#thoughts brought to you by bri <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[leonsliga]

If I posted men’s football rpf fics on ao3, would people read them? 🤔🤔

[domjaehyun]

the boy is mine (l.dh) — part three

PAIRING. haechan x fem!reader GENRES. smut, angst WORD COUNT. 17.9k CONTENTS. infidelity, alcohol & weed consumption (MC is a non-smoker if that matters to you), explicit smut (dirty talk, fingering, finger sucking, oral (receiving), rimming (receiving), groping/frottage, marking, spit play, (brief) ear play, breast play, creampies/unprotected sex (if you explicitly need me, a stranger on the internet, to tell you not to fuck raw, you are not responsible enough to be reading this. move along now), snowballing, public sex, car sex, riding, bratty dom-leaning switch!haechan, bratty sub-leaning switch!reader, sweet dom!jeno, face riding, handjob, overstimulation (receiving), praise kink (receiving), light degradation kink (giving), mating press, morning sex) NOTES. here’s part three!! i hope you enjoy it!! please leave feedback if you liked it :) i would also greatly appreciate tips if you really liked it :3 THANK YOU LIKE THE HUUUUUGEST THANK YOU TO BRI (@jalitepng) FOR BETA READING THIS BIG OL FIC :D  PLAYLIST. the boy is mine - ariana grande // fantasize - ariana grande (unreleased) // lowkey (feat. erykah badu) - teyana taylor // agora hills - doja cat // pussy is mine - miguel // softest touch - khalid // cut - tori kelly // seatbelt - josh levi // often - doja cat // surrender - nbdy

NEED TO CATCH UP? here’s a link to the fic masterlist :)

The following morning you’re bustling about, trying to clean up after your guests from last night, when your doorbell rings.

Confused, you head to your front door and peek through the peephole, your confusion only building as you open the door to a brightly smiling Haechan.

“Good morning!” Haechan chirps, and you blink at him in confusion.

“Good morning,” you answer suspiciously. 

“I brought you an iced chai,” he says, bringing it out from where he was holding it behind his back. “And a croissant, if you want one?” 

“Aw, wait, really?” you ask, pleasantly surprised. “Why?” you follow up immediately, scrutinizing him. 

“Because I figured you might want something to drink and snack on?” he replies slowly, confused. 

“Oh.” You do. “I do.” you confirm, reaching forward to take the food from his hands. “Thank you.” Your words are sincere, and by the slightly bashful edge to his smile, Haechan can tell.

“I also came to help you clean up.” he announces proudly. 

“Really?” you question, puzzled. “Why?” you ask again, even more confused.

“I figured you’d like help.” he answers with a shrug.

“Oh.” You would. “I would.” 

He blinks at you. “So are you going to let me in?”

“Oh, right! Come in,” you laugh, ushering him into your apartment and shutting the door behind him.

“By the way, eat that quickly or hide it, because I forgot to get something for Yunjin and I don’t want her to get mad at me.” he urges as he kicks his shoes off.

“Copy that.” you snicker in amusement. “Well, what’s compelling you to be so helpful and thoughtful today?”

“Trying to make a good impression,” he answers simply, looking over his shoulder at you as he heads toward your living room. “Oh, it’s really not that bad.” he notes, both surprised and relieved, and you smile in mild amusement.

“Well, yes, I already started.” you laugh, handing him your garbage bag. “Here, take this one, and I’ll get a new one.” 

He complies and starts picking up garbage; napkins, cups, the like. Meanwhile, you’re sweeping crumbs into the dustpan before you become acutely aware of Haechan’s eyes on your ass. 

You straighten up and put your hands on your hips, shooting Haechan a stern look.

“Haechan.” 

“Mm?” His eyes drift up to meet your gaze.

“Stop staring at my ass.” 

He arches an eyebrow. “So I can eat your ass—”

“Haechan!”

“But I can’t stare at it a little?” He meets your incredulous stare with a challenging expression.

“Keep your voice down.”

“Why? You don’t want Yunjin to hear how I made you cum all over my tongue last night?” he teases in a hushed murmur.

You attempt to hide the way your knees almost buckle. “No, and you don’t, either! That would ruin everything.” you insist, and he rolls his eyes.

“Why?” he questions, and you give him a disapproving glance. 

“Think, Haechan.”

“But—”

“Nope.”

“I just think—”

“Haechan?”

He sighs in defeat. “Yes?”

“Change the topic or leave my apartment.”

He frowns at you, sighing loudly, before raising his hands in surrender. It’s quiet for a bit, the only sounds being you two cleaning up before he breaks the silence.

“So, did you like my costume last night?” he asks casually.

“It was, um, out of the box for sure.” you reply carefully with a little giggle that slips out.

He pouts at you. “Is that a no?”

You can’t contain your now building laughter. “Yes, it’s a no.”

He huffs petulantly, shoving a red Solo cup into his trash bag more forcefully than normal as you giggle to yourself. “Maybe I should have dressed up as a cowboy so you could ride me.” He hums suggestively, and your breath catches in your throat, making you cough and hack before desperately sucking in gulps of air.

“Hell is probably hotter than that costume you had on yesterday, by the way.” you warn in a hoarse voice, crossing around the couch to take a sip of the iced chai latte he brought you, and he shrugs.

“Doubt it.” He leans over the back of the couch so he’s blocking your way. “If I was a cowboy, would you wear my hat?” he breathes, wild eyes gazing at your lips with a hunger that half unnerves you and half thrills you. “Hm? Let me use my lasso to tie you up?”

“Haechan–”

“Bet you’d look so pretty like that,” he grunts breathlessly, and you take a nervous sip of your drink, swallowing thickly.

