#this is probably gonna be used against me twelve years from now

[lipgloss3ater]

we only draw peak here on the lipgloss3ater blog

[ariestrxsh]

shy!sub!chris x babysitter!reader

˚₊ · »-♡→ content warning: smut, mommy kink, age gap (Chris is 22 & reader is 28), praise, masturbation, handjob, hair pulling, innocence corruption

˚₊ · »-♡→ summary: chris runs into his old childhood babysitter, and their innocent reunion takes a turn when the two can't deny the sexual tension between them.

This fic was inspired/requested by this ask. 🤍

If the age gap or the fact that the reader used to babysit Chris bothers you, then don't read this fic ! The ones that get it, get it, and the ones that don't, dont.

Baby Sitter (part one)

"No way! Chris Sturniolo?" Your familiar voice broke Chris' attention away from his phone, his blue eyes first scanning over your red heels, your black tights, and then the grey dress suit you were wearing paired with a long, open black peacoat.

He was leaned up against the side of an old brick building with one hand in his hoodie pocket to keep it warm, waiting for the bus home. "Oh, my god! Hi!" He exclaimed, his face lighting up when he recognized you.

"You're so big!" You declared, pulling him into a hug and ruffling his messy, brown hair. The warmth of his embrace brought you some solace from the nearly freezing temperature of this brisk, winter afternoon.

Chris caught a hint of the floral perfume you'd been wearing for the past decade, and the memories of when you were both kids came flooding back to him.

"You must've been this tall the last time I saw you," you told him, holding your hand out and gesturing about three feet from the ground.

"Oh, come on. I haven't been that short since I was eight years old. You babysat me up until I was almost twelve," Chris chuckled, playfully rolling his eyes.

You glanced him over one more time. Chris had always been a cute kid, but now he was a handsome man. You scanned over his slightly muscular build, his sharp jawline, and the bit of stubble he had coming in on his face from not shaving the past few days.

"Can't believe that was ten years ago. You look good," you complimented him. "So do you," he replied, his voice textured with a hint of lust as his gaze danced over your breasts and your long legs.

"You taking the bus?" You asked him, motioning towards the bus schedule. "Yeah, but my bus won't be here for another half hour," he shrugged, looking around at the traffic building up. "Maybe longer," he faintly added.

"I could take you home," you warmly smiled at him, tilting your head to the side. "Really?" He wondered, surprised by your kind gesture.

"Of course. Still live in the same house? I think I still remember how to get there," you responded, crossing one lapel of your coat over the other, folding your arms, and raising your shoulders to your ears to fend off the cold.

"No, actually. I moved into my own apartment last year. It's probably pretty far out of the way if I'm being honest. I don't want to waste your time," Chris nervously chewed on his lip, staring down at his black converse.

"Don't be silly, Chris. I don't have anywhere to be," you reached out and gently squeezed his arm, reassuring him that your offer was genuine. "My car's over in that parking garage over there," you motioned towards the large structure across the street.

"Okay, sure. Thank you," Chris said, pulling his hood over his head as the chilly wind started to pick up. You stuffed your hands into your coat pockets, and the two of you started slowly meandering over in that direction, your heels click-clacking against the pavement, and Chris' sneakers pitter-pattering next to you.

"So, you're all grown up now. Got your own place, got your own job.." you smiled over at him. "Yeah, I do. I have my own car, too, but it's in the shop right now," he sighed.

"Is it gonna be expensive to fix?" You wondered aloud. "A little, but on the bright side, I'm saving money on gas walking and taking the bus to work," Chris shrugged, the corner of his lip turning up in a weak smile.

"What are you doing for work?" You asked, glancing both ways before crossing the street. "Landscaping, construction, some basic handy-man work," he answered you.

"Is that how you got these?" You flirtatiously squeezed his bicep. He scoffed and laughed, his heartbeat quickening as your touch lingered.

"What do you do for work?" He asked, flipping the question around on you and taking the attention off of himself. "See that little window right there? I work at that law firm," you told him, pointing up at the tall building a couple blocks away.

"No way! You're a lawyer?" He assumed, lifting his eyebrows. "No, just a paralegal," you responded, laughing. Chris didn't really understand the difference.

He thought about making a comment about you being dressed way too hot to be a lawyer, but he bit his tongue, worried that it might come out wrong.

"Hey, you're not in a rush to get home, are you?" You stopped, turning to him. "No. No hurry," Chris replied, shrugging his shoulders and secretly hoping to spend more time with you.

"There's a coffee shop about a block away. How about we go grab a drink and get out of the cold for a bit?" You suggested, the chill of the air biting at the tip of your nose. "That sounds nice," Chris nodded, following your lead.

"So, how's your mom doing?" You wondered, peering over at Chris. "She's doing well. She misses you. You were her favorite babysitter, you know. She'd always call you first when she needed someone to watch me," Chris admitted.

"Good. That means you didn't tell her I let you watch scary movies with me and stay up way past your bedtime," you joked. "Nope. Still haven't told her to this day," Chris responded, winking in your direction.

"Good boy," you said, ruffling his hair again. Blood rushed to his cheeks, and his face turned a bit red with embarrassment.

You didn't mean for that moment to create so much sexual tension between the two of you, but your eyes met for just a second, both of you conveying a look of desire. You both glanced away just as quickly, letting the moment pass.

You cleared your throat before speaking again. "So your mom. She still working at the hospital?" You wondered, rubbing your hands together to keep them warm before nestling them back into your big coat pockets. "Yeah, still working long hours," he replied.

You lead Chris down an alley tucked between two tall buildings where you were temporarily safe from the windchill. Chris ran his fingertips along the cold brick as he turned the corner, the rough surface leaving him with both a strange and satisfying sensation.

A comfortable silence lingered between you as you meandered down the path, not wanting to fill each other in too quickly on your lives to keep the visit from being cut short.

The sounds of the city moved around you, traffic bustling and people clamoring about. The city was like that, everyone always onto the next thing. It seemed like you and Chris were the only ones dragging out your steps, trying to pass the time instead of racing it.

You turned another corner, leading Chris back out into the strong winds as you pushed a stray strand of hair behind your ear in an attempt to keep it from blowing wildy in your face.

Straight ahead tucked between an antique shop and a record store was the coffeehouse you frequented. You and Chris, once again, glanced both ways before crossing the street.

Despite the frigid air, Chris' palms had grown sweaty from his nervous energy. He felt like a little kid again in the presence of his pretty babysitter, who he'd always had a raging crush on, hoping you thought he was cool, or at the very least, not uncool.

He subtly wiped the perspiration off on the front of his jeans before reaching for the door with a shaky hand, holding it for you, and nodding for you to go through it.

The two of you shuffled into the warm, cozy lobby of the café, so warm that the first thing you did was remove your coat and sling it over your arm, prompting Chris' eyes to drop to the bit of exposed cleavage that peeked out over your neckline.

The ambience was just right, smooth jazz playing softly in the background, warm overhead lighting, and the hiss of milk being steamed to perfection. The aroma of freshly ground coffee beans and sweet flavors wafted through the welcoming atmosphere.

Chris got a peppermint mocha, and you ordered a cortado, which Chris insisted on paying for, and you didn't put up a fight.

He'd always been sweet like that, even when you two were just kids. He was always holding doors open for you and waiting to eat his dinner until you'd taken your place at the table.

He was always considerate and gentleman-like, a product of his personality and his mother's good morals.

The two of you found a place to sit near the back next to a big window, and while the two of you were reminiscing on old memories, the server brought the two of you your drinks.

You thanked him, but when Chris' eyes landed on your coffee, his smile fell. "Hey, want me to go bring this back? I think they brought you the wrong thing," Chris offered.

"No, this is what I ordered!" You assured him. He stared inquisitively at your measly 4 oz drink, wondering what the appeal was.

"It's really good, Chris. I promise," you responded, reading his expression. "I'd ask for a taste, but I'd finish it off in one sip," he joked. You rolled your eyes, but you laughed along.

"So, are you still with Kyle?" He wondered aloud, staring down at your hands that were cupping your drink, searching for a wedding band or engagement ring.

"No," you told him, your hands retreating and falling into your lap. "He wasted my time, really. We were together for nine years and in the midst of our three-year-long engagement, he cheated on me," you scoffed.

"I knew I never liked that guy," Chris muttered, clenching his jaw. "I know you didn't. You'd always try to sit between us on the couch and interrupt us right when we were about to kiss," you recalled, the corner of your lip morphing into a faint smile.

It was hard for you to deny the little crush Chris had on you when he was a young boy, but sitting in front of him now in this coffee shop, admiring the way his features had aged like fine wine, you wondered if the tables had turned.

Chris bit back a smirk as he recalled a few times that he had "woken up" from a nightmare, pulling your attention away with your shitty boyfriend at the time so that you'd have to come to his rescue and comfort him. Kyle had even accused him of faking before.

"Kid always has a bad dream every time we're about to do it," he'd snarked at you once, pulling you back onto his lap, which caused a verbal disagreement to break out between the two of you.

"Kyle! You asshole! He's eleven! He's not thinking like that," You had whisper-yelled in response, pushing him away and following Chris to his bedroom to lull him back to sleep.

Chris had overheard the conversation from down the hall, but even now, over ten years later, he couldn't admit to you that most of the time, he was faking his nightmares.

No one had had the talk with Chris at this point, but he had a vague idea of what it meant when Kyle would stay the night, and he felt an incredible amount of jealousy when he would.

"How about you, Chris? You dating anyone? I bet the girls can't stay away from you," You flattered him, putting your drink to your lips and taking a sip.

He blushed and shook his head after drinking from his own coffee. "I've actually never had a serious girlfriend. Can't seem to get past the talking stage with girls," Chris nervously said, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, well, there's nothing wrong with that, Chris," you reassured him, pitifully running your thumb across the back of his hand. You meant for the gesture to be reassuring, but Chris found it condescending. He jerked his hand back.

"You think I'm a loser, don't you?" Chris huffed, peering out of the café window. "Chris. Look at me. Of course, I don't think that," you responded, studying his facial expressions.

"Of course, you do think that. I'm a twenty-two-year-old who's never.." Chris began to say, but he cut himself off, fearing he'd already said too much.

"Oh! You've never..?" You asked, your voice started to trail off. He didn't answer you, but his face turned a deep red.

"Chris, there's nothing wrong with that. I just assumed.. I just thought.. I'm just surprised. That's all," you managed to get out, foolishly stumbling over your words and wondering how someone you'd known for so long and who was so much younger than you was making you as nervous as you were.

"Why are you surprised?" He asked, your assumption taking him aback. "You're just so hot," you accidentally blurted out, astounding yourself with how forward your comment was.

"You think so?" He asked, his eyebrows flicking up in shock. He blushed a little harder, but his previously embarrassed expression morphed into something softer.

"I mean, you're conventionally attractive. You're a total gentleman. You just need a little confidence, and you'd be unstoppable," you stroked his ego, taking a sip of your coffee.

"You think I'm hot?" He wondered, still stuck on your compliment, his lips curling into a flattered smile. "Don't make me say it again," you chuckled, rolling your eyes.

Chris narrowed his gaze at you while he took a sip of his peppermint mocha. "What else do you think of me?" He inquired, locking eyes with you.

"I think any woman would be lucky to be your first," you replied, reaching out and stroking the back of his hand again. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he relished in the soothing feeling of your thumb brushing against his knuckles.

"Any woman? Even you?" He suggested, surprising himself with the brief moment of confidence he found himself swept up in. The silence that followed his question was heavy, and the tension between the two of you was thick.

You wet your lips, studying his handsome facial features, but before you could answer, one of the coffee shop employees floated over to your table. They offered to take your empty cortado glass out of the way to which you pulled back your hand, nodded, and thanked them.

"I should take you home," you declared, softly smiling in Chris' direction. "Okay," Chris affirmed, taking his peppermint mocha to-go.

The two of you left the coffeeshop, putting back on all your layers before setting back out into the winter weather.

You made your way out the door, the whistling wind whirring past you as you wandered back to your car. You and Chris walked silently through the city streets and through the cobblestone alleys between the buildings that towered over Boston.

Your mind churned, worrying that you'd made the reunion awkward and quietly kicking yourself for your word choice in the coffeehouse.

"Here we are," you announced once the two you had reached the parking garage. You reached into your purse, retrieved your keys, and unlocked your car.

Chris turned to you with wide eyes, and his jaw dropped when he realized the black Mercedes was yours.

"Damn. When did you get rich?" He questioned you, opening the passenger side door and running his fingers along the dark red interior.

"I wouldn't say I'm rich," you scoffed, humbly shrugging before opening the driver's side door.

"I should've had you pay for my coffee," the blue-eyed boy joked, admiring the sleek look of your car and setting his drink in your cup holder. "Next time I will," you smiled at him as your engine roared to life.

You turned on your heater, and each of you shed a layer as the car started to warm up. "Alright, Chris. What's the address to your apartment complex?"

He read it off to you while you put it in your GPS. You carefully backed out of your parking spot and navigated your way onto the main road towards his place.

"So, I mean, it's been eleven years. What else has been going on in your life besides dumping Kyle and getting rich?" Chris playfully inquired.

"A lot, actually. After high school, I took a year off. Then when I went back to school and got my bachelor's degree in law. I worked at a few places as a secretary before finally finding this job about three years ago shortly after Kyle and I broke it off, and I've been making good money ever since," you told him.

"I even bought my first house last year by myself," you added, trying not to sound too cocky but unable to hide how proud you were.

"That's amazing. I love a strong, independent woman," Chris smirked, sipping on his coffee, his gaze lingering on you as you focused on the road ahead.

"How about you, Chris? What have you been up to since I last saw you?" You returned the question.

You spent the rest of the car ride catching up with Chris, getting to know him all over again. It was surprising and comforting how many things about him hadn't changed - his sweet and shy demeanor, his mannerisms, and his laugh.

The parts of him that did change, you liked - his matured features and his deep, sexy voice.

While the two of you were chatting and approaching an intersection, someone ran a red light, causing you to slam down on the brake pedal. Chris spilled his drink, sending coffee dripping down the front of his white t-shirt.

"Shit," he muttered. "Are you okay?" You asked, your heart racing while you tried to catch your breath. You pulled off onto the shoulder of the road to collect yourself.

"I'm fine. I just feel like an idiot for spilling in your car," Chris sighed, unbuckling his seatbelt and pulling his shirt off over his head.

"It's not your fault, Chris. It doesn't.. it doesn't even look like you got it anywhere besides.." You managed to get out as you motioned towards his shirt that was no longer on his body.

Your eyes dropped to his chest, his arms, and to his stomach. He caught you staring and smirked in your direction. You immediately pulled your eyes off him and placed them back onto the road in front of you, clearing your throat.

"Sorry about that," you said, half-apologizing for making him spill and half-apologizing for ogling him like a creep. "Don't be sorry," he paused. "About anything."

His eyes lingered on you, biting down on his bottom lip. He wondered if you wanted him as badly as he wanted you.

You turned down a few unfamiliar streets, following the GPS directions into the complex where Chris lived.

"Take this road all the way down, and you can park at any of those unmarked spaces on the left," he instructed you. You pulled into a spot and threw the gear shifter into park.

"Well, here we are!" You exclaimed, glancing over at Chris, your eyes dancing over his stature one more time. "Thank you so much for the ride. It really means a lot. So much better than taking the bus," Chris remarked, smiling at you.

"Hey, if you want, I can wash your shirt for you. I'm pretty good at getting stains out," you suggested, extending your hand and offering to take his shirt.

"I'd appreciate that. Thank you," Chris responded, handing it off to you and getting ready to get out of the car.

"Hey, wait! Before you go, let's exchange numbers. You know, that way I can return this once it's washed," you proposed. Chris agreed, trying not to sound too eager and reaching for his phone that was tucked into his pocket.

You swapped contact information with him, told him to call anytime, and ruffled his hair again.

"Hey. Do you wanna come inside? I can give you a tour," Chris offered, not wanting to say goodbye to you just yet.

"Sure," you nodded, cutting the engine and following Chris up the stairs to his place.

You couldn't keep your eyes off the muscles in his back. He placed his key into the lock, turning it until he heard a faint click. He pushed open the door and motioned for you to enter first.

It was a typical twenty-something-year-old man's apartment - clothes strewn on the floor, a few dishes stacked in the sink, and a couch in the living room pointed at a TV.

He had stacks of video games, naughty magazines, and a few empty soda cans scattered on his coffee table. His place was a little unorganized, but it wasn't filthy.

"Sorry about the mess," Chris apologized, scurrying over to the dirty magazines and stuffing them under his sofa cushion when he thought you weren't paying attention.

"Uh, I'll show you my room," he mumbled, leading the way to his bedroom door. His sheets were thrown lazily onto his twin-sized bed, and he didn't have much else in his room besides a wooden nightstand.

"If you need to use the bathroom, it's right there," Chris motioned towards the door across the hall. You followed him back out towards the front door.

"And the kitchen," he motioned towards the small room with the fridge in it. "I know it's not much," Chris shrugged.

"But it's your first place by yourself, and that's a big deal. I'm really proud of you!" You warmly smiled, pulling him into another hug.

Your fingerstips glided across his shirtless back, and blood immediately rushed to his dick.

"Thanks! It's relatively cheap, too," Chris remarked, pulling away and making over towards the couch in the living room.

He plopped down onto the furniture and pulled a throw pillow onto his lap, hoping he was being discrete. He wasn't.

You took a seat on his couch beside him, shifting uncomfortably about on his lumpy cushion. You decided to mess with him a bit.

"C'mon, don't look at those," he nervously whined as you reached under the sofa cushion, retrieving a few dirty magazines. Your lips curled into a devious smile as you flipped through one.

"You might be a virgin, but you're not that innocent, are you?" You cooed.

He buried his face in his hands while you sifted through the images of naked girls, half-expecting you to start making fun of him or tell him how disgusting he was for getting off to such content.

When you didn't, he peeked back up at you. You looked more intrigued than anything. You crossed your legs and squeezed them together as you imagined him rubbing one out while his dreamy, blue eyes struggled to focus on the page.

"Why don't you show me what you do with them?" You cooed. "Wh-what do you mean?" He timidly asked.

"Don't play dumb, pretty boy," you leaned in, whispering into his ear, gently planting a kiss on the side of his neck. "You know exactly what I mean. Show me."

His eyes fluttered closed, and his jaw fell open as he processed your request. "Uh huh," he nodded, his heart beating in his ears as his shaky, sweaty hand reached for the button on his pants.

"Say, yes, mommy," you sensually whispered against his flesh that was radiating heat. "Yes, mommy," he articulated, putting a lustful emphasis on the final word.

With your tongue licking a stripe up his neck, you heard the soft zip of his jeans being undone. You felt him start pumping away his length. You suckled gently on his skin.

"Ahh," a faint gasp snuck past his lips, his breath shallowing. You pulled away to catch a glimpse of what was between his legs.

"Wow," you purred, zeroing in on his swollen, mushroom-shaped head. Another pretty moan unfurled from his pink, parted lips while he caressed his sensitive tip.

"Look at that," you gasped, admiring the way precum started drooling from his slit while he played with it. "Good boy," you quietly praised him while his slender fingers were wrapped around his length, stroking it up and down at a quickening pace.

"I just know you fuck hard," you sinfully purred into his ear, his grip around his cock growing tighter. He threw his head back, giving you better access as you went back to suckling on his neck.

"Mommy, I need you," Chris relayed in a strangled moan, desperation seeping into his tone. "What do you need, Chris? Use your words, pretty boy," you cooed. A smirk played into the corner of his mouth as he listened to your praise.

"Show me what it's like to be touched by a woman," he quietly requested. "Where do you want me to touch you, baby? Right here?" You teased, gently tapping his tip with the end of your pointer finger.

"Yes, mommy. Right there," he eagerly affirmed. You gently caressed the back of the head, tracing his veins with your fingertips. You tightened your grip, replacing his own hand with yours.

He let go, letting you take the reigns as a needy whine drifted to your ears. "Yes, mommy," he replied.

You tilted his chin to face you, and you leaned in, locking your lips with his, his faint whimpers vibrating against your mouth.

He couldn't believe he was kissing you, his childhood babysitter, the woman he'd been fantasizing about for over a decade. He still wasn't convinced that this wasn't some sort of vivid dream or intense reverie.

You had one hand tangled in his hair and the other, gripping his length and pumping it at a steady pace. His hard cock involuntarily throbbed in your grasp.

"Look at me, baby," you whispered after you pulled away from the kiss, but only by a few inches. "Is it everything you wanted it to be, pretty boy?" You wondered, holding his gaze with your nose gently brushing against his while you tugged on his messy locks.

"Yes, mommy," he answered, his features and his voice saturated in lust. You looked into his pretty blue eyes while you stroked him faster and faster, feeling his cock twitch at the sensation.

He was so eager to be played with by you that he could barely contain himself.

You watched the muscles in his face tighten, his eyebrows knitting together and his eyes squeezing shut. He shuddered under your touch.

He clutched the couch cushion beneath him with both hands, curling his fingers and his toes as you brought him to climax.

A slew of guttural moans filled the room as he finished, his load squirting from his tip and painting his chest and his stomach, a bit of cum pooling into his belly button.

The warm, white substance dripped down onto your hand as you brought your movements to a standstill.

You released his soft, brown hair from your tight grasp, and he sank into the soft sofa. A satisfied smile crossed his face as he tried to regulate his breathing. He had never felt that much pleasure before.

Embarrassment flooded his system when he realized it took all of about four minutes for him to cum.

"I'm sorry I finished so fast," he mumbled breathlessly as he giggled and hid his face in his hands, reverting back to his shy nature.

"Don't be sorry, baby. About anything. You were such a good boy for me. Next time I'll show you how to last longer."

˚₊ · »-♡→ part two here

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[doctorbitchcrxft]

Roadkill | Supernatural Series Rewrite | Dean Winchester x Fem!Reader

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Fem!Reader (Eventual ? ;) )

Warnings: canon violence, canon gore, mentions of smut

Word Count: 4772

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“Alright,” Dean began, cruising down a darkened road. “Tell me about Highway 41.”

You leaned your head on your arms between the shoulders of the two boys on the back of the front seat as Sam began to talk.

“Twelve accidents over fifteen years,” the brunet explained. “Five of them fatal; all of them happening on the same night.”

“So, what are we looking at— Interstate dead zone? Phantom hitchhiker? What?” Dean questioned.

Sam shook his head, continuing to flip through his notes. “Not quite. Year after year, witnesses said the same thing made them crash. A woman appearing in the middle of the road, being chased by a man covered in blood.”

“Two spooks?” you asked.

“Sounds like it,” Sam responded.

“Any idea who this chick is?” 

“I think I might,” the brunet said, handing you a clipping from an old newspaper he’d printed off online. “Molly McNamara. Killed in a car crash fifteen years ago tomorrow night. She took another guy out with her; Jonah Greely. Farmer who was out in the road, and Molly couldn’t slow down in enough time to stop.”

“So, what? She haunts the road now with Greely chasin’ after her?” you questioned.

Sam shrugged. “I guess.”

“I say we go talk to the husband. Only survivor of the crash.”

And that was just where you went. You discovered she hadn’t been buried; she’d been cremated.

“So, what’s keeping her here?” Sam wondered aloud as you left the survivor’s house.

“I don’t know,” you replied. 

*** The next night, you, Dean, and Sam headed down Highway 41.

“Please don’t run into the bitch and kill us all with your stupid driving,” you implored Dean, who shot you a look in the rearview mirror.

“I’m a great driver, what are you—” He cut himself off as something in the road caught his attention. “Holy—!”

You braced yourself on the back of the front seat as Dean slammed to a stop in front of a young blonde woman with scrapes and bruises littering her body. “You have to help me!” she yelled, crying.

“Dean, I don't think she knows she's dead,” Sam realized.

Molly started banging on the window of Sam’s door. “Open up! Please!”

Sam obliged, holding his hand up to try and create some distance between the two of them as he opened the car. “Okay, okay! All right, all right. Just calm down. Tell us what happened.”

You hung back with Dean while he parked the car as Sam walked ahead with Molly. 

“What is he gonna tell her?” Dean asked quietly.

“Knowing Sam? Probably the truth,” you replied.

“She's gonna take off running in the other direction,” Dean sighed.

“Yeah, I know.”

“I— I swerved,” Molly was telling Sam, sitting against a tree stump, “ A-And we crashed. And when I came to, the car was wrecked and my husband was missing. I went looking for him, but that's when the man from the road, he- he started chasing me.”

“Did he look like he lost a fight with a lawn mower?” Dean questioned.

Molly looked up at Dean, shocked. “How did you know that?”

“Lucky guess,” he shrugged.

You played dumb, keeping what Dean had said earlier in mind. “Hey, what's your name?”

“Molly. Molly Mcnamara,” she said.

Sam looked over at you knowingly. “I think maybe you should come with us. We'll take you back into town.”

“I can't.” The blonde suddenly panicked. “I have to find David. He might have gone back to the car.”

“We should get you somewhere safe first. Then the three of us will come back. We'll look for your husband,” Sam tried.

“No. I'm not leaving here without him. Would you just take me back to my car, please?” she begged.

Sam hesitated a moment. “Of course,” he said finally. “Come on.”

The four of you clambered into the Impala, and Molly directed Dean toward the crash site. You were incredibly uneasy with a spirit just casually sitting next to you in the backseat, and every instinct was screaming at you to pump her full of rocksalt. However, you knew better and fought your gut feeling.

