#this au totally sees them both getting matching friend tattoos when they graduate

[hey-hamlet]

Might I ask for another five from the Yaoyorozu Yakuza?

fighting for my *life* to find this au you have no idea. It was so annoying im tempted to make an au masterpost - but. thats *so many* aus. I'm considering it, though.

anyway!

The Yaoyorozu family own a lot of different businesses, but their main one is a chain of upmarket department stores across the bigger japanese cities. Some (specifically the one in Ikebukuro and the one in Akibahara) of them have what the public lovingly call 'otaku floors' dedicated to all things merchandise. She invites Izuku out to get coffee and look at merch - partly because she thinks head get a kick out of it, partly because he's really good at breaking down what makes a good brand for a hero and shes Listening.

He maybe almost happy cries when he looks out at the whole floor full of different hero merch stores. Some of the bigger heroes have their own shops, some heroes get merch produced by the same companies which have their own stores, and some heroes didn't trademark their names because they were supposed to be underground and a searchable trademark would have made that a bit dumb. Yaomomo and Izuku decide to find every single piece of Eraserhead merch across every store her family owns and buy (buy is a strong word when you are using your parent's credit card to buy something from a store your parents own but. eh.) every piece of it.

Izuku also spends about 30 minutes waxing poetic about how 'useful' merch like cookware is the best, and how Momo and Satou should be like Fatgum and produce it, along with cookbooks. Its all very interesting.

Oh also, the two of them get kidnapped on an outing during exam season. They could break themselves out, but they get so tied up about Aizawa docking their grades for breaking the law they just end up sitting there for about 6 hours until Momo's "family" break them out. Momo is faintly embarrassed, Izuku thinks everyone is very cool and UA is panicking that their students seem to have been double kidnapped. They are relieved to be told that the Yaoyorozu bodyguards are just very enthusiastic.

[deannaroxannewrites]

Tropetember Day 2: Coffee Shop / Tattoo Parlor / Flower Shop / Other Retail AU

Coffee and other ways to heal the soul.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x GN!Reader

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Rating: General Audiences

TW: Valhalla arc (mentioned), coffee, NCIS cameo

AN: Day 2 of @tropetember. I was really struggling with the coffee shop AU but once I got going, really got way too into it and could probably pad this out into a short series. Is that something people would be interested in?

Also, not really sure if I managed to capture Spencer but remember this is an AU and that's my excuse!

Enjoy!

Find this story on Ao3 here.

Word Count: 2.4k

One of the biggest advantages of owning one of the few coffee shops in Quantico that wasn't part of a massive chain, was the constant stream of senior FBI and Navy personnel desperate for high quality, well made coffee. It had become such a lucrative venture in fact that you could afford to hire enough staff to rarely even have to be behind the counter at all.

The surge in popularity has even allowed you to convert one of the spare upstairs rooms into a meeting room. In hindsight, you should have converted more because once your regulars found out about it, there had been outright war between the Navy and FBI to try and get meetings booked in. A couple of your regulars had even managed to get both institutions to hardwire connections so they could host even more briefings and meetings in the friendly, comfortable space.

Today's winners were a Unit from the FBI, who had booked it out for a whole day. Aaron Hotchner, the BAU chief, came in most mornings and was a real sweetheart. You'd been trying to get him to drink something other than his normal americano since his return from Afghanistan a few months ago, but had not been successful so far. You were excited to meet the rest of the legendary team. He always spoke fondly of them when he bought extra coffees to boost morale.

With that in mind, you quickly throw together the pastries and beverages he'd preordered for the start of their session and head in to do a quick check that everything was ready.

Like any meeting room, there was a large table in the center but you'd made sure to surround it with comfy and artfully mismatched chairs. The floor was a deep walnut colour and matched the numerous floating shelves which were covered in plants and books. The place was homey and extended the cosy chic look you had been trying to achieve throughout the shop.

After a little bit of organising, including making sure the FBI cables were accessible and tidying any of the Navy’s equipment, you head downstairs to the main space.

Charlotte and Jessica were behind the tills this morning, making quick work of the line and exuding friendly helpfulness out of every pore. They were both grad students and you were already dreading them graduating. Their natural effervescence would be impossible to replace.

To pass the time until your booking arrives, you catch up with NCIS Agent McGee who is on the coffee run, trying not to hold him up too long in case he ends up getting in more trouble with his big bad boss. Apparently Agent DiNozzo had knocked over Gibbs coffee but McGee had then slipped in it and done some minor damage to some of the equipment. He told you he much preferred coffee run to door knocking duty round a 6 block radius like DiNozzo.

As you wrap it up, a group of people enter the shop, led by a woman in colourful clothes and a sunshine demeanour. It's not until you see Agent Hotchner's suited and booted presence bringing up the rear that you realise this is the infamous BAU.

Donning your friendliest persona, you politely excuse yourself from McGee and head to greet them, calling Aaron's name across the way.

The profilers seem surprised by your use of their bosses name but quickly shake it off as introductions are made. You receive hand shakes off most of them with the exception of Penelope, who gives you a hug because of course she does, and Dr Spencer Reid who gives you a shy wave and looks like he'd rather be anywhere else.

It didn't take a profiler to see the physical distance between the genius and the rest of the group. He was always a step away from the nearest person and automatically avoided any physical contact from them.

How strange.

Brushing it off you lead them upstairs and get them settled, letting them know that they're welcome to come and go in the shop as need and that all their drinks would be added to the discounted tab and left them too it, all the while trying not to puzzle over the handsome loner and his cute sweater vest.

-----

If there was one thing Spencer Reid hated more than anything, it was team building.

Normally, back before everything happened, he would just grit his teeth and bear it. That's been a lot harder after finding out that Emily was alive.

Processing the joy at her being alive and the rage at being led to believe she was dead in the first place, particularly by the people he trusted the most, was not easy. He was trying to forgive them. He was trying to let it go, to accept the damage but move forward.

It was still a work in progress.

That's why, when Hotch announced a team building/meeting day, he had momentarily considered resigning. Though there was no longer outright hostility between himself and Jennifer, things weren’t exactly comfortable between himself and half of the team. The only bright side to this whole endeavour was the location. No coffee shop lasted long in Quantico unless the coffee was actually good. It was a small mercy.

He followed the rest of the team into the coffee shop, eyeing the surroundings and taking note of the other visitors. As the rest of the team joked about, he stayed back, simply waving at the nice owner of the shop when Hotch introduced them.

They appeared to be about his age which was very impressive considering the success of the café. And there were a couple of sci-fi references hidden in the décor that he would have loved to ask about, but he doubted they’d appreciate him going off about Star Trek this early in the morning. Instead he just gave a tight-lipped smile and followed the team upstairs.

Spencer tried his best to concentrate throughout the morning but to say he was relieved when they were left to their own devices for lunch would be an understatement.

-----

After a productive morning in the office, you wander back out to the main part of the shop to check on things. The lunch rush can be unforgiving but the girls seem to have it in hand. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Tuesday lunchtime.

What you didn’t expect to see was Spencer Reid hidden away at one of the back tables with a ginormous book in front of him, a small scowl on his face and the rest of his team nowhere in sight.

You agonise silently with yourself for a few moments before you decide to head over. You figure if he doesn’t want company he’ll let you know but you feel drawn to him. It was strange. Maybe it was just your instinctive need to collect strays.

You smile gently at him when you reach his table, indicating the seat opposite him in question. He gives a quick nod but doesn’t fully look at you.

“Everything ok?” you ask.

He takes a moment and seems to be considering his options. He looks at you with a little tilt of his head, likely questioning your motives.

Finally, he seems to decide you have no sinister intention and quietly replies “I just wish things could go back to how they were”.

You had heard about the events involving the BAU in the last year or so. It had been a hot topic of gossip in the shop numerous times. Aaron also occasionally talked about his guilt at what he put his team through when he stopped by, needing a friend to talk to. It’s the first time, however, that you think in depth about how faking a close friend's death likely affected the team members who were unaware.

This isn’t to say you didn’t care or didn’t think that it must have been terrible for them. You did, but had agreed with the justification that it was for Agent Prentiss’ safety, that finding out she was alive would make up for it. It’s apparent in the sadness of Dr Reid’s expression that that isn’t the case.

“Can I touch you?”

His eyes shoot up in surprise and he hesitantly nods. You gently grasp his hands, wrapping your fingers around his.

“I can’t even imagine,” you begin slowly, “how difficult this must be. But if you ever need to talk to someone, you’re always welcome here”

He gives a short, sharp nod and squeezes your fingers which you take to mean thank you.

“Also, this is totally not my place but, a therapist, one outside the Bureau? Might not be such a bad idea?” You give a sardonic grin and admit ” It worked for me”

After you give his hands another quick squeeze, you leave him to ponder your statement and head back to your office. Paperwork doesn’t do it self after all.

You hope Spencer manages to find some support though and decide that if he wants it, you’d be more than willing to help him.

---------------

It was a few weeks before Spencer Reid showed up in the coffee shop again.

It was early evening and you only had a few people in. You’d opted to close up tonight to ensure Jessica, who had been on the afternoon shift, had time to work on her assignment for class. She’d been complaining about it for the last few days.

The sound of the front door opening distracts you from your thoughts and you glance up to see who has entered. When you realise who it is you can’t help but smile.

“Fancy seeing you here Dr Reid” you say in greeting. He gives you a small smile in return.

“Well, it’s good coffee and, erm, the company’s good?”

You understand the question implicit in that comment and glance around at the few remaining patrons. They all have a beverage and it’s a quiet night so you can afford to take a step out behind the counter between orders.

“Sure, let me make us both a drink and then I’m all yours.”

You take his order (how much sugar?!?!) and get you both sorted out and settled into a small booth. You look at him, taking in the nervous expression on his face and let him settle in and start the conversation.

“I, erm, I took your advice”.

“That’s good. Are you finding it’s helping? Having someone outside of work to talk things through with?”

He nods his head.

“One of the things she pointed out was that so much of my life is wrapped up in work, that when things go wrong I don't have an external support system. Not that I didn't know that already but, someone else pointing it out made me realise how much if an impact it has.”

You bob your head thoughtfully, acknowledging his comment but not forcing him to say more.

“She suggested I try to find people outside of work to talk to. I was... I was wondering if you could be one?”

His nerves seem to have failed him slightly as he can’t look you in the eye, but you give him a big grin. Of course you want to spend time with this lovely man.

“I’d love to” you say, which gets him to look up and give you a smile in response.

You spend nearly an hour, with occasional breaks to serve customers, chatting to him before it becomes necessary to close up. He starts gathering his things but you’ve been enjoying his company so much you can’t bear to let him go. Instead, you check if he’s in a rush and, after confirming he has nothing else planned, invite him to hang around and grab something to eat from the diner down the street.

By the end of the night, you’re glad the diner is 24hr. You completely lose track of time, fascinated by the sheer amount of information he can provide and the passion with which he infodumps. It’s extremely endearing.

“I had a lovely time tonight” you tell him as you walk towards your apartment. You don’t live too far from the coffee shop and he had very gallantly offered to walk you home. “I’d love to do it again some time?”

He smiles and nods in agreement before asking for your phone number.

“I don't really like technology that much so I don’t have a smartphone and I don’t really check it that much and prefer speaking to texting…”

“Spence” you say, a little laugh in your voice as you interrupt. “Whatever works best for you. I’m not going to suddenly vanish on you, promise.”

You seem to have hit his worries a little too closely as he sways a little awkwardly, gaze wandering down to his feet.

“Can I hug you?” you check. His answer is to wrap his arms around you and you gently sway the both of you side to side.

He lets go and turns to head back out into the night as you call out “If you’re ever missing me, I know a place you can get great coffee. I can get you a good discount.” A laugh stutters from his lips and he wishes you a good night.

Leaning against your door you sigh happily to yourself. It’s always a good feeling making a new friend.

--------------

It had been over a year since the last time the BAU had booked (and managed to attend the booking). In that time, you’d converted another room upstairs into a meeting room, as well as setting up a shared work/study space in a room out the back.

You grin as you see them all enter, fascinated by the way this family of agents interact with each other. There’s even a tall, handsome genius who stands within the group, laughing and joking along with the rest.

Spencer greets you with a gentle kiss to your lips and it causes uproar from his colleagues. You don’t react much, you just turn to them and shrug.

“Do you know how many germs are passed in a handshake? It’s much safer to kiss.”

Your genius just laughs and wraps an arm around you, guiding the whole group upstairs, his friends playfully demanding details the whole way.

[big-wet-cas-eyes]

wings: day 3 of @starrynightdeancas 's 2k followers celebration ✨ (ao3)

when i saw the wings prompt, i didn't think i would end up writing meet cute au, but here we are (wc: ~2000)

Thursdays are Dean's favorite day to be at conferences. Usually, there's only a partial day of events, and some people skip it altogether. Once the conference is in full swing, he'll be busy bouncing from talks to lunches to happy hours to dinners with people he only sort of knows. But on Thursdays, he can breathe.

Conferences certainly aren't his favorite part of being a professor. He's kind of a homebody, so the travel and socializing is a little much for him, especially when air travel is involved. But he does like exploring new cities, so he makes the best of it.

That's how he finds himself wandering around downtown Thursday evening. The streets are bustling with the after-work crowd.

Dean pauses when he passes one of those huge angel wing murals that he sees all over the internet. There are a couple of teenage girls standing there posing and giggling. Dean chuckles, and once the girls run off, he snaps a picture of it. His best friend, Jo, loves gimmicky tourist things like that, so he sends the picture off to her, along with a wish you were here text.

"Excuse me, would you mind taking my photo? If you have a moment, of course," a deep voice asks him. Dean looks up to see a man standing there, looking at him hopefully and gesturing behind him toward the mural. He feels his jaw drop open for a second when his eyes rest on the man's face. He's gorgeous. Dark, messy hair and piercing blue eyes that make Dean feel like he's melting into a puddle.

But Dean raises his eyebrow slightly when the question registers in his brain. This guy doesn't really look like the type to want a picture in front of a cotton candy-colored mural of angel wings. He looks to be about Dean's age. He's wearing a full suit with a trench coat on top, despite the summer heat. He realizes he's still staring when the guy clears his throat.

"Sorry for bothering you, I'll find someone else," the man says with a slight nod before beginning to turn away.

"No, no, wait, I'll do it!" Dean says, feeling bad for basically ignoring the guy while checking him out. "You just surprised me. Took my brain a second to process."

The man smiles at him. "Thank you, I appreciate it," he says, handing his phone to Dean. The camera app is already open.

Dean gives him a small smile back. "Not to be weird about it, but you don't really seem like the angel wing mural type."

"Ah, I'm not," he says dryly. Sensing Dean's confusion, probably, he adds, "I sent my daughter a photo of the mural earlier. She's been bombarding me all day with requests that I take a photo in front of it."

Dean smiles wider at that. The man's eyes light up as he's talking about his daughter, and Dean's smitten by how cute it is. "Totally get it, man. If my niece was old enough to text, she'd probably do the same to me." He thinks of little Mary, running around the house in a princess dress and fairy wings as Eileen tries to catch her. Maybe he should take one for her, too. "I've got you." He glances down at the guy's chest and adds, "Take off your badge first."

"What?" the man asks, clearly confused.

Dean pulls his matching conference badge out of his pocket. The lanyards attached to all of the badges this year are a horrid shade of neon orange. "This," Dean says, shaking it slightly, "Take yours off for the picture."

"Oh… thank you," he says, pulling off the lanyard and shoving it into a pocket of his trench coat. He walks in the direction of the mural. He turns and faces Dean, mouth in a straight line.

Dean snaps the photo and frowns. The dude doesn't look happy, despite the joy that was in his eyes when he mentioned his daughter. "Smile, dude! This is for your kid!" Dean says loudly.

The man huffs slightly, but then his mouth splits into a gummy smile, eyes crinkling at the edges. The smile is infectious, and Dean can't help the one that spreads across his own face in response. He takes a couple more photos before he gestures for the guy to come back over. He does and Dean returns his phone.

"Mind taking one of me? Looked at it long enough that I want to send one to my niece anyway."

"Yes, of course," the man replies, taking Dean's offered phone.

Dean smiles and poses (hands on his hips, like a superhero), and there's a good chance the picture captures the laugh that comes out when he hears the other man chuckle.

He walks back over and retrieves his phone. Then, he offers his hand for a handshake. "So I guess we're in town for the same conference. Dean Winchester. It's nice to meet you."

"Castiel Novak," he replies, grasping Dean's hair and shaking it firmly. "It's nice to meet you as well." He pauses for a moment, and his eyes widen with something that looks like recognition. "Dean Winchester. I just read your new paper, Bradbury and Winchester. It was fascinating."

"Hey, thanks, man," Dean says with a grin, "but if I'm being honest, almost all the credit for that one should go to my grad student, Charlie. She's the best."

"Well, it's a testament to your teaching that one of your students can produce such excellent research," Castiel says, and Dean blushes at the words. "I would love to be able to teach like that someday."

"Are you not a professor?" Dean asks. Maybe he misjudged the guy's age.

"No, I actually only recently completed my doctorate. It took a little longer than I'd hoped, but I had to take some time away from schooling for my daughter." Dean nods in understanding. A handful of people he knows had a baby during graduate school and it definitely did not make the experience any easier for them. "I'm beginning a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Kansas next month, though."

"Oh, no way, that's where I teach!" Dean says. When he sees the glint of amusement in Castiel's eyes, he says, "But you already knew that. Because you just read my paper."

"I did. Different department than you, though. I'll be working with Professor Cain."

Dean smiles. "He's great, you'll like working with him." Before he can continue, Dean's stomach decides to punctuate his sentence with a loud grumble. "Uh, any interest in grabbing dinner? I'm starving, and I'd like to hear more about what you do if we're gonna be colleagues soon."

"Sure, I'd like that, Professor Winchester," Castiel says.

Dean scoffs. "You're uninvited if you call me that, Cas. Just Dean."

"Dean. Okay, let's go," he says, a small smile curling at the edges of his lips. They walk for a while, chatting a little about food and the city until they stumble upon a restaurant that sounds good to both of them.

Once they've ordered, Cas pulls out his phone. "I hope my daughter appreciates the picture," he says, swiping at the screen as he looks through the photos Dean took. He might have gotten a little carried away; there's a bunch. "I don't want to receive another photo of her pouting at me."

Dean chuckles. He pulls out his own phone to send his mural photo to his brother and sister-in-law. Cas also took a few, but he selects one where he's laughing extra hard. Took this for Princess Mary, tell her I love her, he texts to accompany the photo. "I'm sure she'll love it. How many pouting photos did you get?"

Cas hums, tapping a few times on his phone as Dean watches. "It appears… six." He turns his phone around to Dean. The name at the top of the text message thread reads Claire🐝 and he can already see two of the pictures. Cas's daughter, Claire, looks a little older than he expected. That, combined with the heavy eyeliner, doesn't make her seem like the kind of kid that would beg her dad to take a picture with an angel wing mural. Cas scrolls slightly and Dean sees a slew of please dad and you gotta! text messages, interspersed with more pictures of her frowning. It's kind of adorable.

"How old is she?" Dean asks.

"Fifteen," Cas answers. Dean opens his mouth, but closes it again when Cas continues, "I know, I don't look old enough to have a daughter her age. I get that a lot."

"Sorry," Dean mumbles. "No need to explain, I was just surprised."

Cas shrugs. "It's okay. Accidental pregnancy with my high school girlfriend back when we were both trying to convince ourselves that we were straight." Cas immediately blushes. "Sorry, too much information. I had already switched out of professional mode for the evening, and I forgot that we technically work together."

"You're in good company. No judgment from me. You won't be the only one out of the closet when you get there." He winks and then grimaces internally. He hadn't meant to start flirting.

Cas's eyes widen and then soften. "Thank you, Dean. I'm glad I haven't made a total fool of myself." His phone buzzes on the table and he picks it up. He smiles that wide, bright smile again, the one that Dean can't help but match. "Claire loves the photo," he says, turning his phone around. It's another photo of Claire, but this time she has the same bright smile on her face as her dad.

"She really wanted you to take that picture, didn't she," Dean says with a chuckle.

Cas nods. "She did. She's a sweet girl."

"Why's she love angel wings so much? She doesn't really… look the type, I guess," Dean asks, his curiosity finally winning out.

"The eyeliner phase is new. She's always loved angels, though. Her mother used to tell her angels were watching over her every night before bed, and I think that stuck with her."

Dean smiles. "My mom used to say the same thing to me. Definitely sticks with you," he says, as he pushes up the sleeve of his shirt. He holds his arm out to show Castiel the angel wing tattoo on his forearm, his mom's name and the dates she was alive in the middle. "Got this for her a few years ago."

Cas reaches out, brushing the edge of one of the wings. Dean shivers a little at the touch, but mostly just because of how soft and gentle Cas's hands are. "It's beautiful, I'm sure she would appreciate it," Cas says. "I think Claire's mom always said it because I'm named for an angel. Claire calls me her angel when she's feeling sentimental." Dean's not sure if Cas realizes that he's still tracing the edges of his tattoo. Honestly, he doesn't mind. The contact feels nice and he feels surprisingly drawn to Cas. His hand stays there until their food arrives.

The conversation shifts slightly, becoming more casual. They talk about their research, the talks they're planning to attend during the weekend, and a little bit about the university Castiel will soon call home. It's comfortable. Cas is really nice and interesting, and Dean's excited that it looks like he'll have a new friend when the school year starts.

A little voice in the back of his head hopes that he'll end up more than a friend, and Dean thinks the feeling might be mutual when Cas grabs his hand on their way back to the conference hotel.

[stray-kids-react]

Polaroid

Han x Fem. Reader Soulmate au

Warnings - Swearing, mentions of sex, and Fluff that'll make you cry.

Masterlist

...

Y/n's pov, November 27 2020

My mother once told me that I will know when I'm in love, she never specified what hints will cross my path... She just said I'll know.

As a young adult now, sharing an apartment with my close friend Yeji. I'm starting to become impatient with this whole game of love, why can't I just get told who is my perfect match. I'm so tired of having my hopes risen up and then crashed down onto my heart... Breaking it each time.

"Any plans today?" Yeji asked from the kitchen, making me cringe at the word plans.

I just was still recovering from a terrible break up, where I caught the supposedly love of my life slurping the life out of his assistants pussy. I won't forget the feeling of my heart completely stopping for a few seconds, as my mind told me to run and not look back.

"Yes actually, I have a date with Netflix and the leftovers in the fridge." I replied, slyly smirking as she stared at me like a worried mother.

"Well Netflix isn't going to have to wait for his turn. Because I have this guy who is really interested you and is a total sweetheart." She sighed, showing me a photo of the guy she was trying to set me up with.

"Yeah... No." I replied, beginning to retreat back to my room.

"Y/n! JISUNG TOLD ME!" Yeji announced, catching my attention from the front of my bedroom door.

"I-it's still a no Yeji." I whimpered, shutting the door harshly behind me as she sighed in defeat.

Yeji's pov

She needs to get out of this place, it's been two weeks now. All over a guy she barely even knew, I know the true reason she is hiding and she will never admit it.

