#the buses were already so bad on the side i was leaving before

[homosexualcitron]

i have to go to the endocrinologist and it's pretty far and the bus i have to take would make me arrive 1 hour early but the one after would make me late,, but also i'm thinking about trying to take the one before because all the buses are full lately so in case hhm

[restlessmaknae]

not like other boys // sungho

Everyone was busy talking about boys, except you. That is until you met Sungho who went to the all-boys school right across the street of your all-girls school.

➳ Characters: high school senior!Sungho x high school senior!female reader/you

➳ Genre: high school au, comedy, fluff

➳ Words: 3.3k

➳ Warning: - (let me know if there are any!)

➳ Dedicated to: @dat-town ❤️ at this point, no explanation is needed haha, I couldn't just write one story for you!

The most annoying thing about going to an all-girls school wasn’t that it was an all-girls school, but the fact that you had an all-boys school right across the street. So whatever discipline the principal wanted the girls to have or whatever studies were published about girls concentrating better in a classroom environment without boys around, you didn’t have any of it.

Breaks were spent looking out of the windows facing the street to catch a glimpse of the boys doing the same on the other side, lunch breaks were spent going to the one convenience store on the corner that the boys also went to, and parents coming to pick you up late didn’t seem that daunting when you could spend that time googling at the boys waiting on the other side.

Except that you didn’t do any of it, god forbid. You actually hated the fact that there was an all-boys school around because it meant more gossip and more severe headaches when you were trying to get to school or leave school because you needed to maneuver yourself around girls twirling their hair and giggling at whatever a boy with less than an average IQ said.

You tried to avoid any of those boys at all costs, and you managed to be free of interactions, free of drama. At least, until senior year rolled by.

It was the first day of senior year, and you knew that you would be late the moment your mother strutted out of the bathroom with her hair still wet.

“Mum, we’re gonna be late!” You told her with a whimper, but your mother shushed you, telling you that you would be just fine.

You usually went to school by bus, but your mother offered that she would drop you off because the buses were probably awfully full today, and besides, she had a client to see, and your school was on the way to the client’s office. Whilst it was true that the buses were always super full the first week of the new semester because everyone tried to be on time at least for the first few days, so were the streets. Your mother’s laid-back attitude didn’t calculate with a traffic jam.

You looked at the time on your wrist watch, then looked out of the car’s window, at the crossroad’s red light that was so bright, you were sure it was mocking you. You let out an annoyed snort, then mentally calculated how much time it would take you to get to school on foot. You had never been late before, so you couldn’t let your perfect record slip this time either.

“Mum, I’ll get out. Take care, bye!” You singsonged as you unbuckled your seatbelt and bolted out of the car, ignoring your mother’s words about it being dangerous. You started running immediately, running around and alongside other students who were trying to get to school.

It didn’t help that your school was on the top of a hill, so it was extra tiring, but you weren’t one to give up, so you pushed through and marched forward. There seemed to be a never-ending line of cars and other students also opted for getting out of the vehicle to have better chances at making it on time.

Unfortunately, you were on the boys’ school side of the street, and for now, you didn’t have a chance to cross the street without being hit by a car, so you decided to run as far as you could before the only crosswalk of the area would give you the chance to cross safely.

You mentally cursed yourself for not working out that much during the summer because it was getting more and more difficult to reach the top of the hill, your legs were already burning and your back was hurting so bad due to the weight of your school bag. At one point, you lost your footing, and you would have surely fallen down if it had not been for someone holding onto you and pulling you back, towards them, so you were pressed against his chest, your erratic breathing mingling with his.

It was something straight out of those cringey kdramas your little sister watched, but now, it all made sense why female leads were left speechless because you could not mutter a word out of shock and surprise. And maybe because the boy in front of you was so damn gorgeous.

“Are you okay?” He asked, concern lacing his words. His voice was already deep, something that you didn’t notice in boys around you, but that’s because there weren’t any. He also had defined, mature features with his sharp jawline and broad shoulders that did tell you that someone was working out during summer. Now you were sure that this was what people meant when they said that puberty hit someone hard.

“Y-yeah, sure,” you mumbled when you managed to pull yourself together. The stranger made sure to steady you before letting go of you, and scratched the back of his neck after doing so. “Thanks a lot,” you added with a slight bob of your head, hoping that it was polite enough given the circumstances. Since you had never had interactions with boys your age (excluding the bombastic side eyes you sent them when they were in your way while walking down the hill from the school or when they were sweet talking to girls right at the entrance), you didn’t know how you were supposed to act.

However, the screeching sound of the school bell filled the air with fear and disappointment, and you let out an annoyed grunt when you realised what it meant. You were late.

“Argh, I can’t believe it,” you shrieked frantically and left the boy right then and there without as much as looking back at him.

The first week of senior year went by very eventfully.

Some were usual high school stuff such as girls and boys mixing together between the two schools and confessing to one another, someone breaking a classroom window with a very miscalculated ball, a classmate of yours breaking her arm and teachers being very dramatic about finals. Others were more of your personal problems such as your uniform getting torn, your mother and father arguing about never being able to spend enough time together when both of them worked too much, your grandmother fussing about you not having any love interest at school and your little sister currently being in love with another idol group.

Then, there was that encounter with the stranger on the first day of school which you could not forget about, but you were thinking too rationally to believe that it was fate or that you would meet him again and again.

Until you were proven wrong when on a rainy Tuesday the following week, you just so happened to bump into him.

Since it had been raining the previous day, you had accidentally left your umbrella to dry at home, and you didn’t bring any on Tuesday. It was fine in the morning because whilst it was cloudy, there was not even a drizzle, but by the end of the day, it was raining heavily. You had two options: either run to the bus stop while holding your bag above your head or go to the convenience store on the corner which was in the opposite direction but might still have some umbrellas left. However, the distance to the bus stop and the convenience store was similar, so you would have gotten wet either way.

Hence, you made a run for the bus stop, shielding your face with your PE bag, but the rest of your body was quickly rained down on. Not to mention that you needed to halt by the pedestrian crossing, to wait for the lights to turn to green.

That’s when somebody decided to hold a giant yellow umbrella over your head, and before you would have snapped your head back to look at the owner of the umbrella, you couldn’t help but snort:

“Are we doing ‘Lovely Runner’ now?” You mused out loud ironically, but when you turned around to see who your “savior” was, the frown froze on your face. It was him. The boy who had saved you from falling down the previous week.

A few raindrops sat atop of his unruly brown locks, but otherwise, he seemed fine. He looked perplexed for a few seconds before looking up at the umbrella and giggling a bit awkwardly.

“Oh, it’s because of the colour of it? It’s actually from the corner store,” he explained, knowing straight away what you meant. Huh, it either meant that he knew the trending dramas these days or he had been watching the said show himself. Well, even you had to admit that you had been hooked even though you usually didn’t like cheesy romances.

“I see,” you hummed, partially still wondering how he could look like that, when your consciousness got ahold of you. You almost asked what he was doing on the girls’ school side of the street, but if he had indeed come from the corner store, it would have been plausible. It was on that side after all.

Instead, you bobbed your head a little as a sign of gratitude and said:

“Thanks for this, but you should go on your way,” you gestured at the umbrella and then around you, but the boy just shrugged his shoulders.

“You are going to the bus stop, aren’t you?”

“I am, but how do you know that?”

“I saw you waiting there the other day,” he replied as casually as if he had been stating that the Earth was round. On the other hand, you couldn’t have been more bewildered. This boy had met you once, but he still recognised you when you had been waiting at the bus stop, and wasn’t afraid to say so? Sure, you did remember his face too, but it’s because it would have been really difficult to forget his face. Was it really the same for him?

“I’m also going there, so we can go there together, and neither of us will get wet. Or more wet,” he added after scanning you briefly, and you would have jumped to the conclusion that he must have been teasing you, but he didn’t look like it. Instead, he seemed rather concerned with his slightly puckered lips and his eyebrows furrowed.

“Alright then,” so you said, turning back just in time for the lights to turn green. You took one glance at the boy before stepping onto the pavement and he followed suit.

You didn’t know what to fill the silence with, but the boy took care of it instead of you. He introduced himself as Sungho and said that he was a senior at the all-boys school, and you did the same. He seemed content that you were the same age, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, he asked about your Lovely Runner comment and if you were watching the drama.

Whilst discussing such topics, your bus arrived in no time, and though Sungho went with a different bus, he didn’t step aside until you got on the vehicle, so you wouldn’t get rained on while doing so. You were so shocked by this gentle action of his that you almost tripped over your own feet, much to the bus driver’s dismay who grumbled something along the lines of:

“Ah, all these lovesick kids these days.”

You could technically argue that it wasn’t love, but you couldn’t deny that you were thinking about a certain boy with almond-shaped eyes and unruly locks falling into his orbs.

Getting to know Sungho was oddly natural. It was odd because it wasn’t what you saw around you - all cringey and out in the open - or in romantic shows - slow-mo effects and glimpses into the other’s hidden reactions and feelings, so you could see both sides.

You just met each other again and again and talked. Sometimes you met at the crossroads, at the bus stop or at the convenience store on the corner. Your encounters were never too long, they were never off school grounds, and they were never really planned. Not that you weren’t looking forward to seeing him again, but you know, they weren’t set in stone… not like a date…

You didn’t even exchange social media handles until a few weeks later, and even then, it was mostly because Sungho kept showing you pictures of his cat, Simba, and he said that his friends teased him because most of his Instagram feed was about his cat. You found it cute though, how much he cared for his pet, but following his Instagram meant that you were sometimes greeted by other content, too. Content that included gym photos, him going cycling with his family on weekends and mirror selfies in casual everyday outfits instead of the school uniform you always saw him in - including his beloved crop tops.

Sometimes, you thought that he couldn’t be real, and not just because he was drop dead gorgeous. He was like a man written by a woman (except that he was a boy still). He was kind, considerate, polite, and yet, he had a humorous side to him, and it was easy to talk to him about anything. He might not have agreed with you, but he would never put you down for your opinion. You did the same. Even though he could go on and on about his protein shakes or recent exercise regimens, you let him because he did what he wanted to do.

When autumn turned into winter and it started getting dark earlier, Sungho offered to get on the same bus with you and walk you home. You insisted that you were fine, but then, he started talking about a story he saw online about a girl being kidnapped while walking home from school, and you let him accompany you.

It was during one of those walks from the bus stop to your house that you blurted out to him what you had been observing since the beginning of senior year:

“You are not like other boys.”

Sungho giggled excitedly hearing your words, but when he glanced at you, he immediately backtracked.

“Wait… was that a compliment?”

“Yes, it was,” you replied matter-of-factly, though you didn’t get why he would think otherwise. He already knew that you were very honest with him (just like with everyone else), so if you had found anything disturbing or uncomfortable, you would have said so. You wouldn’t have just let anyone walk you home after all.

That seemed to reassure the boy because he tried to sniffle a proud smile but failed to do so. You watched him with amusement because it was easy to read him considering that his facial expressions always gave him away.

“How so?” He inquired curiously, and you could see in those almond-shaped eyes that he was trying to fish for some compliments, and maybe, just maybe you thought that it was time to let him know that he was a nice guy.

“Well, first of all, you don’t annoy me,” you pointed out the obvious which made him burst into laughter. “Hey, I’m serious! You’re the first boy I tolerate, and definitely the first I let walk me home!”

Your voice came out a bit frustrated, but instead of discouraged, the boy appeared rather bewildered, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. However, a few seconds later, he admitted:

“Well, you’re the first girl I walk home too, so…” His voice trailed off at the end, and he reached to scratch the back of his neck. He let the sentence hang in the air between you two, and as the weight of his words hit you, you came to a halt right in the middle of the street.

Now it was your turn to be surprised because though he was definitely not a player, you assumed that a lot of girls had already approached him or he approached them. He had seemed so casual when he had saved you and when he had covered you with his umbrella that you thought he had done this before - as in casually interacting with girls.

Sungho stopped in his tracks after you did so, and he turned to face you, observing you in anticipation. He raised his eyebrows, prompting you to break the silence, and you did.

“Do you like me? That’s why you’re doing this?” You gaped, and you could not believe that you had just 1) said the words out loud and 2) the thought had never crossed your mind before.

Sungho’s eyes widened to twice their size, and you couldn’t tell whether it was out of fear, panic or something completely different. His jaw hung for a few seconds, awkward silence falling over the two of you, before he found his voice again.

“Can’t I? I mean… you don’t have to like me back, and I understand if you don’t want to talk to me after this, especially if you have a boyfriend… oh wait, you don’t have a boyfriend, right?” He blabbered, totally losing the plot, and his eyes darted between your face and the totally fascinating trees around you. He looked so lost, so confused, you had to reach out to cup his face, so that he would look at you once and for all.

“I’ve just said that you’re the first boy I can tolerate, you silly,” you teased him with a playful edge to your words and a smile on your face. On the other hand, the boy had never seemed so shocked, and when your fingers started tingling against the soft skin of his cheeks, you realised why. This was the first time you had deliberately initiated skinship with him.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you mumbled, feeling heat rise to your cheeks as you yanked your hand away from his face. However, he grabbed your hands midway, and gave them a light squeeze before taking a step closer to you.

It was just like the first time, him holding onto your hands and holding you close to his chest, but this time, you were neither unfamiliar with the boy who was standing in front of you, nor focused on making it anywhere. This time, you were locked in the moment, your breath shuddering with each second passing by, with this tangible emotion between you two growing and growing bigger until it burst into tiny little fireworks when he diminished the rest of the distance between you two, waited for a few more seconds for any possible rejection and planted a soft kiss on your forehead.

When he pulled away, his cheeks were flushed, and he pursed his lips as if he couldn’t quite fathom what he just did. You were sure that your face was just as red as his was, but before he could overthink your silence, you spoke up.

“Well… maybe I don’t just tolerate you, but I also like you.”

“Maybe, huh?” He raised an eyebrow playfully, but you could feel the relief in his voice. You shrugged your shoulders oh so innocently, and he reached out to graze his thumbs across your cheeks, a smile playing along his lips in the meantime. “So how about that boyfriend question now?”

You chuckled, letting the winter breeze pick up the sound of your laughter to carry it forwards, to the future that you would have not imagined for yourself even just a few months ago.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story of mine! Let me know what you think! 😊

Click here for my BND masterlist

The story header was taken from the Nice Guy MV.

If you want to read more stories of mine, let it be for BOYNEXTDOOR or for other artists, consider signing up for my taglist here. 🥰

Hope you have a lovely day/night! Take care! ❤️

[justagirlwholikesadam]

The American: Welcome to Hogwarts

Remus Lupin x Fem! American! Reader

Prequel of The American: Welcome Back! -click to read

Summary: Entering their 5th year, Remus and his friends are told of a new student coming to Hogwarts. While dealing with problems of his own, Remus can't help but notice the new transfer student from America.

Warning: slow burn, bullying, issues of self esteem, suicidal thoughts, xenophobia against reader, name calling, the word mud blood is used a lot, very dark content.

A/N:I haven't read the books but I have seen the movies and read a shit ton of fanfic. I'm making stuff up as we go so my plot can work. There are some characters that I thought were real but where made up for fanfics. I hope people don't mind if i add them because i already wrote the chapter. I later found out while googling stuff abt The Marauders. I will be added them and other characters to my story with my own twist. With that being said, don't come for me if this character is doing this and that. Not sure how many chapters I'll be doing, really depends on the feedback. please read the tags before reading. Enjoy -L

Remus found himself staring at the tracks in front of him. His eyes studied the nails and the iron bars of the train tracks. He can hear the horns of the Hogwarts Express blasting indicating it’s near. It drowns out the sounds of the students and their families around him. He looks at the red and black train coming and Remus takes a step forward. 

Remus has thought of this a lot before, stepping in front of a train. Trains, buses and cars. Just one leap and it will be over. His fingers tighten over the straps of his bag over his shoulder as he thinks about it more. 

A quick death, what a wonderful relief. 

He hates having a full moon in the summer when he is away from Hogwarts. He didn’t have any of his friends during that time. They were off on vacation or doing activities with their families and Remus doesn’t have the heart to ask them to come over. His friends have done so much for him. He’s afraid of asking for too much and they will leave him for it. He doesn’t want to be alone. 

Remus takes another step forward getting a bit closer to the edge and as he looks ahead. His mouth slightly dropped open when he saw a man standing on the other side of the tracks staring back at him. The man stood there bloody, throat ripped open, slashes across his face and chest. Blood was gushing out from the man’s wound. He wore dark blue trousers and a white ripped collar shirt. The man lifted his hand towards Remus, reaching for him. With his finger, he pointed at Remus as blood dripped down from it. Remus feels the bile coming up his throat when the man try to open his mouth to speak. Blood came pouring out from his mouth and Remus stands there frozen in fear. Remus doesn't see a flash of red running towards him. 

“Remus!” He feels a force come at him making him take a step back from the edge of the platform. The train approaches, hiding him away from the bloody man. He felt Lily hug him and Remus shut his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a tight hug. He missed her so much this summer. He didn’t visited her like usual. He couldn’t. He was ashamed of himself. He tries to get rid of the sight of the man he just saw, he continues to hug her. Lily rubbed his back when Remus didn't pull right away. 

Lily Evans, was the first friend he made when he came to Hogwarts. She was the first to realize what he was and she was the first to not make him feel bad for being a werewolf. As times passed he was welcome into a group of three boys. They didn’t make him feel bad as well, they had even helped him by becoming animagus and stayed with him through his transformations.

“You haven’t written back to me all summer.” Lily said when they pulled away. The students around them started boarding into the train. 

“Forgive me, Lils. Rough summer is all.” Remus said as he grabbed his luggage by his feet along with Lily’s. She gave him a thanks and he just nodded. He wasn’t going to allow her to carry the heavy thing. 

Lily and Remus greeted the other students in their year as they walked to their usual compartment. Remus with ease placed the luggage on the top shelf as Lily sat down. Remus sat down with a huff beside her, next to the window, his favorite spot. Lily opened her beige shoulder bag and took out a brown lunch paper bag with the letter R written on it. 

“Mom, send you a snack.” Remus smiles as he grabs it from Lily. 

“She’s a saint.” Remus said as he opened it, taking a look inside. In separate plastic bags, he saw there were slices of green apples and a jam sandwich cut diagonally. There was even a small juice box. 

“Green apple, my favorite.” He comments. 

“Ugh, she likes you more than me.” Lily pulled out a bag of baby carrots instead of apples like him. Lily’s mom knew of Remus, he would visit Lily sometimes during break and the summer. Lily’s mom was always happy to see him and even called him a son at one point when he always offered to take out the trash or wash the dishes. Remus thought it was the least he could do since they had him over for dinners. Petunia wasn’t really fond of him, but he didn’t mind her. He ignored the names being aimed at him when he sat across from her during dinner. 

Remus chuckles at Lily then he takes the bag of apples out. “I’ll trade.” 

“You would really do that for me?” She asked him with a pout. 

“Hurry, before I change my mind!” Lily laughs and gives him the bag of baby carrots as she gets the bag of apples. 

Remus drops the baby carrots into his brown paper bag, saving them for later. He looked over at Lily when he noticed what she was holding out. He gives her a smile and grabs the slice of apple from her hand. 

Quickly putting it in his mouth,  he hummed at the sweetness of the apple as he chewed. Lily frowned and stopped mid-bite when she noticed Remus looking out the window. His eyes roaming quickly on the other side of the platform. 

“Looking for someone?” Lily asked and Remus looked over at her. He shook his head, telling her nobody. 

Lily is eating when Sirius and James come walking in. Remus rises up from his seat to greet his friends. Lily does the same. Remus helps Sirius with his luggage as James sits next to Lily by the door. Sirius sits across from Remus. 

He’s listening to Sirius ramble on about his summer, it was another horrid one. His mother had gone mad about tradition with the family. He was a disgrace for being a Gryffindor, but he was even more of a disgrace to his family when they found out Sirius doesn’t agree with the pureblood ideas. James and Lily are talking amongst themselves. Remus and Sirius just gave each a look, James was finally getting on Lily’s good side. 

Sirius hits Remus' shoes with his elbow that rested next to him. Remus had quite a growth spurt last year. He had his leg resting on the seat across from him.

“How was your summer, mate?! I sent you a letter, you know?” Sirius' cheeks grow pink and Remus notices it. 

“I’m sorry. I did receive it. I had a hard time answering back. Last moon was draining.” Sirius nods at him, understandingly. 

“Are you okay now?” He asks Remus. Sirius notices something odd with Remus when he doesn't answer right away. He didn’t like it one bit. Remus was usually cheerful whenever they came back to school. 

“Yes, Padfoot.” Remus answers as he leans his head against the window. Sirius decides to not push it and asks Remus about a book he was reading before summer break. He smiles when he sees Remus' whole demeanor change, Remus sat up and excitedly told him about it. The train lets out another sound and a few seconds later. The train began to move then after a few more conversations about Lily and James’ summer. One by one they started to doze off. 

Remus was sleeping with his head against the window. His body jiggled softly as the train kept on moving. He scratches his nose when he feels an itch in his sleep. Inhaling deeply, Remus’ eyes shot open when a scent hit him. The scent is new, it didn’t come from his friends. Remus felt a chill down his back, it was a strange feeling. He doesn’t know why he’s smelling it, the full moon has passed already. Why is the lycanthropy still residing in him?  Sitting up straight, he looks over at his friends. They are still sleeping, he wonders why Peter isn’t here. They have been taking the same spot in the train for five years now, so Peter couldn’t be lost in finding them. 

Remus felt his throat close up when the smell hit him again. He rose up from his seat, taking another sniff in the air.  He noticed the door was a bit open. He figured it was Sirius who usually forgets to latch the lock whenever coming back from the restroom. 

Remus decides to go to the bathroom and wash his face. He figured he was smelling things because he had a rough summer. He was barely sleeping at home. The nap on the train was the best sleep he had all summer. He shuts the door behind him then looks up and down the hall, it’s empty. The lights of the hallway were lit up, he saw most of the other people had pulled down the curtains for privacy as he walked to the restroom. Remus yawns as he walks inside the restroom and turns on the light. Rubbing his eyes he steps in front of the toilet to relieve himself. Letting out a small moan when finished urinating, he turns his head to the door. That fucking smell is there, he quickly walks to the door. He presses his forehead against it. Remus inhales the scent, it's on the wooden door. 

The scent of copper, the scent of a girl. 

Remus doesn’t realize at first but he breathes heavily, his forehead is pressed against the door as his right hand touches his chest and drops down to his lower stomach. He fist the sweater he wore on top of his uniform in his hand as he sniffs harder. When his fingers hits the zipper of his trouser, the urge to touch himself came over him. His eyes shot open and he quickly stepped away from the door. He stared at it, scared. This has never happened to him before. A scent that was making him horny, it was new to him. 

Remus knows this isn’t him, this has to be Moony. The wolf that resides in him. Moony should be gone by now but he isn’t. He leans against the wall of the bathroom and let's out a sigh. He shook his head as he looked down at his hands, he shut his eyes when he remembered how his hands looked with all that blood. He looks ahead at the mirror and whines when the background changes. He saw himself back again in the woods behind his house. 

“Stop it.” He hissed to himself as he looked away and started to push the button of the soap dispenser on the wall. 

Turning the hot water all the way up. He ignored the heat of the water as he washed his hands until it was pink and raw.  He kept telling himself, he had to scrub it away, wash the blood away. He looks ahead at the mirror and stares at himself. His eyes are staring at the new scar on his face. He hates his appearance, despises it. It’s just a constant reminder of what he is, a monster. His friends tell him differently but Remus knows he’s one. He truly is especially after what he did. 

Running his fingers through his hair, damping his sandy brown curls before turning off the light, he walks out of the bathroom. The hallway is still empty, he shuts the door and starts to walk back when he smells it again. His chest started to feel tight and he bit his bottom lip as he turned to face the other side of the hallway. 

He’s staring down the hall and he can smell it again. 

“Fuck.” He murmured when he saw that part of the train, usually students of House Slytherin, sits in. He steps forward carefully as he looks to the left. Most of the train compartments had the curtains drawn down, he stopped when one of the doors was slightly open. He guessed whoever was in there forgot to use the lock. 

‘Another Sirius.’ Remus tells himself as he looks inside. He sees a figure sleeping on the cushion seats, a leg hanging out. He frowns when he notices they wore jeans and sneakers. The person wasn't in uniform like them. Remus hears laughter further down the hall and quickly goes back. Last thing he wants to do is come face to face with a Slytherin. Making it back to his seat, he gently sat back down to not disturbed Lily who was leaning against James. He grabs the brown lunch bag Lily’s mom made for him. 

Remus quietly eats his sandwich as he stares out the window, watching the scenery. He never gets tired looking at the mountains and lakes as the train makes its way to Hogwarts. 

Shelley Mumps was the one who woke everyone the following morning. Remus had dozed off after eating his sandwich. He jumped out of his sleep when Shelley slid the door open with such force. 

“What happened?” James said in a sleepy voice as she shut the door and sat beside Sirius waking him up. 

“There's a transfer student. She's in our year.” Shelley said, looking at them. 

“Cool, can we go back to sleep?” Sirius said getting himself comfortable again against the wall. 

"She's American.” She added. Remus frowns. “They allow Americans in Hogwarts?” He questioned. 

“ Apparently because she’s here. Some of us saw her walking down the hallway. She was staring out the window. You should have seen the clothes she was wearing.” Shelley laughs and Remus looks away from her.

Lily just sighs at her friend. “What do you mean by that, Shelley?” 

“She had ripped holes in her jeans and her shoes looked dirty. She had this shirt with this ugly green army jacket. She looks homeless.”  Sirius was awake now and looked at Remus who kept quiet and stared out the window. 

“I'm sure, it wasn't that bad.” James said, clearing his throat as he sat up straight in his seat. 

“Oh please. The train is stopping soon. You’ll see her.” Shelley said before waving bye at them. 

“Tell me why you are still friends with her?” Remus asks softly, looking over at Lily.

“I have too, I share a dormitory with her.” Lily said, grabbing her bag as they felt the train stopped. 

They quickly got up and started to get their belongings. The students lined up and walked out the train. “Let's see if we can catch a glimpse of this girl.” Sirius tells Remus and James as Lily waved bye at them to find her other friends. 

Remus walked behind them as they walked to the waiting carriages. Leaving their trunks and luggage behind, they sat down. Remus looks around but has no luck in finding this ‘homeless girl.’ The carriages make it to the gates and they step down to walk towards the school, it was a five minute walk. 

“Peter!” James exclaimed and Remus looked over to see his friend walking towards them. 

“I missed the bloody train! My parents were furious. They had to drop me off.” Peter said with a sigh. Sirius and Remus shook their heads, Peter had a tendency of being late. They welcomed Peter with a hug.

“Did you hear the news?” Sirius asked. 

Peter rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Shelley gave me the full details on the new girl.” 

They walked together to the castle when they noticed a group of students standing by. 

“Oi!” James yells and a Ravenclaw boy, named Hems in their year, turns around. “What's going on?” 

“The American is with Hagrid.” Hems tells them as they get closer. Remus looked ahead to see. 

“Is she daft? What's she petting?” Remus hears another student ask. 

“Her name is-.” Someone said your name and Remus thinks it’s a nice name. He continues to look at you, trying to get a good look at your face. 

