowing what she meant again. You. You had been on his mind for over a week now. He was pissed off at himself for the way he treated you, he kept replaying the situation to see what he could have done differently. In the perfect situation, you would have ended up in his arms as he comforted you. He wanted to apologise and make it right but he also didn’t want to make it worse.

“i know, i just haven't seen her to apologise” he sighed glancing down at his hands.

“Haven’t seen her or avoided her?” Elena asked with a brow arched “She was in the gym on Monday”

“I was at my 1-2-1 analysis while she was there” Ari reasoned “getting ripped into by your dad for that yellow” he added a pointed look.

Elena shrugged “You deserved it”

“Whatever” Ari huffed as he pushed himself off the medical bed “Look I promise I'll apologise to her now, I’m heading up to the PR office for a meeting after this”

“What do you need PR for?” Elena asked her brows furrowed.

“I want to make the national team this summer, your dad said I need to improve both on and off the pitch” Ari explained as he grabbed his top and pulled it back on.

Elena nodded “It is criminal that you haven’t been picked yet” she hummed “Don’t worry I’m sure whatever Y/N has cooked up will work, she’s the best around” she winked before pointing at him “Just don’t make her life difficult, she’s been through enough shit” she warned.

Ari held his hands up in surrender. He still didn’t know the full picture, only that you were back on the East Coast without your engagement ring. He’d asked Chris what had happened but he said it wasn’t his story to share “I swear, I won’t” he promised “You can beat the crap out of me if I do”

Elena smirked “Good, now go on and stop doing stupid shit,” she said waving him out of the medical room.

Ari huffed as he walked out, he wanted to stop doing stupid shit too. But that was easier said than done. He’d been told that he was hot-headed for as long as he could remember, there were times when it felt like he blacked out and one came back around after he’d done the stupid shit. Like the fight he started at the cup final, he remembered seeing Bryce make the illegal tackle on Chris and then the next thing he remembered was Bryce on the floor below him as he landed multiple blows to the face.

He’d always been like this. Like there was pent up anger he had at the world. He could blame the first five years of his life for that. He was signed up to play rugby at the age of 7 at the advice of his teachers to try and work through a lot of that anger. Rugby helped a lot, it gave him somewhere to direct his anger and frustrations and work through it in a healthier way.

It didn’t take away all the pressure though, evident by the way he shouted at you. Another moment when his frustrations got the better of him and he blacked out. He just hoped that you would accept his apology.

He spotted you as soon as he stepped into the PR and Comms office. He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips as he looked over you. You were standing at a coworker's desk, looking over his shoulder at something on the screen. You had a contemplative look on your face, your red-tinted lips pursed. You listened to whatever your co-worker was saying before nodding your head, arms crossed over your chest. You were wearing a red sweater that seemed a little baggy on you but still looked incredible. Especially with the black skirt and knee-high boots you were wearing.

When you finished what you were saying you finally looked up and over at him. The expression on your face became guarded as you studied him. He expected you to tilt your head up in defiance but you did the opposite. Your chin dropped as you went to move back to your desk, shoulders turned inwards.

Ari internally cursed at himself, he’d fucked up majorly if you weren’t fighting back against him like you did back in LA.

“Y/N,” he said as he stepped in your path.

“Ari,” you said forcing a smile as you looked up at him, which was wrong you should have crossed your arms and arched an unimpressed brow at him.

“I wanted to apologise for the other week, I was out of line” he apologised “I was tired and was having a shitty day and I took my anger out on the first person I came across”

“That’s no excuse” you pointed out as you looked down at your feet.

That response was closer to what he expected from you, the words were right but the delivery was off. The words should have been sharper, not downtrodden.

“You’re right it's not,” Ari said before holding his arms out “So c’mon rip into me” he invited with a playful smirk “We both know how well you can do it, knock me down a peg or two”

You studied him for a moment. Ari could see the gears turning in your head which made his smirk grow. He knew you were going to come out with something brilliant, something that would knock a less confident man out. He couldn’t wait. He wanted to see that side of you again, he wanted to play.

“I’ve got work to do” you muttered as you dropped your gaze and stepped around him.

Ari frowned as he turned around “Y/N” he muttered in disbelief, his hands dropping back down to his side.

“I’m busy Ari and I’m sure you have training or something” you sighed as you refused to look at him as you gathered a notebook from your desk.

“Y/N c’mon” he pressed stepping in your way as you went to walk away again, “I said I was sorry, why are you still freezing me out?”

“Apology accepted, now leave me alone I have a meeting” you said looking up at him with a tired expression on your face.

Ari’s brows furrowed in concern as he took you in, how tired and worn out you looked. It made his fists clenched. Whatever happened back in LA did this to you and he wanted to know what so he could beat the crap out of it.

“Y/N,” he said softly.

He reached out to put a hand on your shoulder, feeling the need to provide comfort in any way he could. He wanted to ask what happened, what he could do to make it better and bring back the version he knew.

He didn’t get the chance though, before his hand even made contact he was interrupted by Steph “Ah Ari, perfect timing, we have the perfect strategy for you” she smiled from her office.

He didn’t look away from you so he saw how your brows furrowed in confusion, looking over at Steph and then back at him.

He let out a quiet sigh as he took a step back “Glad to hear it” he said as he turned and walked towards her office.

He stopped though when she said “Good, right c’mon Y/N” She waved for you to join.

He looked over his shoulder and saw you take a deep breath as you looked down at your boots. The fake smile plastered on back on your face when you looked back up and said “Of course”

Ari blinked in surprise when you walked past him into Steph’s office. You didn’t know he was your meeting and clearly weren't happy being trapped in a small office with him for the next half an hour or so. Evident by the way you sat in one of the furthest away chairs.

“Right I have decided on the best strategy for you, and I want to remind you that you said you’d do anything” Steph said as Ari sat down in his chair.

“That doesn’t concern me at all” he smirked as he leant back.

“Trust me this will work” Steph smiled “We’re going to set you up with a PR relationship for the rest of the season”

Ari arched a brow, he wasn’t expecting that at all. He expected lots of charity work, which he wouldn’t have minded, but not this “a relationship?”

“Yes, we want to portray you as settled or at least settling, what better way to do that than a relationship” Steph said with a proud.

Ari nodded slowly as he took in the information “With who?”

The smile on Steph’s face widens “Well we want this to work so I’ve brought in the best” she grinned before turning her attention to you “Y/N will be the perfect match”

“Excuse me?” you squeaked in surprise.

Ari frowned, you had clearly been blindsided by this idea. Something that didn’t sit right with him, it wasn’t fair on you.

“Yes you said so yourself, there needs to be a mutual connection and you were the only person we found that had one” Steph explained as she gestured over to you “Plus you know how to do this better than anyone, I trust you to take lead on this”

“Steph this isn’t going to work” you stuttered sitting forward in your chair “I’ve just broken off an engagement, no one would believe this”

“Is there any evidence of your relationship online?” Steph asked, her head tilted in question.

“Uh- no, I- I deleted everything,” you said your voice cracking.

“Well that’s one less thing to worry about, plus it's not uncommon for people to get into a relationship soon after another” Steph points out.

“There must be someone else” you pleaded.

Ari’s heart broke, as much as he would love just the chance to be your boyfriend even if it was just pretend, he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.

“Not someone who fits the criteria you gave me, and we need this to work for Ari” Steph sighed, her voice sympathetic “you’ll be in charge and will take the lead on it so you’ll have control over what happens, you can make it suit you, I only ask that it's believable” she continued before turning her attention back to Ari “what do you say?”

Ari took a moment before turning and looking at you, hoping his expression conveyed how sincere he was “I’m in if you’re in” he said softly “I need this and I trust you, but if you really don’t want to do it then we don’t have to”

You sat there stunned, staring back at him with a look of panic in your eyes.

“Why don’t I leave you two to talk it through some more and get back to me when you’ve come to a decision” Steph said as she stood from her chair and strode out of the room.

Once she was gone Ari turned to look at you, your hand was resting on your heaving chest, the look of panic in your eyes getting worse.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Ari said moving to crouch in front of you, keeping enough distance between the two of you to make sure you were comfortable “Take some deep breaths,” he told you, when you didn’t respond he put a cautious hand on your knee “deep breaths sweetheart”

You finally responded to him and took the deep breaths you needed, your eyes finding his. He watched as the panic slowly faded from them with every deep breath you took.

“Feeling better?” he asked after a moment.

“Not really” you admitted as you shook your head, “I thought it was gonna be Johnny that needed this not you” you muttered as you rubbed your forehead “and that I would just be leading it not actually part of it”

“Yeah, I didn’t like how she blindsided you with that” Ari told her earning a huff of a laugh from you.

“You could say that again” you mumbled “What do you even need this for? I mean you got yellow cards recently but I thought those weren’t a big deal”

Ari nodded his head “Normally they’re not, but if I don’t reign myself in this season I won’t make the national team, the head coach is gonna be watching me and I want him to know he can trust me” he explained.

“You’re doing this for a spot on the national team?” you questioned “Seems a bit extreme”

Ari let out a small chuckle “Yeah well I’m pretty desperate, it’s been a dream of mine ever since I was a kid, a dream that hasn’t happened yet” he admitted.

“Right” you muttered looking down at your fiddling hands.

“Can I ask what happened back in LA?” Ari asked, causing your eyes to shoot back up at him.

You took a couple of moments before admitting “My fiance cheated on me with the wedding planner”

“The fucker” Ari growled making you jump “Sorry” he apologised taking a deep breath to calm himself “Well dating a sexy rugby player is a great way to say fuck you to him” he then smirked.

You rolled your eyes “Yeah but Johnny’s not the one who needs it” you muttered making Ari grin. This was the side of you that was missing, it wasn’t completely gone it just needed coaxing back out.

“There she is” Ari whispered earning a small confused frown from you “Look I won’t lie to you and say I don’t need this because I really really do, but considering all the shit you’re going through and the fact I don’t think you’ve actually accepted my apology” Ari continued “it's up to you, take the time you need to think it through and I promise if you decide to do this I won’t make your life difficult and I’ll do whatever you say”

You took a deep breath and nodded your head “Yeah okay… I’ll think it through and I’ll um get back to you”

“Great, that's all I can ask for” Ari said standing back up “And look I’m sorry about your fiance, he’s a dick and clearly insane for not realising he already had the most incredible woman on the planet” he said, Your lips parted in surprise as you stared up at him.