Y/n is scared to see his face again, our best friend Han Jisung. The best friend that she happened to fall in love with, and moved away from after she got accepted into the university of her dreams.

They were never just best friends in anyone's eyes, not even there own. Yet they both tried to fill in the whole in their heart with other people, never realizing that all they had to do was just say three difficult words.

Y/n was in a hurry to find her perfect partner after I found mine, the man next door with the matching tattoo on his wrist. Your tattoo shows up when you are over the age of 19 and are near your soulmate, it shows up on your wrist, neck, or shoulder blade.

She didn't want to see Jisung in case that tattoo never came, they both wouldn't be able to handle the realization. But it is a part of life, and I'm not going to let my best friends live alone when they could have a chance to be in love and happy.

Han wanted to see us both while he was visiting the city, even though he knew the risk of utter devastation. That fake profile was just a set up so that she would finally meet up with Han, and she probably already knew about my plans.

I walked up to her door cautiously, gently brushing my knuckles against her door.

"Y/n... I know why you are actually upset."

Y/n pov

"Because of Han Jisung." I answered, brushing past the old childhood photos saved on my phone.

"I know that's what you were going to say Yeji, and you're right. I know I won't be able to take it if the guy I love isn't the one for me, and that all of those nights alone with him that are coded into my brain are worthless. I'm scared Yeji, I'm scared that I won't be able to think of most of my life without tearing up." I explained, as she plopped down on my bed next to me.

"You're fear will just get worse until you find out, you'll never know the result until you actually try." She replied, placing my head on her shoulder for comfort.

I let out a shaky breath as a couple tears streamed down my cheeks, she was right as usual. But I still needed at least one day to prepare myself.

"Fine, but let me rest today. I'm not going to fancy restraint with puffy eyes and bed head." I remarked, watching as a sly smile spread across her lips.

She slowly began to exit my bedroom, delighted that she finally got her way with me. Not even explaining who that fake date even was, probably just a random guy from Google. It was 11:30 at night, and all of my crying really wore the energy out of my body and mind.

So eventually sleep crossed paths with my mind and hooked up, completely losing consciousness as my memories flashed like a polaroid camera.

December 15th 2018

"I can't believe we're graduating this year, seems like we only started high school yesterday." Jisung sighed, carrying both of our bags while walking home together.

"Don't worry quokka, you'll still carry my bags for me even after high school." I teased, pinching the reddened skin of his cheeks.

"Oh very funny, and you'll still put crackers in your mouth and pretend to be a walrus." He remarked dodging the snowball that came his way.

He set my bags down on my front yard as he gathered his own army of cold fluff balls. I tackled him to the ground as we both drowned the silence in laughter, I traced my frosted mittens across his face. Gently crossing his lips as he brushed the snow chunks from my hair.

The close warmth of his breath against my face sent my heart into a frenzy, I secretly craved the closeness of him... But I never wanted to admit it in case I'd lose him.

His now glossed lips looked so kiss able, the way they pouted as he focused on my hair. And how they stretched into a warm smile that left a fuzzy feeling in my heart for years, made it only harder to stop myself from interlocking them with mine.

"I better get going bun bun. I'll see you tomorrow at school though." Jisung reassured, lightly booping my nose as he left his trail from my snowy front yard. Waving one last time to catch my attention as I was at the front door.

"Farewell loser!" He shouted, showing off that bright smile of his.

"Farewell to you as well, asshole!" I retorted, giggling as I walked into my empty house all alone.

November 28th 2020

Y/n pov

"Wake up! Time for bubble tea!" Yeji screamed, jumping on top of me as she consistently hit me with my own pillows.

"I thought we were meeting Jisung later." I sighed, looking at the red numbers of my alarm clock reading 7:30am.

"Yes we are, but I want bubble tea and to talk with you about some stuff I found out." Yeji replied, pulling me out of bed to soon push me into the washroom.

I complied to her excited energy, understanding it is pretty exciting for her.

The steaming water swallowed every inch of my skin, blocking out all of the noises outside. Only leaving me and the blank wall to stare at, droplets of water racing against each other. A flash of the mirror and sunlight clashing, sending the flash of a polaroid to my memories.

August 16th 2018

Yeji squealed as her boyfriend threw her into the pool, soon joining her in a large cannonball jump. All of his friends danced around with liquor drenching their breath, as their bodies clashed together in ways they didn't fully understand.

It wasn't my style of fun, it instead gave me a wave of fear and stress. Not recognizing any of these people, while they danced around half naked. Yeji's boyfriend decided that she had enough fun for one night, and took her home to rest.

I hurriedly gathered my belongings and rushed out the door, just as excited and horny shouts came from the pool. I was okay to walk home alone, it felt nice to be surrounded my silence for once. Even if my conscious tortured me about every bad possibility.

"Need a drive home party animal?" a familiar voice called from across the road, that voice of the man who has always had my back.

"I'd actually really like that." I replied, feeling a wave of comfort when I entered the car.

"I can tell your a bit freaked out." He sighed, throwing his bad into the backseat.

"That party was just... A lot. A lot more than I expected." I whimpered, still a bit overwhelmed from the experience.

"How about you stay at my place for the night. We'll even watch some American horror story..." Jisung suggested, even though he was shit terrified of anything remotely scary.

"I'm holding you to it quokka." I giggled, slapping his thigh teasingly.

We drove to his home as the car filled with a random playlist of songs, one landing on my favorite 'Turning Page'.

"I didn't know you liked this song." I commented, blushing softly at the tone of the song.

"I want this to be the song that represents me and my soulmate. It sounds cheesy, but it's true." He revealed, glancing my way as the car stopped in the from of his home.

The whole topic of soulmates use to be humorous to me, remembering when me and Han drew matching docks on our palms as 'our' symbol. Even taking a polaroid photo of the amazing art we drew, I still have it in my phone case.

Then it hit me, how much it would hurt to see him destined with someone other then me. That moment when he glanced back into my eyes with a shy smile, is when I admitted to myself for falling madly in love with my best friend.

November 28th 2020

I walked along the streets of our home town, hanging my mask off my chin when sipping my bubble tea.

"You know what's crazy." Yeji started, catching my focus immediately.

"I remember the moment you started crushing on Jisung. You didn't even have to tell me, I already knew." She admitted, gazing at me with only a soft warmth in her eyes.

"It was obvious by how many photos you had of him and you on your wall, and the way you looked at him as if he were your dream person." She continued, texting something on her phone that I couldn't quite see.

"Or how when he caught you staring he'd reply with 'take a picture it'll last longer'... And you always did to get revenge. I will never forget the day I saw you two as more then best friends, that was the same day when I bought you that polaroid camera for Christmas. " She replied, taking a short break as her hands nervously fidgeted with her skirt.

"That's why I want a 'thank you' later on." She mumbled, before running off and leaving me completely stunned on the bench.

"Y/n..."

September 14th 2018

"It's crazy that this is your last day here." I sighed, trying my best not to cry.

He nodded trying to smile the pain away like me, but soon caving in once his arms met my body. I nuzzled into the crook of his neck, hoping I could capture his scent one last time.

"I'll still visit. I can't cope without seeing your face, asshole." He chuckled lightly, sniffling quietly when he retracted his arms away.

He stared at my features for a few long seconds, as if he was contemplating on doing something. Jisung shook his head, smiling brightly once more as he pulled me into one last hug.

As he put his palm on the door knob, I shouted his name one last time. Running across the room towards him, he turned around immediately dropping his bangs on the ground.

He instantly knew what I was going to do, since his lips molded with mine without one ounce of hesitation. His hands lost in my hair, pulling me closer and closer until there was no space between us. Jisung's lips were so much sweeter and softer then any other kiss I've had.

The sweetness was sprinkled with the salty taste of our mixed tears. Only creating more as the kiss began to end, both of us realizing we should've told each other so much sooner.

"I love you." We both sighed at the same time, smiling sadly at the bittersweet sting in our hearts.

November 28th 2020

"Jisung..." I gasped, turning around quickly to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

"W-wow... You've really. Wow." He stuttered, cautiously inching closer towards me.

"You too." I chuckled airily, swallowing back my tears. I missed him so much, but it hurt too much to see him at the same time.

"Y/n... I know it's been a while. But I honestly came here because I needed to see you. I still love you, and I don't care if we're soul mates or not. I'll sharpie our own symbol on us everyday if I have to." He revealed, grasping my hands between his own.

"I'm sorry that I was being so selfish." I sighed, caving into my own tears. Regretting my fears of seeing him again, feeling terrible for torturing him just as much as I tortured myself.

"We are both scared. It's not our fault, but I just want us to accept that things may not go our way. But that won't stop us from being together." He reassured, lightly brushing frosted his mitten across my features. Glossing over my lips gently, his eyes warm and gentle as they fluttered shut.

I molded into his kiss immediately, lacing my fingers through his silky hair. Soon pulling him closer to my so there was no space between us, making sure no one could try and ruin this moment for us.

His lips still were as sweet as the first time they molded into mine, and his fingertips could still make my legs give out by how gentle they were against my skin. Every emotion flashed through my mind, all my regrets, confidence, love, lust... It all flashed just like a...

"Polaroid." He gasped, tugging my palm next to his as the ink slowly traced the same picture into my palm. The picture of the camera that captured all the moments I treasured with my soulmate, the soulmate that was everything I could've asked for.

[hiro-gari]

Batarou Headcanon - Yakuza AU

Hello guys, it's me again bringing more Batarou headcanon! 👀✨

While I'm still trying to finish my writing on webcomic Batarou headcanon/ficlet/oneshot (??), also battling with my stressed out condition, I will offering this silly AU headcanon instead in the meantime. Warning: implication of nsfw-ish thing towards the end, but nothing explicit, also many inaccurate depiction of the topic matters I'm so sorry.

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Badd is the firstborn of the strongest Yakuza clan, and also the Yakuza family's successor after both of his parents were assassinated by enemy clan.

The assassination happened when Badd was only a little kid while Zenko still a baby. Badd and Zenko survived from the tragedy after being saved by Bang, the leader and owner of martial art dojo, who worked as Badd's family bodyguard. They were both raised by Bang until Badd is reaching his adulthood, ready to take over his family's legacy.

Badd felt so sad after the death of his parents, sometimes mourning for them every night after Zenko was asleep. He swore to himself that he wont let the tragedy happening again, not when he still has the only precious person left from his family: Zenko. Once Badd reaching coming of age and finishing his school, he would be the Boss of his family clan.

Badd thought he wont get a friend because of his status and his intimidating look, until Bang bringing his adopted son into the dojo and introducing him to Badd. His name is Garou.

Garou, Bang's adopted son, was taught to be the next family bodyguard by Bang. So he can be the greatest martial artist to protect Badd for the rest of their life.

At first Garou was reluctant to take his future responsibility. But after seeing Badd, the most beautiful yet fierce person he ever witnessed, Garou gladly accept it. Especially after Badd bravely saving him from the bullies at school, showing how determinated he was to protect anyone he considered as his "family". Thus they started their relationship as childhood bestfriend, either in school or their home at Bang's dojo.

During that time, Garou encouraged himself to training as the best as he can in martial art. There's no way a bodyguard is weaker than the one they supposed to protect. He didn't want someone hurting Badd in the future, like what happened to his entire family. Badd is his bestfriend, his future boss, and also his first love.

Garou would be more than happy to be on Badd's side forever, protecting Badd from anyone who has ill intention towards him. It doesn't matter if Badd returned his feelings or not, because the most important thing is Badd's own happiness.

On the other hand, Badd was astonished by Garou's development and determination to become the greatest martial artist. It's like the "Fighting Spirit" is not only being inherited by his family's lineage, but also could be obtained by anyone who has strong determination. Someone who can be Badd's equal, not a subordinate no matter what people say. That's why Badd likes Garou, maybe more than just a friend along the way.

Badd also started to strengthen himself by learning how to self-defence, and to strike offensive attacks if it was needed. He didn't take martial art lesson like Garou did from Bang, instead Badd creating his own combat style using his family heirloom: a metal bat. Besides, it matched with Badd's current image as delinquent punk kid. In which could be frightening enough once he becomes full-fledged Yakuza Boss.

At school, because Garou and Badd didn't have the same class as Badd was one year younger than Garou, they would hangout on school breaktime and after school. Despite being a Yakuza's son and looking like tough kid, it doesn't mean that Badd is a bully. In fact, he was the one who becomes school protector along with Garou. There's bully gang trying to pick on poor classmates? These delinquent duo would showed up and make sure they wont get 2nd chance to do that again at all (everyone didn't know what exactly Garou and Badd have done but clearly they put the fear of god into those bullies effectively).

After school, they were either hangout on local diner/family restaurant/cafe/ice cream parlor/game arcade depends of their moods, so they could still living their live as normal teenagers for awhile. Or immediately went home at Bang's dojo to do training routines. Sometimes Badd and Garou training separately, sometimes they would sparring with eachother. Most favorite time was everytime they're trying on new techniques onto eachother in sparring session at training field, while Bang supervising them the whole time from dojo's main building entrance.

When Garou and Badd weren't in training hours, they spend time to do their own hobby as a form of relaxation. Garou likes to study in Bang's library or writing poems, whereas Badd have a fondness on cooking or baking to try out his mother's recipes, Zenko often joined him, too. Sometimes whenever Badd has difficulty on studying for exams, he always comes to Garou for help, so he ended up as Badd's tutor. In exchange, Garou asking Badd to cook for him since his cooking is delicious, thus Badd making special lunchbox for Garou as the payment.

Imagine after both of them graduated from highschool, Bang with the entire Badd's family alliance clans holding an inauguration ceremony for Badd. Badd was officially becomes the Yakuza boss and the leader of his family clan, taking his family legacy as the survivor. Then Garou pledged his loyalty for Badd as his bodyguard during the ceremony, vowed to be always be on Badd's side for the rest of his life and would never betrayed him at all cost.

Imagine Garou kneeled before Badd when he pledged his loyalty. And as soon as Garou finished his vow, he took Badd's hand and kissed his knuckle softly. Then looking at Badd with so much adoration yet there's hidden fire in those golden eyes, his trademark smug grin slowly showing on his handsome face. If Badd didn't fully realized he was in the middle of inauguration ceremony, he would thinks Garou was proposing him! Not a bad thought, actually. Maybe someday Garou would do that, if it was allowed. Nothing can stop Badd from hoping.

Imagine how badass these two when they're on-duty, and their compatible dynamic is legendary among the clans. Everyone who is Badd's family subordinate really admired and respected them wholeheartedly. Not only both are very strong equally, they're also charismatic in their own way.

Badd is a good and kindhearted leader despite looking rough on the outside, but never hesitated to show the frightening side if someone trying to mess with his beloved family. A feared leader for the enemies, but a loving leader for the family. Also very protective for Zenko and Garou. Has the alias as "Metal Bat" regarding his choice of weapon during the battle. His "Fighting Spirit" would be activated as the ultimate power only when it was in a very necessary time, but enough to put a fear onto his enemies. Not very good at delivering speech at meeting but always has the best motivational words. Secretly in love with his own bestfriend a.k.a. his bodyguard. Badd has 2 kind of tattoos: Dragon tattoo on his whole left arm and Phoenix tattoo on his back.

Garou is a total monster when in the middle of combat, especially when it comes to protect Badd, Zenko, and their entire family. Have excellent sense to detect any assassin who tried to target Badd and would eliminated them in a matter of second. Basically the Best Guardian ever. That's why their enemies would call him as "Human Monster" based on his strength and abilities to fight. But even a "monster" still has the pure and softest heart for Badd, and only Badd. Have a soft spot for any underdog and bullied kids. Garou was kinda spokeperson for Badd since he's better at delivering speech than Badd. Garou has 2 kind of tattoos: Oni/Demon tattoo on his left torso and Wolf tattoo on his back.

Zenko is the "Princess" among the family clans, but that doesn't mean she couldn't participate on being badass. She was very intelligent and the most sophisticated person among the three. Also learning battōjutsu martial art for self-defense, it's always fascinating seeing Zenko training using real sword so elegantly. Really adores her big brothers, yet never hesitated to slap some sense onto them when they're being such dumbasses. Very proud of what Badd has becomes. In the future after reaching adulthood, Zenko has 2 kind of tattoos: Cherry-blossom tattoos on her whole right arm and Samurai tattoo on her back.

Both of Garou and Badd also taking Tareo as a part of their family, after saving Tareo's family from being the enemy's hostage in a war between clans. Thus, Tareo becomes Zenko's BFF and possibly also a great trusted advisor for Badd's family in the future. Admired Garou very much. Garou inherited most of his knowledges and nerdy side to Tareo, hoping they would be useful someday. In the future after reaching adulthood, Tareo has 2 kind of tattoos: Koi tattoo on his whole right arm and Lotus tattoo on his left arm.

Imagine Garou and Badd had been mutual pining the whole time, but managed to keep it down so their family and subordinates wont noticed. Once Garou successfully confessed his romantic feeling for Badd (very awkward but sweet nonetheless), in which Badd accepted immediately, they're having a secret relationship behind the family's back. Because they didn't want to cause a ruckus between the clan family just because the Boss is currently doing lots of scandalous things together with his own bodyguard for every single day. Also the fact that Badd the Boss is the bottom most of the time, since he prefers to have Garou being an aggressive top (but there's no way Badd would never be submissive, as he always serve the good challenges for Garou to prove who's Boss).

Eventhough the family hadn't know yet about their "scandalous things", they could see how affectionate Badd towards Garou and vice versa. It's almost like those two men are lovers instead of only boss-bodyguard or bestfriends.

The way Garou being so protective for Badd, the way Badd patching up Garou's battle wounds, the way they're always looked so harmonious on fighting side-by-side in combat, the way they're gazing at eachother whenever they think noone noticed, the way Garou always kissing Badd's knuckles everytime they were going to clans war, also the way Badd kissing Garou's forehead as a blessing, the way they looked so happy when spending off-duty freetime together doing whatever they like at the moment, etc.

All of those proving that whatever relationship Garou and Badd have together is already beyond what the family members could imagine.

One time the family finally found out their nature of relationship was when Badd gotten hurt seriously after failed attempt of assassination, done by the order from another leader of clan who eventually becomes a traitor in the alliance. Garou was a second too late on completely protecting Badd because he didn't expect that there was a traitor among the family alliance. Knowing Badd was hurt sent Garou in berserk mode as he annihilated all the rest of traitor's assassins in the building, while Badd's family taking care of their unconscious Boss.

The whole betrayal angered the entire alliance members, especially Badd's core family. Garou's wrath was totally understandable because he was the closest person for Badd, seeing the devastation he caused upon the traitor clan. Zenko was in rage once she knows who was betrayed her big brother, she almost going to execute that person by herself with her own sword. Bang, who had seen this kind of assassination happened twice on Badd's family, and already considered Badd as his own son, in a silent fury immediately arranging what punishments the traitor clan would get.

The traitor clan was punished severely, and its leader was executed on the following day. Badd still resting in his home, in which guarded securely by his subordinates. Zenko was helping the caretakers to heal Badd's wounds, worrying for her big brother's condition. Garou never leaving his bedside, his hands holding Badd's hands as he quietly apologizes profusely for letting Badd hurted, for nearly losing Badd because of his own carelessness. Garou was ready if Badd wants to punish him, anything will do to get his forgiveness.

Regaining consciousness a little bit after hearing Garou's long rambling, Badd weakly ordering him to shut up and stop apologizing, because there's nothing wrong with Garou. In fact, Badd was actually grateful for Garou's good reflex to prevent the assassination from being 100% successful. That's why Badd still survive and alive, soon to be back being the Big Boss again. He smiled tenderly to reassure Garou, the hands that Garou was currently holding caressing him back.

If Garou still a small weakling kid like back then, he would be sobbing pitifully seeing his only bestfriend almost died. But now as a full-grown adult and the strongest martial artist, he just silently crying out of relief having his secret lover smiling brightly for him.

Just like a Phoenix, Badd wont die too easily, always regenerating fast and reviving again so he can comes back stronger than before. As Badd said, "Death is just a flesh wound, you can totally revive through fighting spirit and have another go!".

Wiping Garou's tears away with his hands, Badd whispering a "Thank you" for him. He cupped the bodyguard's cheeks before trying to get on sitting position, which Garou quickly supporting Badd's back by pulling him closer with his arms so he could sit properly on the bed. Now that they're facing eachother, Badd slowly reduce the distance between them until he could kiss Garou softly on the lips.

Garou was so happy to have Badd in his arms again, without any hesitation he reciprocated the kiss so it would go deeper, one hand still supporting Badd's back while the other caressing his nape, pulling the Boss even more closer than before. As the kiss becomes intimate, Badd humming in joy while his arms encircled Garou's neck, never letting him go.

They both were deep in passionate moment to notice that some of their family members saw the entire thing from the window, or from the door when the others wanted to relay the meeting report to Garou so he could tell it to their Boss. But since they were already in their own world and looked so happy, they just backed off silently and keeping the secret for the sake of the Boss. Or trying to cleanse their minds because it was "too much information to see".

Despite their status, with Badd as the infamous Yakuza Boss and Garou as his monster bodyguard, the family wont mind about their love life. As long as Garou keeps their Boss happy, why not? They both deserved everything best in their life..

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---- THE END ----

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Notes:

I'm so sorry for spawning another dumb AU headcanon again! And for working on completely impromptu writings instead continuing current WIP aaaah I can't focused enough my mind was going everywhere-- 😫😅🙏💦

Originally I was currently working for webcomic headcanon feat. short haired Fedex man (or mover?) Garou and tired Neo Heroes Badd, but something happened irl made me stressed out for whole 2 days nonstop. My mind was like a bottomless pit full of darker thoughts, I tried to think something anything so I wont be too focused on those thoughts. Hufff..

Then suddenly, this headcanon was born! Idk why I got this idea but I saw a Batarou fanart when scrolling through my phone gallery, it has nothing to do with Yakuza things but it sparked the whole idea! It was just Garou and Badd wearing matching Boyfriend Jackets™ with delinquent-esque tattoos motifs on the fabrics, with Badd resting on Garou's thigh while they're holding hands, both blushing brightly. I wish I could show you all but I forgot the source, since it was older fanworks from a Batarou Japanese artist on twitter 😢

I even trying to search what's popular tattoos motifs for yakuza members, and which one that matched their position/personality/depiction. It was kinda fun, imho.

Did you notice that tattoos placement for Badd and Zenko are mirrorring eachother? And that the tattoos motifs on their arms = their images (Dragon and Cherry-blossom, respectively), on their back = their way of life (Phoenix and Samurai, respectively)? Or Garou's tattoos, Demon on the front = his mask/job, while Wolf on the back = his true nature as both predator and protector? While Tareo's tattoos, Koi on the right arm = his soft and loving nature, Lotus on the left arm = his life journey to reach his full potential?