How in the hell is he pulling you with a costume he’s not even wearing?

and it’s me and you, no she tryna be all through your sheets

“Come on, don’t tell me you’re not even the tiniest bit into it.”

“Into what? Bondage?”

He gives you a look. “No.”

“Cowboys?”

“Are you messing with me or do I need to spell it out clearly for you?”

You shrug. “Try spelling it.” As you turn to walk away, he catches your wrist and tugs until you’re stumbling towards him once more. He cups your chin in his palm and holds firmly so you can’t tug away easily. 

“You want me to spell it?” he murmurs. “I want you. I want you right now, and I didn't come all the way here to dance around the conversation. So I'm gonna kiss you. if you want me to stop, just—slap me or something.” he says in a rushed string of words before connecting your lips in a searing, passionate kiss.

have you all on top of me actin’ like it’s not that deep

To your embarrassment, you all but melt into his touch, whimpering into the kiss as he adjusts his hold on your chin to pull you closer. When you two part, his eyes are still wild and trained on you but darting around your face. 

“What are you looking at?” you ask, amused.

“You,” he answers breathlessly. “You didn’t slap me.”

“Figured you might be into that shit,” you murmur, gazing up at him with a wry smile. 

“Bullshit,” he chuckles, pulling you closer. “You liked that kiss.”

“Maybe a little bit.” you admit. “Why? You gonna snitch on me?”

“Nah,” he assures you. “I am gonna do it again though.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Right here,” he announces before kissing you again. “And here,” he murmurs before attaching his lips to your neck and sucking gently. When you whimper and clutch at his shirt, he grins and laps over the patch of skin before pulling back. “And if you’re feeling nice, maybe I'll get to kiss you here.” He trails his fingers down your front until they’re dipping into the front of your underwear and shorts. He tugs at the waistband teasingly, pretending to peek inside, and giggles when you swat his hand away. “C’mon, baby, be nice to me.” he purrs, and something in you quivers with desire. 

“Haechan,” you whine dazedly, and he kisses you again, grinning against your lips.

“Are you gonna be nice to me?” he asks teasingly, and you groan in agitation.

“Kiss me.” you reply stubbornly, and he chuckles.

“Is this you being nice?” 

“Kiss me and you’ll see how nice I can be.” you urge, and he raises an eyebrow before connecting your lips again. The kiss deepens almost instantly, with you leaning forward when he pulls back slightly, and his surprised moan is enough to spur you on further. 

You tug him closer, Haechan clumsily clambering over the couch until he’s standing in front of you. He gapes at you in surprise before his gaze drops to your lips and you simultaneously pull each other closer for another kiss. He sits on the couch with a plop and tugs you onto his lap so you’re straddling him with your knees sinking into the cushions on either side of him. When you drape your arms around his neck and toy with the locks of hair on the nape of his neck lazily, he lets out a dreamy sigh and tilts his head to allow you more access.

“Pretty girl, you’re being so nice to me,” he coos happily. “Feels like I’m in heaven.”

“Told you,” you reply breathlessly, and his smile widens as a playful glint grows in his eyes.

“Are you gonna be this nice to me?” he murmurs, reaching between you two and hovering his hand over your core as if to cup it. He looks up at you curiously, and you sink down into his hand with a pleased sigh. “God, you’re perfect,” he grunts in awe, kissing you again as he lets you rock into his hand.

“More,” you breathe urgently, trying not to roll your eyes at the smug satisfaction rippling off of him in waves.

“Let me taste you.” 

“What?” you mumble, surprised. 

“What?” he mimics you, chuckling. “I want,” he starts slowly, digging the heel of his hand into your core so you can rut your clothed clit against it, “to taste you,” he murmurs against your lips and strokes his fingers along the seat of your shorts teasingly. “So be nice and let me do it.”

If you weren’t already convinced, his tongue teases your lips apart before he slips it into your mouth and strokes at your own tongue with such expertise that your mind reels, leaving you craving his head between your legs. 

You place your hand on the crown of his head and, when he looks up at you questioningly, push his head down your body gently. He grins and cups your breasts, pushing them together before licking up your cleavage.

He switches you two around so you’re sitting on the couch and he’s kneeling between your legs and he hooks his fingers in your shorts and underwear, prepared to pull them down, before you squeal and stop him.

“Wait, but—this is my couch,” you complain breathlessly. “I don’t wanna make a mess on my couch—”

“How about your rug?” he rasps, and you blink at him, dazed and confused from his kisses. 

“Huh?”

“Can we make a mess on your rug?” he asks urgently, and you nod as soon as the words process in your mind, yelping in surprise when he yanks you unceremoniously so you’re sliding off of the couch and onto his kneeling lap. He pulls your underwear and shorts down as far as they can go with him in the way before he sucks his teeth and scoots back, your ass coming into contact with your rug as he tugs your clothing down further and ducks under where the garments link your legs together, settling between your legs with a satisfied hum. “Finally,” he purrs, then seals his lips around your clit.

You moan in surprise as he tongues at the sensitive bud, massaging the underside of the bundle of nerves and steadying your thighs as they threaten to push his head out.

“Why are you running from it, baby?” he murmurs as you squirm away from him. It’s everything you want, yet it’s too much all at once, the fear of getting caught, the guilt of what you’re doing— “Relax; you want this.”

You don’t know if your struggle was showing on your face, but he’s spoken directly to your core—no pun intended. You’re not sure if it’s that you’re relaxing your muscles or he’s just genuinely stronger than you, but your legs remain open, his tongue fervently lapping at your core as ​​it drips arousal. 

He moans weakly as he eats you out, desperate little whimpers slipping from both of you as his tongue explores your folds. 