“Stop,” Molly told Dean. She was jumping out of the car before he’d fully come to a stop. “It’s right over there.”

She led you to where she thought the car would be, but there was nothing there. 

“I don't understand. I'm sure this is where it was. W-We hit that tree right there. This— This doesn't make any sense,” she rushed out, running a hand through her hair. She started to head further into the woods.

Not willing to let her out of your sight, you followed. “Molly, wait!”

She turned around. “I know it sounds crazy, but I crashed into that tree. I don't know who could've taken it. It was totaled. Please. You have to believe me.”

“I do believe you,” you said. “But that’s why you gotta get outta here.”

“What about David?” she protested. “Something must have happened. I have to get to the cops.”

Dean came up behind you. “Cops! That's a great idea. We'll take you down to the station ourselves. So just come with us. It's the best way we can help you and your husband.”

“Okay,” she replied.

You shot Dean a look and headed back to the car.

As the four of you drove, Molly spoke up. “We're supposed to be in Lake Tahoe.”

“You and David?” Sam asked.

“It's our five-year anniversary,” she nodded.

“A hell of an anniversary,” Dean muttered, almost making you laugh. However, you were too focused on keeping a hand on your gun in case she made one wrong move.

“Right before, we were having the dumbest fight,” she sighed. “It was the only time we ever really argued; when we were stuck in the car.”

Sam laughed. “Yeah. I know how that goes.”

Dean scowled at him, making you smile.

“You know the last thing I said to him? I called him a jerk. Oh, god. What if that's the last thing I said to him?” she cried.

The younger Winchester turned to face her. “Molly, we're gonna figure out what happened to your husband. I promise.”

Suddenly, the radio started flickering. Its whirring and crackling soon turned to the opening notes of “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals.

“Sam, you didn’t—?” you started.

He shook his head.

Dean sighed. “I was afraid you'd say that.”

“This song…” Molly trailed off.

“What?” you questioned.

“It was playing when we crashed,” she breathed out.

The radio crackled again, and settled on another disturbing station. A voice began to fill the car coming over the radio. “She's mine,” the voice taunted. “She's mine. She's mine.”

“What is that?” Molly asked.

Jonah Greeley suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.

Dean began flooring it straight at him. “Hold on.”

“What are you doing?” she shrieked as Dean drove into Greeley, who disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“What the... What the hell just happened?” Molly breathed.

“Don't worry, Molly. Everything's gonna be alright,” Sam coaxed.

“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” you quipped as the Impala began to shudder. It coasted to a stop on the side of the road.

Dean tried to start it again, but the ignition sputtered. “I don't think he's gonna let her leave.”

You got out of the car, hand still on your gun. 

Dean put a hand on the small of your back, cooly saying, “Relax” into your ear. A shudder went through your spine at the contact, but you did your best to release the tension you were holding in your body.

“That’s my girl,” he said, more to himself than you. 

Your heart swelled with pride just as Molly started to panic on the other side of the car. “This can't be happening.”

“Well, trust me. It's happening,” Dean remarked. He moved to the back of the car and started pulling weapons out of the trunk.

Molly came around and noticed the arsenal, immediately backing away. “Okay. Thanks for helping, but I think I got it covered from here.”

“Wait. Molly, Molly, wait a minute,” Sam begged, chasing after her.

“Just leave me alone.”

“No, no, no. Please. You have to listen to me,” he told her.

“Just stay away!” Molly started walking faster.

“It wasn't a coincidence that we found you, alright?” Sam told her.

“Oh, here we go,” you told Dean.

“What are you talking about?” the blonde asked defensively.

“We weren't just cruising for chicks when we ran into you, sister,” Dean snarked. “We were already out here. Hunting.”

“Hunting for what?” Molly questioned.

“Ghosts.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it for her,” you deadpanned.

“You're nuts,” she laughed in disbelief.

“Really? About as nuts as a vanishing guy with his guts spilling out. You know what you saw,” Dean pressed.

“We think his name is Jonah Greeley. He was a local farmer that died fifteen years ago on this highway,” Sam explained despite Molly begging him to stop. “One night a year, on the anniversary of his death, he haunts this road. That's why we're here, Molly. To try and stop him.”

It seemed like this was starting to make sense to her. “Now, I suppose this... ghost… made my car disappear, too.”

“Crazier things have happened, huh?” Dean replied.

“You know what? I'm all filled up on crazy. I'm gonna get the cops myself.” She started away.

“Not to be harsh, but you’re not gonna get far,” you called after her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she scoffed, turning back.

“Means that plan A was trying to get you out of here. Obviously that didn't go over too well with, uh, Farmer Roadkill,” Dean informed.

“Molly, we're telling the truth,” said Sam. “Greeley's not gonna let you leave this highway.”

“You're s— you're serious about this, aren't you?”

Dean nodded. “Deadly.”

‘No pun intended there, I’m sure,’ you thought.

“Every year, Greeley finds someone to punish for what happened to him. Tonight, that person is you,” Sam told Molly.

“Why me? I didn't do anything,” she cried.

“Doesn't matter. Some spirits only see what they want,” Sam shrugged.

“So you're saying this ... Greeley, he took my husband? Oh, god,” she wailed.

Sam caught her gaze again. “Molly, look, we're gonna help, all right? But first, you gotta help us.”

“Help you?” she questioned. “How?”

*** Molly led you over to a deteriorating hunting cabin where she saw Greeley. You walked in behind Dean, only slightly unsettled by the numerous blood-stained tools scattered around the room. Hunting ghosts, chopping them up— sure, no problem; Animals? They were off-limits in your mind. 

“Huh. Seemed like a real sweet guy,” Dean commented upon taking in the bloodstained metal table.

“No markers or headstones outside,” Sam told you and Dean.

“You're looking for Greeley's grave?” Molly asked.

Sam nodded.

“Why?”

“So we can dig up the corpse and salt and burn it,” Dean responded nonchalantly.

“Oh. Sure, naturally,” the blonde scoffed.

“It's a way to get rid of a spirit,” Sam told her.

“And that'll save David?” Molly asked.

“Well, this is what'll help both of you, provided there's a corpse to be found,” Sam replied. You could tell the truth was burning on his tongue.

“So how do we find it?” Molly continued.

“I'm not sure. After Greeley died, his wife claimed the body. And that was the last anyone saw of her. So good guess she brought him back here. But they had a thousand acres. He could be buried anywhere on 'em,” Sam said.

“So this is really what you guys do? You're like Ghostbusters?”

“Minus the jumpsuits,” you remarked.

Briskly, Dean started, “This is a fascinating conversation and all, but this highway is only haunted once a year, and we got till sun-up to wrap this thing up. What do you say we move it along, okay? Great.”

You followed Dean outside to search for Greely’s corpse or his house.

“Can’t say I’m enjoying babysitting Casper,” you whispered to Dean.

“Me neither,” he chuckled.

“Any thoughts on what’s got her stuck?” you asked.

“Probably the fact that she doesn’t know she’s dead,” he shrugged.

“But… why would that matter?” you questioned.

“I guess you can’t move on if you don’t even know you have to,” he said.

“Makes sense,” you considered. 

“David? David? David!” you suddenly heard Molly screaming behind you. She then yelped in shock, and you immediately raised your shotgun loaded with rocksalt and shot above Molly’s head at Greeley, who was holding her above the ground. He disappeared upon the round’s impact and dropped Molly.

“Nice,” Dean told you.

“Thanks,” you grinned.

“Hey! Are you alright?” Sam asked Molly.

“What has that son of a bitch done with my husband?” Molly shrieked.

“Just take it easy, alright? You're gonna see David again. You will,” Sam told her.

You noticed uneven cobblestone starting under your feet. “Hey!” you called to them.

Dean jerked his head in your direction. “Follow the creepy brick road.”

You followed closely behind Dean, blocking out Sam having to recap how ghost hunting works to Molly.

“You know, just once I'd like to round the corner and see a nice house,” Dean commented as you turned toward a slowly decaying house. It was similarly built to the smaller hunting cabin you’d first stumbled upon. You stumbled around the house, searching for any sign of Greeley or his body.

Molly and Sam stuck together at the back of the pack, and Dean stayed outside to look around. You headed up the stairs to look around. Upon doing so, you found a slew of papers strewn about. You searched through a few of them, only finding receipts, scrapbook pages, and to-do lists; nothing about a potential burial site. 

Sam and Molly soon made their way into the room and you tuned out their conversation about vengeful spirits as you poked around a wall that seemed strange to you. 

Dean appeared at the doorway. “Sammy's always getting a little J. Love Hewitt when it comes to things like this. Me, I don't like 'em. And I sure as hell ain't making apologies for 'em. There's nothing downstairs. You find anything?”

“Uh, just about every piece of mail or receipt they ever had. Looked through a couple, but nothing about a grave so far,” Sam explained.

“There’s somethin’ back here, though,” you said, referencing the wall. You tossed your flashlight to Sam. You dug the balls of your feet into the floor against the adjoining wall and shoved the cabinet in your way over a bit. You revealed a small hidden door, and you dusted your hands off on your jeans as you crouched to it. “It’s locked from the inside,” you announced.

“Move over,” Dean told you. When he saw you were clear, he threw a back kick at the door. You were surprised to see the door still upright. So was Dean, to your amusement. He gave it yet another kick, and it finally fell inward.

You crawled through the opening with Dean hot on your heels. “It smells like old lady in here,” he grimaced. 

You stood, shocked to see a woman hanging by her neck from the ceiling. “Jesus, that explains why,” you cringed, covering your nose with the back of your sweater sleeve. 

“Well, now we know why nobody ever saw her again,” Dean commented.

“She didn't want to live without him,” Molly cooed sadly.

Sam found a chair the woman had assumedly knocked from under her feet when she passed away. “Dean, give me a hand.”

“Really?” Dean scoffed.

“What are you gonna do?” Molly questioned.

Sam gave his brother a scolding look. “We can't leave her like this.”

“Why not?”

“She deserves to be put to rest, Dean.”

You gave Dean a look as well, and he reluctantly agreed. He moved toward the woman’s body as Sam cut her down, cursing under his breath when it dropped into his arms; either at the smell or the fact that he was holding a corpse.

You helped the boys dig a grave for the woman, and Dean gently laid her in it.

“So... So, if you manage to put Greeley to rest, too... What happens to them?” Molly asked. 

Dean chuckled. “Lady, that answer is way beyond our pay grade.”

“You hunt these things, but you don't know what happens to them?” she pushed.

“Well, they never come back. That's all that matters.”

“Agreed,” you chimed in, but you knew the answer wasn’t satisfying her. “Look, once we get ‘em to let go of whatever’s keeping ‘em here, they just… go. Honestly, I hope some place better, but I don’t know. No one does.”

“What happens when you burn their bones?” she continued.

“Well,” Sam began, “my dad used to say that was like death for ghosts, you know? But… the truth is, we still don't know. Not for sure.” He looked over at Dean. “Guess that's why we all hold on to life so hard. Even the dead. We're all just scared of the unknown.”

“The only thing I'm scared of is losing David. I have to see him again.” Molly paused for a long while. “I have to.” ***

You stood next to the two brothers after you left Molly in a room next door to the one you were in the house. Sam said he needed to talk to you both. 

“I think we should tell her about her husband,” Sam sighed.

“Oh, hell no,” you told him. 

“(Y/N), it's cruel, letting her pine for him like this. I don't like keeping her in the dark.”

“It's for her own good.” Dean got up from the chair behind you. “Man, I know you feel guilty, all right? But let's just stick to the plan. Let's get her out of here. Then we'll tell her.”

Molly suddenly appeared at the door. “Tell me what? What aren't you telling me? It's about David. You know what happened to him.”

“Molly—” Sam began.

Dean cut him off. “Sam, don't.”

“Don't what? Don't tell me because I'll mess up your hunt? You don't care about me or my husband,” the blonde angrily said.

“That's not true.”

“Really? Then whatever it is, tell me, please.”

The younger brother swallowed, hesitating. Before he could say anything, a radio distantly went static. Then, it played “House of the Rising Sun.”

“Oh, great,” you grumbled.

“Stay with Molly,” Dean told Sam. He jerked his head at you to get you to follow him toward the sound. You followed the sound toward the living room, getting louder with each step. Dean stooped next to the radio and picked up a frayed, broken power cord. You heard another noise and headed to the door. It frosted over, revealing the words “She’s mine.”

You heard a scream and ran back to the room you left Sam and Molly in.

“He's got Molly!” Sam pointed out the broken window.

You jumped through it, running through the woods. You ran for a few minutes before you cursed under your breath, chest heaving. You returned to the house and started flipping through a scrapbook.

“This guy is persistent,” Dean said, coming up beside you.

“We gotta find Molly,” Sam huffed.

“We gotta find Greeley's bones,” Dean added. “And, uh, no pressure or anything, but we got less than two hours before sunrise.”

You noticed something in a picture of the hunting cabin with the Greeleys standing in front of it. “Hey.”

“What do you got?” Dean questioned.

“ 'February 6, 1992’,” you read aloud.

“That was, like, two weeks before the accident, wasn't it?” Sam chimed in.

“Yeah, but… something seems off. I swear there’s a tree right where they’re standing.” You tapped the picture.

“I should've thought of it,” Sam scolded himself.

“What?” you and Dean asked in unison.

“It's an old country custom,” Sam explained. “Planting a tree as a grave marker.”

Dean chuckled. “You're like a walking encyclopedia of weirdness.”

“Yeah. I know,” Sam deadpanned somewhat bitterly.

You broke off in a sprint toward the hunting cabin with a shovel in hand. You immediately began digging around the tree. You suddenly heard a scream as the brothers came up beside you. 

“Go get Molly,” you instructed Dean, who nodded and headed inside.

Sam began helping you dig around the tree. You dug in silence feverishly until Sam said, “Hey, I got something over here.”

“Hurry up, guys!” you heard Dean distantly yell.

You looked into the spot where Sam was digging to discover a set of bones carefully laid in an open grave. You ducked down to the duffel bag beside Sam and handed him a container of salt as you searched around for the kerosene. Quickly, you stood back up and emptied the kerosene on top of the body as Sam finished salting the bones. Sam lit a match he’d grabbed and dropped it on top of the bones which immediately ignited into a roaring fire.  

Dean came out of the house with Molly, and you noticed a deep gash on Dean’s cheek. You ran to him as Molly continued ahead to Sam. You gingerly touched the wound, and he hissed in pain.

“When this is over, I need to patch that up,” you told him.

“I’m fine, (Y/N),” he insisted.

“Stop being so hardheaded. I need to fix it up before it gets infected,” you argued.

Dean grumbled, “Fine,” and followed Molly and Sam to the Impala. He patted the hood of his car lovingly. “Oh, baby, it's been a long night,” he cooed, dropping his bag in the backseat and climbing into the driver’s seat.

You rolled your eyes at him, and got down into the seat behind him.

You saw Sam arguing with Molly outside of the car, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. You then saw her smile in relief before eagerly climbing into the car next to you.

Wordlessly, Sam and Dean exchanged a look. You figured Sam told her he’d take her to David. Dean then drove a route you’d taken before to the man’s house. You pulled up to the lovely suburban home, light emanating from it into the dark night.

“He's in that house, right there,” Sam told Molly.

Her shoulders dropped and formerly cheery expression changed. “I don't understand.”

“You will.”

You got out of the car and stood next to Dean. 

Molly’s breath quickened. “That's— not— It can't be.”

You watched the woman carefully, and for the first time, felt bad for a vengeful spirit. You watched as David stood dressed in a bathrobe holding a steaming cup of liquid, sipping it before a woman came up to him and pecked him on the lips.

“What's happening?” Molly questioned. “Who is that?”

“David’s wife,” you answered. 

She turned back to the house, confused, before turning back to you and the Winchesters.

“I'm sorry, Molly,” Sam began softly. “Fifteen years ago, you and your husband hit Jonah Greeley with your car. David survived.”

“What are you saying?” The blonde’s voice wavered.

“We're saying there isn't just one spirit haunting Highway 41,” Dean added. “There are two. Jonah Greeley and you.”

“For the past fifteen years, one night a year you've been appearing on that highway,” explained the younger brother.

“No, that's not possible. It was our anniversary… February 22nd—”

“1992,” you cut her off.

“Yes,” she responded, looking at you like you were stupid.

“It’s 2007,” you finished.

“Oh, god,” she cried. “And Greeley?” 

“Each year he punishes somebody for his death... ah, chasing them. Torturing them. And each year, that somebody is you,” the brunet explained.

“But I don't remember any of it.”

“Because you couldn't see the truth, Molly. Some spirits only see what they want,” Sam told her.

“So that's why he won't let me off the highway. Because... I killed him. I killed us both.” Molly shakily moved over to the front steps of the house. You followed her over as she inquired, “Why didn't you tell me when you first saw me? Why wait until now?”

“You wouldn't have believed us,” Dean replied.

She looked up t0 Dean, stating accusingly, “And you needed me for bait.”

“Well, we needed you,” Sam chimed in.

“David,” she breathed out.

The younger brother sighed. “Molly, we brought you here so you could move on.”

“I have to tell him—” 

You cut her off. “Tell him what? That you love him? That you’re sorry? I’m sure he knows that. You go in there, you’re gonna scar him for life. He’s already grieved you. Let him move on.”

“David's already said his goodbyes, Molly,” Sam continued. “Now it's your turn. This is your unfinished business.”

“What am I supposed to do?” she sobbed.

“Just... let go. Of David. Of everything. You do that, we think you'll move on,” he explained.

“But you don't know where.”

“No, but that’s okay,” you said. “You don’t belong here.”

“Haven't you suffered long enough? It's time. It's time to go,” Sam finished for you.

She nodded sadly, then slowly stepped away from you and the brothers. She moved down the road toward the rising sun, and allowed herself to become absorbed by the light dawning. 

“I guess she wasn't so bad... for a ghost,” Dean remarked. He turned to his younger brother. “You think she's really going to a better place?”

“I hope so,” he shrugged.

“I guess we'll never know. Not until we take the plunge ourselves, huh?” Dean quipped.

“Doesn't really matter, Dean. Hope's kind of the whole point.”

“Alright, Haley Joel.” He smacked Sam on the shoulder. “Let's hit the road.”

You and the brothers decided you needed to get some sleep a few towns over before searching for another case. These periods of down time between hunts were always bizarre; driving with no particular destination would always feel foreign to you no matter how many times you had done it.

***

You forced Dean to come to your motel room to let you patch up the few wounds he’d sustained from fighting Jonah Greeley’s ghost. 

“I really don’t think this is necessary,” he grumbled.

“I think it is. So, tough,” you said firmly. 

Dean looked like he wanted to protest, but he thankfully said nothing. You set to work bandaging his cheek, standing between his spread legs as he sat on the bathroom counter. “How’s your shoulder?”

“What?” he asked.

“The gunshot wound, maybe?” you remarked.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’,” you giggled, half-mocking him. 

“It’s fine. Barely even feel it,” he shrugged.

“Then I guess it won’t be a problem if I give it a once-over,” you challenged.

Dean cut his eyes back at you, but decided against arguing. He shrugged off his leather jacket, then his canvas jacket, then pulled his undershirt over his head. No matter how many times you’d seen Dean shirtless, the sight would always make your breath catch in your throat. He seemed to note your reaction, smirking at you wantonly.

You rolled your eyes, fighting an amused smile as you unwrapped the wound on his shoulder. It was getting better, but you were still concerned about the wound becoming infected. The bullet had lodged in him several inches deep, and it was certainly going to take more than a month to fully heal. Gingerly, you touched the skin around the wound, and Dean hissed and grabbed your wrist.

You looked up at him apologetically, but still mockingly said, “ ‘Barely even feel it’ my ass.”

He rolled his eyes at you and released your wrist. When you had it completely wrapped up, your fingers lingered over the edge of the dressings. Dean grabbed your wrist gently once more, bringing it to his lips and kissing the inside near your pulse point. Your breath hitched as he did so, and he stared at you intently. You shrank under his gaze, heat spreading through your cheeks, and his self-satisfied smirk returned to his face.

“There you go again,” you joked quietly. “Always cheapening the moment.”

He smiled, using his free hand to wrap around your waist and bring you closer to him. He took the wrist he’d been holding and wound it around his neck and leaned forward to kiss you. You responded eagerly, pushing him back down onto the bed. You grinned against his lips, getting lost in the feeling of his body against yours. However, the two of you didn’t have sex that night. It was just enough to be with each other. The idea of that was foreign to the both of you— especially Dean— but you were grateful all the same.

Series Rewrite Taglist: @polireader @brightlilith @atcamillanorrman @jrizzelle @insomnia-bookworm @procrastination20 @mrs-liebgott @djs8891 @tiggytaylor @staple-your-mouth @jesstherebel @rach5ive @strawberrykiwisdogog @bruhidkjustwannaread @mxltifxnd0m @sunshine-on-marz @big-ol-boat @mgchaser @capncrankle @chervbs @simpingdeadcharacters @nesnejwritings @stillhere197 @tearsforhan @take-it-on-the-run @iloveyou2mia @maxinehufflepuffprincess @ohgeehowdigethere @seninjakitey @berarenado @s0urw00lf @princessleahorgana @quarterhorse19 @isla-finke-blog @silverdoragon @karacaroldanvers @gayandfairycore @examishbookwyrm @star-yawnznn @real-sharena-h @fandomloverrr @metalmonki @onlyangel-444 @yu-winchester @benniwiththefanni @daisychaingirl @immagods @missmieux @yoongi-holland @littledebbieinabigworld

[edward-munson]

i'm right here - E.M. * Chapter Two

"I never realized that"

Warning: angst, mentions of weed, fluff

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem! Harrington reader

Word count: 4.5k

Previous Chapter

⋆˚✿˖°

"Wha- How?" Eddie stumbles over his own words and tries to catch up on what you just said and implied.

You nodded. After the delicate conversation you both just had, it feels awkward to talk about it now. It feels wrong, it's kind of ridiculous too.

"Yeah, I... it's been a while, actually" You look up to him and find Eddie completely static. One of his hand grips tightly the steering wheel while with the other one he fidgets with his rings.

"Wait, wait, wait. You're saying you like me?" He shakes his head a few times and looks at you with widened eyes. "You like me? Shortie..."

"Yeah, I know Eddie! I just wish I wouldn't have told you like that okay? And I know you like her, and that you're still pretty hurt because of everything that happened, but..."

"Oh my God, shut up for a second" His voice was soft and calm, and you notice he's kind of smiling. "I never realized that. It’s kind of cute, I just… It’s just too much to deal with right now. But yes, I'm hurt. I'm so disappointed, I feel used and invalidated by her. I feel like a piece of shit. But I also feel like something has always been different with us. I mean, you and me"

Eddie reaches over to hold your trembling hand and makes sure you feel comforted. He gives you this reassuring smirk as he rests his forehead over his left hand.

"I'm sorry, Eddie. For everything. For not telling you before, for what we just saw. And for confessing my feelings just now" You feel like a twelve year old girl who just told someone her deepest secret.

He pulls you for a hug and you don't protest. Your face is smashed against his fluffy hair and you can even smell his mint shampoo. Eddie rubs his thumb against your back and rests his chin at the top of your head.

"Don't be stupid, sweetheart. We can't control our feelings. And... about that other thing, I guess you should've been honest. I would've never even given her a chance, I think I wouldn't even let her come close and talk to me. But I know you had good intentions"

"Steve wanted to tell you but I told him that if someone had to do it, it should've been me. You know, he's not friends with her but he thought she could've changed. We all grew up, we're almost graduating and becoming adults" Your words came out a little muffled as you were still holding each other.

You pulled back only a little, so you could properly see his face before apologizing to him again. This time, you could smell his cologne and it made you feel giddy from being too close.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't know you guys were together until my first day at school. Steve never wanted to tell me before"

"Hey" He pinched your chin and shook your head playfully. "It's okay, shortie. It's not your fault either way. Neither it was mine"

You nervously chuckled and pinched his chin back. Eddie noticed how close you two were and how suddenly it started to get hot inside his van.

"I, uh- I should probably drop you off before your brother decides to come back looking after you" He cleared his throat trying to avoid eye contact and you noticed how nervous he suddenly became.

The ride back home definitely felt more awkward than you thought it would. You picked the Black Sabbath tape and blasted the songs over the speakers at a higher volume. Maybe it would make him feel more comfortable and less nervous, it should be a good distraction. You didn't want to ask him what he was gonna do about Chrissy and you probably knew the answer.

It wasn't going to end well either way. You just didn't want things to go south that fast. But at least he had a friendly reaction after you told him about your feelings. You just weren't sure he felt the same way, and yet, it's probably not the best time to talk it over.

Eddie parked over your house and waited until you got out of the car. He was leaning his arm against the opened window, tapping against the vehicle while he watched as you walked over your porch. He just said goodnight and nothing else. Should he even say anything else? Is there something to say? His mind was racing with a million thoughts and a lot of them were about you two.

You were looking for your keys, until you realized you forgot to bring one with yourself. You stood there for two seconds and groaned, knowing you'd have to ring the doorbell for Steve to open the door.

"Forgot your keys?" Eddie asked, his arm still lazily resting against the window. You just nodded, biting your lip feeling embarrassed. "Harrington isn't gonna let you in, is he?"

"I'm not sure I will" Steve said through the door.

"Stevie, you better open this fucking door you dickhead" Your voice wasn't one of the most friendliest and he noticed that through your tone.