Also because I like the image of Zenko handling a sword like a badass, I was researching which sword martial art that suits her, both to self-defense and also to combat in emergency times. After looking through the types of sword martial art, I choose battōjutsu since it looks awesome yet still so elegant! Kinda punny when Badd choosing to use bat (literal bat) for fighting, whereas Zenko using battō (swordmanship) for fighting. Both words has similar pronounciation in Japanese, lmao! 😆

I hoped you enjoyed this AU, despite I know this wasn't impressionable enough as usual I'm so sorry. This idea was only done for 1 hour, another 1 hour to edit so it would coherent enough, so the quality was not quite good enough.. 😔 And after re-reading for several times, I just realized that I reused many elements/dynamic from my WereVamp AU welp, there goes me not being a creative person, already proven several times hhhh 😓

If there's anyone who wants to say something about this AU, please let me know. I'm always happy to receive some feedback even for the smallest, it's okay 👀💦👉👈 Also if anyone interested to use this Batarou AU, I will gladly rolling out the red carpet for you~ 👍❤❤

Thank you always for: @hiro-gari, @the-goddessfighter, @kaincuro, @garous-nipple, @jusqu-une-etudiante, @guby1620, @lovelybutnot-ablankcanvas, and @personne-tmblr, also all of Batarou shippers in the fandom! Thank you for always putting up with me on my lowly stupid af writings, I LOVE YOU guys! 😚❤💜💙💖💝💐

Wished me luck I can bounce back from the depression soon (I haven't getting any sleep for a whole day by the time I wrote this sentence ehehehe), and I hope you have great days, guys. Thank you all.. ���🙇💕💞💖🌼🌻

-Little1993lamb-

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~Lilia:

dw I gotchu😉 it’s opm_small_dduck on Twitter, their art is amazing ✨ I knew exactly which one u meant, definitely sets the tone for this hc!!

YAAAS tho I LOVE this AU! Especially them growing up together and having a reliable partner while being raised to fill their unique roles AWWW. They’ve had each other’s backs since the beginning and nobody better mess with them! Big Boss Badd 😤 it suits him so well 👏

The scene at the end tho 🥺 agh, I can imagine how shitty Garou would feel if something happened to Badd under his watch 😖 even if there was nothing he could have done to prevent it, he’d still be all emotional about it... Just might make out with the Yakuza Boss in front of his family without a second thought.., 🤷🏻‍♀️💗

And yes omg I’m love the tats!! The symbolism 👌 you nailed it!! Sword wielding Yakuza Zenko though 🙇‍♀️ Queen. Yes.

Thank you so much for this anon!! Hope you are getting some sleep 😩💖 LOTS OF LOVE TO YOU😚

[destieldrabblesdaily]

hello there (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ I'm pretty new to destiel and just found your blog because I wanted to look into some fanfics and someone recommended & turns that you have like a billion one shots for destiel! love your writing style but, I'm not sure where to start in your drabbles tag because it's soooo much (ﾟдﾟ) can u maybe point me to some popular ones or some that you preferred writing or something like that to get me started? thank you anyway (ʘ‿ʘ)ノ✿

Hey friend! 

Ahh, I totally get you. :p A billion is a bit ambitious, but with like 400 stories in one tag and no way to sort, it might get tricky. *sweats nervously for not having a better tagging system*

But anyway, you rock for finding my blog and liking my style, so here is a little something to help you out! For starters, a lot of my stories are also on AO3, which is still a realm of chaos, but is a hell of a lot easier to navigate than my tumblr tag. 

Anyway, here is a little map to get you started, sorted by my most popular Destiel fics (according to AO3), and ones I personally just loved writing!

—

Canon!Verse fics, most popular:

1) CursedTeam Free Will is hunting a witch, but before she dies she turns Cas into a kitten. They can’t find a cure, and after two weeks everyone is losing hope. One night when Cas is sleeping on Dean’s chest, the curse fades and he turns into himself again. As Dean’s luck would have it, Sam walks into the living room seeing Dean sprawled out on the couch with a very naked Castiel on top of him.

2) JealousyWhen Dean, Sam and Castiel are having a drink at a bar after a hunt, Dean finds Cas flirting with a guy, and suddenly realizes something about his own feelings for the angel… 

3) Dream A Little DreamCastiel goes after a Djinn but gets captured, and of course his dream world is all about Dean and him being happy together, so he’s very disappointed when Dean and Sam save him and he wakes up… 

4) With A Little Help From My FriendDean is really nervous about finally telling Castiel how he feels, so he practices over Skype with Charlie. Naturally, Cas chooses that exact moment to drop by, and ends up hearing the whole thing…

5) WhiteboardFor a while now, there has been a whiteboard in Dean’s room. When failing to say the words out loud, there’s always the option to write them down. So that’s exactly what Castiel suggests, and Dean humors him, the two of them finding new ways to understand and forgive each other by working through some issues from both the present and the past.

—

Soulmate AU’s, most popular:

1) What Can’t Be SeenSoulmate AU where you first see color after eye contact: Cas is a famous best selling author and he’s promoting his book, so he’s talking to a crowd of people and suddenly his world is in color, and a lot of his fans pretend to be his soulmate. A Cinderella type situation ensues.

2) The PendantAU where instead of a tattoo/name everyone’s born with a pendant/charm necklace that matches their soulmate’s. Dean walks into their bathroom thinking it’s empty, but there’s Cas taking off his shirt to take a shower and Dean sees his necklace (that matches Dean’s, obviously) and freaks out (because Dean is totally 100% NOT gay at all). Bonus if Cas already knows.

3) Daffodils & Forget-Me-NotsSoulmate AU where when you write something on your skin with pen/marker/whatever the hell you want, it will show up on your soulmate’s skin as well.

—

High School AU’s, most popular:

1) No HomoFor the prompt: ‘I wasn’t gay, but then I kissed you in front of some homophobes to piss them off, and turns out I might be kinda gay for you after all’. In which a kiss makes Dean realize that he has feelings for his best friend.

2) This Game We PlayDean and Castiel have been best friends since they were little, and sleepovers are a common event. They’ve always loved playing the game where they draw out letters on each others backs and try to guess what the other is writing. Even though sixteen seems to be a bit too old to still play the game, Castiel uses it as a chance to silently confess something that he’s been wanting to share with Dean for a long time.

3) Camping and CuddlesDean and Castiel have been best friends since forever, and they decide to go on a camping trip to celebrate graduating high school. When it starts raining and Cas’ tent turns out to have a huge hole in it, the boys are forced to share Dean’s tent, and things heat up.

4) The CallCastiel accidentally butt dials his best friend Dean, and Dean overhears a conversation that wasn’t meant for his ears. Or: the one in which Dean finds out that his best friend has feelings for him.

5) Practice Makes Perfect‘It’s not gay if it’s practice, but shit that was actually really nice wanna practice some more?’ Or, the one in which Dean offers to help his best friend Cas improve his kissing skills, until it’s no longer just ‘practice’. 

(If you are particularly into High School AU’s, I also made a complete list of al my HS AU’s that you can find here –> Click!

—

College/Roommate AU’s, most popular:

1) What It MeansDean’s roommate and best friend Castiel always says ‘I love you’ to him every night before they go to sleep. Seeing as Dean has some serious feelings for his friend, he can’t take the confusion any longer and one night asks Cas what it means when he says ‘I love you’. 

2) If At First You Don’t SucceedFor the prompt: “Wait, did you just flirt with me?“ “Have been for the past year, but thanks for noticing.

”Dean has a huge crush on his friend Castiel, with whom he also shares an apartment. When he decides that he finally wants to woo Cas, everything that could possibly go wrong, does indeed go wrong.

3) UnbrokenDean’s best friend and roommate Castiel is asexual, and it’s causing Cas a lot of trouble when it comes to dating. Cas feels broken, but Dean deeply disagrees; he’d be with Cas in a heartbeat, if only Cas would see him as more than a friend… 

4) Safe And SoundFor the prompt: ‘College!AU where Dean and Cas are roommates and one of them is afraid of thunder, so naturally they have to huddle/cuddle together until the storm is over.’

5) Hot & ColdDean and his best friend Castiel get stuck in the middle of nowhere when the Impala’s engine gives up on them. A snowstorm is raging, and it seems that the only way to keep warm is a method that sounds a lot like ‘naked cuddling’. Not that Dean is complaining.

—

Blind/Deaf AU’s, most popular:

1) Through Your EyesDean’s best friend Castiel is blind, which is why Cas loves it whenever Dean describes the things as he sees them. When Castiel gets curious and wants more details about Dean’s looks, Dean is reluctant to go into detail about them. Castiel’s solution is simple, and demands nothing more than a gentle touch.

2) At First SightDean has been blind since he was four years old, but at 18 years old he regains his sight through special surgery. This also means that he will finally be able to actually see his boyfriend Castiel for the first time. Castiel is excited, but at the same time utterly terrified that Dean won’t approve of his looks…

3) MisunderstandingsWhen the handsome new student Castiel Novak arrives at Lawrence High, Dean has every intention of making him feel welcome. However, Castiel seems to ignore Dean whenever Dean tries to talk to him…

4) DeliciousImagine your OTP, based on this text post: ‘Okay, so I’m a waitress at this restaurant that’s open really late and it’s nearly 1am and this family comes in and I’m so tired that I handed their BLIND SON a menu and he’s like “ah… thank you… I’ll just… read this” in a serious voice and I fucking snorted.'With blind!Dean and waiter!Cas.

—

Personal favorites to write:

1) Her Favorite Love StoryThe story of Dean and Castiel as seen through Mary Winchester’s eyes; AKA how she witnesses her oldest son fall in love with his best friend. 

2) The MatchmakerBased on this prompt: “My cat keeps breaking into your apartment next to mine, so I tied a note to its collar to apologize, and you write back. We keep exchanging cat notes, and you turn out to be pretty cute.” 

3) WingsWhen ten year old Dean Winchester and his family move to a new town, he becomes best friends with the boy next door, who happens to be an actual angel. Dean is fascinated with Castiel’s wings from the start, however when they get older, Cas suddenly starts hiding them and no longer wants Dean to groom them for him.

4) BlackboardsFor the prompt: 'Dean and Cas are both high school teachers, and they leave each other cute notes on each others’ black boards.’

5) To Date a DickCas is out on a date with a complete and utter asshole in a really nice restaurant, and Dean is their waiter who feels the need to intervene.

6) Angel Grace (2 Parts)Dean Winchester loves going to conventions to meet the cast of his favorite TV show 'Angel Grace’. Aside from being good at his job, lead actor Castiel Novak is charming, handsome, and has a heart of gold. Like many fans, Dean has a serious crush on the guy. However after meeting Castiel several times, it’s starting to look like Dean’s crush isn’t as one sided as Dean had always assumed it was.

—

Holiday Specials:

❄ Destiel Drabbles: December/Christmas Edition Fluffy Christmas-themed Destiel stories to warm the cockles of your heart during the cold December days! 

❄ All I Want For ChristmasDuring a big family get together, a drunk Castiel starts singing ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ to his best friend Dean while the whole family watches.

🕷Destiel Drabbles: Halloween EditionSome fluffy Halloween themed Destiel drabbles. Happy Halloween!

🕷Kiss Or TreatCastiel has been dutifully handing out Halloween candy all night, entertaining the many kids ringing the Novak house’s doorbell, but he’s in for a big surprise when the bell rings once more and it’s his crush Dean Winchester suddenly standing there on his front porch…

🕷Of Holding Hands and Haunted HousesFor the prompt: 'You’re scared of haunted houses and Halloween attractions, and I don’t even know you but your friends left you behind (what dicks) so I’m gonna hold your hand and get you through this, alright?’

♥Valentine’s DayFor the prompt: 'Cas anonymously sending Dean one of those school Valentine’s Day flowers with a little personalized note, thinking that someone as popular as Dean won’t notice his message anyway because he gets so many. Little does he know that Dean sent one to him as well…’

—

If you feel like reading a multi-chapter Destiel fic, I wrote one of those as well: 

Fortune CookiesDean and his best friend Jo own a bakery together. When a salesman named Crowley visits Dean to make a deal, Dean has no idea of the consequences, and his world turns upside down when an actual angel literally crashes into his life. For the first time in his thirty-year-existence, Dean is overwhelmed by real companionship, wings, and most of all… love.

—

Or for easily reading and clicking through short fluffy (mostly canon!verse) Destiel stories, go here:

~ 100 Days of Destiel Drabbles ~

Or here: 

~ 30 Days of Destiel Drabbles ~

—

Hope this was helpful, and happy reading! :D (I really need to become a better tagger, ahum. :p)

[lucy-pepperwood]

Soul Eater O.C.

Soul Eater Au

Lenora Reed ( top )

Florence Ballad ( bottom )

( Gif credit is Castlevania and Noragami, and weapon pic is also Castlevania, Lenora weapon form is based on morning start whip)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lenora Reed

Age: 16

Height:5'9

Blood type: B+

Status: Weapon

Weapon type: Chain Whip

Partner: Florence Ballad

The first thing people notice about Lenora Reed is her eyes. A pale blue in color and no pupil. Lenora Reed is entirely blind. Lenora was lucky enough to grow up in a relatively wealthy family, she was able to learn everything she needed to know. Brail, how to walk with a cane, and how to live with the constant questions. The problem with Lenora's upbringing was complete and totally coddling she received very day. Her parents and siblings treated her like she was infantile. The treatment only got worse when it was discovered that she and her sisters were all weapons. Her sisters. Wendy and Corinna had no interest in their weapons forms. But Lenora, it was a whole new world. It wasn't a real sight that was granted to her, but still, it was better than nothing, and her parents refused to let her train. In pursuit of her new ability to see, Lenora ran away. She booked it from England all the way to Nevada and enrolled in the DWMA.

Her first year, she entered as a N.O.T. student, but after her first year, she is promoted into the E.A.T. course. This is only possible because of her and her partner's hard work. 

Florence Ballad is a godsend to Lenora. She's open to eager even to learn this new technique. Lenora and fluoresce clock hours working this technique out, barley sleeping their first year. Between training, school, and eating, sleeping early made the cut, and their social life was genuinely non-existent. 

Florence and Lenora overcame everyone's expectations. Lenora is not the first blind student in the school, but she is the first blind student in the E.A.T. program.

Lenora has a high drive to prove everyone wrong. She is a goal-orientated person. She is dedicated and hates it when others complain of don't put their all in. 

Lenora has told no one she is a runaway. She spent months stocking money and gathering the documents needed to train at the school. Lenora's parents are looking for her everywhere but can't seem to find her. 

In her time at  DWMA and under the influence of Florence, Lenora has experimented wildly with her appearance. She copped all of her hair and dyed it from brown to pastel pink, she got piercing and even a tattoo on her face. She has gone a little bit wild now that she has no parental rules holding her back. 

Lenora is kinda selfish, she's thrown all her manners out the window, and she's uglily to do favors for anyone. She's also not very considerate of others' feelings. Lenora is a tell it like it is kinda person and doesn't beat around the bush. This doesn't make her very many friends, but the ones she does appreciate her honesty. 

When people are having a crisis of faith or don't know what to do, they come to Lenora because they know they will get straight answers, even if they are a bit rude. Some times people walk away in tears. 

Lenora as a weapon and a fighter is very aware of her surroundings. Once she became a weapon, Lenora became aware of a new facet of soul powers. When transformed, Lenora can sense the earth and her surroundings. In a sense, she opens her wavelength up into a spare around herself and can sense everything in that space. This allows her to "see." Lenora is a practitioner of using her wavelength as a weapon. When fighting out of her weapon from her sphere is only afoot. So to make sure she can end the fights quickly, Lenora learned to fight with her wavelength. She can power her limbs and her strikes. When sparring her opponents after the fact will say that her hits feel like burns. Lenora is a practitioner of Aikido

The one regret Lenora has about cutting her hair is that she can no longer use it as a fighting tool. Lenora is not comfortable shifting only part of her body.

Given that Lenora has an active soul wavelength, she now has enhanced speed, endurance, strength, and other physical abilities. As she grows stronger in mind and body, these abilities these enhancements also increase. 

Lenora prefers fighting in her weapon form. She is a chain whip with the capability of shifting her length. She is ultra-durable in this form. The mooring ball at the end of her strap is capable of crushing metal and concrete. Her chains, after also sharp, getting hit by her in this form, is deadly. Lenora is also capable of discharging wavelength attacks in this form. 

Lenora is a very singular person, she will not bond with another meister. No other meister has been able to use her. It was honestly a surprise that she even found one. She and Florence are very compatible. 

Lenora's soul bubble is actually a deep Fusha color, and her tattoo appears on it. Her hair on this bubble seems like an upward spiral. 

Facts about Lenora

She is a Taurus 

Her favorite food is Pork 

She can play the Piano

Lenora always wears a ring on her left-hand pinky finger

Lenora does not have her ears pierced

Lenora is a cheater when it comes to board games and cards

Lenora prefers heat and does not like the cold. 

Florence Ballad

Age: 16

Height 5'9

Blood Type: O+

Status: Human

Type: Meister

Florence Ballad is tired of being compared to her perfect siblings. Her elder twin siblings and even her younger twin siblings. Florence is tired of being the odd one out in the perfect matched sets. She is tired of being judged and having her siblings turn against her for the love of their mother. 

Elder set: ( Arthur and Louisa)

Younger set: ( Daphne and Helena )

Florence is the odd one out in a family full of prodigies and geniuses. She constant craves her mother's affection and praise but never reassess it. Her elder siblings are musical savants, and her younger ones are graduating high school at 12. Nothing Florence does will ever be enough. Her mother ( Winifred ) docent believe Florence will ever amount to anything. When her daughter asks to go to DWMA to be a Meister, she even says I doubt you'll make it. 

Florence is dead set on proving her mother and her siblings wrong. 

Florence is a perfectionist with a high amount of pride. She is a strong-willed person and has never really had friends before. All the people in her life gravitating towards the famous and oh so smart twins. 

Florence is packed off to school without as so much as a goodbye. 

Her pride and her ego finality take some hits.

Her first year, she is lucky enough to meet Lenora Reed. A girl with just as much drive as herself. The first weeks were rocky, though, Florence was off-putting to many potential partners with her work ethic and lack of consideration. That way, she and Lenora made such a perfect pair. Lenora had a goal and a drive for greatness, and Florence had the determination and the same drive to help make it happen. 

Florence's personality and goals revolve heavily around her family. She makes plans so that she can impress them or one of them by becoming famous as well. 

Together Florence and Lenora become a machine. Day in day out hard work and no play. They made it into the E.A.T. course when no one thought they could. 

While her mother does not love Florence like she loves her twins, she does still finally support Florence, giving her allowances and even buying Florence an Apartment in Death City. While Florence knows she needs this money, she tries not to spend it at all and instead saves it. She has a part-time job in which she gets her own spending money. 

Florence, while she doesn't make friends with many others. It is very close to Lenora. Both girls are best friends as well as partners, they make choices together and spend all their free time together. 

Florence is a meister, she has no weapon blood. She trains to be at her physical peak and trains with Lenora and her whip form instantly. In hand to hand combat Florence has become a beast. She strikes fast and hard. She is a practitioner of Jui Jitsu, Sambo and Krav Maga, all systems of martial arts that were developed for battlefield use.

Florence can use her wavelength as a weapon. Also, because her wavelength is active, Florence has an enhanced physical body. Florence can attack with her wavelength, she also is the co-developer of the wavelength sphere, a sensing technique for both misters and weapons

Florence is an assertive soul. Her soul is lime green and depicted with two buns on its head as well as long eyelashes. 

Facts about Florence

She is a Virgo

Her favorite food is Duck 

She knows how to juggle

She learned how to read Braille 

She is a bonafide speed reader

She knows when she is dreaming and can wake herself up manually

Facts about Florence and Lenora

Together their first year, they each slept about 4 hours a night. 

Both girls wear white button-ups with blue ties, a black blazer, and shin-length black skirts. 

They both also wear black flats. 

They both work for the school in the Library. 

Both girls drink Tea over Coffee 

Both love Hot coco though 

Both girls have massive sweet tooths 

Both girls are Strong Souls 

Their Apartment color theme is pastel yellow and white 

Neither of them returns home for any holidays Neither has had a boyfriend 

At the start of the storyline, the girls are third years 

Their soul collection number at the beginning of the cannon is 75 souls 

Neither girl likes the cold

Both girls are from England 

Lenora: Brist

Florence: London

Upon completing the 100 souls requirement, both girls hope to be sent to South America to help establish DWMA school branches

[nicolewrites]

canvas hearts

so i was supposed to read freud for class this weekend. instead, take almost 10k of blackstairs fluff since i just read the dark artifices series.

Rating: T Genre: Romance/Friendship Characters: [Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn], Cristina R., Divya J. Words: 9,663

“Julian didn’t want to know if Emma was or wasn’t his soulmate. He was completely fine with the friendship that they shared, even if it wasn’t as strong at school as it was outside of school. He had never looked at any girl like he looked at Emma and even the idea that she wouldn’t be his soulmate made his insides twist” / blackstairs modern soulmate au

AO3 | FFN

“Hey, Emma, isn’t that Julian Blackthorn staring in this direction?” Divya asked suddenly, glancing over Emma’s shoulder.

Emma paused, her sandwich halfway to her mouth. She placed it back on her tray and gave Divya a disbelieving look. “I highly doubt it,” she said. Divya shrugged and tipped her chin outwards. Emma rolled her eyes and finally turned around.

She almost immediately made eye contact with a boy sitting halfway across the cafeteria. His lips flicked upwards into a tiny smile before he drew his blue-green eyes away and Emma was left staring at him. He looked as he always did with beautiful, sharp features and curly dark brown hair.

She spun quickly back to face Divya and the other girl was smirking. “Told you so,” she bragged.

Emma shrugged. “I’m sure it’s nothing. He was probably looking for his siblings. Jules and I have known each other for a long time. Our parents are friends so we’re family friends.”

Divya shrugged and bit into one of her french fries. “He looks like he’s pining.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Almost the entire school has determined that we’re going to meet our soulmates in high school, and I’ll be the first to admit I don’t share that belief, but maybe Julian does.”

Before Divya could reply, a third girl plunked herself down at the table, next to Emma. She was fuming visibly and Emma quirked an eyebrow at her best friend. Cristina flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder and began winding it up into a bun to tame it. She was muttering in Spanish under her breath and Emma and Divya glanced at each other with matching apprehensive looks.

“Ay, dios mío, I hate her,” Cristina finally grumbled.

Emma turned and looked in the direction that Cristina had come from and instantly knew the source of the girl’s agitation. Zara Dearborn was clinging to the arm of Diego Rosales, smirking wickedly. Zara’s brown hair was pulled into an impossibly tight, smooth ponytail and she had on red lipstick that was far too dramatic for a casual day at school along with enormous silver hoop earrings.

Divya frowned, poking a fry angrily into her ketchup. “Tina, what did the bitch do this time?” Cristina huffed. “Just look at her clinging to Diego. She turned eighteen two days ago and apparently she’s going to get a tattoo today so she can prove Diego and her are soulmates.”