You went to say something but Ari didn’t want to hear you turn him down so he just flashed you a smile and walked “See you soon” he said as he stepped out.

You thought about Ari’s proposition all day and still couldn’t come to an answer. You thought it would be a simple answer, a straight-up no, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say it. There was a small niggling thought at the back of your mind that was holding you back.

So instead of going straight home after work, you went to Chris and Elena’s house to talk it out with them. Hopefully hearing them say it was an insane idea would reassure that little thought and you could just say no.

So here you were sitting on the couch, feet tucked up beneath you as you cradled a cup of tea. You would have preferred a glass of wine or something stronger but you needed a clear head, drunk decisions were almost always bad decisions.

“Right, so what is it that Steph wants you to do?” Elena asked as she sat down on the adjacent couch next to Chris, their dog Dodger jumping up to join them.

“She wants me to be Ari’s fake girlfriend for the rest of the season” you sighed, running your finger around the rim of your mug.

“Why you?” she questioned.

“Because I stupidly gave her the perfect criteria and I match it” you scoffed shaking your head “the mutual connection, someone who’s looking to settle down” you didn’t say the part about being his type because you weren’t quite sure what to do with that information yourself.

“And there’s no one else?” Chris asked as he scratched Dodger behind the ear.

“Apparently not” you shrugged, “Steph said she trusted me because of my expertise in the area”

Chris hummed and nodded his head “What did Ari say about it?”

“He’s in, said he’s desperate to make the national team and is willing to do whatever it takes” you sighed, taking a sip of your tea.

“Makes sense, he’s 30 now, will be 31 by the next world cup and 35 at the one after, but he might have retired by then” Chris shrugged “This might be his last chance”

You let out a small huff “Thanks that doesn’t make me feel guilty at all”

Chris gave you an apologetic smile “Sorry, it’s just that being his captain I want to see him make that team, it would be awesome to play alongside him at the world cup”

“Why is it that you don’t want to do it? I mean before last week you two seemed to get on pretty fine” Elena asked as she sat forward a bit.

That was another problem. You two did get along well, too well. You could recall the first time you saw him, you noticed him the moment he walked into the hotel. It was like a moment in a romance novel when the female lead sees her love interest and the whole world stops for a moment.

You’d looked away before he spotted you, you were engaged and couldn’t be ogling other men. When he came over and shook your hand it made your entire body jolt and your next breath felt like the very first. You tried to put up a front and push him away but he kept coming straight back and you felt your resolve breaking. You had felt so guilty at the time, especially when you had a less-than-innocent dream about him that night.

You had tried to forget about him, but he seemed rooted in your mind. When you watched the livestream of the cup final you told yourself it was for Elena’s sake, even if you had told her you wouldn’t be watching. But deep down you knew it was because of a large man with gorgeous long locks and a thick beard.

“Because I just got out of a long-term relationship” you landed on with a sigh “I can’t just fall back into another one”

“It's not a real one though” Elena pointed out “You’ll still be single, and you’ll have time to be single for a while without interference and find who you are without Dan”

“I guess” you sighed.

“And we both know Dan is going to work out you’re here if he hasn’t already, if he saw you had moved on with a big beefy rugby player he’s gonna be too scared to try and win you back” Elena added.

“You know when I came over I expected you to agree that it was a bad idea” you pointed out over the top of your mug, taking another large sip.

Elena chuckled “I’m sorry but I wouldn’t be a good friend if I straight up lied to you” she pointed out “I understand where you’re coming from but I can see how this benefits you too”

“Yeah and frankly i don’t think you could find someone better to do this sort of thing with” Chris added.

“You really think you should do this?” you sighed.

“I think you should at least give it a go” Elena nodded.

You took a deep breath. Everything they said was true, yeah you would be in a fake relationship in person but in private you would be single and undisturbed. Ari would provide you with that privacy, and in return, you could help him achieve his childhood dream.

“Okay fine I’ll do it” you sighed in resignation.

Elena smiled back excitedly “Yes this is gonna be great!” she grinned “You should let him know now”

“Not now, we’ll have to go over the rules and the plan,” you said shaking your head.

“You could invite him over here? Go over it together with us?” Chris suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You’re not going to drop this are you?” you sighed knowingly.

“Nope. please this is so exciting! It's like something out of a movie!” Elena grinned.

You rolled your eyes “Fine, but I don’t have his number so you’ll have to call him”

“Sure not a problem” Chris said reaching into his back pocket to grab his phone.

Faster than you expected Ari was knocking on the front door. Dodger instantly ran to greet him, you could hear Ari’s deep chuckle down the hallway. Chris and him were chatting as they walked towards the living room. You noticed that his long hair was damp, it wasn’t raining so you wondered whether he’d just gotten out of the shower when Chris called. The mental image of Ari in the shower flashed through your mind, your mouth went dry at the image, all the moisture travelling elsewhere. You cleared your throat and shifted in your seat as you pushed the mental image from your mind.

Ari’s gaze shifted to you and a lopsided smile grew on his lips “Y/N” he greeted.

You cleared your throat again “Ari”

“Chris said you wanted to talk to me about the whole fake dating thing,” he said as he walked over and sat on the same couch as you.

You took a deep breath, which you quickly regretted because even though he was sitting on the opposite end of the couch you could smell his body wash. It was pine with a hint of citrus, it was fresh and comforting all at the same time.

“Uh yeah, I uh thought it over and I think we should do it but we have to lay out some rules” You shifted and turned towards him, fidgeting with your hands in your lap.

“Of course, like Steph said you’re in charge and I’m your puppet” he smirked reclining back, arm resting across the back of the couch.

Your gaze shifted to his hand, his long thick fingers which were now much closer to you. You hadn’t noticed how large his hands were. Your mind started down the rabbit hole again, you wondered how warm and comforting they were. How they might feel against your body… holding you…

“So what rules have you got in mind?” Ari’s fingers drummed against the couch breaking you out of your trance.

“Right yes rules” You cleared your throat, shifting further away from him “Well obviously we cannot tell anyone about this, the fewer people that know the better”

Ari nodded “of course, I’m assuming you two won’t say anything” he glanced over to Chris and Elena.

“Lips are sealed” Elena confirmed, “what about your parents though Tommi?”

You shrugged your shoulders “with them in England it should be fine, especially since we’re gonna take this slow, a whirlwind romance doesn’t sell settling down” you looked over at Ari who was rubbing his hand over his beard “what about your parents?”

“Same as you, they’re travelling” he hummed “How slow are we taking this?”

“Uh well we need to lay some groundwork first” you explained “like establishing that I’m here in Boston not LA”

“What about your ex? Are you sure you want him to know that?” Ari frowned, hand dropping back down to the back of the couch.

“Not really, but I’ve blocked him and any of his friends so I should be fine,” you told him.

Ari tightly nodded “As long as you’re sure, so what’s after that?”

“Uh well, maybe a social event that we’re both at, somewhere where we can appear in the back of photos chatting?” you suggested.

“Johnny is throwing a Halloween party next week? You could be my plus one” Elena suggested.

“What about me?” Chris huffed looking over at Elena.

“You have your own invite meatball” Elena slapped his chest, shaking her head at him.

“Okay yeah that works, there will be group photos and we can be in the background of a couple” you nodded thinking it through in your head “It’ll establish a when and where we met”

“But we met back in LA, don’t tell me you forgot that lunch?” Ari pointed out, a fake look of hurt on his face.

You rolled your eyes “It will establish it for people online” you clarified before taking another deep breath “And then after that, we need a time where we meet up, maybe as a four?”

“We can go to brunch?” Chris suggested.

“Perfect, and then we just need to go out a couple of times just us two but we can decide on that later, are there any events I should be aware of?” You asked glancing around at everyone, only allowing yourself to look at Ari for a second or two.

“Only Thanksgiving and the Christmas charity dinner at the beginning of December, the rest of our events are at the end of the season” Ari explained.

“You don’t go home for Thanksgiving?” You frowned, you couldn’t imagine not spending time with your family for Thanksgiving. Although it didn’t look like you’d be able to fly to England to celebrate with your parents this year.

“It depends on what day the match is that weekend, if it’s Sunday or Saturday some players do go home to family but if it’s Friday like it is this year my dad organises a team Thanksgiving for players who don’t have family in the state” El explained “players can bring a friend or their partner”

“Are you going to your parents?” Ari asked grabbing your attention.

You shifted in your seat, glancing down at your fiddling fingers unable to focus with his intense gaze “I don’t know, it might be too expensive this year”

“I could help if-“ Ari started but you interrupted. As much as you wanted to see your parents for Thanksgiving, you didn’t want to owe Ari money.

“No it’s fine, me going to this player's thanksgiving is good for PR, it can essentially confirm the relationship and then we’ll make our official outing as a couple at the charity dinner” you said with a sharp shake of your head.

It looked like Ari went to argue but when his eyes met yours his mouth snapped shut. He cleared his throat and nodded in agreement “sounds like a good plan… what else do we need to discuss?”

You were grateful for the slight change in topic but the only thing left to discuss was the part that made you the most uncomfortable. Public displays of affection. You knew you couldn’t outright ban it but you just weren’t sure how you felt about Ari holding you and kissing you.

“Right” your voice came out strained so you cleared your throat “Of course we will have to do some PDA but we should ease into it as a normal couple would and we should clear it with each other beforehand”

Ari nodded “Understandable, I’m not one for big displays of public displays of affection”

You breathed out a sigh of relief even though there was a small part of you that was ever so slightly disappointed. You pushed that part away though, you had just gotten out of a serious relationship, you needed to be single for a while and focus on yourself. Even if you did have to be in a fake relationship to do so. The irony was not lost on you.

“Cool I think that’s it for now, I’ll um plan out more of the strategy for later on is there anything you want to ask?”

“What’s the end date on this?” Ari asked.

“Well I guess once we know if you’ve made the team we can start putting things in place that lead to the eventual breakup” you shrugged “which works nicely since I’ll probably want to move onto a better-paid job in New York or something”

Ari frowned “You don’t plan on staying here?”

“You just got here” Elena pouted.

You looked over at Elena and felt instantly guilty “I know and I’m grateful for what you guys have done but sports PR is a bit of a step-down, I’m staying on the east coast though so we’ll be able to see each other easily”

Elena gave you an understanding smile “Guess I can live with that” she playfully rolled her eyes.