"Right, sis. Remember when you stepped on my hand at the bowling? I told you, you should find some other place to sleep tonight!"

The only reaction you could have at that moment was to scoff. Eddie was watching all of it and just snorted but it wasn't audible.

"You're kidding me, right? Steve, if you don't open this fucking door I will knock it down!"

"Should've thought about it before being a little shit with me" Steve didn't even mention he would open the door and you looked behind yourself, Eddie still parked on the street. "Munson is still there, isn't he? I'm sure he's a great host"

"I'm not coming over to his house just because you're being childish" You lower your voice so only your brother can listen to you, but you don't expect Eddie to be right next to you that very second.

"Munson would love to give her shelter, but this is her house, Harrington. Stop being a moron and open the door for her" He knocked a few times like it would change his mind.

Eddie actually wouldn't stop knocking and the fact his rings were hitting the door loudly was kind of making up for it. "I can do this all night, bro"

You watched as he kept knocking until Steve gave up and opened the door for you. He deadpanned at his friend for being so annoying and insistent, not looking at you when he took a step back for you to walk in.

"You guys look like you're still children. Jesus Christ, you're a man, dude" Eddie shook his head.

"Yeah and? Didn't ask" Steve kept his demeanor, only this time he grinned at his friend. "Go home, you look like shit, bro"

As a response, Eddie gave your brother a hard punch on his shoulder and walked back to his car. You saw as he waved at you and drove off the street until you couldn't see it anymore.

Instead of going to your bedroom and getting ready for bed, you throw yourself over the couch and breathe heavily. Steve sat next to you and leaned against his knees waiting for an answer. You know he wants to know what happened, but you were too tired to talk about anything.

"I'm not telling you anything now, you weirdo. Fuck off" He laughs at your attitude and pushes your arm playfully before he made himself comfortable and looked for something to watch with you on the TV.

-

Eddie was rushing through the students as he held his backpack lazily, walking towards his locker. Uncle Wayne wasn't home and he overslept, meaning he didn't have time to eat breakfast or pick a good outfit for the day. It's not like he cared about his looks, but he would usually choose something nice to wear during the day.

He had just learned he was going to be in your biology class and couldn't find a way to ignore you. He didn't want to, he just hasn't gotten over the idea of you never telling him how mean and heartless she was. Eddie still hasn't even told you about his mutual feelings either, because everything was so confusing to him. The only thing he could think about the past days was how distressing it was to break up with Chrissy.

And you saw how sad he was just by looking at his face. He had bags under his eyes and his frizzy curly hair was so disheveled you wondered if he even brushed it lately. He didn't talk much with his friends or even the guys from the Hellfire Club. He didn't seem very present during the breaks or while eating at the cafeteria.

You watched as Eddie entered the classroom and made his way to the farther table in the back, not even daring to look at you. Maybe he didn't see you, maybe he didn't want to face you. It seemed like he was running away from you.

The entire time at school he spent with his friends and the boys from the Hellfire Club. It seemed like he was feeling a little better since he was talking to the boys. It made you feel relieved to see him like that, you'd hate to watch him feel like shit because of her. Speaking of, Chrissy was sitting next to Jason along with his basketball team, laughing at whatever shit they were talking about. You watched as Eddie couldn't look away from them, his face holding a grimace everytime they would share a kiss or something. And it made you feel nauseous from noticing how he was still having feelings for her, and not for you.

The basketball leader didn't spend much of his time teasing the other students or making fun of them, but every once in a while he would say something about the guys who liked playing board games. You still didn't know why he was such a bully, but it made you feel so annoyed it was hard to ignore it.

It was the way he was such an asshole that made your friends despise him, especially Steve. As soon as he gave up on being on the team, Jason stepped into it taking away your brother's title of "the best player". He didn't care about it anymore, he wasn't like that in a long while.

You were talking to Nancy and Robin when Eddie's voice made its announcement through the cafeteria. All of you looked at him as he was sitting on the table, one of his legs was bent and he rested his elbow on top of his knee. There it is, the scene he likes to make sometimes.

"You mommy didn't give you enough attention, Carver?" Eddie asked over a sarcastic tone, giving him a playful smile.

Most of the students around the tables were watching and giving both of them looks, whispering to one another waiting for the scene to unfold.

"I don't know, freak. Did yours?" Jason knew Eddie's mother died when he was younger, he just didn't care about that information.

You really thought that was the lowest someone could ever go with. But looking at your friend, you noticed how he didn't shift his demeanor, even though you knew he was hurt. It's not like he could complain about it, Eddie was the one to push Jason.

"Ah, even if she did, I like the attention. You know better than that" He shrugged, dropping his weight on the floor after getting up from the table. Eddie walked up to Jason, staring at him top to bottom. "You're the one calling me out every time you see me. I think you want me to be more noticeable, don't you big boy?"

Jason shoved his hand that was pinching his chin so hard the skin became pink. He looked at Eddie and placed his arm around Chrissy's shoulder, who stood there sitting on her chair without moving in the slightest. "You couldn't even keep the most beautiful girl by your side. You can't keep a reputation"

"I wouldn't want to keep a bitch like her for a girlfriend" Eddie gave him a cheap grin, looking straight at Chrissy, who gasped.

The entire room went silent, and you shared a look between your brother and your two friends. Before Robin even mentioned getting up, you did it first and paced towards Eddie and Jason. The basketball player was about to throw a punch when you pulled the curly brunette by his t-shirt. He didn't take a single step from his place, still staring at the guy in front of him.

"What did you just say, you fucking loser?" Jason closed his hands into fists and looked to his side when Chrissy tried to stop him. She sat back down and looked at you.

Both of you stared into each other. You felt an urge of punching her face because that was her fault somehow, while she just wanted this entire show to end. She just knew she was a bitch, there was no reason to contest his accusation. She wasn't even the one to make a scene in front of people, she was a bitch behind people's backs.

"You better take that back, or I will punch you so hard you won't even remember your name" He teased, his jaw was clenched. Jason tensed his shoulders waiting for Eddie's response.

"Eds" You tried to call out, but he wouldn't listen to you. "Just leave it, come on"

"Yeah, Eds" Jason quipped and mimicked your tone. "Listen to the Texas bumpkin and go back to your stupid cult"

You immediately threw him a disapproving look and frowned. While still holding Eddie's shirt, you noticed how his bicep tightened at Jason's words.

"Fuck you, Carver. Stop being such an ass" He laughed and mocked you with a pout. Again, you pulled your friend by his arm but again, he didn't want to move.

You barely saw when Steve stood next to you, his chest puffing and his arms crossed. His nose was flaring and you didn't even want to think about his thoughts right now. You knew your brother was so pissed that Steve could smash his face with only a punch.

"You better stop, Jason. This isn't going to end well" Steve warned, his face seriously holding a hard expression as he tried to stay away from the blonde guy.

He looked at the three of you and scoffed, pulling Chrissy by her hand and taking a few steps closer to Eddie, looking at you sideways before closing in on your friend again.

"You and your bitch better not do this again" Jason almost bumped his nose into Eddie's when he emphasized he was talking about you.

This time, Eddie didn't care if he was going to be expelled from school. He just couldn't let anyone talk shit about you or treat you like that again. You tried to avoid a fight to start by grabbing him from his tiny waist, while Steve gripped one of his hands over the side of Eddie's neck.

Jason didn't even flinch, because he knew Eddie wouldn't be capable of beating him down. As much as he wanted to. As soon as they left, Steve guided you both to your table, sitting you down next to Eddie. You stood between them, still not having any idea of what to say.

"Sometimes I wish I could break his fucking nose" You hear your brother rage and grab a fistful of his hair into his hands.

To your left, Eddie chuckles and agrees with him. When you look at him, he's shyly staring back at you while he nervously bites his lower lip.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this, shortie. I didn't want this little show to happen" He frowns and rests his hand on top of yours.

That weird electricity happens again, and you both look from your hands to each other. He doesn't retreat, instead, Eddie closes it and holds your hand tighter. He gives you a sweet smile that makes your stomach flutter. You smile back at him and fix one of the strands of hair from his bang. He blows some air to playfully fix it for you and it makes you laugh at his sweetness.

Trying not to make a big deal out of what just happened, you change the subject. "You're crazy for doing that, Eddie. He's crazy and mean"

"He's an asshole. The biggest. And he deserves to be pitied. Dude doesn't know where his place is. And no one can call you a bitch"

"You called Chrissy a bitch" You remind him and he tilts his head.

"Because she is" Your mouth opens in full shock, he's still wearing a peaceful expression on his face. "I've been thinking about a shit ton of stuff. Things she would do and would never do when we were together, and– Sadly, you're right"

It comes out with a hurting tone, and you feel sad for him. But it means he's finally getting over her and moving on from their relationship. If there ever was one to begin with.

You give him a comforting smile, squeezing his hand tightly. "I'm sorry, Eddie. You're so much better than that and you don't deserve her. Neither does she deserve someone like you"

He squeezes your hand back and for a fraction of time, his first reaction was to place his free hand over your jaw and rub your cheek with his thumb. But then Steve called out to you both and your little bubble was broken by his voice. He doesn't even notice what just happened between you two.

"By the way, I can't give you a ride back today. I gotta go to work earlier with Rob"

Eddie removed his hand from yours. The one that was halfway through touching your face, he used to brush his hair. "I can take her home, dude. No worries"

"You're giving me a ride back to your house?" He laughed and pinched your cheeks, pursing his lips.

"No, you dummy. I meant taking you back to your house"

You nod timidly for misunderstanding what he just said. You feel your face getting warm and you're pretty sure you're red because of the embarrassment. Steve chuckles next you, getting elbowed on his side for the second time in a week.

-

You and Eddie still haven't talked about anything that has been happening between you two since your first conversation about your feelings. He hasn't even been honest with you about his own feelings and instead, he was trying to avoid the conversation with you. He was probably too traumatized to bring up the subject, afraid of being rejected even though you made it clear that you like him. 

You’re sitting on the kitchen island stool at your house with Robin, Nancy and Max. Steve was throwing a gathering for a few people, but turns out, reefer Rick decided to invite the rest of the school. Obviously, it didn’t include the basketball team or the cheerleaders.

Him and his friends were having a nice conversation by the porch, while Eddie, his friends and the boys were playing foosball outside your backyard. Robin couldn’t stop talking about Vicky and Nancy tries to give her some advice even though she’s only been with guys. You watch the conversation unfold next to Max, who’s bored out of her mind. She’s resting her face against her hand, tapping her fingers against the furniture. 

She laughs at some jokes Robin makes, but it doesn’t look like she’s interested. You haven’t talked much to her lately, so you try to distract her from being bored. 

“What are your plans after school?” She looks at you with a funny expression, grimacing at the thought of being an adult. 

“Maybe I’ll move out from this hell and become a veterinarian” Max shrugs, drinking her coke from the can. “What about you? Why did you even come back?”

You didn’t know exactly why. You just knew you didn’t want to live with your parents forever, but you also didn’t want to come back to the place that made you go away, for instance. Your shoulders slump and you give a deep sigh. 

“I like living with Steve, and I didn’t want to live with my parents forever. I think I like this place” Your words made her almost choke on her drink and she laughed. Max laughs so hard, it’s even weird to see her like this after everything that happened to her.

“That’s plain bullshit. Who could ever want to come back to this godforsaken place? Nope, there’s gotta be a better reason” She’s right, you don’t have a good reason or even an explanation. 

Little did you know.

Dustin calls out your name from the door and waves at you. You get up from the stool and follow behind him to the backyard. Eddie is smoking weed with Gareth and the others are playing a match on the foosball. The curly boy guides you to where he’s sitting and makes you sit in front of him. 

“You know I’m a master at playing games and figuring out stuff, right?” You also knew he had the biggest ego for someone so small too. You just nod and wait for him to continue.”Steve also told me you’re a mastermind. So, I wanna know how I can build this small device with the smallest amount of pieces I can” 

He shows you a device you have no idea that is. All you know it’s something digital. You inspect it, squinting your eyes harder than you can to figure out what it is for. Behind you, Eddie and Gareth expectantly wait for you to say something. They clearly look high already. 

It takes you a few minutes to decide what could work for that little device, so you explain it to the kid in front of you and show him the options. He looks at you with delight and smiles. Dustin has the most endearing smile you’ve ever seen. He’s also nice, smart and caring. 

“Dude, she’s a genius!” He exclaims with excitement, happy to be helped by you. 

“She’s always been a brain. But she sucks at math” Eddie helps you up but you manage to trip over his foot even though you haven’t been drinking that much. 

You fall into the comfortable grass and laugh your ass off from being so damn clumsy and he looks at you like you’ve grown seven heads, while Gareth cackles along with you for God knows why. He’s not even paying attention to what’s really happening. 

“Hey-” You choke on your own laugh “Not every brilliant mind knows everything”

He extends his hand and firmly grabs you up again. This time, he makes sure you won’t trip, but you had other plans in mind and pulls him as hard as yo ucan. Eddie falls onto the grass by your side and cracks up, standing on his elbows. He offers you a beer and you sit next to him, taking a swig from your beer as he also offers you the blunt he’s holding. 

You haven’t smoked weed in such a long time. In fact, the last time you smoked one was before you moved out from Texas, but it wasn’t the same thing as sharing it with your friend. You inhale the smoke and it fills in your lungs, giving you a relaxing sensation. 

“It’s great that you helped Dustin. He’s a really cool guy and he likes to blend people in our groups, especially you. Steve is gonna love seeing his sister getting along with his friends too” He smokes again as you pass his weed back and you nod. 

It really makes you happy to be part of Steve’s group of friends. Through the past weeks, you’ve noticed how close they all are to each other and how caring they are. It crosses your mind that maybe it’s because of everything they’ve been through together, and it reminds you that you never knew what really happened to Eddie. 

“What happened to you last year? I mean, Steve doesn’t say much about the others because every experience is different, but he told me he pretty much almost died too” You remember when he showed you the scar on his neck, telling you how those bats almost choked him to death.

Eddie bit his inner cheek and looked down at his feet. Maybe that was a dangerous territory to reach. His eyes suddenly became kind of dull when he stared back at you, roaming through your expression of not knowing what to say anymore. 

“I mean, if you really don’t want to talk about it-” 

He passed the blunt back to you again and sighed. A heavy one, to be honest “They… they almost choked me too. But the worst part was still yet to come. They chewed on me. They ripped my skin open and it was hard to breathe, and you know I’m asthmatic so it was a hundred times harder to find oxygen” 

His words were heavy and he shifted on his seat, sitting straight. As soon as you both finished smoking, Eddie took his leather vest off, lifting up his shirt so you could see some of his scars. They weren’t as nasty as you’d imagine since it’s been only a year, but they were still there. 

He turned on his back to you and you could see a round shaped bite the size of your palm. That one was the most visible, it also had a bump on it. You hesitantly ghosted your thumb over his skin, gently pressing against it with horror stamped on your face. He flinched as a reflex and you pulled back immediately, apologizing for pushing the boundaries. 

“It’s okay… it’s just- It doesn’t hurt much. It’s just a weird sensation it gives me” He sits back and drinks the rest of his beer. 

“I’m sorry this happened to you. I know you were all trying to save Max out there and I’m glad you came back” You feel like you wanna hug him, but instead you snake your arm around his and rest your head against his shoulder. 

He leans against you and you feel the weight of his head over yours, his hair tickling your face again. You smell his scent and again it makes you feel unsteady. Eddie starts to feel weird because of how his heart is racing and the only thing he wants to do is interlock his fingers with yours. 

As you sit there and share a moment for the first time, you know why you came back to Hawkins. Because of him. And right there, you feel lightheaded because that’s what you’ve been wanting to do for as long as you’ve known. And Eddie doesn’t think much about it, but he also knows why you two always have shared this different connection. Because now he knows that’s what he wanted too. 

He just didn’t want you to know that surviving the attack from the bats came with a consequence, and he didn’t want to scare you.

⋆˚✿˖°

@thegirlthatsfalling @strangemaximoff @readergf @sheneedsrocknroll92

[in-jail-out-soon7]

Happy New Year!

After the New Years' festival, you and Mikey talk about the future.

Manjiro Sano x GN!Reader

Warnings: Cursing, tooth rotting fluff, a little bit of angst if you squint & Reader mentions having a kid

A/N: I wish you all the best 2024! January is definitely gonna be a hard month for me mentally, but now that I have my writing to look forward to I know it's gonna be alright. Enjoy Lovelies❤

You lay down in the grass while Mikey kills the engine of his bike behind you. Flipping open your phone you gaze lazily at the bright light, trying to adjust to the screen at least enough to see the time.

1:04 A.M. January 1st, 2006.

You close your phone with a click and shove it into the top of your kimono. The New Year's festival had ended an hour ago. Everyone had gone home, Draken offering to take Emma home, so Mikey could drive around with you. Emma happily agreed.

Rubbing your eyes, Mikey slumps down in the grass next to you with a thud. You roll onto your side to face him.

He lays on his back staring at the star dotted sky. He rubs his hands together. "Shit."

Raising an eyebrow you prop your chin in your hand, pushing yourself off the ground with your elbow. "What's up?"

"It's cold." He pulls his own kimono up slightly to cover his exposed collarbone.

"Oh." You chuckle. "I told you. We should've went home."

Mikey shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest. He doesn't say anything else. You sigh and drop your elbow, folding your arms on the grass to rest you face against.

It's quiet for a few moments. Just you staring at Mikey as he stares at the sky. Picking at a blade of grass you finally break the silence.

"What do you think this years going to be like?" You ask.

Mikey hums and thinks for a moment. He shrugs. "Probably the same as every other year." He turns onto his side to face you. "There's not really a lot we can do right now. As kids. Maybe the year after us and the gang graduate, there'll be more things to do."

"Wait," you sit up quickly. Mikey gazes up at you, confused. "You were planning on finishing school?" You tease in an overdramatic and sarcastic tone.

Mikey rolls his eyes and pushes you back down by your shoulder. "Shut up, (Y/N)."

You chuckle. Even though he wasn't wrong, it still felt weird to refer to yourself as kids. After everything that's happened in the past year, all the fights and deaths, you forgot that you, Mikey and the whole gang were still just kids.

A small sigh falls from Mikey's lips as you settle back into place. As you two sit there in comfortable silence, you begin to feel your eyelids growing heavy.

Lacing your fingers through his you begin playing with his finger tips, tracing along each detail of his calloused hand. "How about in twelve years or something then?" You blurt out suddenly.

Your voice was drowsy and soft as you fought the urge to fall asleep. Mikey chuckled. "Don't know. Like jobs?"

You shrug.

"Maybe like a mechanic or a motorcycle racer- I don't know?" He says. "I think it's easier to think about other people's futures."

You raise a brow and glance at him through your lashes. "What do you mean?"

"Like Takemitchy and Hinata," he starts. "They're gonna get married, Kenny and Emma too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Kenny and Emma are gonna have a kid too, they're gonna name it Manjiro Jr." He says jokingly.

You scoff. "They are not." Surprisingly, Mikey doesn't argue back, letting the silence take over again. The wind howls and you shudder against the cold. A yawn escapes you before speaking up again. "Is that something you want?"

Mikey raises an eyebrow. "Is what?"

Suddenly nervous you drop his hand and your gaze to the grass. Picking at the earth you swallow, your face growing hot. "A kid."

He doesn't respond and you can't tell what he's thinking, too distracted by your own heartbeat pounding in your ears.

"Obviously not now- y'know!"

Mikey chuckles nervously and sucks in a breath. "I would hope not." He wraps an arm around your waist to pull you closer to him, pushing your face into his chest. "How about we just worry about this year?"

You nod against him. "Okay."

And then once again it was silent. The wind brushed against you two but you found warmth in each other's bodies. You take a long blink, your eyelids drooping lazily.

"Oh.. hey," you start before yawning. "We didn't have our New Year's kiss yet."

Mikey hums. At first it didn't seem like he was going to do or say anything, but before you could follow up your observation he brings a cold hand to your face, cupping your cheek before leaning in and placing his lips against yours. His lips were chapped from the cold and you could still taste whatever candy he had been eating at the festival. Somewhere in the distance fireworks boomed and crackled.

When you pull away you roll away and flop onto your back with a satisfied sigh. Allowing your eyes to flutter shut. You hear the movement of Mikey as he scoots closer to you.

"You can go to sleep," a hand brushes against your face and you shiver.

"I'll be here when you wake up."

[silantryoo]

XTRA [ RP STONT ] —  happy new year, unnie

miny/n spend their first christmas together (with everyone else, of course)

WARNINGS ; fluff, crack, yujin being annoying, everyone is taken basically (except for chaewon)

y/n wasn't attached to her phone.

there was once a time where she was, almost a year ago. she remembered those late nights, scrolling through each one of her burner accounts, watching as the snow fell against her chilled window. each word, each article seemed to invade her mind, and it felt like the world had given her the worst gift of all.

she hated herself back then, almost as much as she loved kim minji now.

"i don't understand why we have to host it in our dorms." y/n could hear kazuha complain, groaning as chaewon ushered them to clean faster.

y/n didn't mind, in all honesty. cleaning reminded her of minji, and how the girl would reprimand the youngest newjeans member to pick up after herself.

her girlfriend was so cute.

"you'd rather sneak yujin in?" yunjin raised an eyebrow, teasingly.

chaewon stopped in her tracks, letting her duster hang to the side. "you sneak yujin in?"

a chill ran down y/n's spine. if she found out kazuha had been sneaking yujin in from time to time, there was a greater chance that she would figure out she and minji were doing the same.

"no."

y/n could see kazuha glaring at the american in the golden retriever onesie. the kim already knew what was going through her best friends mind, the ballerina trying to recall any wrongdoing that yunjin had done.

nakamura kazuha was scary, exactly ahn yujin's type (though she'd never admit it).

"um," y/n cleared her throat. she was glad her leader had a short attention span. "when are they coming again?"

"yujin should be here soon." chaewon went back to dusting, the cheetah print of her onesie moving along with each sweep. "hanni just texted yunjin that their on their way. kkura-unnie's somewhere getting something with chaeyeon."

"i bet they ditched us."

y/n held back a sigh. it's not that she didn't want to hang out with her members, but she'd prefer if she hung out with her girlfriend one on one.

y/n missed her girlfriend.

"probably not." chaewon shook her head. "kkura-unnie said she's bringing a surprise for me, whatever that means."

the three younger girls look at each other.

sakura and chaeyeon were actually doing it. they were doing the plan.

"is she talking about-"

kazuha nodded. "i already helped yunjin-unnie to hang it."

yunjin gave a thumbs up, her body basically vibrating at the thought of her leader finally growing brain cells. she hoped sakura's plan worked this time around. if not, then perhaps chaewon was meant to be single for the rest of her life.

"hang what?"

the three looked at each other once more. they looked at chaewon.

she was so gonna kill all of them if she found out.

"what?"

on cue, the doorbell rang, the monitor lighting up to alert the girls of the presence of a human. a part of y/n wondered who conveniently appeared at that very second, but she knew it could only be one person.

y/n walked to the monitor, looking at an eye that seemed to be centimeters away from the camera. if she didn't know any better, she would've chalked it up to a twelve year old playing with their doorbell camera, but y/n knew that playful glint in the 'stranger's' eye, all of daejeon did.

she looked at kazuha, waiting for the taller girl to react.

kazuha, like always, giggled, a blush dusting her cheeks.

there it was.

pressing down on the button, kazuha spoke into the mic, her voice echoing her smile. "yujin!"

"hi." yujin smiled into the camera, stepping away. "you look pretty."

y/n rolled her eyes. the two always flirted so shamelessly in front of her. if kazuha wasn't so happy and yujin wasn't one of her best friends, she would've thrown up.

the kim spoke into the mic this time, watching as yujin smiled at the thought of her girlfriend.

"you can't see her through the camera."

the idol shrugged, "i don't need to. i already know she's gonna be pretty."

kazuha giggled once more, earning chaewon's attention who sighed at the interaction. she never understood how someone could act like that with another person.

"gross." y/n frowned. at times like these, she wished minji was near. "ka-chan'll open the door for you."

"okay."

although the door was was a mere meter away, kazuha still rushed as if her life depended on it. she hadn't seen yujin in a while (three days ago, to be exact), and she was sure she was losing her mind.

on the other side of the door, the idol could hear the door unlock at lightning speed. yujin's smile widened. the thought of seeing her girlfriend was making her impatient, her leg tapping against the pavement.

the door swung open, but before the cold breeze of winter could burst through, yujin launched herself onto kazuha, lifting her up with a strength that could only be from the adrenaline she felt.

y/n sighed, closing the door behind them. she watched as the two exchanged pleasantries, ignoring the kim that was standing behind them.

"hi, i'm here too." y/n raised an eyebrow at the couple. "i'm your best friend. am i just a block?"

"zuha's my girlfriend, though." yujin peaked around the corner, checking for the le sserafim leader before she planted a kiss on kazuha's cheek. "she's also your best friend."

y/n covered her eyes as kazuha wrapped her arms around yujin's neck.

"you're so sweet."

y/n wished minji was here.

the door opened once more, the maknae of le sserafim staring at y/n. the younger girl's cheeks were rosy, her eyes shifting around. y/n could tell she was hiding someone behind her.

it couldn't have been kim minju, sakura and chaeyeon were still on their way.

slowly, a familiar face peaked out from eunchae's shoulder, her cat-like eyes meeting the kim's. she could hear kazuha gasp behind her, yujin snickering.

chaewon was gonna kill someone tonight.