He can see Hagrid talking to you with a smile as you kept petting at the air but Remus can see the thestral you were petting. He could see its leathery wings flap for a second before circling around you making you giggle. Shelley was blowing your appearance out of proportion but it was exactly what he expected from a pureblood. He looks at you and he thinks your smile is pretty, that's what he noticed first about you. He looks at your clothes. You look casual. You look like a regular muggle, it reminded him of the outfit Sirius usually wears whenever going out to a muggle place. The green army jacket is a bit big on you. You wore a black shirt and blue ripped jeans. 

The thestral rubbed its head against your bookbag, you wore and Hagrid shooed the thestral away from you when it started to nibble on your bag making you laugh loudly. 

“What is she laughing at?” A student asked loudly. 

“You idiot, it's thestral.” Remus looks over and notices Severus with a group of Slytherins standing by. He was glaring at you as he answered. Remus noticed Hagrid leaning down to tell you something. You turn to face them and Remus sees your face for a second. Your eyes widened by the sight of them and quickly looked away before he could get a good look at you. 

“Two galleons, I’ll have her in bed by the end of the week.” Remus noticed an older student from House Ravenclaw speak out. Remus rolls his eyes when the group of students around him starts to snicker and begin to place their bets on you. He watches you walk away with Hagrid towards the school. 

“James? Sirius?” The guy said, looking over at them. 

“No, mate. I’m good.” James said before signaling his friends to keep walking. Remus doesn't want any part of it either. 

Sirius stops in mid step when one of them starts to laugh and yells out, “The American probably has diseases. You know they are sluts.” 

“15 galleons says she doesn't sleep with you.” Sirius said, making them stop laughing and look at him in disbelief at the amount of money he was placing. 

“You're on, Black.” 

Remus, James and Peter waited for Sirius to finish when he saw Severus and his friends walking away. James just glared at Severus and the long, dark haired boy did the same to James. 

“You really think she won't sleep with him?” Peter asked as they continued to make their way to the castle. 

“You have to be Shelley to sleep with them. I doubt she's like her.” Sirius said, shaking his head. 

Settling back down in Hogwarts was easy for Remus. He missed his bed and being around his friends. The atmosphere was different from back home. He wasn't alone, in Hogwarts he was surrounded by students, professors, and even ghosts. 

Getting ready for dinner, he spoke to Sirius about another book he got. Remus was fond of Sirius and even though they both came from completely different backgrounds. They were best friends. Sirius was the second person to figure out what he was. Remus had cried in front of him when he figured it out. Sirius didn't speak while Remus told him that he would understand if he didn't want to be friends anymore. Sirius just hugged him tightly. Hugged him until he calmed down. 

“You’re ridiculous. If you think, I'm going to stop being your best friend, mate.” Sirius spoke out after a few minutes. 

‘We’ll figure something out to help you. I promise.” 

Remus didn't believe it at first but when James and Peter figured it out he told them the truth. The three managed to become animagi behind his back and showed Remus when they accomplished it. He never felt so accepted before. They supported Remus during his transformations and mood swings when the full moon was near. They accompanied him in their animagi form to the Shrieking Shack then later carried him to Poppy Pomfrey. 

He was forever grateful for them. He really was so when he got too deep in his head and started thinking about dying and ending himself. He thinks of them. He thinks of Sirius, Peter, James and Lily. He thinks of his mom as well. 

He thinks about the time his mom would bath him when he was too hurt. She would feed him, dress him when he couldn’t move. His mother changed completely during the recent summer. She couldn’t look him in the eye and it broke him. His father who treated him differently already barely said a word. 

‘Oi!” Remus was deep in thought when James caught his attention. 

“You okay, Moony?” James said, walking towards him. They were in their dorm room, putting their stuff away when James saw Remus laying on the bed with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Yeah, Prongs.” James nods and sits beside him on the bed. Remus pushes himself up and holds himself by the elbows. 

“You know I wrote to you this summer. Like four times.” James said softly as Peter and Sirius were in the bathroom freshening up to go to dinner. 

“I know. I just-.” Remus feels James' eyes on him. “I don't know.” Remus lied. 

“Everything okay at home?” James whispered in a concerned tone, he knew about his life at home. Remus nods as Peter and Sirius come out of the bathroom laughing about something. 

“Ready to eat?” Peter asked as they put on their robes. 

“Yes!” Remus said getting out of bed, he looked over his shoulder to meet James' gaze who was still sitting down and staring at him. He did not believe Remus for a second. James drops it because he knows Remus hates being the center of attention so he drops it for now and says yes to Peter. 

Remus finds himself looking for you at the great hall but he can’t. He keeps his head down and listens to James and Lily talking in front of them as Sirius is talking with Marlene. Peter is next to him, trying to ignore Shelly who was talking about her summer. He was more interested in what's for dinner. 

“Welcome Students! Back for another year with us. I do hope everyone had a good summer.” Remus sighs as he looks down at the empty plate in front of him. The headmaster Dumbledore makes a few announcements about classes and a new teacher who will be teaching D.A.D.A. 

“Lastly, it gives me great pleasure to introduce a new student that will be joining us,-.” Dumbledore announces your full name and Remus repeats it in his head. He remembers your smile. It was so genuine, no one smiled like that to thestrals. 

“She’s from America, boys and girls. She will be studying with us. I want everyone to give her a warm welcome.” Remus looked up from his plate and looked over at the doors of the hall when it opened. He saw you wearing their uniform on. You stood next to Hagrid who urged you to walk inside. 

Remus claps along with his friends as you walk to Dumbledore and McGonagall, who had the sorting hat ready for you. 

“She looks like she's going to throw up.” Remus hears a Slytherin ahead of him joke. While you walked up the steps and sat down on the stool, facing everyone. Your eyes were looking down when McGonagall placed the hat on your head. 

The sorting hat hums as it rests on top of your head. 

“I feel it, young one. Don't you?” Remus saw you looking over at Dumbledore with a frightened look. McGonagall nods at you, easing your worries. You look down at the ground once more and your hands clasped on top of your lap. 

“Difficult choice, indeed.” The hat says. 

“A fighter!” The sorting hat yells, making everyone whisper. 

 “A protector!” Remus noticed the look on Dumbledore's face. 

“Oh- my, that is-.”  The hall quieted down when the hat stopped in mid sentence. 

“I know now! I see it!” The sorting hat crackled loudly. 

 “Slytherin!” Remus saw you lift your face to look ahead and Remus thought you were the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He took notes of your nose and lips. Your eyes and the way you looked so nervous made him feel bad. 

He looked away from you when the hall started to applause. McGonagall was kind enough to show you where the table was. You looked down at your uniform when you noticed the color had changed. ��

He peeks between Lily and James and sees you picked the farthest empty seat from the table. He can see you take a deep breath as you look at the silverware in front of you when you sit down. 

Shelley is sniggering with an older student from Gryffindor who is sitting beside her. 

“What's so funny?” James asked. “She probably doesn't know what a fork is? Don't Americans eat with their hands?” The boy asked James. 

“That’s fucked up, lad.” Sirius says, eyeing him. 

“Look ahead, she's using them just fine.” Lily snaps before looking down to eat her food. Remus looks over and notices you have begun to eat as well. It was quiet after that, Remus ate and only looked over when he took a sip of his juice. They ignore the others who keep making jokes are your expense. They spoke about your hair and how you looked. Some thought you were hot while others thought you were ugly.

Sirius noticed how Remus was quiet. It was pretty normal for Remus to be quiet. Quiet Remus, who only speaks when spoken too but right now it was different. Sirius felt his best friend’s vibe completely off right then and there. 

Remus had different sides of him. He can be so quiet then be very cheerful and make jokes. Until the full moon comes, he becomes cranky and snappy. Sirius stabs his chicken with his fork as he looks at Remus. There’s a new scar on his face and Sirius doesn’t have the courage to ask him about it. Especially since he saw how Remus acted when asked why he hadn't responded to his letter. Something must have happened during the summer, Sirius thinks to himself. 

He noticed Remus looking over when he took a drink. He followed his gaze and landed on you. Sirius does a double take when he sees his younger brother Regulus walking towards you with his plate in his hands along with his cup. 

Regulus flashes you a smile. “Oh fuck!” A Gryffindor from the table whispered.

Regulus sits down across from you. “You ok?” Remus whispers when he sees it. 

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be? He’s with his kind.” Sirius says to Remus but he doesn’t believe that Sirius can just be okay. Remus knows the complicated relationship that Sirius had with his younger brother. 

It was a few minutes later when Regulus and you stood up. Plates are empty and Remus watches as you pick up the empty plate. 

“What is she doing?” A boy from the Hufflepuff table behind them says catching their attention and the voices in the hall become quiet. 

“Do we have to wash it?” It was a simple question that you asked. Remus gets annoyed at the fact that you get laughed out by the Slytherin table when you ask Regulus. 

Regulus shoots them a glare and shakes his head at you before telling you that there was no need. You can leave your plate there and the elves will get it and clean it. 

“Elves?” You frowned, and your eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Like a Santa's elf?” Remus hasn’t heard the word Santa since he was a kid. 

Regulus tilts his head at you, he’s confused now. 

“She’s half blood then?” Remus hears the table start throwing ideas of what your blood is. 

“What the fuck is a Santa?” Sirius whispered to James then looked at Remus when James shrugged his shoulders. 

“Are  you sure that she’s in the right grade if she thinks Santa is real?” Someone asked loudly and people began to laugh. 

It had gotten to the point that the laughter behind Remus started to get to him. He didn’t find it funny at all that they were making fun of you. He wondered what did you know about magic, perhaps you didn’t know anything at all. His guess had to be that you were muggle born but he keeps it to himself because if he was right about you being a muggle born then you will have a difficult time, especially in house Slytherin.  

He knows what it feels like to be made fun of and he hates it. He gets bullied for his scar face. He gets bullied because he’s quiet. He gets bullied because he’s poor. 

He sees Regulus walking out with you from the great hall. He leaves a few minutes after saying he had a headache but he just didn’t want to hear the comments they were making. He decided to go to sleep early that night. 

He was glad he had a dreamless sleep. He didn’t dream about the man. It was morning and he saw you again walking with a younger student from your house to the great hall. Remus walks in with Peter and he sighs when he sees Shelly and Marlene there already, eating. He didn’t mind Marlene at all, she was kind and reminded him of the female version of Sirius. She was spunky and played quidditch with James and Sirius. 

“Morning, guys.” Remus greets them and sits down. While a Ravenclaw girl ahead of them rises up from her seat and runs to Shelley. 

“You won’t believe what I just heard!” The girl said to Shelley. 

“The American slept in the bathroom on her first night here. Her roommates are telling everyone. They heard her crying.” Shelley and the girl began to laugh. 

Marlene looks at the girls. “I don’t find that funny. She probably misses her home.” 

“Oh come on, Marlene.” Shelley said, waving her hand dismissing Marlene’s words. 

Before she can say anything James and Lily along with Sirius came in. “Morning.” They greeted their friends. 

“I’m not ready for classes.” James sighs as he sits down. 

“Guys, Penelope just told me that -.” Remus finally cracks and cuts her off when he slams his hand on the table loudly and looks over at her. 

“Would you shut up already? Enough making fun of the new girl.” He said and Shelley grows red from embarrassment of his sudden outburst. 

“You feel bad for nasty foreigners?” The Ravenclaw girl, Penelope asked, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“I feel bad for anyone that has to deal with tossers like the both of you!” Remus said, looking at her and Shelley. He stood up from his seat ignoring James and Sirius calling out for him. He walks out the doors and goes back to his room. He paces around the room, coming to terms on what he just said to Shelly and the other girl. He felt bad for calling them that name but he just got so angry. 

How can people make fun of other people suffering, he asks himself. He had lost count on how many times he’s cried himself to sleep during his first year coming to Hogwarts. Being alone and afraid that someone will find out his wolf secret. He checks the clock on the nightstand and notices it's almost time for his first class. He grabs his books from his trunk and hopes he doesn’t see Shelley or the other girl.

He started to grow worried as he walked to class that Lily would be angry at him for calling her friend a wanker. He was surprised when Lily hugged him when they saw each other for the third class of the day. 

“I can’t believe her!” Lily told him when she unwrapped her arms from him. 

“Don’t tell anymore but sometimes I get homesick. I’m in tears in the tub.” She admits to him. 

“You know how I feel about bullies.” Remus tells her and she nods at him knowing all too well about bullies. She was a victim like him, she was bullied heavily in her first year for being a muggle-born and sometimes even now. 

When lunch began he was walking with Peter who didn’t say much about the incident and Remus was grateful for it. They talked about their class they had last period. As he walks in he sees you sitting with the same younger student. You were smiling and so was the kid. 

The kid had a book open in front of you and Remus smiles at your choice of writing utensil. You were using a pen instead of a quill and you were writing down on a regular notebook instead of parchment paper. 

The kid kept talking while you nodded and wrote frantically. 

Everything seems to be going well, Shelley had decided to eat with her friend, Penelope at the other table. James and Sirius came soon into the hall talking enthusiastically about quidditch. 

“Guys! Guys!” Remus flinched when a group of Hufflepuff students came beside him and stared ahead at the Slytherin table. 

Remus looks ahead as well to see what all the fuss is about. Lance, from house Ravenclaw is in his last year and everyone knows him for being a bully. He was pure-blooded so he thought everyone who wasn’t was beneath him. He usually picks on the muggle born and the half bloods from any house. Of course no one interfered because they didn’t want to get bullied as well. Lance’s blue eyes widen as he walks into the great hall and makes his way to the kid sitting across from you. 

“He’s such a twat for always picking on Ruben.” The Hufflepuff next to him tells the group. 

“Ruben is the kid?” Sirius asks and they all nod as Lance gets behind Ruben and pulls on his hair making him yelp. Remus has never seen someone's eyes grow hard so quickly. The smile you had on disappeared. The hall grows quiet when you stand up from your seat. 

“Get the fuck away from him.” It was not usual for Lance to have someone stand up to him. He was caught by surprise from your words. 

“What did you say?” Lance said with a disbelief chuckle. 

“Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. Him.” The great hall is quiet and Remus noticed a few teachers had risen up from their seats when they noticed what was going on. 

“What’s going on here?” McGonagall had walked towards the table and stared at Lance then at you. 

“Nothing, Professor McGonagall. Just having a chat with my friend Ruben.” Lance said, taking a step back while still staring at you. 

Ruben was almost in tears by the whole thing. Professor McGonagall walks Lance back to his table. 

“She just placed a death mark on herself.” One of the Hufflepuff near Remus said, shaking his head. Lance was staring daggers at you and you kept your eyes on him showing no fear, just hate. You didn’t take your eyes away from him until he sat down and spoke with his friends. 

“You might just win your bet. She got balls.” James says, turning back around to Sirius who turned as well to continue on with his meal. 

“What bet?” Lily asked the boys and they got quiet real fast. James being whipped for Lily ratted them out and she shook her head, telling Sirius how horrible that is. 

“I betted that she won't sleep with anyone, Lily!” The redhead girl shook her head as Marlene copied her. Remus kept silent as he glanced over the table and saw you grabbing Ruben’s bag. You and the kid started to walk out of the great hall after collecting your things.  

He was surprised when he saw you walking inside the classroom. You were a few minutes late for charms class. The professor grabbed the slip from your hands and pointed at an empty seat in the back. Remus almost drops the quill in his hand as you pass him to sit on his row. Remus usually stayed in the back because he was tall. A Hufflepuff girl, Nancy sat in the middle between you and him.

In the corner of his eyes he noticed you had taken out the same book as before and a pen. 

The Charm professor called out your name as he walked towards you. The student laughed when he told you that there is no pen and notebooks allowed only quill and parchment paper. 

“I’m sorry. Mr. Robinson. I‘m still learning how to use the feather thing.” You told him, looking up at him. 

“First, it’s called a quill and you're a witch now so you better start learning fast how to use it. Second of all, it’s Professor Robinson. Things are different here, Miss.” 

“Yes, Professor Robinson.” Remus looks away by the tone of your voice. You sounded so defeated. Professor Robinson walks away and continues with his lesson. Nancy leans over to you when you grab the quill from your bag and the ink. 

“Hold it like this.” She whispered to you showing you how to handle your quill properly. 

Remus goes back to write his notes, he hoped you realize not everyone in this school were mean. There were some students who were kind. Throughout the class, his eyes would glance over Nancy to you. 

After class Remus walks to the Gryffindor common room. Making it inside, he heard chattering and looked over to see Lily and Mary Macdonald. 

“Hey, Remus!” Lily said, waving him to come over towards them. They were sitting on the couch by the fireplace. Remus sits on the other side as Mary hands him a box of chocolates they were eating. His eyes widened and they giggled at his expression. 

Lily chuckles when Remus is wiggling his fingers trying to decide which one to take. James and Sirius came with their Quidditch uniforms on. Lily frowned when she saw them walking towards them. 

“I thought you guys had practice?” Lily asked and Remus looked over at them with a frown when they didn’t say anything. The guys just looked at each other for a brief moment. 

“Oh fuck, Sirius have nothing to say. It must be bad.” Mary said, trying to lighten up the mood but James and Sirius didn’t say anything. They sat on the couch across from them instead. 

“They canceled practice.” James said and Lily glanced over at Remus. It had to be more, James would be in tears if practice was canceled. He took quidditch very seriously. 

“Why?” Remus asked, grabbing another chocolate from the box. Sirius takes a deep breath. 

“The word is going around that the new girl is muggle born.” 

‘Shit.’ Remus says to himself. He was right. 

“She didn't know what it meant, they asked her about her parents and she told them they weren’t wizards. Those snakes dragged her by the feet to the quidditch field and slimed her while chanting mud blood.” Sirius said. Lily and Mary dropped their mouths open in shock. Sirius and James glance at each other. They were famous for their pranks. Being slimed in the field was a good idea but they didn’t like how you began to cry and how confused you looked about the whole thing.

“Never seen Professor McGonagall look so mad before. She started yelling.” James said, leaning back on the couch crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Did you see the new girl?” Lily asked and James nodded. “Yeah, the other professors had to help her off the field.” 

“Blimey.” Remus mumbled as the door of the common room burst open and Shelly walked in laughing with a group of students. Remus rolls his eyes when he hears your name being whispered. This year was going to be rough, he tells himself while popping the piece of chocolate in his mouth.

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Larghetto

Chapter Thirty

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader, Dean/Bela

Other characters: Gibson child OMC, Lee, Sam, Pamela

Word Count: 3310

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, angsty af flashback, Dean does Uncle things, apologizes, and makes up his mind-ish, still unbeta'd

Shout out to @lastactiontricia for her help talking me through this one

Series Masterlist

The moment Dean's ass hit his seat on the Proud Mary the following afternoon, it all clicked into place. They were back on the road. The apology tour was in full swing. Okay, no one actually called it that, but it was essentially that. Something settled inside him with the realization, his ribcage was suddenly spacious from the lack of shrapnel. Dean took a deep breath to adjust for the extra room.

Huh.

The rest of the band found their usual books and Kevin waited patiently until everyone seemed settled before he plopped down on the aisle seat a row ahead of Dean. 

The last ones on the bus were Gibson and Bobby, who no doubt was running the kid around the venue to burn off some of that unquenchable energy only children possess. 

“Alright, Gibby go find your daddy! I've got a bus to steer,” Bobby sent him off simply, before turning to the rest of them. “Everybody ready?”

“Sound off,” Pamela bellowed to make sure everyone who had to be there was there.

“Gibson?”

The little dude giggled at being first. “Here!”

Bobby smiled as much as he ever did and turned to the other side of the bus.

“Kid?”

“Present!” Kevin replied.

“And Dean's here I made sure of that already,” Bobby muttered, not letting Dean off the hook for yesterday so soon. Dean tried not to look too put out by it; he deserved worse. Everyone else sniggered and oo’ed at the burn. 

Bobby’s attention slid further back, eyeing people as he said their names. “Sam?”

He didn’t say anything, but Dean was pretty sure he caught Sam raising his hand in his periphery.

“Pam’s got her ducks in a row, I see. Trouble, you good, darlin’?”

“All good, Bobby,” you said somewhere in the back.

Dean tuned out the rest of the roll call, knowing between both buses everyone would be accounted for, scratch that the three buses now with Jodi and Donna’s crew. Hearing your voice reminded Dean that he still owed you an apology for his disappearing act. And to say he was nervous about it was an understatement, because he didn’t think he could tell you what actually set him off, not outright.

It wasn’t your fault, or Victor’s for that matter. But there was no way it came out without sounding like he was placing the blame elsewhere. No, it would be better to keep it short and cut his losses. Less is more and all that.

By the time he made up his mind to get it over with, the bus lurched forward into traffic and Dean knew better than to go walking around until they were on the interstate. As big as the thing was, standing while it kept stopping and starting could make even the most seasoned traveler queasy. So he stayed put and put on his headphones to let the familiar sensations distract him as he waited.

Before he knew it, Dean had nodded off.

April 2017

The curtains of his hotel room were pulled open and Dean groaned against the assault of daylight against his hangover.

“Bus is leaving in a half-hour. Get in the shower or I’ll get Sam to make you,” you didn’t beat around the bush.

Dean didn’t open his eyes. He felt you moving around the room, tidying while he stretched, yet remained stubbornly in bed. He had never had a handler, except for major events like public album releases. Your dotting made him feel important. Like he was above you, higher up than just from being part of the band that employed you. His festering ego drank in the servitude. 

His knuckles popped as he flexed his fingers, broken skin stinging as it stretched wide. He did not want to move. He wanted to see how far his skin could split and still stitch itself back together.

“I don’t know how you managed to make a hotel room smell so bad in less than two days, but I do not envy the cleaning crew,” you muttered as you shoved his dirty clothes into his duffel. “Dean!”

“What?!”

“Get up!”

“Fuck off.” Dean rolled over and cradled a pillow under his aching head.

Suddenly he was dragged down the bed, the comforter pulling him with it until he rocked onto his side and all of the bedding slid off his naked body and onto the floor.

A strangled sound came out of your mouth, an angry cousin of a gasp. “What the—- where did all those bruises come from?”

“Yeah, cuz that’s what you’re looking at,” Dean snipped, hauling himself upright, unfazed by the horror on your face. After a few moments of not meeting your eye, he couldn’t take your gawking sympathy any longer. It all made his skin itch. “I’m up! That’s what you wanted, right? Now you can go.”

Immediately he saw you fold, tuck away all that natural concern, and put on your business face. “If you’re not downstairs in fifteen minutes, I’m sending Sam AND Bobby to get you. And if that doesn’t work? I’m sending Pamela.”

Dean rolled his eyes and dragged his ass to sit on the edge of the bed.

“How’d you even get in? Jesus!”

That was the wrong question to ask. You stomped past him and made a show of swinging a very broken hotel room door back and forth. “How do you think I got in?! How’d the lock break, Dean? Hmm? Was it the cops or just security crashing the little mosh-pit-orgy combo you had up here last night?”

It was him. He kicked in the door because he couldn’t find his key. The girls he had picked up from the afterparty were starting to whine. And he really just needed the night to be over, but his damn thoughts wouldn’t shut up. So, he figured if he got his dick wet enough his downstairs brain would override all of that.

He told you none of this.

But by the smell, the mess, and the used condoms, you had figured out enough.

Oh, and by his bare ass, that too.

Dean stood up and blocked you from getting further into the suite again.

“Get out of my fucking room you fucking groupie! I swear to god I’ll call security. Send Sam, hell, send Bobby! I fucking dare you! They won’t care what you say. You little narc. I know how to do my job, maybe you should remember what yours is and stop shoving your nose in everybody else’s business. Christ!”

Dean had never seen hurt like that flash in your eyes, but it only added to his twisted vindictiveness. The rotten truth that he didn’t deserve you looking after him paired with the insurmountable belief that he could do it all on his own anyway had him continuing to push you away.

“Why don’t you go find somebody who gives a damn, huh? Cuz none of us need your sorry ass around, Trouble. I mean it. You're just a charity case for the band. Even Cas.”

You inhaled through your nose. Dean watched you darkly, waiting for the waterworks. You didn’t give him the satisfaction.

You plastered on a company smile. “Now you’ve only got ten minutes, Mr. Winchester. It’s a good thing you’re already undressed for that shower, isn’t it?” 

Dean watched as you stormed down the hall and jabbed the call button for the elevator. Before you could look back to see if he was doing what he was told, Dean slammed the broken door closed, forgetting the jagged frame, and watched helplessly as it simply bounced back at him.

Thankfully, the bathroom door still worked.

Dean’s nap was short lived. Instead, he silently berated himself for saving your apology for last. Though to keep from putting it off, he told himself it would only get better once he actually got it over with. Call that progress. He stared at the seat back in front of him and willed himself to move.

The thing about going to therapy and putting in the work, Dean now knew why he did a lot of the things he did. But that didn’t make any of the accountability easier.

   Dean hauled himself up and waited a beat for his bus legs to come back to him. He grunted as he stretched and glanced around the bus. Kevin had his head down and his arms crossed over his chest, while his massive headphones kept Dean from knowing if he was sleeping or just lost in sound. Annie was dozing draped over two seats on the other side of the space that was far too wide to be considered an aisle.

Dean leaned over and flicked Sam’s topknot because he could. Which earned him the finger, but the easy annoyance supplied him with just enough ease to let a grin slip onto his face. He spotted Lee and Gibson at the kitchen table playing cards.

“Playing Kings on the Corner if you’re up for it?” Lee mentioned as he shuffled. 

“Pssh! Gibson, I would have thought you’d be running a Blackjack table by now. Let’s put some money down,” Dean teased as he approached. That was when he spotted you with your nose in a paperback, sharing a row with an eye masked Pamela. 

“Trouble! Why don’t you get in on this game, huh? I’m sure—.” Dean bent over to read the cover. “I’m sure Hoover, the writer, not the vacuum, wouldn’t mind if you took a breather. It’s for a good cause! That being Gibson’s college fund,” he trailed off.

Lee just smirked at him.

God, he felt so obvious.

“Does Gibson even want me to play?” you said knowingly.

“Sure does, don’cha, buddy?!” Lee swooped in and helped Dean save face.

Gibson knew when to lay it on thick. “Please?! It’s better with four people!” 

Dean’s chest thrummed with the look you gave his surrogate nephew, equally attentive, exasperated, and amused. 

“Is that so?” you asked, waiting to hear out a six-year-old’s reasons.

“Yeah, cuz it’s Kings on the Corner. And there’s four corners,” Gibson summarized beautifully, pointing to each spot someone could fit around the table.

Dean looked at you and shrugged. Who could argue with that logic? You held Dean’s gaze and smiled secretly, so as not to let Gibson think you were laughing at him. Which made Dean feel warm, and so very grateful that he could still share that kind of smile with you. 

You set your book down and Dean eased into the bench seat to make room for you. “And how is this helping Gibson’s college fund exactly?”

Dean ducked his head. “Well, not THIS game, but I was thinking, uh, maybe after a few rounds we put a little cash on the table. A little five card stud or blackjack maybe?”

Lee chuckled. “Gonna let him have the real tour bus experience?”

Gibson worked on shuffling the cards as the adults held their breaths over that clearly downplayed idea of what goes on on tour, especially on the bus in question. God, Dean was gonna crack at any moment, between the warning in Lee’s eyes and the mischief in yours.

You rolled your eyes and cleared your throat. “Need help?” you asked the now struggling child with hands too small for a proper bridge shuffle.

“Eh, he’s doing alright.” Dean exhaled, letting the adult humor fade out of the conversation naturally.

“Yeah, I got it,” Gibson agreed, tapping the edges to get the cards to line up smoothly.