“So good,” you whisper dreamily, eyes rolling back in your head. You tip your head back onto the couch cushion and reach up to grope your breasts under your shirt.

“Wanna see,” he grunts, yanking your shirt up past your bra to watch you grope at your chest, squeezing the flesh and teasing your nipples. “Fuck—”

“Haechan, I need to cum,” you exhale shakily, and he nods, keeping his eyes on you as he swirls his tongue around your core more insistently. The more he licks, the closer you feel and in a moment you’re helplessly rolling your hips against his face as he licks you to a climax that has you clamping your hand over your mouth to muffle the moans you’re letting out. 

“That’s it, baby, let go,” he slurs, words muffled from his face being buried between your legs. 

As your body gradually comes down from your high, you shift your weight onto your butt as you attempt to get up, but Haechan untangles himself from your clothing and sits up on his heels again, fingers unbuckling his belt and opening his jeans as his other hand grabs for you. 

“I’m not done with you yet,” he murmurs before cupping your chin and kissing you again. “You really thought you were gonna get away that easily?” he chuckles, eyeing you up and down. “Looking as good as you do?” 

“I need a minute,” you say breathlessly, and he hums in acknowledgement, taking his time pushing his jeans and boxers down to below his knees. He strokes himself slowly as he watches your chest heave to catch your breath, your undone state riling him up even more until he’s gingerly draping your legs on either side of his lap and pulling you so your ass is resting on his knees and his tip is aligned with your entrance. 

“Ready?” he asks in a strained voice as he glides the tip of his length up and down your folds to coat himself in your arousal.

“Mhm—” you whimper, and he pushes into you slowly, a slow rush of air leaving your lungs as he fills you up. “Fuck, so full—”

“Take it all, baby,” he urges between gently shushing you. “You know you missed this dick.”

“Jesus, Haechan,” you mutter in surprise, dazzled yet again by how slick his mouth is.

“Am I wrong?” he presses, and you fall silent, looking elsewhere. He snickers and continues, “I thought so. You love this dick—”

“Shut up—”

“Love the way I fuck you, yeah? The way I fill you up just right—love feeling me nice and deep in this pretty pussy—you can’t get enough of me—” Punctuating his words with slow rolls of his hips, he grips the hair at the nape of your neck and pulls your mouth to his.

“Haechan—” you start, but he speeds up without a moment’s notice, the protest choking off in your throat. If you could compose yourself, you would have retorted with something about how Haechan showed up to your apartment at ten in the morning with food and volunteered to help you clean… just for another chance at having sex with you, so you couldn’t possibly be the down bad one in this scenario. 

However, his strokes feel so good that you’re not left with much other choice but to overlook his cocky remark, your jaw falling open silently as he tilts his head forward to kiss and suck and nip at your neck. 

When a weak whimper escapes you, he coos fondly and kisses his way up to your cheek, lips pressing into the squishy flesh delightedly before kissing the corner of your mouth. When you turn your face to his, he kisses you again, sucking on your tongue lewdly before pulling back and gazing down at you. 

“Baby,” he coos sweetly, “are you about to cum?”

“Yeah,” you whine, nodding vigorously. “Yeah, I’m gonna cum—”

“Cum, baby,” he urges desperately, connecting his lips with yours once more. “Wanna feel you cum on me again—”

“Fuck,” you moan dangerously loudly, the sound ushering in your climax. Your body curling in on itself, your hips roll jerkily against his own as you ride out your high and let out lowly whimpered swears and mumbles of Haechan’s name.

“I’m gonna cum—” Haechan warns, and you nod with half-lidded eyes and a dopey smile.

“Cum, Haechan,” you hum encouragingly, clenching around him for good measure, and he lets out a choked groan before resting his forehead against yours, hips stuttering and chest heaving in an attempt to catch his breath. The warmth of his seed fills you, the sensation so intense that you almost wonder if you’re leaking out onto the carpet.

“God, you’re so good to me,” he mutters breathlessly, his forehead still pressed against yours. “So fucking good and tight and warm and wet—”

“Haechan, I hate to interrupt you as you wax poetic about my pussy,” you drawl drily, “but we need to get up and get dressed before Yunjin comes out.”

“You’re right,” he mumbles, reluctantly climbing to his feet before helping you up. It’s a bit undignified, pulling your underwear and shorts up from where they lay at your ankles, and the cool, wet sensation at the seat of your underwear is nothing short of unpleasant, but when you catch Haechan’s eye and he grins at you, suddenly you don’t think you mind all that much.

You and Haechan make quick work of cleaning your apartment from the disarray left behind from your party, the two of you collapsing onto the couch as you sip happily at your iced chai and eat your croissant.

Not a moment too soon after you’ve finished your mini meal and disposed of the cup and wrapper does a sleepy Yunjin emerge from the hallway, scratching her head and yawning.

“Good morning!” you chirp, and she offers a sleepy smile and wave before squinting at Haechan for an uncomfortably long time.

“Morning! What’s he doing here?” she asks, confused as she points at him.

“He would appreciate a greeting as well,” Haechan huffs, and she rolls her eyes.

“Hi, Haechan.”

“Hi.”

“What are you doing here?” she repeats, and he gestures around at the now clean apartment.

“Came to help clean up.”

“Aw, that’s nice of you.” she coos fondly, and it’s a testament to how groggy she is that she doesn’t think to ask why. “Well, I’m hungry. I’m about to make breakfast; do either of you want some?”

“Hm, what are you making?” you ask curiously.

“Waffles and eggs and sausage.” she replies, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Oh, yum. Yes, please.” you agree, and Haechan nods eagerly beside you.

“Great. Lemme go wash up.” she mumbles before turning and heading back down the hallway.