You smiled back before shifting your gaze back to Ari who still looked unhappy at the idea of you moving. For whatever reason you had no clue. You could practically see the cogs in his head turning as he looked back at you with an unhappy frown. It made your hands itch like you wanted to reach out and comfort him. It made you quickly jump up from the couch, you needed out. Especially when Ari’s frown changed to one of concern at your sudden motion.

“Right if that’s everything, I’m gonna head home because it’s been a long day” you ran your hand through your hair, pushing it from your face.

Ari slowly rose from the couch “Me too, I’ll walk you out” he said barely looking away from you as he said “Thanks for having us Evans”

Both Chris and Elena had amused looks on their faces as they looked up at you “sure we’ll see you both at the Halloween party” Chris nodded.

“Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow El” You cleared your throat and grabbed your bag and made a swift exit.

Ari with his long legs had no issue keeping up with you, following you at the door and towards your car. His jeep parked next to yours, you had expected him to be more of an Audi kinda guy. You had seen more sides of him since landing in Boston than you expected. The angry, grumpy side, the cheeky side and a really calming and sincere side.

You couldn’t forget the way he put his hand on your knee and calmed you down with just that gesture in Steph’s office earlier today. The way he had apologised and told you how blind your ex was. An apology that you had yet to officially accept. You paused as you reached your car, you couldn’t go into a fake relationship and not accept his apology.

With a deep sigh, you quickly turned around. Ari’s brow quirking in surprise as you looked up at him “I accept your apology for the other day, you had a bad day and so had I, it’s all water under the bridge”

Ari nodded “My bad day was no excuse, I am really sorry and I promise not to hurt you like that again” he held his hand over his heart.

“Thank you… I’ll um see you at the party or at work I guess” You nodded, and just as you turned back towards your car Ari spoke up.

“Hey I know you said about asking before doing public displays of affection, but what about the other kind of PDA?” Ari asked.

You frowned in confusion and turned to face him “What other kinds?” surprised to find him a couple of steps closer.

Ari smirked down at you “private displays of affection”

You let out a scoff that sounded more like a squeak “Definitely not”

“C’mon we can call it practice, the only reason I play well on game days is because of practice” he points out “It’ll mean you’re not as awkward when it happens”

“What about you?”

“Trust me the last thing I’ll be feeling is awkward”

You thought about his reasoning. You had seen plenty of fake couples who couldn’t sell it because they seemed uncomfortable in each other’s presence. The slight flinches here and there.

“Fine but you have to ask” you huffed starting to turn back towards your car.

“Good, so can I kiss you?” Ari asked

“Now?” You squeaked.

“Yeah I don’t see why not” he shrugged “It's dark, no one’s around, seems pretty perfect otherwise I’d have to sneak to your apartment or something and risk getting caught and that’ll blow the going slow part” he sighed.

“Fine! One kiss” you snapped glaring up at him.

Ari’s smirk grew as he stepped closer and cupped your jaw “one kiss” he promised with a whisper before leaning in.

Your intention had been to pull away a second later. It didn’t need to be anything more than a peck. But it was like your mind shortcircuited and instead of pulling away you stepped forward. Your hands moved to rest on his chest as he tilted your head back, his other hand moving to the small of your back to pull you closer.

You had planned to be the one to pull away but when Ari did you found yourself chasing his lips.

“I’d say that was a perfect practice attempt,” he said, voice low as his thumb brushed over your cheekbone.

That snapped you back to reality. You scurried back until your back hit your car door. Your hand touched your lips as they continued to tingle.

“Yes, right. Bye. I’ll um see you at work or the party or” you didn’t finish your sentence. You just got in the car, slammed the door shut and drove off as quickly as you could.

You glanced in the rearview mirror as Ari disappeared into the distance. You could see him laughing as he shook his head, watching you go.

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osakhee · 1 day ago

Text

sad summer daze, wonbin x reader

! wonbin has blonde hair in this, smoking and alcohol consumption, making out but nothing crazy

🎧 summer daze by all time low...

wonbin sighs as he digs his back into his seat. the music in his headphones covers the noise of the old and rusty fan that makes his blonde hair fly into his face. these days, even in the early morning, the temperature is unbearably hot, the sun casting shadows on the floor through the glass doors of the convenience store. wonbin already knows it will be another boring day where he would scroll through his phone, trying not to fall asleep on his chair with his feet on the counter. summer was never his favorite season, but with this job, he feels like each day lasts for a week, only making his shift hours longer.

the clock hits nine and wonbin stretches his arms, his white tank top riding up to show a glimpse of his stomach, and he stands up to go through the empty aisles. now away from the metallic fan, the air becomes a lot thicker and the sudden warmth almost makes him dizzy. wonbin ties his hair into the smallest ponytail to stop the strands from sticking to his neck due to the invisible layer of sweat covering his skin. a few blonde hairs still fall in front of his eyes as he checks out every shelf, he makes mental notes of what's missing to refill them.

the store is dusty, the tiled floor that used to be white turned into a ash grey color, and the windows that let the sun inside leave a yellowish glow on the walls. behind wonbin's counter, piles of magazines and diverse boxes threaten to fall each time his elbow hits them, his eyes filling with panic at the thought of having to put them back in order -even though it would probably be more entertaining than dozing off-. no matter how hard he tried to clean, the black marks on the counter never left and the old stickers on the walls never really got fully off. and the best part? most of the time, it's just wonbin inside of the store, either with his music, looking at his phone, or the creaking sound of the fan while he stares at the ceiling that looks like it would fall on his face.

wonbin expected nothing from this summer job. he's not really a person with a lot of expectations. for him, summer isn't like any young adults movie cliché, no pool parties, no hookups, no holidays at the beach, no all nighters at the club, no afternoons with his friends. summer is more of a brutal reality. at least during the year, he's lucky enough to stay at his university's dorm, he cherishes each of his music and composition classes that gives him a comfortable routine. but as soon as the first days of the summer break start, wonbin is thrown back into the real and harsh world. a world where his angel face and voice would not get him anywhere. and who would get money to monthly repay the electric guitar he got last semester if not himself?

anyway, i just need a job, wonbin thought. he would have wanted one with little to no human interaction, his reserved personality being an obstacle to most place he went too. never from the employer, only from himself. the cafes were too busy, the restaurants too loud, and working at the train station really? wonbin could barely remember his way through the same supermarket he's been going to for the past year, so giving people directions? not his thing. and when wonbin saw the notice on the small convenience store near his friend's apartment that they were looking for someone for the summer, he was already desperate. he only wanted two things, getting out of anton's place that reeked like alcohol everyday and finally make some money. he never really expected that he would sometimes go days without seeing anyone, anton living quite far from the city center. most of the time, it was either busy workers coming in the last hour of his shift for premade dishes or kids buying candies and ice creams after going to the local pool. and wonbin was just a passerby in their lives, he's just "the cashier", "the young blonde boy", and it was more than fine for him.

wonbin fills with new bottles one of the shelves, he keeps one under his arm for himself. it's hot and he's working, and who would see that anyway? he checks the other aisles when the glass doors make a very uncomfortable noise, and the silence that was once only broken by the fan is replaced by loud chatters. wonbin walks back to his counter with a sigh, he avoids the customers by walking through the very last aisle of the small store, and he sits back down on his chair. he gets down half of the water bottle he took from the back, and the duo of people his age come up to him with much needed groceries. different alcohol bottles and cans, small snacks, and a pack of cigarettes, they both add when wonbin looks up at them from his seat. he doesn't need to ask for their id, wonbin already knows them. they don't follow the same course in university but they're good friends of anton. are they actually friends? wonbin just believes all the party goers are somehow friends.

"aren't you anton's friend? wonbin right? you play the guitar."

wonbin just nods, and hands the pack of cigarettes with a bored look. not that his job is really interesting, but he isn't there to make friends either. one of them gives him some cash and wonbin hands him back the change without saying anything else.

"i don't see why anton is friend with you, you're so... you know. well..."

the silence is too loud in wonbin's ears. what is he, silent? reserved? introverted? uninteresting? different? both the guys in front of him just scoff when wonbin looks into their eyes. wonbin knows his beloved friend anton only keeps him around for his own good. he's great, top student, he never misses a single day or assignments. he knows the sleepy bass player enjoys his presence during class because wonbin doesn't talk much and his handwriting is easy to read for when he'll copy the lesson later. though anton is a really nice person, and their friendship based on their musical composition classes gives wonbin a great opportunity : having somewhere to sleep during this awful summer instead of going back to his even more awful hometown.

"why don't you come to tonight's party with anton? is it not good enough for you?"

"none of your business."

"you know, being alive isn't so bad. you should try."

their laughters echo in the empty store and the door closes behind them. wonbin leans against his chair, his head drops back, the fan messes with the strands he couldn't tie. what's the link between late night parties and being alive, is he missing something? suddenly he feels upset. concerts are the only loud place he enjoys, not cramped apartments full of alcohol and other addictive things he doesn't really want to try. he never really had fun when he followed anton to the uni end of exams celebrations, all he remembers is being sick after two drinks and his heart beating in his ears when he woke up the next day. he felt lightheaded for hours, never again, he told anton who seemed to do just fine when they met in class later.

the day is slow. wonbin decides he needs a break before the horrible noise of the fan makes him insane. he hasn't seen anyone in hours, it's hot but sunny, and the air inside the convenience store feels so stuffy and heavy wonbin can barely breathe. he opens the large freezer and chooses a blue popsicle before walking outside. he rests his back against the wall next to the glass doors, the cold treat resting between his lips. if it's hot inside the store, outside is even worse, the sun feels like a burn on his skin. his ice cream doesn't help, it melts in his hand and drips down his fingers, so wonbin is quick to finish it. and with a sigh, he walks inside the small shop to go back to his previous activity : falling asleep on his counter.

his alarm rings at 6pm, wonbin stretches his sore arms with a pleased noise and grabs the set of keys, turns off all the lights and the fan -that stops with a clanking sound-. it's still really hot and bright when he steps outside, locking the doors behind him. his headphones find their place back on his head, music loud in his ears as he walks back to his friend's place. anton would be out tonight, which means he'll have the apartment for himself. it's easy to tell it's friday night from the people outside. middle aged men hurrying home, kids playing outside with no parents in sight, students excitedly coming back from their summer classes and heading to the latest club. out of all of them, wonbin just walks with one thing in mind, finally settling back on his friend's couch like it's a luxurious bed and sleeping. wonbin feels pity for himself. what a sad fucking summer.

anton rests against the window, he blows out the smoke of his cigarette when the door opens. he turns his head to look at wonbin, his blonde hair friend walks inside and drops himself on the couch without even taking his headphones off. his eyes flicker to anton and he lazily gets up as his friend hands him the pack of nicotine from a distance. the cigarette rests between wonbin's lips as he lits it, he inhales deeply and the weight on his shoulders slowly fades away just like the white smoke in the air. there's this comfortable silence between the two of them, until wonbin breaks it after exhaling deeply.