You all made it through three hands of Kings on the Corner before switching to a very mild game of BlackJack. Dean took the pot of a cool fifty bucks from Lee just as Bobby pulled up to their next hotel. He helped Gibson clean up and put the deck of cards back in a basket the band kept underneath the bench seat along with a few other games and puzzle books.

Pamela, still groggy from her nap, called Gibson over to grab his backpack as everyone started gathering their things to check in. Dean ruffled his dark hair and thanked him for a good game as he passed by you both.

“That was fun— he’s such a trip,” you said fondly.

“Yeah, ‘s probably my favorite kid ever. Way less of a whiner than Sam ever was,” Dean agreed. 

“I should probably get my shit together,” you said, clearly not in a rush to move.

“Yeah— it’s not like the hotel is going anywhere.” Dean just needed to get this over with. “Hey, listen, about yesterday—.”

“Yeah what was that, mister?!” you tried to keep it light, but something in the tone of your voice told him it was a bigger deal than you were putting on.

“I’m sorry. I just—.” Dean wiped his hand down his mouth and thought about how he was going to explain himself. “I had to work through some negative energy. I should have told somebody where I was going and that I was okay— I just saw red and needed to move before I did something stupid.”

You listened, clearly worried, but didn’t press him for more than he wanted to give. “Is everything alright now? I mean, the show was great— nobody would have known.”

Dean thought back to the show the night before, so much came to mind, but also hundreds of shows before it filtered in to muddle the fresh memories. “I’m good. And next time I need to take a breather I’ll let somebody know so I don’t freak anybody out. I know better— that was all on me.”

“If you’re sure—”

Dean knocked your shoulder with his. “I’m sure. Thanks for lookin’ out. It means a lot.”

“Of course!” Your brow furled like he was an idiot to expect otherwise. 

Maybe he was.

He definitely didn’t want you asking more into it. He glanced around the bus, half the band had already cleared out, but Bobby was still helping Annie get her bags together before they’d head inside to confirm all of the reservations.

“I guess we better scoot before they lock up.” Dean stood hunched over, waiting for you to let him out of his spot.

“Yeah, god I hope I’m by the elevator this time. My legs feel like cement blocks today,” you confided, slowly getting up and letting Dean stand to his full height.

“You were rocking some serious heels last night—- your knee isn’t acting up is it?”

You glanced at him with a curious tilt to your head, walking back to tuck your book in your messenger bag. “You saw my boots? Why— Um, no, knee’s fine. Well, as good as it ever is.”

Dean burned as he realized he had admitted to checking out your legs, which really was the least of his recent sins, but still shouldn’t have slipped out. “Oh, okay— that’s good. I just know some docs in Vegas if you needed some pain relief or needed it looked at—- or anything.”

 You shrugged your bag onto your shoulder and grabbed your phone from the ledge by the window. “I’ll keep that in mind. Hopefully I won’t need it though.”

“Right.” Dean exhaled and stepped back to let you head to the bus doors.

Before Dean could even remember to grab his own stuff, a gruff voice broke through his brain fog. “Real smooth.”

He spun to see Sam smirking at him beneath his stupid hair and oversized headphones. “Shut up, bitch.”

“After you, jerk.”

The next afternoon, Dean had Gibson on his back as they made a mad dash for the bathroom in the Children’s Zoo area at the San Diego Zoo.

“Excuse us, emergency,” Dean said as he dodged through the crowd of strangers and more strollers than he could count. Didn’t these people have something better to do on a work day?!

“Uncle Dean?” Gibson sounded worried.

“Almost there, little man,” Dean reassured. He was the one who had stuffed the kid full of slushies and cotton candy, so he said he’d be the one to make sure he didn’t have any accidents or stains on his clothes.

He might live to regret that promise.

Finally they rounded a corner and Dean spotted the little peg people and an arrow towards a set of doors. The family bathroom was locked when he tried to yank it open. He grunted and bent down to set Gibson down.

“Alright men’s room, this way—- told ya we’d make it,” Dean ushered Gibson inside and followed to guard him while he did his business and make sure he washed his damn hands. They were heading to the Safari park next and he didn’t not want to worry about letting the little gremlin sit on his lap with bathroom germs all over him.

“Okay! Let’s go find Uncle Sam and your mom, huh?”

“Do we have to?” Gibson whined.

Dean chuckled. “Come on, they’re not that bad!”

“Uncle Sam keeps reading to me about the animals and Mom just wants to pose for selfies with the mama and baby animals.”

“So?! At least they like hanging out with you! Could be a lot worse,” Dean suggested, directing Gibson through the crowd with a hand between his little shoulder blades. He tried to remember if his dad had ever taken him or Sam to a zoo, but all that came to mind was his mother chaperoning a field trip to a pumpkin farm once upon a time before Bush Sr. had taken office.

The Safari Park was pretty cool. Dean got stopped by a couple of employees for selfies before they were through the line for the jeeps. But they made up for it with letting them skip to the front. There was also the few minutes he had to hold Gibson’s head away when they happened upon a rhino trying to mount a female. The thing’s dick was longer than Dean’s arm.

“It’s okay, Sammy,” Dean placated. “Anybody’s gonna have an inferiority complex compared to that. Not me, but anybody else.”

“Bite me, Dean,” Sam muttered, remembering not to swear in front of the kid.

Dean cackled as Gibson huffed in boredom.

The day was just what Dean needed after the extreme highs and lows of the weekend, relaxing with low stakes. They grabbed a late lunch at a deli down the street from the hotel and made plans for the Midway Museum the following day, after Dean’s therapy call. He wondered if you’d be able to join in on the fun. Bobby had gotten the tickets, so Dean guessed you wouldn’t have any conference calls either. Or he hoped.

Dean really didn’t know what to say to that. Bela had been prickly early on during the last afterparty, but neither you nor she had said anything that gave him any idea what was going on between you two.

And he wasn’t sure he wanted to get in the middle now.

But Bela wouldn’t have said something unless she was genuinely worried about you. Or about your friendship at least. Dean sighed and said he would tell you to call her. He just didn’t specify WHEN was all.

He got a couple of hearts and a ‘thank you’ text back.

Dean couldn’t help but feel like this was backwards. His loyalty wasn’t with Bela, especially not when it came to you versus her. And unless the next few shows bombed, he didn’t think there was any reason to keep playing pretend. He was back. The band was thriving, as the kids said, and he was completely in love with someone else.

So, yeah, Dean might check in and see if you were pissed at Bela. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to do anything more than that. Unless you needed him to.

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

@brightlilith

@coldhearted93

@djs8891

@beautiful-places-blog

@n-o-p-e-never

Chapter 31: Ziehen

[pencilpat]

Sanders Sides: College AU - Part 7

Part 1 | Previous Part

“I meant it when I said I wouldn’t mind being your weirdo forever, y’know,” Remus says quietly. “Whatever that means, I want that.”

Janus squeezes his calf and stares up at her water-stained ceiling. “Well, if that’s the truth, then you’re not going to be weird alone, at least there’s that. Fuck it, I’ll be your weirdo forever too.”

“You may now kiss the bride,” Remus says jokingly. It makes them both laugh, even if it’s not entirely a joke[...]

We see a brief moment in a long friendship. Virgil has a bad day. Patton lies and then realizes they can't for much longer. Janus and Remus have a good day, and maybe a good... forever. Whatever 'forever' means in college.

[CW: manipulation, implied homelessness, panic-induced dissociation, lying to friend/partner, gender dysphoria]

▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸▸

Remus lays upside down on the concrete barrier separating the school’s flower garden and the sidewalk boredly. He’s chewing gum sloppily, biting off tiny chunks from the whole and spitting them onto the concrete so that students will step in it.

“Ugh, nasty,” his friend Janus speaks beside him, her face both grossed out and amused with her lips quirked upward. Remus snorts out a laugh and turns around, laying on his back on the rough stone. Janus is barely focusing on a book. If she were to be honest, which she hardly ever does, she would tell her friend that she hasn’t showered in four days or eaten anything but school food in probably weeks, and it is making her book feel quite insignificant. But some dry shampoo and loose-fitting clothing hide those secrets plenty well.

In the building, the final bell for the day rings and the high school kids begin filtering out of the building to the buses and the student pick-up area. Remus and Janus try to look distracted and unapproachable so that, with any luck, everyone leaves them alone like the freaks they are. However, the only two other students who they do not want to be left alone by exit the doors and begin walking up to them.

Roman is already huffing and puffing before he gets to them. “You guys skipped again, didn’t you!” he accuses.

“No, Roman, we were just faster than you,” Janus soothes falsely, and Remus nods along with a wide grin. Their other friend, Virgil, shifts his bookbag on his shoulder nervously and darts his eyes between everyone, undoubtedly trying to decide if he should allow the two to lie to Roman. A slight raise of Janus’s eyebrow keeps him silent, looking at his shoes.

Roman sighs exaggeratedly. “Okay, fine, fine. Just don’t worry me like that!” He pulls out a brand-new mobile phone, the bedazzled red case making Remus and Virgil exchange a silly glance to secretly tease him. “Anyways, we need to get going if we’re going to beat dinner rush,” he says, starting off towards the parking lot with a wave of his hand. The other three follow behind like sheep to a herding dog, with a few grumbles and eye rolls at being made to move quickly.

Virgil and Janus hop into Janus’s car while the twins both get into Roman’s sleek sports car, much too expensive for a new driver 11th grader to have. Remus makes a face through the window at Janus, who lets out an uncharacteristic snort of a laugh, before clearing her throat and pretending that it didn’t happen as she pulls out of the parking lot. Virgil puts up the hood of his hoodie, the hand-stitched patches across it making him perhaps not as unnoticeable as he would like to be.

“Stupid fancy car,” Virgil mutters as they follow just behind Roman. Janus hums, smiling just slightly.

“Honestly, I don’t think you’d guess our cars were even together. But you know how it is with rich men and their incessant need to gloat their egos about.”

Virgil chuckles, tugging his hood lower to block out the sun as he leans against the window. “I mean, at least we get paid-for dinners as often as we’d like.”

“Oh, how grand and kind of the lovely princes to pay for commoner’s bread and butter!” Janus teases. They both giggle and settle into a comfortable silence. Virgil’s comfort is only interrupted by his usual glances towards the two duffle bags and sleeping bag poorly hidden in the back of her car. Also as usual, he says nothing about it and keeps his thoughts quiet for fear of upsetting her. Upsetting Janus is never a good option. It usually results in either weeks of silence towards him or even being yelled at if it was too egregious an offence.

At their group’s favorite Greek restaurant their cars meet up, parking right next to each other. Remus throws his (much larger) body against Virgil’s back, forcing him to hold up his weight. “Oh, I missed you two soooo much!” he says through a grin. “It may as well have been eighty years!”

Virgil makes a growling sound at him, barely holding him up. “Get off of me, idiot!” he says, though he is also smiling. Remus laughs, a high-pitched cackle of a noise, and picks himself up. Janus and Roman stare on with varying levels of amusement.

“Alright, enough goofing about, I am beyond hungry!” Roman declares, turning and walking towards the door. The other three follow once again, snickering.

They sit at a table in the back corner, a booth, with Janus and Virgil on one side and the twins on the other. The menus are large and everyone fights for space lightheartedly. Janus chuckles and Virgil hums at her. “Oh, it’s just funny that we go here so often even though not a single one of us is Greek even in the slightest, it’s ironic considering both Indian, Asian, and all South American food is, you know, fucking delicious,” she jokes, drawing a smirk and a roll of his eyes from Virgil. Janus looks over the menu. “I’ll order for you,” she whispers to him. “You know you just hate speaking to strangers,” she coaches. Virgil nods, face falling straight with a slight blush of embarrassment, feeling just a tad pathetic. He puts up his hood and sinks down slightly in his seat.

The twins both order gyros, as well as Remus ordering dolmadakis, which Roman makes a grossed-out face about. Janus orders courgette balls and a salad for herself, and keftethes for Virgil to start with. Remus then pipes up and gets himself a coffee, which Roman scolds him for after the waiter leaves; “at 5 p.m. Remus, really?!”  

Virgil is fidgeting with his hoodie strings absentmindedly when Janus’s gloved hand touches his. He jolts and looks at her. “Is something wrong?” she tests, and though her face is straight, Virgil can sense that there’s ulterior meaning to the question even if he doesn’t know what it is.

“Uh- no, I’m good. I’m good.”

She hums. “You just looked anxious-“

“No, yeah, I’m good,” Virgil nods, giving a weak thumbs up. Janus smiles at him a tad too warmly, then turns to join the conversation with the twins.

“I’m telling you Remus, drinking six cups of coffee a day is ridiculous, there’s something wrong wrong with you,” Roman bites at him.

Remus laughs, very loudly for such a small space, causing other diners to glance at their table. “Roman you already knew there was shit wrong with me, don’t pretend,” he says shoving Roman’s arm. Roman shoves back at him, until they’re all but wrestling in the booth.

“The way I see it, speaking objectively, there is shit severely wrong with both of you,” Janus teases casually, leaning on her arm. Hungry and in a lot of physical discomfort in general, she subtly rubs the fabric of her gloves against her cheek, the stim calming her into a small sigh. Virgil glances at her and she nods at him to tell that she’s fine. Happy, even, Virgil, so don’t ask her again.

The food comes and they dig in heartily, all chatting in circles and laughing. The dinner passes fast, and before they know it Roman is paying with their parents’ card and ushering everyone outside. Roman says goodbye a tad dramatically with a bow, and Remus dramatically hugs Janus goodbye, bowing and kissing both her and Virgil’s hands to tease Roman. They all share some final giggles, and part back into the separate cars.

Virgil buckles in as Janus starts the car to drive him home. “So,” he speaks, voice cracking just slightly. “Will your parents be upset about you ruining your dinner or-“

“Virgil,” Janus says sharply, a warning in her voice. Virgil flinches and draws back. Janus sighs. “My parent’s opinions don’t matter, there’s no need to worry about me.” She shoots him a comforting smile in his peripheral, and he nods tautly.

Janus pulls out of the parking lot, sighing, happy to have actually eaten nicely, Virgil’s attempts at prying not spoiling her mood. Virgil sighs as well, subconsciously mimicking her calm mood. When they get to his house, his mothers have left the porch light on for him, and he can see one of them watching T.V. just inside the front window. He hesitates in her car, hand half outstretched to the door handle.

“Janus?”

“Yes, Virgil?”

He glances towards the back of her car one more time, but he doesn’t have enough nerve. “Nothing. Just- Have a good night, okay?”

“Okay,” she says softly, touching his hand with her gloved fingers. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She says it as a statement not a question, even though it’s a Friday, so Virgil nods, and he gets out of her car. He watches her leave from his porch, sucks in a deep, deep breath, and slinks guiltily into his warm, happy home.

 --

“Virgil?”

Someone is calling his name, but it’s not yet loud enough to pull him out of his dazed stare, still adrift in his memories with his eyes blurrily fixed on a phone with a food delivery app open that was placed in his hand. He’s just barely registering the food names, chewing his lip roughly.

“Virge!” Roman says again, at a shout this time.

“Huh- whu?” Virgil shakes his head and blinks hard to refocus his eyes. They settle on Roman’s own, right in front of his face. “Oh, sorry. What are we doing?”

“Getting food? Are you okay?” Roman quirks his head at him, frowning.

Virgil tries to block out the memories he was having, taking in a deep breath. “I’m okay, yeah.” His lips press together tightly when he looks at the screen. “Can we… not do Greek food?”

Roman nods in immediate understanding, taking his phone and going back outside of the bedroom to Patton for the two of them to choose new foods. Patton makes a small noise of confusion when he reappears so quickly, tilting their head at him.

Roman sighs, plopping down onto the couch heavily. “Something’s up with Virgil, 100%.”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

Roman pinches his lips together, side-eyeing his friend. "I don't know," he lies. "Have you noticed anything?"

"No, maybe just some extra anxious thinking," Patton hums.

Roman's lips squeeze thinner together, alarmed that Patton hasn’t noticed the changes in their own partner’s demeanor, and he licks them to steady himself. "Virgil has been worried about you, I've noticed. He says you've been kind of... distant. Gone most of the time and not spending time with him."

Patton's eyes widen, and they bite their lip, not looking at Roman. "What are you um.. saying?"

"Nothing, bud!" Roman suddenly tries to course correct. "I wasn't trying to imply things."

"Okay," Patton says, putting on a tone of upset suspicion. They need to throw him off somehow, it can't become a common thing to question where they are or they'll end up having to admit to the drinking and sneaking out. Which they absolutely cannot do. "Roman, I'm- You wouldn't think I would lie to him or- or cheat on him, do you?" They let their eyes tear up, touching his leg.

Roman blinks at them, mouth hanging open for a moment. "Pat, no, of course not."

"O-okay," Patton sniffles. "I'm just… under a lot of stress. I didn't realize Virgil was upset with me."

"Oh, he's not! He's not upset, Patton," Roman says, frowning as the suspicion turns to concern. Thankfully. "Virgil has been struggling too and I think you- You sort of accidentally made each other nervous is all?" Roman suggests.

Patton nods, faux wiping at their eyes a bit. "As long as he's not upset." And they mean that part genuinely, even if they are making secret friends and behaving so recklessly, making Virgil upset would make them feel horrible.

"Of course he's not, you're okay. Do you need me to tell him you've been struggling? If it's the depression or the OCD I can call your psychiatrist for you, even."

Patton closes their eyes and lays against Roman's shoulder. "No, I can make the appointments. I- I should do that anyway. Roman, you're a very good friend."

Roman feels warmth in his chest and he smiles, proud of himself. "Aw, anything for you, puffball," he jokes, bumping his shoulder into them. "Anyway, we need to choose a different place for food! Virgil was upset when I went in and asked for no Greek." Patton nods and takes the phone. They feel a worm of guilt in their stomach over Virgil being upset.

"How about I go take the phone to him?" Patton suggests. Roman waves for them to do so. They go to their bedroom, and find Virgil on his stomach under his dark purple weighted blanket.

"Need some more weight, shadow?" they call out to him. He looks up to them miserably and nods. Patton lays their chest along his back, half on the bed half off. Virgil sighs pleasantly, which makes Patton giggle. "What sort of food did you want? Roman told me you said no Greek, why so?"

Virgil sighs shakily. "Bad memories. We... we ate it a lot in high school, the friend group." 'The' friend group, as though separating himself from it, Patton notes. "I was on a thought loop about it all, couldn't get myself to calm down and ended up spacing out. I- I don't know, I could feel her gloves on my arm and stuff. Not good."

"Gloves?" Patton says. "I thought the friend group was here, not in Minnesota."

"Oh, she would always wear them no matter the weather. I dunno, probably a thing with the vitiligo, like how Roman wears them. He gave the idea to her back then."

"Janus had- had vitiligo, and wore gloves?" They feel their heartbeat skip, eyebrows furrowing up.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I know I never tell you anything about her. Just too upsetting." Virgil's chest rises and falls heavily under them. Patton doesn't reply, as the nickname of 'J' on such a similar looking woman turns their gut. J initial, vitligo, gloves. J initial, vitiligo, gloves. There's hardly been anyone Patton's met that fits all three at once. "Anyway, uh, food." Virgil moves under them and they sit up to allow him to turn around before distantly laying against his chest instead, handing Roman's phone to him. J, vitiligo, gloves. Did she know, somehow, or is this town just tiny - is this a scheme or pure coincidence?

"Pat, bluebell?" Virgil looks at them with a frown, turning their face to meet his eyes.

"Sorry-" Patton blinks heavily to draw themselves to the present moment. "I'm more tired than I realized, I think. Hungry still, though!" They laugh and thankfully Virgil smiles at them and playfully rolls his eyes. believing them fully as always.

"Yeah? How about Anne's? You feeling up for some chicken and pizza?"

"You know it," they say, a bit more breathless and exhausted than they would like to hear their own voice ever sound again.

--

Not for the first time since he moved in with her, Janus wakes up in Remus’s bed, with him on the floor of the kitchen. She brushes hair out of her face, blinking in discomfort as she realizes she fell asleep without removing her contacts or even her daytime clothes. They watched movies til the late hours again, and Remus never moves her once she’s asleep. She groans with pain as she sits up; the couch bed really is just awful. She glances over his lower half peeking from behind the island, questioning how he’s been doing it for a month and a half now. She immediately takes out both of the contacts, just in case. Janus gets up, wobbling on her sticks of legs. “Remus,” she says, kicking his leg. “Remus get up.”

Remus snorts awake, blinking at her in the light. “H-whuh?” he says, intelligently. Janus smirks despite herself. His hair is twice as messy as usual.

“We’re going to get breakfast or coffee somewhere, get up.”

Remus sits up, cracking his back with his hands. “Ughhhh, why? You’ve never wanted to go anywhere with me. Even in highschool.” He says it as a fact rather than something he’s insulted by, but Janus bites the inside of her cheek with guilt anyhow.

“Well, I guess you must be special. Enough to be worth my social time and effort.” She examines her nails as though disinterested in him, but he is too busy beaming with a smile as he wakes further to notice.

“Sweet! Fuck yeah! I’m paying,” he says, shimmying to his feet and running around to gather a proper outfit.

“Uh, no, we can both just pay for our own.”

“Janussss!” he whines at her, frowning. “Lemme pay, just one time, please?” He flashes her with very big, watery eyes that she knows are fake, but can’t help listening to anyway. She doesn’t need his money, but… he just doesn’t stop offering. So, she reasons with herself that she’ll have to let him pay eventually, and it may as well be now. She rolls her eyes with a smile.

“Fine. Once.”

Remus cackles with victory and begins undressing, uncaring that she’s here. She feels her cheeks darken with blush despite herself. “Oh, you have way more tattoos than I thought,” she says, trying to keep a breathless tone out of her voice with a more casual topic.

Remus pauses and straightens up to show them off, hands on his hips. There are the typical ones on his arms that she’s seen before, obscene jokes. “Fisting record” in between two solid black lines all the way on his shoulder, the barbed wire above it, and a pair of actual scissors ‘scissoring’. There’s a line of black barbed wire along his collar bone that must’ve hurt like a bitch to get, but that’s just the start. There are two matching barking dogs on each of his hips, and the word ‘wild’ between them on his lower stomach in a cringe inducingly intense font. On his chest and stomach are dotted lines like markings made before a vivisection to guide the scalpel. There’s a large rose on the muscle of one of his pectorals, black with a green thorned stem that traces a circle around his nipple. A butterfly in a particular style on one part of his stomach, most likely a symbol of sorts though one Janus doesn’t recognize. The rest of his stomach is dotted with very amateur looking, upside down stick and poke tattoos. And that’s just the ones on his front side.

“Aren’t they sick as fuck?” Remus smiles, his full teeth showing with the amount of pride he seems to have over them.

Janus clears her throat with a cough. “Yeah, they look very nice.”

“Wanna touch em?”

“Remus, what?” Janus laughs. ”I have tattoos too, they don’t feel any different than skin.”

“You have tattoos and didn’t tell me?!”

“Yes, only two,” she sighs. “They’re kind of known for being expensive, and, well-”

“Show me, show me!” he begs, running over to her and touching her arms. She tries not to let her breathing stutter at him, mostly-naked, feeling just fine to run up and touch her.

“Are you subtly asking me to strip, Carmona?”

“Huh? No, I wouldn’t do that subtly if I was going to!” he says, tone cheeky but honest.

Janus sighs and, thankful to at least still have on a bra right now, pulls up her sweater to show them. “There’s a moth on my hipbone, see, and there’s a snake along my chest. That’s all.” She lowers her shirt to his intense gaze. “Can we refocus on getting food? I’m starving.”

“Right!” Remus says, turning around to hide just how flustered seeing her chest made him. He for once realizes that his nudity might be affecting someone, seeing as her just pulling up her shirt has gotten him so embarrassed. “Where you wanna go?”

“There’s a diner a mile or two away, it’d be a few minutes driving. They’re very stereotypically American but I wouldn’t be one to say no to well-made breakfast food and burgers.”

Remus has pulled on a shirt, a ratty looking band t-shirt specifically, one that she thinks he might’ve had since high school, and cargo pants by the time she finishes the sentence. “I wouldn’t be one either, let’s go!” He grabs her wrist and starts to tug towards the door.

“Remus, wait, I need my glasses, some gloves and probably to change too, I slept in this.”

Remus pauses looking at her. “You look fine though? I don’t see anything wrong with it, you wear that or a similar sweater like every day anyway.”

“Gloves,” she insists, her voice a bit more desperate than she would like it to sound.

Remus pauses, taking both of her bare hands in his. “Jan, look,” he says, gesturing to their hands. She does look, taking in both of their hands splotched by paler patches. “Nothing to be ashamed over, ok?” he promises. “If anyone said anything I’d kick their ass.”

Janus takes a breath in, eyes closing. “I- I can’t, I’m sorry.” She pulls away her hands and walks to her room to grab a pair of her gloves, leaving a slightly dejected looking Remus behind. In her room she stares at her skin, breathing uneven. It’s not that a skin condition should cause, well, anyone shame, it’s that it’s her skin. It’s her. She doesn’t really like any part of her appearance, and that includes the largest visible organ she was saddled with. The vanity mirror catches her face, and she tries to not look at how square her jaw is or thick her eyebrows are or how covered by the uneven coloration she is or how ugly she is without some makeup to feminize her- Catching herself being so needlessly hateful to herself embarrasses her and she shakes her head out, leaving the room and the mirror behind while barely remembering to grab her glasses. Whatever, Remus was always there to make her look better by comparison anyway, she thinks bitterly.

They get into Remus’s truck without many more words exchanged, and Janus leans on the window when they begin to drive after putting the location into Remus’s GPS. Remus looks at her from the corner of his eyes, chewing on his lip and biting skin off of it. She looks so normal, and he doesn’t understand it. She’s so averagely dressed, and so pretty, the only outwardly odd thing to him being her dyed hair, which is cool! She should love how she looks! But he always felt that way about Roman too, and he acts the same over being seen naked or gloveless. Maybe he should get it, being that he has a skin condition too, but he just doesn’t. Uniqueness like theirs is only beautiful to him, and he’s always considered it rather stupid to think otherwise.

“Hey, Janus?” he asks, breaking the quiet.

“Mmh?”

“Why do people think being weird is a bad thing?”

Janus blinks at him, unsure of the right answer to that. “Well, uh… Humans aren’t very nice to each other even among basic bitches, so there’s even more likeliness if there’s specific things to pick on you for – things that stand out, good or bad.”

“Yeah but- but why?!” Remus’s fingers drum on his steering wheel, his face creasing, with worry or anger he’s not certain. “It’s just- It’s stupid to me! Being different is just a fact, like, every single human is different! We’re not clones or mass-produced dolls.”

“People don’t really see it that way, Remus,” she sighs. “Humans tend to group together based on sameness just on an instinctive and community-based level. In group and outsiders.”

“That’s such culty shit though, and not the cool movie kind.”

“It’s just cliques, tribes, groups, packs, herds – community. It’s normal for more species than just people.”

“People are the only ones who are so smart yet act so fucking dumb about it!” he says, seeming more annoyed than angry. “Like animals beating the shit out of each other just happens because they’re entirely instinct and survival based - humans aren’t that! We’ve got so much brain power being used on nothing.”

“People are just like that,” she says.

“People like hurting each other, I know that,” he grumbles. “People have always liked hurting me because I’m so different and weird, and I am different and weird, so they’re right, I guess. I know people just wanna hurt me and laugh at me at this point. People like hurting weirdos even when it’s not right,” he says. Janus feels something painful rising in her chest at how… casually he’s saying this, like they’re factual statements rather than the opinions of assholes. “But I just feel like it makes no sense, to me myself and I.”