“Now I feel kinda bad I didn’t get Yunjin any food,” Haechan mutters with a sheepish chuckle.

“You can make it up to her next time you show up at my apartment with snacks and nefarious intent.”

“Nefarious intent is crazy.” he snorts loudly, and you shrug dismissively.

“It’s the perfect way to describe it! You came here on an evil mission with an iced beverage, a flaky pastry, and a dream.” 

“An evil mission? A dick appointment is an evil mission now?” he chuckles, his laughter building gradually as you nod.

“It’s evil when you’re supposed to be dicking down your girlfriend and not me, you adulterer. Speaking of, when’s the last time you paid some attention to her, hm?” you muse, and he raises his eyebrow.

“First of all, I don’t think that’s your business.”

“I don’t think it’s your business to tell me what my business is or isn’t if you’ve dragged me into the middle of said business.” you huff, turning your nose up, and he rolls his eyes.

“Fine. Second of all, I texted her earlier saying good morning and I hope she slept well.” he replies as if that was even close to being good enough.

“Aw, then the Boyfriend of the Year followed up his good partner deed by committing adultery—”

“Will you keep your voice down?” he whispers insistently, and you sniff disdainfully but oblige, falling silent. “Don’t act innocent, either—you had sex with me back! It was a mutual sexing!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” you reply stubbornly.

“Tell that to my cum leaking out of you as we speak—” he starts, but cuts himself off immediately at the sound of approaching footsteps.

Yunjin looks fresh-faced and significantly more awake than before, your roommate and best friend shooting you a bright smile before heading into the kitchen.

“Come on,” you urge, standing up and gesturing for Haechan to follow you.

He gives you a confused look but stands up nonetheless, tilting his head to the side questioningly. “Where are we going?”

“To keep Yunjin company.” you explain. “It’s our civil duty to keep the cook entertained while she makes food for us, you know.”  

“Ah, I see.” he nods in understanding before gesturing for you to walk to the kitchen. When you turn your back to him, he pinches your ass cheek and giggles when you whirl around to scowl at him. “Come on, she’s waiting.”

As you follow Haechan into the kitchen, you think about how he’s definitely quite the handful and wonder to yourself how you’re going to manage juggling your new secret and keeping the peace and harmony of your friend group.

“Haechan, you want chocolate chips in your waffles?” Yunjin asks over her shoulder as she pulls ingredients from the fridge.

“Nah, I’m good.” he replies, and she nods, turning to look at you expectantly.

“What about you, babe?” she questions, and you scrunch your face up thoughtfully before nodding. 

“Yeah, but not too many.” you answer, and she purses her lips pensively as she nods in understanding.

“Got it.” she confirms before turning to mix the waffle batter. “So, Haechan, did you enjoy the party last night?”

“It was a dream come true,” he gushes happily, shooting a surreptitious glance in your direction that Yunjin thankfully misses due to her attention being on the mixing bowl.

“Oh, yeah?” Yunjin chuckles, amused, and Haechan nods even though she can’t see him.

“Wanna relive it over and over,” he murmurs, looking at you with a loaded gaze, and you roll your eyes.

“Oh, brother.” you mutter to yourself, rubbing a hand over your face as you chuckle.

You really will have your hands full with him.

So you were right: ever since you and Haechan had sex at your Halloween party (and the morning after), you can’t seem to stop sneaking around with him. No matter how hard you try, and how determined and convincing you try to sound each time you tell him that you two are done hooking up, you somehow always find your way back in his oh-so-persistent clutches. 

The main thing that’s worrying you, though, besides the very obvious betrayal of your friend that’s taking place, is that he seems to be getting a bit too comfortable and far too reckless.

You’re having a friend group sleepover at Mark’s and Jeno’s apartment and you’re passing by each other in the hallway as he returns from the bathroom and you head toward the kitchen when he slides his arm around your waist and tugs you abruptly so you’re sent stumbling into his waiting embrace.

kissing and hope they caught us, whether they like it or not i wanna show you off, i wanna show you off

When you glower up at him, he only offers a suggestive grin and a flirtatious wink in response, looking around briefly before pulling you closer into him for a sudden, captivating kiss. His lips move with yours smoothly, a content sigh leaving his chest as his hold on you tightens. 

You can feel your muscles gradually relaxing as he kisses you and you even go so far as to loop your arms around his neck, his lips curling instantly into a smile as he pulls back slightly to study your now-dazed expression.

“What was that for?” you ask breathlessly, and he just continues to stare, studying your lips so intently that you wonder momentarily if he even heard your question.

After what feels like ages of him committing your every feature and detail to memory, he looks back up at you with a deceptively innocent smile.

“You just look so good,” he groans, leaning in to kiss you again. “Couldn’t help myself.”

You attempt to mask your flustered state with a dismissive roll of your eyes, but your growing smile gives you away, and he mirrors your expression, a sweet, boyish smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“Well, get a hold of yourself, sir,” you admonish him gently, moving to pull away. “You can’t just be grabbing me and kissing me whenever you please.”

Instead of letting you extract yourself from his embrace, he doubles down, wrapping both arms around the small of your back and pulling you flush against his chest.

“Mm, but what if I really want to grab you and kiss you?” he breathes, trying his best to stay focused on your eyes and not lower his gaze to your mouth.

“That’s too bad.” you shrug nonchalantly, and he narrows his eyes at you playfully. “Now release me.”

“I don’t think I will, actually. Kinda like how you feel in my arms.” he says with a bright grin, and you falter, not quite expecting how earnest his words were.

“Sir, unhand me.” you turn your face away from him as he leans in to kiss you again, and the soft growl of frustration that he lets out most certainly is not lost on you.