Emma studied her friend. Cristina looked annoyed, but as pretty as she always did, with a few dark hairs escaping her bun to frame her tanned face like a princess. “I thought you were over Diego. You guys broke up last year,” Emma pointed out. Divya’s face tightened a little at the mention of Cristina dating Diego, but Cristina just waved off the question. “Come on, Diego and were basically just friends, I just hate the idea that Zara of all people could be his soulmate. Plus, it’s not like I have any reason to still like Diego.” She held up her wrist and Emma’s eyes landed on the rose tattoo that decorated Cristina’s wrist.

Divya’s shoulders relaxed a little and Emma had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. Divya liked Diego, a lot, but couldn’t really do anything about it because he’d started dating Zara almost as soon as Cristina had broken up with him.

“It’s Zara though,” Emma pointed out, “there is no possible way someone as nice as Perfect Diego could be soulmates with someone as vile as Zara.”

Cristina shrugged and leaned across the table to steal one of Divya’s fries. “The bigger the hoops, the bigger the hoe,” she said sarcastically. “We can only hope that he dumps her soon.”

Emma laughed. She returned to eating her lunch as Divya and Cristina made easy conversation overtop of her. When she finished her lunch she fished her phone out of her pocket and opened her Instagram feed. Cristina slid an inch closer and looked over her shoulder at the phone.

The first photo that came up was a picture of a trio of tenth graders. It was a girl tucked in between two boys and the three of them were all grinning widely. The girl and the boy on her left had matching bone structures and similar smiles, marking them easily as siblings. The other boy had wild, curly blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes.

Divya leaned forwards to see what had captured the attention of her friends and she plucked the phone out of Emma’s hand. She studied the photo briefly before glancing over Emma’s shoulder. She shook her head and handed it back to Emma.

“Those Blackthorns and their jawlines, I mean what is it with them?”

Cristina laughed. “Well, most of them anyways. Livvy’s is softer, obviously, but she’s got the cheekbones.”

Emma glanced at the username of the photo: lvvyblckbrn. It clicked in her head. This was Livvy Blackburn, her twin brother Ty Blackburn, and their best friend Kit Herondale. Cristina was right in that Ty shared Julian’s cutting jawline and Livvy had the sharp, elegant cheekbones and blue-green eyes. The three of them were certainly more mature than Emma remembered them as.

She scrolled down her feed, skimming over boring landscape photos and pictures of her classmates. She was still swiping down when Cristina let out a half-screech and snatched the phone. She spun it face Divya and shoved it towards Emma’s face. Emma blinked and refocused on the photo in front of her.

It was a guy probably a year or two older than them, posing on a park bench. He was very pretty, with shockingly blonde hair and blue-green eyes. It wasn’t the attractiveness of the face though, that had caught Cristina’s attention, instead it was the curling rose tattoo that was displayed on his wrist. Emma grinned.

“Tina! That’s your tattoo!” she said excitedly. She grabbed the phone back and studied the caption, “And look at this: “My dearest wild rose, won’t you come out to play”. Wow, that’s romantic.” She took another look at the photo and laughed as she realized she knew who it was. “Also, that’s Mark Blackthorn. He’s the oldest boy and he graduated last year.” Cristina buried her face in her hands. “Wild rose?” she muttered. “What kind of madness is that?” Divya rolled her eyes and threw a fry at her. “It’s romantic. He’s obviously looking to meet you, so you should message him.” Cristina glared at Divya. “No way. I’m not just going to follow him out of nowhere and say, ‘hey dude I got that rose tattoo so you should totally be in love with me’, yeah, no way.”

Divya shrugged. “Then make Emma introduce you to Julian Blackthorn and get Julian to introduce you and Mark.”

Emma narrowed her eyes. “I do know Mark, too, I could just directly introduce you to him. Why do you seem so interested in Julian Blackthorn today, Div?” “I just think he likes you, Em.” She sighed. “No, he doesn’t, I promise. Jules and I basically grew up together. He’s a romantic anyways so I’m sure he’s waiting to meet his soulmate.”

Cristina nudged her. “Getting off the subject of how pretty all the Blackthorns are, have you given any more thought to what you’re going to get tattooed? And that question is for both of you.” Divya grinned and pulled out her own phone. She pulled up a photo of a silhouette of a tiger. “This, or something as close to it as possible,” she explained.

Cristina nodded in approval and turned to Emma. Emma slid her phone back into her pocket and shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I have some vague ideas, but no clue how to really pursue anything.”

Divya picked up her now empty tray. “Well, you had better decide soon, because we’re going this weekend.”

Emma tensed. “What?”

“I’ve been eighteen for a week and a half, but you’re not eighteen for another three months, but Cristina and I have graciously found a place that doesn’t care about the age limit. So you and I are going this weekend and Cristina is coming for moral support.” She stepped away from the table with one last smile. “See you later.” As Divya strode off, Emma whirled on her best friend. “My parents will kill me! I can’t get my tattoo before eighteen.” Cristina just laughed and laid her head on Emma’s shoulders. “You could put it so many places that your parents would never see, so yes, we are doing this. No more arguing.”

He had just been looking for Ty. Or at least, that’s what he was insisting to himself even as his eyes skimmed for long, vibrant blonde hair that definitely did not belong to his little brother. His eyes rested on the back of Emma Carstairs’s head and he sighed. He never intended to look for her, and yet he always seemed to be able to find her.

A second later, Emma was turning in her seat and looked at him curiously. Julian felt his pulse quicken but he forced himself not to blush and he gave her a small smile as they made eye contact. Emma’s lips curled into a matching smile before Julian forced himself to look away, back down at the sketchbook on the table in front of him.

He picked up his graphite and was about to go back to his drawing, but he was quickly startled into dropping it by two hands that covered his eyes. His heart jumped and he tensed. There was some laughter before the hands drew away and Julian craned his neck around to see his attacker.

His little sister Livvy was standing directly behind him, grinning. Kit and Ty were flanking her, as usual, and Julian rolled his eyes. “What do you need, Liv?”

“A ride home after school?” she said, smiling brightly at him.

Julian sighed. “No can do, I have to finish a project for my portfolio.” Livvy frowned and folded her arms. She didn’t reply though and Julian let his eyes skim over Ty and Kit. Ty had his headphones on and was studying something on his phone, not really paying attention. Kit, on the other hand, was frowning at the table of boys to Julian’s left, many of whom were looking appreciatively at his little sister. Julian sighed. He knew his sister was pretty and he was eternally grateful for Ty’s protectiveness of his twin and for Kit’s good looks. They chased off most of Livvy’s suitors, even if Kit was clearly interested in the other twin.

Livvy pursed her lips. “Did you at least invite Emma for dinner this weekend? Dad seems to be under the impression she’s coming, even if you haven’t told her yet.”

Julian turned away from his sister. “No, I haven’t talked to Emma yet, and I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Why not?” Kit asked curiously. “I’m going to be there so it’s not like she’s interrupting a family dinner.”

Julian’s shoulders tensed, as they always did when his family grilled him about Emma Carstairs. “I’m just not, okay? So let it go.” Ty’s gaze lifted and he narrowed his eyes. “If you just get your tattoo, it would answer all of your questions.” Julian felt his cheeks finally get hot. His brother always seemed to give the bluntest, and possibly the best, advice of any of the Blackthorns, but that didn’t mean Julian was eager to follow it. Ty viewed soulmates as a simple concept: get a tattoo when you turn 18. If your partner gets the same one, then you’re soulmates. If they don’t, you’re not, and you just move on.

Julian didn’t want to know if Emma was or wasn’t his soulmate. He was completely fine with the friendship that they shared, even if it wasn’t as strong at school as it was outside of school. He had never looked at any girl like he looked at Emma and even the idea that she wouldn’t be his soulmate made his insides twist. She was ridiculously pretty with golden blonde hair and warm brown eyes and a smile that made all of Julian’s insides melt and his fingers ache for something to draw with.

Finally, his siblings and their friend seemed to get that he wasn’t interested in talking about Emma and they shuffled away, drawing the prying eyes with them. Julian looked back down at his sketchbook. He was working on a small design: a trio of stars that looked a bit like breaking waves on the ocean if you looked at it the right way. There were a couple other small designs on the page, but the star idea had resonated with him the most.

As much as he didn’t want to get a tattoo, he did like drawing them. He had designed Jamie’s and had offered to do Mark’s and he knew that his two little sisters, Livvy and Drusilla, would both ask for him to do theirs when they were old enough.

He picked up his graphite and went back to work creating appropriate shading around the image and out of his peripheral vision he spotted someone slip into the chair across from him. He glanced up, expecting Jamie or maybe Diego, but instead it was Emma. He blinked at her, startled.

She smiled. “Hey Jules, Div ditched me and Tina had Spanish club so I thought I’d hang with you. I’m not bothering you, am I?” “No,” Julian replied quickly. Never, his brain added silently.

“Cool,” she said. She leaned her elbows on the table and one of her braids fell over her shoulder as she leaned forward to study his book. With most people, Julian might have slammed it shut on his designs, but he never felt that way about Emma.

Her eyes brightened as she realized what he was working on. “Soulmate tattoos?” she asked eagerly.

“Yeah,” Julian admitted.

Emma flipped her braid back down over her back and held out a hand. “May I?”

He passed her the sketchbook without protesting and watched her face as she studied each design carefully. Her eyebrows creased with concentration as her eyes darted across the page. Her lips formed a tiny ‘o’ as she studied the star design.

“This one is my favourite,” she said, touching it gently, careful not to smudge the graphite.

Julian smiled. “Mine too,” he agreed.

Emma passed him the sketchbook back, but a thoughtful expression flitted across her features. “Julian,” she began slowly. “Do you think you could design me one?”

At first, confusion wiped his mind blank and Julian looked between Emma and the sketchbook in confusion. Emma was still seventeen and wouldn’t be eighteen for another three months, so she shouldn’t be getting a tattoo anytime soon. “A tattoo?” he asked carefully.

Emma flushed a little. “Yeah,” she paused awkwardly. “I’ve just been thinking about it more and more since Cristina got hers and Div’s eighteen now too. There are places that do them before eighteen and I’ve thought about it.”

Julian’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even considered that Emma might be considering getting a mark earlier than eighteen. Probably because he was eighteen and was still in denial about the fact that he could get one if he wanted to. “Yeah, I can draw you something right now, if you want?” he offered carefully. He was internally terrified about the idea of Emma getting a tattoo and almost hated himself for offering.

Emma smiled. “Thanks, Julian, you are the best. I’d give you some suggestions, but I honestly have no idea what I want.”

Julian studied her face for a second longer before he looked down at his page. He picked up the graphite and began a small sketch. It was almost without thought, but the image came to focus quickly. It was a small drawing of the moon, with a radiant-looking halo behind it, almost like an eclipse. He touched his fingertip to one part and smudged a little and studied it for a second.

Satisfied, he spun the book back to Emma who’s eyes landed on it immediately. She inhaled sharply before looking back at him. “Julian, this is perfect! Thank you!”

She basically jumped from her seat and stepped around the table so that she was at his side. She hugged him tightly and Julian tensed before relaxing just as Emma drew away from him. He pulled the sketchbook back to himself and gently ripped around the design so that it detached cleanly from the page and presented it to her.

She folded it carefully and tucked it into her pocket, smiling at him. She stiffened suddenly and a grin spread across her face that Julian recognized as her mischievous look. “What?” he prompted. “I saw Mark’s post on Instagram,” she declared as if it explained everything. Julian just raised an eyebrow and Emma’s expression deadpanned. “But, of course, you haven’t.” She laughed and pulled out her phone. After fiddling for a second, she turned it towards Julian and he studied the photo of his older brother.

“Oh, he’s showing that off publically, is he?” Julian noted as he observed the rose tattoo on Mark’s wrist. His brother had decided not to get his own tattoo, but just recently the rose had etched itself onto his wrist anyways: his soulmate had gotten a tattoo.

“Yes,” Emma agreed. “But, lucky for him, I actually know who has the matching tattoo!”

Surprise rippled through him. “Really?” “It’s Cristina, funnily enough! She saw the photo on my phone and is mildly freaking out, but I swear I’m going to introduce them if its the last thing I do.” Something heavy knotted itself in Julian’s stomach. “So, you’re in favour of soulmates now?” The Emma he remembered had declared that soulmates were silly and that you should just love whoever you wanted.

She shrugged. “I want my friends to be happy and I know that Mark and Tina would love each other. For myself, I’m kind of just getting the mark to see what happens.” Julian felt a small smile tug at his lips. “Big earth-shattering revelations, and the like,” he joked. Emma grinned. “And this is why you are the absolute dad friend: crazy artistic talent, insane compassion and leadership, and dad jokes.” “Pretty sure you’re the one with the jokes,” he disagreed. Emma smiled again but didn’t argue.

She sat down beside him and nudged his shoulder playfully. “So, you’ve designed my tattoo, is there anything I can do in return for you?”

Come to dinner with me on Saturday, his mind blurted, but his lips stayed sealed. “Actually,” he said, “is there a chance you could drive Livvy, Ty, and possibly Kit home today? I have a project to do after school.” Emma touched her lip and furrowed her brow as she thought for a second. “Yeah, actually, I’ll just bum Cristina with Divya and then all is good.”

Julian smiled warmly. “Great, I’ll let her know.” He pulled out his phone and sent Livvy a text. Just as he was putting it down, Emma rose from the table. “I’ll see you later, Jules,” she said warmly. She gave him a little wave and walked off. Julian watched her go, his insides both twisted and warm.

“Emma, your friends are here!” her mom called up the stairs.

Emma jolted, dropping her phone onto her bed. She glanced at the clock on the wall and bit her lip. It was five minutes before Cristina said she would pick her up, but that wasn’t too big of a surprise. She grabbed her phone from the bed and swung herself up to her feet. She slung her purse over her shoulder on the way out of her room. She got halfway down the stairs before she realized she had forgotten the thing that she needed to bring today.

She ran back upstairs and grabbed the tiny scrap of paper that had been on her desk and shoved it into her pocket. She needed Julian’s sketch–it was by far the best of any ideas that she’d had and she certainly didn’t trust anyone to attempt to replicate his artistry. She pulled her shoes on, and with a brief glance at her mother, pulled her ponytail out so her long hair spilled over her shoulders. It would help to hide the tattoo when she came home.

She smiled one last time at her mom before ducking out the door and jogging down the drive to Cristina’s car. Cristina was driving and Divya was seated shotgun, so Emma climbed in the back, sliding into the middle seat so she was between her friends.

Divya twisted to look at her excitedly as Cristina pulled away from the curb. “So, are you ready?”

Emma shrugged. “I finally decided on a design so that’s good, at least. Not sure what else I should be feeling.”

Cristina laughed but kept her eyes on the road. “Honestly, everything will be fine. They don’t really hurt and they’re easy enough to take care of.”

“I’m getting mine on my arm,” Divya declared. “I’m eighteen so there’s no reason I can’t show it off.” Emma nodded, it made sense to her.

“And you’re going with the tiger silhouette?”

Divya grinned. “Of course. It’s my spirit animal after all.”

“And you don’t think your soulmate will mind?”

Divya shrugged. “They can deal with it. Besides, I’m kind of more in love with the idea of getting a tattoo than I am with finding my soulmate at this point.”

Emma smiled. Something nervous and heavy was twisting mildly in her stomach. She wanted this tattoo, she’d wanted it since she was seven years old and had first learned about soulmates from her mother. She’d wanted to know her soulmate since she was nine years old and she realized that Julian Blackthorn’s graceful shape and protective personality were very pretty.

She touched her pocket where Julian’s drawing was protected. Julian was almost unbearably pretty, but he was also one of her best friends and had been for a long time, even if they didn’t hang out that much at school. Julian’s friendship was too important to risk over anything and Emma knew that he was a romantic who would love his soulmate wholeheartedly. Idly, she wondered if he’d gotten a tattoo yet. He turned eighteen a month ago, but she had never thought to ask, even when she had spied him drawing tattoo designs.

Cristina pulled into a small complex. It had a kid’s toy store, a small grocery market, an optometrist, and a tiny little tattoo parlour. Cristina parked the car and turned to look at both Divya and Emma.

“So, Miranda won’t ask for proof of age, she’ll just do it, and she’ll do a great job. She’s clean and a good artist so she can tackle whatever you throw at her.”

Divya nodded. “I trust you, Tina, now let’s do this!”

Cristina led the way into the parlour which, true to her word, was clean, and presently empty. Cristina rang the little bell on the welcome desk and a woman poked her head out of a back room. She smiled at the sight of her guests and welcomed them in. The woman had a couple tattoos on her arms and one peeking out of her shirt collar, but otherwise, she looked like every normal person Emma had ever met.

“Welcome to Ink Search!” she greeted as she walked up. “Who am I helping today?” “Myself,” Divya said, “and my friend Emma.”

“Great! Is this the first time?” Miranda asked. Emma nodded and the artist waved to a couple of chairs. “I’m sure you’re here because you’ve heard I don’t care for the age restriction, so whoever wants to go first can come over and the others can take a seat.”

Divya quickly strode over, pulling up a picture of her desired image on her phone.

“Oh, how interesting! A wild heart, you have then,” Miranda said cheerfully.

“Yup!” Divya agreed. She slipped her jean jacket off, leaving her in a simple tank top, and passed the coat to Cristina, who folded it and held it in her lap. “If possible, I want it to go right here.” She outlined a patch of skin on the underside of her bicep.

Miranda nodded. “Great, I’ll get to work then!”

Emma scrolled through her phone and made casual conversation with Cristina as Divya got her tattoo. She cast her friend a couple glances, but Divya was smiling basically the whole time. When the process was nearly finished, Cristina’s phone rang and she excused herself to take the call.

Emma pulled Julian’s sketch out of her pocket and studied it carefully. She was going to be marking this on her body as well as on her potential soulmate’s body for the rest of their lives. She wanted this.

Cristina came back into the shop, looking like she was about to die of laughter. “Well, that was Diego. After two days of Zara insisting the tattoo would show up on him, it hasn’t, but instead, he’s actively having one drawn on while lying on his bed at home! He broke up with Zara and called me because he wants to know if I know anything that’s currently getting a tattoo of a tiger! I had to hang up on him so I could laugh!”

Divya looked startled. “Wait, I’m Diego’s soulmate?”

Emma laughed. “Apparently, you are.”

She laughed. “Cool, at least that solves my problem.” Cristina looked over at Emma. “And you promised to introduce me to Mark Blackthorn, so that will solve my problem as well.”

“And then it’s just little old me,” Emma drawled.

Miranda laughed. “Honey, you could not be a day over nineteen if you tried.” After another couple flourishes, she stepped away from Divya. “Alright, you’re all done! Just a few more last minute instructions and we’ll be good to go!”

Cristina and Emma both rose from their seats to take in Divya’s tattoo. It looked good: clean sharp edges and exactly the pattern that she had wanted. Emma suddenly felt much more reassured about handing over Julian’s sketch.

Once she was done helping Divya, Miranda turned to her and smiled. “So, what are you getting and where would you like it?”

Shyly, Emma handed over the slip of paper with Julian’s drawing on it. Miranda studied it and smiled.

“Your boyfriend is quite the artist. This is gorgeous,” she complimented, lifted it closer to her eyes so she could get a more detailed look.

“Boyfriend?” Emma questioned, suddenly taken aback.

Miranda glanced at her. “Or girlfriend, but this is clearly the work done by someone who cares a lot about you. And considering you’ve come to me, I’m assuming you’re not eighteen yet and you just really want to confirm that this person you’re with is going to be your soulmate.” Emma felt heat fill her cheeks. “What if I had drawn that?” Miranda waved a hand. “You don’t look like much of an artist yourself, no offence, and artists would usually bring an entire book and be unable to choose a design right to the last second.” “Well, yeah okay, but Julian’s my friend, not my boyfriend. He drew that for me as a favour.”

Miranda gave her a knowing smile. “Alright, hon, whatever you say. Now, where am I putting this?”

Emma snapped the hair elastic on her wrist and pulled her hair into a bun at the top of her head. She twisted slightly and tapped just above one of the bumps of her spine. “Right here.”

“Perfect, so let’s get to work!”

Julian woke up on Sunday feeling like someone had pressed pins to the back of his neck when he was sleeping. He rubbed it awkwardly and stretched. He must have just slept on it funny. He rose from his bed and made his way downstairs.

Livvy was already mixing a big bowl of pancake mix and she grinned when he reached the kitchen. Ty was setting the table and Drusilla and Tavvy were seated in their seats, having a conversation about some book that Tavvy was holding tightly. Mark was nowhere to be seen and Julian almost expected Helen too, except for the fact that Helen had moved out to be with her wife and soulmate, Aline.

“Ready to make some pancakes, big brother?” Livvy asked brightly.

Julian smiled and took the bowl from her. “I guess if I have to. Where’s Dad?” “Out with John, it’s Sunday,” Ty answered from across the room. Julian nodded. John Carstairs was Emma’s dad and one of his dad’s best friends. They always went for breakfast on Sunday mornings, Julian had just momentarily forgotten.

“You are Dad today,” Drusilla said cheerfully from the table.

Julian shrugged and pulled out a frying pan, turning on the stove heat to medium. He had his back to the rest of his family and didn’t think anything of it until Drusilla jumped up from the table and ran over. He glanced at her, but she waved him off so he turned back to the stove. She giggled loudly and he turned around, but she scampered back to her seat at the table without a word. Livvy looked as if she was trying and failing to smother a smile, while Ty and Tavvy were both blissfully unaware of whatever the two sisters were teasing Julian about. Julian sighed but turned back to his pancakes. It couldn’t be that important.

They got halfway through breakfast before the doorbell rang. Julian rose from the table and walked to the front door. He opened it and was surprised to see Emma standing there, smiling. She was wearing a yellow shirt with absolutely no sleeves or straps and white shorts. Her blond hair fell loosely around her shoulders and she looked so beautiful Julian nearly forgot how to breathe. He immediately felt self-conscious at his plain shorts and paint-spattered t-shirt.

His alarm faded a little when he saw that Emma wasn’t alone. Cristina Rosales was accompanying Emma, with her dark hair pulled back into to braids. Cristina was wearing a simple white dress and she looked considerably more nervous than Emma. For a moment Julian was confused; then he remembered that Emma had said that Cristina was definitely Mark’s soulmate.

“Is Mark home? I figured Sunday breakfast was as good as time as ever to catch all the Blackthorns together.” Julian glanced over his shoulder, about to say that he hadn’t seen Mark all morning when his brother appeared at the top of the staircase, shirtless and sleep dishevelled. He turned back to Emma and Cristina with a wry smile. “Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” He stepped into the house, inviting both of the girls in, and stepped towards the stairs. “Mark, put a shirt on, we have guests.”

Cristina flushed at his words and Emma laughed. “He would,” she teased. Julian shrugged and invited the girls into the kitchen. Livvy and Dru were both ecstatic to see Emma and Ty smiled at her over his neatly cut pancakes. A couple of minutes later Mark joined them in the kitchen, still looking slightly rumpled and tired. He brightened a little when he saw Emma and gave Cristina an appreciative look.

“Mark,” Emma greeted, “this is my friend Cristina Rosales. I think you two should talk.” She grabbed them both by their right wrists and dragged them towards the backyard.