"you're kidding."

"stop leaving the door open!" y/n could hear chaewon's voice coming closer to the door, and there was no doubt she'd see kyujin's bright red cat onesie as soon as she saw what was happening. "the hot air is leavi-"

chaewon dropped the duster, a small clatter echoing the entry.

yujin bit her tongue once more.

"so, um... surprise! kyujin is spending her christmas with us!" eunchae grabbed her girlfriend's arm, shoving y/n out of the way as the two entered the house. quickly, the youngest engulfed chaewon in a hug. "thank you so much, i love you, you're the best unnie ever."

chaewon blinked.

"hold on-"

"you're the best, unnie!" eunchae signaled for kyujin to hurry, the idol rushing inside and bowing politely to all those she passed (yunjin stood in shock).

eunchae let go, chaewon's mind still reeling at the fact kyujin was most likely gonna stay in the dorms, overnight.

"yah!" eunchae scurried of at the sound of the leader's voice. "hong eunchae!"

y/n sighed once more, tapping the back of her phone as she closed the door. she watched as yujin entered the living room, arm wrapped around kazuha's waist. off to her left, kyujin and eunchae sat on the sofa, chaewon eyeing them, holding back her tongue.

the kim glanced at her phone, waiting for minji to text or to call, just wanting to know where her girlfriend was and if she was close.

"i miss my girlfriend." y/n spoke to no one, head hung low as the hood of her onesie covered her face.

yunjin, being in ear shot, patted the younger girl's back, watching as she sulked like a puppy. "she's on her way, y/n-ah."

y/n whined, and it took everything in yunjin to not tease the younger girl.

"i miss her now."

her and yujin were more alike than she'd like to admit.

yunjin rubbed her back, trying her best to reassure y/n.

"she's on her wa-"

"i miss her." she whined once more, hating the feeling of not having her girlfriend around her.

yunjin shook her head. she was glad that she had more security to not act like this, even if she did miss her girlfriend back in america. minji, who was at most five minutes away, was here in seoul, and y/n was getting more and more impatient by the minute.

it was cute, honestly, but yunjin now had to babysit a sad kim y/n and an angry kim chaewon while keeping an eye on kazuha and yujin.

she didn't understand how sakura did it, or how eunchae seemed the most responsible out of the four of them.

"unnie, where's minji?"

"she's on her way."

"i want my girlfriend now."

yunjin could only hope for minji's quick arrival.

chaewon was going insane.

it wasn't because eunchae had dragged her girlfriend to the christmas gathering. in all honesty, she actually liked kyujin. the youngest member of nmixx was responsible, her thoughts seemingly organized, the perfect contrast to their eunchae. chaewon just liked putting up a front, so kyujin knew there were consequences if she broke their maknae's heart.

truthfully, kazuha and yujin were more of an issue. chaewon knew how yujin's mind worked, the ive leader was much like her. she liked having kazuha around, and urging her girlfriend to wreak havoc onto her, sakura and y/n (mostly her, though). chaewon could handle that, even if the glint that formed in kazuha's eyes scared her.

minji was no problem either. she was sweet, and thoughtful, always stopping by to say hello to her whenever they encountered each other in the corridors between breaks. she was a breath of fresh air for y/n, and, although chaewon would be outwardly livid, she wouldn't mind minji marrying y/n.

she could handle all of that usually, but this christmas had a glaring problem.

kim minju.

why did minju have to be so pretty?

the doorbell rang repeatedly, echoing throughout the house as each alert was cut off by the next. y/n, not bothering to check since only one person (read: haerin) did that, nearly ran to the door, opening it to face the newjeans girls in their respective onesies.

minji smiled sheepishly, her cheeks rosy from the cold of the december night. if y/n wasn't so upset, she would've kissed her right there.

the le sserafim member ushered the girl group in, closing the door behind her, ignoring minji's longing stare.

usually, y/n would jump into her arms, and minji would basically ascend at the feeling of being so close to her girlfriend. minji, like always, would cherish the feeling, like she cherished kim y/n's entire exsistance.

now, there was nothing but a frown.

"you took long." minji looked down, gripping onto the gift in her hand. "were you busy looking at other girls?"

the newjeans' leader's eyes widened, shaking her head. she'd be crazy to think of anyone but her girlfriend. come to think of it, minji hasn't thought of any other person like that since she liked y/n, not even her celebrity crush.

minji liked her kim more, anyway.

"minji?" hanni snickered. minji ran around the house like a lunatic for an hour or two. "she was late because-"

"shut up!" minji covered hanni's face, shoving her away lightly. even if they had been dating for a while now, the young idol still felt nervous. it was their first christmas together, after all.

y/n raised her eyebrow, scanning the other girls' faces.

hyein, like always, looked back at the kim, her eyes gleaming with excitement. y/n wondered if hyein had grown, or if y/n had merely shrunk. still, she knew that hyein would never rat out their leader. danielle was smiling at her, obviously trying to hold her tongue. her cheeks twitched from how hard she was smiling, looking between y/n and her girlfriend. y/n knew she wouldn't rat her out either.

and then, there was haerin.

"oh." haerin started. her face was void of emotion, but her eyes seemed to tease her leader. "minji-unnie couldn't find her perfume since hyein used it last. she said she needed to smell good for you."

minji glared at the girl. she knew that haerin would tell y/n, but the last part wasn't necessary.

it didn't matter, because minji could hear her girlfriend giggling beside her.

she looked over, letting go of hanni as y/n engulfed her in a hug. minji could feel herself smiling involuntarily, and a part of her still couldn't fathom how happy she always got around her girlfriend.

she looked down, her eyes meeting y/n's. minji's eyes fluttered closed, feeling y/n kiss her cheek.

"you're so cute, kim minji."

minji's face lit up, her heart beating loudly against her chest. the young idol, although seemingly shy when it came to affection, loved it every time.

still, she had some common sense, and considering she was at the le sserafim dorms, where chaewon constantly kept an eye on them...

"unnie!"

minji was scared of her girlfriend's leader, and she didn't understand how y/n wasn't.

as if chaewon had sensed something was wrong, she came over, looking between y/n and minji with suspiciously. she didn't understand how someone so short could hold so much authority with a single stare.

"no kissing in front of children." chaewon pointed a finger at minji, and the taller girl bowed slightly, muttering sorry's.

y/n rolled her eyes.

minji straightened back up, noticing there was another, more familiar looking girl to chaewon's left. hanni gasped at the sight, gripping onto danielle who hit her shoulder repeatedly.

"let them live, unnie." the mystery woman's voice seemed to calm down chaewon, and minji could feel the air finally enter her lungs once more.

"o-okay..."

y/n bit the side of her cheek. her leader was no better than her. in fact, chaewon was worse, cheeks bright red as she stared back into the other girl's eyes.

y/n felt minji lean over to her, her breath tickling her ear as they all entered the living room.

"is that the girl you told me about?"

y/n had told her on one of their many 7-eleven runs that chaewon was worse than the both of them combined when it came to a certain someone. minji never believed her, chaewon seemingly against anything that was romantic in some shape or form.

("she's just bitter because she can't pull.")

"minju-unnie?" y/n could see her leader's hand twitching, fighting off the urge to grab the actresses hand. she couldn't help but shake her head. "yeah."

minji believed her now.

"oh." minji put her present down next to the tree. she went over to chaewon, placing a hand on her shoulder. "good luck, sunbaenim."

"what?"

the le sserafim girls (minus chaewon) burst out laughing.

"stop laughing!" chaewon whined as minji scurried back to her girlfriend. "i don't get it!"

kyujin wondered if she was going to die today.

she had her fair share of playing against some of the most competitive players she's ever met. haewon always made them play just dance together (even though kyujin had won every time they played). she was used to the screaming and shouting, but this was different.

jang kyujin feared for her life.

"you're a cheater!" chaewon had a stack of uno cards in her hands, pointing violently at the girl who tried to hide behind her maknae. "eunchae, your girlfriend is a cheater!"

eunchae couldn't help but laugh.

"you just suck at this, unnie."

chaeyeon shook her head. no matter how different chaewon looked on the outside, her habits never seemed to change.

"how did you manage to get an entire deck in one round?"

"shut it!" the leader whined, groaning as she leaned into a now flustered minju. "i was actually trying this time..."

as the shouting continued, sakura could only watch as they continued to fight. the members of newjeans (and yujin and minju) watched silently, obviously overwhelmed with the amount of accusations in the air.

("it's your fault you're bad." "you're not even playing!" "this is why you're single." "do you know how to play, unnie?" "don't insult me, jennifer.")

"are they always like this?" chaeyeon whispered into her girlfriend's ear, sakura sighing.

"you should see how bad it gets when its just us."

"ugh." chaewon could only take so much berating, finally letting kyujin off the hook and 'allowing' her to win. "fine, whatever. minji, go ahead."

minji nodded, looking around as chaewon, yujin, and yunjin stared at the cards in her hands.

"go minji-unnie!" hyein cheered suddenly, distracting everyone. "our official goddess visual."

minji shook her head. "seriously, hyein?"

hyein shrugged, and continued to cheer her member on. everyone knew that it was either her or yujin that was gonna win, both girls having four cards left versus yunjin and chaewon who had 10+ cards each.

"my votes on yujin." chaeyeon smiled at her former member.

she already knew minji was going to win, but it never hurt anyone to support the losing side.

"thanks, unnie." yujin beamed, her eyes shifting to kazuha. "i've got you on my side, right, babe?"

"well..." kazuha smiled innocently, yujin's face dropping. the ballerina began to scoot over to yunjin. "yunjin-unnie has no one cheering her on."

"babe," yunjin's eyes gleamed in excitement while yujin whined, saying that she 'needed her girl' to win. "please?"

"sorry." kazuha kissed her cheek, earning a gasp from chaewon (she chose to ignore the older girl's words. minju would calm her down eventually). "if it makes you feel better, y/n's doing it, too."

minji looked beside her, trying to reach y/n before she sat beside yunjin.

y/n was her girlfriend. minji wanted her girlfriend to cheer for her, and she wanted to win for her (and hyein too, she guessed).

"unnie?"

y/n looked over to her girlfriend, finding the young idol pouting lightly. minji, like always, looked adorable, her cheeks slightly red from how badly she wanted to win, and her eyes begging the older girl to sit next to her.

"don't look at me like that." y/n muttered, fighting back the urge to kiss her girlfriend. "you know yunjin-unnie's gonna cry later if she doesn't have anyone cheering for her."

"i will not!"

she was.

y/n smiled, grabbing minji's hand and squeezing it lightly. "next game, okay?"

minji nodded. "okay."

the game continued, kazuha and y/n helping yunjin with every chance they had. every so often, y/n would shoot minji a soft smile, and it was enough for minji to know that her girlfriend was cheering her on.

god, minji loved y/n so much.

"i wanna be like them." danielle sighed, resting her head on the cat-like girl's shoulder beside her.

haerin tensed up, hyein too busy to notice it this time around. hanni, however, wasn't.

"that's your cue, haerin." she leaned over, shoving the girl lightly as danielle continued to watch the game unfold.

haerin glared, staring into hanni's soul as if she was trying to suck it out with her eyes.

"damn, what's with the eyes, girl?"

"this is stupid!"

chaewon whined, watching as she finished last. sakura laughed into her cup, her smile reaching her eyes as she stared into chaewon. chaeyeon shook her head, knowing her girlfriend was only angering the girl.

"you really suck at this, chaewon-ah." sakura teased, earning a laugh from yujin.

"shut up!" chaewon growled, calming down as she felt minju's hand rubbing her forearm. "i... i forgot the controls."

y/n shook her head, glancing at the rest of her members. she looked at the screen, watching the score board as she sat comfortably in third place, right behind a bot in second and sakura in first.

the idol leaned back into minji, feeling her girlfriend wrap her arms around her waist as y/n continued to sit comfortably on her lap.

"i'm doing good, right?"

minji nodded, kissing y/n's shoulder. she hadn't been paying attention, in all honesty. her, yujin and kyujin had been talking about something unimportant while the others played mario kart on sakura's switch. hyein and haerin were off watching kazuha's newly bought goldfish swim around in the kitchen, while danielle and yunjin were gossiping about their love life's.

minji felt at peace, knowing that her girlfriend was near her.

the young idol kissed y/n's cheek once more, earning a groan from hanni.

"stop making me feel single, bro." hanni muttered, rolling her eyes.

"that's on you, bro."

hanni stuck her tongue out, frowning as the next course started. it wasn't her fault she had a crush on her childhood best friend (but it was her fault for not saying anything to him).

"minji." yujin called out, her eyes laced in curiosity. "do you call y/n bro?"

minji shook her head. "no."

minji looked at the girl sitting on her lap, laser focused on beating hanni, chaewon, sakura and eunchae. minji had called y/n bro before they had started dating, but it never crossed her mind now that they have. perhaps her girlfriend would prefer it over 'unnie' or 'baby'.

"do you want me to call you bro, unnie?" minji asked.

y/n tensed up, glancing behind her as she mashed on the buttons harder.

("yah, kim y/n! don't break my controller!")

y/n hummed, clenching her jaw. the thought of minji calling her that upset her. she wasn't a 'bro'.

"do you want me to break up with you?" y/n asked sweetly, watching as she got passed by hanni. she cursed under her breath, exhaling out of her nose.

minji's eyes widened.

"no."

"then no." y/n muttered, listening to chaewon cry out in frustration as she overtook her.

minji nodded, ignoring the snickering that came from hanni beside her. hanni couldn't care less about the fight that almost broke out at that moment, not when she was currently in first place.

yujin, watching everything play down, turned to kazuha with a sweet smile.

"babe," the ive leader loved looking at her girlfriend. "can i call you-"

"finish that question and i'll break up with you."

hanni snickered once more.

"oh."

chaewon liked to think that she knew minju like the back of her hand.

she knew the younger girl's favourite snacks, the way she liked her ramen cooked, how her eggs were boiled. chaewon knew minju's favorite colors to wear, and what brand of shoes were her go-to.

there was no way chaewon would lose this game this time, not when she knew everything about the love of her life.

"my turn." minju sat herself down comfortably between sakura and chaewon. the actress could feel everyone staring at her, waiting.

part of her wondered how dense chaewon truly was. she adored it most times, like she adored chaewon, but at times like this, she hoped that chaewon could see past her words. she hoped chaewon could see what she really meant and how she really felt.

minju cleared her throat, smiling nervously as she avoided chaewon's fiery gaze. "i have a crush on someone in this room, i've met the head of samsung before, and i've been offered to model overseas."

"definitely the first." chaewon said almost immediately. she would know if minju liked anyone. she would be crushed, but she would know.

the leader looked around, watching as everyone, even the younger girls, looked at her curiously. she didn't understand their stares, but at least chaewon knew that they would all lose. there was no way minju would like anyone without chaewon knowing.

the others nodded in agreement, muttering to themselves as the le sserafim leader watched from a distance.

"minju-unnie," eunchae started, her hand held tightly by kyujin. "it's samsung, right?"

minju could feel herself blush. it had been mere seconds before most of the girls had come to their conclusions. she had never been a good liar, chaewon had told her so.

"was it that obvious?" minju scratched her cheek.

chaewon paused.

"you like someone?" suddenly, the air felt like it was on fire, chaewon's lungs burning with every breath she took.

minju liked someone, someone that wasn't her. the girl that she had loved since they had first met didn't feel the same. kim minju didn't feel the same because she liked someone else.

chaewon wished she was someone else, whoever that was.

"you're blind, unnie." y/n shook her head, resting her cheek against minji's shoulder.

yujin raised an eyebrow. "you're one to talk."

y/n looked at yujin with a blank look. she knew all the ins and outs of the ive leader, the taller girl telling her everything that happened during her promotions, including things that kazuha didn't know about.

y/n smiled.

"ka-chan," y/n called out for her best friend. "did you know that yujin recently got asked out by-"

"no one!" yujin couldn't let kazuha find out, not when she knew how it would affect her. "no one. my eyes are only on you and for you, anyway."

kazuha looked at yujin, her eyes scanning her girlfriend up and down.

"okay." kazuha hummed, watching as yujin sighed in relief. "we'll talk about that later."

yujin pouted, trying her best to grab kazuha's hand and reassure her that nothing happened. perhaps ning yizhou had asked her out the week before, ambushing the taller girl as she tried her hardest to memorize her lines for sbs, but yujin immediately said no.

still, kazuha didn't care. at least not right now.

yujin shot minji a look, begging her to reason with her girlfriend just this once.

minji frowned. "unnie."

"she was being mean to me." y/n reasoned.

minji didn't budge, gesturing at kazuha who was now ignoring yujin. she watched as the taller girl tried to get her members attention, but to no avail.

sighing, y/n nodded.

"sorry, yujin." y/n frowned. "yujin reject her, anyway."

kazuha's lips twitched into a smile.

"really?"

yujin nodded as y/n buried herself into minji's arms.

yujin and kazuha were gross (but y/n knew that she and minji weren't any better).

y/n watched as her leader followed kim minju around, tailing her like a puppy following it's owner.

beside her, minji shook her head, part of her cringing at the thought that she was (and still is) exactly like chaewon. she knew how it felt like, to feel like the girl that you were so in love with didn't love you back.

all minji could remember was how awful she had felt back then, when she stupidly thought that y/n had felt something for yujin.

she hoped that chaewon was smarter than her, that she could avoid the stress and heartbreak she felt at that moment.

minji sighed, grabbing her girlfriend's hand. "do you think she's ever gonna figure it out?"

y/n could only shrug, chaewon was as dense as her, if not worse. there was a chance that le sserafim's leader would only figure it out once it was too late.

the kim looked at sakura and chaeyeon, the two eyeing minju and chaewon closely.

there was no way they were going to let that happened.

"maybe later when kkura-unnie and chaeyeon-unnie force them under the mistletoe."

"someone should do that with haerin and dani." hanni hummed, nursing a red solo cup that held nothing but fruit punch. she rested her head on hyein. hanni didn't need to look, she already knew the contents stirring inside the younger girl's brain.

"not you, weirdo."

"why?" hyein whined. "i've behaved all night."

minji glared, pulling y/n into her arms. "you wouldn't let go of my girlfriend."

to minji, it was the truth. all night, she had to watch her girlfriend near hyein, hogging her girlfriend and holding her close, all the thing's that minji should've been doing.

in reality, it had only been one instance where hyein had done that, and it was when the two had been paired up (and won against yunjin and kyujin) in the whisper game.

"she's mine."

hyein shook her head. minji shouldn't have taken that drink from yujin. now, she was slightly tipsy, acting territorial.

minji felt a light nudge on her shoulder, turning her head to come face to face with y/n.

"baby, it's your turn." y/n whispered. minji nodded, taking the controller and arguing with kyujin over who was going to play kirby this time.

y/n turned to hyein, an apologetic smile on her face.

"don't worry about her too much, hyein-ah."

"i won't." hyein sighed, opening her phone as she started typing away. "i'll keep this in mind for the toast though."

"what toast?" y/n tilted her head.

"when you guys get married?"

y/n felt herself flush, her face turning bright red.

"what?"

"what?"

as if nothing happened, hyein went back to texting on her phone. she ignored the curious stare from y/n, wondering what hyein meant with the toast.

hyein was always weird, but y/n couldn't help but feel giddy at the thought of minji proposing to her.

y/n squinted at the lamp sitting on her desk, illuminating the room with its bright light.

the others had all been asleep in the living room, two queen sized, inflatable mattresses taking up the entire space. it was suffocating, in all honesty. no matter how hard y/n tried to sleep (or how close she tried to get to minji), it was nearly impossible.

she needed to get out of there.

"chaewon-sunbaenim said i'm not allowed in your room." minji hesitated, feeling her girlfriend tug her inside.

"it's my room." y/n whispered back, closing the door behind her as minji looked around. the dim light made her face glow in the dark, like an angel that had descended from heaven. "it's not like you haven't been in here before."

minji nodded, ignoring the gnawing fact that she had only been inside when chaewon was out.

"did you have fun?" y/n asked. "i know unnie can be a bit over protective but-"

"i did." minji smiled.

it didn't matter if she was in the middle of nowhere. as long as minji stood next to y/n, the young idol would always enjoy her time.

kim y/n was her joy, and that would never change.

"good." y/n sighed in relief. "i'm glad."

minji's eyes gleamed in the dim light of the lamp shade, her irises trained on the girl in front of her. she felt herself scratching the side of her thumb, peeling off the skin. all minji's emotions seemed to bubble up in her chest.

this was it.

"it's been a year." minji had rehearsed this, just like she had rehearsed everything.

"yeah." y/n nodded, watching minji squirm in her bear onesie. "it went by so fast."

minji had snuck the present in here somewhere. she had hid it amidst the ruckus that was the second round of uno (kazuha, y/n, chaeyeon, minju and haerin). she could see it from where she was standing, the bag sitting on her girlfriend's desk.

minji kissed her, tasting the same vanilla lipgloss that the older girl had always worn, the one that shimmered against the light as they laid on her bed.

this was it. minji couldn't mess up now.

"i love you so much." but this wasn't part of what she practiced. she wasn't supposed to be overwhelmed like this. minji didn't understand why she always felt a surge of emotions, of love next to the older girl.

it terrified her, but somehow, she was okay with it.

"why are you crying?" y/n asked, minji relishing the touch of the older girl's fingertips as she wiped her tears away.

"i don't know." minji muttered, smiling slightly as y/n captured her lips once more. the young idol sighed. "sometimes, i feel horrible for the way i treated you."

y/n shook her head, "i treated you worse."

looking down, minji remembered all the times that y/n had ignored her. she remembered all the times that the older girl had sneered, rolling her eyes and ignoring the girl.

but minji had also remembered everything else, like how y/n looked at her that day, when min heejin had berated the older girl.

she was nothing like minji, and although minji loved that about her, it had broke y/n that day.

minji had no excuse, and she knew that from the beginning.

"still." the young idol shook her head, looking down at her feet. she didn't know if it was the singular shot that yujin had made her take or the guilt, but minji felt it in her soul. "yours was valid, but i had nothing to go on. i just hated you to hate you."

she loved y/n more than she had hated her, and now, the thought of hating the love of her life gnawed her down, especially as the rings sat on her girlfriend's desk.

"even if you did, that doesn't matter anymore." y/n said, kissing minji's forehead. "right now, you love me, and i love you. i forgive you, kim minji. i always will."

all that ever mattered to minji was y/n.

y/n's eyes looked into her own, her irises shining, swirling in happiness and love. minji didn't understand how one person could make her so happy, just like y/n didn't understand how one person could make her feel like she was capable of doing something right.

this was it.

the younger girl nodded, grabbing bag on the table. she handed the bag to y/n, praying that her hands didn't tremble.

"i, um," minji could see the velvet boxes as she looked down. "i got you something."

"what?" y/n frowned. "minji, i thought we agreed that we were only going to get one present. you said-"

"i lied."

y/n wanted to refuse. minji had always treated her too kindly, giving her gifts left and right, as if she had all the money in the world. although the older idol never felt indebted to her, she wished minji had thought about herself more.

but the older girl couldn't disappoint minji.

slowly, she opened the bag, reaching for the piece of paper, folded neatly with a heart sticker holding it closed.

y/n couldn't help but smile.

minji and her stickers.

the kim opened the letter, her heart beating out of her chest. she wondered if the girls outside could hear it from where she stood, or if minji, standing in all her beauty, could hear it too.

y/n shook her head, taking a deep breath as she began to read.

unnie, i'm not good with words, but i don't know how else to express this. i love you so much. whether you're a kim or not, whether you're mine or not, i'll always try my hardest to make you smile. i hope you carry this ring and know that it's a piece of me. i hope that when you look at it, you'll be reminded of all my love, and not who i was before. i promise to love you for as long as i can. - kim minji.

y/n could feel the air escaping from her lungs.

she glanced at minji, grabbing a singular box with her initials engraved on it. she opened it, the gold shining into her eyes.

it was simple, just how she liked it, but it was intricate enough to be special.

y/n loved it, just how she loved minji.

"are these...?"

promise rings. y/n didn't have to finish her sentence for minji to understand.

"yes." minji whispered, her voice slightly shaking. "they are."

y/n threw her arms around her girlfriend, tears streaming down her face as she felt the younger girl pull her impossibly closer.

"i love you." y/n had never felt it more in that moment.

"i love you too." minji smiled.

y/n pulled back, watching as minji grabbed the box in her hand, taking the ring and placing it onto the older girl's hand.

"i promise to always love you."

minji had never lied to y/n in her life, and she wasn't going to start now.

"i promise to always love you too."

y/n wasn't honest from the start, but she knew this time it was different. y/n could feel it in her heart.

minji leaned in this time, feeling the comfort that was her girlfriend. her mouth placed briefly but firmly against the older girl's brought her nothing but happiness.

this was it.

minji didn't mess up.

"happy new year, unnie." minji muttered against her mouth. "thank you for smiling at me."

"happy new year." y/n smiled, placing another soft kiss on minji's lips. "thank you for being the reason for my smile."

masterlist

taglist (CLOSED)!!