He sighs. “Like you, you’re the prettiest most normal looking person ever,” Janus feels her cheeks get hot as he continues, “but because of, what, a skin condition? You’re weird? We both got bullied like crazy even though you’re gorgeous and I’m hot as fuck! They shouldn’t do that to you!”

“They shouldn’t do that to you,” she snaps in agreement, coming out sadder than she intended. “You’re not a weirdo. You’re right, it makes no sense. It- it makes no sense.” She wipes at her face and looks at the floor of his car.

He touches her shoulder, though he’s no longer looking at her. “Glad we agree on that, at least,” he laughs, high and subtly strained, squeezing at her. He pulls the car into the parking lot the GPS tells him to, parking and slapping his own legs, smiling at her. “Let’s go eat, mkay? Anything you want, it’s how I’ll make up for rent since I’ve been here bothering you so long.”

“Remus, you’re not-“

He gets out of the car before she continues, and she huffs and tries to follow him, cursing and struggling to right herself in her crutches from how high his truck is. He seems to notice at the door, and rushes back over to her, reaching to help. She groans, frustrated by herself and her body and her inability to comfort him and fix it for him and be a good person and- and-

“Janus, hey, breathe,” he suddenly mutters at her, his hand brushing her hair out of where it had become stuck to her lip. She looks up at him and he’s frowning in sympathy for her – for her as though he’s not the one clearly hurting so much. She feels herself drawing back to snap at him or reply to the help angrily, but it deflates from her chest before it leaves, her head slumping on his shoulder for a second. He seems unsure of how to respond to that, just going still and letting her rest there.

“You’re smarter than most humans, Remus,” she says quietly by his ear. “Smarter, nicer, and cooler, too.”

Remus chuckles, nervous, patting her back. “Aw, Janus, there’s no need for all that. Let’s just go eat. You said they have food you like, let me buy it for you. You deserve it now especially, complimenting me all sweet.” He helps her get into her crutches more securely, and she silently lets him take her inside.

Both feel better as their meal goes on, talking about nothing at all yet such important things. The food is fatty and filling and salty, which Remus will not stop complimenting, and Janus laughs. She laughs so much around him, more than she has her entire life. She keeps trying to thank him for that, to somehow say it without having to say it – but as she’s driven home with a full stomach, finally fully having let him pay for her and take care of her, even if a small amount, she realizes that it must be said.

“Thank you, Remus,” she says to him.

He hums distractedly, half glancing at her as he drives.

“Thank you. For- for-“ she shuts her eyes, and tries to force words out of her mouth even though her brain wants to shut them down. “Thank you for being here. Making me laugh and trying to make me feel good. Just- You’re so-“ She feels her eyes watering, and looks fully over to him, finding him watching her much more than the road. “You’re a really good person. A really good- good- I- Thank you.”

Remus tries to keep a neutral face and fit with her serious tone, but he can’t help the small bewildered smile that does escape him. It’s the most honest tone he’s ever heard her use, in high school or now. It gives him butterflies and makes him nauseous and makes him happy and sad and every emotion at once. “Janus-“ he lets a tiny laugh out, his chest shaking slightly. “What are you saying right now, you’re acting funny.”

She touches his arm, and he realizes one of her gloves is off. She takes his hand, and they look like they belong there, together. But she can’t say what she wants to, because she doesn’t fully want it to be what she wants. Remus has stopped at a stop sign, and he just stares back at her. Gazes locked and not doing or saying anything but breathing. Janus leans, and pulls him into a hug across the empty middle seat. She hears him exhales beside her ear, and then he hugs back, tightly, gripping his fingers into her sweater.

They just sit there until cars come behind the truck and begin to honk at them, and Remus lets go with a laugh as he rolls down his window and flips the other car off before speeding forward. Janus notices the light hit wetness on his cheeks as she wipes it from her own as well. “Let’s get home,” Remus says, shaking his head and grinning. Home, Janus thinks as she lays back against the window and shuts her eyes. Not just 'Janus's shitty empty apartment' – home.

Remus flops face first on the couch bed when they do get there, Janus pausing at the door to put away her crutches. She doesn’t go to her room, though. She lays down facing the opposite direction on Remus’s bed, their feet and heads on opposite ends. Remus flops his arm over her legs, and when he does, she touches his legs as well.

“I meant it when I said I wouldn’t mind being your weirdo forever, y’know,” Remus says quietly. “Whatever that means, I want that.”

Janus squeezes his calf and stares up at her water-stained ceiling. “Well, if that’s the truth, then you’re not going to be weird alone, at least there’s that. Fuck it, I’ll be your weirdo forever too.”

“You may now kiss the bride,” Remus says jokingly. It makes them both laugh, even if it’s not entirely a joke. Whatever. They have forever to figure it out, after all.

[valyalyon]

2 Harvest Whispers

Previous Post | Next Post SEA MASTER LIST OR #LYONSEA DIVIDERS

CW: Police officer character, smut, p in v, unprotected intercourse, explicit language, descriptions of sex, cheating, open relationship, slight societal homophobia, hints at queer identity for main character. MDNI. 4.1K Words.

Star woke up later in the morning of January 6, 2019. She was in the master bedroom of Jasper Conrad’s guest home and the man was asleep beside her.

He was laying on his back, eyes closed staring up at the ceiling. Star was stunned for a moment because he wasn’t making any sound. She wasn’t surprised by how quiet he was, she was more so scared as something terrible showed itself to her.

It’s not fair to try and explain what she saw, so here is an excerpt from her perspective:

When I woke up that morning at his side for the first time, I saw him laying in his coffin.

His arms were over his chest, there was no more breath in his lungs. He was… dead. His hair laid neatly, he was dressed so properly in the coffin.

That’s what he wanted, though. He wanted to shake God’s hand dressed formally. He wanted to thank him personally.

When it was all too real, he breathed… and I laid back down in the bed, hugging him.

Jasper was snoring lightly, holding her close to his chest. She listened to his heart beat, calmed her shaking breaths and watched as his chest moved.

For a moment, Star questioned where she planned on going once he woke up. She couldn’t stay there, she had to leave and find her own place somewhere else.

Truth be told, she had nowhere to go, though.

Star had moved into Heliosea with her parents when they were still alive. She couldn’t remember much about them, or the move, but a lot of times she remembered her favorite white sand beaches from her home.

She’d returned there only once, as a teenager, and spent a couple weeks along her home island. Eventually, though, Star had gotten caught and was sent back to Heliosea. She was a minor and had no documents to travel, having snuck onto the island illegally. Not to mention, she had ran away from her foster family.

One of many families that tortured her until she finally turned 18. She lived on the Southeastern coast of Heliosea when she finally became an adult, and packed her bag at 11:50pm the night before.

She snuck out of the foster’s home just a little after midnight, and arrived at a bus station shortly after. From there Star took several different buses, getting out of that corner of the country and arriving on the Red Highway.

She hated the SE with a passion, so she couldn’t return there and the Red Highway… well… Lazarus was probably still looking for her. Star didn’t know if there was any point in going to the SW coast, and she was there in Sunwoods, now…

At the same time, she didn’t think she could stay with a married man. What situation could he even show her that would make it a good idea for her to stick around? Still, she had to admit she was wildly attracted to him.

Star figured she’d be quickly proven that staying around would be a bad idea, so she figured maybe she should try to enjoy the feeling of his chest against hers.

Just as she was admiring his muscular frame, his snoring began to cease and his eyes began to flutter open. His green eyes looked up into the ceiling of the room, before adjusting his position and kissing the top of her head.

She smiled up at him, and Jasper kissed her lightly, looking away to say, “let’s go start the day. How are you feeling?”

“I’m good,” she commented as the two got out of the bed and Jasper opened the bathroom door for her, she walked in, “thank you.”

…

Jasper walked Star into the main house through the sliding patio doors, which were already open when they came up. Star was mesmerized by his ranch, and she hadn’t seen all of it yet.

When they walked in, they were immediately in a very large living area with high ceilings and open windows. She thought it was beautiful, and her eyes scanned the room quickly.

Immediately, she noticed there was a fireplace with several family photos sitting on top. Her eyes pulled away quickly, not wanting to pry, but Jasper had noticed her eyes already. He looked over to where she had been, “ah, I probably should show you a couple of those so you believe she’s my wife.”

He walked over normally, grabbing a picture off the mantel, “this is probably one of the better ones.”

Jasper brought it back to Star and showed her, “this is my wife, her name is Dahlia Conrad, and these are our sons, James and Emery when they were younger.”

Star looked at the photo, maybe imprinting it in her mind. The photo had Jasper and Dahlia sitting side by side, with James and Emery on either side of them.

James and Emery were younger than six, with only their eye colors being noticeable features about them.

James had large, pitch black eyes almost — the darkest shade of brown, and messy black hair. He wore formal black pants with a red button down. His little sleeves were rolled and he stared at the camera in annoyance at being photographed.

Emery had a similar expression of annoyance to his brother, but his eyes were large blue pools, his hair the same black though a little more put together. He wore formal black pants, and a cute blue sweater that matched his eyes.

Dahlia wore a fairly dated but black dress. She looked like a typical 1950s wife in a dress, but her hair was a lot longer in this photo with balayage highlights and gold wavy hair. Her eyes were a deep brown, almost as dark as her sons.

Jasper was definitely the center of this photo. His smile was perfect for the camera, and his green eyes really popped in the photo. He wore a black suit, with the suit open slightly, exposing the white shirt underneath and no hat on his head. His black hair matched that of his sons perfectly.

“Hmm… Conrad Sons really does make sense,” Star commented, handing the photo back to Jasper, as the man chuckled.

“They are the spitting image of me, aren’t they?” Jasper chuckled.

Star was about to agree, just as Dahlia came into the living area and stopped to look at Star.

Her eyes ran up and down Star’s figure, and her expression showed her surprise, “how much money did he have to offer you for you to be around him?”

“Are you saying I look like a slut…” the young girl asked timidly. Dahlia was in her 40s or 50s, Star assumed.

The older woman shook her head of blonde hair quickly, “no, no, I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right at all! You’re gorgeous, I’m just shocked you’d want to be around an old man.”

Star laughed slightly and tried not to meet the woman’s eyes, worried she was offending her in her home, “I’m sorry… I am attracted to older people quite a lot if my history proves anything…”

She wouldn’t lie, she found Dahlia gorgeous and very sexually attractive. There was just a natural energy the woman had, and Star couldn’t help but be attracted to beautiful women.

“Dahlia, this is Star Bennett,” Jasper said, placing his hand on Star’s lower back, and bringing her and himself closer to his wife.

“Hi, Star,” Dahlia smiled at her and gave her hand.

Star shook her hand, smiling up at her, “good morning, Mrs. Conrad.”

The older woman gagged, then laughed, squeezing the hand of the younger woman’s a little, “ew, no… you always call me Dahlia.”

She was looking up into the woman’s dark brown eyes, and she smiled again, “sorry, good morning, Dahlia.”

“Well, Dahlia, do you want to start explaining us to her? I’d like to have Star around if she wants to be here. I need a new girl on my arm, and she’s… well, you can see her for yourself,” Jasper spoke so confidently, and showed off the girl to his wife.

Dahlia laughed, “you make us sound so creepy old man.”

Dahlia did nod her head, and turned her attention to Star, “if you’re attracted to him, though… You have no competition in me. Him and I were forced to marry each other by our wealthy families. His father just doesn’t want me to misbehave or make his son look bad.”

“What about your sons? Did you two not love each other when you had them?” Star asked, and she realized after she did that she probably sounded very childish.

The blonde woman laughed and looked back at Star, “we love each other as best friends. That’s about it. Our sons, while I love them, were like a payment to his family.”

“A payment?” the young girl looked up at her curiously, the woman was taller and gorgeous, but the statement was odd, “how do you mean? Did they go to live with his family?”

“No, they lived with us until Emery decided to disappear and then James did too. Don’t blame them, though, they weren’t made for life in Sunwoods high society,” the old woman shook her head, “really, who is? As for payment, his family requested that I provide two children into the family soon after marriage.”

“We would only have sex during ovulation, so I could get pregnant, and I was pregnant soon. We didn’t have sex again until we went to have the next baby, and it was the same thing essentially.”

“Do you sleep with each other now?” the younger girl asked, she wanted to sleep with Jasper. She didn’t want to involve anyone else just yet, but she wanted to understand what their boundaries were like.

“We’ve had threesomes with each other and another girl since having our sons, but we haven’t done that in years. I discovered, since I’m very sheltered, that I’m a lesbian. I have girlfriends and I date and sleep with them, while Jasper has his own…” Dahlia explained.

“You feel free, stick around as long as you want. I think you’re gorgeous and you should do whatever makes you feel happy.”

Star blushed and looked at Jasper, who was smiling down at her. She hugged his wife goodbye, and Jasper took her out of the house to show her around the ranch.

…

The Conrad Sons Ranch was massive with fields full of farm animals and crops. She wasn’t sure what they were growing, with everything being cold, but there were tall stocks growing in the rolling fields.

There was mud anywhere they tried to off road, following a bit of a cold rain that happened in the early morning, but Jasper’s truck took the roads easily. Star looked out the window of the truck, watching every field pass by.

In the land of Gods and Monsters, I was an angel living in the garden of evil. Screwed up, scared, doing anything that I needed.

In that moment, Star was reminded of nights in the center of her island. For awhile, she would go into the farms and get lost in the fields. She remembered all the golden corn, the feeling of the hot sun on her face. All of it was something she missed so much in Heliosea.

Yet, here she was in Sunwoods, driving through a massive farm with the town sheriff and being reminded of that place. She felt at peace, for a second, and caught herself too comfortable.

Why did she feel so safe?

During drives, Jasper didn’t speak too much, only turning the music up for Star, and smoking out the window at the same time.

He knew that she liked to disappear in memories on drives, he knew that she seemed to disassociate into the all nature around her. She would sink into it, she’d be at peace. He’d see it out of the corner of his eye, and he couldn’t help but be entranced by her.

Despite having had other girlfriends before, the man was never quite pleased or satisfied by anyone. Everything always broke apart so easily, because he struggled to ask for anything or take any initiative. He just… would get bored so easily.

Usually though, he would hold onto girls for longer, even if he didn’t feel anything.

This — with her… it was different. Star, his Ember… that girl with those beautiful green eyes, that passenger princess lost in thought. He was interested in her without touching her, just by being near her.

Jasper parked the truck at the top of a hill on the property line, and jumped out the car. He walked over, opening the door for Star, who hopped out with his assistance.

She smiled up at him as he took her hand and led her to the back of the pickup truck. He’d parked in reverse and opened the bed of the truck, helping her up onto it.

He easily got himself beside her, and the two sat staring at the hundreds of acres. Full of animals, crops, homes, roads… And in the distance, she could make out Sunwoods, where the road ended and the Ranch would start.

She looked up at him, “this is so beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Jasper laughed, “I think you’re more beautiful, of course.”

Star blushed and shook her head, “I really don’t know why I’m so into you…”

“So, you admit it,” he smiled, and took her small hand in his massive one, “I’m into you, too… Do you have somewhere to go?”

She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t want to admit it, but she dropped her head, shaking it, “no. I’m an immigrant and a criminal.”

“What’s your wanted status?” he asked completely seriously, but continuing to hold her hand.

He was stable, and always so able to calm her down somehow, especially when he added, “we’ll just change your hair… You and those green eyes with some blonde hair? The Feds will never know.”

A smile broke on the young girls face, and she turned her eyes back up to his, “I’m always down for a hair change.”

Jasper’s dark green eyes hid so much, but in them Star always saw such pride, strength, and intelligence. His smile, too, was so comforting.

Star wondered in that moment why her heart seemed to so easily jump between people.

Reflecting, she didn’t think her heart ever fully jumped to Rocco. She thought she loved him, and she might have, but something was always happening in the background. How long had he been assaulting her in her sleep, or did he really only do that once?

In the end Rocco admitted to nothing and Star always knew with him that she just wasn’t cut out to be his forever. She could never imagine herself in Laguna Hills for longer than a day or two, living in that community of celebrities and wannabes felt impossible.

Star was a confident, beautiful woman that desired to be worshipped by her partner in private. Rocco treated her like she was an accessory to his performances, to his place in the spotlight.

She wouldn’t have minded that treatment if in private he was more honest and less critical.

Sitting on the truck bed, looking out at the Conrad Sons Ranch, she felt a sense of calmness. The hills all around the area were beautiful, and the land seemed so alive still in January. She sighed a relaxed breath and turned towards Jasper as he began to speak.

“I want you to stay here,” the man said, tightening his grip on her hand a little, “I don’t want to pressure you. If you stay, though… I want you to be my girlfriend.”

Star’s eyes ran along their clutched hands. His hands didn’t seem old, they were large and strong, veiny hands, a little calloused and rough. Her hands were small in his grasp, “are there any expectations of me, any boundaries or rules?”

“So many,” Jasper said with a laugh, but his tone relaxed as he continued, “it involves telling you quite a lot about me, Ember… There’s a lot about Sunwoods society that I am unfortunately a massive part of.”

“I am the wealthiest man in our area and I am the chief of police. My jurisdiction for policing extends from Sunwoods to all the desert towns along the Opportunity Highway until the Red Highway. That intersection is the end of my control,” then he stopped and chuckled.

When you talk, it’s like a movie and you’re making me crazy ‘cause life imitates art.

“What? You’re cute when you laugh but what is going on inside your head?” Star was curious, she wanted to understand it all before she agreed to anything.

He laughed, hopping off the truck then walked towards the edge of the cliff and pulled a cigar out of his jacket. He started smoking, looking at the endless view of all his land. Jasper looked over at Star, who still sat on the truck bed, “it’s the end of my legal control.”

Her eyes widened a little, and she tilted her head at him, “I’d love for you to elaborate on that…”

He held his arms out, his cigar in between his fingers, as he explained, “As we all know, the Red Highway is lawless and I own the middle third of it. Sometimes I go over there to check on all the gangs and get what they owe me. Sometimes I go to gamble illegally, sometimes I get in trouble.”

Hearing about the Red Highway again, this time from Jasper who lived hours from it… It almost spun her world out from under her, but she was still so fixed on him. She felt herself tremble as she began to realize that he could probably just hand her back over to Lazarus.

Star didn’t want to think about it, though. She brushed the thoughts aside, and asked him, “what would you expect from me?”

“As my girlfriend, you’ll have to wear dresses when out with me in Sunwoods or out publicly with me anywhere, including the Red Highway. I want to explain that this isn’t because I want to control how you dress.”

“My father is senile and on the verge of death. He’s been this sick for years, but I show him pictures of me with other women in dresses and he doesn’t know they’re not my wife. Since I have mandatory attendance at public events in Sunwoods, those will be where we’ll be photographed.”

Star stopped him, “does the town not know that you’re cheating on your wife?”

“Everyone knows, this isn’t a secret but my father has been told these are different women before and he doesn’t process that. He shuts down, pretends to be asleep, and then when he sees a picture of that girl again he will say that Dahlia looks so beautiful as always,” Jasper sighed, smoking his cigar from the stress.

“I’m sorry you’ve been going through that with your father,” Star got off the truck bed and walked over to him, reaching up to touch his cheek.

He leaned forward into her hand and his eyes opened to look into hers, “he was a terrible man who karmically deserved what happened to him. I just don’t want him modifying his will in this state and the court system refuses to assign me or anyone to control his assets.

“The only way someone would be able to prove to him that I was cheating publicly, is if the girl was photographed wearing a short skirt, jeans, leggings while beside me… Anything he considers non-traditional and unbecoming of a rich wife in Sunwoods Society.”

She nodded her head as she stared up at him. He always spoke so genuinely, so she asked, “you keep saying publicly… Am I allowed to wear anything I want inside the guest house and anywhere on the ranch? Or…”

“Of course, wear whatever you want here. As my girlfriend, you have your own space in the guest house, and this property is your home, too. Enjoy it freely,” he nodded his head.

“You won’t judge me?” she asked, furrowing her brows together and staring up at him.

“For wearing what you want around here? No. Your body is beautiful, you deserve to display it however you want. I wish you could do that anywhere with me, but not until he’s dead… I don’t give a single fuck then,” he promised, holding onto her face.

Star smiled and looked up at him as the two shared a kiss. The kiss was sweet and gentle, at first…

I’m singing, “fuck, yeah, give it to me, this is Heaven, what I truly want”. It’s innocence lost.

After a few more sweet kisses, the intensity started. Their mouths began to open for one another, tongues playing as she reached her arms around his neck, “mmm…”

He led her back to the truck, where he helped her up into the bed of the truck. He hopped up himself, and the two continued kissing. Jasper pulled off her top, then her pants, while Star pulled at his shirt and reached for his belt.

Next, he laid her upper body along the top of the pickup truck, making her stand close to the open back window, her ass spread. Her fingers reached back to help in spreading her cheeks, and Jasper got on his knees momentarily.

He ate her out, starting with circles at her clit, and then following along her slit to her vagina. His tongue forced its way in, and swirled around inside. Star moaned and trembled against his invasion.

Jasper stood back up, and pressed his hard tip right to her entrance, “you’re beautiful… did you decide to be my girlfriend or not?”

“Is the only rule clothing?” She asked in between moans, as his cock began to slowly push its way in.

“Don’t sleep with any other men,” Jasper said as he began to thrust steadily, “besides that, nothing else.”

She looked over her shoulder at him, and his dark green eyes met hers. The sun was setting behind him and it was beautiful, the cold creeping in, and Star felt amazing, “I’ll be your girlfriend… Don’t sleep with any other girls without me.”

He chuckled, “I promise…”

His thrusts intensified, and he began to kiss her back as he fucked her, “couldn’t imagine anything better than this, though…”

“Aaaaahhh, Jasper… mmm… you’re so amazing,” her legs were trembling with every hard thrust, the sound of their bodies meeting filling the darkening air.

He pulled her hair, and she moaned into the air, begging to be kissed which he happily gave in to. They swapped spit, their tongues connecting with saliva as they pulled away, and as Jasper felt himself beginning to cum.

“I want to fill you up, real bad, real full, too… can I cum inside you, my Ember? Do you want it as bad as I do?” He asked against her ear, his thrusts not easing up on her even though he desperately wanted to fill her.

“I do,” she moaned, nodding her head and kissing him again, “please… all of it…” She moved her ass to meet every thrust now.

They came together, making out as they reached their orgasms. Jasper released a huge load in Star, and her legs were dripping wet from her orgasm and his leaking cum, “fuck, you pervert… You got me all wet.”

“Doesn’t that make you the pervert?” He asked, slowly pulling his cock out and chuckling as he heard her pussy pop, “you’re little pussy did such a good job, Star.”

She felt him rub her clit, and he collected a lot of the leaking cum from her pussy, shoving it inside Star’s hole with two fingers. The girl moaned as she felt his fingers start to fuck her, but before she could get too excited…

He pulled away, and helped her clean herself off.

Hope you all enjoyed little love bugs <3 Took a little bit to write, but I really love this story and wanted to give it the attention it deserved instead of rushing anything. Next post will have an unknown release date, I'm thinking by Sunday but I have nothing for the next post just yet. Part of me wants to release a preview or something for the next character, so there might be a separate poll for that later.

SONG REFERENCES Gods and Monsters by Lana del Rey

[farfromsugafanfic]

Dangerous | Chapter 7: Hustler

Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Bad Boy!Jimin, Bartender!Reader College AU

Pairing: Jimin/Named Reader

Rating: M | Minors DNI

Chapter Warnings: mentions of vets/kittens needing to go to the vet, exes being jerks

You only had forty-five minutes to get to work and you were just getting on the bus to your apartment. The vet had given you a cardboard carrier since you hadn't had a chance to buy one, which only made you feel more guilty as you set the carrier on your lap and peered in at the sedated kitten. He was cuddled in the corner and rested comfortably despite the plastic cone around his neck. 

It hurt your heart to see him so out of it, but the vet mentioned he'd only need painkillers for a few days. The doors shut and the bus started moving. Luckily, you wouldn't have to switch buses, just walk a couple of blocks to your apartment. But, there was no way you weren't going to be late. 

[][][]

You walked into work. You'd only managed to change into a pair of jeans and a black long-sleeved top. Still, you were half an hour late. The club was busy and you made your way behind the bar and tied an apron around your waist. 

"You're late," a voice said. You felt a shiver run down your spine as you recognized it. He wasn't supposed to work tonight. 

"Yeah, I am," you said. "I had something come up." 

"You should've called." 

"Probably." You started filling drink orders and paying your ex no mind. Chul-soo was right. You should've called, but it was a Wednesday night and usually, the club wasn't this packed. You'd just finished handing someone a beer when Chul-soo pushed you out of the way and took the tip out of their hand. 

"Why don't you just leave? I'll handle it."

"Chul-soo, stop being ridiculous. I only work like two days a week, I need the shifts."

"You should've thought about that before you were late." He reached down and ripped the apron from your waist and tossed it to the side. 

"I had to pick up my kitten from the vet," you said. "The bus was running late. I was worried about him so I didn't call. Can you stop being an ass for two seconds?"

"Becoming a cat lady now?" he asked. "I see Jimin already moved on." 

You rolled your eyes and stepped from behind the bar. With all the worry bubbling up in your stomach about Jackson, you just let it go. You were about to walk towards the door when you heard someone's voice above the music. 

"Hey!" a man shouted. He waved one of his hands up in the air and you met his eyes, after which he lowered his arm and pointed towards a quieter area of the club where all the pool tables were. This portion only had a few people, a couple using one of the tables and a few others lingering along the sides on their phones.

You leaned against one of the tables as the guy worked his way through the crowd. You'd definitely seen him at the club before. You could never forget a face like his. If only you could remember when you'd last seen him. 

"Inna, right?" he asked. His black hair was combed back, exposing his forehead. The sleeves of his button-down were rolled up past the elbows and the shirt tucked in perfectly to show off his small waist. 

"Uh yeah," you said. Despite not remembering where you'd last seen him and him somehow knowing your name, something told you that you could trust him. His eyes weren't raking over your body like most guys at the club. 

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I saw what happened back there." 

"Yeah, I'm fine. He's an ex, so he likes to be a jerk." 

"You wanna play some pool?"

"Oh, I'm not really that good," you said, shifting your weight to one foot and biting your lip. "But I'll give it a shot." 

The guy smiled and handed you a cue. "I'm Jin, by the way. I think we both know Jimin." 

"Ah, that's how I know you," you said, trying not to dwell on Jimin's name. With the way he'd avoided you, you hadn't asked him to take you to pick up Jackson. It certainly would've saved you time. But you would've had to remember how his lips felt on yours and the ways his hands were so gentle against your skin. Like he was scared of breaking you again.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I think the Jimin's we know are very different." He racked up the balls and pushed them to three-quarters of the way down the table. "But he's still kinda a dick sometimes so I'll help you put on a show if you want. Just know I'm not exactly into your type." 

"Ah," you said, nodding in understanding. "What's with all of his friends wanting to piss him off?" A laugh pouring out of you. 

Jin motioned for you to take the first shot and break the balls, thus giving you the advantage in the game. You lined up the cue and hit the ball, but the balls barely broke up. 

"He still owes me fifty bucks," he said, lining up his shot. 

You laughed, your face falling as soon as Jin sunk in his first ball, permitting him to take another shot. "I didn't see him here tonight." 

"You were supposed to work tonight. Of course, he's here." 

Just as Jin finished his words, you spotted Jimin. He wasn't far away, but probably just out of earshot. Not dancing like usual, he sat at one of the tables and scrolled through his phone. You wondered why he even paid the cover charge. Of course, you knew plenty of people who came in just to sit, but that wasn't Jimin. He always came to dance or drink or both.