"who's party are you going to tonight?"

"sungchan's. why?"

"can i come with you?"

from anton's expression, wonbin guesses his friend had no idea he was about to ask that. they both lived on different timezones in the same apartment. while anton would enjoy his summertime, partying from the moment the sun sets until the early morning, coming home with the smell of whatever drinks he had clinging to his clothes, wonbin's evenings were quiet, lost into music sheets and his guitar resting on his lap. his own safe haven, like a home for himself even if anton's apartment is far from home to him.

"are you sure about that wonbin?"

"i figured it wouldn't kill me to... try to live."

"oh."

is that all you have to say? the question burns on wonbin's lips but he stays silent. there's no need to explain why he wants to join him. maybe this experience will be better, maybe he will hate every second of it, but he at least needs to give it a try, again. anton chuckles and gives a pat on his shoulder before leaving wonbin alone at the window. wonbin tries to gather some thoughts but it all gets lost into the swirl of smoke coming out of his lungs. he clings to the sound of anton getting ready behind him, his bassist friend hurrying around the apartment to find his belongings scattered everywhere. there's nothing for wonbin to take with him other than a black zip up hoodie covered in blue crosses and his phone dipped into his pocket. everything else is anton's possession. they get down the dirty stairs of the old building, a warm breeze messes up wonbin's hair, and he reaches behind him to untie them. as they both walk in the loud silence of the city, anton lits himself another cigarette.

sungchan's apartment is dark. it's packed, it's messy, and it's hot. there's a smell so strong it makes wonbin lightheaded, a mix of alcohol, cigarette, heavy perfume and too many people's scents at the same time. he already regrets his decision, looking for a way out, but with the half drunk anton holding his shoulder tightly, it's impossible to even try. the music is so loud in his ears, he can't barely hear what anton tells him. is this what being alive feels like? then it fucking sucks, wonbin doesn't realize he speaks out loud.

go have some fun, just be yourself. what a easy thing to say. maybe alcohol would help wonbin with his tied tongue, and he makes his way to the kitchen. he lost anton... somewhere. he has no idea where he came from and which way he needs to go, the dim lights and the waves of people threaten to drown him. he finally reaches the cold white counter in the kitchen and almost messes up all the cups. wonbin contemplates the different drinks. first he eliminates all the ones he doesn't know, then the few ones he remembers anton got sick of, which didn't leave much options available. he chooses the last beer bottle that stood in the corner, the taste of alcohol burning his throat along with the strong aroma of cherry. not bad, wonbin would even say he likes it.

wonbin still takes the first exit he finds, which happens to be the balcony door. it's finally night outside, the air cooler and breathable. on the balcony, there's no one else but wonbin. people are too busy clinging to each other inside, not caring about the city's show of lights or the few stars that painted the sky. wonbin reaches for the half pack of cigarettes anton gave him before he lost him in the crowd, and he takes a while to form a thought, looking at the rolled paper between his fingers. is drinking and smoking all by himself a good idea? wonbin would never find out, because when he looks around his pockets, he can't find a lighter. the smoke between his teeth, brows furrowed, he checks his back pocket again with no luck.

the familiar click of metal makes him turn his head, the dancing flame lighting up his face. alone with him on the balcony, there's you, holding up a lighter to his face. the night feels warm, his skin glistens and his eyes shine until the fire disappears. wonbin feels stuck in place, stuck to the ground when he meets your eyes, he stops breathing. the world around him is on pause when you take a step closer. wonbin lowers his head a little, strands of blonde hair falling in front of his eyes, and you click the lighter again until the edge of his cigarette burns with a faint smoke. wonbin's face brightens with the flame, it dances in his eyes, and make every details and flaws look more precise. and there's the silence. the cars vanished from the streets and the music stopped playing from the windows. your eyes are locked with wonbin until he looks away to blow the smoke on the side, and suddenly the noises start again, filling your ears and his.

wonbin's heart beats to an unsteady rhythm. is it the addictive taste of the cigarette mingled with the cherry of his beer or the intensity deep in your eyes when he turns back to you? wonbin can't find an answer. his mind feels foggy just like his lungs, and he breathes out the smoke once again, resting his arms on the edge of the balcony. you do the same, your elbow brushing his, and warmth blooms from the single touch. it courses wonbin's veins the same way alcohol does, it makes his face hot, and more than that, it stirs something in his stomach, a mix between fireworks and a roller coaster. maybe a bit of both. both your arms touching feel comfortable, like a special link between the both of you as if the windows of the balcony took you both to another place.

"i was wondering why someone like you was alone out there."

wonbin turns to you. of course it's someone like him again, like anyone else thinks. wonbin hopes you will be quite creative at least, so is he pathetic or just weird?

"what do you mean by that?"

"you're beautiful."

the words get stuck into wonbin's throat just like the smoke of his cigarette and he's forced to cough. blush tints his cheeks, ears and neck, he's thankful his face is engulfed by the night so you don't see how fuzzy your words make him feel. this time the silence is thick and heavy, wonbin knows you're looking at him, and he's too scared to dare laying his eyes into yours, he's scared the actual party would happen in his stomach and he'd feel shooting stars in his heart and body. the deep breath he takes is hidden by his cigarette.

"you're really pretty too."

"did you need a break from the party?"

"i'm not really a party guy. too loud for me."

too loud, too much people, too much scents, but if it means seeing you then wonbin wouldn't complain anymore. if you like parties then wonbin will like parties, if you want to drink wonbin will gladly drink with you.

"honestly me neither, i just followed a few friends. they're somewhere inside."

"mine is too, he kinda gave up on me."

"you smell like cherries."

you catch him off guard again and wonbin swears you're secretly trying to kill him. you're trying to take his heart out of his chest and put it in your pocket to keep it safe, and wonbin would even hand it to you. he gives up on his cigarette and faces you, he straightens his back and tries to appear more confident. with nothing but a quick look, he hands you his bottle of beer, it's almost empty but more than enough fo you to have a taste of the fruity alcohol. wonbin doesn't know what he wants, all he knows is that the time stopped again. he remembers how his days at the convenience store felt like weeks, and right now it's just the same, every second feels like an hour, every move slowed down to match the pace of his breathing. the drink stays in his hand, you make no move to take it, so wonbin brings to his lips to take a sip. you watch him swallow the burning liquid and the droplet that rolls down his chin and neck, the way he licks his lips afterwards.

"is it good?"

"it is."

"can i try it?"

it's like you both knew. like you both spoke to each others through your minds and eyes. wonbin's hand cups your jaw and you grip his shoulders before he presses his lips on yours, the sour cherry taste filling your senses. the kiss he gives you is like a dream, the kind of kiss you expect only in movies. his hand that holds your face wraps around the back of your neck and brings you closer, until one of your hand reaches for his hair to keep his face in place. wonbin is slow, lips warm from his drink, and your mouth only makes it warmer. the candy-like taste of his beer mixed with his cigarette makes you addicted, you feel high, high on him and the scent that clings to him. the fingers you tangled in his hair play with his blonde strands and wonbin deepens the kiss a little more, his tongue pushes on your lips for an entrance. you deny it, and wonbin parts away, he gives a quick peck on your lips to get rid of the strand of saliva that still connected the both of you.

his flushed face and half lidded eyes, the heavy rise of his chest and his parted lips, it takes your breath away. you tuck a strand of hair behind his ear, and wonbin rests his bottle on the balcony, his now free hand finds its place on your waist. sungchan is lucky to have such a big apartment and such a large space outside, wonbin makes a mental note to thank him later. he guides you further away on the terrace until the few lights coming from the opened windows stop shining on your face. you can barely see wonbin now swallowed by the night, but you can feel him. you feel his fingertips under your shirt, grazing your skin without going further, you feel his mouth in your neck as he kisses behind you ear, you feel his chest against yours each time he remembers to breathe and stay alive, you feel the star charm of his necklace on your collarbone. wonbin feels you too, your finger mindlessly twirling a strand of his hair, your arm wrapped around his shoulder, your head resting against his and your breath on his skin. it's like a fever dream, wonbin wonders if the alcohol and the hot weather messed him up and created some kind of illusion to play with his heart. but when your hand lays on his chest and feels the loud beating under his skin, louder than the music, wonbin knows he's more than awake.

he rests his forehead against yours and for a few seconds, you admire his face so close, your fingers caress his chin and lips, follow his jaw and rest on his cheek. you want again the feeling of his lips, you want the drug he seems to get you on and flows your system like liquid fire. you presses your lips on the mole on his jaw and savor the small noise in wonbin's throat before he holds your face again to kiss you. this time you let his tongue meet yours in a heated valse, your arms wrap fully around wonbin's neck and he pushes you against the balcony railing, both hands resting behind you. he traps you against, towers you and takes control of the movements of your lips, he takes the lead of your heartbeat and your shaky breaths between his warm kisses.

wonbin can't get enough, the more time he spends tangled in your lips, the less he feels like he could keep living without it. now you taste like cherries too. one of wonbin's hand claw at your waist, he brings you closer until there's no more space. he needs to breathe, but dying this way sounds like heaven, you're slowly taking away his life by making him addicted to you. his fingers feel at home on your skin just like your hand in his hair. wonbin allows himself to breathe only to trail his lips on your jaw and down your neck, his mouth hot and swollen as he discovers your body. but he doesn't want to get away from your mouth, he steals your lips again and again, blown pupils lost into yours before you finally hold his head steady.

wonbin feels like a kid that's denied a sweet treat, but in a desperate way, he's about to throw a tantrum to have his favorite candy back. you brought him up to heaven and stole his soul, he surrendered to you having his heart in your hand. his nails dig into your hips gently as a warning, he brings his face closer, and you finally say the magic words.

"wanna get out of here?"

boom fireworks in his stomach, fireworks in his head and fireworks in his heart. the sparkles race in his veins and ring in his ears.