Never one to back down, he dips his head lower and kisses every part of you he can reach, from your cheeks to your jaw down to your pulse point. Your resolve weakens with every strategically placed kiss from his lips and he hums in satisfaction before swiping his tongue along your collarbones, making you shudder involuntarily.

“Haechan, you really should let me go before someone comes looking for us.” you warn gently, and he groans in protest, frowning down at you endearingly.

“You’re lucky we’re not alone.” he says finally as he releases you, and you stop in your tracks, your curiosity piqued. 

“Oh, yeah? Why is that?”

“If it was just you and me right now, you’d be leaving this hallway with a lot more messed up than just some smeared lip gloss.” 

You scoff lightly in an attempt to brush off his comment, but you can’t help but feel a fluttering sensation in your stomach. “Speaking of lip gloss,” you mumble as you step closer, “I think you’ve still got some on you.” You reach up and wipe the remainder of your sheer pink gloss from his lips and the neighboring area with your thumb, carefully avoiding his unrelenting gaze. Apparently unsatisfied with your refusal to make eye contact, he chases after the pad of your thumb with his tongue, chuckling when you let out a startled noise and retract your hand quickly.

“Quit being a menace and get back out there before someone gets suspicious.” you whisper-scold him, your words seeming to have the opposite of the desired effect as he raises his eyebrows in a wordless challenge.

“Mm, I kinda like when you boss me around.” he muses, tilting his head to the side as he watches you. 

This time, the eyeroll you give him is genuine. “See you out there, Haechan.” You walk past him and continue on your way to the kitchen, waiting until you’re alone to lean against the fridge and attempt to collect yourself, using the cool surface of the metal refrigerator to soothe your heated skin and hopefully steady the pace of your rapidly beating heart.

“Literally what am I going to do with him?” you mutter to yourself.

Nothing, dummy. You should actually be doing nothing with him because, in case you’ve forgotten, he’s already dating someone.

You catch yourself scowling at your thoughts, breathing in deeply before opening the fridge, grabbing a can of Diet Pepsi and heading back to the living room.

“Can we as a collective stop hogging the pepperoni?” Yunjin huffs, scowling as she snatches the bag of pepperoni off of the countertop by where Chenle and Jeno are standing.

“Jeez, here comes the Pizza Police,” Haechan chuckles, and you bite back a laugh just in time for Yunjin to look over in your direction and scowl at Haechan.

“Don’t enable him!” she scolds you, and you raise your hands defensively.

“I wasn’t!” you exclaim, and she narrows her eyes suspiciously before turning back to her meticulously decorated pizza and starting to carefully place her pepperoni.

Haechan crosses behind you to grab the cup of pineapple for his pizza and you hesitate when you realize he hasn’t yet moved from behind you. The two of you are a little ways away from the rest of the group, with you two facing the majority of your friends but positioned behind the kitchen island slightly out of sight. 

Reaching forward for the mozzarella cheese, he pushes up against you, his chest pressed against your back as he hums softly against your ear. 

“What are you—” you start to whisper, but he shushes you immediately. 

“Don’t draw attention,” he breathes, and you go still, waiting with bated breath. His fingers drop to stroke your thigh and creep higher and higher until they’re trailing along where your asscheek and your thigh meet. When you squirm anxiously, he leans in, pressing you against the counter harder so you can’t wiggle away. “Stop moving. You like that?”

The only sound you can make without drawing attention to yourself is a whimper of assent and he laughs quietly, slipping his fingers between your legs from behind and stroking along the seat of your leggings just over your core. 

“So warm,” he purrs in your ear as he works his fingers against your clothed core, the tips of his fingers pushing against the underside of your clit and making you gasp and look for something to occupy yourself. You take a handful of mozzarella cheese and start to sprinkle it over your pizza only to accidentally drop a fistful unceremoniously in the center when he starts massaging your clit in rapid little circles. “Bet you’d feel so good around me right now.”

“Shut up,” you hiss, and he snickers.

“Only because I don’t want the fun to end,” he murmurs, rubbing your clit faster as you clumsily redistribute the cheese in the middle of your pizza to the edges of the uncooked dough. 

“Cut it out, you’re gonna make me cum,” you whine, and he hums sympathetically.

“What, you wouldn’t like that? Hm?” he teases, lips right by your ear as his fingers speed up, sending you closer and closer to your climax. “You don’t want me to make you cum in front of all our friends?”

“No,” you protest weakly, and he coos affectionately.

“You sure? They might want to see how pretty you look when you’re cumming on my fingers.” he muses, and you squirm again in an attempt to free yourself before an idea occurs to you.

“You want Jeno to know what I look like when I cum?” you ask breathlessly, voice barely above a whisper, and his fingers halt instantly. He pauses for a moment, presumably thinking it over, before withdrawing his fingers from between your legs. “Thought so.”

“Shut up,” Haechan mutters with a chuckle before moving from behind you and towards the sink, where he washes his hands and dries them before returning to his spot beside you. “You’re lucky I don’t want to share you, or I would have made you finish right here.”

“I don’t doubt that, actually,” you reply with mild amusement before you return to decorating your pizza, trying all the while to push down the thought that Winter probably would not want to be sharing her boyfriend with you if she knew about what you and Haechan had going on. 

You try not to let it sour your mood, but the guilt inevitably settles in, making you feel more withdrawn from your friends for the rest of the pizza baking activity.

It’s later that same night and you’re half asleep in your sleeping bag on the carpet of Mark’s bedroom when you hear a rhythmic rustling sound that seems to be getting louder. 

You peek over your shoulder as subtly as you can to see Haechan strategically rolling in his sleeping bag to approach you. Facing front again, you can’t help but stifle a giggle at the ridiculousness of it all, the cut off giggle manifesting as a loud splutter of amusement when his sleeping bag collides with yours.