Jin leaned down. His second ball was in an awkward position. He leaned over the table and carefully angled his cue. You watched in amusement as his he exaggerated his movements and the ball shifted into a slightly better position. 

You picked up your cue and looked for your first ball, which you had still not managed to sink into one of the pockets. The shot wasn't straightforward, but not impossible. 

"Careful, Inna. Don't want to fall in."  

You snorted and your pool cue slipped causing the ball to roll forward an inch. You hardly noticed through your laughter until Jin smirked, "My turn." 

Your face fell. "Wait! Hey! That's not fair!"

You playfully slapped his arm as he lined up and took his shot, sinking two more balls. You huffed and crossed your arms, your pool cue leaning against the table. 

"Jinnie, you're too good." You stuck out your bottom lip. "Can you teach me?" 

With the way Jin's eyes swept over your expression, you knew he could see through your act. One corner of his lips turned upward and he approached you. 

"Grab your cue," he said, coming to stand close behind you. He placed his hands over yours and his body brushing against yours. "The trick is to keep a good balance to your cue. And, depending on the shot you have to change the angle, but the balance should remain the same. Your balance was all over the place. It made your shots inconsistent." 

"O-oh," you said. "Thanks. Where did you learn all this?" 

"My friends like coming to the club and I don't like dancing. Plus, I can make a few hundred a night off drunk freshmen."

You laughed. "You got good just to hustle drunk frat tributes? I'm sure that's gotten you into some trouble." 

Jin smirked. "Mm, I'm too pretty to hit." 

"So, what do I owe you for losing?" you asked with a quirk of your lips. 

"I'll never turn down a kiss from a pretty girl." He winked, before leaning back over the table and lining up his next shot. 

[][][]

You walked up the stairs to your apartment and pulled out your keys. You'd left the club after losing the game of pool and surrendering a kiss on the cheek to Jin. Despite flirting with Jin to get to Jimin, you came to enjoy Jin's company. He was the oldest of Jimin's friend group you'd come to find out. He graduated Jimin's freshman year but still hung around them at the college hang out spots. 

Before leaving, Jin had given you his number in case you needed anything. If Jin was into you, you would've jumped on the chance to date him, but you were thankful for a new friend nonetheless. 

You walked into your apartment and your eyes shot towards where you'd left Jackson in his carrier. The kitten had ventured out, which was a good sign. If he was already up and around, he would be back to his normal self before long. It was only when you spotted the plastic cone upside down on the floor that your stomach dropped. 

You eventually found the kitten curled up in your bedroom on one of your discarded T-shirts. He was awake and meowed in greeting when you entered the room. His temperament had improved. You picked him up and flipped him onto his back to find the surgery incision red and enflamed. It appeared Jackson pulled out a few of his stitches. 

If you hadn't held the kitten in your arms, you would've fallen to your knees. You felt like you needed to vomit, despite having nothing to drink at the club. You checked the time: 1 a.m. 

 After Googling the nearest emergency vet, you pulled out your phone. 

"What?" Jimin said, answering the phone. Luckily, his words didn't sound slurred and you didn't hear the music of the club. 

"Jimin," your voice cracked as you held the phone with your shoulder and attempted to reattach the cone around Jackson's neck. Tears pricked at your eyes as the kitten clawed at your wrists and struggled against your grasp. 

"Inna?" His voice suddenly shifted. "What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I came home and Mochi had gotten his cone off and it looks like he pulled out a few stitches and it looks really bad and maybe infected. He needs to go to the emergency vet but it's on the other side of the city and I don't know how I'm gonna get there or pay for it." Tears were falling onto your cheeks and your voice shaking with every word. 

Maybe Jackson would've been better off if you and Jimin had left him in the alleyway for a rich homebody to find. Someone who can spend more time with him and who could pay for everything he needed. Not two broke college students who were barely friends and never home.

You heard rustling on the other end of the phone that brought you out of your thoughts. "I'll be there in ten minutes, okay?" 

Jimin hung up the phone soon after and you continued trying to get the cone back around Jackson's neck so that he couldn't do any more damage. Eventually, you manage to re-fasten it and wrapped him in the T-shirt you'd found him on. 

[][][]

It was less than ten minutes when you heard a quiet knock on the door. You opened it with one hand, cradling Jackson with the other. You figured it would be easier to take him without the carrier, that way you could ensure that he didn't do more damage to his incision. 

"Hey," you said, not even meeting Jimin's eyes before you stepped outside and locked the door. You hadn't grabbed a jacket, but the air wasn't too cold, just a bit crisp against your skin. You hugged the kitten closer to your body.

"I called ahead," Jimin said. "They're expecting us. I borrowed Tae's car so it's easier and we can keep a better eye on him." 

You looked up at him wide-eyed. He had really thought of everything while you only managed to stop Jackson from hurting himself more. Jimin led you down to Tae's car, a beige car that looked like something your grandmother would drive. But, the seats were large and it allowed you to bring your knees up to your chest and cuddle your kitten close.

 "When did you pick him up?" Jimin asked, pulling onto the road from the parking lot of your apartment complex. 

"Before I went to work," you said. "Well, supposed to work." You ran your fingers across the kitten's tiny brow. Jackson liked it, closing his eyes and nuzzling against your wrists which still burned underneath the fabric of your shirt with his scratches. "It was only supposed to be a few hours. I thought he would be out of it all night so I wouldn't have to worry." You paused before letting out a scoff laden sigh. "This is all my fault. I should've had someone watch him or called in or something." 

"Hey," Jimin said, his voice silky and soft. "He could've done this in two minutes while your back was turned. He's gonna be okay, all right?"

[][][]

"It looks like he just ripped out the stitches and there may be the beginning of a small infection. We'll take care of the stitches and give him so antibiotics. We'll keep a watch on him until tomorrow to make sure there's nothing else major." 

You nodded and handed over your credit card, knowing this was going to max it out, but not caring as long as Jackson was going to be okay.

"Wait," Jimin said, reaching into his back pocket. "Can you split it between these two?" 

The woman nodded, glancing between the two of you as she placed half the bill on your card and the rest on Jimin's. 

"You didn't have to do that," you said after you and Jimin had left the office and walked back to the car. 

"Yes, I did. He's half mine." 

You got into the car but didn't put on your seatbelt, not wanting to leave without your kitten. Jimin got in and shut his door, putting the keys in the ignition, but glancing over at you before starting the engine. 

"Everything okay?" 

"What time is it?" 

"Uh, just past two fifteen." 

"I don't want to go home without him," you said.

"I can stay with you," Jimin said. 

"No, it's not that," you said. "I want to stay here. I can't leave him."

Jimin went quiet for a moment before starting the engine and you felt your objection growing in your throat before you realized that he hadn't turned out towards the road, but, instead was heading deeper into the parking lot. He parked towards the edge of the lot where you were out of the way. The streetlights only dimly lighting the interior of the car so you could just barely make out Jimin's face. 

"We'll stay," he said. "But, you need to get some sleep. I think Tae has some blankets in the trunk. The backseat should be big enough to lay down."

Jimin got out of the car as you climbed into the back. He was right, the seat was larger enough for you to lay down, but you chose to sit until Jimin climbed in next to you.

"No blankets," he said. "But, you can use my jacket." 

"I'm not cold, Jimin." 

The conversation lulled and you felt the exhaustion finally beginning to overtake you. You leaned towards Jimin until your head connected with his body, not caring that you probably should avoid him, or that you felt more relaxed than you had in days when your bodies connected. 

Jimin responded immediately by placing his arm around your shoulders to make the position more comfortable for both of you. His hand came down to rest on your wrist, just below where your palm meets your wrist. You flinched as he brushed over the fresh cat scratches. 

"Did that hurt?" he asked. You felt as he gently rolled up your sleeve revealing the shallow, red scratches. "You didn't tell me you were hurt."

"I had the wrestle the cone back on him," you said, your voice a grumble. "They're just cat scratches. I'm okay. I just want to sleep." 

"Okay," he said, not arguing and simply bringing his fingers to interlock with yours.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

[jodilinbio]

When I returned home after graduating from Valleyhead, I wasn’t thrilled to face the double whammy of living with both Mom and Tammy. It was horrible—absolutely miserable. Between the two of them cutting me down and trying to mold me into something I wasn’t, I felt completely trapped, degraded, and like a puppet on a string. But this was my reality for the next sixteen months.

Tammy, who had spent nearly a decade in Texas, had returned to our parents’ house after a difficult divorce. She brought her daughter, Lisa, who was barely a year old.

Tammy had always been the type who couldn’t stand being alone—she had to have a man in her life. As soon as she’d divorce one, she’d marry another.

Her first marriage was to a pilot named Dick, which is how she ended up in Texas. Barely out of high school, she ran off with him to escape our unhappy home. She later admitted she had acted out of desperation.

We visited her in San Antonio the summer I was twelve. I was left alone with her while Dick was away flying. It was anything but fun with her barking orders at me like a drill sergeant, constantly belittling me, and mistreating a small dog that was kept in the attached garage at times. I never actually saw it, but I could hear her shouting at it and it wailing miserably.

Next came Joe, a Mexican man with whom she had Lisa. He wasn’t happy about becoming a father and even kicked Tammy in the stomach while she was pregnant to show his displeasure. So, shortly after Lisa was born, Tammy returned to Mom and Dad’s house with her. They were already living there when I returned from Valleyhead.

I’m not sure which was worse: living with Tammy and my mother or being at Valleyhead. My sister was so emotional, moody, and just a flat-out bitch. With no job or friends, she was always home. In fact, I don’t recall her ever having any long-term friends.

My brother and his wife, Sandy, had a son and a daughter, Larry and Jennifer. My parents were initially unhappy about their grandson being named Larry, citing some dumbass rule in the Jewish religion. It was just a name, as far as I was concerned, and as a result, Larry didn’t want any contact with them at that time.

I liked Sandy—she was a compassionate person—but I felt bad for her. My parents initially rejected her because she was Catholic, making her feel inadequate. Also, Larry did nothing but stray and bury himself in work to avoid dealing with life.

A few months after I’d been home, I sent Mary a letter at Valleyhead and called her a few times as well. She said she was going to write back, but that turned out to be just talk. As I was quickly learning, people often make promises they never intend to keep, or they say one thing while meaning another. I know she knew I liked her. It just would’ve been nice if she’d bluntly told me the feeling wasn’t mutual.

Lisa took the room that Nana Bella had used, and Tammy took my room. I lived in the cellar, and although I was glad to be two floors away from the others, it didn’t mean much since we all still had to live in the same house.

After leaving Valleyhead, I was enrolled in the Key Program. As far as my mother was concerned, I just had to be in some sort of program. I never understood her obsession with having a so-called “mental case” for a daughter. I guess she felt it brought her the attention she loved to revel in.

The Key Program mostly meant that I was assigned someone who would visit me at the house from time to time. Sometimes they took me for rides, and one even showed me how to use the public buses. I’m not sure how long I dealt with these people, but I know I was done with them by the time I moved out on my own for good.

At the time, I was on Navane, which I was put on when I was around sixteen or seventeen. The only side effect I noticed back then was a dry mouth. Sometimes you have to be on a medication for a Let. while before you experience its full impact, and doctors don’t always warn you about what could happen. To this day, I have no idea why I was put on this particular medication in the first place. Navane is an antipsychotic typically used for schizophrenia, and I have never in my life heard voices or been diagnosed with schizophrenia. I do have one theory, however, as to why I may have been prescribed this medication, but that’s a whole other story for another time.

By the time I returned home, all my grandparents were gone, my grandfathers having died of heart attacks, and my grandmothers had strokes. At least three of them had dementia before dying.

[bartxnhood]

locked inside| a.i

ashton irwin x reader

summary: the two of you get snowed it. which means: snowballs, snow angels, and snowmen.

warnings: none, maybe language.

a/n: OKAY I KNOW ITS OCTOBER BUT HEAR ME OUT: i just really want snow and i had this in my drafts and thought it would be super cute. also, ash is my lane <3 where all my ashton lovers ? this one is for you <3 enjoy ! feedback is appreciated. (this was also a bucky fic that never saw the light of day so i thought this would be perfect for ashton. so if u see bucky anywhere pls yell at me)

requests open

not proofread

Copyright © 2022 bartxnhood. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format.

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you threw your phone down on the dark grey cover, feeling frustrated with the forecast of snow for the days ahead. you loved snow, it was your favorite thing but it also meant that ashton would probably be stuck at work. you laid back, choosing ashton’s pillow. you were looking forward to seeing him, he had been gone for two weeks on a writing trip with the guys and you missed him. a lot. you fished for your phone so you could charge it while you slept. finally, you tapped the lamp, turned it off, and got comfortable.

ashton didn’t want to let you down, he wasn’t expect a snowstorm while he was away. he was running out of time and options. he looked at last-minute trains or buses that could at least get him into town before the worst happens. “find anything?” luke asked, sitting across from him. ashton nodded, “i found a bus that leaves in an hour. it’ll give me enough time before the storm worsens” he stood up, shoving his phone into his pocket, and frantically began packing his things.

it was almost three hours back home, ashton had dozed off a few times on the bus until reaching the city, and the snow began to fall faster he kept checking his phone for the time and keeping an eye on the weather.

when he arrived at the house, he assumed you had already gone to bed, so he gently set his things down by the door and closed it behind him. he roamed through the hallway to the bedroom, pushing the door open as softly as he could. when he saw your sleeping figure he smiled, walking to the bed and crawling on his side.

ashton propped himself on the headboard he stared at your face, the covers pulled up to your chin, your face squished against the pillow, his pillow. you must’ve missed him a lot. taking his right hand, he traced some of your features gingerly which caused you to stir in your sleep, letting out a quiet hum your eyes fluttered open.

“ash?” you mumbled, wondering what woke you up. but once your eyes were open and able to focus, you saw ashton above you. you sat up quickly, “what..what are you doing home? it’s snowing..” you said, not that you were mad or anything, it was just dangerous to drive in the snow. “i promised you i’d be back in time, and here i am” he said, pulling the covers over him. “were the roads bad?” you asked, he shook his head. “nah, light dusting but it started to get worse when i got here.” his eyebrows rose while explaining. you moved to rest your head on his sternum. “i missed you” you breathed, closing your eyes. he smiled, kissing the top of your head. “i did you too. now get some sleep”

when you woke up, back pressed against ashton’s chest you smiled. a quiet huff leaving your lips while you rubbed your eyes. the bright light beamed into the room through the curtains, and you gently looked behind you seeing him still asleep, his face was relaxed and he looked peaceful. you smiled, pressing a kiss on the top of his nose. you slowly made your way out of his touch, holding his hand up and slipping from beneath it, and gently put his arm back on the bed. usually, he would’ve woken up, the drive must’ve been tiring because he didn’t react to any of your actions. you tiptoed into the kitchen to start on breakfast.

when ashton woke up he moved his arm to your side of the bed but when he found it empty, your figure not lying beside him anymore. with a grunt, he sat up while stretching. his body is aching from lack of sleep. he threw the covers off his legs and headed out of the bedroom. “y/n?” he hummed, voice raspy from just waking up. “perfect timing” you smiled, turning around with his plate. “breakfast is ready” handing the plate to him which he gladly accepted. “when did you get up?” he asked, picking up the fork. “thirty minutes or so.” you answered, following suit.

breakfast was rather quiet, both of you still trying to wake up and enjoy breakfast. you took his plate and let it sit in the sink. “i have a plan” you spoke, turning back to ashton. he raised his eyebrows, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. “what’s that, hun?” he asked. you leaned against the table. “it snowed, which means..snowball fights, snow angels, and snowmen” you grinned, his hand resting on yours as he rubbed his thumb against your knuckle. he chuckled, “sounds good to me” your eyes lit up, “really?” he nodded. “good, now go put on some warm clothes” you stated, running back to your shared room.

you stood outside on the porch, looking at the winter wonderland in front of you. trees and bushes covered in thick layers of snow, a good couple of inches on the ground. taking the chance to hide from ashton, and make enough snowballs to get him with.

ashton finished his winter clothes with a thick jacket, and walked out of the bedroom. “babe?” he hollered but you didn’t answer, he went to the door and opened it. “y/n?” he announced again but was quickly met with a ball of snow on his chest following a giggle from you. emerging from the bush next time the house, with a shit-eating grin on your lips. “right here, darling” he nodded, dishing off the jacket. “i see” he walked down the stairs to you. “you think that’s funny?” he asked, picking up a handful of snow. “i do” you answered, he walked up to you hiding the snow behind his back. “hmm… does this mean war?” he asked, you raised your eyebrows while crossing your arms. “maybe.”

he laughed, “okay then, you asked for it.” he carefully threw the ball of snow at your shoulder which caused you to laugh. “oh it’s on, irwin.”

the two of your chased each other around the house for a while just throwing snowballs or just handfuls of snow. it was everything you imagined it to be, just you and him having fun. knowing how hard it would be to manage to live with and dating a celebrity, but it was a life you chose and now getting moments like these, you cherish.

after a while, you both became tired. cold from the snow, face red and you both sat on the cold concrete stairs. “i totally won that” you said, dusting the snow off your legs while ashton laughed. “oh yeah?” he hummed, earning a nod from you. “of course i did” he smiled, putting his arm around your waist. “i had fun, babe” he kissed your cold cheek. “let’s go inside, your freezing” you rolled your eyes playfully. “yes, sir.” he leads you in, helping you take off your snow boots and jacket before going further into the house, preventing the tracking of snow. “hot chocolate?” you asked, heading to the shared bedroom and him following behind like a puppy. “of course.”

after changing into your pajama set, ashton now wearing his casual at-home clothes you stood in the kitchen stirring around the hot chocolate mixture in the cup for bucky. “here you go, babe” you handed the dark blue mug to him. he accepted and kissed the top of your head, “thank you, darling” he said and walked to the sofa. you followed behind him, a smile still plastered on his face. it was times like these you cherished the most. “i had fun, thank you” you nodded, holding the mug close to you and letting the steam warm you up. “of course, it was magical” you chuckled.

ashton smiled, he stared at you while your attention was on the small marshmallows in your drink. the red was now leaving your face, your smile was contagious. everything about you drew him in the beginning, at first he kept his distance just wanting to keep you out of harm's way. he was worried about the press, and how they treat you. but you took it like a champion, you always held it together. so, now he was able to live his life to the fullest, with you.

“what are you doing?” you asked, watching as ashton put the mug down on the coffee table and walked over to the record player you bought. he looked through a few records and finally found one. he further ignored your question and let music fill the room, he turned on his heels looking at you. “do you wanna dance?” he held his hand out while waiting for your answer. your smile went wide, now having a toothy grin. you sat the mug down next to his and got up from the sofa walking over to him. “of course.”

for the remainder of the song, you danced with the love of your life in front of the window, the snow peeking in from the curtains. it was something out of a movie. ashton being so in love with you, you saw it in the way he looked at you and the way he held you. with your head on his chest now, the two of your swaying to the music. “this is nice” you hummed, closing your eyes. he smiled, “it is.” he trailed off. “because i have the perfect partner.”

[iwadori]

So I'm reading your works and I love them !! I was thinking of requesting some kind of drabble or whatever you like, about a female reader who has thick thighs and is somewhat plump and is in love with Tsukishima but he makes a comment about the food and she feels bad and when she meets Bokuto in the boot camp Bokuto is too cute and attentive to her asking for her number and a date. If you don't feel comfortable with this, just ignore it and good luck with your blog. Sorry my english is bad<3

When they make you insecure PT 5 (tsukishima,bokuto)

Part One Part Two  Part Three Part Four  Part Five Part 6

Word Count: 2.6K

Genre: Angst to Fluff

masterlist

Tsukishima

You and Tsukishima have been dating in your first year (as you both went to the same middle school together.)

You were in love with Tsukishima, you always have been to be honest, but once you became officially boyfriend and girlfriend your feelings amplified.

But recently, Tsukishima hasn’t been so nice.  

“Y/N we’re going on another training camp at Nekoma” Hinata exclaimed running up to you, as you leaning against Tsukishima “and you get to come too this time!”

You recently became the new trainee manager as the third-year manager, Kikyoko, is going to graduate. Tsukishima acted as if you being around all the time in practice was the worst thing in the world, but Yamagucchi always assured you that ‘Tsukki’ was just joking.

“Oh well that’s fun...” you say entertaining Hinata’s excitement. You were kind of excited to go to the training camp too, as it was in Tokyo after all. You were always a big fan of volleyball as your dad used to play for the national team and you were planning to play on the girls team this year but you felt that you didn’t have the body for it (which was obviously not true.)

Hinata kept on rambling on before Tsukishima insulted him. “Gosh Kei, you don’t have to be so rude.” you complained, he slightly nudged you off of him and put on his headphones showing you that he was not in a good mood.

You let the rest of the practice continue, making notes of things and basically being Kiyoko’s shadow. As it ended, you waited outside for Tsukishima to walk home with you, but one of the guys told you he left 5 minutes ago. You knew there was no point of chasing after him so you just walked on your own, making you sigh in defeat.

Tsukishima was what you would describe as hot and cold. Some days he was fine a ‘perfect gentlemen’ but other days, days like this Tsukishima was just Tsukishima.  

When you got home, you decided to watch matches of all the other schools just to get some insight. You were watching a Fukarodani V Nekoma match from a few years ago and something caught your eye, well someone did to be more specific. A beefy, bicolour haired boy who was hooting like an owl was mesmerizing to watch.

You saw that his name was Bokuto Koutarou which triggered your next actions, which were to internet stalk him. You learned that he was the captain of the team and the team’s ace and the 5th ace in the country which piqued your interest in the boy even more.

‘This is going to be an exciting training camp’ you think to yourself before going to sleep.

`Kiyoko gave you an itinerary of all the things you should bring, since you weren’t going to be joining in any of the matches you were reminded to bring things that would keep entertained.  

You get to the bus at the crack of dawn, ready to be driven to Tokyo. Hinata and Kageyama were already arguing (let’s pretend that they didn’t have to do the retakes in the test) Tanaka and Nishinoya were being loud, and the rest of the members were already asleep. You wanted to sit next to Tsukishima but when you were about to sit down, he put his carryon bag in the seat next to him.

The bus ride was around 4-5 hours, and you spent your time reading and sleeping. Daichi got the loudmouths to calm down making the bus ride more tolerable. You suffered from slight motion sickness but you powered through.

When you arrived there, you saw all the other teams and their buses too. You felt a bit overwhelmed, seeing these tall boys just crowd around an entrance way. But too your surprise, noticing your slight anxiousness, Tsukishima grabbed your hand in a hand-hold.  

The Nekoma coach, explained how the day would pan out and where each team would be residing for the week. There was a lot of commotion getting everyone settled, Hinata and Nishinoya were basically bouncing off of the wall commenting on all the people and the place and how they’re going to ‘crush the competition.’  

You could tell that when the other teams were looking at Karasuno they were all staring at Kiyoko. Inquisitive about how there wasn’t only one girl manager but there was two. As you were walking your eyes locked with Bokuto Koutarou’s making yours widen, you blush and turn your head quickly.  

What you didn’t know was, after your small interaction, Bokuto elbowed Akaashi and said “Akaaashi AKKAAASHI, did ya see that? did ya?” he was flying with happiness “That girl from Karasuno smiled at me. She’s really pretty.”

“I think she’s from Karasuno” Akaashi said “So maybe you’ll see her around”

Bokuto stared off in the direction you were walking in “Yeah, hopefully.”

The first day, everyone got settled in and then the teams went straight into games. There were two different gyms and today, in gym 1, you were watching Karasuno V Nekoma. (By the way I literally don’t remember the teams at the training camp besides Nekoma, Karasuno and Fukarodani.) The game was very back a point each team making point after point, you already knew of Nekoma’s captain, Kuroo Testurou and the setter Kenma, you’ve actually played games with Kenma online before so you were fairly acquainted with him already.

The games ended and it was now dinner time, the canteen was packed with all the boys rushing to line up for the food. You waited at the back of the line, not really caring about when you got your food. Suddenly, you felt a tap on your shoulder and you looked over to see Boktuo,  

“Hi.” he said “I’m Bok-”

“Bokuto Koutarou!” You finished “I'm a big fan..” you cringed immediately at your excitement ‘pull it together Y/N’ you scold yourself.

“Oh well hi, I’m glad you know who I am” he said “and may I ask for your name?”  

“Oh I’m Y/N L/N” you say with a slight blush “I'm the trainee manager from Karasuno.”  

“Cool! Well I hope to see you aro-” he starts  

“Y/N, I’ve been looking all over for you, I already got your food for you.” Tsukishima said pulling at your arm a bit harshly, dragging you over to a table with the Karasuno team.

“Gosh Tsukki, no need to be so harsh” you say rubbing at your wrist, he didn’t apologize and just started eating his food.  

You look down at your plate and see the small portion that Tsukki got for you. The Karasuno bunch was being loud, as they usually are, so when you whisper “Tsukki what the fuck is this” whilst nudging him in the side, he didn’t hear you (or atleast he pretended he didn’t.) You tried again but a little louder saying, “Tsukishima what the fuck is this.” you realised you said it a bit too loud as the whole Karasuno table stopped their conversations to look over at the slight commontion you caused.

“What do you mean Y/N?” he said with a slight smirk on his face.

“I mean what’s with the portion size of a bird that you gave me?” you ask getting upset “Do you really think im that big?”

“Well, you could start eating less that’s for sure.” he said earning gasps from you and some of the people sitting at the table “Y/N let's face it, you eat like a pig and you look like an elephant, me making your food portion smaller is the least I could do.”  

By now you had tears in your eyes, Tsukishima was a dick. You knew this, everybody knew this to be honest, yet you still loved him. He wasn’t like this in middle school, yes he was a bit snarky and rude (but wasn’t every middle schooler?) High school Tsukishima was like a completely different person. As much as you wanted to run away and hide, you knew you couldn’t.  

So you stood up and said “Tsukishima, I’ve spent 3 years loving and pining after you, because I thought you were this great guy, but turns out you’re a huge asshole” you start making some of the people listening in smile in laughter “Tsukishima, I’ve hated this past year dating you, you’ve been such a huge dick and I’m finally stopping you. I can’t do this anymore. I won’t.” You start making your way to exit before finally saying “Oh and by the way I’m not the pig here, you are... oh and I’m breaking up with you.” You left, hearing a few laughs and some claps behind you.

You felt relieved, like the massive cloud that’s been over your head is finally gone. You went to the gym since you knew it was empty and picked up a ball to just throw it around a bit. After a while of ‘de-stressing,’ you hear someone else enter the gym.

“Oh I didn’t know you’d be here.” said Bokuto  

“Well here I am,” you say awkwardly “I can leave if you want me too, I know this is for actual volleyball players.”

“No no it’s fine you can definitely stay, in fact do you mind setting for me?” he asks  

“Sure, of course I don’t mind” you reply, excited you get to play with someone.  You haven’t played in ages, you always begged Tsukishima to just throw a ball around with you but he never did.  

You set to Boktuo a lot, with him always asking for ‘another one’ everytime he spiked the ball. Eventually, you were tired of setting and wanted to spike. You originally was a spiker to begin with taking after your dad. Thats why you took a liking to Bokuto in the first place cause he reminded you of the joys you had when watching your father play.

Bokuto set a ball to you and you spiked it with great strength and accuracy smiling at the burning feeling you felt in your palm.  