@fav9yu @gojosrug @lizseos @captivq @invusblog @writingficsblog @wonyoluvr @limbforalimb @lethalvenus @archerheejin @bibrinastan @ahnneyong @theeyoon @phamminji @chaersly @misumiausworld @afiaaaa19 @yumtooki @oshyci @txtbrainrot @falling-intoo-deep @0310lvr @yizhoutv @rinpopz @serenitygrace24 @noiacha @marimo-anura @sserajeans @cfvgbhndun-new-blog @rd0265667 @li0ilthecxnt @dmndtears @rosiehrs @yeridaenggi @spritin @cecedrake2217 @meltingbluess @jeonsy98 @haerinstolemyhrt @ssambf @awkwardtoafault @babycubchae @perfectsunlight @forever-in-the-sky2

[creampuffqueen]

Not to Plan

Korrasami Week 2024 - Free Day

Summary: Korra accidentally mixes up her schedule, leaving her on airkid babysitting duty the same night she's meant to go on a date with Asami. Chaos ensues.

Word count: 4613

----

“Hm…” Korra brushes her fingers through her hair again, lower lip pouting in concentration. “Do you think this is too much?” 

From her perch on her bed, Ikki shakes her head emphatically. “No way. You look so beautiful, I bet Asami is gonna pass out when she sees you!” 

Korra grimaces a bit at her reflection in the mirror. “I don’t think making her pass out is exactly the kind of impression I’m going for, Ikki.”

The young airbender ignores the comment, bouncing off the bed to stand at Korra’s side. She spends a long moment examining Korra’s outfit every which way, before stepping back and stroking her chin thoughtfully – not unlike the way her father strokes his beard in the same motion. “Actually, you could probably use something more.”

“More?” Korra snorts, “Really? I feel like this is already a lot.”

“No, trust me, you need more,” Ikki replies, pushing Korra backwards and forcing her to sit down on the bed. “I know these things. Aunt Kya let me help her get ready for her date with Chief Beifong the other day. I know just what you need!”

Korra isn’t entirely sure if she should be putting her date night appearance entirely in the hands of a twelve year old, but the swirling in her stomach won’t let her relax. She and Asami haven’t seen each other in days, and haven’t had a proper date in weeks. She knows Asami won’t mind what she wears, but her girlfriend always looks so stunning when they go out, and Korra wants to try and make her feel the same way.

“Here we go!” Ikki, who had used the time Korra was lost in her thoughts to rummage around in her dresser, now triumphantly brandishes a large makeup palette in both hands. “I knew Asami left one of these over here at some point.”

Korra’s stomach flips again. “Makeup? I don’t know, Ikki, I’m not very good at that stuff, not the way Asami is –”

“You’re not putting it on by yourself,” Ikki admonishes. “That’s what I’m here for! Now, close your eyes and let the master work…”

A quick glance at a nearby clock confirms another one of Korra’s fears: she’s running out of time. Arguing with Ikki will take too long, so instead she braces herself for what she might see in the mirror afterwards, and closes her eyes.

The chatterbox airbender falls silent for the first time all day as she works, gently blotting and swiping different powders onto Korra’s face with surprising precision. A few strokes over her cheekbones, some soft taps against her eyelids, a smear of gloss over her lips, and…

“Done. Do you like it?”

Korra’s eyelashes flutter as she parts them, peering back at herself in the mirror. She looks… good. Really good, actually. 

Ikki glances up at her, eyes wide, still silent. She opens her mouth to speak, but Korra sweeps her into a hug before she can. “It looks fantastic, Ikki. Thank you.”

The clock on the dresser chimes for the half hour mark, breaking their embrace. Korra stands up, brushing her dress off in an attempt to keep it as smooth as possible. “Alright, time to go. Thanks again for helping me get ready.”

Ikki vaults off the bed, voice restored. “No problem! Let me get my shoes and then I’ll be ready to go too!”

“Go too – wait, what?” Korra tries to call after her, but Ikki is already out the door, sprinting down the hallway to her own bedroom. “Ikki, what do you mean, go too?”

“Mom and Dad’s meeting with President Moon is tonight, remember?” Korra bites back a shout of surprise, whirling around to stand face to face with Jinora, who has seemingly appeared out of thin air.

“Meeting with the president…” Her stomach drops. “Oh no.”

Jinora’s mouth tightens into an awkward grimace. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

Korra responds with a grimace in kind, voice panicked and soft. “I did.” Things have been so busy lately, keeping her away from her girlfriend, that she jumped at the offer of a date without bothering to check, well, the date. And now she’s double booked herself. 

“Are your parents still here?” Korra asks desperately.

“They left half an hour ago,” Jinora replies.

“What about the air acolytes?”

Another wince from the teenager. “Dad gave them the night off because you said you’d watch us.”

“Jinora, Asami and I have a table for two booked at Kwong’s Cuisine. How am I supposed to fit four more people there? Not to mention, it’s a date.”

“I can stay behind if you want,” Jinora offers, voice a bit too even for Korra’s liking.

She narrows her eyes. “Didn’t Kai just get back from a relief trip yesterday?”

The blush on the younger girl’s face gives her away instantly. “Maybe.”

Korra sighs, placing a hand on Jinora’s shoulder. “Nice try, kiddo, but not a chance. If your dad found out I left his fifteen year old daughter unsupervised on the island with her boyfriend… I think you’d have to start searching for the next Earth Avatar.”

“That’s not fair, though!” Jinora protests, “You’re getting to spend time with you partner, why can’t I?”

“Because I am an adult,” Korra reminds her, “And you are not. Besides, with you four around it’s not like we’ll get to spend any time alone. Speaking of - Ikki, Meelo, Rohan, let’s go!”

Jinora huffs, crossing her arms in the universal symbol of teenage frustration. Korra lets her, remembering how she was doing the same thing only a few years ago. The other kids emerge from their rooms at her call, thankfully looking put together enough that she can haul them over to the ferry.

Or, wait – Rohan’s shoes are untied.

“Is everyone ready?” Korra asks, heading over to the youngest of the airbending children to help with his shoe situation.

“I gotta tie my shoes first,” Rohan pipes up, plopping himself onto the floor and grabbing at his laces.

“Here, let me help –”

“No Korra, I can do it by myself!” The five year old insists. Korra bites the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her cool. Normally she wouldn’t have an issue waiting for Rohan to tie his own shoes, but they’re on a time crunch tonight.

“Rohan, we need to go. Let me just tie your shoes real quick.”

“I can do it!” He repeats, scooting away from Korra’s grasp. Slowly, moving at what must be a tortoise-slug’s speed, he pulls his laces tight and begins the delicate process of making a neat bow. 

Korra watches intently as Rohan ties his first shoe, and then starts on the other. The second shoe seems to pose more of a challenge, the boy sticking his tongue out in concentration, fingers clumsy and tangling. They’re going to be here all night at this rate.

“The right shoe is always harder,” Rohan complains, and yet when Korra offers once again to help, he rejects her outright, once again demanding he be allowed to do it on his own. 

Then, to Korra’s utter devastation, the horn of the ferry waiting at the dock trills – once, twice, signalling the boat pulling out to make its journey back across the bay.

The three older kids wince in unison. Korra wants to slam her head against the wall, regretting every decision she’s ever made. She missed the ferry. There won’t be another for a few hours. Making it to this date is seeming less likely by the minute.

“Got it!” Rohan cheers, breaking the tension. He launches himself upwards and kicks his feet, showing off his shoelaces: two perfect bows, tied all by himself.

“That’s great, Rohan,” Korra praises weakly. The five year old beams, surging forward to grab her hand, none the wiser to the dilemma now facing her. 

“Maybe I should just call Asami and reschedule,” she mumbles. Nevermind she hasn’t laid eyes on her girlfriend in nearly a week.

“You can’t reschedule!” Ikki gasps, “You spent so much time getting ready!”

“I know, but we’re already late and –”

“We can take Pepper,” Jinora offers quietly, lifting the visage of teenage angst for a moment. 

“Yes, yes, let’s take Pepper,” Ikki agrees. She grabs Korra’s free hand, tugging her and Rohan along behind her. “Besides, I read in this magazine that ladies should arrive to dates fashionably late. The writer said it’s good to build tension.”

“What magazines?” Jinora probes, “We don’t get magazines here.”

Her little sister pointedly ignores her. Korra holds her breath for the inevitable spat, but thankfully Jinora decides to just ignore her in kind. Thank the spirits for that, at least.

Somehow, in the first stroke of good luck she’s had all evening, Jinora’s bison is already saddled up and ready to go. She chooses to ignore the obvious reasoning behind it, instead focusing on making sure her clothes stay clean on the flight over. 

“You should let Asami make you a wingsuit,” Meelo suggests as Jinora yip-yips her bison into the air. “Then all of us could have just flown over, no bison required.”

Korra sighs, leaning back against the saddle. “Maybe next time.”

Meelo nods sagely, advice given. He sticks a finger into his mouth, playing with a wiggly tooth. “Do you think Asami could pull this thing out with pliers? I’m a bit strapped for cash right now.”

“Airbenders don’t have money, Meelo,” Jinora calls over her shoulder. When she turns around again the ten year old sticks his tongue out at her, making a face.

“She won’t have her toolbox with her at dinner, so I doubt it,” Korra tells him. “What do you need money for, anyway?”

“It’s never too early to start saving for retirement,” Meelo replies nonchalantly. Korra honestly can’t tell if he’s joking. 

Though the flight into the city is short, Korra still can’t help the anxious tapping of her foot that starts up as the minutes tick by. And then keep ticking by, as Jinora searches for a place to land her massive sky bison in the middle of the Republic City Downtown. 

By the time Pepper is secured on the outskirts of a park, Korra is nearly ready to pull her own hair out. “Okay everyone, time to get a move on!” She hoists Rohan into her arms as she starts a strict pace, trusting the older three kids will follow.  

They tumble into Kwong’s about ten minutes later, sweaty, flushed, and messy. Korra can feel blisters beginning to form on her heels from her fancy shoes, and she dreads coming across a mirror and having to face her reflection looking like this. Truly, it’s a miracle that the doorman actually lets her inside the restaurant. 

“I have a reservation for Sato,” Korra gasps out, attempting to wrangle a squirming Rohan. 

The host raises a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “Of course, Avatar. However, I remind you that your reservation is only for two diners.”

“Can’t you just pull up a few extra chairs?” She replies desperately. “This one can sit in my lap, and the others –”

“I can sit in my own chair!” Rohan interrupts, his tiny round face aghast. 

“I know you can, Rohan, but…”

“Korra? I thought I heard your voice!”

A sense of relief washes over her, muscles relaxing, face crinkling into a smile of its own accord as she turns to look at the one person she’s been dying to see all evening. Asami.

Her girlfriend looks utterly gorgeous, as expected. Hair pinned up in a way that leaves it flowing over one shoulder, jewelry glittering beneath the candlelights, red dress hugging her sides – at this rate, Korra might be the one passing out from her beauty.

“Asami!” Ikki and Meelo trill, nearly tackling her in a hug. Asami oofs as they barrel into her, but catches them and holds them both close with a smile.

“Hey guys, what are you doing here? Korra and I weren’t expecting company tonight.”

Before Korra can attempt to explain, in the most tactful way, that she’s been relegated to the role of babysitter for the next few hours, Jinora steals her thunder with a decisive “Korra forgot she was supposed to watch us tonight.”

“Uh, forgot, is not, um, exactly what I’d call it –”

Jinora rolls her eyes. “You forgot.”

Korra smiles sheepishly in Asami’s direction. “Okay. I might have forgotten. You look beautiful, by the way.”

“‘Sami is so pretty,” Rohan agrees from his perch in her arms. Asami, still locked in a double embrace from Meelo and Ikki, positively beams.

“Well, thank you both. How about we go sit down?” She pins the host with a pointed stare. “I’m sure it won’t be a problem to move us to a larger table with more seating.”

The man sweats beneath Asami’s gaze. Dabbing at his neck slightly, he nods hard enough that Korra wonders how his head stays on. “Of course, Miss Sato, right away.”

Meelo tilts his face upwards to glance at Asami. “I need you to teach me your ways.”

She laughs at that, somehow far more okay with this entire situation than Korra would expect anyone else to be. “Maybe another time.”

Asami manages to wriggle out of her hug-trap, coming close to twine Korra’s fingers with her own. “You also look beautiful, Korra.” She emphasizes her compliment by pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. Korra could melt from it.

“And your makeup – did you do this yourself? It looks amazing.”

Korra chuckles, shaking her head. “I can’t take credit for any of this, honestly. Ikki all but dressed me herself.”

Asami gives the younger girl another dazzling smile. “Well, I guess I’ll have to thank you then!” Pink tinges Ikki’s cheeks as she looks away, suddenly bashful. 

The host comes to announce that their new table is ready, and Asami ushers them all to follow after her. Rohan begins to squirm again in earnest, little arms outstretched in earnest desperation. “I wanna be with ‘Sami!”

You and me both, kiddo, Korra sighs internally. But, to keep things running smoothly, she sets Rohan back onto the floor to let him sprint to Asami’s side and cling to her hand. All Korra can offer is yet another apologetic glance. 

They attract more than a few stares as they settle at their table, each less subtle than the last. Korra can feel their eyes burning into the back of her head, making her begin to sweat. Oh spirits don’t let me start sweating here. She cringes to imagine what she must look like at this point.

“This place is so fancy,” Ikki murmurs in awe, staring enraptured at the small chandelier above their table. 

“Yeah, yeah, but is the grub any good?” Meelo asks, snagging a menu from the table. He props it in his lap so he can read and wiggle his tooth at the same time. Korra doesn’t have it in her to chastise him about putting his fingers in his mouth in public. 

Thankfully, she and Asami have managed to be sat next to each other, and her girlfriend turns to kiss her cheek again. “Anything in particular you’re hungry for, love?”

Korra bites her lip before she can reply with the first thought that comes to mind, all too aware of the little ears sitting nearby. “Um. Not sure yet. Definitely something with meat though; I’ve barely left Air Temple Island these last few days.”

Jinora tosses her menu onto the table with a long-suffering sigh, pulling their attention in her direction. “The vegetarian options here are shit.”

Her younger siblings gasp in unison, utterly affronted. “You can’t say that!” Rohan all but shrieks, Ikki and Meelo quickly repeating the sentiment. 

Asami glances at Korra, raising an eyebrow in a clear question of should you do something about that?

Korra just sighs, leaning in close to whisper in Asami’s ear. “She’s trying to get a rise out of me because I wouldn’t let her stay back on the island with Kai.”

Not that Korra isn’t empathetic towards the teenager’s need to let off some steam and test a few boundaries in the process, she can’t help but wish Jinora chose any other night but this one. This dinner is already going to be tough to get through without her angsting in the background the entire time. 

“Best to ignore it for now,” Asami whispers back in agreement. Beneath the table, she grabs Korra’s hand and squeezes, a silent support. Korra squeezes back, grateful for the backup.

Somehow, with their combined forces, they manage to find a meal that each of the children both can eat and want to eat. Jinora’s assessment of the vegetarian options was correct – they really are shit. 

The wait for their food passes in a blur. Korra can barely get more than a sentence to her girlfriend, their conversation constantly interrupted. Ikki’s babbling questions. Meelo’s current obsession of would-you-rather scenarios. Rohan’s excessive storytelling that never seems to have an endpoint. Korra wants to sink into the floor in frustration.

There’s a brief respite when the food finally arrives, with everyone eagerly digging into their plates. However, it’s only for a moment; Korra soon has to dedicate her attention to making sure Rohan chews with his mouth closed and Meelo uses his napkin. 

And then the kicker comes.

“Korra, I need to use the bathroom.”

The waterbender barely suppresses her sigh. “Can you hold it for a bit, Rohan? Everyone’s almost finished, and then we can go home.”

The young boy shakes his head gravely. “I can’t hold it. I drank too much water.”

“Okay then. Let’s go potty real quick. Come on, I’ll take you.”

Rohan hops up from his chair, and it quickly becomes evident how dire the situation is – he’s squirming in place, rocking back and forth, bouncing from foot to foot. 

Korra offers her hand. “The bathroom’s this way, Rohan.”

Despite his obvious potty-dance, Rohan still takes the time to point at Asami. “Can ‘Sami come too?”

“Asami is gonna stay with your siblings, buddy.”

“But I want her to come with us!”

Korra takes a heartbeat to pray to any spirits around for a bit more patience. “Do you want Asami to take you instead?”

A firm shake of his head. “No, I want you and ‘Sami.”

There really isn’t any time to argue, if the speed of his wiggling is anything to go by. “Fine. Asami, will you come to the bathroom with us? Jinora, you’re in charge for five minutes and five minutes only.”

“Nobody’s in charge of me!” Meelo protests, but Korra drowns him out, gesturing for Asami to follow as she nearly drags Rohan to the bathroom. An accident on these nice carpets is the absolute last thing she needs tonight.

Inside the bathroom, Rohan’s independent streak is still going strong, the five year old insisting he can do everything himself. For this, Korra hopes he’s right. With Rohan finally inside a stall to take care of business, she gets a second to lean against the counter and just breathe.

A soft hand twines with her own. Asami leans on the counter beside her, resting her head gently on Korra’s shoulder. “Well, tonight has been interesting, to say the least.”

“I’m so sorry,” Korra apologizes frantically. “I swear I didn’t mean for this to happen at all, and now I’ve ruined our first night together in weeks. I’m going to make this up to you, Asami, I promise.”

Asami leaves the counter to face Korra directly, green eyes alight with amusement. “Korra, you don’t have to apologize. Sure it’s not what we planned, but I love any time we spend together. Even if it’s not exactly perfect.”

Her hand comes to rest on Korra’s cheek, stroking it softly. “Besides, if tonight’s chaos means I get to see you like this… I’d say it’s pretty worth it.”

Korra blushes at the compliment, though she doesn’t look away. Asami grins wider, eyes flickering down to her lips. They lean in together, noses brushing, and –

“Finished!” Rohan announces from his stall, causing the two women to jolt away from one another, ending their kiss before it even starts.

Korra steps from Asami’s arms, smoothing her dress again. “Alright, come on out and wash your hands so we can get back to the table.”

There’s a pause. “Can you help me wipe?”

Asami smacks a hand over her mouth, muffling her sudden giggles. Korra can feel her face falling in devastation.