"i don't have a place to go."

"but i do."

wonbin's lips crashes against yours again, he wants to ground himself and tell himself it's not a dream. his teeth bite your bottom lip and you tug on your hair, he traps you again on the balustrade, his hand now finding your back to press yourself against him. wonbin gives you a kiss on the corner of your lips before licking his own. he finally breaks into a smile when you push yet again his hair out of his face. you take his hand, and you both hold tight when you walk through the drunk people in the apartment. this time the door is easy to find, and the empty streets somehow feel really comforting. your hand in his, fingers intertwined walking in a direction wonbin doesn't even know. this must be it, this must be what being alive feels like and what they all talk about, wonbin wonders if he's too drunk on his cherry beer or the taste of you for these thoughts to cloud his mind. yet they're all he can think about, and he wouldn't want it any other way.

a sad fucking summer indeed, a summer daze he hopes never fades away.

#riize wonbin #wonbin #max's cat >_<#wonbin song 🎵#wonbin x reader

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slaytheday12 · 20 hours ago

Text

Eyes on You pt2

That night, you couldn’t sleep. Your mind kept replaying the moment Walker’s eyes met yours, the warmth in his smile, and the way he’d seemed genuinely interested in every word you said. It was probably nothing just an actor being nice to a fan. But the comments on your Instagram post kept poking at the tiny spark of doubt in your head.

Could there be something more?

You scrolled through your notifications, overwhelmed by the sheer number of likes and comments. Even people you didn’t know were chiming in:

“Why does he look like he’s about to write you a poem?” “Y’all better get married so I can say I shipped it from the start.” “Imagine meeting Percy Jackson and he looks like that at you.”

You laughed at some of them, rolling your eyes at the absurdity, but a part of you felt... flustered. The way Walker was looking at you in the photo wasn’t something you could easily brush off.

Meanwhile, across the city, Walker was sitting on his hotel bed, phone in hand. His team had insisted he stay off social media for the night something about staying focused and avoiding distractions but curiosity had gotten the better of him.

He’d spent the past half hour scrolling through Instagram, his account logged into a private alt that only a few close friends knew about. When your post popped up, he stopped. His thumb hovered over the screen as he stared at the photo.

There you were, standing next to him with the brightest smile, and all he could think about was how his gaze had betrayed him. He hadn’t meant to be so obvious. It wasn’t like him to get distracted, especially at events like this. But there was something about you—your genuine enthusiasm, the way your eyes lit up when you talked about Percy Jackson, and the way you seemed equally nervous and excited all at once.

The comments under your post weren’t helping his resolve to forget about it. His favorite: “Bro, Walker’s out here looking at her like shes hung the stars. Good luck recovering from this one.”

He chuckled to himself, shaking his head, but the grin on his face lingered.

-----

The next morning, you woke up to find your post had gone semi-viral. The caption was still innocent enough, but people were dissecting every pixel of the photo, reading into things you’d never even noticed.

In your DMs, one message stood out. It was from an account with no profile picture and only a few followers. Normally, you’d ignore something like that, but the first line caught your attention:

“Hey, I hope this doesn’t seem weird, but it’s Walker.”

Your heart practically stopped. There was no way, right? Someone had to be messing with you. But when you clicked on the account, the bio read something along the lines of: “Just a guy who loves movies and occasionally plays a demigod.”

Oh. My. Gods.

“Hi!” you replied, your fingers trembling as you typed. “If this is a prank, it’s a very convincing one.”

Within seconds, you saw the three little dots indicating he was typing.

“It’s really me, I swear. I just... wanted to thank you again for coming yesterday. It was great meeting you.”

You stared at the message, your mind racing. Walker Scobell—the Walker Scobell—was messaging you? Thanking you? What universe had you stumbled into?

“Wow, uh, thank you,” you replied, trying to sound casual even though your heart was pounding out of your chest. “It was amazing meeting you too. I’m still trying to process it all.”

His response came quickly: “Yeah, same here, honestly.”

What did that mean? Same here? Did he mean he was trying to process meeting you? You didn’t want to read too much into it, but the idea alone made your cheeks flush.

The two of you messaged back and forth for hours, the conversation flowing so naturally it felt surreal. He asked about your favorite PJO book, your favorite characters, and what you thought of the trailer. You found yourself laughing at his jokes about filming and how nervous he’d been to live up to fans’ expectations.

At one point, he said, “You were one of the coolest people I met yesterday. Just thought you should know.”

You stared at the message, rereading it a dozen times before replying: “That’s really sweet of you to say. Honestly, meeting you made my whole year.”

Somehow, you ended up exchanging phone numbers. Walker insisted it would be easier to talk there, and you didn’t argue. The idea of having his number saved in your phone felt both exhilarating and completely insane.

Over the next few weeks, you kept in touch. At first, it was small things memes about Percy Jackson, updates on his filming schedule, and random stuff about your day. But as time went on, the conversations grew deeper.

He asked about your life, your dreams, and what had drawn you to the series in the first place. You found yourself opening up in ways you hadn’t expected, and he did the same.

One night, he sent you a selfie just him in his trailer, holding up a peace sign with the caption: “Long day, but this made it better.”

“This” clearly referred to your latest text, a long-winded rant about how the gods in Greek mythology needed better communication skills.

You responded with a picture of your PJO book collection stacked neatly on your desk. “This is the shrine I’ve built in your honor,” you joked.

Walker replied, “Pretty sure you’re the only person I’d be okay with building a shrine for me.”

And just like that, the line between casual fan and something more began to blur.

A/N: pt3?????

Tags: @izzystylinson, @sophand4n4, @kaiwrites092, @shellsarepretty, @cheoriemoawa

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gojo-enthusiast · 3 hours ago

Text

Love Me Anyways - Nanami Kento

masterlist !!

18 plus+ | NSFW | angst

The Kento Nanami you married when you were 20 and he was 26 was very different from the 24 year old you, and the 30 year old Kento. The affectionate, giving husband, turned into a cold, secluded, emotionless man. It had been 2 years since the attack in Shibuya, he was released from his duties, and retired from being a sorcerer. You thought after moving away, having your toes in the sand, and waking up to the sound of the water, maybe he would feel a sense of peace, but in reality, it only made him more anxious that he no longer lived a life of protecting the weak. You often would catch him outside on the porch, his weapon in hand, waiting, watching.

It had been 2 years since the last time you actually touched your husband, hugs, holding hands, kisses, and sex. You two were inseparable before, he would rock his hips into you every morning and night, like it was his last. Now he is a foot in front of you, and you weren’t even allowed to touch him, even the feather sweet caresses he craved day and night.

On one particular night you ran your fingers through his hair, as he was turned on his side, you had been doing that for as long as you could remember, it always helped him sleep, always made him feel a sense of safety, stability. The innocent gesture you made, next moment, your husband has his hands wrapped around your neck, breathing staggered, and the veins in his neck bulging. He had quickly realized it was you, and that he was no longer in Shibuya, that he was in the safety of his home in Malaysia, and his wife was not trying to strip him of the little bit of life he had left.

But by the time he came to his senses, you were coughing, and next morning you had bruises around your neck. You were not surprised when the following day you saw bedroom furniture being delivered and set up in the second bedroom. After that day, Kento slept in another room, and locked the door anytime he entered that room. You both still did things as a married couple, like eating dinner, but now it was quiet conversations, and or watching a movie in silence. You often would catch your husband shirtless as he got out the shower, your heat aching at the sight… your thoughts running rapidly

“I want you to devour me… whole.” but he simply refused to get close to you, in fear that he just might hurt you like he did the night you ran your soft fingertips through his blonde locks.

There was nights your little toy that became your new husband, the purple vibrator in your night stand, would take you to a high, but never a high enough, not the way Kento Nanami took you in the past. Of course Nanami could hear your soft, pathetic moans, the little whimpers, and his name slipping off your tongue. It made him achingly hard, fisting himself in the other room, while listening to your moans. “Fuck.” Nanami would grunt, while releasing into his hand. He hated every bit of it, some nights his hand would grip the door knob, fighting the urge to go in your bedroom, and bring you to the high you were aching for.

Until one day you broke down, and begged for him to at least try, try to make this marriage work, you understood his pain, but he also needed to understand yours. You had given up everything to be with him, you had cared for the broken man and now you needed to be cared for back. So Nanami vowed to do his best, and to open himself back to loving again, to become a better friend, lover to you.

Despite you and your husband being married for 4 years, the time he spent in grief after Shibuya, you both had to find yourselves again, and find one another again. It started off with little dates on the beach, or at home, and eventually he pushed himself to go out into town at night time, since his burns aren’t as noticeable. He met your best friend and her husband, and got to enjoy moments where he sipped on his scotch, talking about sports, and watching his wife giggle to her best friend as your cheeks blushed pink from the third glass of red wine.

“How are things going with you and the wife? Do you feel like you guys are getting closer?” Your friends husband asked Nanami. “I would like to say so.” He says, sipping on his scotch. “I couldn’t imagine not getting laid for as long as you did, glad you finally are.” That statement nearly had Nanami in a coughing fit. “Jeez—.” He coughs. “You good brother?.” He laughs. “Wait, have you two?” He asked again, pointing to you. “No— no we haven’t.” Nanami says, chugging on this scotch once again, and chuckling.

“Baby you ready to get going?” Nanami asked, you smiled gently at your husband, as you walked into the living room where both men had been sitting, watching TV. “Yeah, if you are.” You said cheerfully.

“I’ll drive baby.” You smile as you walk towards the car. Nanami hums at you in agreement, still opening your door. You stood at the drivers side door, and as you are about to get into the car, you feel your husband’s hand slap your ass casually. It was almost as if it was on instinct, your face burned red while Nanami shut the car door and slipped into the passenger seat. You blushed as you looked over at him, and his shirt had 3 buttons undone. “He hasn’t touched me like that in years.” you thought to yourself.

You started your drive, trying to take your mind off of the fact your husband who had pushed you so far away, just slapped your ass, you felt your arousal sticking to your thighs. As you stare at the road ahead, you feel your husbands hand on your knee, rubbing circles, slowing grazing up to your thigh, “Ken!” You gasp. “Shhh.” He hushed you, his pupils dilated and clouded with lust. His brain and heart had finally became one, and decided that he no longer wanted to push you away, that he needed you more than ever. Putting his hand under your little flowy dress. Caressing your core through your panties. “Kento stop.” You moan out. Trying to squeeze your thighs so he would not tease you. This man hasn’t touched you in 2 years, your body is on fire, you are already close to an orgasm and he’s hardly done anything.