“Woahh” Bokuto shouted going towards you in amazement “Where did you learn how to spike like that?”

“From my dad, I don’t know if you heard of him before but my dad’s name is D/N L/N...?” you say

“D/N L/N, Y/N he is my idol!” he shouted again “I want to be just like him.”

“I think you can, I see a lot of similarites in the way you both play.” you say

“Really! And you’ve seen me play before..?” he asks

“Yeah, I watched some of your games before coming here... you’re really good” you shyly admit.

“Wow.”

You and Bokuto spend the rest of your time, talking about volleyball you’re interests, things you have in common, your likes and dislikes. Talking to Bokuto was refreshing, he didn’t randomly insult you or make snide comments about your weight or your looks. He just genuinely looked happy to be there talking to you, unlike Tsukishima.  

Seeing your change in mood, Bokuto stops talking and asks “are you alright? I forgot to ask earlier, but I saw what happened in the canteen and I hope you’re okay.”  

“Yeah I’m fine, it’s just things with me and Tsukishima reached a breaking point, I guess...” you say sniffling a bit talking about it “But it’s fine now I’ve broken up with him and I feel better already.”

“So you’re saying your single...?” he asked blushing a bit

“Yeah I guess I am...” you smile blushing also.  

“Okay great...well I hope this isn’t too forward after everything happened with Tsukki and all but...” he starts “but would you like to go on a date with me?”

“Who me?” you ask as if you weren’t the only other person in the room

“No the volleyball” he responds sarcastically “Of course you Y/N.”  

“Are you sure, cause to be honest Bokuto you’re a really good-looking guy” you say making him smile widely “so I think you need someone to match your level in attractiveness” you look down and his smile drops.

“What do you mean?” he asks before realising all the stuff Tsukishima said about you “Y/N you’re beautiful, your face, your body just you.” you blush at his words “when I first saw you when you were walking past us in the entrance way the first thing I thought and said about you was “Akaashi who is that girl she’s beautiful.””  

“Really?” you ask with disbelief

“Mhm” he nods excitedly “So will you go on a date with me?”  

“I guess so...” you say a bit unsure

“HEY HEY HEY!” he exclaims “I gotta go tell akaashi!” he runs out of the gym in a hurry making you laugh, but he comes back to give you a quick unexpected kiss on the cheek making you smile.

You checked your phone for the time realising that you’ve been with Bokuto for 3 hours and you knew that everyone would be going to sleep now. As you are the manager you slept seperately from the rest of the team but before you went to your sleeping quaters you went to Karasunos.  

“Y/N where have you been? We’ve been worried about you.” asked yammagucchi  

“It’s fine yams don’t worry about it, guys” you say catching everyones attention “I just wanted to apologise to you for my outburst at dinner, it wasn’t my intention to cause a scence.”

“It’s fine Y/N” said sugawara “He definitely deserved it.”

“Yeah as your marvellous senpai we gave him a good telling off” said Tanaka and Nishinoya  making you chuckle.  

“Okay well thanks guys, I’m going to sleep goodnight.”

“Wait Y/N can I speak with you.” asked Tsukishima gesturing to outside the room

“Umm sure” you respond following him into the corridor.

“I just want to say I’m sorry for the things I’ve said and done over the past year and how I’ve been a terrible boyfriend, you don’t deserve that. So, I’m sorry.”  

“I can’t say I can forgive you yet.” you say making Tsukishima look sad “but maybe with effort from you we can become friends possibly?”  

“Just friends?” he said with hope in voice thinking that you could be something more.

“Just friends.” you repeated and confirmed “Besides I have been asked on a date”  

“With who?”  

“None of your business stingyshima” you mock the nickname that Hinata calls him making him scowl and you smile “Goodnight.”

After Bokuto’s confession and Tsukishima’s apology, the rest of the training camp went off without a hitch. In your breaks and lunchtimes, you got to know more about Bokuto and with Kuroo’s help you even got to sneak out to actually go on your date. You sometimes even went to practice with them getting to show off your skills, with Bokuto cheering you on and complimenting you every single time.  

Tsukishima kept his distance for the most part, and kept the snarky comments about you and Bokuto to himself (even though he was dying to say them.) You eventually fully forgave Tsukishima in your 3rd year but you definitely weren’t as close as you used to be. Tsukishima’s comments and actions did affect you for a while however with the help of your loving boyfriend, you were reminded how beautiful you are no matter what weight, shape or height you were.

You and Bokuto stayed together, you made sure to come to every one of his games and when you introduced him to your dad he fainted on sight. Your dad and Bokuto got along, and became very close friends, Bokuto always came to him for advice (especially volleyball advice.) You loved Bokuto and he definitely loved you too.

AN: I hope you liked it, since I didn’t want to make it too similar too the Atsumu insecure one. And I feel like it dragged out a bit but got rushed in the endd....but oh well...

[messers-moony]

So Perfect 2 | J.P

Paring: Young!James Potter X Fem!Lupin!Reader

Summary: James falls in love with a bookstore called, Lupin’s Library, and can’t believe what they’re going through. 

Preparing for a date seemed easy enough, except when it’s with a twenty-five-year-old man that already has a child. Granted, the twenty-five-year-old man was handsome, very handsome; maybe that’s what made this so hard. Every dress that she tried on didn’t seem to fit or didn’t seem to look right. 

Y/n was looking at her appearance in the mirror when a light knock was heard on her door, “Come in!”

Remus almost dropped the tea he was holding for her, “You look spiffing.”

“Spiffing?” Y/n crossed her arms with a stupid smile, “That’s all you could come up with?”

“Dashing, beautiful, gorgeous?” Remus shrugged, “I'm not good at this whole thing. ‘S why I’m into blokes, remember?”

Y/n hummed, reaching for the tea he was holding for her, “Thanks, Remmy.”

“No problem.” He replied, taking a seat on her twin bed, “So, are you excited?”

“Nervous.”

“Nervous?”

“Yeah, I mean, he’s already got a child, Rem!” Y/n said exasperated, “If this goes well, then he’ll expect me to be Harry’s stepmother, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

Remus placed two hands on his shorter sister's shoulders, “You’re going to be fine. No one is more prepared for that than you are.”

“I’m regretting this.”

“If you don’t go on this date, then I’ll never call Sirius.” 

“That’s not fair!”

“It is.” Remus replied, “How about this-”

“Oh no, you only do this when you know you’ll win.” She murmured. 

Remus smirked, “If you go on this date and have fun, I’ll ask Sirius out. If you don’t go on this date at all, I’ll block his number.”

“But you and Sirius are perfect for each other.” Y/n whined, “And so are you and James.” Remus countered. 

Y/n pouted, and Remus smiled, “Now go have fun on this date. James is waiting outside.”

“Are you shitting me?!” 

Remus laughed, “Nope!”

Y/n scrambled to grab her things, and Remus watched amusedly, “You’re the worst, Rem!” She yelled as she began to leave the bookstore. 

“Love you too, sis!”

The door closed behind her, and she was releasing breaths of air. James turned to see her out of breath and a flush on her cheeks. It made him smile. She looked absolutely breathtaking too. Y/n’s hair was styled, and her dress looked dashing on her. James offered her his hand, and Y/n took it with a gentle smile. 

“Sorry for making you wait.” Y/n apologized, “Rem was no help.”

James chuckled, “It’s fine.”

James opened the car door for her, and she got in. Instantly she felt out of place. Y/n hadn’t been in a car since high school and ever since then had taken public transportation or walked. She and Remus didn’t have money for a vehicle, so they made do with what they had. The seats were black leather, and the car didn’t have a spec of dirt on it. 

He got into the driver's side of the car smoothly and took notice of Y/n’s awestruck expression, “I take it you like my car?”

“I’m sorry.” Her expression turned sheepish, “It’s been a minute since I’ve been in a car.”

James quirked an eyebrow, “Remus and I walk or ride buses to get by.”

“Well, I’m glad I could be with you for your first experience back.” They both laughed. 

It was so easy with James. Conversation flowed like water, and the air was light like clouds. His hand went from the shift to intertwine his fingers with hers. Y/n’s face flushed, and James smiled genuinely. James couldn’t remember a time when a girl made his heart race and butterflies fill his stomach like this before. 

When they arrived, Y/n was starstruck. It was fancier than she thought. Her heart pounded, and insecurity filled her body. James made his way to her side of the car and opening the door for her again. He helped her out of the car and felt her hand tremble just the slightest bit. 

“You look beautiful.” James assured, “No need to be worried.”

Y/n swallowed thickly, “Hey,” James turned her face to his, “If I thought you were underdressed, I would’ve told you. You’re gorgeous, and I think you’ll be the prettiest girl in the room.”

“Thank you.”

He gave her another one of those beautiful smiles before walking up to the hostess, “Name?”

“Should be under Potter.”

The hostess smiled, “Right this way.”

James motioned for Y/n to go first, so she followed the hostess to the table. Y/n sat down, and James sat across from her as the woman set down two menus. Maybe it was a force of habit, but she couldn’t help but let her eyes travel to everything around her. 

He smiled, slightly amused by her way of checking everything around her. It wasn’t the fanciest place that he could’ve taken her - there was much better - but he didn’t want to overwhelm her. It wasn’t pitying that drew him toward her, though. There was something about her that made him feel like a teenager again. 

The place was made of what appeared to be a dark wooden material. The lights were a dim yellow, and the tables were polished beautifully. The booths were comfy and with red cushioning. The atmosphere was cooling and dry. 

Y/n had opened her menu and began to survey it, “Pick whatever you want.” 

“Are you sure?” Y/n asked, “I really don’t mind-“

“This is a date.” James reminded as he held her hands from across the table, “Let me treat you so well that you a second date.”

Y/n blushed, “You’ve already done that.” 

“I have?”

“Shut up.”

James chuckled, kissing her knuckles, “Whatever you want, love.”

Half of the food on the menu Y/n hadn’t even heard of. Granted, she and Remus never really ate out much as kids. Usually, their mother - Hope - would cook them dinner as their father - Lyall - got home from work. Dinner was generally around seven-thirty or eight o’clock. 

The dinner went by gracefully, with lots of banter and getting to know each other. It wasn’t until the end of the date where James had paid despite Y/n’s efforts, and they got into the car where he had asked the dreadful question. They both sat in the parking spot when James had turned to her. 

“How do you feel about children?” James asked and quickly added, “I know that you’re good with them because of the reading on Saturdays but, I mean, about having children?”

Y/n wrung her hands, “I never really thought about it.”

“Why?”

“I have two jobs and a sick brother to take care of.”

Y/n replied, “Kids don’t really fit in. I’d also have to have a significant other to have children. Which I don’t have.”

James nodded, “Okay, but if you were to have a significant other.”

“I mean, I’d like to.” Y/n shrugged, “My life is just hectic right now. Bringing a child into this life wouldn’t be fair.”

Okay, so this isn’t going anywhere, James thought; I need to be blunt, “How would you feel about being Harry’s stepmother?”

She swallowed, “James….”

“I know that’s a hard thing to answer right now. Especially with us just getting started.” James added, “But if you aren’t interested, then this isn’t worth starting.”

“No, I know and understand.” Y/n said, fidgeting with her hands in her lap, “I’m sure it’s hard to find someone, you know, already having a kid and all.”

James nodded. 

“I’d love to be Harry’s stepmother.” Y/n replied as James’ face lit up, “But I still have the bookstore, the bar, and Remus to take care of as well. It’ll be stressful.” 

“I’m not asking you to be a stay-at-home mother.” James chuckled, “I’m just asking that at the end of the day, you come home to us.”

“And hopefully,” James smiled sheepishly, “Sirius can knock Remus off your list.”

Y/n chuckled, “Hopefully. Remus is a handful.”

“He seems nice.” 

She snorted, “Until you officially meet him.”

“Well then,” James smiled, taking her hand in his as he began moving the car, “Looks like we’ll be having double dates.”

Y/n squeezed his hand as he began to drive. The car drove effortlessly over the unpaved roads. Light music played in the background. The sky was a beautiful blue littered with sparkling white specks. The moon was crescent and barely a sliver. James had gotten to a stoplight when he spoke up again. 

“My house or yours?”

“Whichever.” 

James smiled and turned the wheel to the left, “Okay.”

It didn’t take long to realize that they were going to his house. His neighborhood was much different than hers. Granted, she lived on top of a bookshop, but it was still different. James lived in the suburbs. The houses were breathtaking, and the streets looked clean. Asphalt roads were freshly paved, and sidewalks looked new. The homes were family-sized, but they looked ginormous compared to her and Remus’ studio apartment only suited for one. 

James pulled into the driveway, and Y/n was flabbergasted. It was a two-story house, mostly white concrete, and the accents were a dark brown color. The grass was freshly cut, and the vegetation was trimmed. The backyard appeared to have a pool and a patio area, but Y/n could barely tell over the solid fence. 

His keys jingled as he placed the key into the slot and the door opened with ease. Gently, he motioned her to go first. The floors were dark oak wood, seemingly similar to the dark paint on the accents of the house. Everything was so clean, exactly like the car, not a spec of dust laid on the surfaces. 

A movie was playing on the television in the room on the right. The kitchen was on the left, and the sitting table was in the room beside it. James shut the door behind him, locking it. He took off his coat and shoes, placing them at the front door. He smiled. 

“I take it you like the house?”

“It’s beautiful.”

James smiled, walking to the kitchen, and Y/n took off her shoes before following him. He sighed when he opened the fridge, and Y/n had taken a seat at the barstool in front of the island. James picked up an empty bottle of wine that was still residing in the fridge. 

“You keep empty bottles of wine in the fridge?” Y/n questioned as James rubbed his face with his hands. 

“No. Bad habit of Sirius’.”

Y/n quirked an eyebrow, “He lives here?”

“He acts as he does.” James muttered as he recycled the empty bottle, “But no, Sirius lives a couple of doors down. But I feel like he should be paying rent here.”

Y/n laughed, “Regardless, I’ve known him since elementary school, so he’s like my brother. Harry calls him uncle and everything.”

“That’s adorable.” Y/n said, “Do you have any actual siblings?”

“Nope. Jus’ me.” He answered, motioning to himself, “Sirius has a younger brother named Regulus.”

“His parents obsessed with constellations or something?”

“Supposedly.”

“Where is Harry now?” 

“With Sirius.” James replied, taking out a full bottle of wine, “Told him I might get him tonight or might not.”

Y/n took the glass of wine he offered her with a smile, “Mind if I ask why the tv was left on?”

“My cat.”

“Cat?”

“Technically, not mine.” James explained, “It’s my ex-fiancées, but she left him here, so he’s mine now.”

“And your cat likes the tv?”

James nodded, “What's his name?”

“Moony.”

“Moony?”

“Yeah. Harry named him actually.”

Y/n smiled. They continued to talk, and the night kept going on by. It was well past midnight when James drove her back home to her shared apartment. The car ride was silent, primarily with music playing lightly in the background once again. He walked her to the door of the bookstore before bidding her goodnight. 

Gently James pressed his lips to her forehead, “Goodnight, get some sleep.”

“You too…” Y/n muttered, blushing as she walked into the bookstore. 

She hadn’t even made it up the steps when Remus began talking, “Had a good night, I presume?”

“You’re a dick, ya know?”

He smirked and closed his book with a thud, “Runs in the family.”

Y/n gasped playfully, “You ass!”

Remus chuckled as they both walked up the steps, “Seriously though, good night?”

“Yeah, really good night.”

[blu-joons]

When He’s Whipped For You ~ Exo Reaction

Xiumin:

Everyone’s eyes darted across as soon as Minseok rose to his feet, searching around the studio for his car keys and phone to grab to leave.

“I’ve got to go and pick Y/N up, sounds like her friend bailed on her for a lift,” he informed the group, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair.

“In the middle of a rehearsal?” Baekhyun asked, desperate to try and cause a bit of controversy. “Does she know that the buses still run until late, and there’s plenty of train stations not too far away too.”

Minseok stared back at him in disbelief, “if you think I’m leaving her to get on public transport, you’re crazy, I’ll be quick.”

Sehun quickly chimed in from beside Baekhyun, “did you even for a second consider not picking her up, or was your mind already made up?”

“Why would I ever have to think about picking my girlfriend up and getting her out of trouble?” Minseok asked to the whole group, who quickly fell silent.

“Just be quick,” Junmyeon warned him, “I’m sure we can get through the routine a couple of times without your spot being filled, but you’ll have to catch up.”

“I promise, I’ll pick her up, drop her off, and come straight back here.”

“Yeah…there’s no way you’re coming straight back here.”

Suho:

The tapping of Junmyeon’s hands against the table had caught the attention of the members one by one, until finally Jongin spoke up in frustration.

“What’s going on with you?” He asked, resting his hand over Junmyeon’s to get him to stop. “You’ve barely joined in with any of the conversation tonight.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, looking around the table at the rest of the group. “I know I’m supposed to be your leader, but I bailed on Y/N to come out for drinks, and all I can think about is her sat at the apartment by herself.”

Sehun shook his head at Junmyeon’s side, “you live together, you see each other all the time, is it really that bad for you?”

Junmyeon looked across to his best friend, “we were supposed to go to the movies, but I cancelled this morning when Kyungsoo suggested an evening together.”

“Is this your way of telling us you want to leave and head back to Y/N?” Jongdae teased, taking a sip from his beer bottle. “Are group evenings a thing of the past?”

“No, it’s alright, I’m sure she’s alright by herself,” he muttered under his breath, forcing himself to drink the glass of soju that Jongin placed before him.

“If you’re going to sit there frowning all evening, you can go home, you know?”

“I’m staying, I’ll make it up to Y/N tomorrow.”

Lay:

Yixing failed to hide his smile as he watched you reach up and try and grab the box you wanted from the shelf, huffing each time you missed it.

“You know, you’ve got a boyfriend with a few inches on you that might just be able to reach that,” you heard his voice call out from behind you.

“I just want to get the box and not listen to you tease me,” you whined, reaching up to try and grab it again. Yixing sighed, walking into the room to stand beside you, nudging against your hip to knock you off balance.

You looked back at him, noticing his smug smile. “All you have to do is call my name, and you know that I’ll always do anything for you.”

Your shoulders dropped as you tried to regain your composure. “Yixing, can you please grab the box down for me so I can get what I want from it.”

“Why, of course,” he grinned, reaching up with ease to grab the handle of the box and place it in front of you. “I can’t believe you ever think I’d tease you.”

“I know exactly what you’re like,” you sighed, snarling up at him. “You do something nice, but you always have to put a joke on the end of it too, winding me up.

“I can put the box back up high so you can’t reach again, if you want me to.”

“No, I’m sorry, please put it somewhere I can reach.”

Baekhyun:

His eyes followed as Minseok browsed through his wardrobe, sensing that he was looking out for something particular to get his hands on.

“Where did that grey hoodie go that you have?” Minseok eventually asked him, “I was hoping to borrow it to wear to the shooting tomorrow night?”

“Oh, that?” Baekhyun blushed, looking away from the eyes of his elder. “That hoodie is actually at Y/N’s, I gave it to her to go home in a while ago, but she didn’t want to give it back because it was so comfy.”

Minseok scoffed back at him, “you really are whipped for her, aren’t you? Do you just give her all of your favourite clothing items?”

Baekhyun’s head shook, pressing his hands to his cheeks, “she’s only got that hoodie, it’s not like she’s got my whole wardrobe there at all.”

“What am I supposed to wear tomorrow? That hoodie is supposed to be the one that you share with me, and not Y/N,” Minseok vented, closing Baekhyun’s wardrobe.

“Anyone would think I was dating you, and not Y/N,” Baekhyun frowned as Minseok sat down beside him. “I’m sure you can buy your own hoodie instead.”

“So, you’re replacing the things that I want by gifting them to Y/N?”

“Of course, why would I ever keep something for you.”

Chen:

The yell of his name instantly caught Jongdae’s attention, running through from the living room to where you stood nervously in the kitchen.

“Please, get it out,” you requested, running around to hide behind his back, gripping tightly onto his shoulders to keep yourself calm.

“What’s wrong?” Jongdae asked, trying to figure out what the problem was, following your pointed finger. “You’ve called me in here to get rid of an insect?” Jongdae asked in surprise, shaking his head back at you.

Your hand pushed against his back, “look how big it is Dae. How can I prepare dinner knowing that thing is creeping around the place?”

With a sigh, Jongdae stepped forwards, scooping the bug up and throwing it out of the window with ease. “There, now you can prepare dinner, no problems.”

“You’re a knight in shining armour,” you teased, pressing a thankful kiss to his cheek, “I’m sorry if I disturbed you from anything, although I better be your priority.”

“You’re definitely my priority,” he concurred, “even if you do get me running around doing stupid things, you really couldn’t get the bug out of the house?”

“Did you see the size of it? Who knows what it could have done?”

“It was harmless, but it’s gone now at least.”

Chanyeol:

The items that Chanyeol held onto instantly caught the attention of the rest of the members, unable to hide their smiles as he joined the queue.

“I didn’t realise Y/N had you doing her shopping for her now,” Sehun teased, watching on as Chanyeol added the items you needed to the group’s shop, much to their dismay.

“She texted me and said she needed some bits, and when she’s on her period, she needs looking after,” he fondly informed them all, “I guess you wouldn’t understand what it’s like to have someone rely on you.”

Baekhyun’s head shook at the taller figure, “does she rely on you, or has she just got you wrapped around her little finger instead?”

Chanyeol reached out and pushed him gently, “I’m not whipped, if that’s what you’re suggesting. She’s in pain, and so I’m just trying to make it easier.”

“Still whipped,” Junmyeon muttered under his breath as he pulled his card out, “I hope you know that you’re paying for these if they’re for your girlfriend.”

“Don’t worry, I can pay for it,” Chanyeol assured his leader, “Y/N would kill me anyway if I let you pay for them. She’d take the products and then kick me out.”

“Yeah, she most definitely does have you whipped Chan; you’ve changed.”

“For the last time, I’m not whipped.”

D.O:

The feeling of your body crashing down beside him caught Kyungsoo’s attention, smiling across at you as a yawn escaped.

“Are you alright?” He questioned, as your head nodded back, too tired to verbally answer. “Have you drunk enough? Or even had dinner?”

“I grabbed a chocolate bar out of the vending machine besides my office at lunchtime,” you informed him, kicking your heels off, settling against his side. “It’s just been too busy to find time for food.”

Kyungsoo’s head instantly shook, “Y/N, you still need to make sure that you eat. Let me cook you something, give me ten minutes.”

Your arm moved across him to stop him from moving. “It’s late at night Kyungsoo, and you’ve been at work too, I’ll just get a big breakfast tomorrow.”

“No way,” he argued, moving your hand back into your lap. “Get some rest for a few minutes, and I’ll call you through when it’s done for you to eat up.”

“You don’t have to do this,” you called out to him once again, instantly regretting it as he spun around on his heels and stared back at you with a hint of a smile.

“I’m doing this, someone has to make sure that you take care of yourself.”

“Make some for yourself too, I want to eat together.”

Kai:

Your eyes instantly looked to Jongin as he agreed to dinner that evening with Baekhyun before leaving the studio, you in tow behind.

“What happened to dinner at my parents?” You questioned once Baekhyun was out of earshot. “You promised that you’d clear your schedule to spend time with them.”

“I forgot that was tonight,” Jongin frowned, turning around to face you, holding onto your hand still. “When we get home remind me to give Baekhyun a text and let him know I won’t be at dinner tonight.”

Your head shook, instantly feeling guilty. “Group dinners are important; we can always rearrange with my mum and dad.”

Jongin barely gave you the chance to finish speaking before he interjected, “dinner with your parents is much more important, I’ve got to make sure they have a good impression.”

“They have the best impression of you,” you assured him, “and I know that they’d be more than happy to organise dinner when you’re missing out on work.”

“And I’m telling you that I’m cancelling on the boys,” he laughed, pressing a kiss to your lips, “I want to see your family, we’ve made a promise to them.”

“Alright, as long as your sure, but the boys will be disappointed.”

“I don’t care, you come first.”

Sehun:

Your eyebrows furrowed as you got into the car, smiling at Sehun before noticing Chanyeol sat in the back with a shy smile on his face.

“He was supposed to take me home, but apparently picking you up from work was more important first,” Chanyeol answered before you had time to ask.

“I could have waited,” you told Sehun as you closed the door behind you. He stared blankly back at you, shrugging his shoulders. “I can’t believe you dragged Chanyeol all the way across the city just to pick me up.”

Finally, Sehun spoke up, “your shift finishes at six, and so I had to make sure I was here for six. It was his fault I was running late anyway.”

Chanyeol’s hand tapped against your shoulder, “Y/N, I don’t know how you’ve managed it, but he really is completely besotted with you.”

“No, I’m not,” Sehun argued, refusing to listen to such nonsense, “I’m just a good boyfriend. I did warn you to stop working on the demo because I had to go.”

“I didn’t think you meant it though,” Chanyeol quickly retaliated, “if it was any of the other members you would have had to pick up, you would have made them walk home.”

“It’s a good job Y/N’s not one of you then, she’s someone much better.”

“I know, that’s why I’m stuck in the back of your car.”

---

Masterlist

[httpdabi]

Neighbor next door

Genre: Smut

Summary: your little dream of living alone finally came true, only to be destroyed by your hell of a loud neighbor.

Words: 7.2k

Warnings: 18+, unprotected sex, mutual masturbation, creampie, cum play.

The feeling of happiness washed over you as you took the heavy box in your hands, almost dropping it on the ground. The day you’ve been waiting for so long finally arrived. After ages of waiting and calling different numbers that were displayed on every possible app you had installed for your apartment search, it was finally over. You finally found a fucking apartment for yourself, not having to share the two room apartment with your brother anymore.

All of your friends were telling you to check the newspapers, telling you that the chances of finding the apartment on internet are extremely small. They told you the same thing all over again, only to end up being ignored, for some unknown reason. You were simply too lazy to check the Newspapers, that was all.

Once you realized that the internet is crazy, that the competition is too big in there, and that there were way too many scammers asking for money first, saying they’ll send the keys of the apartment after they get their first check, only then you decided to check the Newspapers.

First time you called a number, you had the feeling that you already got an apartment, as the unknown person on the other line talked how everything is perfect, stating how you are the perfect person for it. The woman almost immediately hang up when you told her that you are a college student.

Second time you called, you didn’t have your hope’s up, nor did you think that the apartment was for you that much, since it was in the part of the city where only buses are driving. Sure, that ain’t a big problem, but since the subway’s were the main transport in the city, it would take you a bit longer to get to your Uni.

The woman on the other line was very comfortable to speak to, telling you about the one and half room apartment and about the location of it. Your brother Keigo listened carefully as you talked with the woman, immediately opening Google maps, searching for the address. You noticed his thumbs being up as you told her about yourself a bit.

The moment you hang up, Keigo told you that he’s having a good feeling about it. He noticed that you felt a bit unsure, so he told you about the location, explaining to you that there are many shops near, and that the bus stop is literally in front of the building. Once he added that the apartment is actually pretty close to him, you felt a bit relived.

The next day, you changed in something comfortable yet cute, before you made your way to see the apartment. The apartment wasn’t big, it had a small hallway that was leading to the living room. The small half room was somehow connected to the living room, only curtains were parting it away. You liked that the kitchen was a room for itself, since you didn’t want the smoke from all the cooking to take over the whole apartment. What you liked the most was the huge balcony and the huge windows of the living room, making the apartment so bright and comfy.

At the evening you and Keigo took a walk, waiting for the call and chitchatting about the same topic all over again. When she told you that you got it, both you and Keigo started jumping around happily, screaming around. The wait was finally over. Fucking finally.