“No problem,” She mutters, heading into the stall. “No problem at all.”

~~~~

It’s clear there’s some sort of issue at their table before they even reach it. Korra can hear the raised voices from the moment they leave the restroom, carrying over the quiet chatter of the other patrons. They’re attracting stares again. 

Korra and Asami share a glance when they hear another cry of anguish and increase their pace, hurrying back to their table full of unsupervised children. 

The sight that greets them isn’t too pretty. Meelo is sobbing, tears and snot both pouring down his face. Ikki and Jinora are somehow arguing with each other even louder, pointing accusatory fingers over their brother’s shaking shoulders. 

“What is going on?!” Korra demands, rushing to their sides.

“I SWALLOWED MY TOOTH!” Meelo wails, another round of fat teardrops leaking from his eyes. 

“You what?!”

“Meelo swallowed his tooth!” Ikki repeats, voice panicked. 

“And it’s Ikki’s fault!” Jinora adds, scowling.

“It is not my fault!” Ikki shrieks, loud enough that Rohan, still standing with Asami, covers his ears. 

“You challenged him to see who could eat their food faster, and he ate so fast he didn’t notice his tooth fell out when he was chewing! It is totally your fault!”

Meelo cries even harder. Korra is at a loss for words.

“The – the tooth spirit isn’t gonna be able to leave me any present because I swallowed it,” Meelo hiccups, cheeks reddening.

“You should make Ikki give you her next tooth,” Jinora suggests, completely unhelpfully. That option only starts another round of tears and another round of yelling.

“All of you, QUIET!” Korra shouts, finally fed up. The three children pause, eyes wide. Meelo’s sobs soften out to sniffles, and the girls’ expressions quickly shift to ones of guilt. 

“How about I go grab the check?” Asami offers, scooping Rohan into her arms. “I think everyone’s done eating. I’ll meet you guys outside, okay?”

Korra nods in agreement, thankful for the help in wrangling the unruly mob currently disguising itself as children. She steps over to Meelo’s seat, lowering herself onto one knee – a bit awkwardly, due to her dress.

“Hey. Look at me, buddy.” Meelo sniffs again, wiping his nose. “I promise you, the tooth spirit is gonna know about your lost tooth. They’re a spirit; they don’t need to see your tooth to know you lost it. But if you want, when we get home, I can help you write a note just to make sure. How does that sound?”

Another sniffle. Meelo nods slowly. “That sounds good.”

Korra smiles, gently ruffling his hair until she sees the start of a giggle. Meelo situated, she turns to Ikki next.

“Ikki, it wasn’t your fault Meelo swallowed his tooth on accident. You couldn’t have known it was loose enough to fall out that easily. I know you didn’t mean it.”

“I didn’t mean it, I swear,” Ikki promises earnestly. “And I’m really sorry that you swallowed your tooth, Meelo.”

“There we go, that’s what I like to see,” Korra encourages. “You two, go catch up with Asami at the front while she pays the check. Jinora and I are gonna grab Pepper and come pick you guys up.”

With all the younger kids gone, Korra can focus her full attention on the teenager in front of her. But rather than try and force her to talk, she just gestures to the side door. “Come on, let’s go get your bison.”

She and Jinora walk side-by-side, completely silent. They reach Pepper after only a few minutes, and climb up the saddle together. Korra no longer cares about the fur or messing up her dress, so she makes sure to give the massive sky bison extra pets for her hard work. 

Jinora, sat on Pepper’s neck, slowly turns to look at Korra, eyes downcast. “I’m sorry, Korra. I haven’t been exactly… helpful tonight. I know you were looking forward to your date with Asami, and I’m really sorry if I’ve ruined it.”

Korra thinks back to Asami’s words in the restroom – how was that only twenty minutes ago? A soft chuckle escapes her lips. “It’s anything but ruined, don’t you worry.”

Jinora sighs. “Still. I’m sorry. I know I’ve been really annoying.”

“Listen to me,” Korra replies gently. “You are one of the most special, talented, important teenagers in the entire world, Jinora. But you’re still a teenager. I think we forget that sometimes – me included. So sure, you weren’t on the best behavior ever tonight. We all have bad days. There’s nothing you’ve said or done that can’t be fixed, I promise.”

Jinora surges from her perch to wrap Korra in a hug so tight she hardly breathe. “Thank you.”

Korra pats her back weakly, wheezing slightly. “No problem, kiddo. You know I’m always here for you.”

They linger in their hug for a few more moments, then Jinora finally releases her to grab Pepper’s reins. The sky bison makes the journey back to the restaurant in under a minute, then hovers outside until Asami and the other kids finally emerge from the front doors.

“There’s nowhere to land!” Asami calls into the sky, hands cupped around her mouth.

Korra peers over the edge of the saddle, grinning. “Not a problem. Hold yourself steady; I’ll air-spout you up!”

Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan create small whirlwinds of their own to propel themselves upwards, each of them landing expertly into the saddle. They join Korra at the side, watching her next moves with eager anticipation.

Asami is far better at being air-spouted than Mako ever was, even in her fancy dinner dress. The wind whips around her as Korra spirals her arms, and when her black locks tumble into her face she just pushes them aside and keeps smiling.

The air built up, Korra flicks her wrist, and Asami’s feet leave the ground as the air-spout carries her – right into Korra’s waiting arms. 

“Stuck the landing,” Asami giggles, wrapping her arms over Korra’s neck. Jinora gives another yip-yip, and Pepper takes flight for Air Temple Island. 

“You know I’ll always catch you,” Korra replies, letting herself get lost in Asami’s green eyes. 

“Kiss!” A small voice demands from their side. Korra breaks their gaze to glance downwards, finding Rohan clinging to her dress, chubby cheeks parted around an excited smile.

“Yeah, kiss!” Ikki joins in, bouncing eagerly in place.

“KISS, KISS, KISS!” Meelo chants, pumping his fists in the air. The other kids quickly join in, even Jinora, from her place at the reins.

“I don’t think we can deny them,” Asami laughs, the faintest hint of pink flushing over her cheeks. 

“I don’t think we can, either,” Korra agrees, a laugh of her own bubbling up from her chest. 

They lean in together, eyes closed, noses brushing. Their lips find each other like magnets, drawn together helplessly. Asami sighs into the kiss, and it’s the most beautiful sound Korra has ever heard. 

She kisses her back with the same excitement, heart fluttering. The rest of the world falls away, leaving only this. Only Asami. 

Their date night hasn’t been ruined. Not by any means.

----

thanks so much for reading! this will be posted on ao3 as well.

hopefully i was able to properly capture the chaos that comes with watching children lol

@korrasamiweek2024

[scarisd3ad]

A really cute 'n playful Carl x fem reader cuddle sesh in his room? Like with reader laying on his chest (or vise versa) And they're playing with each other's hair, giving sweet, gentle kisses and being all adorable and in love 🥺.. (bonus if Rick walks in on them asleep together, gets Michonne and they're both standing there for a minute like 'awwww young love 😭❤')

Promptober day 22 - cuddles

Pairing - Carl grimes x reader

Warnings - none

A/N - this is the same reader from day 7 so Glenn and Maggie are like readers guardian/parents.

Promptober ‘23 masterlist

Main masterlist

Taglist

Carl's and i's hands are interlocked as we walk into his house. our footstep are cautious and quiet just in case one of his family members are home right now. It's not like we were going to do anything bad. It was just embarrassing at our age to be caught doing anything romantic. "Dad?" carl calls out into the house as he lets go of my hand. "Michonne?" no answer, so he grabs my hand and drags me back to his room.

I've never really been in his room, ever. Most of the time we hung out outside away from the others, so they wouldn't catch us. No one knew about us, as far as everyone else knew we were just really good friends, and nothing else. Well, that was the truth until a few weeks ago when we kissed and there was no going back after that.

I sit down on his bed as he kicks his shoes off. "soo what are we gonna do?" I ask. I was clueless about the whole relationship thing. The world ended when I was twelve and at twelve, I hadn't even held a boy's hand yet, and ever since then there wasn't time for a boyfriend or to even have a crush until now. I didn't know what boyfriends and girlfriends did when they hung on. I barely even knew how to kiss. "Just hang out," he says with a smile, "like we do all the time," he adds as he sits down next to me. My heart pounds against my chest as he grabs my hand. No matter how many times he holds my hand or kisses me, it always makes me flustered.

We end up on his bed, laid down, with his arm wrapped around me as he read a comic book. He carefully wraps and unwraps my hair around his finger, leaving the strand in a weird-looking curl. I'm nervous, and i think he can tell because he looks down at me before pressing a kiss to my forehead. My head lays flat against his chest so I can see what he's reading. We both end up falling asleep, arms wrapped around each other, and legs tangled together.

knock, knock, knock

We both quickly wake up and turn around, eyes wide in panic. We're both met with rick leaning against the doorframe with a tiny smirk on his lips. "dad get out!" carl shouts as he gets up off of the bed. He pushes rick out of the room and slams the door shut. I sit up so my legs are dangling off the bed. I didn't know if rick would tell Glenn and get me in trouble. I didn't know if what we did was worthy of getting in trouble for, but despite that fact, it still mortified me.

"I think I should go," I whisper as I wrap my arms around my body. "yo-you don't have to go, I don't think my dad cares that much anyway," I shake my head. "Glenn's probably worried I should go," I whisper as I walk out of Carl's room. ricks in the kitchen like he was waiting for either carl or I to come out. "Are you going to tell Glenn?" I ask my voice quiet and meek, terrified of what his answer was going to be. Glenn was always going to see me as that terrified little 12-year-old he had found abandoned on the streets of Atlanta. I just knew if he found out about carl and I dating he'd probably try to kill carl.

"Why would I?" Rick furrows his brows as he stares at me. "I just-I just don't want Glenn to know yet," I whisper as I cross my arms over my chest. He was overprotective, especially when it came to boys. I understood to a certain degree I was like his daughter. He's known me since I was 12, but he needed to let go a little. Rick walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "Its alrigh' kid, tell him when you're ready."

Taglist

@leonkennedylefthand @maexyn @truecobblepot @mfnqueen1 @zoey5252 @nezukos-number1fan @bxbyyyjocelyn @dr3amyk1ng

[strangersteddierthings]

Are you interested in writing something billy is still giving steve a hard time at school like since max isn't there to keep an eye on him, maybe like in the locker rooms, something more privately, since Nancy would also probably say something and eddie walks in on the aftermath and he decides to help despite not thinking highly of steve yet

Eddie is returning from skipping class when he hears a clang! ring out as he passes by the locker room. A well-known sound, one of someone being shoved against the lockers. His first thought is poor bastard but better you than me and his second thought, because his uncle raised him right, is I better check this out, and if nothing else, I'm a witness.

"Not so tough without a twelve-year-old girl here to protect you, huh," Billy Hargrove's voice is unmistakable. Eddie's heard it enough this year, between selling him weed and setting between him and members of Hellfire. He's willing to admit some curiosity to the statement Hargrove just made. Who in the hell is he beating up that was saved by a twelve-year-old last time?

"She's thirteen, you jackass," groans a suspiciously familiar voice. Eddie knows he knows it but can't place it.

"You always seem to focus on the shit that doesn't matter," Hargrove sounds amused, like he's smiling while he talks. Eddie can see it now, the too big, too fake grin that spreads across Hargrove's face before he lunges like a feral dog.

What follows next is the sound of a tussle. It sounds more like a wrestling match than a fight, but the squeak of gym shoes against linoleum changes pitch, and Eddie is moving. Hargrove is dragging someone around in there and the little voice in the back of his mind that sounds like Wayne will not let him get a bit of sleep this week if he walks away.

It's a shock, to put it mildly, when sees Hargrove and Harrington, neither of which are wearing gym clothes, so Eddie has no idea how they ended up here. He watches as Hargrove tosses Harrington to the ground in the showers, whose head bounces off the tile. Ouch. Before he can say anything, make his presence known, Hargrove reaches over and turns the shower on, dousing Harrington.

"This seems... interesting," Eddie says, trying to play it cool, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back against the lockers to survey the situation. They both have bruising, days old it looks like, on their faces. Maybe they'd come here to try and finish what they'd started? "Who's winning?"

Hargrove laughed. "You've got a good sense of humor. Knew I liked you."

He tries to give back a shit-eating grin, but it probably just looks like a grimace. He's not a fan of either of these two and does really wish he'd kept walking. He's quickly trying to weigh the pros and cons of taking a side here. Hargrove's a jackass but he's also one of Eddie's best customers and he can't really afford to lose him; not with the amount Hargrove buys. Harrington, however, has become the more bearable of the two to be around, since Jonathon Byers rocked his shit last year, but he didn't buy his drugs from Eddie, so...

The water shuts off, catching Eddie's attention. He and Hargrove both turn to Harrington, who looks so pathetic using the shower walls to climb his way to standing.

"No, yeah, I can definitely tell who won," Eddie says, earning him another laugh from Hargrove, who claps a hand on Eddie's shoulder as he moves past, leaving the locker room without another word.

Harrington, meanwhile, staggers out of the slash zone and pulls his shirt off, trying to wring out the water from it. Eddie just watches. This is the easiest fight he's ever had to breakup, and while he doesn't know why it was so easy, he's not really going to start asking questions. Honestly, the less he knows, the better.

"Don't think that's gonna work."

"Helpful," Harrington mutters, even as he lowers his arms in defeat and frowns down at his shirt like it's the shirt's fault he's wet.

Eddie is not staring. He's not. Because that's the kind of shit he's learned to not do because it gets the shit beat out of you. So, it's not staring. It's... investigating. Categorizing the damage Hargrove has done. To make it known that is what he's doing, he asks, "how much of that was Hargrove?" as he gestures to all of Harrington with one hand.

Harrington looks down at his own chest, almost bewildered, like he can't believe he's bruised. "Uhh.... 73 percent?"

He doesn't want to laugh but his body makes an involuntary snort-giggle at Harrington's questioning voice. "Alright. What's the other 27 percent from?"

Harrington pokes at a bruise and then sways violently, stumbling himself backwards to slam into the wall. "Shit. Think 'm concussed again. Didn't think the first one was done."

"Shit, man. We need to get you to the nurse," Eddie might not like Harrington, but concussions are no joke. Eddie'd been in charge of waking his uncle every hour on the hour a few years ago, when he'd got knocked good on the head at the plant.

"Right. Sounds good," Harrington agreed, even as he slumped more against the wall.

Shit. Eddie's going to have to drag him there, he can tell already. "Alright, man, let's go."

Harrington doesn't protest when Eddie shoves himself under his arm and wraps a hand around his middle. Harrington and he are the same height, it seems, but the dude's been on every sports team the school offers, like not being involved in an after-school activity will result in his death or something. What he's getting at is that he certainly weighs more, what with the muscle mass he's got going.

Briefly he wonders if a concussed Harrington would let him get away with coping a feel at his abs or arms, but that's dismissed immediately. Stop being a creep, Munson.

"Why're you helpin'?" Harrington says, about halfway to the nurse.

Eddie shrugs, "my uncle always says to look out for the little guy."

"Hey. I coulda won that fight. If he hadn't brained me on the lockers before repeating the performance with the shower tiles."

"You're going to have brain damage."

"Mmmm think I've always had that," Harrington says it softly, like he's talking to himself and has forgotten Eddie is within hearing distance. "I think each blow to the head is making me, like, a better person. Un-brain damaged."

"Yeaaahh, not sure about that last bit, but you've been less of an ass since Byers got you last year, so I can't say for sure you aren't right."

They make it to the nurse. Eddie deposits Harrington into an empty chair and the nurse helpfully gives Eddie a note for his next class, should he decide to actually go.

"Wait," Harrington calls out when Eddie's half out the door, so he twists to look back, raising an eyebrow at him. "Thanks, Eddie."

"Don't worry about it, Har-Steve," Eddie replies, slipping out the door and closing it behind him. Since when does Harrington know his name?

[brandyllyn]

Mysterious

Benny ‘Borracho’ Magalon x f!reader [no use of y/n]

Summary: Benny tries to follow-up up the next day. Words: 4.6k 

My Masterlist

Rating: Explicit. Warnings: language. smut. cannon typical violence, oral (m receiving), PIV.

The long awaited sequel to Adventurous. Only took 3 years.

Benny’s phone was unmoving where it sat on his desk. Screen blank. He kept glancing at it, occasionally reaching over and lighting the screen up to see if he had new messages. Then he scrolled into his texts, pulling up 'Kiki' and staring at the single bubble sitting there.

Hey sexy.

It felt like a safe enough opening. Not too eager. He glanced at his watch and cursed, it hadn’t even been twelve hours since he’d seen you. Had draped his coat around your shoulders and walked you to your car. Pressing you against the cool metal and giving you a long deep kiss.

He could still taste you.

Fuck he could still feel you. The ghost of your skin on his fingertips. The clench of you around his cock. He grunted and adjusted himself, shifting in his chair slightly as the detective’s report swam in front of his eyes. He needed to get his shit together or some cholo was going to shoot his ass.

"Borracho." 

Benny whipped his head up at Nick’s voice. "Ya boss?"

"You got that ballistics report?"

Benny rifled through the papers on his desk, pulling the file and handing it off to Nick. His boss thumbed through the pages then tapped him on the shoulder with it. "Nice job last night."

His brow’s drew together and he gave Nick a confused look. "With what?"

"The-" Nick made a thrusting motion with his hips, his voice going high and mocking. "Oh Benny. Benny!" The larger man laughed and Benny rolled his eyes.

"Fuck off."

"I’m just saying, we had a bet going you couldn’t even get it up anymore.” Nick sniped as he walked away, “Cost me a hundred bucks."

"My man’s a stallion," Henderson shouted from across the room. "I knew you had it in you brother!"

See this? This was why he never did shit at the parties. These fucking assholes right here. Taking what was hands down one of the best nights of Benny’s life and putting bets on it. Bets they didn’t even have the decency to include him on.

And his phone remained dishearteningly blank.

“She give you a fake number?”

His eyes darted to Zapata but he tried not to react. “Who?”

“That girl, the one you been pining over for weeks.” It was his turn to turn on that mocking, high pitch voice, “Benny.”

“Just cause you can’t get a girl to scream your name…”

Zapata laughed, punching him lightly on the shoulder. “She give you her work number?”

Now that thought hadn’t occurred to him. Maybe he’d gotten lost in a sea of other men. Picking up the phone he looked at his message once more.

Hey sexy.

Not a damn thing to identify him - just one text in probably a mountain of others.

“Fucking hell,” he groaned, thumbs already moving.

Hey sexy.

You’d been staring at the text all day, a flutter deep in your chest each time you opened your phone. This was the first time you’d had to really think about it, about how to respond. From the moment you went on shift it had been non-stop calls. Suddenly another bubble appeared.

Shit. It’s Benny. From the hotel.

You snorted into your mid afternoon coffee. As if you could forget. You gave a quick search for your crew, who must still be in line, before typing.

I assumed.

The reply was instantaneous. Never got your name.

You gonna run a background check on me?

No. His reply came through a minute later. Just wanna know whose name I should be groaning when I jerk off later.

Fuck, was it hot in here? It was hot in here. You felt warm suddenly, a thread of desire curling in your abdomen.

That okay?

You didn’t hesitate before sending back, Yeah but it’s gonna cost you. You waited about ten seconds before sending, Kidding.

At almost the same moment his response came through. K.

You laughed, tilting the phone away when your partner got back with his lunch. What a doof. Just for that you should make him pay for dinner. Or drinks. Or whatever you ended up doing between your busy shifts and whatever the fuck it was a moderately dirty cop got up to.

Mulling it over you swiped a french fry, ignoring your partner’s cry of outrage. Benny hadn’t seemed dirty - he seemed like a pretty nice guy. But the drugs in the room and the hired girls screamed that something hinky was going on there. And you definitely didn’t want anything to do with that.

But you really wanted something to do with Benny.

A conundrum.

The radio squawked and you answered it automatically, making note of the location and starting to make guesses on what you would need.

Before putting the phone away you typed one last message.

I get off at seven, want to meet up for coffee or something?

Coffee.

Benny could do coffee. It would almost be a date. Just you and him sitting at a café somewhere. Well, to be honest probably a Starbucks - but somewhere that wasn’t a bedroom where he might be able to get your real name out of you.

"Guy’s gonna bleed out," Henderson pointed out blandly, pulling Benny out of his musings.

"No he ain’t." Nick squatted down next to their suspect, the only guy left behind on a raid gone bad. "He’s not going to bleed out until I let him, are ya champ?"

The man groaned and Benny rolled his eyes, searching his pockets for a smoke. The second ambulance was pulling up, the first already on its way with the cop who’d gotten shot in it. Nick was pissed about that. Benny was too, to be fair, but he also thought the guy was an idiot to get shot the way he had.

Nick slapped the guy’s face lightly. "Stay with me buddy, where is the safe house? Where did your friends go?" An EMT went to push past and Nick held up a hand. "Not yet."

"Sir we have to-"

Nick whirled around, glaring daggers. "You can help him when I say you can help him. Now step back and let me do my fucking job."

The two EMTs gave each other worried glances then moved back with the stretcher. One of them turned and rushed to the ambulance, probably to call their supervisor. Even more fucking paperwork and there was no way in hell Nick was gonna do it. Benny met Zapata’s eyes and the other man raised an eyebrow before sighing and following after.

"Yeah that’s right buddy. Help is here. But I’m gonna pronounce you dead on scene real fucking quick if you don’t-"

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Someone shoved past Benny and he had just enough time to register the uniform and the voice before you squared up with Nick, arms akimbo. Benny’s cigarette dangled from his lips, unlit.

"I’m doing my fucking-" Nick started but you took a step closer, poking a finger into the center of his chest.

"No, you’re keeping me from doing mine. Dave, Jorge, get in there. Now."

The two men darted in, ignoring the glare from Nick. "You are interfering with an-"

You cut him off again and Benny imagined he could see steam coming out of Nick’s ears. "I swear to God if you finish that sentence I will have your badge." 

Nick glared. You glared. Benny had half a chub. The two EMTs lifted the suspect onto the stretcher. Finally Nick grunted, "Connors, go with them, see if you can get anything."

The man nodded and followed the EMTs. You nodded once, decisively, then turned on your heel. You looked taken aback to see Benny and he gave you a small smile when he saw how your face lit up at the sight of him.

"Hey," you squeezed his arm as you went by. "Gotta go. Later right?"

He watched your ass as you jogged off, hopping into the front of the ambulance and expertly guiding it out of the assembled police vehicles. He waited until you were out of sight before turning back to his team.

"What?"

"That the hooker from last night?"

Benny sipped his coffee, eyebrow raised. "Don’t know what you’re talking about, I saw a stretcher jockey."

Nick turned quickly, "The hooker?"

Zapata was back, hands shoved in his pockets. "Tried to stop her boss, she threatened to fucking deck me."

"You let a little girl scare you?" Nick asked incredulously.

"Well she wasn’t about to fuck me."

Nick fumed, hands gesturing wildly. "What the fuck is going on?"

"The EMT," Zapata said before Benny could stop him. "The chick that came running here like a bat out of hell? Benny’s girl?"

Nick wasn’t dumb.  "Wait, that was the girl? The one screaming through the walls?" Benny didn’t confirm it, there was no need. The recognition was flowing over Nick’s face like a wave. "Find out who she is. Report her for conduct."

"Wait a fucking minute," Benny’s styrofoam cup hit the ground, his hand catching Nick’s elbow. "That’s not-"

"Did you see what she just did?" Nick rounded on him. "We may have just lost our only lead because of her. I want her reprimanded. I want her under review. I want her fucking mom to know how she pays her fucking rent."

Benny groaned, meeting Henderson’s eyes. Then he pulled out his phone and texted you back. 

Yeah, he needed to see you. Seven worked.

You were running late. 

A lot late.

You’d managed to send Benny a quick text to let him know, thankfully, but it meant that you were pulling into the parking lot for the little coffee shop more than a half hour late. Frantically, you leaned up to look at yourself in the rear view mirror, swiping some color on your lips and wishing that you’d thought of bringing more. You stripped your uniform shirt off and quickly emptied your pockets of anything too ridiculous.

It would have to do. 

Benny was already there, sitting outside and thumbing through his phone. You paused a moment and watched him, a smile tugging on your lips as you realized you’d never seen him in daylight. His hair wasn’t black, in the sun you could see the deep brown highlights in it. Jesus, he was handsome.

He stood when he saw you, rising to his feet and reaching to pull your chair out and you sank into it with a sigh and an apology already sprinting to your lips which he brushed off instantly.

"Don’t worry about it, I know as well as anyone how these shifts run over. Can I get you something?"

You gave him your order and busied yourself with your phone while he was gone, the early evening California sun finally cooling into something reasonable and not unbearably hot.

"Here ya go," he slid your cup over and you wrapped your fingers around the warm plastic. 

“I gotta warn ya,” he grimaced, “my boss isn’t too happy with how things went down today.”

“The big guy with the bad attitude?” you asked before snorting. “I don’t answer to him.”

“He’s gonna report you,” Benny continued.

“For saving a guy’s life?”

“For the other thing.” You must have looked confused and he made a vague gesture with his cup. “You know… the thing.”

“I do not know.”

“Last night.”

Brow furrowing, you raised one eyebrow at him. “He’s going to report me for the party with all the drugs? Your party?”

“Not my party,” he quickly demurred, “but… yeah. Probably not the drugs part but the other part.”

It clicked suddenly and your eyes widened. “You? He’s going to report… me and you?” His lips were a thin line and your heart sank. “You’re married.”

He blinked at you and then recoiled, “What? No.”

What else could it be, though? “Oh God, I slept with a married man. My mother is going to kill me.”

A hand grabbed at yours and he gripped you hard enough to draw your eyes to his. “I’m not married, sweetheart.”

“Then why would anyone care that we slept together?”

He worked his jaw, glancing around before leaning in closer. “The business part of it.”

Okay, you had no idea what was going on. “The hell are you talking about?”

“I know I didn’t pay you, but-”

“Pay me?” You burst out, “For-?”

Oh shit.

“You think I’m a hooker.”

It wasn’t a question and Benny’s eyes darted to the side before he answered. “I know you said you’d just started but-”

"I’m not," you swallowed, feeling your face heat up. "I’m not a… Jesus."

"Oh." He paused, staring over your shoulder. "Fuck."

“I mean I get it,” you rushed out, “I knew Monica got paid… I just thought. I mean, you and I, I thought we…” you trailed off as you looked at him. "I’m sorry… if that’s not what you wanted that’s okay. We can just forget-"

“Baby, when you said you don’t usually-”

“I said I don’t,” you corrected quickly.

“Do this sort of thing-” he trailed off suddenly, staring at you. “You telling me you really just stumbled into all that?”

Oh God, this was so fucking embarrassing. You looked anywhere but at him, trying to figure out how you could get out of the situation. “Yes.”

“Shit.”

This could not get any worse. “I should go.”

His hand was holding yours in an instant, his eyes intense, “Don’t do that. I fucked this up. Jesus… I really should have taken you somewhere nice."

A wide smile broke out on your face and you began to laugh. Benny’s eyes shot up to yours and after a moment you saw his lips pull into a smile as well. Then he was laughing too and you felt a bit of tension ease off of you.

"I should have guessed," you wheezed once you caught your breath. "I knew Monica was… an entrepreneur, I just thought you realized…”

"I shouldn’t have assumed," he butted in. 

"Benny," you replied with a scolding frown, but you could barely hold the expression from the laughter still bubbling past your lips. "How could you not?"

"Well," he took a sip of coffee and leaned back in his chair. "That outfit the first night should have been a dead giveaway."

You gasped dramatically. "How dare you, I looked great."

"You did," his eyes roamed over you for a moment and you felt suddenly warm. "You do."

Biting your lip you tried not to tug on your t-shirt. Or your cargo pants. Benny didn’t seem to notice, in fact he looked serious. More than that, he looked turned on. His tongue slowly licked along his lower lip, his eyes warm as they drifted down to your chest.

"Wait, if you weren’t there to make money, why’d you come back the second time?"

"I told you," you shrugged. "I went to find you."

Another one of those glances around - Benny seemed to always have an eye out on who might be watching - and then he slid into the chair closest to yours, a hand settling on your thigh. His face is so close you could see the flecks of amber in his eyes. 

“Keep saying things like that and I’ll start to think you like me.”

It was so easy to lean forward, to cross the small distance and kiss him. It was short, sweet even, and you saw his eyelashes flutter as you slowly pulled back. “Benny I-”

It’s like lightning, how quick he moved, one hand jerking at your thigh and the other cupping the back of your neck. He’s devouring you, his tongue thrusting inside until you’re moaning and wrapping your fingers into the edges of his shirt.

“Ahem.”

The impolite cough came from over your shoulder and Benny broke the kiss to glare at whoever had done it. You’re too stunned to speak, lips parted and panting breaths making you dizzy. When his eyes met yours again he leaned forward slightly before stopping himself with a rueful smile.

“Stop looking at me like that or I’m going to fuck you on this table.”

“Please?”