“You really want me to stop? You’re so wet though?” He whispered into your ear, lightly biting your earlobe, the look in his eyes was clouded with lust. Nanami was in a state of vulnerability, but the sweet taste of alcohol that was flowing through his veins, had him wanting to jump your bones.

You pulled into the drive way, and within seconds, he was on the other side, peeling you out of the car. He was once a curse user after all.

“Nanami— hold on.” You groan, as he lifts you up into his arms. “I need you right now.” He groaned, as you wrapped your legs around his waist so naturally. You couldn’t remember when you last held your husband so closely. “The burns— do they scare you?” He whispered in your ear, as he walked up to the front door, pulling out his keys. You put both of your hands on each side of his face, kissing his burned eyelid, then his cheek, then his lips. “I could never be scared of you Kenny.” You smiled, as his lips attached to you again. “I’ve missed you more than life. You are my life.” He moaned into your mouth, as your core rubbed against his bulge. Finally the damn door opened, and he was already sprinting to the bedroom, it had you giggling on how determined he was to get you into bed.

“Slow down trackstar.” You giggled. “I can’t, this is for my life, my heart just might stop.” He groaned. He sat you on the bed, and in an instant, you pulled his slacks down, his cock springing out, you wrapped your soft hands around it, instantly having him in a moaning mess. He began to thrust into your hand, throwing his head back in pure ecstasy. “You feel good baby?” You asked as you kissed his hip bone that was partially burned. "Fuck- yes. I missed you my girl." He said in a grunt, as his fingers laced into your hair, pulling your head to look up at him. Something compelled you in that very moment, you attached your lips to the tip of his cock, and begin to take him into your mouth. "FUCK!" He barked. He gracefully thrusted his cock deeper into your mouth. His hips had a mind of their own, he was easily about to spill everything he had built up, deep into your throat. "S-so close." He pushed your head deeper, his cock caressing your throat. Tears pushed out of your eyes, and your core was dripping onto your panties. "Yes yes yes" Kento chanted, and with one final thrust and your tongue rolling over the tip of his cock, he spilled down your throat with a groan, as his head was thrown back, and his once gel hair, was now in his face.

Your husband slipped from your mouth, looking at you with doe eyes, falling back into the mattress, his eyes closed and he had drifted to sleep. You knew he had struggled with sleeping for the last couple years, so as he drifted into a deep slumber, you pulled the blanket over him, and getting under those blankets, with your head on his chest, the side that had been badly burned. "I love you Kento." you smiled. Your core was not going to sizzle down anytime soon, but this was all too blissful, you enjoyed lying so close to him and hearing his soft snores. You didn't know when the next time you would get to experience this again. You eventually falling into a slumber, with your arms wrapped around him.

Kento's eyes fluttered open, the sky was hardly lit, the sun slowly peeking through the blind, it had to be 6am. He hummed as he stretched, he turned seeing your sleeping body holding onto him from his waist. His heart sank, the memories of last night had the tip of his ears, and cheeks a bright red. He didn't even take care of your needs, you graciously took care of him, while he thrusted his cock into your poor sweet mouth. The mere thought of it, had him aching all over again. His thoughts swarmed with memories of when he would spread your legs, and lap his tongue until you came 3 times. Despite the alcohol leaving his system hours prior, he felt a rush of confidence, he was in between your legs, spreading them apart, as you slept so innocently. He could smell the arousal from the night before, filling up his senses, he groaned. Looping his fingers in your panties, and pulling them down. He stared at your core, as you lied there peacefully. Opening your folds, he peered at your wet core, his cock was achingly hard, precum already dribbling out. He attached his lips to your clit immediately, sucking gently.

“Wake up.” He continued licking, then pushing his middle finger into your core. “Wake up baby.” He said again, his other hand squeezing your hips. “Ken?” You moaned questioning. “Hmm?” He said, continuing to thrust his digit into you, while lapping your clit. “Oh fuck.” You moaned, pushing your hips closer to his face. He was nose deep— he was groaning in pure pleasure from tasting you, “so sweet.” He said. Your hair was a mess from sleeping, and you felt your legs and core twitching. “So so good.” you moaned to him in your half daze sleepy voice. “Please don’t stop.” You added, forcing yourself to be coherent for this, you didn’t know when you would experience this again.

“Never- never leaving this pretty pussy again.” He moaned into you, as he sucked your clit. You felt like that line in your stomach was about to snap, once he curled his fingers to rub the squishy spot you had always wished you could reach, you were cumming right on his tongue. “Fuck fuck!” You moan, arching your back. You felt his fingers slip out, and when you looked up, he was aligning his cock into your heat. “Relax for me.” He said in a pant, your essence all over his lips and chin. He wiped it on his hand, then licking it. “So fucking sweet.” He said as he pushed into your sopping wet core. “Ah!” You moaned loudly, feeling his thick cock push into you. “Yes yes yes.” You moaned over and over. He had pushed all of himself in, and threw his head back as your legs were wrapped around his waist.

Thrusting quickly, he wanted to slow down, but this was years he had spent not feeling you, he simply couldn’t contain the animalistic hunger inside of him wanting to devour you. “Ken— baby, slow down.” You moan, "I can't hear a thing, I can't hear you." He moaned as he thrusted in a rush. "Baby. hold me." You whimpered as tears slipped out, the pleasure and pain was magnificent. You felt stretched to full capacity, you couldn't believe how long it had been. The chemistry came together so perfectly, he lifted you into his arms, as he thrusted up into you. "Amazing, you feel so amazing. Do you feel the way she is gripping around me? Do you see the way we are joined my love?" He groaned in your ear, before leaning back for you to see the way he was making love to you. "Look at the way I push into you, and the way you hold onto me." He grunted, looking deep into your eyes. "How could I spend so much time neglecting you, you are a creation made by God himself." He sucked and bit at your neck, and shoulders. You felt your second orgasm approaching, while he relentlessly thrusted up into you. You felt him lay down flatly, signaling for you to ride him. You began to bounce on his cock, the tiredness slipping out of you. This was your moment, this was everything you have been craving for years. "So close." you moaned out.

"we aren't even close to being done my dear." He nipped at your ear. And oh was he right, he took you to your high, then even higher than that. He turned you to face the mirror, as he thrusted back into you, placing his fingers on your swollen clit, rubbing achingly slow. "See how I fill you?" He asked you again. "Look how you swallow me." He bit at the side of your neck. You saw stars until it was noon, and you had fallen asleep. Your skin was sticky with his release, he found it unholy arousing to see you covered in his seed.

You awoke an hour later, feeling his cock still inside of you, but with no movement. "We need to eat." He said as he lifted you up, and slipped out of you. "mmm" you groaned at the feeling of the emptiness. He carried you into the kitchen, setting your bare ass down on the counter. "That's cold." You squealed. "mmm is it?" He hummed. He was bare in front of you, no clothes, eye patch somewhere in the car. You watched as his muscles tensed as he held the knife and cut up banana's and strawberries for you. He slipped some homemade croissants he had prepared the day before into the oven, as you ate the fruit he set beside you. "Kento?" You questioned softly, grazing your fingertips on his bicep. "Hm?" he hummed, as he pulled the freshly baked croissants out of the oven.

"What’s going on in your head?" You tilted your head, he looked over at you, peering at your naked figure and legs crossed. "My head?" He said, as he walked over to you, spreading your thighs to stand in between them. He put his mouth around the banana slice your fingers were holding onto, sucking your finger tenderly, then chewing the piece of fruit. "My mind is swarming with how you taste sweeter than this banana." He said in the most sensual tone, you thought you could ever hear from such a button up man, but you had just simply forgotten how vulgar of a husband you married.

"Nanami." You groaned as he attached his lips to your tender neck that was full of love bites. "I'm a starved man, I simply need more of you." He muttered into the crook of your neck. He reached behind him, grabbing the warm bread on the pan. "Eat." he said as he kissed your tender breast.

"Not right now." You moaned, "Eat or I’ll stop." he said, ripping off a piece of the flaky bread, placing it on your lips. You reluctantly opened your mouth, chewing slowly, as he attached his lips to your hardened nipple. “Ken, wait." You moaned, as he then ripped off another piece of the bread, slipping it into your mouth. "Please no more." You moaned, as you pushed your core closer to his stomach. "Please touch me." You moaned. "I will touch you, if you eat this." He said, lifting his head back to you, handing you the croissant. You had never devoured something so quick- he picked you up, turning you around so your breast were on the counter, and bent over. You felt his thick member poke at your entrance. “Ken- ahh." You moaned as he pushed himself into you so easily. "So wet for me." He said with a slap on your ass. "All for you." You said, as you moaned out.

It was like this for 2 days, he had flipped your insides in and out, countless of times. If you had to guess, you were going to get a positive pregnancy test in the next month. You were exhausted and your body had finally given out, you awoke Monday morning, he had showered you while you were asleep, you were in a fresh set of his boxers and his t-shirt. You smelt bacon and something sweet seeping into the bedroom, you peeled your weak body out of the bed and walked out of the bedroom to the kitchen. "Ken?" You called out, your voice hoarse. "In the kitchen." He responded lowly. "How are you feeling?" He said as you walked in. "I'm fine." You yawned. "Sit at the table, I'm about to be done." He smiled softly. You sat at the table, crossing your legs like a pretzel. He placed the breakfast in front of you, while kissing your forehead.

"We should talk." He huffed out, as he sat down on the chair beside you. "Okay." You smiled at him, grabbing his hand.

You knew this conversation would be the most emotional one you probably would ever have with him, but with love and mutual understanding in both of your eyes, you knew you both were finally at peace.

#anime fanfic #fanfiction #jujutsu nanami #nanami kento #kento nanami smut #nanami kento smut #nanami smut #nanami x reader

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lol-jackles · 1 day ago

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When I've said Jensen Ackles have similar acting style as Ryan Reynolds, surely you wouldn't think I was saying they have the same caliber do you?