,, When are they coming ? We have to pick up the couch in two hours’’ Keigo asked, placing one box in front of the door of your new home.

,,They should be here any minute’’ you exclaimed, unlocking the door of your new apartment. You and Keigo already worked hard on moving your stuff here. Usually he isn’t one to rush, but he knew how much you wanted to move in, so he gave his best to do it as fast as possible for you.

,, What’s up extras?’’ you heard Bakugo’s rough voice, as you took the box with your switch and Playstation. Izuku and Mina followed him, both excited to see your new apartment.

,, Finally’’ Keigo sighed, he was already a bit worried that they’ll be a bit late. They had to pick the vehicle first, before they pick up the couch. With five of you, all your boxes were in your apartment in less then 20 minutes.

Guys left shortly after, leaving you and Mina alone to drink coffee, and unbox your stuff. Your bed was already placed in the small room with some other stuff. Keigo worked hard to montage all the important things as your lowboard for TV, table, and everything else. Now the only thing missing was the couch, and little things that were waiting for you to unbox them.

,, I love it girl’’ Mina claimed happily, looking around your new apartment, as she placed small stuff all around it. The two of you wanted to finish everything up, before the boys arrive. So all of you could enjoy more of coffee, and have the first lunch in your apartment.

Hearing Bakugo’s loud complains, you opened the door immediately. Moving to the side, you watched the guys fight over the best way to fit the sofa thru the door. When they called you, 20 minutes ago, telling you that he sofa can’t fit in the vehicle, you turned into a whiny mess, trying to give them ideas that could work out.

Of course, they only joked around with you, since they knew how excited you are about this all.

,, I don’t see a problem. If the couch was too long and too big for the vehicle, Keigo could drive, while Bakugo and Izuku hold the edges of the couch up. You know what I mean?’’ Mina told you. You couldn’t stop the laugh, when you imagined Izuku and Bakugo standing in the vehicle, holding the heavy sofa, curling their body’s down to fit the sofa somehow. That would definitely end up being a huge mess, since Keigo ain’t the most careful driver.

Well, the idea ain’t bad. But luckily they were joking. If not, Mina’s idea would be the only solution for the problem.

That day, you spent all of your time with your brother and your friends. After cleaning everything up, all of you sat down and ate together, making your first day in your new apartment so warm and homey.

You told Mina that she should sleep over, but she wanted to give you some space, since it would be the first night in your new home.

With a cup of tea in your hands, you made your way out to the balcony. Placing one cigarette between your lips, you enjoyed the fresh air. The neighborhood looked so peaceful and quiet, unlike the one where you lived. You could hear sirens every now and then, car passing by loudly, drunk people everywhere, but not here.

Loud thud woke you up, making you twitch as a small wave of fear washed over your body. You took your phone, as you rubbed your eyes with your left hand, checking out what time it is. Calming down in less then a minute, when you realized that the loud noise what coming from your neighbor. You weren’t sure if the walls were that thin, since it felt like he was in your room.

Rolling your eyes, you placed your phone on the nightstand beside your bed, as you pushed your pillow over your head, muffing the noise that was coming from the apartment beside your own.

The next day, you decided to make some brownies for your new neighborhood. Since it was pretty late when you finished them, you decided that it will be best if you don’t bother anyone at that time. Brownies can wait till tomorrow, you thought to yourself as you turned your TV on.

That night you stayed up till around 1 AM, watching different movies on Netflix, and chatting with Mina. Everything was perfectly fine, until your neighbor next door decided that it was too quiet for his taste. Turning on the music, so loudly that you had the feeling the walls that kept your apartment apart will collapse anytime.

You tried to avoid the drama first week, keeping up with his shit. You tried to ignore the loud music, thuds and moans that were coming from his apartment every night, not wanting to be the neighbor that complains immediately after only moving in. But when you realized that he doesn’t really plan on keeping it low, you had to do something.

Eyes wide open, as the loud music irritated you, almost making you deaf, you thought to yourself what could be the best solution here ? Calling Keigo wasn’t an option, since it would be childish if you had him deal with your problems. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath before you wore your oversized hoodie.

You slammed your hands against the door, hoping that the person will be able to hear it. It took you a while to realize that there’s no fucking way for them to hear your desperate knocks, since the music only got louder. Making your way to your apartment, you tried to hit the walls, hoping that the person living next to you will get the hint.

You tried to get some info when you gave your brownies to other neighbors. They told you that the person living next to you was a harmless college guy. They told you that he’s sometimes loud, but they didn’t have any problem with it, since his apartment is at the end of the hallway. After explaining the situation, you found out that the apartment you live in, was actually a big three room apartment.

You found out that the woman that was renting you the apartment, used to live with her ex husband in there and that after they divorced they couldn’t make a deal to who will the apartment belong, only to pay even more money and turn it into two separate apartments. That’s was the reason only you could hear the loud music and everything your neighbor was doing, since the walls that they made, were much thinner then the other ones.

Two weeks passed and you were already getting used to your new home. You were getting used to living alone, managing your time as you wish, and doing everything you want. It’s not that you didn’t have freedom with Keigo, but the lack of privacy was always there.

Placing the paper bags on the ground, you tried to grab your keys out of your pocket as nodded your head to the music coming from your Airpods. You were already exited for the evening you planned for yourself. Switch, wine, strawberries, face mask. Perfect.

A small push on your shoulder took you back to reality, as your right AirPod flew on the ground making the music stop. You immediately knew that it was your loud neighbor. Turning your body to the side, you eyed him out as you grabbed your airpod from the ground.

,, A simple sorry wouldn’t hurt’’ you spat, looking at his back. He wore a dark gray hoodie, with hood covering his head. The moment he turned around, you almost froze when his sapphire blue eyes locked with yours. His appearance made you feel uneasy a bit. Something about his tattooed face and his blue eyes was telling you that this wasn’t a good idea, and that you should probably just ignore him and get in your fucking apartment.

But the fact that you finally had a chance to tell him about how loud he actually is, made you stay there and act tough.

,, My sincere apologies’’ he said sarcastically, as he opened his door. You weren’t sure how to start the topic, everything you had in your head sounded just wrong and stupid, but when you noticed that he was about to get inside his apartment, you realized that you had to say something fast.

,, Wait’’ you hissed fast, making him stop and turn around again. Analyzing his face, you weren’t sure if he was simply annoyed or mad at you for wasting his time. A simple what came out of his mouth, as he watched you think of the best way to tell him that he is too loud.

,, I don’t want to bother you or anything, but can you maybe keep your music and everything else down at the night ?’’ you expressed your thoughts finally. He only answered with a small Sure, as he smirked and left you there on your own.

You didn’t do much, but you felt proud of yourself that you solved the problem on your own without including Keigo or anyone else in it. Feeling happy about it, you enjoyed your evening as you planned, texting Mina about the handsome and loud stranger and about what happened today.

Your happiness didn’t last long, once you heard now even louder sounds of music coming from his apartment. The fact that he didn’t take you serious was pissing you off, after all, it looked like he made fun of you with this gesture.

,, FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT’’ you screamed once Mina answered your call. The frustration that you kept to yourself last few weeks was going out finally.

,, fuck, he’s really loud’’ Mina admitted as she heard the music on the other line. She could understand why you were getting so mad. ,, In your place, I would seriously consider calling police’’ she added, as you screamed in response, throwing the closes item to you onto the wall.

,, I will kill him. I WILL FUCKING KILL THAT BASTARD ‘’ you yelled again, regretting your action as you saw the broken item on your floor. What you didn’t know was that your neighbor actually heard the hard slam against the wall, turning his music only a bit down, just enough to hear your screams and complainants.

The night ended up with you listening to loud moans coming from his apartment, your plans long ruined as you whined into your pillow, listening to some girl scream ,, Touya’’ all over again. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath. Two can play this game.

You knew that he was also a collage student, which meant that he will have to keep his shit down and study. You just had to wait for the perfect opportunity, to make him taste his own fucking medicine.

A whole week flew by, and the day you waited for patiently finally arrived. Instead of loud music, you could hear him reading loudly, probably studying. You called Bakugo immediately, telling him to pack his shit and come to your place as fast as possible. Of course Bakugo knew about your little plan, and he was so fucking up for it.

It took him 15 minutes to arrive, excited just as much as you are. Bakugo hugged you as he placed his bag on the floor in your hallway, taking some snacks out of it, you told him to buy on his way. Firstly, the two of you played the music as loud as possible on your Television. Both of you jumping around happily with bag of a chips in your hand, while he choked on the chocolate. You were glad that you had friends that were always up for some bullshit.

The two of you waited exactly for 3AM, to make the things even spicier for your neighbor Touya. Turning off the music, you went to your bed. You were sure that the small room, that was much bigger ages ago, was also his bedroom, since you could hear his bed moving while he fucked some whores out. You were more then sure that it had to be his bedroom too.

,, Start quietly, ok?’’ Bakugo commanded, and you just nodded your head as the two of you got a bit closer to the wall. You tried to moan, only to end up like a muffed laugh. Bakugo placed his hand over your mouth and told you to try again. Second try sounded much better, so after few of your so called moans, he decided it will be the best if he jumps in a bit.

,, You taste so good honey’’ Bakugo said loud and clear, making you squeeze your eyes shut, biting into his palm to muff your laughs. You could see that he was also giving his best not to laugh.

Your moans were getting more convincing after some time, while Bakugo was giving some silly praises every now and then making you almost choke as you tried to hold your laugh. But the moment he asked you if you are ready, loudly clapping his hands imitating the sound of skin clapping against skin, you had to move to the side to laugh almost too loud.

,,OH MY GOD, YESSSS’’ you screamed loudly, as you rushed back to him. The two of you were moaning and groaning like crazy jumping on the bad making as much noise as possible. When Bakugo placed his hands on your bad, moving it forcefully and hitting it against the wall, you had to cover your face with your pillow to muff your laughs. You couldn’t believe how much he was into this.

,, FUCK YESS’’ You moaned out, as Bakugo groaned near the wall. Sudden and loud knocks on your door, made the both of you stop.

,,Shit’’ you hissed as you hurried to the door, only to be stopped by Bakugo.

,, The fuck are you doing. Take off your pants’’ he whispered, reminding you that you were fully clothed and that you didn’t look like you had some good and wild sex at all. Bakugo was making your hair messy , as you were taking your pants off.

,, Coming’’ you screamed from your living room, as you spat on your fingers and tried to smudge your mascara bit, while Bakugo helped you wear your Bathrobe.

Once you opened the door, you found your neighbor standing there with his arms crossed, looking more then mad. The moment he had a good look of you, he couldn’t find his words for a good minute.

,, Can you keep it low a bit ? I’m trying to study’’ he said, his lazy eyes analyzing you.

,,Sure’’ you mumbled, smirk appearing on your face. Giving him exactly the same answer he gave to you when you asked him to be a bit quiet.

,, Honey who is it ?’’ you heard Bakugo ask loudly, as he appeared behind you only in his boxers. You had to bit on your lip, to hide the laugh that almost escaped your lips.

,,Nobody’’ you answered, as you tried to close the door, only to be stopped by your neighbors hand. Gasping, you opened the door again, acting as you were annoyed.

,, What ?’’ you hissed, acting the same way he did before.

,,Don’t piss me off doll’’ Touya spat, as he held your door open.

,, Listen here you piece of shit, I had to listen to your tasteless music, and moans for few weeks now. You aren’t the one that should complain.’’ You said, slamming the door in his face.

After that night he tired to make your life a living hell. With every small sound you made, he would start hitting loudly on the wall, giving you a sign to shut up. The music he used to play was long gone, only to be replaced by loud moans. At some point you found yourself spending the time in your apartment with airpods in your ears more often.

The war between the two was getting out of the hand and both of you knew that. There were some times when you thought about apologizing to him and trying to make some deal with him, but you simply couldn’t give him that satisfaction.

You weren’t loud as he was, but every time you realized that he was studying, you would turn the music on, loud enough to piss him off. Sure, that was nothing compared to his action, but you were glad if you could piss him off even a little bit.

Since the evening was nice, you decided to have dinner on your balcony. Taking one plate of spaghetti carbonara, you placed it on the table. Slowly eating, as you enjoyed the warm weather and the sunset.

,, Look who we have here’’ you heard a familiar voice, turning your head to the right, you saw your neighbor leaning on the wall, cigarette hanging down his lips.

,, Fuck off’’ you spat, as you took a bite of your food. Your balcony was connected to his, only small wall holding it apart. Details like that made it pretty obvious that this was one apartment before.

,,Eh, don’t be like that doll’’ he smirked, leaning slowly over the small wall. ,,Let’s talk this out’’ he added, making you gasp when he let the ashes of his cigarette fall on your balcony. The last thing you wanted to do with the handsome scumbag was talk, but one of you had to be mature enough and point everything wrong out, you stood up, shaking your head toward the direction of your door.

Unlocking the door, Touya got out of his apartment at the same time, with a hood covering his messy hair. He took his time scanning your apartment before he followed you out. Surprisingly the silence wasn’t uncomfortable as you expected. You ate your food, as he smoked his cigarette.

,, Ok, so.. Let’s find a solution to this’’ you said, finishing the last bite of your spaghetti. His sapphire blue eyes got a shade darker, or you at least imagined so.

,, Got any ideas, doll?’’ he asked, finishing his cigarette. Something about him was simply handsome, somehow you understood how he managed to get a new girl every other night under him. His appearance had something, there was something about him and you couldn’t put a finger on it.

,, Sure I do, when it comes to music, there is something called earphones in case you didn’t know ?!’’ you stated almost sarcastically, making him roll his eyes. ,, And when it comes to your hookups, maybe you can do it somewhere else ? I have a feeling like you are doing the nasty in my bed. The walls are really thin’’ you added, hoping he will understand you and consider your desperate ideas.

Touya called your name out, a small and short laugh escaping his mouth. ,, Well it’s true that our beds are separated by that thin wall, but you can’t be serious ‘’ he laughed.

,, Hey, fuck in your living room, keep it private’’ you hissed, taking one of your cigarettes and lighting it up. ,, After all, if you have some better idea, spit it out, I’m all ears’’ adding sarcastically, you inhaled the smoke of your cigarette.

,, Of course I have an idea. But you won’t like it’’ his voice was deep and husky, making you almost jump down the balcony.

,, Ok hear me out. You can help me out, milk my dick out and have your peace every night. It’s a win win situation’’ he said, waving his hands a little like he made such a good point, as you gasped loudly.

,, You are so disgusting’’ you gasped again, as you slapped his waving hand.

,, I’m just kidding, doll. Unless? ‘’ he laughed, repeating how he’s joking around.

The two of you ended up talking on your balcony longer then you expected, smoking cigarette after cigarette. You didn’t think of him as one hell of a chill guy. What you appreciated was that he promised that he won’t bring anyone in the next week, since you told him that you are having your finishing exams and that you’ll have to study a lot.

You weren’t sure if he’ll keep his promise, but you really hoped he will. After that evening your war somehow finished. Sure, his music was loud, but only on the daylight, keeping it short and that was something you could deal with. One day, he even ended up in your apartment helping you out, asking you different questions, helping you test your knowledge before your first exam.

The second exam wasn’t something you were worried about, since you were already more then prepared for it, and the grades you had in that specific subject were amazing in your opinion. Few times you caught yourself taking a small break, not being able to concentrate on your study session, since your neighbor decided to be a bit loud again.

Not so loud as before tho. You were thankful that he wasn’t fucking some girl again, since you knew very well that it would last much longer then his lonely jerking off. Sadly, even when his jerking off was getting long enough for you, and you couldn’t wait for him to finally cum, so that you could study again. Focusing on studying again, you started to repeat sentences loudly, trying to memorize the words, as your neighbor groaned quietly.

The next day you met him when you went down to check your post. You didn’t have the balls to look him directly in the eyes, feeling a little bit ashamed that you could hear something so private. Of course, you heard him have sex billion times now, but last night it was something different. At least for you.

,, How’s studying going doll?’’ he asked, as he checked his own post, taking one letter out of it. You forced yourself to reply, saying it’s going great and how you are pretty confident when it comes to that subject, eyes avoiding his.

That whole day you were just repeating what you already knew. Repeating every word all over again. Walking over the room, with a bag of chips in your left hand, and papers in your right hand. You really had enough of it, since it was already 10PM, and you were studying all day now.

Hopping on your bed, you threw the stupid paper on the floor, deciding it’s enough for the day. At that point you were sure you will get the best grade at tomorrows exam.

Pushing your arms up in the air, you stretched your body, yelping loudly once your elbow hit the wall. Your mom told you that instead of whining in pain, you should make a whish when you hit your elbow accidentally. Yet you never did that, either way it was such a sensitive spot or you hit it too hard, but you always end up screaming, yelping or whining in pain.

Where did she even get that stupid information?

,, Fucking shit’’ you cursed out loudly, slowly rubbing the pain away. Taking your phone, you sent few voice messages to Mina, saying how you ain’t in the mood for exam, but how you think that it will be good.

The two of you talked a bit, until now familiar moans got your attention. It wasn’t loud, in fact, they were really quiet, more like whispers, yet you could still hear them. In that moment you weren’t sure if you should go and hide in toilet, just to give your neighbor his privacy or simply stay in bed and wait till he finishes. It would be pretty weird if you sent another voice message to your best friend, while your neighbor is groaning in pleasure.

Closing your eyes, you decided simply to wait as you tried not to laugh at the weird situation you found yourself in. It was hard for you not to imagine him, as his groans were getting louder.

Touya knew very well that you were listening. He knew that you were in your bed, since he was shamelessly listening to you and your friend talk, sending those voice messages every other second. That was the point after all. Why not give you a little show, since you ain’t studying anyway. The muffed laughs coming from your apartment, made him smile, knowing that you are indeed listening to him fucking his own hand.

What turned him even more was the fact that the small laughs were long gone when he groaned louder. A small idea popped up while he stroked his hard dick. He smirked to himself, as he moaned out your name, loud enough for you to hear him. He could almost hear you gasp in shock, and that made him moan your name out even louder.

You placed your hand over your mouth once you heard that. You weren’t sure if he knew that you were listening or not, but it turned you on anyway. How could it not ? That dude was handsome as fuck, you like it or not. There was no need to deny it after all.

,,Fuck’’ you heard him hiss. That was fast, you thought to yourself, still not progressing the thought of him cumming all over his hand while thinking of you.

The loud knocking on your door made you jump, rushing to the door to open it. Your eyes widened when you saw Touya standing there with a huge smirk on his face. Wearing one simple black shirt, and light gray sweatpants. You weren’t even sure why were you surprised, but somehow you simply didn’t think of who could it be.

,,Dirty. Fucking. Girl.’’ He said, pointing every word out while he walked inside, inviting himself on his own while you just stood there in shock, mouth half opened.

At that point you didn’t even know what to say, all you did was followed him back inside, as he made himself comfortable on your bad. Legs down on the floor, as he leaned on the thin wall with his upper body. The erection in his sweatpants was almost screaming, and he didn’t try to hide it either, as you just stood there staring at him.

,, You know, I knew I had audience, but instead of only listening, I thought it would be more fun if you watch too ‘’ he said, shamelessly moving his hard dick to the side a bit.

,, You’ve got to be kidding me’’ you said, trying to act it out a bit, as you sat next to him on the end of your bed, rolling your eyes.

Instead of giving you a proper answer, Touya only raised his eyebrow at you, as he slowly rubbed his hard erection over his sweatpants and damn did that turn you on. A smirk formed on his lips when he saw your eyes widen at his sudden action. He leaned his head onto the wall, lazily looking at you as he rubbed his clothed dick.

,, What doll? Is this too much for you ?’’ he asked sarcastically. He could see that you were turned on by it. He wasn’t dumb.

,, No, it’s just-‘’ you tried to find a right word, way too focused on him.

,, What ? Am I not your type ? ‘’ He asked sarcastically again. He knew very well that he’s your type, he knew that you were attracted to him as much as he was attracted to you.

,, It’s not that.. It’s just –‘’

,, Then just enjoy it’’ a small push cut you off, making you lean on the wall next to him, giving you a perfect view of him. You pulled your knees to your chest, hugging them together strongly, as you tried to cover yourself with your soft blanket a bit, since you knew that your shorts was too short, and one wrong move could expose your panties.

Satisfied with your obedience, he smirked widely as he slowly pushed his hips up, pulling his sweatpants just enough for his erection to jump out. You gasped loudly when you saw one Frenum and Prince Albert piercing.

,, That look’s painful’’ you admitted, eyes wide in shock. It was the first time in your life that you actually saw a pierced dick. Touya slowly shook his head, as he stroked his dick, eyes half closed as he analyzed your face.

,, Want to touch it ?’’ he lazily asked you, his voice too deep and raspy. You were unsure about it a bit, but still leaned down a little to touch it. Why would you hold yourself back, when the situation was already dirty enough? After all, you were too curious to let a chance like that slip out of your hands.

His dick twitched once he felt your small touch. Precum was already leaking out of his pinkish tip, making it easier for him to move his hand up and down. You tried to be careful, touching the piercings only a little, almost scared that you might hurt him. You had few piercings yourself, so you knew how the area could be sensitive, and even a small reckless touch can cause unexpected pain sometimes.

,, Come on. Don’t be scared’’ he mumbled, placing his hand over yours. You just sat a bit up, as you let him take the lead. Touya didn’t do it fast, he enjoyed your gentle and careful touches. He moved your hands slowly up to the tip, giving you the possibility to feel his piercings rub against your palm, together with his sticky and wet precum.

The sight of the erotic situation made you more then wet, and you found yourself wanting to lick his whole dick like a fucking lollipop. You wanted to feel his cold piercings on your tongue.

Touya moved his hips up a bit, enjoying the feeling of your small and warm hand around his veiny dick. He squeezed your hand a bit, giving you a sign to make your grip around his dick a bit stronger, as he moved your hand up and down at the pace he wanted. Rubbing the tip of his dick every second stroke.

Of course after you saw what he did, you followed his action, rubbing his tip with your thumb with every move you did. The feeling of his piercings in your palm and thumb were driving you crazy. Never in your life did you think that a fucking dick piercing can look that good.

Touya pulled the blanket down and you found yourself allowing him to do so, as he pulled your panties to the side and slowly traced his middle finger against your clit, while his right hand was still on top of yours leading you on.

,,So wet for me’’ he groaned, moving his finger in circles lazily. He liked to have things his way, fast, hard and rough. But not today, and not with you. There was something that made him enjoy this slow and lazy pace. After all he had enough of time to fuck you hard into the mattress until you scream his name.

Without a warning, he pushed two fingers inside you and your pussy accepted them almost gratefully, as you stopped your movements. Touya took that as opportunity, holding your hand strongly around his dick in one place, as he slowly started to move his hips up. The sight of him, literally fucking your hand while he moved his fingers in and out of you lazily, almost made you see the stars and the whole universe if possible.

He closed his eyes, ‘’fuck’’ and ‘’shit’’ escaping his lips as he fucked your hand now just a little bit faster. His grip over your hand got much stronger, as his dick started twitching. Once he opened his eyes, cum was all over your and his right hands, while his fingers were buried still deep in your core. Breathing deeply, he hissed once you lowered your body down, ignoring his fingers inside you and licking his dick. Making sure every drop of his cum is gone, and making sure your wish is fulfilled when you felt his cold piercings on your tongue.

Pulling his fingers out of you, he grabbed your arms and pushed you down your bed. Your sitting position was switched with laying one, as he had a good view of you before he took of his shirt and threw it on the floor. Hovering over you he took your shirt off , exposing your naked chest to himself. Not wasting any time, he started sucking and biting your neck, leaving fresh and purple bruises all over it, while his right hand lightly squeezed your left boob, making you arch your back wanting more of him.

Once you felt his lips on yours, you opened your mouth lightly letting his tongue in, as he pulled your shorts down, together with your panties. He didn’t want to waste any time anymore. He wanted to be inside you, he had to be inside you. He had to feel you around him.

The only thing that was in the way, were his sweatpants. Disappointed that he has to break the kiss, he pulled his sweatpants down, hating them in the moment for breaking his perfect moment with you. A smirk appeared on his lips once he saw you desperately waiting for him. Parting your legs apart, he hovered over you again, kissing you once more as he stroked his again hard dick.

You moaned into his mouth, when you felt him rub the tip over your slit. The feeling of his cold piercing and warm tip made you squeeze your eyes shut as you waited for him to enter you.

The slow and lazy pace he had all of the time was long gone, as he entered you in one move, giving you some time to adjust to his size before he started to move at rapid pace. Pinning both of your hands above your head, he pounded into you like a mad man, breathing loudly into your neck biting and sucking it every now and then.

The way your walls wrapped around his dick, made him think that your pussy was truly made for him, only him.

,, Fuck’’ he hissed once you squeezed your walls around him, commanding you to do it again. Of course you did it, as many times as you could, feeling his veiny dick and piercings even better. A loud moan escaped your lips once you felt him hit your g spot.

,, Oh, right here ?’’ he teased, stopping his moves. Giving you one sloppy kiss, he placed both of his palms on your hips, making sure you’ll stay still under him. He pulled his dick all the way out, only to slam it hard and deep as possible back, hitting the same spot again. Doing it all over again, you were going crazy from all the pleasure as you wrapped your arms and legs around him. With every sharp move you felt like you will cum every second.

,,Touya, so close’’ you moaned, as he repeated his move all over again. He didn’t care that he wasn’t fucking you fast and rough as he wanted to, all he cared was about that fucking spot, pulling out so slow and slamming back in with much more power.

,, Not yet doll’’

You could feel him smirk into your neck, as you whined loudly as the feeling of the orgasm went away from the sudden lack of moves. The two of you kissed slowly, as you tried to wiggle under him, bucking your hips up a bit trying to feel him more.

His hands found their way back to your hips, pressing you strongly into the mattress as he stopped your small and desperate movements. After good two minutes staying still inside you, he held your hips even stronger as he started fucking you again fast and hard trying to get deep as possible. Every move he made, made you bed slam against the wall. He wanted you to cum with him, he wanted to feel your walls squeeze strongly around his dick once he finishes.

You found yourself scratching his back, digging your nails into his bare flesh as he fucked you recklessly. At that point you were sure that both of you had more then enough marks over your body. You over your neck and hips, and he all over his back.

,, Cum for me’’ he groaned into your neck, fucking into you like there is no tomorrow.

,,Cum for me, doll’’ Touya repeated, his right hand leaving your bruised hip and rubbing your clit fast. You moaned loudly in pleasure, finally giving in as your orgasm hit you harder then ever. That was all Touya needed, once he felt you squeeze around him like that, with few sharp moves, his dick started twitching as he came deep inside of you. The both of you tried to catch your breath, as he moved his hips every now and then, trying to fuck his cum back into you, deep as possible.

,, You did so good’’ he praised, leaving soft kisses all over your jaw. ,, You did so well for me’’

Closing your eyes, you enjoyed his kisses and the feeling of his warm seed inside you. Once he pulled his dick out of you, he commanded you to spread your legs a little, positioning himself between your legs, as he pushed two fingers inside you. The feeling of his fingers pushing the cum back into your core was almost painful for you, but still, you found yourself letting him do as he pleased.

The view of his cum trying to leak out of you, made him hard again. He wanted to fuck you again, but he didn’t want to push it, you already looked done. You needed a break at least.

Wrapping his arm around you, he slowly kissed you on your cheek as he placed the two fingers in front of your lips, slowly slipping them inside of your mouth. You lazily sucked them, enjoying the taste of his cum, as he repeated how you’re such a good girl for him.