It was not what you meant to say but then again, it was exactly what you wanted. There’s a sharp scrape of chair legs and suddenly Benny is standing next to you, holding a hand out. “You coming?”

Your teeth sank into your bottom lip. “Soon I hope.”

He growled and pulled you towards the parking lot, eyes scanning over the assembled vehicles. It was still broad daylight and you were curious if he really intended to take you in the backseat of some Prius.

Actually, there was no way Benny drove a Prius.

“I live about fifteen minutes away.” He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it and making him look even hotter. “I know I should -”

You don’t let him finish the thought, squeezing his hand and fishing your phone out to the Maps app. “Where is it? I’ll follow.”

He rattled off the address quickly but seemed reluctant to let you go, cupping your cheek and giving you another one of those soul-stirring kisses before finally nodding and turning towards a beat up pickup.

Yeah, that made sense. And you may have made a mental note that it had a bench seat. It was just good information to keep track of.

His apartment was a shithole.

Benny had run at least two lights on his way back, eager to beat you and have some time to make the place presentable. A sweep of his arm got rid of an empty pizza box and assortment of beers into the trash. He alternately sorted clothes and junk into his hamper, shoving it into a closet just as there was a knock on the door. He glanced into the bathroom - putting the seat down - and then the bedroom which looked fine. 

It would have to do.

The door was only halfway open when you pushed your way inside and he had the presence of mind to shove it shut with one hand even as your lips found his. He had wondered if last night might have been a fluke - a little too much to drink and the sheer shock of seeing you again. But you were warm and soft and pliable beneath his palms even as you backed him up to his couch.

You settled into his lap, fingers drifting over his neck and he shuddered at the gentleness of it. Lips soft on his and he moaned, curling his fingers around your hips and tugging you closer. Your fingers were struggling with the buttons of his shirt and he let go of you just long enough to undo the bare minimum, pulling the cloth over his head and tossing it to the side. The next moment he had his t-shirt off too, shivering when your fingers sank into the whorls of hair on his chest.

“Benny,” you gasped and he snarled in return, gripping your neck so he could kiss you even deeper. Your t-shirt landed next to his and he undid your bra with a practiced flick of his fingers.

“Look at these tits,” he grunted, cupping them in his palms. With a low groan he dipped his head down, softly tonguing at the peaked flesh. You squeaked in return and he smiled, nibbling softly before moving to the other.

He almost missed your hands dipping between your bodies, pulling at his zipper and then those hot fingers were pressed to the cotton of his briefs. There was no fucking way he could miss that, and especially not when you stroked along his length until you found the slit you could slip inside and touch his bare skin.

“Take your pants off?”

He was nodding before you finished, setting you on your feet and toeing his boots off. You shimmied out of your own pants with a little hip wriggle that made the corners of his mouth turn up. Grey panties you probably got at Target. Nothing sexy about it at all, other than the fact that they were on you. They were the sexiest thing he’d ever seen there.

That was, the sexiest thing until you dropped to your knees between his thighs and put that hot little mouth on him.

“Fuck me,” he groaned, resisting the urge to grip at your hair. Lot of women didn’t like that and there was no way he was going to risk you stopping just yet. Your fingers tugged at his waistband and he lifted his hips to help out, hardly noticing they were still hanging on one ankle when you leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his stomach.

“You made me feel so good last night,” you murmured and he felt a shiver crawl down his spine. “I’ve been thinking all day about returning the favor.”

His mouth was dry, his eyes wide. You glanced up at him through long lashes, flashing a quick smile before taking the head of his cock in your mouth.

“Ah fuck,” he groaned again. Everything was soft and wet and he could barely think straight. You made a little moan of pleasure and it shot straight to his balls.

Benny had had his fair share of blowjobs in his life. Not as many as he might have liked, but a fair few. There’d even been a girl back in his twenties who could deep throat like a champ. No gag reflex at all. She was batshit crazy too, but he’d cared less about that at the time.

He’d had women suck him like a hoover in the front seat of his truck. On their knees in the shower while he held wet hair back for them. Sprawled on his bed on a Sunday morning while he drifted between sleep and wakefulness.

But not one of them had enjoyed it this much. Not one had made such pleased little noises, nuzzling against him and humming not for his pleasure, but because they couldn’t seem to help it.

“You like doing that?” he asked, trying to keep the note of incredulity out of his voice.

You released him with a pop, giving him a wide smile before biting your lower lip. “Is it too much?”

“Fuck no.” He wrapped a cautious hand behind your neck, thumb stroking under your ear. “It’s just right, baby.”

You let him pull you forward, mouthing at the head of his cock before taking it deep once more. Your fingers stroked along his thighs, thumbs rubbing across the sensitive flesh so softly it made him squirm. He let his head fall back, jaw hanging slack, enjoying the feel of your tongue cradling him.

But he wasn’t young anymore, and he’d be damned before he passed up another chance to fuck you.

With one hand he eased you away from him, taking a moment to get himself under control. You blinked up at him with another one of those worried expressions and he quickly pulled you back into his lap, cupping his hands around your jaw and diving in to taste you.

His bed felt a million miles away but he had promised you something nicer and he was going to fucking deliver on that. A gentle nudge had you on your feet and he followed, pulling you in for a kiss and guiding you backwards towards his room. There was a moment where you hit your hip on a door frame and he ran a soothing palm over it even as he reached out to flip the light.

“Get on the bed.”

It was a growl, low and deep and full of every drop of his own want. But you did as he said without question, crawling onto the flannel bedspread and giving him a sultry look over your shoulder.

“You coming?”

He took his time, studying the arch of your back while he slid open his bedside drawer. He flicked the condom onto the bed and then set his knee next to it, sliding a hand along your flank.

Smack.

You let out a startled yelp and he rubbed his fingers over where it must have stung. “Couldn’t help myself.”

You started to turn, sitting up, but he slid behind you - gripping your waist with one hand and reaching up to cup the base of your neck with the other. His cock nudged against your panties and even through the thin cotton he could feel how slick you were.

“You ready?” he asked with a low groan, watching as you arched your back and folded in front of him, head resting on your arms. 

“Fuck me Benny.”

No need to tell him twice. He ripped the foil open with his teeth, rolling the condom on and then slipping your panties down. You helped him shimmy them off, resettling your knees wider as he pulled you back to him. He gave short, shallow thrusts against your heat. Not trying to slip inside, just feeling you coat him. On one he pressed up against your asshole and heard you squeak.

It was goddamn adorable.

“Maybe next time,” he murmured with a smirk, holding the base of his cock and lining himself up. You might’ve tried to answer but whatever it was turned into a long moan as he slid inside. 

It was sheer bliss, feeling you clench around him. He could feel every shuddering exhale from your body, every quiver. His head rolled back on his shoulders and he gripped at your waist as he fell into a rocking rhythm.

But it felt too impersonal, too distant. This position might be good for another time but he was still getting to know you, still learning all of the things that made you moan and squirm. He couldn’t tell from here, couldn’t see your face, couldn’t see how you reacted as he searched for what was going to make you come.

“C’mere,” he grunted, pulling at your shoulder and sitting back, settling you on his lap. From here he could rub his lips on your neck, tilt your head to the side and study your face while he fucked up inside of you.

“Benny,” you moaned, reaching one hand back and sinking it into his hair. He cupped your tits in his hands, thumbing at your nipples and watching as you bit into your lip hard enough to leave a mark.

“You gonna come like this?”

“I think-” you panted and he slid a hand down, delving between your thighs and finding your swollen clit. The sound you made went straight to his cock, thighs shaking and fingers tightening in his hair until it almost hurt.

“That’s it, sweetheart, chase it.”

You called his name when you came and he had to admit, he liked that part. Had liked it last night and even more tonight. He sank his teeth into your shoulder, pumping his hips and filling the condom with cum he’d much rather see dripping out of you.

Panting breaths came from you both, chests almost in sync. He nuzzled against your neck, tilting his head slightly until you finally loosened your grip on his hair.

“Good?” he asked, hiding a smile when you snorted in return.

“Passable, maybe we should give it another shot.”

With a grin he collapsed onto the bed next to you, pulling at your shoulders until you fell into his arms. He needed to get up, tie off the condom and see if he had a clean washcloth to offer you. But that could wait for later. Right now he had one itching mystery he hadn’t yet solved.

“I still don’t know your fucking name.”

For updates follow and turn on notifications for @brandyllyn-writes

[bellesdreamyprofile]

chapter 9 - 1950

CECE MARTIN

"I've also finally learned how to play the guitar, because my daddy let me take some classes. He first wanted me on the piano, since it's apparently more 'ladylike' than the guitar. Anyways. You know the song I told you about? That's all right? I was thinking the song could be guitar only? It's not completely ready yet, because I was thinking you could add your personal touch to it. I can't wait to show it to you. My step siblings, my stepmother, my daddy and I are gonna visit you in Tupelo! Isn't it exciting? Like I said in the other letter, I'm not planning on leaving you again. We can finish the song together and we can finally be a duo! We have to think of a name—"

"Cecilia, please tell you ain't writing to that boy again?", I dropped my pen at my daddy's voice. I looked over my left shoulder and found him looking at me from the door, nothing but a disappointing look on his face. I gulped and made up a lie.

"I-I was writing to my mama—"

"You're stuttering, Cecilia.", he stated the obvious. "That means you're lying. Quit behaving like a child, when you obviously ain't one no more.", I hated the way he said those words. Lecturing me for something so innocent, for doing something that brought me peace and comfort. 

Writing to Elvis has been like writing into a journal. An activity that relieved me from the stress that's brought into my day to day life. The stress is very subjective. What's stressful to me is definitely not stressful to my daddy. I know that as a twelve year old there is no way that my life has reached a stressful point yet, but I feel like the pressure and expectations that people have of me, are what cause that heavy feeling at the end of a day. 

That feeling of being too much and being not enough at the same time.

However, knowing that I'll be seeing Elvis, his family and my mama in less than 24 hours gives me comfort. I've packed extra heavy, because I won't be leaving Tupelo again. I was planning on staying with my family.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your destination is only ten minutes away. Please remain seated, until—"

I silently squealed in my seat at the announcement. That was it. I was going to be finally home. I would be reunited with my mama and Elvis and I are going to be spending some quality time together. Again. Though the thought of being apart for so long made me slightly angry; but the excitement was unmatched.

"You excited to see your mama, Cece?", Matilda asked me. I remembered the way she used to talk to me and seeing that we're now civil to one another, I'm glad for how far we've come. I understand that me joining the family all of a sudden must have not been easy on them either. Though there is someone who still hasn't accepted it fully.

"She's excited to see that boy from her letters, Tilly. Her mama is the last person she wanna see now.", Clara leaned against Matilda to look at me. I rolled my eyes at her words and looked out of the window.

"It's none of our business.", she said. "I'm actually quite happy we're somewhere else for a change. The California heat was killing me."

Clara raised an eyebrow. "I'd say it's the perfect weather. We've got the beach—", the two of them kept bickering about Mississippi and California as I gently closed my eyes at the feeling of the warm sun on my skin. 

I thought of our small house and my first encounter with the Presleys, smiling a little at the memory. My thoughts moved on to Elvis, the Little Prince and his treehouse. I wondered if it was still intact or if he even used it anymore, since Elvis was no little boy now. I quickly thought of his age and felt my cheeks warm up at the realization that he was now 15 years old. 

He must be really tall now. And a high school boy. He's probably in that phase where boys get all gross and stuff. What if he doesn't wanna be my friend anymore?

What if he doesn't want to sing anymore? 

"Let's go.", we rapidly stood up and grabbed our bags before getting out. People seemed in a rush today, making me wonder if everyone was excited to get home too. We dodged some carts and quickly moved to the luggage section, now waiting for ours. My father caught sight of his and moved to retrieve it. I looked at Matilda, who smiled at me and then at Clara, who was mindlessly chewing her gum.

Matilda moved closer to me. "Who's the boy you've been writing to?", I froze at the sudden question. "You don't have to tell me. 'm just a lil' curious.", she quickly added, making me breathe out.

"He, uhm, he's just my friend.", I said, smiling a little. "We met when my mama and I moved in the neighborhood.", I continued and chuckled under my breath at the memory of meeting Elvis for the first time.

"He must be that good for you to be smiling like that.", she nudged me with her elbow as I felt my cheeks redden at her assumption.

"He's just my really good friend...", that was the first time I had said that out loud and it definitely felt different than when I admitted it on paper.

Matilda smiled, noticing me deep in thought. "Tell me about him.", she said, making me look at her in surprise. "Only if you'd like.", she added once again. I smiled at her kindness and sighed, wondering where to start.

"Well, his name is Elvis.", I initiated, blushing a little for no reason. 

Matilda nudged me again with her elbow. "Uhh, never met anyone named Elvis. Alright, alright. Continue."

I laughed a little at her words and agreed with her. "Me neither. Anyways, Elvis is two years older than me. His hair is brown and his eyes are blue.", I finished and looked at my stepsister, who had a huge grin painted on her face.

"What?", I asked, since it seemed like she wanted more.

"Oh, c'mon, Cece, tell me about his personality. By what you just said he sounds delicious—"

"Tilly!"

"Okay, okay, sorry. But, what about his hobbies? What is he like?", I raised an eyebrow at her questions.

"Why the sudden interest in someone you never even heard of?", Matilda scoffed at my words.

"Ah, is it a crime if I wanna know more about the boy you've been writing non-stop to?", she asked, crossing her arms on her chest. I blushed, shaking my head.

"It's not non-stop.", I muttered under my breath, failing to fight back. Matilda grinned and looked at me expectedly.

"So...?"

"The last time I saw him was... Four years ago.", I concluded as sudden realization hit me. "He's probably changed by now... But, uh, Elvis was my best friend. Always helped me out, always made me laugh... He actually taught me how to read.", I said, feeling a knot in my throat at the memories I shared with Matilda. Though when I looked at her, her smile was soft and kind, encouraging me to keep going.

"He read me The Little Prince in his treehouse and his mama made the best cookies."

"He a mama's boy?"

"Oh, yeah.", I laughed at Matilda's question, glad that my sad blanket was lifted off of our conversation. The love that that boy felt for his mama was like no other. He had no shame in showcasing it either and that was something I always admired.

"Elvis always wanted to sing and dance. Like for real. And we, uh— We made this silly pact many years ago. That we'd sing together as a duo.", I revealed, though I shook my head at how silly and childish it sounded.

"Well, I don't know how your man sings, but girl you've got the voice.", she laughed, patting my shoulder. "When daddy ain't home I can hear ya sing in your room. And you've got a beautiful voice."

"Wow. I-I don't really know what to say.", I stuttered out and looked up at her. "Thank you.", she just winked at me and let her eyes wander around the airport. The buzzing noise, the rolling of the suitcases and the chatter from the people, weirdly brought me peace. I also took notice of the people rushing out with their heavy suitcases. Where was ours, though?

"I know you're writing him letters, but, uh, does he do the same? Like, do you ever get an answer from him?", Matilda's words made my thoughts still. I'd been writing for four years and for four years I never received an answer from him. I couldn't say it didn't hurt, because it certainly did. I considered him to be my best friend and someone I looked up to. To this day I wonder if he was hurt by an action I had no control over, but something in me kept telling me that Elvis wouldn't believe his first instinct. Something in me kept telling me that he knew the truth. Very deep down.

"Uhm, no, he never replied to my letters, no. Why do you ask?", I looked at her and noticed her carefully look around, before she turned back to me.

"Listen, I-I don't know what I saw the other day... But—", Matilda looked around again, making my brows furrow.

"What?"

"The other day... I was looking for some supplies— for school you know, and I walked into daddy's office and found a box.", her voice quietened. "I-I took it, thinking it's the things I needed and found some closed envelopes. Stacks of them, Cece. Now, I-I don't know if those are—"

"Elvis' letters.", I concluded lost in thought. She looked around again.

"I-I don't know for sure... But if those are from Elvis..."

"He's been writing back.", I finished, feeling the lump in my throat and my feet particularly heavy.

"GIRLS!  Your bags!"

The drive to Tupelo was mostly silent. My daddy was driving and sitting in the passenger seat was my stepmother Naomi. 

She was a genuinely kind woman who married a man she didn't know was already taken. It wasn't her fault since my mama was the other victim that fell for my daddy's tricks. Either way, Naomi and I never really hit it off. We were civil to one another, of course, however she knew nothing of my silly dreams or my favorite color. And that was okay. I didn't need to feel that close to her. I didn't want my heart to replace my mama with her.

I was sitting in the right seat in the back, beside me was Clara and on the other end was Matilda. My eyes wandered out of the window in a daze as Matilda's words kept ringing in my head. Stacks of letters. Stacks. How could I have doubted Elvis even for a second? He cared and wrote back. My thoughts shifted in an other direction. How have I never asked my mother if he had been sending me anything? I didn't know whether I should bury the sudden anxiety and anger and to live in the moment or face my father and his lies.

I sighed as my fingers toyed with a bracelet I received for my last birthday. Though the more I looked at it the more I hurt on the inside. Small pearls with little details of gold. I glanced at my father and then back at the piece of jewelry. As my mama was fighting everyday to give me a safe and happy childhood, my daddy was off with another woman in search of a better future for himself. And himself only. I know it was wrong to think of someone in that way — especially when it's a parental figure, but he kept proving me wrong all over again. The lies, the scolding, the commanding. It was overwhelming.

"Daddy?", Clara called, making me blink quickly and readjust in my seat as I was slouching uncomfortably.

"Yes, darling?"

"Are we there yet? I'm bored.", she pouted, making me roll my eyes at her whiny tone.

"Seems like we're pretty close.", he answered with a chuckle. "Cecilia, anything you recognize?", for the first time a question was aimed at me. I sighed and looked out of the window. The sight made my heart burst as happiness started to invade my body. The familiar houses Elvis and I would walk past to get to school, the trees that seemed to touch the infinite the sky and finally at the end of it all: my little home.

"Yeah, I know this path.", I smiled a little as I took notice of a new house.

"Ew, why are these houses like this?", more words that made me lose hope in humanity.

"I think it's lovely.", Matilda nudged me with a small smile, which I gladly returned. I moved my gaze once again and noticed we were in front of my childhood home, though something felt off — despite the endless peace radiating from it. Once the car was parked, we walked out and were immediately welcomed by curious stares.

"One bag each, c'mon girls.", my daddy said, but something didn't feel right. It was too silent and no smell of freshly made cookies lingered in the air. I immediately made my way to the Presley home, knowing that my mama was having her coffee with Gladys. I knocked, taking notice of my sweaty palms. I quickly wiped them against my cotton dress and looked back at the door, knowing more.

"Ain't that my Cecilia?", I turned around at the sound of my name and smiled at Alberta. Gladys and my mama joined her little book club a long time ago, however I never had the chance to properly get to know her. Mostly because Elvis and I ran off as soon as we were finished with our homework.

"Alberta?", the woman smiled back and walked towards me, pulling me into a welcoming hug.

"Oh, child.", she patted my head. "How long has it been? Ten years?"

I chuckled at her. "Four years I think.", she pulled away, but kept holding my hands.

"Four years and you're a woman.", Alberta smiled, making me reciprocate sweetly. "Look at you.", she complimented again.

"You're too kind.", I blushed. "You still look the same. Still beautiful.", she laughed at my words and swatted me away.

"Lil' ol' me. What can I say... Though I have been using a new product for my skin and—"

"Cece? You there?", I looked to my right and noticed Matilda approaching me. She smiled at Alberta and extended her hand.

"Hello ma'am, my name is Matilda.", Alberta looked at me and then back at my stepsister.

"Ain't no way— You're sisters?", her gasp made me laugh a little.

"She's my stepsister, yeah.", I winked at Matilda. "Anyways, Tilly this is Alberta. Only the owner of the best book club in Tupelo."

"Hi darlin'.", she shook her hand. "So y'all visiting ol' Tupelo, huh?"

"Well, actually we're here for my mama."

"And Elvis.", Tilly added, making me blush a little.

Alberta smiled and then looked at the Presley door. "Oh, lawd.", she said lowly and pressed a hand to her forehead.

"Oh, Cece, your mama is not home? You think she's here?", I nodded at Tilly's words.

"Should be here with Gladys drinking coffee.", I said and knocked again.

"Oh, child, you ain't telling me you know nothing.", I turned around and noticed Alberta's face fall. My heart broke a little at her words.

"Know what?", Tilly asked for me as my words seemed caught up in my throat.

"Well... Mr Presley got a promotion last year... In Memphis.", and those were the words that made my eyes well up with salty tears. "The Presleys moved... And your mama chose to move along."

I looked down and sighed, not letting my tears roll down. 

I was stronger than that.

"She thought you were never gonna come back to her."

I'm not so strong anymore.

"I'm sorry sweetness.", Matilda wrapped an arm around my shoulders and nudged my head with hers.

"I thought your mama was writing letters to you, darlin'", I nodded and brushed a tear away. 

"She never mentioned Memphis... Maybe the letter got lost in the mail or something... I-I don't know—", more tears fell down as my throat closed at the heaviness of my words.

"It'll be okay, Cece.", Matilda murmured. "We'll find them."

And I was alone all over again.

A/N: thank you for reading! hope you're enjoying the story so far! I hope you've had a good start into the new year xx

index chapter 10

[iwanttofuckereh69]

To properly celebrate @hornyimpulsivity's birthday i decided to inflict emotional damage onto everyone with both an illustration and a fic. Happy birthday bestie <333

Fandom: Tokyo Revengers

Pairing: Draken (Ryuguji Ken) x Hanma Shuji

Rating: T

Word count: 1k

Content warnings: angst, breakup, mentions of smut

Summary: It's been twelve years since Tenjiku. Draken and Hanma met again when they both were at their lowest. One thing led to another and what was supposed to be a one time thing, started to become more scary than any of them was willing to admit. Now Draken is struggling to tell Shuji the truth. He is after all more afraid of losing him than anything else.  

A/N: Hello, this is a short scene pulled out from a bigger thing so probably not everything makes perfect sense without the context. Artwork by me, and the story is a group effort between me and @hornyimpulsivity. Enjoy! PS. dialogues are written with "-" instead of quotes marks because im polish and stubborn

Shuji didn't laugh. He didn't mock the Dragon for being a pussy that’s whining over a few burned photos. He didn't say anything borderline insulting, trying to be funny, like he used to. Instead there was warmth. A bit of kindness the Dragon desperately needed. A compassion he wasn't expecting. And surprisingly wise words he should probably consider actually listening to. The Reaper was right, placing his hand on top of the Dragon's heart, pointing to right where it hurt. Where all those memories still were, just like he said, as vivid as ever, despite the photos that captured them being gone. Those weren’t just frames, still images frozen in time, fading on the crumbled pieces of paper. He could still hear all their voices. Their naive laughter. Their youthful playfulness. The smell of the beach in the midst of July, the smell of gasoline and the roar of engines. The sweet perfume Emma used to wear. And even Shuji was there somewhere amongst all the others, an annoying brat from a long time ago, with ugly ass hair and lame leopard print on his bike. The same Shuji that could punch the living shit out of Draken when nobody else dared to come close to him. The same one that now held him, keeping him from falling apart.

Draken smiled softly, looking up at him, in those beautiful eyes of his, glistening as if they were pure, liquid gold. It wasn't the first time Draken couldn't tell what twisted emotions filled those eyes of his. But it wasn't the first time either, when he felt nonetheless utterly fascinated by them. And it sure as hell wasn't the first time he just couldn't stop looking.

He wanted to tell him so many things. Make so many stupid, cringey confessions. But before he managed to open his mouth, his lips were already occupied. The kiss was sudden... and yet, funny enough, expected. So many times Ryuguji caught Shuji's curious eyes wandering across his smile. So many times he himself shyly gazed at his lips. He was scared of this longing, he was scared of the feeling it brought along.

He didn't protest, however. Quite the contrary. He entangled his fingers into Shuji's hair, pulling him closer, as close as he could possibly get, angry at the stupid clothes that kept their skin from touching.

Draken lost his balance and leaned over the wall, pushing Shuji against it, kissing him as if it was their last kiss.

(It was.)

It was different from all the kisses they shared so far. This time it wasn't about fucking, it wasn't about satisfying that primal, filthy desire. It was much more meaningful. Much more scary. Because they shouldn't be kissing like that. They shouldn’t be feeling like that. They were never meant to… And yet they found each other somehow. 

- That's gonna be a memory I'm going to hold onto most desperately - he whispered into his lips, holding Shuji's face close, not ready to open his eyes, not ready to confess that it was probably their last kiss. - The one i will probably cherish the most - he added.

He wasn’t ready to let go of him, scared that Shuji would disappear. 

- I'm not just a memory yet, my Dragon. - Hanma whispered softly and smiled right into Draken's lips, before allowing them to connect once again. 

One of Shuji's palms quickly ended up on the side of Draken's neck, caressing it with fondness and occasionally sliding his thumb across his jaw and cheek. The other one eventually found its way to the Dragon's hip. Soon, Hanma's curious fingers were wandering up Draken's body, reaching his waist, and to his backside, squeezing his buttcheek in quite a playfull and weirdly affectionate manner. 

Not yet. But soon. 

Draken’s lips trembled when he felt Shuji kissing him again so impatiently it hurt. It hurt somewhere inside his chest, somewhere where his heart was, his heart that was beating so fast it seemed like it was about to tear apart his chest. 

Ryuguji gasped, feeling his touch. Impatient as ever and yet… intimate. Affectionate. Tender. Shuji’s palms knew Dragon’s body so well, as if he had touched him a million times before. And maybe he did. In this life, or another. He just seemed to know all the curves, all the crevices. Like a lover would. 

Is this what they became? The unintended lovers? That was supposed to be a one time thing. A brief encounter, a chase after bodily pleasure, nothing more. But it became more. Yet Draken couldn’t even pinpoint exactly when that happened. It just stopped being brief somewhere along the way. It stopped being simple and just horny. 

They were supposed to be just friends with benefits. Buddies that fuck sometimes. It’s not like Hanma would ever even consider them to be something more than that, right? Right…? 

And yet, here was Kenny, struggling to say whatever he was about to say out loud, as if those few words would break his own heart. As if those would break Shuji’s heart as well. That was probably the most horrific of things. He cared about that pretty boy, obviously he didn’t want to hurt him. The situation just… got out of hand. But he couldn’t let it continue either, it wasn’t fair. 

- Shuji - he whispered softly, trying to stop all those tender, affectionate kisses the Reaper was placing all over Ryuguji’s lips. He moved back and gazed at him as Shuji took a big draw of a half burned cigarette. Damn he was pretty. Inside and out. He deserved the fucking world. But Draken couldn’t give it to him. 

- Hm…? 

- I… I got back together with him - he said, so quietly that only his Reaper could hear it. He wished he didn’t say it at all. There was that tricky, malicious part of his brain that was telling him to not say a word. But it wasn’t fucking fair. 

[withacapitalp]

How come "books are books, shows are shows, do whatever you want w characters" doesn't apply to B*lly? Not trying to start drama, just genuinely want to understand. Is it because he's a bad guy I can't reshape him into something I'd like and ignore what's "canon?"

Oh boy Nonnie okay I'll try to be really clear but it probably won't come out super legible. I'm putting it under a read more because I don't wanna clog up my dash w a long explanation (which knowing me it's going to end up being) I also want to say that all of this is MY opinion. I'm no one's ultimate judge, I'm just a guy on the internet who writes stories.

All that to say, this is why I think that fundamentally the idea that Eddie's sexuality and Billy's racism can be manipulated in fandom on the same level is really flawed.