Jokes on you because they ABSOLUTELY DO. Like they literally compare them and think they are on the same level. They want him to be the new Ryan (some think he already is). They talk about how for a while Ryan was the actor who even dudes were like, yea I can see it, and they think that Jensen has usurped that role. They make non-stop posts about how he turns men. They want him in Ryan roles. They think he's better than him actually.

lol OFCOURSE the AAs would talk up Jensen like that! 15 years ago on the defunct IMDb message boards I thought they were joking when they said Jensen would have had a red carpet A-list movie career if only Jared wasn't hogging all the spotlight. But nooooooo they were dead serious. See back then Jensen was 30 yrs old and it was season 5, the closest time Dean got his own mytharc. It was now or never for Jensen to have that movie career. The AAs knew the CW president at the time hated SPN and she wanted to cancel it once it was syndicated in season 5. But to the AAs' shock and dismay, SPN was renewed for season 6 and Jensen stayed on. So their next self-soothing gaslighting was Jensen turned down the Captain America offer because he was loyal to SPN, not because his blockbuster movie career failed to materialize according to their schedule. Then it was blaming Jared for stealing the spotlight from Jensen because he’s first in the credit order. Next came the petitions to WB to either remove Jared from SPN or switch the mytharc role from Sam to Dean. When I saw those petitions I thought it would be like asking Marvel to remove Steve Rogers from the Captain America movies. I pointed and laughed and told them they need to do better on their satire. Oops they were serious haha!

As long as AAs continue to be disappointed in Jensen, they will keep being obsessed with Jared.

My message to AAs: Jared didn’t upset you, your expectations did.

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atzhrts · 1 day ago

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shotaro blow-drying your hair ohhhh my tummy,, imagine it's a rainy night, where it's mellow no thunder or lightning just the soft pitter patter of the rain against the roof and windows, you both got done taking a warm bath together just playing with the bubbles no matter how immature that sounds, enjoying the scent of the bath bomb you both agreed on, washing each other's hair and touching each other in a non sexual way, just appreciating one another, after you both change into warm pajamas, fluffy socks on both your feets he tells you softly to sit in front of him so he can blow dry your hair and you agree, and he's so soft with your hair making sure not to pull or accidentally tangle it, and the only light surrounding you both is a soft bunny lamp that emits that orange yellow glow and maybe even fairy lights on the walls and everything is so peaceful as you both talk about what movie you'll watch after you're done, and what you'll decided to order to eat and you both think this is what happiness and true love really is and feels like.. :(

butterflies in my tummy fr

i’m such a sucker for showering/ taking a bath together an non sexual touches…so take this as the what happens before anons thoughts :)))))))))

i can just imagine taro coming home after an awful day and just telling you all about it and how bad it was, eyes literally lightening up when you ask him if he wants to unwind and take a bath together. normally shotaro would take the seat behind you, letting your back rest against his chest as his hands run up and down your arms. on days like these however he just wants to be held, he just wants to lay his head on your chest and have your hands play with his hair, the fact that he needs to lay in the most uncomfortable position known to man kind in order to fit into the bathtub like this is his compromise.

getting out and wrapping the towel around both of your bodies, forcing you to press close to him because shotaro want to “stay warm”. he’d lay his cheek against the top of your head and gently sway your bodies from side to side as you run your hands up and down his back, if someone saw you from their perspective they’d think you’ve gone crazy.

#anon <3 #riize imagines #riize x reader #riize soft thoughts #riize soft hours #osaki shotaro soft thoughts #osaki shotaro x you #osaki shotaro x reader #osaki shotaro imagines #osaki shotaro

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pwnyta · 2 days ago

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okay okay okay

That little comic by movieStone together with gameRobtnik was interesting, my first question was: how did Stone end up there?

Then I imagined a scenario where at first Eggman hates having to put up with a human in his base. 'He has his machines, he doesn't need anything else'. And he thinks the best thing is to lock the human up. He's so distracted that he doesn't notice the agent leaving.

He comes back quickly with a latte, Eggman being distracted is surprised, 'what? when? how? where? why?'

Stone, despite not being in his dimension, knows what his Doctor loves: a latte with steamed Austrian goat milk. And maybe Robotnik from this dimension likes them too.

Eggman is suspicious but accepts it, 'those puppy eyes... !'

The best latte of his life.

Now he doesn't have Stone locked up in a cell because he makes good lattes and he also discovers that he's not only physically good but he has enough brains to understand his machines; He is an excellent assistant, so much so that at first he thought he was a robot.

Come on, we saw Agent Stone in action in the movies.

This makes Eggman curious and he starts asking the agent questions; his history with the other Doctor, his training, his hobbies, etc... Which Stone answers positively.

This surprises even his robots, when they have seen the Doctor talk to another human for more than 5 seconds.

And as strange as it may seem, Eggman doesn't care that Stone stays... Although Stone needs to go back...

BOOOOOOOM!!!

Dr. Robotnik appears to retrieve his Agent.

And although Stone is happy, seeing the other Doctor with a conflicted face he takes his hand and says:

"If my Doctor is in this dimension, I will be there too."

And he says goodbye.

Despite the short time, he felt good.

So he doesn't think twice and starts looking for Agent Stone from his dimension.

He found him.

A prominent GUN soldier.

But first, he needs to make him a room... with a lock.

Capturing him was a difficult task, but in the end Eggman emerged victorious.

While it was a turbulent encounter at first, over time he becomes his Agent.

Ooh Yappy Anon I like the cut of your jib.

I personally wasnt thinking about the how/why Stone ended up with the other Robotnik but I like this! This is cute and kinda giving that scene at the start of Beauty and the Beast which I think is great personally.

Not to one up you tho but my goodbye had a hug!

#Dear Nonny.#Thank you for taking an interest in my interests lmao.

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witchygagirlwrites · 3 hours ago

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Broken Bonds-Part 29

Greg "Mouse" Gerwitz x Reader, Jay Halstead x Hailey Upton, Coparenting Jay Halstead x Reader

Intelligence closes in on the crew behind the cop killer rounds when another shooting happens.

Your alarm blaring jolted you out of your sleep. The older Addy got the less she woke up before it. You reached out and slapped the button before it could wake her considering you’d left your bedroom door open the night before, nightmares were still raging pretty well considering there had been a third shooting and still nothing as far as leads. You felt like intelligence was spinning your wheels and the worst part was that not only was your unit at risk, all of Chicago was the longer the crew supplying those rounds was out on the streets.

You knew Mouse would’ve come across town in a heartbeat if you would’ve called him no matter the time but damn his job was just as dangerous as yours. The marshal service was called out on fugitive hunts across the nation. You dragged a hand over your face and kicked the blanket off. You just needed a cup of coffee and you would be fine.

You swung your legs out of the bed and the moment your feet hit the floor you heard Addy’s telltale giggle followed by her calling out “Mommy” the dark clouds of your mind parted with her voice as a smile slipped onto your face “I hear ya babygirl, mommy’s coming”

You walked out of your room and across the living room to push open her bedroom. She was standing up on the side of her crib and you laughed when you saw how her curls were standing up in every direction. “Oh baby. You do look like mommy right now” she used one hand to pat at her hair and smiled big “I pretty like mommy. Hayhay say so”

You shook your head with a laugh “Did she now?” and picked her up out of the crib. She wrapped her arms around your neck “You wanna get dressed and call Mou to see if he wants to meet for breakfast?” she grinned “I wanna see Mou” you nodded “Ok then, let’s go get mommy’s phone” you and her walked back across to your room and you grabbed your phone off the charger.

You hit Mouse’s number and held it between your ear and shoulder as you headed back to her room to find her clothes “Well good morning beautiful” he answered and Addy giggled “Mornin Mou” his voice softened instantly “If it isn’t my favorite little girl. What are you doing this morning, Miss Halstead?” she cut her eyes up at you and you nodded “Ask him baby” she leaned closer to the phone “Mou I want breakfast” he chuckled lightly “Ok sweetheart. Tell your mommy to get you dressed and meet me at the diner. I’ll be waiting” “kay, bye Mou. Love you” “Love you too sweetheart” he told her and she shoved the phone back at you. You pulled the phone up to your ear “See you at the diner?” he laughed “I guess so. I love you” “I love you too”

You hung up and she grinned at you “Love you mommy” you smiled “Love you too baby. We’ll call daddy and Hayhay too before we leave so you can tell them good morning. They’ll pick you up from Mrs Cruz” she nodded “kay”

You sat across from Mouse in the booth with Addy between the two of you. She was picking at a waffle and talking his ear off about the beauty and the beast since you, her and Hailey had decided on a disney movie marathon when he and Jay had gone out for a beer a couple nights before.

You weren’t sure what the impromptu night out for the two of them was about but you and Hailey were perfectly content with it being just the two of you with Addy. “He had books?” Mouse asked, a grin on his face broad enough his dimples were showing. Damn that man every time you thought “Ok, I can't possibly love him any more” he’d do something like show that much enthusiasm over a cartoon movie just to appease your daughter.

He cut his eyes up at you and winked before telling her “I think I need to be involved in the next movie night Addy” She nodded “Yeah mommy” you shook your head “Baby, the reason it was me, you and Hayhay was because Mou was with Daddy” she nodded “Oh, kay” and went back to picking at her waffle. He watched you for a second and the smile on his face made your heart flip, you felt your face warm so you nodded towards his food “Finish your breakfast Mou”

A small smirk slipped onto his face “Yes ma’am” and he started eating, laughing when Addy slipped a piece of bacon off of his plate. You loved seeing the two of them together just like you loved seeing her and Hailey together. You never would’ve dreamed when you first found out you were pregnant of a day like this getting here. You had solid footing, finally. She had two parents that would move heaven and hell for her and a Hayhay and Mou that would be right next to her parents helping.

Your phone rang and you glanced down to see Jay’s number. “Hello?” he took a breath “Sweetheart, I know you’re still at breakfast but can you go ahead and take her to daycare? There’s been another shooting?” you cut your eyes up at Mouse and he must have read your expression because he got Addy’s attention so you whispered “Same rounds?” “Yeah” Jay replied so you sighed “Text me the address. I’m right down from the daycare then I’ll be to you” “Ok. Be careful and vest up time you drop her off, please. While you’re at it tell Mouse to vest up until he gets in to his team” “I will” you promised then hung up.

Mouse held your gaze and you forced a smile “Ok Addy, we’re gonna pay then I gotta get you to Mrs Cruz cause that was papa Voight. I gotta get to work” she nodded “Kay”

_________________

Mouse followed you out to your jeep and after you buckled Addy in and closed her door you turned to him “There’s been another shooting with the same rounds. Jay said to vest up until you get to your team, please” He nodded “You do the same as soon as you drop her off” you smiled “I will. I love you” he pulled you closer to brush his lips against yours in a gentle kiss “I love you too” then he tapped on the jeep window before turning to head towards his truck.