Livvy raised an eyebrow at Julian as the three disappeared. “What’s that about?” Emma popped back into the kitchen and leaned on Julian with her arm like he was a wall. “They’re soulmates. Cristina got the rose tattoo, that’s how we know.”

Julian was surprised to see Emma acting so free and casual around him. Things hadn’t been this easy between them for a couple of years, but it made something in his chest swell and warm at the familiarity between them.

Livvy and Dru exchanged a secretive look that had Julian narrowing his eyes, but the girls just turned back to Emma easily and asked her some inconsequential question. With Emma sufficiently distracted, Julian studied her carefully. His fingers itched in a familiar way, but he wasn’t sure whether the desire to draw her or to touch her was stronger.

Emma had gotten used to wearing her hair down a lot more often now. Around her parents she couldn’t wear it up otherwise she would be baring her tattoo for them to see clear as day. She’d seen photos of it and its reflection in the mirror and she really liked how it had turned out. It was small and simple, but perfect for what she wanted.

She parted her hair with her brush neatly and pulled back the twin braids at the front of her hair into a braided crown. It looked nice, she thought, with a smile. She adjusted her shirt, made sure it wasn’t falling down as off the shoulder tops could. It was a shimmering metallic silver and she’d paired it with a white denim skirt and black boots. She turned to study her reflection in the mirror one last time and adjusted her hair so that her tattoo was fully covered.

She picked up her phone, forgoing her purse for the evening, and headed downstairs. Her father looked up from the couch as she came down the stairs. He smiled at her.

“Very pretty dear. Be safe tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Yeah, will do, Dad. Love you!” Emma blew him a kiss and slipped out the front door. The red car of the Blackthorns was idling at the bottom of the driveway. It wasn’t exactly what she had been expecting when Cristina said she had their ride to the party organized. As she got closer Emma realized Divya was in the backseat and Cristina was riding shotgun.

She opened the door and saw that Mark was in the driver’s seat, his blonde hair appropriately mussed and Cristina was holding his hand. The two had started dating almost immediately after meeting since they were indeed soulmates and had hit it off so well. Divya grinned at Emma’s appearance.

“Looking sharp, babe,” she teased. Emma winked. “Right back at you.” Divya offered her a bottle of vodka and Emma pursed her lips before accepting it and taking three hearty sips. Cristina giggled.

“Always the party girl, aren’t you, Em?” Emma blew her a kiss as the alcohol burned on the way down, warming her stomach. “You know it. And I’m assuming Tina talked you into driving, so thank you, Mark.” Mark smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “My pleasure, now where are we going?”

“Cameron Ashdown’s,” Divya supplied. Mark nodded and pulled out onto the road.

“Are you staying to join us, Mark?” Emma asked after a moment. Divya passed her the bottle again and Emma took another few swigs before handing it up to Cristina.

He shook his head. “Nah, I promised Ty and Dru I’d watch something with them tonight.”

The alcohol was already buzzing in Emma’s system by the time they got to the party. Divya pulled Emma out of the car quickly and Cristina lagged behind briefly to kiss Mark goodbye, but joined them shortly. As soon as they were in the front door, the music hit them as did the low lights with the bright flashes of colour for effect. Divya disappeared quickly, off to find Diego, and Emma was left with Cristina.

“Let’s go find something to drink,” Cristina suggested, dragging Emma towards where they knew Cameron’s kitchen to be. Cristina grabbed two clean shot glasses and poured them each a shot of tequila, grinning.

Emma clinked their glasses together and took the shot. She shivered after as the alcohol burned going down, but Cristina was already pouring herself a second one. Emma placed her glass off to the side and picked up a cider from an open cooler instead. Cristina handled her tequila much better than Emma did and Emma didn’t even like hard liquor which was a bit unfortunate with her friends since Tina loved tequila and Divya liked vodka.

Emma was about to say something to Cristina before she felt a warm hand on her elbow. She turned and saw Cameron staring down at her, smiling. He took in her outfit appreciatively.

“Hey Emma,” he greeted. She smiled at him politely. Cameron was attractive by stereotypical standards with short red hair and a nice body and a pretty smile. “Do you want to dance?” She nodded. She had no reason to say no and she and Cam had had a thing in the past and he wasn’t a bad guy by a long shot. Cristina downed her second shot and winked before wandering off, probably to bother Diego or Jamie Rosales. Emma took Cam’s hand and escorted him into the living room where most of the dancing was taking place.

The alcohol was already hitting her as she and Cam danced. The rest of the party was mostly a blur, with sharper memories around a couple drinking games that she handily destroyed the competition in. She and Jamie partnered up for beer pong against Diego and Divya and had beaten them so badly that Diego had escorted his girlfriend away quickly with a wink to heal her wounded pride.

Several hours later, Emma found herself dancing with Cameron again. His hands were on her hips and her arms were twisting in the air as she moved to the beat. She shut her eyes and her fogged mind briefly transported her to a different place where she was being held by a different pair of hands with long, elegant painter’s fingers. Her eyes snapped open and Cam gave her a quizzical look.

She ignored the feeling and kept dancing, but she couldn’t deny that Cam kept trying to kiss her. After one more attempt, Emma stepped way too close into his personal space and stepped up on her tiptoes to see the back of Cameron’s neck. The nape of his neck was bare and that was the last straw. Emma stepped out of Cam’s reach and wobbled. She was drunker than she thought.

Cam reached out and steadied her elbow. “I need to go home now,” she told him. Her tone was strong, but she could hear the slur behind her words. She was definitely drunker than she had intended to be.

She spun away from Cam without another word and headed for the front door. She ran smack into Jamie Rosales who let out a string of curses in Spanish as he stumbled into the wall. He raised an eyebrow at her as she was clearly on her way to the front door.

“Ay, chica, where are you going?”

Emma stumbled on a fold in the carpet and Jamie laughed, steadying her. “Home,” she answered.

Jamie looked pensive for a moment. “Weren’t you supposed to stay at Tina’s?” Emma frowned. “Yeah, I think so. I’m not supposed to go home anyway.” Jamie grimaced. “Yikes, well Tina left already. Mark apparently walked here and they walked back to her place already. And Divya and Diego left and I’m walking, but I’m sure you don’t want to stay at our place or here, so what are you going to do?”

Emma pulled out her phone. “Jules will pick me up. Julian is the best. He always looks after me and takes care of me. He’s going to be such a good boyfriend when he finally meets his soulmate. She’ll be so lucky,” Emma said. The words spilled out of her without thought and her cheeks flushed. She stepped past Jamie and tried to dial Julian’s number. Unfortunately, she also stepped directly onto someone’s discarded shoe and nearly tumbled straight to the ground.

Julian’s phone woke him up rudely. He groaned and rolled over, blindly reaching for it. Jamie’s picture lit up the screen in the darkness and Julian frowned. He swiped to answer the call and lifted it to his ear. “Jamie? It’s like two thirty in the morning, what do you want?” “Hey! Julian! Your girlfriend is drunk out of her mind and wants you to pick her up because all her friends ditched her. Come relieve me of this, my man!” Jamie’s voice filtered through the speaker. He was yelling over loud background music and Julian flinched away reflexively.

It took him a second to process all of what Jamie had said. “My girlfriend?” “Yeah, Emma Carstairs? Hot blonde? You’ve been in love with her for forever?” Jamie prompted. Julian flushed and hoped that either Emma hadn’t been listening or she was too drunk to remember.

“Okay, okay!” he urged quickly. “I’m coming, I’ll be there in like 10 minutes. It’s at Cam Ashdown’s right?” “Yeah, so hurry up dude otherwise I think Emma is going to take me apart!”

Julian shook his head and hung up the call. He grabbed the first shirt out of his drawer which turned out to be just a plain grey v-neck and he pulled on a pair of dark sweatpants. He quietly left his room and went downstairs. Mark had left him the keys to the car when he had walked over to pick up Cristina earlier and Julian grabbed them now, shoving a pair of sneakers onto his feet before he ducked out the door.

He drove to Cameron’s house in complete silence, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. He pulled up outside the house and parked the car. He got out and immediately saw Emma and Jamie on the porch. Emma was leaning against the railing, giving a drunk lecture to a significantly less drunk Jamie who looked thoroughly amused.

Jamie spotted Julian and waved him over. “Hey, Emma, there’s Prince Charming!” Emma turned and nearly fell down the steps of the porch as she tried to walk towards him. Julian surged forwards and caught her, his arms wrapping around her tightly.

“Jules! I knew you’d come! You always come and you’re the best!” Emma was a bubbly, happy drunk. Julian smiled softly.

“Come on, Em, let’s get you home.” “No, not home! I’m supposed to be at Tina’s! But, she brought Mark home so I can’t go there.” “Then we’ll go to my place,” Julian said as he helped Emma back to her feet. He glanced at Jamie who was just grinning at him slyly. Julian rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the call, Jamie.”

Julian managed to get Emma into the car without too much trouble and she didn’t say anything on the drive back to his house, just stared at him with wide brown eyes. She was clearly intoxicated, but she was Emma and still beautiful. Julian knew it wouldn’t be too weird for her to sleep over because they’d done it a lot as kids and it was certainly a lot better than leaving her at Cameron Ashdown’s house because Cameron definitely still had a thing for her, despite how he denied it.

He parked the car in the driveway and got out and walked around it to the passenger side. He opened Emma’s door and she scowled at him. Julian blinked at her.

“Emma, come on, just get out of the car.”

“Nope!” she said brightly. “You’ll have to drag me out!”

Julian sighed before he leaned in and undid her seatbelt. Then he scooped her up, one arm under her knees and the other along her back. She squealed and threw her arms around his neck to support herself and he lifted her out of the car.

“Jules, what are you doing?” she demanded.

He laughed and nudged the car door shut. “Dragging you, apparently,” he supplied.

Emma complained until they got to the house, but as soon as they went inside she fell silent as if she could tell how important it was for her not to wake up Julian’s siblings. Julian carried her up the stairs and brought her into his room. He deposited her on the floor. Emma stumbled a little but looked around his room with soft eyes. “It’s just like it used to be,” she commented softly. “So Julian.” He smiled a little. Now that she was standing, drunk, in his room, he wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do. Emma, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what to do. She removed her shoes and stripped off her shirt, depositing it on the floor and her skirt followed it quickly. Julian immediately flushed. Emma was now just standing in his room in a bra and underwear.

She turned towards him and frowned. “I don’t have anything to sleep in.” Julian mentally stumbled for a second before his brain restarted. She was drunk so this obviously meant nothing to her. “One second,” he said. He went to his dresser and pulled out an old, faded art camp shirt and passed it to her.

He watched as she gathered her hair and threaded it through the hole in the shirt as she pulled it on. It fell to her upper thigh and something in Julian’s stomach clenched. Somehow, seeing her in his shirt was almost worse than seeing her in basically nothing.

Instead, he steeled his nerves and stepped towards her. He turned her towards his half-made bed and pushed her toward it. Emma glanced back at him.

“Where are you going to sleep?” she asked quietly.

“Couch, downstairs, or here on the floor,” he answered quickly. They had used to share beds as kids, but that was much before Julian realized how pretty Emma was and how much he really liked her.

Emma frowned at him again and fell down towards his bed. She landed on it and in the process, grabbed Julian by the arm and yanked him down with her. He fell, unprepared and landed on top of her, barely catching himself by the arms as he hovered above her. They were so close and in the darkness of his room he could just barely make out the freckles on her cheeks and the wispy eyelashes that fluttered against her cheeks.

“Stay here,” she ordered.

“Em,” Julian breathed, not trusting himself to move.

Her brow creased. “Everyone thinks you like me, but now that I’m here and I’m literally telling you I want to sleep with you, you’re not kissing me,” she complained.

Julian’s arms went rigid as he processed her words. “Em,” he whispered, “what are you saying?”

Instead of an answer, she put her hands on either side of his face and pulled him down to her lips. Julian’s brain was frying and he knew it. Emma was kissing him and she was wearing nothing but his shirt and they were lying in his bed. His body responded to her touch eagerly as he kissed her back. Her lips were warm and smooth against his and her hands quickly reached for the hem of his shirt, pushing it up so that she could appreciatively run her hands along his chest and stomach.

She tugged the shirt up again and made a whining sound that twisted Julian’s brain horribly. He pulled back from her lips and let her pull his shirt up and over his head before she flung it away. In that instant, his racing mind caught up with his body and he remembered the alcohol on Emma’s breath and the fog in her eyes. She tried to pull him back down and he resisted, rolling off of her and standing next to the bed, breathing heavily. Emma sat up after him, looking disappointed. “Julian?” her voice was quiet and tentative. “Do you not want to?”

He exhaled slowly and turned back towards her. “More than anything,” he answered honestly. “I just,” he paused. “You’re drunk, Ems. I don’t want you to regret anything.” “I won’t!” she argued, the familiar stubborn edge glinting in her eyes.

Julian leaned forward and cupped her face. “You might, and I’m not taking that chance. Now, you should sleep.”

Emma sighed. “Fine, but we’re sharing the bed. That’s not a big deal at all.”

Julian really didn’t see a way to argue with that statement, so as Emma slid over, he scanned for the shirt she had basically ripped off of him. It was on the other side of the bed, partway across the room, but before he could move towards it, Emma had grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t need it,” she murmured sleepily. “Come on, Jules.” Sighing deeply, Julian lowered himself to the bed beside her. As soon as he was settled, Emma rolled towards him, tucking an arm across his chest. Her eyes slid shut and her lips curled up just the tiniest bit. Her blonde hair was strewn across her back, but Julian caught a peek of something beneath the curtain of hair.

He gently brushed away a few strands and saw his drawing inked into her skin. The moon with its radiant halo was in a small circle at the nape of her neck. He was surprised. Emma had mentioned considering a tattoo, but he didn’t think she would have actually done it before she was eighteen. He looked from it to her peaceful face as she was now fully asleep. It suited her.

Julian let his arms curl around her protectively and he shut his eyes, letting sleep take him.

Emma woke up warm, comfortable, and securely tucked against something even warmer than she was. She curled more tightly against it, letting out a contented sigh. A warm hand on her hip brushed against her gently through the shirt she was wearing.

Emma’s eyes shot open. Her head was aching, but to her surprise, she remembered everything that had transpired including trying to call Julian only for her phone to die and getting Jamie to call for her. Then Julian had picked her up and brought her home. As she recalled Drunk Emma’s activities, she flushed violently.

She had stripped in front of Julian and he’d given her an old shirt. Then he had tried to put her to bed and she’d pulled him down and kissed him. She wasn’t stupid, she remembered the warm and electric feeling she’d felt when she kissed Julian. It wasn’t like anything she’d felt before. But, he’d stopped her because she’d been drunk and he was perfect and wouldn’t take advantage of her, no matter if she’d wanted it or not.

Now, she blinked again and realized she was lying half on top of Julian and his arms were around her waist as he turned towards her. Their legs were a little intertwined, but her awakening did not seem to have woken Julian. His eyes were still shut and Emma took a moment to admire his peaceful sleeping face. He was beautiful and she was so stupid to think that she’d felt anything but love for him before. She’d crushed on other guys, but she’d never felt for them like she felt for Julian.

She looked down at her hands which were pressed against his warm, bare chest. Emma remembered pulling it up and feeling the firm lines of his stomach, but as she studied him in the dim morning light, she was able to appreciate him even more. She didn’t remember when Julian had gotten so fit, but he was painstakingly attractive and Emma praised her drunk self briefly for forcing Julian to sleep without his shirt.

She looked back up at his face and the curly dark hair that fell across his forehead. She reached up to brush it aside and some of her own hair brushed against Julian’s chest as it spilled over her shoulder. A cold realization gripped her suddenly and she slid her fingers carefully towards his neck. She just wanted to see if he had a mark because she wanted so desperately for him to have one.

As she reached for the side of his neck, Julian stirred and his blue-green eyes flickered open. He looked drowsy and temporarily content, but at seeing Emma awake and so close to him, he tensed under her touch. She carefully drew her hand back to the neutral area of his chest and smiled tentatively.

“Good morning,” she offered awkwardly.

“How’s your head?” he asked immediately.

Emma blinked. She had a headache, but it was low on her list of priorities. She hadn’t really acknowledged much past the half-naked, attractive boy she was lying with. “Hurts a bit,” she admitted.

Julian carefully drew away from her, letting her lying alone, as he moved to stand. “I’ll go get you some ibuprofen and water.”

As he turned his back to her to try and stand off the edge of the bed, something small and dark caught her eye at the base of his neck and her heart skipped.

“Julian, you have a tattoo,” she breathed.

He froze. “What?” he exclaimed, twisting to face her, clearly surprised.

Emma smiled brightly and sat up, crawling across the bed towards him. She reached up and pressed against it. It was small and circular, but it was undoubtedly a perfect match to the one that sat at the base of her neck. “Right here,” she said softly.

Julian reached and touched over her fingers, his brow knit in confusion. “I never got my tattoo,” he breathed.

Emma withdrew her hand and touched his cheek. “But I did.” She turned, drawing her hair over one shoulder to expose the matching mark on her neck.

“I saw that last night,” Julian admitted quietly. He stood up from the bed and Emma followed him with her eyes. “So what does this mean?” he asked.

“We’re soulmates. We share tattoos, that’s what it means,” Emma said.

Julian exhaled shakily and looked at her. His eyes were dark with emotion. “All this time I was so sure you felt nothing towards me. You dated Cameron, and you had a crush on Mark, and I thought you’d never fall for me.”

Emma’s stomach twisted unpleasantly. “Julian, no, I think I have always felt this way about you, I just didn’t figure it out until recently.” She stood from the bed and moved towards him. She raised a hand to touch his cheek.

He turned out of her touch and picked up a sketchbook from his desk. He turned back and curled her hands around it. “Look at it,” he urged.

She blinked, but opened it. The first was a charcoal sketch of her, smiling at what was probably a camera. She flipped through and saw more sketches of her face, her hair, her whole self and there were even a few watercolours or oil paintings tucked in between the pages but the book was undeniably her. She felt tears prick at her eyes. It was the most precious and wonderful thing she’d ever seen and Julian had spilled his heart into these pieces and they were all of her.

“This is my heart,” Julian said firmly. “Everything I feel for you is there and I am an artist. My feelings bleed onto paper and I could never show you before because I was so afraid you didn’t feel the same way about me.” He leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers. His eyes shut. “You brought colour into my world and let me paint out my heart on canvas.”

“Julian, I love you,” she breathed.

“And I love you more than I know how to express,” he replied softly.

Emma pulled away from him just enough to put the sketchbook back on the desk. There was a momentary flash of disappointment in his eyes before she threw her arms around his neck and raised her lips to his. She kissed him fiercely and without restraint and he responded to her touch immediately.

The lips moulded together like a perfect fit as Julian kissed the air from her lungs. It was as if a fire had been lit in her stomach and a hot coil was roasting her insides to mush. She pressed herself closer to him, drawing him in and Julian’s hands anchored on her waist and her back, hot through the material of the shirt he’d lent her.

Finally, Emma ran out of air and she broke away, gasping, but Julian’s arms kept her flush against him, with just a breath’s width between their lips. She slid her arms down from his neck down across his chest and his stomach. Julian shivered under her touch.

“I think Drunk Emma should have thrown away all of your shirts, not just the one,” she breathed slyly.

Julian’s laugh was breathy and his eyes were dark with wanting. “Don’t steal all my fun,” he replied.

Before Emma could process exactly what he meant he was kissing her hotly again. After a brief second his hands slid down, finding the hem of the shirt she was wearing and guiding it upwards. She gasped as he tugged it over her head and threw it away. The meaning of his sentence was made suddenly clear and Emma was about to seal their lips back together when Julian nudged her back towards the bed.

He dipped his head lower, pressing hot kisses to her jawline and down her throat and she made a squeaking noise she didn’t even know she could make as the backs of her knees bumped against the edge of the bed.

“Julian,” she gasped out. “Your siblings,” she reminded desperately.

He pulled away from her briefly, locking their eyes. “Everyone sleeps in on Saturday,” he replied.

Emma was the one who smirked this time as she wrapped her arms around his neck and fell back against the bed, her fingers just grazing the edge of the moon tattoo that bound them together as she pulled him down.

“No time to waste then.”

[secndlife]

sun&moon | 1.

pairing: jackson x reader x jinyoung

genre: soulmate!au, college!au, fluff, angst, eventual smut? everything basically

summary:  she has always trusted fate. she was destined to someone and she was determined to find it. she found herself wrapped in hands that feel warm like the sun, but that belonged to someone else. she keeps on looking, only to find out that her fate had been watching over her, just like the moon.

word count: 3.3k

playlist

masterlist

It was midterm season and t was cold. Not ‘I’ll freeze to death’cold, but ‘holy shit it’s really cold’ cold - and that made you lazy and grumpy whenever you weren’t in bed. All you wanted was to get out of this lesson, grab a caramel macchiato and hit home. You felt so tired, all your lessons were draining you. You loved you major, you did. Public relations was something you’ve always wanted to do but now, being so close to graduating, things were chaotic. You had to work on your final thesis and still pass all these classes. All you wanted was to graduate and finally be hired full time at your internship - you were working at a small music company as their public relations assistant.

As your professor started to gather his belongings, he said, “Well everyone, don’t forget to read the chapter assigned on the syllabus for this week’s lesson and write down the essay about how social media can change the perspectives on PR. Thank you and see you next week for our midterm.”

“Oh my God! Is the midterm next week? Fuck! I totally forgot that!” your friend Jisoo started freaking out while you two left the classroom.

“Yes baby,” you laughed, “I can send you the summary I made for this subject and we can study together next week, I don’t mind.”

“Oh really? Urgh, I love you, you’re the best,” she said with a smile and giving you a side hug. Jisoo was one of your best friends ever since you started university. You two hit off instantly after meeting at orientation week and next thing you know you’re renting an apartment together at one of the campus’ buildings.

“Yeah, I know. Do you have another class or you’re ready to go home?” You hoped she was ready to go home so you two could have a movie night with a lot of food.

“I can’t. I’m supposed to meet up with Mark for this other project we have.”

“Oh, does this project have anything to do with making out until your lips fall off?” you said while you bumped her shoulder. Mark and Jisoo sort of had a thing. No one really knew how to label what they had, but it was definitely something and it was clear for everybody.

“Please, that’s your deal with Jackson. Anyways, we’re just meeting at the cafeteria, it’s really about a class project.”

“Hm sure, miss.” You gave her a side eye. “And about Jackson, we haven’t hooked up in a while. We’re nothing, especially compared to you and Mark. We just have fun when we’re drunk or bored, honestly.”

“Yeah sure, baby. If that’s what you tell yourself before you sleep with him… Anyways, I have to go. Mark’s texted me already. Don’t wait up ok?” she said, winking at you while she left off to meet Mark. Jisoo could deny as much as she wanted, but she would never be able to fool you - and she was falling fast for him.