“Haechan, what is wrong with you?” you whisper incredulously, peering across the dimly lit room to see if Chaewon’s stirred from her sleep or if Mark’s roused at all.

“Can’t sleep,” he says with a sigh, and you roll your eyes while he still can’t see you. “Turn around, I didn’t roll over here to stare at your back.”

“Oh, you could’ve fooled me,” you remark sarcastically. “I thought you were in the mood to ogle at this sexy patterned synthetic nylon sleeping bag of mine.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re so funny, I know,” Haechan remarks drily. “Now turn around.”

You grouch and grumble and groan, but you most certainly do turn around, now facing a smiling Haechan.

“Hi, pretty.” he greets quietly, eyes bright with affection, and you roll your eyes in a feeble attempt to hide how flustered he’s made you with a simple greeting.

“Hi, Haechan,” you murmur quietly, and he pouts.

“I called you pretty, can’t you compliment me back?” he asks, and you blink twice.

“Hi, handsome,” you coo, and his eyes widen, Haechan blinking several times in a stunned silence before focusing in on you with a sudden intensity that makes you gulp.

“Definitely do that more often,” he mumbles, gaze dropping to your lips. “As a matter of fact—come here.”

“I’m already here, what more do you want?” you snort in amusement, and he sighs before unzipping his sleeping bag and doing the same to yours, tying the two together at the top so they’re crudely linked together by the straps before you can protest. “Wh—? I feel like you basically just handcuffed yourself to me.”

“Oh, hush,” Haechan chuckles, shifting closer to you with a content sigh. “That’d be kind of hot, though.” 

“Shut up,” you laugh quietly, and you feel his hand slip around your waist and under your shirt to graze your skin, making you gasp softly as he pulls you closer. “Stop, your hands are cold.” you complain, and he nuzzles his face into your neck, breathing in deeply.

“Then come here and warm me up, baby.” he purrs, and your eyes widen, lips barking out a dangerously loud laugh of surprise as you move to pull back from him—an action which would have had more impact if Haechan hadn’t clocked your intentions immediately and gripped you tighter so you couldn’t move away.

“That was painfully cheesy,” you complain in a low murmur, and he smiles, wiggling his eyebrows.

“It made you smile, though,” he points out, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to your lips and continuing on over your muffled yelp of shock, “so I think it was worth it.”

“You need to go back over there before you fall asleep here.” you whisper worriedly, and he waves you off dismissively. 

“You owe me something,” he reminds you with a knowing smile that would probably be a lot more meaningful if you knew what the hell he was talking about.

“Haechan?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Earlier during pizza time,” he brings up with an exasperated roll of his eyes. “I had to stop what I was doing to you; we never got to finish.”

“You want to make… me… finish? Right now?” you whisper incredulously, and he nods with a dazzling grin.

“I sure do, pretty girl. Now be good and open your legs for me a little bit, yeah?” he murmurs, hand snaking down your body and into your sleep shorts, fingertips dancing teasingly along the warm seat of your underwear.

“Haechan,” you whine faintly, and he shushes you with a soft kiss on the lips.

“If you thought you had any chance of me letting up on you,” he begins, lips brushing against yours as he speaks, “you effectively kissed that goodbye when you whined my name all pretty like that.” And without another word, he brings his hand from your shorts and gently pushes two fingers into your mouth for you to suck. “That’s it,” he whispers, eyes blazing as he moves closer to you until your noses are practically touching. 

When he’s satisfied, he pulls his fingers from your mouth, inspecting them thoroughly as they glisten with your saliva in the scarce streaks of moonlight on the floor, before winking at you and sucking on his fingers as well, making a small gasp escape you.

“What was the point of me doing it, then?” you huff, and he smiles around his fingers.

“I just wanted to taste you again,” he says, pulling his fingers from his mouth with a cheeky grin and maneuvering them back into your underwear, this time wasting not a single moment before pushing them into you. His lips fall on yours instantly, silencing your quiet keens and whimpers with slow, languid movements of his lips and teasing, almost lazy strokes of his tongue that mimic the way his fingers move inside of you.

The sleeping bags lend nothing as far as maintaining discretion, the noisy fabrics rustling together rhythmically as his fingers move in and out of you, twisting and curling as they become intimately familiar with the feeling of your walls wrapped around them and clenching with desire. 

Thankfully, any other noises you two make are nothing more than pants and quiet whispers of swears, the occasional stray whine from you being mostly muffled by his kisses. 

“Listen, baby,” he whispers in a low hush, moving his fingers in and out of you faster. “Listen to how wet your little pussy gets for me.”

“Fuck—” you hiss when the wet sounds of his fingers moving against and between your folds make it to your ears, and he chuckles, the sound low in his chest.

“You want me to make you cum?” he asks with a twinkle in his eye. When you nod, he grins widely and nods back at you in understanding before massaging your clit with the palm of his hand as his fingers fuck into you. “Say it.”

“Make me cum, Haechan, please?” you whisper with a teary-eyed pout, and he wets his lips slowly, eyes darkening with desire, before his fingers curl into you just the right way at the right time for you to come undone, spilling all over his hand as you bury your face in his neck to collect yourself. 

His fingers slowly come to a stop once he’s milked your orgasm as far as it’ll go and he gently pulls them out of you, laughing when you immediately and pointedly avert your gaze.

“Look at what I did to you,” he urges, and when he’s certain you’ve peeked at the glistening strings of arousal connecting his splayed-out fingers, he sticks his tongue out teasingly as if to lick them, and you squeak, covering your eyes immediately.

“Don’t be obscene,” you half-whisper, half-beg, and he sighs loudly. “The bathroom is literally right there. Just take your sleeping bag and when you come back, just go to the right side and go to sleep.”