Overall I think that the point of fan fiction is personal enjoyment. Ultimately you're creating something with yourself as the audience in mind. If not, then I don't really get it. So, for you, maybe it can mean that. Do I personally agree? No, but I can't stop anyone from creating something and putting it online. That's the whole point of ao3, no bars, no barriers. When you start putting that kind of wall in place, a slippery slope starts to form, so even if I would never personally partake in some forms of fanfic, I get why it's important to have a place where any kind of fic can exist. Back button exists for a reason, block button exists for a reason, curate your own online experience.

I'm not gonna be the person who says like if you like Billy you're a garbage person, because like that just isn't true? The two aren't automatically associated. Do I think that people who want to erase that part of Billy should maybe examine that urge? Yeah, but I think we all need to look inside and see where systematic racism might make us think things are more acceptable than they should be. I also can't understand people who want to give Vecna a redemption arc, or the people who think Sn*pe was just misunderstood. Regardless, we're all works in progress, and 90% of people to me are capable of learning more and growing and seeing where they might be working with a bias. I know I definitely have my own too.

I personally just will not give him redemption of any form or reshape him, because to do so seems to be disrespectful from my point of view to real life people. I'm not a person of color, Billy's racism is at the forefront of his character, so for me to reshape that and erase it in a fanfic feels like I would be ignoring a serious thing and pretending like that never happened, when it exists in our society in a major way. There isn't a point where Billy's racism ever gets resolved. In fact, the whole thing gets dropped completely in s3 which seems like a really terrible oversight by the Duffers. It's used as a plot point when it was convenient, which is messy and wrong.

But All of that is just background to your real question here which I believe is this-

Why is it okay to change a character's sexuality, but not their bigotry?

For me, I don't really like to equate the two? I think that the idea that someone's sexuality is a 'flaw' that needs to be reshaped is kinda problematic, and we also don't actually know Eddie's sexuality. Everyone can say what they think till the cows come home, but at no point did we get 'Eddie is confirmed gay, straight, bi, etc. etc.' EVERY single interpretation of Eddie's sexuality is someone shaping canon as they see fit right now.

With Billy he is confirmed racist. He is 100% undoubtedly a racist. Not even someone who used to be racist who learned and repented. He was always racist and tried to commit a hate crime against Lucas (I would argue that he did, because holding a twelve year old up against a wall and threatening to kill them because they're black and they dared to want to get to know your sister feels like a hate crime to me) The only reason he didn't seriously hurt Lucas was the fact that Steve stepped in. That's it. He was going to assault a child for his race.

To compare ignoring that to playing with a character's sexuality feels....mm I just strongly don't agree. I don't exactly have words to explain, but I really don't.

I think there are things you can change about characters easily. You can change their sexualities, their ages, their genders, their backstories, but to fundamentally erase something like that just doesn't line up for me.

No call out here Nonnie, I appreciate that you wanted to ask and be open, but this is my question for people who want to change Billy that way- What is it about Billy that is so compelling that it feels necessary to change that part of him? Why is Billy the character you *need* to write for?

Jonathan is a fantastic big brother who has a ton of issues and was abused by his father. If you're having the hankering to try and examine a flawed big brother, he's right there.

Eddie is an outcast (and strongly implied that he comes from an abusive home) and if you're looking to try and write about that, he's right there.

Steve is the character that has actually GONE through the redemption people always try to give Billy. He said slurs and did bad things, and almost immediately went to make amends for them when he was able to acknowledge he did the wrong thing.

Billy never even apologized. He hadn't changed by the time he died, and no I don't think sacrificing himself was some major change. I think that a villain can be tragic without needing to retroactively make them a better person. Billy is a flawed and broken person. Yes that probably relates mostly to the way he was raised and the fact that his family was violent, but that doesn't excuse it. The Byers have an abusive home, and at no point does Jonathan act the way Billy does. I think they're really good foils to each other on what can happen with a big brother.

Anyways this was a really really long answer nonnie, but I hope I got it across why I really disagree with that stance. If anyone was offended or upset, know that wasn't my intenion, and feel free to let me know.

[dazzle-expandism]

There's a lot of things I want to talk about on here.

Opinion Bashers - I don't understand opinion bashers, hating on you just because you don't like something they enjoy. I saw some opinion bashing on here over My Little Pony and all that. And I gotta confess something. I don't really understand this whole "Hellpark" fandom. Is this something made up to be a "spin-off" of South Park? Either way, it rubs me the wrong way.

Rule 34 Haters - These are people who hate the 34th rule of the internet "if it exists, there's porn of it" people want it banned because it's inappropriate. Most of these haters are kids who were told sex was bad by their mothers. But I have something to tell you, you can't stop it. It's gonna exist until the end of time. There's nothing you can do about it. And fixing it won't help either.

Fetish Artists - Oh boy, this is what I am! But I'm talking about the fetish artists who make fetish art of minors. I saw fetish art of a SIX YEAR OLD, specifically Cream from the Sonic franchise. Like, I did NOT want to see that and I'm NOT sorry for calling out RidiculousCake on this shit, not to mention I've heard they stalked a kid too! And there are some fetishes that set me off. Like who the fuck is into people vomiting??? Or people pissing themselves??? Hell, there's even a fetish for mosquito bites! What the fuck is wrong with some people??

Age Regression - I have nothing against these people, just the people who do it for a fetish. This is gonna be short. I know some people mentally regress due to trauma or abuse when they were younger, and I respect and support them. But the people who do it for a fetish... wtf?

Fill-In Memes - Okay, fill-in memes. These aren't really memes. Aren't memes supposed to be funny? These "memes" aren't funny at all. There's lots of these. Including denying the "apologies" of characters or people the OP doesn't like. A lot of these characters don't even apologize for stuff at all. Don't get me started on the reaction memes. There are reaction memes of 9/11, politics, famous people's deaths, and even incidents like the titanic sinking.

Kphoria - God damn, this user has his own topic on here! I'm pretty sure you guys know who Kphoria is. If not, let me tell you. He was on DeviantArt and YouTube, and he makes vore content. I bet if you were a Sonic fan in the early 2010s (which I was) then you would've most definitely saw his content. This guy awakened my vore fetish and did the same for many. I should've mentioned this guy when I was talking about people who fetishize minors, but no. This guy has his own rabbithole. The character I remember getting used as the predator a lot was Amy Rose, who is TWELVE YEARS OLD. Thank god he got terminated on DeviantArt. He was also said to be the Elsagate before Elsagate got its name.

DeviantArt As A Whole - Okay, now we got the site known for fetish art itself! There's so many toxic people on there, and some people even defend horrible people. I can't even search for art of something I love without seeing fetish art, which is not a problem. It just depends on what the fetish is. I like any fetish involving stomachs as long as it isn't that extreme, and I have no opinion on the fetish for tickles or feet, but the fetish for heartbeats? No no no. Disturbs me.

Sleep Fetishes - Yes. There's a fetish for sleeping. Mostly women because apparently "they are nothing but sex dolls" as a female myself, this disturbs me. Why can't men and women have some equality when it comes to fetish art? Most of it I see are of female characters. But back to the topic of sleeping kinks, I've seen these posts that go under the Fill-In Memes topic too. Basically it's of a character watching another sleep. These characters watching them are always South Park characters and probably OCs too. I've seen these "What If" things to where a character goes into a deep sleep. This is OBVIOUSLY so the OP could fap to it.

Plushophiles - I am not gonna talk about these people. But just a quick explanation, these are people who do unspeakable things to plushies.

Hate Art - Okay, hate art. Something I've seen so much of. Basically killing a character or person you don't like. I've seen a lot of hate art of characters, mostly from kid shows like Peppa Pig, Caillou, ect ect.

Favorite To Least Favorite Lists - These are people making a list to tell their opinions on things, and they are mostly kids. And there are some that hate on kids shows because they're for kids or babies. There ARE opinion bashers in the comment section of some of those lists hating on the OP for hating something they like or liking something they hate, sometimes for hating something that's popular. And a lot of people actually respect their opinions.

I'm pretty sure we all know what pedos and zoos are so I'm not gonna talk about it.

People Who Steal Art - This is pretty self explanatory. People who steal art.

Self Shippers - Okay, I'm fine with these people (since I am one too) but there are some people who take it to the extreme by making a "child" and that makes me uncomfortable.

FurAffinity - It's basically DeviantArt, but for furries. No offense against furries, not all of them are attracted to animals.

Okay, the final topic. (I'm adding it for fun)

BUTTERFLIES! - 🦋The butterflies! There are many kinds even... heh.. Mon- oh god I can't even say it without getting a nosebleed. It's basically the butterflies with the orange, black and white wings. Pretty sure we all know what I'm talking about. I like moths too, they so fluffy and adorbs!🦋

[jaykayfictions]

My high-school worst enemy | Park Jimin ff part 6

Summary: Park Jimin was a jerk and you hated him your entire time in high school but what happens when he isn't the asshole he appears to be?

genre: angst and fluff.

warnings: swearing, a bit of bullying and violence.

author's note: this chapter is a bit long so please bear that in mind.

Stepping into the shit hole sham of a school, you go to your locker after biding Taehyun goodbye. He dropped you off today because Jungkook had to meet Lisa very early in the morning for a breakfast date. Wondering why he isn't in school? He has a basketball game at 9:30 am. He decided to use this opportunity to spend time with his girlfriend. Jungkook is probably groping her ass in the toilet while you're here stuck in an eight hour prison.

As you walked through the hallway you could hear whispers as girls shot you nasty looks. Isn't it too early to be bitches? Why can't people just mind their business instead of caring about others' lives? You hated gossip, this is the reason why you had very few female friends. Your phone started ringing, you checked the caller's ID and saw it was Jennie. You picked the call and smiled brightly saying hello.''Hey sis!'' She squealed excitedly over the phone. "I'm going for a sleep over after school at Karina's place. Mom is dropping me there and oppa is going to Yuna unnie's place so you will be home alone with dad." The twelve year old rambled cutely.

Karina was her best friend. They acted like sisters. Your mom and Karina's mom would take them shopping and buy matching clothes for them. Karina slept over frequently and vise versa. They looked so cute together and they reminded you of you and Jungkook when you were younger. "Okay Jen, thanks for informing me, love you and enjoy your sleep over, mwah!" You said grinning. "Love ya! bye!'' She shreiked.

After ending the call you went to your Calc class. You hated where you sat. At the front. How depressing. You couldn't fall asleep without the teacher finding out. It was annoying as hell. You sat down and decided to listen for your grades' sake. Two girls entered the class taking a seat behind you. You heard one of them gasp and whisper. Well just so you know, she is terrible at it. ''Is she Taehyun's sister? I should have known, they look alike.'' "Shh, do you want her to hear you?'' The other girl scolded. Too bad you already heard. They didn't know because they never asked. How the hell did they even find out?

Gosh, people did put glass cups against the wall just to listen to gossip. Great, now you were gonna walk around school for two weeks with people looking at you and asking for your brother's number.

This was how you looked if you're wondering. Credit to owner of picture.

It was your lunch break and you weren't hungry so you decided to go to the rooftop. You sat on the floor with your knees to your chest. You put on your headphones and played some calm songs from your playlist. "Coo ooh ooh ooh ool with you." You sang along feeling sad for no reason. You chose to read a book to burn time. Your alarm rang indicating that your lunch time was over. It was time for Science. Oh no. It's just one lesson right? You can do this. You said to yourself missing Jungkook's presence badly.

You made your way towards the classroom, greeting Mr Cha when you got in before taking your seat at the back. You loved Science because it was interesting to you and also because of where you sat. Shortly after Jimin came in as well. Did he really hit his head on something? He really is attending all his classes early. How strange. Seeing him also caused you to wonder why he liked your post on Instagram. Didn't he hate you? Maybe you were just the one who disliked him. Halfway through the lesson, you saw a small note land on your table. 'Meet me after school.' Why would he want to meet you to meet him after school? This was definitely a prank.

Mr. Cha reminds of your project and you groan internally. Is that why Jimin sent that note? Hell nah, he doesn't give a shit about school work does he? while packing up, you turn to Jimin and say "Don't worry about the project, I'll do it alone." "It's a lot of work, are you sure about that?" He asked in amusement. You fought the urge to groan out loud because you knew he was right. You tried convincing Mr Cha to change your partner but he wasn't having it. "You need to learn to socialize." He had said completely oblivious to the fact that he had paired you with your enemy. You stepped out of the class leaving Jimin's question unanswered.

The school bell rang telling everyone school was officially over. Students rushed out of their classes determined to leave school. Finally, you were escaping boredom. You were walking home today. Jungkook needed to rest after his packed schedule so he was taking the bus home since his car was broken. You chose to walk as a form of exercise since you've been sitting with a cramped butt and an aching back for the past hour. While walking a car stopped next you. You turned to your side and the driver winded his window down. It was Jimin, was he really serious? The note wasn't a prank? Damn it.

"What do you want?" You asked not in the mood to bicker. He arched a brow ''We have a project to complete, don't we?" He asked as if stating the obvious. Shit. You forgot. "Hop on, I'll drive you to a place we can start it." He said slightly tilting his head to the passenger's seat. Oh. You were taken aback by this.

Was he really offering you a ride? Wasn't he an arrogant jerk? You were gonna be bored at home anyway and the sooner it was started the quicker it would be completed. You walked over to the other side and opened the car door. You got into the car and looked at the scenery through the window as he was driving. The roads were pretty. It had lilies, roses and sunflowers. The silence was oddly comfortable. Weird. The car came to a stop, you were at the so called 'place.' You stepped out of the car and looked up. Oh. My. Gosh. It was massive. The house was HUGE!! "You live here?" You asked asked with wide eyes. You weren't born into a rich family but your family owed no debt and was stable finanncialy.

"Of course I do! Where else did you expect me to take you to?" He snorted. "What a show off." You scoffed. " Maybe a coffee shop or something. Not sure but definitely not your house." You answered rolling your eyes. ''Will you let me show you the way in or do you want to keep rolling your eyes till they get stuck behind your head?" He asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Fine." You muttered under your breath. When you got in your mouth and eyes widened in shock. You gaped at the sight of the living room. Damn, you felt broke. It was large and some walls were stripped vertically in black and white while some walls were plain black and white. Gold was everywhere, on the dinning table and chairs, The center table, it was everywhere. The photo frames on the sixty inches TV stand showcased the pictures of his family but one caught your attention. It was a photo of Jimin in a playground, he looked around the age of seven. He was grinning so wide his eyes were barely visible.

He looked happy, you've never seen him smile or grin like that before. There weren't many picture but you saw Rosè in two. How the hell did he know her? You bear that in mind for later. You came here to complete a science project. Focus. An elderly woman approached you both, she had a warm smile on her face. You assumed she was the senior cook. "Good afternoon Ahjumma, this is Y/N, my science project partner, you and all the maids can retire from the kitchen today." Your eyes popped out like sockets. The fuck. He really said Ahjumma. You had expected him to call her by her name. He even smiled warmly. Is this Park Jimin? The lady looked and you and her smile widened. "You are very pretty." you flushed from the compliment. She turned to Jimin and said " I will inform the maids." She bowed before leaving.

Jimin had shown you the way to his room. When you were in his room he asked. " What would you like to eat?'' What? Were your ears working? What the fuck is going on with him today?! "Stop looking at me like I said Beauty and the Beast is real, you are my guest and it's rude for me to not offer you anything." "You cook?" You asked genuinely surprised. "So you mean after all I have said you only figured I cooked? I'm an asshole but I was taught manners, so answer my question seriously this time. What would you like to eat?" He asked again.

"Umm, jjajangmyeon is okay." You said pretending to think. "Really. Just jjajangmyeon, you don't need anything else?" He asked slowly just to make sure. "Yes, just jjajangmyeon." When he left you used the opportunity to explore his room. It was huge but surprisingly vague. It wasn't full of flashy colors just grey, black and white. It had a few posters of famous basketball players and a shirt signed by one, you couldn't identify who, you weren't really into basketball. There was a walk in closet and a basketball hoop attached to the wall. His king sized bed was laid neatly and his PC and game controller rested on his desk.

He really was the opposite of what you had expected. No shit but he had the worst first impression. When he came back with the jjajangmyeon you had to stop yourself from drooling. The aroma hit your nose making you hungrier than you already were. You sat at his desk at the corner of his room. He took a seat beside you, handing the plate of food over to you. You take a bite and moan at the taste. It. Was. Delicious.

"So how is it?" Jimin asked curious. Was he kidding right now? It tasted amazing. "It's so good!" You say eating more. "Who would have known you were such a good cook?" You continued. "Oh baby, there are a lot of things you don't know about me."He said with his famous smirk. You cringed. "Don't call me that." You whined causing him to chuckle "And who knew you were so easy to tease?" He retorted playfully. "I still hate you!" You said half joking. "I know, look, it was fucked up, I was- I still am fucked up." He sighs. "It was a dick move and I'm sorry."

You. Were. SHOCKED. He apologized? All the times he'd poke and annoy you during lessons just because he sat behind you were all forgotten and all the hate you had for him had vanished. It felt like you already forgave him and you just couldn't forget it. "Wow, the great 'Park Jimin' invited me over, makes me jjajangmyeon and is apologizing for something he did two years ago! I really am lucky" You said teasingly.

His sigh deepens. ''I know it's late but-" You cut him off "I forgive you." "Really?" He asked shocked, probably at the fact that it was that easy. ''Look I was a bitch for hating you so long for something like that and you were a dick for what you did, I apologize, you better accept it." He laughs and throws his back at what you said but turns serious again. "You did nothing wrong, you had every right to hate me and yeah I forgive you, even though you did nothing." He said causing you to crack a smile he also mirrors.

"So umm friends?" He asked a bit sheepish. Your eyes were deceiving you right? "Friends." "Hey give me a hand shake!" Jimin said acting offended. "Oh you wish!" You snorted even though you were already shaking his soft hands. "So, do we start the science project now?" He asked. "Wait! After i finish this jjajangmyeon!" You said devouring the food again. "Sure." This was how your worst enemy became your friend. The real life example of the quote "Do not judge a book by it's cover." It just made sense to you now. You spent your time doing the project while teasing, laughing and joking around like crazy. Jimin was actually extremely smart. He just needed a little push.

You were halfway done and hella tired when Jimin asked an unexpected question. "Umm, I don't mean to invade your personal life but I can't help but ask. Was the guy you hugged at the event your boyfriend?" You blinked twice utterly confused before laughing. ''Boyfriend? no way, I've been practically single my whole life. That was my brother Taehyun." "Oh, I was just asking 'cause people said so- not like I care, right?" He rambled and you found it cute. Was that why he seemed angry that day? He said he didn't care so you payed no mind to it.

You decided to tease him a little. "Jealous?" You asked arching a brow. He turned a bit pink. Jesus fucking Christ. The bad boy Jimin, the basketball icon of the school actually blushed. He really was full of surprises. "No! Of course not!" He panicked yet his pink face said otherwise. "Besides, he has a girlfriend, her name's Yuna." "Oh." He replied still not fully convinced. His eyebrows were still scrunched in confusion and he had a broody expression on his face, almost as if he still wanted to ask you a question. You decided to make his life easier. ''Go on, tell me what you're thinking about." You said casually and his eyes were as wide as saucers. How the hell did you know? Was he being so obvious or was he just too easy to read?

"What about Jungkook? I mean you both seem close, like the kind of close that people wonder if you both ever dated." He says flushing in embarrassment. Gosh, he sounded so stupid. "Nah. His girlfriend is Lisa, we're that close 'cause we were friends since we were in diapers.'' You answer nonchalantly completely oblivious about his situation. "Really? Which Lisa?" "Lisa Manoban of course, which other Lisa do we know?" He was shocked, his eyes were definitely gonna pop out if he kept gaping. "You mean Lisa Manoban, the volleyball player?" "Which other volleyball player do we know that's named Lisa?" You asked genuinely confused at his confusion and surprise.

"She's my sister's bestfriend and she doesn't know. Oh hell no! This shit is messed up. Even the guys don't know. Crazy.'' He exclaimed. Wait. He has a sister? This time it was you gaping."You have a sister?" He smiled softly as if remembering something special. You found his reaction lovely. Their bond was definitely strong. "Yeah, Rosè, she's Lisa's bestie and they go to the same school." ''No wonder.'' You said voicing your thoughts aloud. ''Well the pictures downstairs were proof of that." Jimin said stating a fact. You were so stupid. You connected the dots and it all made sense.

''She's my friend as well, I'm the only one who knows about Jungkook and Lisa so you better keep this between us, okay?" "Sure." He said pretending to seal his mouth by smacking his thumb and index finger before swiping it across his lips. "Wow! Loads of secrets uncovered in one night,oh shoot! Time's gone. I think you should get going, we can complete this tomorrow or the day after." Jimin said. "If you say so." You mumbled, packing your things in your bag before biding him goodbye. You went home and had luckily sent a text to your dad saying you will be late. Maybe. Just maybe Park Jimin wasn't as bad as you thought he was.

[zutraeumen]

The Second Course

Darkness fell. The restaurant, bay windows aglow with warm light from afar. Out here, amidst the water and trees, all was quiet save for the lonesome, distant call of a loon.

Adele was actually prepared for the next clap! of hands from the Chef, you would never catch her unprepared twice!

"Is he gonna keep doing that?" 

I fear so dear Margot.

This time, he didn't even wait for his customer's attention as he began another fancy monologue, "Bread has existed in some form for over twelve thousand years. Especially amongst the poor. Flour and water, what could be simpler? Even today, grain represents 65% of all agriculture. Fruits and vegetables? Only 6%. Ancient Greek peasants dipped their stale, measly bread and wine for breakfast. And how did Jesus teach us to pray if not to beg for 'our daily bread'? It is and always has been the food of the common man. But you, my dear guests, are not the common man. So tonight... you get no bread."

Now THAT was how you politely say 'fuck you' to the rich kids.

That was a devilishly wicked move and she loved it.

"He must be joking..."

"What?"

"It's gotta be a bit... wait, are you fucking serious?"

The worst part was, they still thought it was all in jest; a prank. Oh, how wrong the Chef proved them with his next words, "In this spirit, please enjoy the unaccompanied accompaniments."

Oh, this was better entertainment than South Park. 

Watching them looking incredulously at their plates and not even realizing the Chef had just made fun of them. The level of pretentiousness and obliviousness was best described in Tyler's words as 'next level'.

The plate itself and the small accompaniments resembled a painting pallet painters used for their colours, and instead of bread was a note that read: The bread you will not be eating tonight was made from a heritage wheat called red fife, crafted with our partners at the Tehachapi Grain Project, devoted to preserving heirloom grains.

Slipping a chewing gum secretly into her mouth, the amount of chatter doubled significantly at the outrageous course of events and her amusement rose to such an extent that she could almost forget that the Chef wanted to kill her. 

"This is insane," Felicity let the paper fall from her hands with a shake of her head.

"Hmmm... because the shit around the total absence of the bread is like, really good."

How could someone enjoy savoury oils and emulsions on their own when they couldn't stand without bread? George could, and Tyler as well, but he insisted it was part of a greater theme nobody of them could grasp. 

Strange of him to say that, it was almost as if he knew something the others didn't. But hey, this was Tyler we were talking about, he was the type who probably knew how Slowik liked his coffee in the morning.  

"I mean it's a little outrageous, isn't it?"

The blonde food critic leant back against her seat, "That's fiendish really. I mean he- he's always been keenly aware of food and its history of class I mean, as have I..."

"-Sure." Somebody shoot that sycophant in the head.

"... though I will say," she picked up her glasses once again, "that this emulsion does look slightly split."

At this point, the assassin wouldn't take anything seriously from that woman. That food critic was a joke. A woman insatiable, and so full of herself she had to criticize something to appease her own ego; as the one food critic who had discovered and later re-discovered the famous Julian Slowik.

What a bitch.

Madam Elsa thought so too, because it was only seconds before she abandoned her temporary post next to one of the hearths to put a whole ass bucket of orange, 'broken' emulsion in front of her, the very same one she had complained so viciously about. She looked so positively shocked that she couldn't even do anything else but take the L and push out a strained smile. 

"Um, excuse me." 

Madam Elsa was beckoned by Bryce to the larger table where the finance bros sat, "Is everything to your liking, sir?"

"Um, well, actually no, thanks for asking. I mean look, the food's great and we totally get the conceptual stuff but can we please get a little bread? Some gluten-free for my friend as well?"

"No."

Shit's about to get real. 

"No?" Bryce replied, surprised.

Madam Elsa dropped the friendly facade and levelled him with a gaze that very much told him she would not budge no matter how many times he asked.

At the shock of being denied twice in a row, the table shared a round of exasperated glances before Bryan found his voice again, "This is all very clever, and I didn't wanna pull this card, but you know who we are, right?"

Oldest trick in the book.

"Yes."

"You do? You know who we are?" Soren joined in, looking patronisingly at the lady butler. 

The maître d' continued to speak politely, as if she was speaking to children, "I know who you are."

Soren let out an irritatingly childish noise of disbelief from his tight-lipped mouth that further proved what a man-child he truly was.

"You know we work with Doug Varrick, right?"

"No, you work for Mr Varrick." The viper struck again. Yikes.

"Exactly so you know we all play on the same team so just, slip us a little bread, please."

"We won't tell a soul lady, I promise."

Their nerve was astounding. Entitlement at its finest. There was no way in hell they were getting what they wanted.

"No."

"Did you say no?"

"I said 'no', yes."

The tension deflated as they gave up, receding in their seats with equal expressions of undignified rejection. Adele smirked in triumph, served them right! But then the lady butler whispered something into Soren's ear and the man had gone paler than a white sheet in the matter of second. 

Adele would have paid money to know what Madam Elsa might have said to him. 

The Chef until then, presided over the kitchen with a downright menacing gaze, surveying both staff and customers until a loud, unexpected noise popped the bubble in the restaurant.

A glass was shattered and Slowik was onto it like a panther in waiting.

"You haven't touched your food." The Chef remarked to Margot, eyes devoid of passion. Where had that subtle malice gone?

"There is no food."

Hit the nail right on the head.

"No, this is food."

And then the chatter renewed and now there was no way she could continue listening in any more than that. Looking around to see if anybody would notice, Adele watched on as they talked and boy did it seem like Margot was telling him off. Tyler visibly fidgeted in his seat, mortified that he had somehow offended his idol.

Then a truly dour expression took over Chef's taut face, He half-smiled and half-grimaced. No one talked to him like this. Then he walked away. Tyler looked sick.

Adele had said it before and she would say it again, that woman had some guts to tell that to the head chef, even when she wholeheartedly agreed. The courses were horrendously empty of proper food and filled with superficial words that soured the mood to eat altogether.

And Adele was likely to get poisoned if she ever listened to her stomach- WHAT THE HELL WAS HE DOING HERE?!

The Chef suddenly stopped at her own table. Alarmed, she thought he would confront Adele the same way he did with Margot but he did no such thing. The patrician with clean-shaven cheeks, and trimmed brown hair completely disregarded her presence and gently lowered his forehead onto the madam's sitting with her. 

There was warmth, there was true affection in this act, but even such raw moments were over in but a fraction of a moment if one blinked too many times, and soon the Chef was back marching into the kitchen, overseeing the preparation of the next course.

"I want plating in three, my friends!"

"Yes, Chef!"