You took a deep breath before walking around to climb in the driver’s seat. You couldn’t let her see anything was wrong. Your job was to leave it all at the door and not let it affect her.

You pulled up the address Jay had texted and parked right behind his truck. You climbed out and slipped your badge around your neck on the long chain that rested mid chest. You normally wore it clipped to your side but this was once you weren’t bothering with it. You needed to get to your unit.

You walked to the yellow tape and a uniform immediately held it up for you and nodded “Detective Kidd” you smiled slightly when you recognized him “Sterling” he motioned towards the corner “Intelligence is over there ma’am” “Thank you”

________________

You headed in the way he pointed and spotted Kevin first. He turned and saw you and his shoulders sagged slightly. That wasn’t good. “How bad Kev?” you asked when you got to his side. He tilted his head “Come on” you fell in step with him and followed him to where the rest of the unit was. You met Jay’s eyes before you spotted the two bodies

It was a T.O. who died trying to protect her rookie when the shooting started. This was on intelligence. “We should’ve already found these assholes” Hank muttered and everyone nodded in agreement. He looked around “Get the word out to your C.I.s the reward is worth the risk. We need information and we need it now”

“Yes sir” you all echoed. You cut your eyes at Jay and nodded towards the edge of the group.He followed you and once you were far enough away you stepped closer to him “This is turning towards cops” he nodded “I know” you swallowed hard before saying “Maybe Addy should stay with Stella and Kelly for a couple days until we figure this out” his eyes moved past you to the body that was being covered with a white sheet. You wondered if he was seeing you like you were seeing him laying there or if he was seeing Hailey like you had already seen Mouse laying there. “Yeah, that may be a good idea” he agreed, finally looking back at you. You reached for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze “I’ll call her when we get to the precinct. You can still pick her up from daycare and just drop her off with Stel so it doesn’t throw her schedule off”

He nodded “Ok sweetheart. This is just..” he trailed off and you nodded “I know”

Somehow you ended up at Jay’s that night.You were curled up on the end of his couch with Hailey leaning against your arm. It was bothering all of you that Addy was at Stella and Kelly’s instead of either of your places. Every precinct was on high alert, Mouse was in the kitchen with Jay and you could hear him saying how the marshal’s office had also been informed about it.

If cops were becoming targets you couldn’t be sure the extent of that target and when it came to her? There wasn’t a limit to keeping her safe even if it meant making all four of you miserable. Jay’s phone rang and you and Hailey both almost jumped out of your seats.

“Hello?” you tried to listen but only caught his side of the conversation “Yeah” “She’s here with me and Hailey?” “Ten tomorrow morning?” “Ok”

He hung up and you and Hailey both looked at him “What?” he nodded towards the phone and took a deep breath “One of Voight’s C.I.’s got a tip. The crew is from Arizona. They’ve been selling out of a market on the north side. The next meet is set for tomorrow morning. Ten a.m. They’re looking for buyers.We’re going in as heavy hitters”

You nodded “Who’s we?” he pointed to himself then you then Hailey. “Why the three of you?” Mouse asked and you could see the anger in his eyes at the idea of the danger you were walking into “We fit the bill better as to their customer type apparently. We go in and set up the buy, if it goes well patrol and major crimes will be waiting to back us up”

You met Mouse’s eyes and could see the worry in them, especially at the word “if”

“It’s worth the risk” you finally said after a moment and Hailey nodded in agreement “We’re all at risk here. If this keeps going none of us are safe. If they start targeting off duties..how long is Addy safe? Or Makayla? Or anyone? We do this for the kids of the unit at the very least”

Jay and Mouse shared a long look before they both finally nodded “Ok” Mouse cut his eyes at you “Ok”

___________________

“I don’t understand how the hell it goes from you and Jay not being able to partner because you have a child together to lets send you two to buy from a crew selling cop killer rounds?” Mouse’s jaw was clenched so hard you were fairly certain you could hear his back teeth grinding against each other. You turned in his arms to run your hand down the side of his face, brushing some of his hair back behind his ear “It’ll be ok baby. We can handle it. I promise you. Nothing would keep me and Jay from crawling our asses home to Addy, you know that”

He nodded, eyes closing for just a moment before he opened them, the bright blue focusing on you “If something happens to you..” you cut him off by pressing a kiss to his lips “It won’t. You know Jay, You know me. Hailey is just like me. We can do this. We have to for everyone’s sake”

He nodded, pulling you closer to him “I love you” you smiled “I love you too, now come here and show me you love me before we got to sleep” he shook his head “You’re an insane woman Kidd” you grinned “And yet you would walk through hell itself for me Gerwitz” he nodded “About time you figured that out” and caught your lips in a lingering kiss.

You stood next to Hailey, trying not to pull at the kevlar that was under your clothes. It was lightweight pieces that would stop up to a handgun and slow down birdshot but that was pretty much it. Against the rounds these assholes were peddling it may as well have been cardboard but it was better than nothing. “Kidd stop fidgeting” Kevin’s soothing voice came through your com and you calmed just a bit hearing him.

Hailey reached her hand out for yours and squeezed it gently. Jay looked back at the two of you and nodded as he led the way through the market. The C.I. was to meet you next to the antique shop. Then he’d walk you to the sellers. You fell in step with Hailey, squaring your shoulders.

“C.I. is in place” Voight’s voice was next and you spotted a man leaning against the antique shop in a dark grey suit, fidgeting with his collar. “Someone should tell him not to fidget” you muttered and Hailey smirked. Jay shook his head so you knew he heard you too. “What’s the play Voight?” he asked and Voight said “You three know how to handle this. Call it if you need to but try to see the ammo first” “Copy that” you spoke, rolling your eyes.

You instinctively reached for your crescent ring then remembered considering the task you’d left it, your mother’s ring and the full moon pendant Jay had gotten you for Christmas on your dresser this morning. The only thing out of your usual jewelry you wore was the permanent bracelet on your right wrist that matched Hailey, Kim and Stella. It sold the story more that you and she were sister’s and Jay was her husband.

You just had to get through today,take these assholes down then you could get your babygirl home. That was what pushed your legs forward, regardless of any amount of danger that could be in front of you.

_______________________

You walked next to Hailey as Jay talked to the C.I. He was leading the three of you towards the back of the market. Your stomach was in a knot but you knew one yell from either of you and CPD would wrap this place up tight. When he turned the last corner you spotted a couple dark suvs. He patted Jay’s shoulder “These are the guys. Two brothers. They’ve got this whole setup. The ammo is just a part of it man”

You cut your eyes at Hailey as the four of you approached the buildings the suvs were parked in front of “We’re moving in closer” Kim’s voice hit your ears. You stepped closer to Hailey as a few men stepped out of the building. “Damn sis, didn’t know we could bring our guards” you laughed and one cut his eyes your way “What was that?” you shook your head “Nothing, just joking” then followed Jay in the door.

You hoped backup was as close as they were supposed to be. When you stepped into the building you realized this was the setup. The equipment around you could manufacture bullets. They were making these damn things under your nose this whole time” “Nice setup” you spoke and one of the men laughed “Isn’t it. Well let’s meet the men in charge”

Two men came walking out of the back of the building. They were a little taller than Jay but slimmer built. Kinda lanky really but they didn’t really need to be physically imposing considering they had human embodiments of grizzly bears behind them as bodyguards. One eyed Jay “You Jack Kingston?” he nodded “This is my wife Veronica and her sister Vivian” you both nodded in turn. The man who spoke nodded “Phillip Jones, this is my brother Eric. We hear the three of you are in the market”

“Looking to spend about two mil” Hailey spoke and Phillip nodded “Respectful for the first purchase. Let me show you the merchandise” you cut your eyes at Jay, knowing that as soon as the ammo was confirmed CPD was coming in.

Phillip looked towards one of his grizzlies and the man disappeared and came back carrying a large crate. He sat it down in front of Jay and pried the top off. “Armor piercing rounds. That’ll go through anything” Phillip bragged and you nodded “Impressive. Just what we needed”

Jay stepped closer to you and Hailey as Voight’s voice came across the radio “You three get clear” then a couple seconds later the call out of “CHICAGO PD” started to ring through the buildings.

_________________

You snatched your gun from your lower back and pointed it at the grizzly closest to you “Don’t” he eyed you and you groaned “You’re going to, aren’t you?”

The other went for Hailey and three decided to go for Jay. You fired a shot at your grizzly and cursed when it didn’t go through his chest. Of course the asshole selling armor piercing rounds would have good armor. You ducked his meaty punch and aimed for his neck. It hit and blood bubbled out so you spun towards Hailey in enough time to see her get a shot off towards her grizzly. The man went down, hard.

Cops were swarming the building. Jay was holding his own against his three but wasn’t like you could shoot. “Fuck” you cursed and glanced around, spotting pieces of pipe and nodded to them “Hailey!” you both grabbed a piece and smashed one of the grizzlies behind his knees. He went down and that was enough to even things out for Jay. When he put the other two down you three realized in the meantime Phillip and Erin had run.

“They’re running” cut through the coms so all three of you ran towards the exit. Once you hit the door you saw they’d taken separate roots. You ran right, hearing Hailey behind you. Jay started to go left then heard “I got Phillip, go behind Kidd and Upton” from Kevin.

___________________

Jay turned to run in the direction you and Hailey had run and the moment he came around the corner he saw you and her both being dragged into suvs, shock sticks being held to your necks and your bodies convulsing from the electricity. “CPD FREEZE” he hollered but they threw your limp bodies in the suv and fired towards him, forcing him to duck.

He rolled to his feet and barely saw the plates FDE245 as they squealed away with you and Hailey inside. “WE HAVE TWO KIDNAPPED DETECTIVES” he called across the coms, feeling his world fall down around his feet. He’d let down the two women that meant the most to him, the mother of his child and the woman he loved.

@desimarie12

@allisonargent144

@nevaehstreater18

@alexisquinnlee-bc

@courty-courtz00

#greg mouse gerwitz x reader #jay halstead x reader #chicago pd fanfiction #chicago pd fic #chicago pd fanfic #greg gerwitz x reader #mouse gerwitz x reader #greggerwitz x reader #broken bonds masterlist

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