“Fine,” he huffs with an air of petulance, and you can’t help but roll your eyes at his antics. “Gimme a good night kiss, then.”

“One.” you stress, and he nods in understanding.

“One.” he confirms, and you shift forward, kissing him sweetly on the lips. When you two break apart, his lips chase after yours for more, his eyes still closed, and you have to gently hold his chin and shake his head from side to side to snap him out of it. “Sorry,” he apologizes, and you wave him off with a smile.

“It’s okay. Now go,” you stress, pushing him away from you.

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” he mumbles, untying your sleeping bags, and stands up, rolling his sleeping bag up and gingerly lying it down to his spot on the opposite corner of Chaewon. 

You don’t even bother to watch him to make sure he goes to the bathroom, you just flop over on your side and start trying to go back to sleep, doing your best to ignore the sticky wet sensation between your legs. 

Before long, you’re drifting off to sleep where you dream of warm brown eyes and a constellation of beauty marks.

After waking up and washing up, you shuffle drowsily into the kitchen, where Mark and Chenle are standing at the island counter with their backs to you, talking to each other in low, urgent voices.

“Morning,” you yawn, waving to get their attention, and they turn at the sound of your voice, immediately trying to play off whatever they were just doing.

“Hey!” Mark greets you a bit too enthusiastically, and you freeze, your eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“...Hey…” you say slowly, looking between Mark and Chenle in an attempt to assess whatever’s going on. “What are you two doing?”

“Nothing, really,” Mark answers quickly, only heightening your suspicions. 

“I would wager that your ‘nothing’ is, in fact, something. People don’t stand over the kitchen sink whispering urgently about nothing.” you point out, and Chenle sighs in frustration, shooting Mark a glare out of the side of his eye.

“Fine. You want to know what we’re doing, right?” Chenle asks, and you nod. “We’re trying to figure out what you’re doing.”

You pause, tilting your head to the side in confusion. “I’m standing here, trying to decide what I want for breakfast.”

Chenle laughs humorlessly, shaking his head and wagging his finger at you condescendingly. “No, that’s not quite what we’re talking about.” He leans against the kitchen counter and crosses his arms, regarding you with a raised eyebrow. “We’re trying to figure out what you’re doing with Haechan specifically.”

You balk, blinking erratically before shifting your gaze from Chenle’s scrutinous eyes to Mark’s worried ones.

“You know what is so crazy? I think I’m sleepwalking right now.” you lie, waving your hand at them dismissively. “Don’t mind me, I’m gonna go back to bed and try to wake up the right way.” You turn, starting to make a hurried escape for anywhere but the kitchen, but Chenle calls your name sternly, making you whine to yourself in protest before you slowly turn back around to face them.

“Don’t lie. What’s going on with you two?” Chenle presses, and you purse your lips.

“Well, what exactly do you two know?” you ask, looking down at your hands to inspect your nails.

“I know that I heard you two giggling and kissing in the hallway yesterday afternoon.” Mark says, and you wince.

“I knew that was risky.” you mutter.

“I also know that he was most definitely touching you behind that island you two were sharing when we made pizza last night.” Chenle adds, and you frown deeply, feeling embarrassed and guilty. “For what it’s worth, you yourself were actually very subtle.” he supplies in an attempt to make you feel better.

“Well, then how’d you know?” you ask, still frowning.

“Haechan tends to look at you like he’s one second away from devouring you at any given moment.” Chenle says, running a hand over his face. “I’m pretty sure that anyone with any level of observational skills would be able to catch that.” 

“Fuck,” you grumble, shifting your weight from foot to foot before you stiffen, looking up in horror. “Wait, does that mean—?”

“No, Winter doesn’t know.” Chenle’s one step ahead of you, and you practically collapse in relief. “We’re not gonna tell her, either.”

You look between them, the picture of surprise and confusion, before it hits you and you slump in defeat. “Let me guess; you want me to be the one to tell her.”

“What? No,” Mark says, brows furrowed in confusion. “Ideally, she never finds out.”

You nod slowly, fully in agreement but still confused as to what exactly the point of this confrontation is.

“So, what exactly was the plan here?” you finally ask, still lost, and Chenle stops leaning against the counter to stand up straight.

“You’re gonna stop sneaking around with Haechan,” he says, “plain and simple.”

“I hear you,” you say, nodding slowly, “I do. I agree wholeheartedly. There’s just one problem.”

“Come on, the dick can’t be that good,” Chenle scoffs incredulously, and you splutter indignantly, shaking your head vehemently. 

“Not what I was going to say.” you clarify as soon as you’ve regained your composure. “The problem is that he won’t exactly… leave me alone.”

“We know,” Mark and Chenle reply in unison.

“Oop–”

“I think you should start distancing yourself from him,” Mark suggests helpfully. “I think he’ll get the hint and move on eventually.”

“You’re probably right.” you say after doing a bit of thinking, and Mark nods. “I have a question,” you start, already embarrassed by how your voice seems to shrink in on itself.

“What’s up?” Chenle asks.

You fiddle with your hands, taking a moment to muster up the nerve to ask your question. “Don’t you guys, y’know… think poorly of me now?”

Mark and Chenle look at each other with almost identical confused faces before turning back to you. 

“No?” Mark finally says, and you pause, not expecting that answer.

“...Why not?”

“Well, don’t get me wrong; this isn’t exactly something that people with strong morals would do.” Mark says, clearly choosing his words carefully. “But I know you—we know you—and we’ve known you for long enough to know that you’re not a bad person.”

You could cry, you’re so relieved. “Thanks, guys.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Chenle shrugs. “So you’re gonna distance yourself, right?”