You waved her goodbye and started making your way towards your place. You took off your earphones and put on a song just to distract you from the cold weather. Even tho you weren’t a fan of being outside in the cold, you could use a walk. It was calming around campus, especially since it was already past 6pm and most people were off class. You walked slowly, looking up at the sky and at all the people around you. You spotted a couple, maybe around your age and wondered if they had their tattoos already.

It was common knowledge: on the morning of your 23rd birthday, you’ll get a tattoo on your wrist, your soulmate’s initial. They’ll have your first letter tattooed on their opposite wrist; there are a few rare cases where the tattoo is on the same wrist, but those are truly uncommon. You never even heard of one. And if you still haven’t found your soulmate within a year, you’ll get the first letter of their surname next to it.

In your group of friends, Mark and Jaebum were the ones who had a tattoo already. Mark had a “J” on his left wrist. He had a thing already with Jisoo even before it happened so they just kept on going. Jisoo’s tattoo was a few months away, but she seemed pretty sure she’d get an “M” on her right wrist, even tho they weren’t “official”. Jaebum, on the other hand, had a “W” on his right wrist, but he hasn’t found anyone to match. That didn’t stop him from kissing a bunch of girls at frat parties just to get over his ex though. She turned 23 before he did and when her tattoo wasn’t his initial, she broke up with him. He understood, he knew it could happen, but that doesn’t mean it was easy to get over her.

The next one to get a tattoo would be Jackson, his birthday only a week away. You two had a unique relationship - ever since you met at a party in freshman year you have got along really well; having similar personalities made it 10 times easier. You’re both social butterflies, funny, touchy and dramatic - you were just a tone lower than Jackson. That caused you to be close to one another and to flirt constantly. Jackson had always some smart comment about you and you never backed off. After a few months of shameless flirting and sexual tension, you two started hooking up in your second year at university. It happened first at a frat party when you two were drunk and horny. It was no big deal - honestly, everything with Jackson was carefree. The sex was great, intense, and there were no strings attached. You two had no reason to call it off or to start anything serious so you just left it at that, hooking up whenever you felt like it and it never affected your friendship. He hooked up with other girls sometimes, but you honestly didn’t care. You knew you were free to do the same, you just wasn’t a big fan of one night stands.

Most of your friends knew and it wasn’t a big deal for them either. After it first happened, you got home and talked to Jisoo about it. 

“Well, he’s hot and nice and you two get along really well. I honestly don’t see why not. You’re young, pretty and single. You should be having fun, you know?”

“I mean, yeah, I know. I’m just a bit… unsure? I don’t know, Jackson’s really intense and I don’t wanna feel it too much?” you didn’t wanna fall for him, not at all.

“Then don’t. Look, don’t make a big deal out of this. You two just hooked up. Make this as fun and not serious as it can be so it would be beneficial for both of you. I’m pretty sure Jackson’s not looking for a relationship right now either so.” You thought about it and Jisoo was right, you had nothing to lose - besides, it would be nice to have good sex with a good guy whenever you felt like it.

A few days later you told Jinyoung about it. He was your best friend since God knows when. You two grew up together and your moms were friends so that lead to you being friends as well. You were having coffee together when you said with a tone as normal as it could be, “I’ve slept with Jackson.”

He was taking a sip of his drink and he pretty much choked on it: “You what?”

“Yeah, I mean, you could see it coming right?” You stared at him waiting for him to say something while he looked a bit uncomfortable.

“I guess. How was it? Are you two a thing now?” he asked, not really wanting to know the answer and looking everywhere but at you.

“No, he’s all about being a free spirit right now and I don’t want a boyfriend. So I guess we’re just gonna have random sex,” you laughed.

Jinyoung gave you a smile, shaking his head, “Lucky you then.”

After a few minutes of walking, you finally reached home. You were welcomed by your cat, Winnie. You and Jisoo adopted her as soon as you moved in, both being cat lovers. She was a Tonkinese with light brown fur, darker face and ears and the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen. She curled up at your leg while you walked in: “Hey girl”, you said, patting her head. She purred, appreciating the soft touch. You left your shoes and the entry and finally made your way towards your bedroom while Winnie followed you.

You dropped your things at your writing desk and then went to your bathroom. You couldn’t wait to take a nice relaxing bath and since Jisoo was busy with Mark, you’d take that time alone for some self-care. It was Friday and you weren’t in a party mood, so you decided to open a bottle of wine and just drink it by the tub. You turned on the water, feeling it with your hand to make sure it was just the right temperature. After drying your hands, you went to the kitchen to get the bottle of wine that was just waiting for you. You got the glass and after opening the bottle you went back to the bathroom; by then the tub was almost half full and you wanted nothing more than to spend the next hour in there, drinking your wine and relaxing among the bubbles. You plugged your phone on the speaker and put on one of your favorite songs. You got one of your bath bombs out of the cabinet and proceeded to undress. When the tub was full, you got your hair up in a bun and dropped the bath bomb in the water. Immediately, the jasmine smell started to spread all over your bathroom and that made you feel calmer. The water was filled with bubbles that had all shades of pink, which was just what you needed. You got your glass of wine on the tub border and went inside. The water felt so good, you could feel it’s warmth spreading all over your body and starting to relax you.

With soft music playing on the background, you started to let your mind wander. You started to think about this soulmate thing. Your 23rd birthday was a few months away and you’d finally get your tattoo. You were not sure what that’d mean for you. You were an intense and curious person and the possibility of not finding your soulmate killed you. You wanted that, you wanted that bond and you wanted to live what you were destined to live. You were scared of ending up alone, with two letters on your wrist that you’d never find out who they belonged to. The possibility of falling in love with someone who’s not your soulmate is equally terrifying. That’s why you didn’t have any serious relationships in the past - you didn’t want to fall for someone who could not be your person. Sure, people ended up with their non-soulmates all the time, but that’s not what you want for yourself. When you fall in love, you want to do it with the right person. But how could you be sure? In theory, you couldn’t. You could find someone who’s theoretically your match, but maybe he’s not. Those who were able to find their matches, they say you just know - you feel it. But there was no way to prove it, you couldn’t be sure of it in any means other than your feelings and your heart.

After three glasses of wine, a bunch of songs and wrinkled hands, you decided it was time to get out of the tub. The wine got you a bit tipsy so you were just gonna heat up some leftover pizza and hit the bed while some movie was playing on the TV. You got your towel wrapped around your body and made your way back to your bedroom. You felt way more relaxed now. You dried off your body and got into one of your oversized t-shirts that you usually wore to sleep. Winnie was lying comfortably in your bed so you petted her tail, “I’ll be back in a second, I’ll just grab some food and I’ll come to cuddle you”. She purred in agreement and you went to the kitchen so you could finally eat something. You took the pizza out of the fridge and put it on the microwave. Once it was done, you got your plate and got back to the bedroom. You poured yourself another glass of wine and started looking for something to watch on Netflix. You settled for one of your favorite movies, “Love, Rosie”. You’ve watched it countless times and could never get tired of it. It always made you cry because you loved this idea that if two people are supposed to be together, they’ll be together in the end, no matter what. That’s what you hoped happened to you too, you hoped you’d end up with your soulmate after all.

By the time the movie ended and the second romcom you decided to watch, alongside with the bottle of wine, it was almost 11pm and you decided to go to bed. First, you went to check on your phone, who was long lost since you’ve got home. You picked it up and was greeted by some texts from Jackson:

[10:30pm] Jackson: what are you doing on this friday night beautiful

[10:31pm] Jackson: I wanna cuddle

[10:32pm] Jackson: can I come over? I swear I won’t try anything besides kissing you and cuddling

[10:45pm] Jackson: answer meeeee

You laughed at his texts - Jackson could be needy sometimes. You thought about his request - well, you had nothing to lose and you could use some strong arms cuddling you to sleep so you texted him back.

[10:50pm] you: wow friday night and you’re texting me about cuddling? why aren’t you at a party?

It didn’t even take him 2 minutes to reply.

[10:51pm] Jackson: don’t think i didn’t try! but there’s not even a single party on this campus today

[10:51pm] Jackson: besides, I’m too tired to party today and I wanna cuddle

[10:52pm] Jackson: so, can I come over or what?

[10:53pm] you: hm I guess. I could use some ok cuddles for the night.

You knew he’d whine at you calling his cuddles ok. That was a part of your relationship, this bickering, it added fuel to the dynamic.

[10:53pm] Jackson: ok??? ok??? my cuddles are fucking great.

[10:54pm] Jackson: anyways be there in five

[10:54pm] you: hurry up i’ve had a whole bottle of wine and I’m sleepy

In less than 10 minutes Jackson was ringing the doorbell, his dorm being really close to yours. You got out of bed and made your way to the entrance, Winnie following you. You opened the door and were greeted by a smiley Jackson. He was wearing sweatshirts and black adidas pants. He looked really hot in simple clothes like that.

“Hi,” he said, making his way towards you and giving you a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi,” you replied while giving him some room so he could come inside. “Can’t believe you couldn’t find a place to be tonight.”

“I did, here.” He closed the door behind him and all of the sudden Winnie showed up at his feet. “Hey pretty lady,” he said patting her head. “I swear this cat likes me more than she likes everyone else. She cuddles me whenever I come around.”

You rolled your eyes at him, “She does that to everyone Jackson, don’t be so full of yourself.” You started walking towards your bedroom and you heard his footsteps chasing after you. Suddenly, you felt strong arms being wrapped around your waist.

“Bullshit, she never does that to Jaebum,” Jackson said while he rested his head on your shoulder.

“That’s because Jaebum smells like his cats and Winnie doesn’t like that. She’s jealous,” you said, laughing.

Once you’ve reached your bedroom, you got out of Jackson’s grip and plopped onto the bed. The man was still standing at the doorway, staring at you with a pout while he took off his red hoodie, revealing a simple black shirt underneath. “What’s with the face, Jacks?”

“I know she likes me better, don’t lie to me.” He could be such a drama king sometimes and it was really amusing to watch and bicker back. Tonight though, after a bottle of wine and an exhausting day, you just wanted to sleep. 

“Jacks, please, I’m really sleepy. Just get in here.”

“Well, since you’re begging.” You smiled lightly when he laid by your side. You were facing each other and you felt his hand coming to rest on your hips, “I’ve kinda missed you.”

“Missed me or my body?” you said, teasing him.

“Stop, you know it’s not like that,” Jackson had a cute pout on his face.

You gave him a light peck on the lips, “I know, it’s just funny to see your face when I say stuff like that.”

You stroked his hair and he closed his eyes. “You look really good with dark-brown hair, you should stick to it.”

“I look good with every hair color, baby. But thanks,” he hummed softly, feeling your hands over his locks. You laughed. Jackson was such a confident person, so sure of himself. You admired that. And he also made you feel more confident yourself since he was always dropping praises your way.

You felt his hands slowly rising your t-shirt up so he could stroke your thighs with the tip of his fingers, “You know, my birthday is next Friday. It will be my 23rd.”

“Hm, I’m aware.” You closed your eyes, feeling his soft warm touch against your skin. You could also feel his face closer to your, his breath smelt like mint and it made you wanna taste it.

“You know,” you felt his hand making its way from your thighs to your cheek. “I’m gonna get my tattoo in a week,” his lips brushing against yours lightly. “And I wouldn’t mind at all if it was your initial.”

Next thing you know, his lips are fully on yours. They taste just like they smell, minty. Nevertheless, they feel warm. Everything about Jackson was warm. His touch, his kisses, his heart. He was so intense it felt like fire, and sometimes you were scared you’d get burned. You felt his tongue at your bottom lip and then it was against yours. The kiss was passionate, just like him. His hand then moved to the back of your neck as he pressed you further against him. You hummed in response, your hands against his chest, grabbing at his shirt.

His lips then moved towards your neck. On his way down, he kissed your jawline and your jugular, making you whimper.

“You said you wouldn’t try anything tonight,” you said while you felt his tongue against that soft spot he knew all too well at your neck.

“Say the word and I’ll stop. Besides, I’m still just kissing you,” he said and then bit at your neck softly, earning a low moan.

“Jacks…” You were literally exhausted and all you wanted was for him to hold you while you fell asleep. You grabbed his face gently and moved it towards yours, giving him a final kiss.

He smiled, “Fine, c’mere then.” He pulled you closer, making you rest your head on his chest. It felt warm and safe there and you started drifting away, sleepiness washing over you. “I mean it you know.”

You looked at him, half-lidded eyes, “Huh?”

“I wouldn’t mind if your initial showed up at my wrist next week.” He had such a genuine smile across his handsome face and it kinda made your heart melt.

You smiled back at him, eyes closed and ready to fall asleep, “Neither would I.”

a/n: ok so… my first experience in writing? I don’t even know how this “ok i’m gonna write” thing started tbh. I know I have a huge tendency in not finishing things up, but I have so much planned for this series, so please, bear with me. I’ll try my best within my limits ok? I wanna thank three girls who helped me a lot;  @yoongitalks, one of my inspirations, my friend and also my beta. thank you for putting up with me and for accepting my insane request of joining me on this mess. i love you to the moon and back.  @jugyoem, my baby, the amazing artist who did the cover for this fic. thank you for supporting me through everything. I love you a lot! lastly, my music expert, @yyugyx, who helped me with the playlist. can’t thank you enough for always saving me with your music knowledge. love you! anyways, feedback is always appreciated and my askbox is always open. 

[ktrashquotes]

CHANBAEK soulmates matching tattoos au

they are my parents ok

everyone is born with a tattoo that matches someone elses, some soulmates have identicals tattoos, some have complementing ones, most soulmates develop romantic feelings for each other but its not unusual to see platonic soulmates

chanbaek are born with beautiful colourful shining suns on their right wrists (its rare for soulmates to have the tattoos in the very same part of their bodies)

byun baekhyun always loved the idea of soulmates, he thought it was beautiful and inspiring

until his parents divorced when he was 11

they werent soulmates, they loved each other a lot but not enough to make baekhyuns mom stay after she met her soulmate

baekhyun became afraid of falling in love

he started to always wear a piece of cloth around his right wrist so no one could see his marking

park chanyeol parents were soulmates

nevertheless he wasnt the biggest fan of soulmates, he thought it chained people together

so chanyeol always hid his marking sun

chanbaek met at 13

they went to the same boarding school and were in the same class

chanyeol was loud and bright and funny and baekhyun was loud and bright and funny

best friends at first sight

they have so much in common but were also very different

baekhyun could be shameless in a way chanyeol would never

chanyeol was so clueless sometimes, his friends wanted to hit him

baekhyun was theatrical and dramatic while chanyeol was utterly honest in everything

both of them were moodmakers and playful, both loved music and played the piano

they got called ‘beagle line’, alongside one of their best friends, kim jongdae

chanyeol, being the soulmate anti, never asked baekhyun about his tattoo and baekhyun didnt either

since their friends did, they knew about the other reasons to hide his tattoo

during all their years in school the thought of being soulmates never crossed their minds

they kissed twice, at 14 and 17, a party on both occasions but never talked about it

they pretended it never happened

but they secretly liked a lot both kisses

and yeah theyve always been close

disgustingly close according to sehun

annoyingly close according to kyungsoo

when they graduated at 18 they were still the ever together bros

they never talked about their reciprocated feelings on each other cause they didnt knew it was reciprocated duh

they went to the same college in seoul, majoring in different things

after a lot of considering, baekhyun accepted to share a apartment near campus with chanyeol

none of them ever talked about how natural things were between them, how it felt just right

chanyeol let it slip one day when having lunch with kyungsoo and jongin

kyungsoo uncharactheristically asked what he meant with that and chanyeol just brushed it off

“its normal, we’ve been best friends for almost 8 years now”

he didnt missed his 2 friends who were an actual soulmates couple eyeing each other

he and baekhyun had their affairs throughout the years

some ended pretty badly, but at the end of the day, chanyeol and baekhyun would always be together sharing some snacks or watching a movie or playing video games

all of their friends thought they were both really dense not to wonder if the 2 of them were soulmates

chanyeol would never voice it out but despite not liking the whole soulmates thingy a lot he wouldnt mind being 'chained’ with his soulmate if said soulmate was baekhyun

baekhyun was tired of failed relationships

he wasnt really hurt or heartbroken just tired

one day he said that to minseok and jongdae (they were in a cafe on campus during lunch break and baekhyun had a recent break up and he accidentally blurted out)

“sometimes i wish chanyeol was my soulmate”

the 3 men stood quiet for a few moments

“maybe he is your soulmate” said minseok

when baekhyun looks shocked and they start a conversation about the topic, jongdae looks exhausted

because duh his 2 best friends have been painfully pinning for each other for the past 8 years and fucking finally one them is considering the idea that yeah maybe they are actual soulmates

minseok points out to baekhyun that it is totally possible that they are soulmates and dont know it yet even though they know each other since they were 13 because baekhyun and chanyeol never saw the other markings

“jongdae is the only friend i ever showed my tattoo”

it is true becaeuse jongdae is a little shit that always brothered baekhyun to see his tattoo

baekhyun becomes an emotional mess because what if chanyeol isnt his soulmate

when jongdae and minseok are walking off the cafe hand in hand being the cute soulmates they are, baekhyun asks the youngest if he also has seen chanyeols tattoo

he said he never got the chance and its a lie not even minseok knows about

baekhyun had no clue on what to do so he do nothing, he just pretends everything is okay

chanyeol does the same

nothing is okay

their friends are tired of it because the 2 brats clearly love each other more than they will ever love anyone else

junmyeon and yixing are the comprehensive couple that tried to convince baekhyun he should talk to chanyeol about the soulmates issue

baekhyun is a little shit and says there is no issue

yifan and zitao are not comprehensive just very straightforward

“you always joke that im your dad so im being a dad right now when i say you have to fucking man up and accept the fact that maybe baekhyun is your soulmate and talk to him about it”

chanyeol was surprised people think he and baekhyun can be soulmates

he freaks out on what to do about the possibility

zitao curses because they are literally saying what he should do

its a long afternoon with the 'taoris couple’ and chanyeol is a bit terrified

he never really wanted a soulmate

he kinda realised that at least for the past years the reason he didnt needed a soulmate was because he already had baekhyun

he also realised he never wanted to lose baekhyun, soulmates or not

things between them started to get a bit awkward cause they realised their friends had been talking to both of them about the so called soulmates issue (still they dont talk about it)

chanyeol decided he wouldnt run from all this drama on a very specific night

they were at sehun parents house because he and luhan were announcing their engagement

everyone thought they were very young, too young (sehun was 19)

but they werent getting married just yet, they would wait until sehun graduated and well they were together since they found out the tulip on sehun chest matched the one in luhan biceps when the younger was 15

the whole event made chanyeol think about his future and baekhyun

they were both very emotional that night and maybe it wasnt a good idea to discuss the thing at the moment, but as soon as they set foot in the living room of their shared apartment chanyeol asked baekhyun he wanted to see his tattoo

baekhyun freezed for a few moments, he got so nervous he couldnt even muster one of his witty comebacks

“why this all of a sudden?”

chanyeol didnt answer and for a few seconds they just stared at each other eyes and had that thing they had since they met when they talk trough their eyes and both looked so exhausted

“i can show mine too if you want, i just… have to know” it was almost a whisper

they touch their respective wrists at the same time, untying the cloth, letting it fall on the floor

they never felt more synchronized, going through the same variety of feelings when seeing each other tattoos, the matching suns that never looked more bright and alive

it felt like hours until baekhyun said “now its the moment we kiss and confess our love for each other”

and chanyeol cupped baekhyun face and they kissed and then they made love until the sun was rising again

“i’m really really glad my soulmate is the person i love the most in the universe”

“you are the only soulmate i ever wanted to have”

and things go naturally just like everything between them

they are still the best friends

and 2 years later is natural that chanyeol proposed to baekhyun and its natural that baekhyun said yes

they were bonded

not only because of that identical firy sparkling suns on their right wrists

but also because they fell in love with each other not knowing they were soulmates

that was the biggest proof they were soulmates

“i would search the universe if i had to find you again”

they repeated that sentence over and over again throughout their life together

cause yes they lived happily ever after

[yg-got7scenarios]

Destiny Chapter 2 – Too Far Away

Preview  

Mini Masterlist

Characters:  Song Yunhyeong (iKON), You (Reader/OC), cameo of Blackpink’s Lisa and a mention of Kwon Jiyong

Genre/s:  Angst, Soulmate!AU

Length:  5,165 words

Warning/s:  Pure Angst, mentions of terminal illness, etc.

Plot:  6,799 – The digital compass on your left inner wrist flashes in front of your eyes every time you wake up in the morning, and it just stays there for the rest of the day.  You do know that your soulmate is too far away – thinking that he must be residing on the other side of the world.  You waited for him to find you, but he seems like he didn’t make any move to find you, at all.  Until, one day, your friend encouraged you to find him.

A/N:  This is pure angst, you’ve been warned.  Please read with caution.  Also, I did bend a soulmate rule here, so yeah, it adds to the caution I guess. Let me know what you think!!!

6,799.

Sometimes a few miles will be added or deducted here and there, but whenever you are inside the comforts of your own small apartment, the digital compass that indicates how far your soulmate is, is stuck in that number.

The numbers on your inner wrist initially appeared when you were a freshman in high school, like majority of your friends and your classmates, however you were the only one who had a number that is greater than a thousand miles, which disappointed you back then, because the others were merely hundreds of miles away, it means that they can always go see their soulmate even if they’re just students.

Due to school and your family not having much money, you didn’t dare ask if you travel to the other side of the world to meet your soulmate.  In fact, you were barely legal, so it would me much more of an inconvenience for your parents more than you.  So, you just waited.  Some of your friends said that since he is the guy, then he must be the one to go find you, not you, since you are a lady and there is no way that you would follow a guy, even though he was your soulmate.

Back then, you believed them.

Sadly, until now.

As you lie awake in your bed, staring at the numbers as if they are permanent tattoos on your wrist, you sighed, thinking as to why your soulmate didn’t even make a move to come for you.  It has been 10 years or so since the internal compass appeared, and you are pretty much legal already, and you assume that he is the same, you hope.

Life has been okay for you, to say the least.  You are finishing college and about to graduate in a few months on the course that you have been wanting to pursue since you were little.  You have a small apartment that you share with your best friend since college started, your parents are still running the small restaurant a few blocks away from your home and about 3 hours of bus ride from your apartment, and your only brother will enter the same university in a few months.

You are pretty much contented with how your life is going.  You are sure that you can secure a good job after graduation because of your grades, so you didn’t worry much about that.  However, what kept you up and thinking a little too much is, well, if you cannot emphasize it further, the numbers.

You tried to keep it on the low down when you are with your family, brushing off any of their questions if your soulmate had already come and find you, or are there any changes in the mile radius at all, etc.  Its same old, same old.  You got tired eventually, just telling them that you are okay living by yourself and you are 100% fine, and they should not worry about you.

But, whenever you are alone in your thoughts, especially on your favorite bed with the only source of light being the small lamp at the bed side table on your right, you do know that you totally mind.  

You sometimes wonder, are they doing okay? Are they thinking about you and how you look like?  Do they even want to meet you?  Do they even want to be known?  They never attempted to move and find you, so what else can you think about?  You sometimes thought that they might be dead, but you do know that once they’re dead, the numbers will totally be gone from your inner wrist, which is not the case.