,, See, my solution ain’t that bad’’ he said, wrapping his arms around you, pushing you closer to his body.

,,Not at all’’ you laughed, feeling his erection against your leg. That didn’t surprise you at all, since you already knew that he could fuck around all night.

That night you lost the count of how many times you fucked, even tho you had your exam next day and after that night the war between the two of you was totally done. There wasn’t any need for him to bring anyone anymore, since he had such a good girl right beside himself.

The two of you started spending almost all of your time together, at that point the fucking wall that was between you was almost as useless. Every day, you would cook together, go grocery shopping together and what not. Even your friends and brother met him. The moment he met Bakugo again, you knew that they won’t really get along.

Keigo wasn’t very happy about it, but somehow he let it slip, accepting your relationship and giving his best to get along with Touya.

Now there was only one problem left.

,, TURN THE FUCKING MUSIC DOWN’’ you screamed, hitting the wall as hard as you could. Huge smile appearing over your lips as you heard him laugh. Music replaced with loud knocks on your door.

[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

The Sommelier (Hannigram x Female!Reader) pt. 15

Hannibal gives y/n an idea and y/n negotiates.

@viviace @deadman-inc-bikeshop @dovahdokren

Trigger warnings: graphic descriptions of violence

Aftercare was Hannibal's favorite part of the evening. He loved to spend long, indulgent hours pampering his darlings. But usually, there was only one. And that was Will. And Hannibal's clawfoot bathtub, although beautiful, was not big enough for both of you at the same time. Meaning, you had to take turns.

You and Will argued back and forth about who was in more desperate need of aftercare; each advocating for the other, of course. That was Hannibal's fault, really. He should have known better than to ask you to make a decision.

Hannibal emerged from the bathroom, sleeves rolled up and arms soaked to the elbow. "Who is first?"

Before you could speak, Will shoved you forward. "She is."

Hannibal knew better than to let the argument go on, and so did you. You followed him into the bathroom, the smell of lavender bath salts filling the air.

He removed your fluffy robe and watched you step into the warm bath. The water was just hot enough to soothe the aches in your muscles. Hannibal took his seat at the end of the tub where you rested your head. You leaned back and submerged your whole body. 

“You have such soft hair.” Hannibal said, pouring a bit of expensive-smelling shampoo in his palm. 

“Thanks, I use fabric softener and tumble dry it on low heat.” You answered. 

“You have a hard time accepting compliments, don’t you?” He probed, beginning to lather the shampoo into your hair. “Between that and the self-deprecation, I’d say you suffer from low self-esteem.” 

You felt yourself melting into him. The hypnotic motions of his hands chipped away at your defenses. “Is that really that surprising?” 

“For such an intelligent, sophisticated young beauty?” Hannibal chuckled. “I am surprised you don’t understand your worth.” 

“If it makes you feel any better,” You offered. “The fact that a psychotic cokehead fundamentalist Christian cult leader wants me dead tells me I’m doing something right.” 

“You are a force of nature, my indulgence.” Hannibal assured you, still massaging your head. “But you don’t need me to tell you that. You already know your power.” 

That got you thinking. Would it be so bad to just find a hunting rifle and blow Chase Mulvaney’s head off? What was stopping you? It certainly wasn’t your conscious. All your remaining moral fiber had been ripped to shreds over the course of the last month. 

“Tell me something about yourself, Hannibal.” You said, leaning back.

“What would you like to know?” He asked, retracting his hands. He cupped his hands in the water and poured some over your hair. 

“Do you ever think about morality?” You said, bluntly. 

The question pleasantly surprised him. “Quite a bit, actually. I like to think of myself as a student of philosophy, which deals heavily with the subject of ethics, human behavior, and yes, morality.” 

“Do you believe morality is subjective?” you tilted your head. 

“There’s not a doubt in my mind about it.” Hannibal smiled. “Those who think otherwise usually exemplify some of the best arguments for subjective morality.” 

“Religious nuts like Chase Mulvaney.” You said. “He and millions of others believe in objective morality, but can’t even keep it consistent among themselves.” 

“Darling,” Hannibal whispered. “You don’t have to wait for aftercare to talk philosophy with me. I would be happy to do so anytime.” 

You spent a half hour in the bath, Hannibal stroking, kissing and cuddling you. As much as you wanted to enjoy the affection, your mind was elsewhere. Perhaps it was just a hyperfixation, or post-multiple-orgasm clarity, but the only thought in your head was that Chase Mulvaney had to die. 

Your train of thought was chugging along smoothly until it was derailed by the violent buzzing of your phone against the tile floor. You leaned over the side of the tub, trying to make out the contact name from across the room. 

Hannibal dried his hands on a nearby towel and picked the phone up from the ground. 

“Who is it?” You asked. 

“This number is logged into your phone as just a picture of a...red demon?” Hannibal answered. 

“Oh, yeah.” You dropped your head. “I’ll call her back, just let it ring out.” 

“Who’s the demon?” Hannibal chuckled. 

You stepped out of the bathtub and reached for a towel. “Just somebody I know from work. Probably calling about covering a shift or something.” 

“Would that be the same person who believed I was the devil?” Hannibal raised an eyebrow, watching you wrap the towel around yourself.

You were about to say yes, but caught yourself. “No. Just some lady I work with who always refused to share her tips with the buses. Super entitled, total pain in the ass. I’ve been looking for an excuse to tell her off.” 

“Well, we can’t keep you from that, now can we.” Hannibal cupped your cheek in his hand and looked at your face admiringly. “There should be a clean nightgown for you on the bed. Please tell Will I’ll be ready for him in a couple minutes.” 

“Wow, you really did think of everything.” You rocked back on your heels and swung to your tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll let him know.” 

He kissed you back. “Thank you, my indulgence.” 

“Just one more thing.” You stopped in the threshold. “Could I please use your computer?” 

“I don’t see why not.” Hannibal looked up from the quickly draining tub. “By all means, what’s mine is yours.” 

You smiled and blew him a kiss before absconding into the bedroom. 

The nightgown he’d laid out for you had far more ruffles and lace than you’d consider appropriate for sleepwear, but it was comfortable and fit you well. 

You passed the message along to Will, but hurriedly. You were in a rush to be alone. You had some business to attend to.

You sat at Hannibal's desk, turned on his lamp and logged into your google drive on his computer. While you waited for the content to fully load, you scrolled through your contacts. When you found the demon, you pressed the green dial button.

It didn't take her long to pick up. "[F/N]! Finally, I've been trying to call you all night."

"Yeah, I know." You rolled your eyes. "Some of us have lives to live. Not that you'd know anything about that."

"No need to be snippy." She scolded. "I have an offer for you."

"If it doesn't involve a portion of ad revenue, I'm not interested." You shook your head. "I'm not settling for a flat fee while you make the real money off my experience. My goddamn trauma."

"Sounds like we woke up and chose bitchy today." She teased. "You're not even going to hear me out?"

"Freddie," you began, pulling up a document on the computer. "I happen to have a four-page, comprehensive statement of what happened that night right here. Half of it was cut out for the FBI report."

You could practically hear Freddie drooling already. "And?"

"I won't accept anything under $1200 for it." You finished. "Or 30% of all ad revenue on this article."

"That's not fair." She protested. "Best I can do is $750."

"You made ten times that off my first article." You leaned back in the chair. "Don't try to lowball me, Lounds, I can do this all night."

"Since when were you the assertive type?" She asked, deflecting the conversation.

"Remember when you told me my fifteen minutes of fame was running out and you were my only option to get my story out there?" You recalled.

"At the time, I was right." Freddie contested.

"That was before Chase went from a cokehead to a domestic terrorist." You said. "Now I actually can take it to a more reputable outlet."

"But here you are anyway." She said. "Extorting a small, woman-owned independent news site just for the hell of it. I've got bills to pay, y'know."

"With gaslighting like that, I'm sure they're astronomical." You rolled your eyes. Sighing, you propped your knees against the desk. "Look, I don't hate you, Freddie."

"I don't hate you either." She agreed. "I thought trashing each other was just our mutual love language."

"The only reason I'm considering TattleCrime at all is you." You admitted. "You're loud and unapologetic and it makes people listen to you. I need someone who can take the heat."

"Because you know that mainstream news outlets are going to cut your writing down to maintain the status quo." Freddie finished your thought.

You pursed your lips. "Exactly. You're the only one who's got the cajones to run the whole story."

"I'm flattered." She said, then paused. "If I move some things around, I can probably get you $1000."

You opened a new tab and typed some words into the search bar. You scrolled through the results, leaving Freddie without an answer.

"Hello?" She said. "[F/N]? Did I lose you?"

"How soon can you pay?" You asked.

Your phone buzzed. You had a notification from paypal. A thousand dollars from Fredrica Lounds.

"Right fucking now." She answered.

"You've got yourself a deal." You said, firmly. You typed out Freddie's email address and pushed send. "It's all yours."

[rachiekiszka]

Bloodthirsty-Chapter 2

TW for this chapter: Abuse, mentions of bruising.

Words in this chapter~ 1.9k

Chapter 2

When you woke up the next morning, two large tour buses had cramped their way into the small driveway leading to the Kiszka house. You quickly got up, getting dressed and throwing your belongings back into your overnight bag.

You stood in the bathroom facing the mirror, you hadn’t slept well and you had dark circles under your eyes. As you turned on the faucet to splash cool water on your face your breath caught in your throat. You brought your wrist up to your face to inspect it. Just as you thought, there was a bruise around your wrist in the same place where Jake had grabbed you the night before. Had he grabbed you that hard? You didn’t think so, but your memory was fuzzy.

You jumped at the sound of a knock on the door.

“Uh, Evie? It’s Sam. We’re going to be leaving soon, I just wanted to give you a heads up”

“Thanks! I’ll be out in a minute” you shouted in response, trying to keep your tone as sunny as possible.

Before leaving the bathroom you pulled your sleeve down, making sure it covered the mark on your wrist. 

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you stepped onto the tour bus Paige was already spread out on the couch, scrolling through her phone. Across from Paige there was a small kitchen area, and then 4 small bunks extending down the length of the bus. 

“Oh hey!” Paige greeted you when she realized you were standing in front of her. “You can pick whatever bed you want, It doesn't matter to me”

You smiled, tossing your bag down on the small table and sitting down next to Paige with a sigh.

“Long night?”

“I just didn’t sleep well, and I had this really weird encounter with Jake in the hallway at 3 am.”

“Weird how?”

“I don’t know, it was like he showed up out of nowhere and then…” you trailed off, not wanting to tell Paige about the bruise on your wrist, at least not yet. You weren’t sure if she would tell the rest of the boys about something like that and you didn't want them to know. It would be too much trouble to cause before the tour even began. “I don’t know, I just think he doesn’t like me very much.”

Paige nodded in understanding.

“Jake can be a little closed off, but he's really not so bad once you get to know him.”

“I hope so.”

At that moment the bus started moving.

“Oh I guess we're leaving!” Paige giggled as the two of you had fallen into each other, not prepared for the motion of the bus to throw you off balance. 

After that the conversation flowed easily. You knew you and Paige were going to become fast friends and you were happy for that. The first show was going to be that night in Chicago, and you spent the 5 hour car ride cracking jokes and bonding over your cliche music taste. 

“Oh God! Don’t tell Sammy you like Taylor Swift too! He’ll just about lose his mind, he thinks he’s a music God!” Paige exclaimed in between breaths as she belly laughed.

“All the better to tell him then! I want to see the look on his face!” you smirked imagining him trying to convince you not to listen to Taylor Swift.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you finally pulled into the venue, Jeff came and knocked on your door. 

“The boys will be doing soundcheck soon. Paige, we’ll need you to get some test shots for later. Evie, you’re welcome to come watch soundcheck. We won’t need their makeup done for another few hours.”

You decided to go watch soundcheck with Paige. It would be nice to get a chance to see them play to the empty arena before it was packed with screaming fans. As you walked through the backstage area, crew members rushed around carrying instruments and amps to get the stage ready for the soundcheck. 

The boys stood off to the side laughing amongst themselves. Even Jake looked to be pretty relaxed. Paige walked up to them, and you followed.

“Hey! It’s our stalker!” Josh shouted, turning around and meeting your eyes. 

Great. That was going to be a joke that stuck. You figured you might as well roll with it. 

“Yup! How do you think I found you guys back here?”

“So, you ready to hear us play? Or do you think you'll pass out on us superfan?” Sam joked, elbowing you in the ribs as he did. You were sure he didn’t mean to elbow you so hard, but the force of it nearly knocked you over. 

“Actually, I am interested to hear you guys live. I listened to some of your music on the way to Michigan yesterday”. 

You saw Jake smile at your admission and made a mental tally in your wins column. 

“They’re ready for you now!” Jeff shouted, popping his head around the corner. 

You made your way out into the audience with Paige, watching her get the settings on her camera adjusted. The boys took the stage, making any adjustments they needed to their own instruments. They began the soundcheck with the song “Highway Tune” you remembered hearing it yesterday, and it was number 1 on their Spotify streams if you remember correctly. 

As they played you felt your eyes drawn to Jake. He looked so comfortable on the stage, like he was consumed by the music and nothing else mattered. You watched his fingers run over the strings in a mesmerizing fashion. Your hand subconsciously came across your body to feel the bruise where his fingers had been wrapped around your wrist the night before. You weren’t sure how you felt about Jake. He scared you, but he intrigued you. It was like every fiber of your body was begging you to stay away, but you already knew you wouldn’t be able to. 

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the boys finished up their soundcheck, you and Paige were waiting for them in the wings.

“Evie, what did you think?” asked Sam, waiting impatiently for your answer.

“You guys sounded great, really!” you replied, although you had to admit your attention had been on Jake for most of the soundcheck.

You were hoping to have a moment to talk to Jake, especially after your conversation in the hallway last night, but the twins were quickly whisked away for an interview with a local radio station. This left you with Sam, Danny, and Paige. Sam invited you and Paige to come sit on their tour bus until it was time for the show.

As you exited the venue, you could see the fans out front already lining up. They quickly noticed the four of you walking out of the building and cheered enthusiastically, calling to get the band members attention. 

“Is it always like this?” 

Paige nodded, “They have dedicated fans.”

As you hurriedly stepped onto the tour bus, you quickly realized it was much larger and nicer than yours. The main difference being that there was an actual bedroom at the back of the bus. 

“That’s Jake's room, he can be a bit of a diva sometimes.” Sam saw you eyeing the back of the bus. 

“I can imagine, he has a… vibe” This made Sam and Danny burst out laughing.

The four of you piled onto the couch, resulting in you being pressed up against Sam’s body. You immediately noticed that he was equally as cold as his siblings. You could feel it even through his clothing. At this point you figured it must be some weird genetic thing, and they just run cold. However, your intuition told you that maybe there was more to it.

“So, Evie, how did you get into makeup?” Asked Danny.

“Well, I started playing around with it when I was in high school. I would do different looks on my friends and overtime it became a real passion of mine. I like the versatility of being able to do a big dramatic creative look, or the challenge of just accentuating someone's features as naturally as possible. I never really thought I would end up on a tour with a rock band though, this is all new territory”

As you spoke, Sam looked at you intently, with genuine interest. He seemed like he really wanted to get to know you. You found yourself staring right back at him, admiring his dark brown eyes. The longer you stared, you began to see the outline of contact lenses. You couldn’t stop yourself from thinking that Sam would look awfully cute in glasses, with his long hair framing his face.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses” 

You felt Sam’s body tense at your comment. He briefly made eye contact with Danny before answering. 

“Well to be fair you’ve only known me for about 24 hours, there’s a lot you don’t know about me” Sam replied, reaching over and tapping your thigh for emphasis.

You thought his reaction was a bit odd, you'd never seen someone act so cagey about their eyesight, but any thoughts you had on the subject were quickly pushed to the back of your mind as you processed Sam’s touch. His hand lingered on your thigh a moment longer than it needed to, and your eyes drifted down to your lap and then back up to meet his.

The moment was broken as Jeff and the twins opened the door to the tour bus, returning from their interview. Your eyes fell on Jake immediately, and you thought you saw his brows furrow slightly at the sight of his brother’s hand on your leg. You couldn’t be sure why, but this did give you a sense of satisfaction. 

“Ok Boys, we’ll be taking the stage in 2 hours. It’s time to start getting ready. Evie, I need you to start doing makeup.” Jeff said, seemingly moments from entering panic mode as the start of the show grew closer.

“You can do my makeup first.” Jake said, turning to face you. “You can go get your makeup bags and meet me in my dressing room.” 

You were surprised that Jake had requested to go first, but you were eager, albeit nervous, to have some time to speak to him alone. 

“Ok, sounds good, I’ll meet you in a few minutes”  you said in response, getting up to retrieve your things from your tour bus.

Paige followed you out, stating that she wanted to grab an additional lens for her camera.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh my god what was THAT” Paige exclaimed as soon as the two of you were behind closed doors.

“What was what?”

“Sam was soooo flirting with you, you guys totally just had a moment. I mean c’mon don't you think he’s cute?”

“I don’t know, do you?” you laughed trying to shift the attention off of you. The truth was you hadn’t found anyone attractive since your ex. Until now. You weren’t sure how you felt about that.

“Well actually I’m not really into men, but I can appreciate one who is objectively attractive”

“Oh, I didn’t know. It doesn’t matter anyway, I mean Jake is my boss technically.”

“JAKE?”

Oh boy. You had said Jake hadn’t you. You were drawn to him in a way you couldn’t describe. He was a mystery your mind was dead set on unraveling. 

“Freudian Slip I guess, But fine, yes, if you must know I do think Jake is cute. Like I said it doesn’t matter, he’s my boss and I’m not going to do anything about it.”

“We’ll see,” said Paige with a wink. “Have fun doing loverboy’s makeup!”

You simply shook your head in response as you left the tour bus to do just that.

[sanguineness-wings]

Why are you running?

(read on ao3)

Pairing: Hawks x gn!Reader

Rating: SFW

Warnings: bird traits/instincts

hawks/raptors have this instinct to chase and attack if you turn your back on them, so what if you accidentally trigger it 👀

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

The sun was dipping low on the horizon, sending amber rays of light between the tightly packed skyscrapers. You shield your eyes from the light as you step out of the convenience store, your groceries in hand. After you take a moment for your eyes to adjust, you note a small crowd gathering just up the sidewalk from you. And from the center of it sprouts a large pair of crimson wings.

It’s a dead giveaway, those wings were plastered everywhere across the city, on billboards, on buses. There’s no escaping Hawks’ image.

As you watch on, the man himself suddenly hovers above his adoring fans, stretching out his impressive wing span leisurely. Leaving you with a perfect view of his wind tossed hair kissed with dying sunlight and a lopsided smile on his lips.

It makes your heart clench as you look on with awe. He’s so effortlessly beautiful it hurts to look at him. It’s also incredibly intimidating. How can those fans just talk to him like it’s nothing. You couldn’t even imagine.

Your staring must have caught his attention as suddenly his gaze turns and locks onto yours. You feel your stomach lurch, frozen with embarrassment. Hawks has the audacity to offer you a softer smile, making your cheeks heat up instantly.

Your brain screams at you to leave now. Your shyness urging you flee the unexpected attention. So you sharply turn your back to the crowd, and the gorgeous Pro Hero, and hurriedly make your escape.

Without consciously knowing why, you take a final glance over your shoulder. Even with Hawks’ signature visor over is eyes, you can see his pupils dilate, nearly completely blown black before constricting to tiny pin pricks in a split second. His smile has fallen from his face, leaving behind a cold blankness. A shiver runs through you and a cold sweat breaks out under your collar.

Your brain unhelpfully supplies, “Haha, I’m in danger!” Adrenaline courses through your veins and you run. A full sprint down the sidewalk in panic. It’s a ridiculous response in hindsight, but you’ve never seen such an inhuman look on Hawks’ face.

You barely make it a few feet before you feel a gust of wind behind you and suddenly your vision is nothing but red. Massive wings envelope you entirely as powerful arms lock around your waist, almost bruising in their strength. You’re dragged to your knees as the body behind you curls over your spine. You feel the prickle of stubble against your neck and jaw, hot puffs of breath against your skin. You’re utterly trapped.

All logical thoughts are thrown out the window with your heart thundering against your ribs. You don’t dare move a muscle.

An indiscernible amount of time passes before you hear a huffed laugh next to your ear, making you shudder.

“Well, isn’t this embarrassing, damn. I’m really sorry about all this. Are you alright?” Hawks says in a tight voice as he slowly releases you from his grip.

You’re shaking as you awkwardly stumble to your feet, Hawks aiding with a gentle, gloved hand on your elbow. When you finally get the courage to glance at his face, your heart does a somersault in your chest. A light blush dusts the bridge of his nose and the apples of his cheeks. He has a hand behind his head sheepishly, using the other to steady you on your jelly-like legs.

“I haven’t done something like that since I was a teenager in training,” he admits, bashfulness coloring his voice.

“…and what was that exactly?” You finally find your voice, wincing inwardly at how shaken it sounds.

“Oh you know, like…bird stuff? Well, hawk stuff? Like predator instinct?” Hawks shifts from foot to foot, looking anywhere but you.

“Like...you thought I was prey?”

“No! No, it’s not like that. Well, I mean kind of. But not really? It’s hard to explain. You turned your back and I just…couldn’t help myself. I’m really sorry. Did I hurt you at all?” Seeing this level of uncomfortableness on Hawks was so jarring from how he normally carries himself in the public eye. It was like all of his confidence was parred away. 

“I’m okay, really. Just gave me a fright, that’s all.” You’re really trying your best to sound casual, adding a weak laugh to hopefully defuse the tension.

He humors you, offering a half-hearted smile as he stoops down to gather up your groceries that you didn’t notice had spilled across the sidewalk.

"Well, if you’re sure you’re okay, I should be off. A hero’s job never stops.”

And with that he’s gone, taking off into the sky. You stand there dumbly on the sidewalk in shock for a few beats.

You then hear murmuring, whispering, and the click of photos being captured. Horrified, you realize Hawks’ fans were watching everything and recorded every second of it. You curse under your breath as you start rushing home, ignoring the growing crowd behind you. If Hawks wasn’t going to eat you alive, the internet certainly was.

---

Get it together, Hawks. What the hell was that?

The winged hero cursed at himself with gritted teeth and a furrowed brow as he shot across the sky. He shouldn’t have done that. He was trained not to do that. The Commission pushed him hard to ignore the animalistic pull to hunt and another traits they deemed unsightly or dangerous. And he had gotten good at suppressing those instincts. He passed all of their tests and drills after years of intense training. He never had a slip up since starting his Pro career.

His mind was racing as he tried to pin point what made him react like that. Did he let his guard down? Got too comfortable in the moment?

He thought of the way you trembled in his arms, immobilized with fear. The thundering of your panicked heart and the quiver of your voice. A shiver crept down his spine, making his hair and feathers stand on end. He liked it. The thrill of it all lighting up parts of his brain long neglected. 

A frustrated growl escaped his lips, lost to the roar of the wind around him. He really shouldn’t be entertaining those thoughts, even for a moment. He felt gross. 

He dug his phone from his pocket, sending a text to his PR manager. The least he could do was give them a heads up. Though pictures and videos of the whole incident were probably already circulating. His PR team had their work cut out for them, it was a seriously bad look for the hero. 

Almost immediately after he sent the text his phone buzzed angrily with replies from his team and an incoming call from the Commission. His heart sank to the pit of his stomach. It was going to be a long night.

---

The days following were a nightmarish blur of embarrassment and anxiety. Your brief brush with Hawks was plastered across every social media platform. You couldn’t escape all of the memes and GIFs. You wanted nothing more than to blink from existence.

Most people thought the whole thing was funny, even wishing it was them tackled to the sidewalk by Hawks. Your coworkers teased you mercilessly, constantly asking if you at least got his number afterwards. 

There weren’t many, but a few comments filled you with anger. They were using this to fuel for their hatred towards those with heteromorphic quirks. They claimed that this proved they were dangerous, nothing more than animals. Which, of course, was ridiculous. 

But you did your best to keep your head down and ignore the notifications on your phone. You kept reassuring yourself that this would all blow over soon. And sure enough by the end of the week the internet was distracted by “leaked” selfies of Hawks in grey sweatpants, posing in front of a bathroom mirror.

---

Hawks had just started an early morning patrol as he glided and weaved through the streets. He’d been taking on extra hours lately, finding it easier to distract himself on the job rather than staring at his bedroom ceiling. Who needed sleep anyway. If he stopped, all he could think about was you. The fear on your face. Your frantic pulse against his skin. Guilt gnawed away at him. He didn’t want to scare you, what type of hero would he be if he did. 

Instead of dwelling on the thoughts eating at him, he focused on the streets below him. It was relatively quiet, only a scattering of people going about their lives. He swooped lower, maneuvering between lamp posts just for his own entertainment. He pulled up short abruptly, nearly smacking into one of them.

His heart lurched in his chest, recognizing you immediately as you made your way down the street. He had a little mental battle with himself. Half of him wanted to talk to you, just reassure himself that you were truly okay after all this madness. The other have was telling him to leave you alone, that he’d only made it worse.

After hovering awkwardly for a few moments he made his decision. He made a show of circling ahead of you before landing, trying not to startle you. 

---

Having Hawks appear in front of you was the very last thing you expected on your walk to work. You had convinced yourself that you’d never see him again and that, even if your paths crossed, he wouldn’t want to be seen with you.

Yet here he was, with a charming smile on his face and feathers gleaming in the sun. 

You approach him cautiously, pulling out your earbuds. “Um, hi?” you start apprehensively, not sure what the hero could possibly want from you.

As you catch up to him he starts walking beside you, joining you on your commute. His wing stretches out behind you and curls around your side. Smart, you think. Even if the two of you catch someone’s eye, you were largely blocked from view.

It’s comfortably warm beneath his wing, with your shoulders brushing against each other as you walk. Your heart speeds up a little, being this close to him is a little overwhelming. Especially with the memory of him being pressed over you still fresh in your mind.

“So, I wanted to start over, if that’s alright with you. I don’t think I gave you the best first impression,” Hawks explains, his eyes fixed ahead.

“Definitely a memorable one,” you quip lightheartedly. You were more mortified by all of the unwanted attention. You knew deep down you were never in any real danger. 

Hawks snorts, making you glance at him. You watch him roll his eyes. “Not my best moment. I’m really sorry I scared you so badly. I swear I’m not going to hurt you, or anyone.”

It makes you pause as you stare at the side of his face. “I know you wouldn’t. And you didn’t even leave a mark. We can just say it was a...weird, unexpected hug. Leave it at that.”

Hawks’ gaze catches yours for a brief moment before looking away quickly, a serious look sliding onto his features. “You know that’s not what it was.”

“I know but...I’m not going to judge you for your bird stuff, or whatever it is. You’re still human. Even with the wings. We all have weird, awkward tendencies. I’m a mess of them too, and I don’t even have a Quirk. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.

“So don’t beat yourself up too much,” you say, gaining a bit of confidence the more you speak. “You’re not a monster.”

Silence stretches between the two of you, both lost in thought. You surprise yourself when you are the first to break it. 

“Besides, I thought we were starting over. I’m y/n,” you begin, nudging his shoulder with your own as you offer him a warm smile.

“I’m Hawks, but you already knew that. Say, why don’t I treat you to some coffee. There’s this great little cafe not far from here. They have these pastries that are to die for. Trust me, you’ll love it!” The hero chatters away, with you still safely tucked away under his wing.