“Thinking about your soulmate again?”  Your best friend, Lauren, came in to the door, and you immediately slide down the bed, hiding both of your arms beneath your comforter.

“You should really learn how to knock.”

Lauren just snorted and you roll your eyes at her, but you moved to the side of the bed, allowing your friend to scoot next to you, half lying on the bed as she leans her body towards your direction.

“If you really want to meet him, why don’t you find him?”

Lauren has been bringing this topic up since forever, but you would always say that it is not possible because of your hectic timetable at school and your part-time job.  So you just gave her the same answer.

“Hmm, ______, in case you still don’t know, we’re graduating in a month and we already had our clearance and final grades covered, so we are technically on holiday…”  It was her turn to roll her eyes dramatically and letting out whines of disappointment as to why you had forgotten about it.

“I know, but… I shouldn’t be the ones looking for him, right?  He should because he is the man!”  You pouted and Lauren just looked at you with disbelief.

“You still believe that thing that your friends and family told you?”  She flicks your forehead and you whined in pain, you were about to retaliate but Lauren held her hand up, silently telling you to shut it.

“______, we are at the new age, if the girl is the one who decided to find her soulmate, it doesn’t make the guy less of a person. What if he has some personal issues he needed to deal with that’s why he cannot go out and find you himself? There should be a reason behind it, ______, you need to find out or else it’s going to stress you out all the time.”

“But – how will I do that, I don’t even know where exactly he is?”

“What is the use of the internet and laptop for? Seriously, how did you pass college with that brain?”

This time you didn’t stop yourself when you whack a pillow on your best friend’s face.

The next morning, you were at the kitchen counter waiting for the coffee to brew and for your bread to toast.  Lauren is long gone since she had an early morning class, so she’s already running to the door when you went out of your room.

You two did stay up quite late last night trying to search for a place that would match the distance on your wrist.  The result that appeared didn’t really bring much of a shock to you, but you’re still a little worried since it really is far from where you are, you sure did see a few photos and had read about it being really beautiful.

“Lauren, that is too far.”

“Obviously, its more than 6000 miles.”

“What if he doesn’t like me?  What if he pushes me away once I get there?”

“You will not know until you get there.”  She switches over to a website to check flights, hotels, and car rentals in the area and your eyes widened and you placed your hand atop hers on the mouse.

“Lauren, wait –“

“______ -“  Your best friend looks at you and you were taken aback when you saw the concern and worry in her eyes.

“I swear, you are going to worry about this forever, you not meeting your soulmate.  It is not that you wanted to worry all the time, but that is your inborn reaction to it.  Remember when I tried to avoid Jake when I found out he is my soulmate because Karen had a crush on her?”  You bit your lower lip at the memory, yes, you had seen how Lauren was like, and Jake too, since you are sharing majority of your classes with him.  You remember how Jake would always ask you where Lauren is but since Lauren asked you to not tell him anything about her whereabouts. Your best friend was equally devastated, not eating and sleeping well and just staring at her wrist all the time.

“______, I don’t want you to be like that for the rest of your life.” She runs her hands on your exposed shoulder.

“At least if you get to see him, you’ll be able to meet him, you can ask him anything you want to, you would know the answers to the questions that has been eating you up ever since…”  You looked away, not knowing how to respond to her.

“And since he is your soulmate, you might finally find your forever in him, and you won’t be forever alone, just like how you deem you will be.”

You let out a huge sigh just as the coffee brewed completely and your toast has popped out of the machine.  You grabbed the mug and the toast, putting them on a plate before scurrying to the kitchen table.

You didn’t stop Lauren when she booked you a flight to the country where your soulmate is, as well as a hotel room for 3 nights and a car rental good for 4 days, in case you and your soulmate would want to stroll around.  She had paid for your flight tickets so you really cannot argue much.  Also, you didn’t really have any plans before graduation anyway.

Deep inside, you are happy.  You will be seeing your soulmate in a few days, and you will know how they look like, and you will finally unravel the truth behind the uncertainties lingering in your head for the last 10 years.

However – you are also worried, maybe more worried than happy to be honest.  What if he doesn’t really want to meet you that’s why he didn’t try finding you in the first place?  What if all of this is just a waste of time and you were just mistaken?  You shake the uneasy feeling off and just started eating your breakfast; thinking that it’s better to just think of how you can pack for a trip on the other side of the world for four days and three nights.

“Let me know how it goes, okay?”  Lauren whispers against your ear when your parents were out of earshot.  You told them that you are going on a business trip from the company where you had an internship so they were more than happy to let you go, telling you to buy them some stuff from that country as presents.

You glanced at your ticket and passport one more time before boarding, this is really it, and I’m finally meeting my soulmate.  You took a deep breath and smiled at yourself, thinking of sleeping the entire 16-hour non-stop flight so that you’ll have enough rest before finding your soulmate.

Guess who got sleep.  Well, maybe your seatmate who had been drooling for the last 14 hours, but certainly not you.

You watched in amusement as the numbers gradually decrease on your inner wrist as the hours go by.  In 2 hours, you will be landing, and you are sure that the numbers will just be in two digits by the time you went out of the local airport.

250.

You never thought that you will be seeing this in your entire life, ever.  You had lost sleep and tiredness the moment you see the numbers drop, but you didn’t mind, you are more than happy than you’ve ever been before.

Since you left home in the afternoon and there is a crazy difference on the time between your country and your soulmate’s, you arrived at the local airport at 10:00 AM.  When the representative from the car rental company welcomed you, she offered to drive you to your hotel as a courtesy, despite you saying no, she insisted, already opening the door to the passenger seat after you’d settled your luggage at the compartment.

The distance on your wrist had lowered to 80 as the woman drive all the way to the hotel where you’ll be staying.  Your heartbeat is erratic and you need to clutch your chest to try to calm it down a bit.  Hopefully the woman will not notice how uneasy you are the entire ride.

When you get to the hotel room after bidding the woman good bye and checking in, you gasped when the mile radius is now down to 50. It means that your soulmate will just be about a few hours away.

You wanted to get to where he’s at right at that moment, but your body felt exhausted because of the long flight, so you decided to take a shower, order some food before getting some much needed rest, opting to go find your soulmate tomorrow morning instead.

You were all dressed up and your light make up is done as you stare at the mirror, your bag on one hand and your keys at the other.

You are really doing this, you are going to see him, whoever he is.  Is he looking for you too?  Is he feeling giddy or happy that the numbers on his wrist are dropping too?  Does he even notice it?  Does he even know that his soulmate is just about a few miles away?

You took a deep breath, calming your thoughts and your slightly shaking body.  There is no backing out now.  You stared at yourself through the mirror and promised yourself that whatever the outcome of this whole adventure is, you will accept it and you will happy.  Though at the deeper part of your heart, you want this to end in a good way.

The compass seemed to have an additional feature that you never get to learn before, because it suddenly included the north, east, west, and south options at the bottom part.  You guess that this might be something unique to those who have their soulmates nearby.

You used it as a guide as you drive your way along the streets of an unknown territory, finding an unknown person, the path you’re taking slightly dangerous but the excitement ran heavily against your veins, the idea that your soulmate will just a few minutes away, thrilled you, both in a good and bad way.

You turned left, then right, then just straight ahead, the word north had been constant and unchanging for the last 30 minutes, the mile radius dropping continuously.  You halted when the only number you can see is 0.1, surprised that you got there pretty fast.

You looked around, the area is obviously commercial, and so you’re thinking that your soulmate might be working on one of the establishments.  However the one next to your car and the closest too, is something that you are not expecting to see.

A hospital.

Alright.  Maybe he is a doctor?  Or a nurse? A medical staff?

You took another deep breath when drove to the allotted parking space not too far from the street where you came from.  You stepped out of your car, walking towards the hospital building and the word left appeared on your wrist.  You walked to your left, after a few steps, the distance dropped to 0.07.  You continued walking, the compass telling you to turn right, so you went ahead, and you were welcomed by a few private rooms, you even saw a patient going out of the room accompanied by a nurse.  You walked straight, your knees wobbling slightly and your heart about to burst out of your chest.  You took deep, slow breaths to calm yourself down.

0.03. Right.

You met another corner and you can feel sweat beading on your forehead.  You quickly wiped it with your handkerchief before letting out another huge breath.

This is it.

You turned left, only to be welcomed by a set of tall, glass doors with a huge sign printed on top.

ONCOLOGY.

You stopped abruptly, causing you to bump against a hurrying hospital staff and you apologized to her, and she bowed but continued walking past you, scurrying to get inside quickly.

Thoughts are running through your head and you are thinking whether you should continue or not.

However, Lauren’s words lingered on your head, reminding you of your purpose.  You already came this far, there’s not backing out now.  No matter what welcomes you, good or bad, you will accept it, and you’ll take it.

You just hope that it is something good, at least.

You walked through the glass doors, slowly, dragging your shaking limbs towards the clean, white walled hallway.  The compass says north, so you continued heading straight ahead, seeing a couple of more doors painted with either cream or dull orange colors, with a small window to peak at, partnered with a small shelf on the wall to its right, indicating the room number, name of the patient, and the doctor in charge.

The compass on your inner wrist sent a dull, burning feeling when it finally hit zero and you froze, in front of you is a door a little bigger than the rest that you’ve seen, and the color is a bright red.  You took a few steps towards the door, looking at the shelf to the right to read the details.

121

Patient: Yunhyeong, Song

Attending Oncologist:  Jiyong, Kwon

Attending Nurse:  Manobal, Lisa

 Oh.  Okay.

You started to wonder, who among the two is your soulmate?

You took another deep breath, you will finally know the answer once you enter that door.

You can do this, ______.  Just do it.

You are about to open the door when, all of a sudden, a tall, lean girl went out of the room on her nurse uniform.  She must be the attending nurse.

“Hey, can I help you?”  She said in English, figuring that you are not a local.  You looked at her brown, round eyes as you try to formulate a response, are you just going to say that you are here because you are looking for your soulmate?  You know that it is not a weird thing, because it is common, but you can’t help but feel a little embarrassed and worried.

“I –I’m,” You cleared your throat and introduced yourself, fiddling with the sleeve of your coat, tugging it upwards unconsciously.

“Oh, hi, ______.  My name is Lalisa, but I preferred to be called Lisa, I am the attending nurse for the patient in this room.  Do you know him by any chance?”  She says with a smile as bright as sun.  You bit your lower lip before fixing your gaze at the ground.

“Ugh, I might, but… also maybe not.  Uhm… is the… attending Oncologist inside this room too?”

“Oh, Doctor Kwon?  No, he is at the other building doing a surgery… It’s just Yunhyeong who’s inside.  Are you looking for Doctor Kwon then?”

Your eyes widened in shock and slight disappointment.  It means that your soulmate is the guy named Song Yunhyeong… and he is a patient in the Oncology department of this hospital…  It only means one thing, right?

“______?”  Lisa’s voice snapped you out of your reverie, and you shook your head quickly.  Okay, he might be a patient here – but he must be healing, right?  He is here to heal anyway, so why worry so much?

“S-sorry…”  You trailed off as you tried to speak again.

“I – I know this may sound a little weird but…” You lifted your left arm before tugging the sleeve down, revealing the digital compass on your inner wrist.  “I hope… this explains things?”  You whispered and nibbled on your bottom lip as you stared at the woman in front of you.  She looked at your wrist thoroughly and she smiled a little before shaking her head slightly.

“I guess that’s the reason why he’s been up all night.”  She murmured before letting out a breath.  “Follow me.”  She held the door open, gesturing for you to come in and you looked at her nervously, but she just smiled at you before tilting her head to the side.  You stepped in to the room, and you paused midway as you look at the young man dressed in a hospital suit, standing in front of the ceiling to floor glass windows overlooking the hospital’s garden and mini park.

“You’re back right a-“  Yunhyeong turned around and was cut off when his eyes captured a new face inside his room.

“Ah!”  He gasped when he felt the numbers on his wrist burn a little, just like how it was a few minutes before Lisa stepped out of the room.  He looked up and the girl was also rubbing her inner wrist, and realization hit him then.

When Yunhyeong also rubbed his inner wrist, you know it was him.  You stared at the young man, he is handsome, his tall nose and perfectly sketched jaw – the sunlight from the windows beaming at him and he looks like an angel.  Your eyes started to water and you smiled at him, you didn’t notice that you are already running towards his direction.  He was taken aback when he felt your arms around him, burying your face against his chest as you started to sob against it.

Yunhyeong cannot deny that he felt his heart soften when he sees you, he knows that you are the one, the one who’s meant to be his other half forever.  However, he thinks that not everything that fate and symbols indicate are really meant to be.

You gasped when you finally realized that you are hugging him.  He might be your soulmate, but he is technically still a stranger.  You cursed internally and, embarrassed, you pulled away slowly, wiping your tear-stained face before taking a few steps back.

“S-sorry – I was just… uhm.”  You rubbed the back of your neck and the young man did the same, but he smiled at you.

“I-It’s okay…”  He said shyly and you looked up to him.

“I – you might already know who I am, I mean, who I am but not my name…”  You ranted.  “I’m ______, I am your-“

“Soulmate, yes, I know.”  He smiles again and you figured that it is one of the best and most beautiful smiles you’ve ever seen.

“Y-yeah…”  You confirmed before looking away.

“______!”  Lisa’s voice interrupted the awkward silence surrounding you and Yunhyeong, and you accepted the distraction.  “Why don’t you sit at the chair next to the bed?  Yunhyeong go sit there, you know you cannot stand up for too long, right?” Lisa pursed her lips together and you are not sure but you did see a glimmer at her eyes and Yunhyeong pouted at her cutely.  Oh.

“No buts, just-just sit there, you two cannot talk like that the whole time.”  She guided you to sit on the chair allotted for visitors, just next to the head of the bed, your soulmate trailing behind.

Yunhyeong sat on the edge of the bed, a few steps away from you.  Lisa smiled at the two of you and about to leave the room, but Yunhyeong grabbed her hand, pulling her back, intertwining their fingers together.  Oh.

“Yunhyeong –“

“Stay.”  He looks up to her and Lisa looked at you, her expression sad and you are confused, your eyebrows are furrowed and your palms are pressed together on your lap.

“Yun – you two need to talk alone, I can’t be here.”

“But – I need you to be here.  She needs to know.”  Your soulmate muttered and you haven’t realized that your whole body is trembling, the fear that you’ve been trying to bury deep within your guts is slowly creeping out of its grave, crawling towards the forefront of your brain.

Shit, hold your shit together, you don’t know yet, allow them to explain.

Yunhyeong’s eyes meet yours and you almost break down right then there when the look on his eyes is teary, and apologetic.

“______…”  He trails off as he grips Lisa’s hand tighter, despite the other woman struggling to remove it from his grip, looking away.  His other hand went to settle on your tensed shoulder, making you flinch and Yunhyeong pulled his hand away altogether.

“A-are you and Lisa, together?”  You looked at him after letting out a shaky breath and his eyes drifted to the ground, before he nods.

“Yun –“

“We are married…”  Yunhyeong continues, holding both of his and Lisa’s hands up high to reveal the matching diamond rings they have on their ring fingers, making you choke on our own spit, the burning feeling at the middle of your chest is slowly spreading all throughout your body as you tried to hold back the tears that are brimming on your eyelids.

“I really need to go, Yunhyeong – I’m sorry, ______, I – will come back a little later.  Yun, just… just talk to her.”  Lisa blinked away a few tears on her eyes before scrambling to get her stuff and walking out of the room, leaving you and your soulmate alone.

“I-is she the reason why you never looked for me?” You tried to sound adamant, but you completely failed.  Why did he marry a girl who’s not his soulmate?  “Isn’t that, I don’t know, against fate?”  You laughed a little, your voice laced with a little venom that you never really intended, but it still come out.

“P-Partly…”  Yunhyeong said and you looked at him.  Before you even get to ask, he continues.

“I’m dying, ______.”

Right.

If knowing that your soulmate is married to someone else is already devastating, this one sure did shatter your heart to millions of pieces.

“I’ve been diagnosed with bone cancer since I was little…”  He lifts his hand as he tries to open and close his fist.  “The doctors are surprised I made it this far…”  He chuckles a bit.  “But I guess I only had to make it this far.”  He lets out a sad laugh.  “I had three transplants over the last 10 years, but it didn’t help much.  It only added years to my life, but, eventually, my body is slowly giving up on me, until I cannot take it anymore.”  He looks at you and you held the sheets at the side of the bed to hold yourself together.

“I’m sorry.  I wanted to find you before, but I thought that it just doesn’t make sense since I will die anyway.  I never knew that you will – you will try looking for me.  I’m sorry if I…”  He bites his lower lip and you closed your eyes.  “I disappointed you.”

“It’s okay…”  You are disappointed, but you are, at the same time, sad that the fate of your soulmate is like this.  He looks really young, probably just about your age, and he has a terminal illness. He may not be with you, but it will be better to learn that he will live a longer time with someone that he really loves.  You also thought that if you tried finding him sooner, like Lauren had suggested, you might have been with him, instead of Lisa.

The way he looks at Lisa is something that you had secretly hoped he would look at you before you met him.  The way he holds her hands firmly, and the way he begs for her to be with him.

You secretly wanted that.

You were speechless when you felt Yunhyeong’s arms wrap around your shoulders, pulling your head against his chest and you gave your everything to not bawl your eyes out.  You bite your lower lip so hard, you pressed your toes against the tiled floor, and you squeezed your hands together, you will not cry, especially not in front of him.  You tried to keep a little pride to yourself, to show your soulmate that you are okay, chanting the phrase that you and Lauren had practiced before you get on to your flight, no matter how this turns out, you will accept it whole-heartedly.

Yunhyeong pulls away before cupping your face.

“I hope you’ll find someone who will love and take care of you for the rest of your life…”  He wipes a single tear that left your right eye without you knowing before pressing a light kiss on your forehead.  “You deserve it.”  He murmurs and you find yourself nodding, wrapping your fingers around his wrists.

“Thank you, Yunhyeong…”  You chuckled before looking up to him.  “I am… just happy that I finally get to meet you and know who you are.”  You helped him sit down on the bed when you saw him wobble on his steps back.

“I sincerely am happy that… I get to meet you… Honestly I will be happier if… the situation is better… but I am happy nonetheless…”  You smiled at him and he smiles back.

“Thank you.  I’m happy that I met you too, I am sorry again if I made you travel thousands of miles away only to find out that your soulmate is dying… and married.”  He bows his head and you shake your head, lifting the boy’s chin to meet your gaze.

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault.  I am happy, I promised myself that however this… journey turns out, I will be happy, for myself, and for you.”  You kissed both of his cheeks and Yunhyeong blushes and he nods.

“______?”  He asks and you looked at him.

“Once the numbers completely fade away, you would know that… I’m already gone.”  He says and you felt your heart drop to your stomach, but you kept it to yourself. You nodded and pulled away, grabbing your purse from the chair and smiling at him.

“I… I actually really needed to head back to the hotel, I didn’t have much time here since graduation is nearing…”  You fiddled with your phone that you got from the purse before looking at him.

“And my flight back home is tomorrow morning…” You tittered half-heartedly and Yunhyeong nods, understanding.

“I… I hope you’ll get well soon, Yunhyeong… and you take care, okay?”  You waved at him with a heavy heart.  You did try to look at this kind of scenario happening, but it is 10x more hurtful that what you imagined.

“Bye, ______.”  He waves back and you walk your way out of the room, your limbs gaining speed until you are running out of the building, towards your parked car and you finally let the dam broke when you stepped in to the driver’s seat, burying your face against the steering wheel, crying your guts out at the least expected outcome of this whole journey.

The next morning, you had requested to move your flight that afternoon, there is no point of staying longer anyway.  You had packed your bags and when you go over your purse to get your card out for check out, you felt a cold, thin steel grazing your fingers, which made you confused, you know that you put all your jewelry inside the box, which you put inside your luggage.

You took it out, and you gasped when you saw a gold chained necklace with a pendant.  You held it up to a clearer view of what the pendant looks like.  You held your mouth when you felt fresh tears on your eyes.

6799.

Uhm first I wanna say I’m sorry if this is not a happy ending >< Please stay tuned on the sequel soon!  I guess you already for which member will it be hahaha!

See y’all in the next update :)

[regulusarcblack]

Hi I'd like to say/ask a couple of quick tings. 1) Love your friendship with @twoghostsaccustic, did you really meet like that? Did you really have the idea for the HP au cause I 💙 it? Do you write other ships/ fandom's? what WIP did you post I can't find them on your blog and finally you have 15 fics going HOW THE FUCK does your ppl keep up,@twoghostsaccustic writes herself and your beta's mega busy with lots of writers where do they find time to check all dos fics? Keep being cool dear 💞

omfg HHAHAHAHAHAHAH HELLO THERE BEAUTIFUL

ok first things first: thank you for your lovely ask!!!!! :D gotta love those. anyway, no, right now i’m not writing other ships or fandoms but i have a shitton of fandoms so who knows haha. why? do you have one in mind? hmu if u do. dude i ask myself that as well haha but i have this list of fics i wanna write and i dunno man. i dunno. i guess steph and sammie @britpickerhl just really love me?? hahaha or maybe i force them you’ll never know

anyway here are my wips (they’re really wips i totally abandoned them lmao):

the p&p au that never was

steph’s gift (from last year)

damn i’m good with names (not)

and since u asked..... here we go......

HISTORY TIME: how did me and @twoghostsacoustic meet??? sit down people cuz we gonna go down memory lane

w e l l in case yall havent realized yet (i doubt it lmao) me and steph are polar opposite. like, she times the day and time she will do smth, i made 3 of my last exams in grad school with borrowed pens because i had forgotten mine. there was one day she was the only student in class, i literally failed 15 classes because of absence. she works hard, plays (QUESTIONABLE MUSIC) hard and is kind. i’m a lazy and mean bitch (WITH AWESOME MUSIC TASTE).

basically, this is a story about slytherin meets hufflepuff.

S O back in 2011 we both made the TERRIBLE mistake of chosing international relations to be our grad course and in 2012 we both passed for the same uni. yayy!! congrats past us for being nerds. so comes freshmen week and lo and behold!!!!! there she is, my girl steph, with her lovely curls and a purple shirt (I STILL REMEMBER OK) among other people i got to meet that first week.

remember the “i’m a bitch” part? yeah, she was the only one i kept talking to. everyone else i just forgot they existed.

anyway.

so past this first week, there we are, classes from monday to friday, about 30 people in our classes. mind you that first semester i went to almost (almost) every class so we saw each other all the time, talked and all, but we weren’t as close as we are today. i would talk to her and also everyone else because, you see, my girl was the quiet type in class, very serious, work hard type. i barely had a notebook, so i had to do our group projects with my kind of people - the procrastinators.

((can you imagine steph doing a school project 4am the day we had to present it? no you can’t because she’s not this type. literally the only group work i didn’t do 4am the day it was due was the one i made with her LMAO))

so how did we get here?

drarry, my dude. it was all because of drarry.

you see, we were in between classes with a group of friends and we were talking about harry potter (all the friends i have are because of hp god bless u scarhead) and one of the people in this group was a high school friend of mine and she already knew i was a slasher so i just said “guys harry should have ended up with draco, end of discussion”

now, it may have been night time, but i swear the angels sang and there was a halo of light illuminating our table when i heard this voice say:

“yes, of course. always.”

ah no wait, wrong curly person.

anyway. she agreed. we looked at each other like BANG! HOLY FUCK I WAS RIGHT THAT EMO SHIT IS A FANGIRL.

and fangirl we were. basically we talked non stop about how drarry and sirem (wolfstar) were the main couples of hp and how everyone else was wrong. so the gateway was opened.

we exchanged tumblr urls, that’s how headfirst we dived after that day.

since then, we shared fandoms, all of then. tom hiddleston thirst? we got that. 1d? mate, we dragged each other to this hellhole. mcu? we watched loads of movies together, same with star wats, b99, whatever. 

we’re there. we reached that point.

besides all this fandom drama we also got involved with each others personal drama so mix those up and BOOM. friendship for LYF. 

she was there when i got bit by an ant and fell down on the pool like a victorian lady. it was awful and i wish i could forget that but @thiccstan doesn’t let me forget it.

anyway. i even bought her a hufflepuff pin and her 1d mug and she bought me my slytherin cup. we’re tight, my man. so tight. as tight as my-

and then i love to tell her about my headcanons. MY GOD have i told her about pwp plotbunnies, i swear if i havent made steph at least 13% kinkier i have failed my mission in life. so anyway one of those days i was talking to her (either at her house, at whatsapp, or tumblr, or facebook, or on one of our 3 shared gc, or ig) and i said “dude i have this hpau listen me out” and so it began. it’s been a year already lmao so yayyy happy bday m&w!!!!

so yeah. we’ve been friends since 2012. seen all, done all. so just to point some of the shit we’ve done together:

1 - written a 200k+ fanfic

2 - graduated together, from the literal first week of college to the literal last week

3 - ate poutine (THIS IS IMPORTANT)

4 - went to the movies SO MANY TIMES 

5 - dealt with each other’s depression cuz listen my dude it ain’t a homie if she ain’t telling u about those bad days

6 - i threw up at her house once lmao fucked up gallbladder am i right my dudes

7 - i literally dreamt about both of us getting matching tattoos lmao (also we woke up together to listen to sott no judgements BUT IT WAS 4AM OK WHO ELSE WAS GONNA BE THERE BUT US FOR US)

so yeah. she a cool one.

[artificialqueens]

Star Struck, Fuck! {Bidadore} Tonksie

A/N: So while I was writing DMISWD I had a plot bunny! Unlike most of my plot bunnies it did not just leave me alone and wait it’s turn until I was done! So after writing it in my journal it demanded to be written. Enjoy!

Summary: Soulmates AU- A world where you see black and white until you touch your soulmate for the first time! Bianca Del Rio, winner of RuPaul’s season 6 has the best top three friends ever in Courtney Act and Darienne Lake! They Surprise Bianca with Danny Noriega tickets, a pop star Bianca secretly loves!

“You got me concert tickets. Bitch do you know me at all?” Roy sassed looking amused at his best friends. They probably weren’t cheap tickets knowing Shane and Greg. Hell they were basically front row so either Shane had pulled some strings with his music contacts, being a model and singer had its perks, or they’d both shelled out a pretty penny for them.

“Yes! Those are Danny Noriega tickets!” Shane squealed brightly. “Oh come on you love him!” he insisted stubbornly crossing his arms. Shane refused to accept that this was not the perfect Birthday present for Roy! Sure he’d asked for bolts of fabric or a gift card to a craft store but this was totally better!

“I do not Queen! I don’t listen to shitty pop music!” Roy lied. Well, it wasn’t a total lie. Roy did usually avoid the shitty pop music that seemed to invade every shop. But he did listen here and there and the main one that caught him was Danny. The kid had a smoky voice and was just a little bit to die for with his pouty lips, straight and way too long hair, and those big light eyes. He was a total lady killer and he was gay like every other man at the table. He was also, as previously stated, a kid. No matter his sex appeal or what happened in Roy’s mind every time he listened to ‘Dynamite’.

“Yeah sure you don’t. So can I have my Copy of After Party back now?” Greg tossed in sassily with a pointed smirk.

“I lost it.” Roy shrugged. Another lie. He listened to it all the time. He was tempted to make a copy or just buy one but really stealing Greg’s had just been easier and so much cheaper.

“On your living room table? I saw two days ago.” Shane insisted laughing. “If you want we can even go in drag so no one will see your face.” Shane offered smirking.

“Bitch people know Bianca, Courtney, and Darienne better than they know us!” Roy smirked laughing. “But fine. I’ll go to the concert. Thank you guys. I know it wasn’t cheap.” He sighed giving in and looking at the tickets. This was going to be amazing. He didn’t totally know  why he was always so drawn to the kid in the CDs. Preteen Roy who was still in love with shiny pop stars and craved color would have told you that he was sure Danny Noriega was his soulmate. Preteen Roy had been completely sure that his soulmate was going to be famous.

Adult Roy had stopped searching for color. Shane had met his soulmate after their stint on Drag Race where they had been top three together. Bianca had won and their lives had rocketed into chaos. Greg had already had his for years before they even got on the show. So Roy was the only one in a black and white world. He had stopped caring really. He had people around to help make sure his colors matched for people who could see them and usually he just stuck to black, white, and silver anyway because black was slimming and the other two just worked well on him.

Roy wasn’t naive enough to believe his soul mate was a pop star anymore. Hell he was pretty sure he just didn’t have one, but if he did it would be just his luck the person he was meant to spend his life with was fourteen years his junior.

“Yay!” Shane squealed excitedly. “Perfect! So night of, we’ll pick you up! Wear something hot! He sometimes picks people from the audience to sing to and I want it to be you!” Shane was already planning out their night. He’d insisted Roy was secretly in love with Danny for a while, which he was but he’d be damned if he was going to let Shane know that.

“Doesn’t he usually pick guys with tattoos and piercings?” Roy pointed out flatly.

“And how would you know that Miss ‘I don’t pay attention to pop stars’?” Greg teased smugly with pointed lips and raised eyebrows.

“Oh shut up, Shady Elephant.” Roy muttered looking down at the tickets he’d set next to his coffee.

—

Danny was obsessed with color. His mom had met her soulmate in an adorable and tragic way where she didn’t get to spend long with him but their time together was beautiful. Danny had grown up on stories about him and living in a world of daydreams of his own tragically beautiful romance, hopefully with a better ending. Bonnie’s soulmate wasn’t Danny’s father. Bonnie hadn’t had kids with her Soulmate. But Danny knew so much about him he might as well have lived with the man his entire life.

Danny was secretly sure that his mom’s soulmate would have loved Adore! He was sure the man who should have been his dad would have supported his drag like his mom did. Sure his mom was protective and had asked him not to perform as Adore to keep him safe,which his managers loved; but he always dreamed of a world where his mom had been able to have their family with her soulmate instead of his shitty father. Then he was sure he wouldn’t have had to hide that part of him.

Danny was confident he wouldn’t lose his soulmate the way his mom lost hers. He was sure that once he saw in color the world would be better. He’d have someone who accepted him as he was and helped him go to new heights. He’d have a sexy guy who loved Danny and Adore and wanted both and loved his music.

Music was another thing. Danny had always been a singer. It have gave him purpose and direction. When Danny performed he swore he could see color for a little bit. Like his mind tricked him into believing it. He had always hoped that when he became famous his soul mate would just find him! That hadn’t worked out so far.  He didn’t know what was taking so long. He thought he’d found him over and over but so far nothing had worked.

Making top three in Idol with the David’s had been amazing. He wasn’t really that close to the two he’s been with in that last episode but it has been fun. He’d had a year of spotlight and then almost nothing. He went to school for a while. He was miserable in continuation school but managed to graduate and performed as Adore some in night clubs in WeHo before his comeback at 21. He’d called his old label that had taken him at 17 and released a new album and had been working ever since. His Youtube channel had made it pretty easy since he posted pretty religiously on there though nothing in drag at his mom’s request.

The celebrity life was a whirlwind and Danny loved it. The parties were amazing and he was making his mom and her new, and much cooler, boyfriend proud. It was lonely sometimes but he couldn’t see himself trading it for anything. Except maybe winning RuPaul’s Drag Race and meeting his soulmate at the same time. He loved that show! He watched every episode and kept hoping someday Ru would ask him to judge. He’d talked to his manager about auditioning for it for  a while. Especially after Courtney Act, and Australian Idol contestant had competed in the same season as his friend Jay who he’d started out as Adore with. But that has been firmly put down.

So he contented himself to watch and dream about it. He dreamed about hanging out with Alaska and Sharon Needles and Jinkx and Detox and especially the season six finalists. Bianca, Courtney, and Darienne were his favorites. They always seemed so close and so perfect. He wanted to join them. But that was not an option. Danny couldn’t let Adore out of the bag which meant no Drag Race, no queens, and no RuPaul. Apparently being out and gay was enough of a problem for his people to have to deal with.

Danny put on his stage makeup contouring just enough to make himself happy and looked at his glitter before putting it back in his bag with a sigh. That wasn’t an option for him. He looked at himself, natural lip color, only a few little streaks of different grey in his pretty short hair which was supposed to be a color, he didn’t even know which one!  He’d asked his mother for purple. He wanted long bright colored wigs and loud lipstick and glitter everywhere! He didn’t even know what they looked like past the greys that shaded his world. He just knew he was desperate to show those sides of him just as much as he was to see the colors he already loved.

Once he’d tried passing off a bright lipstick as just not knowing what color it’d been. He’d walked in the next day with a makeup artist waiting for him to do basic boy makeup. He’s never done it again. Doing his own stage make up was calming and fun for him. No matter the restrictions he had to deal with from it.

“Danny sound check time. Is your makeup finished?” the stage manager asked knocking on the door.

“Yeah I’m done.” He said popping up excited for the show and coming to the door with a smile.

Behind the stage manager his manager pursed her lips looking completely unamused. “A little too much contour Danny.” She nit picked.

“I think it looks cool. It’s a manly contour.” Danny insisted.

“Most men don’t know the meaning of the word contour.” The manager shot back.

“Gay men do. I’m still allowed to be that!” He reminded stubbornly with a slight glare.

“Fine just try to keep it toned down. I say this for your protection. It’s because I care.” She said gently trying to call calm down the star and avoid a diva tantrum. He didn’t throw them often but makeup and drag was definitely trigger buttons for him.

Danny took a breath and nodded. He understood. He knew she meant well but it was still so frustrating for him! He just wanted to be himself. “I know.”

The woman in front of him smirked looking him over. “Ready for the show?” she asked trying to cheer him up the way she always did.

Danny instantly switched and gave her a beaming smile. He had slipped into his airhead persona he put on for stage. “Party!” He said brightly and nodded before bouncing away leaving the manager and stage manager to sigh sign in relief. Danny was sweet and a great preformed but makeup and his drag stuff was a hard line for him. He hid it from the public but it was part of who he was and that always made it a struggle.

—

Roy looked down at his tighter than usual jeans and a button down shirt someone had once called red. He hated that he was trying to look nice. All this for some little gay pop star that probably wouldn’t take a second look at his effort. But hell, at least he wasn’t putting 6 hours into a makeup right?

Shane and Greg were already there. Shane was scantily clad as one would expect in a tight tank top and skinny jeans. He was probably hoping to flirt and maybe make his lover jealous with stories about men he’d flirted with while at the concert. Greg looked much more normal for a concert but if Roy were honest Greg was the only one of the three actually looking like he was going to a concert not a wine bar or a dance club.

“Look who decided to dress all sexy!” Shane cooed excitedly looking Roy over and Greg gave him a thumbs up looking far too proud.

“It’s not cute to compliment yourself Queen.” Roy joked flatly but smirked slightly just to show he was joking. They all laughed and Roy looked up at the huge hall that the event was taking place in. “He really is popular isn’t he?” It was sort of a realization to him in all honesty. Looking over the place and all the people gathered around it was impressive. Roy could only imagine drawing in crowds like this for one of his shows.

“He’s a heartthrob.” Greg shrugged “They tend to get a lot of attention. Look at the world’s oldest twink over here.” he pointed his thumb over and Shane who smiled and struck a sexy pose.

“And I am working it!” Shake joked making the other two break out laughing.

“Sure you are Queen. Now work it back into the box.” Roy teased amused and relaxed by the banter. He wasn’t totally sure why he was nervous but for some reason he was. He felt his palms sweating. It was like he was expecting something, which was stupid. Maybe he was just excited, he didn’t go to events like this often. At least not events he or one of his friends weren’t the headliner for. It was a night to relax. “Let’s go get some fucking drinks!” he suggest. A suggestion that was touted to be brilliant by his cohorts and instantly acted upon.

—

Danny ran on stage ready to turn up. “HOW ARE YOU DOING LA!” He shouted in his bright party Boy voice. He looked at the crowd and nearly died.

Right there in the front row were Bianca Del Rio, Courtney Act, and Darienne Lake! They were sitting in the front row free of drag feet from Danny. He pushed down the urge to completely squeal over the queens and just dive at them. He took a deep breath to calm down and smiled. “Are you ready for a great show?” she asked brightly waving.

He fell into performing. The world became brighter for him and everything felt right. He paid a little bit of special attention to the front row where Bianca, Courtney, and Darienne were. Mostly Bianca. God she was hot in person. As a boy with those dimples and that hair he looked hot.

Danny danced and sang and flirted his way through his first song trying his best to drive the sexy drag queen in the front row absolutely bonkers as he did. He moved his body to the music and danced and had a generally good time. The first song was really a warm up to get everyone going and it worked wonders. He had everyone jumping and dancing and he was having a blast as his vision swirled brightly with the lights on him.

Roy was utterly enchanted. Danny was so fucking beautiful up there. He was dancing and singing and really in his element. If he had loved Danny’s voice on the CDs it was nothing compared to real life. It was like there was something missing on the processed discs that reality added. He felt like Homer in the ‘Odyssey’ but without the rope or the mast to save him from the siren’s pull. He danced up to the front of the stage with Courtney laughing and jumping to the music and letting Danny’s voice fill his every sense with energy and electricity.

They danced to the foot of the stage and jumped around getting taken away with the music. One song flowed into another and they kept shout-singing along, dancing, and cheering. Roy kept on being pulled back to Danny. He knew it had to be a figment of his imagination but he could swear that the diva on stage kept looking at him. He supposed that was the talent and draw of concerts and the front row. You got to feel like the star was looking at you.

Every so often Danny would reach down a hand and people would scream and grab for him wanting a touch of the star power the boy contained and after probably five songs in Roy was loose enough that he reached up with the crowd. His eyes met Danny’s and their hands touched and Roy felt a shock.

Danny was flying high as his hand touched Bianca’s. He almost didn’t want to let go feeling like a bolt of energy had torn through him. He looked up and ran across the stage singing and celebrating and the world looked different. It looked even brighter. The tint of the world changed. He chalked it up to his excitement about the queens and performing in general.

Roy wasn’t so lucky.

The first color Roy saw was green. He didn’t know the actual name but he remembered someone saying Danny’s eyes were green. If it was true green was his favorite color. He looked down and saw his shirt was some dark but loud color. ‘Red’ echoed in his mind remembering the name he’d never cared about before because he never thought he’d see it! He liked it. It wasn’t Danny’s eyes but it was nice.

The color drained from his face and he ran out hyperventilating. He needed a drink. He needed ten drinks. He needed it to be a lie. He couldn’t be seeing color! He really couldn’t be seeing color because of a fucking baby pop star like Danny Noriega!

Only one thing made sense to Roy and that was running. When Danny moved to the other side of the stage completely unaffected by the touch Roy turned and moved at a swift walk to the door. This couldn’t be happening!

Shane and Greg ran after him totally confused at what was going on as Roy tore through the halls looking for a bar. “Roy! Roy wait up!” he shouted running after his friend. Greg did not run but easily followed Shane’s shrieking.

Roy however paid no attention as he walked up to a bar and ordered a very large cocktail of some kind. He didn’t care what. The scene played over and over in his mind. He looked for what it could mean, he looked for any options he had. He realized there was something worse to this than finding out his soulmate.

“God what is the matter with you! You tore out of there like it was nothing.” Shane accused as he caught up Greg not far behind.

Roy looked at him instantly hit in the face with the shirt he was wearing. “Bitch what the hell kind of color is that?” Roy said without thinking. Sure it looked fine on Shane but it was just a weird one. He didn’t know a name for it. It was almost red but not. Greg’s eyes went big in seconds. Shane wasn’t quite as fast.

“It’s pink! I love p–” As soon as he got there he realized what that actually meant. “Oh my GOD!” He squealed “Who who who?! Is it Danny?! Oh PLEASE tell me it’s Danny!” He erupted excitedly chattering his mind going into making all these plans to set them up.

“Who else would it be?” Roy asked flatly downing his coctail quickly and grimacing at the overly fruity taste but ordering another. He needed hard liquor and cocktails were some seriously hard drinks.

“Right… Of course it was Danny! Oh my God that’s so exciting!” Shane squealed bouncing in her seat.

“You don’t really look– happy– about this.” Greg pointed out in his halting mannerism he used.

Roy ran a hand through his hair and hissed out a breath cursing in true drag queen fashion under his breath. “What is there to be happy about?” Roy asked sourly.

“You found your soulmate!” Shane exclaimed sounding more surprised than when she was arguing with Michelle about her Banjee girl look and her gold bamboo hoop earrings.

“I know that! That’s why I’m out here drinking.” Roy pointed out.

“It seems like an odd choice. Since the love of your life is in there singing his heart out.” Greg reasoned looking him over just as curious as Shane as to what was going on with Roy in this moment. From Greg’s voice he figured they were trying to calm him down. Really it was just pissing him off to no end! How could they be so dense? Why didn’t they see the problem with this?

Roy clutched his glass a little too tight and glared at both of them. It was probably the harshest glare he’d ever given those two and he glared at them a lot. “Did you see a damn reaction from him?” Roy asked bluntly looking at both straight in the eyes. Both were silent and Shane even looked down. “You’re damn right.” Roy growled and looked down.

Granted he’d never heard of someone having a one sided soulmate but at this point it wouldn’t surprise him to be the first. It was a sick twist of fate. The colors were beautiful but they also made him nauseous! It was horrible knowing the truth! He wished he’d stayed blind! He wished he’d never reached his damn hand for Danny’s. He should have stayed in his fucking seat! He wanted to cry. He refused to cry about something as stupid as soulmates.

“Why don’t we try to get back stage. I know someone on the crew! Maybe if you talk to him, ask him about it–” Shane tried to reason but Roy cut him off in a flash.

“I’d sound like a crazy fucking fan! I’m not doing that! I’m not some pathetic crazy person.” Roy growled slamming his glass on the counter. “It’s fine. I don’t even care about this bullshit that much anyway! I never wanted a goddamn soulmate! I was happy being a bitter old queen alone!” He shouted to the sky or fate or whoever the hell was in charge of this fucked up situation and laughed at his pathetic life.

“Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we ditch the concert, go to a bar, get really drunk, and pretend none of this ever happened?” Greg offered. “And if Danny starts looking for his soulmate because he saw colors at a concert you can show up on his doorstep on a black fucking horse in a red dress and drag his ass to hell.”

Roy smirked at that, it was his usual joke to say he was the devil. Shane and his romantic side was having none of that idea though. “No! You are his soulmate Roy! I say go jump on that stage and show that boy what he’s missing!” Shane demanded with a table pound to flourish the sentiment for theatricality.

“Shane I appreciate what you’re trying to do but honestly I like Greg’s idea.” Roy said tossing back the end of the second cocktail and feeling the start of a buzz.

Shane huffed and looked between the two. He didn’t know what Greg was thinking walking away from this! Shane knew Roy was upset and didn’t do emotions but Greg had his soulmate! Greg should know how big a deal this really was! Shane was out voted though. “Just… don’t regret this please?” he said gently to Roy who smirked back at her.

“No promises bitch.” He joked warmly and stood up looping an arm around Shane’s waist. “And Pink does look good on you.”

—

Danny was heartbroken when he made it back to the other side of the stage to see the queens gone. He missed singing to Bianca– and the others too but he felt high at the same time. The world was bright in a way he’d never felt before and it was the best performance of his life. He figured he was just going to have to make this the best show so they kept hearing about what they missed.

He finished the concert and the encore and ran to his dressing room still flying high from the energy. It was really weird for him to still have the world feeling this bright though. He walked into the dressing room and sat down. He looked in the mirror and his smile dropped. He ran his hand in his hair pulling up two streaks of his hair. He’d remember asking his mom to dye them purple, not that he knew what purple looked like, because he thought it would be fun.

“Danny! Babe that concert was amazing! I’ve never seen you that good!” His manager walked in smiling and chattering.

“What color is this?” He asked almost in a trance still not totally able to let what this meant sink in.

“It’s purple. Which God that choice. You should have gone with green or something boy! But no! You had to do purple.” She said rolling her eyes.

“What does green look like?” Danny asked looking up at her.

“D-Danny are you… Why are you asking me this?” His manager asked.

Danny looked from his manager to himself in the mirror and it was slowly sinking in. With every passing tick, as it became more real it became more painful. He didn’t know how this was happening or why. He looked down at his makeup and looked back up “Because I can see it.” He rasped. As soon as it was out of his mouth it sunk in and he stood up and started bursting towards the stage. “Don’t let anyone leave! I need to talk to them! Please don’t let them leave!” Danny shouted as he ran onto the stage and into a completely empty room.

“Danny what is going on?” His manager asked when Danny broke down sobbing. In front of him was nothing but an empty amphitheater. This could not be happening! He was supposed to meet his soulmate and know instantly! He was supposed to live happily with them! He was supposed to get the happily ever after his mom never got! It wasn’t fair! It wasn’t right! Why wasn’t his prince charming sitting there at the foot of the stage waiting for him.

“I can see color.” he sobbed brokenly.

His manager came closer and put her hand on his shoulder. “If you’ve met your soulmate and you need a break or something to figure things out with him that’s ok. We can reschedule things and work things around and–”

“No!” Danny cut her off sharply. “I don’t know who it is. He’s not here! Why isn’t he here? Why isn’t he waiting for me? Where did he go?!” Dany demanded feeling like a brat as he screamed in pain to the room. It wasn’t helping anything and he wasn’t making any sense but it made him feel better to scream and let out his emotions and throw a tantrum so that’s what he did.

“Danny Sweetie, what are you talking about?” His manager asked.

Danny took a deep breath and looked at her completely broken. “Before the concert I only saw black and white. Now I can see color.” He said simply. “But I don’t know who it is. He’s not here to see me and what if he doesn’t want me. Why doesn’t he love me? What did I do wrong?” Danny cried to her walking into her arms sobbing. He was hurting. He was hurting so much. He felt unlovable.

In a bar dirty rundown across town a very drunk Roy wasn’t feeling much better. So much for happily ever after.