“Yeah,” you agree readily, and he nods in approval.

“And you don’t have, like, feelings for him or anything, right?” Mark asks.

“Wh–no? Why ask me that? I mean, I don’t—I definitely don’t—but why would you ask me that?” you splutter, confused and indignant. 

“Because, obviously, it’d be harder to distance yourself from someone you’ve developed feelings for.” Chenle explains slowly, looking at you like you’ve lost your mind.

“Oh. Oh. Right. That makes sense. Well, don’t worry, guys. That shouldn’t—no. That won’t be a problem.” you assure them confidently, and they both hesitate for a second—a second too long, in your opinion—before nodding in agreement.

“Great. Well, now that that’s over,” Chenle says, slipping his hand up his shirt and rubbing his stomach absentmindedly, “I’m starving.”

“Me too.” you echo, and you both turn to look at Mark expectantly.

“What do you want me to do?” Mark questions, bewildered.

“This is your house? This is your food? Make us food, food man.” Chenle says, still speaking slowly as if some of Mark’s brain cells clocked out for their break.

“Bro, I can barely make eggs,” Mark defends himself, raising his hands in surrender. “I can order food from, like, IHOP or something?”

You and Chenle look at each other, exchanging wordless glances before nodding and turning back to Mark. 

“Sounds good.” you chirp, hopping up onto one of the stools at the kitchen island. 

“Should we wait until everyone wakes up so we can just do one massive order?” Mark suggests, and you groan, resting your crossed arms on the counter and letting your forehead drop onto them.

“Can’t we just wake them?” you ask, and Chenle points at you emphatically.

“Yeah, I’ll wake everyone up,” Chenle offers, already shuffling into the hallway towards the bedrooms. 

“I’ll start browsing the menu,” Mark says, unlocking his phone.

As the two males busy themselves with their respective tasks, you take the moment of solitude to think about how exactly you’re going to get Haechan to stop making advances on you. 

We haven’t been messing around that long, you think. It shouldn’t be that hard.

As all nine of you file into your regular diner and head for your usual booth, you notice that Haechan’s hovering around you a bit closer than normal.

Shooting him a curious side glance and receiving a subtle upwards flick of the eyebrows in response, you decide to shrug it off, chalking it up to Haechan being a little bizarre as usual.

That is, until you’re all moving to sit down—save for Winter, Seulgi, and Chaewon, who’ve gone to the bathroom to freshen up—and Haechan slips between Mark and Chenle, completely bypasses his usual spot next to Winter, and slides into the spot beside you that’s usually reserved for Seulgi. 

You pause in the middle of removing your coat, slowly turning to look at him with an incredulous expression.

He doesn’t even meet your gaze at first, instead starting to search through his jacket pockets—for what, you don’t know.

As if it couldn’t get any worse, you look over to see Mark sitting directly across from you with disapproval written plainly on his face.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, Haechan?” you ask in disbelief, and he finally looks you in the eyes, having the audacity to look put out by your question.

“Looking for something?” he replies slowly, waving his hand in his pocket as if he’s the normal one in this scenario.

“Is that something perhaps your common sense?” you whisper indignantly, and he rolls his eyes.

“I wanted to change my spot,” he explains casually. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“I do.” Mark chimes in, voice surreptitiously low, and you gesture towards Mark, glad someone has your back.

“Mark does!” you hiss. “I do, too!”

“Would you relax?” Haechan laughs in disbelief. “Last time I checked, sitting next to you wasn’t a crime. It’s not like I’m slipping under the table and going down—”

“You absolutely will not finish that sentence.” you cut him off with a stern glare, and he chuckles under his breath before shrugging and looking between you and Mark.

“I’m sitting here today.” he says resolutely, and you shoot Mark a worried look, Mark frowning back at you sympathetically. 

Like clockwork, Winter, Seulgi, and Chaewon return from the bathroom, all three hesitating at the front of the table as they regard Haechan curiously.

Chaewon looks confused, Seulgi looks annoyed, and Winter just looks a little wounded, your heart twisting uncomfortably in sympathy and guilt as you avert your gaze.

“Haechan, I just want you to know that I am a creature of habit,” Seulgi says casually as she moves to sit beside Winter in his usual spot, “and you will rue the day you stole my seat.”

“Duly noted,” he replies, not looking even remotely bothered, and she narrows her eyes at him threateningly before settling into her new position.

Ordering goes by quickly and your food is out within a reasonable amount of time, all of you waiting for the last dish to arrive before you start to eat. 

There’s a comfortable silence that falls over the table as you all enjoy the food you’ve been craving, and it almost lulls you into a sense of security as Haechan murmurs your name to get your attention. 

You turn to him curiously and he’s holding up his sandwich with two hands, silently offering you a bite with an inviting brow raise. A quick glance in Winter’s direction reveals she’s too engrossed in the Belgian waffles she ordered to be worried about what you two are up to.

Seulgi, however, is giving you a clear warning glance that you look away from—hopefully quickly enough that she thinks you missed it. 

“I’m okay,” you brush him off gently, and he frowns cutely before gesturing again for you to take a bite.

“It’s really good,” he promises, and your face twists with indecisiveness. You hold back the initial instinct to glance over at Seulgi again, instead leaning forward and taking a careful bite of his sandwich. His eyes light up when you do, prompting your lips to curl into a smile of your own as you pull back with a mouthful of sandwich. 

The different flavors and textures dance on your tongue as you chew, and his eyes study your face intently, visibly brightening every time you react positively. You don’t dare look at Seulgi as you swallow, averting your gaze from Haechan just to be safe. 

“Thanks,” you whisper, and he smiles. “It is really good.”

He beams. “Told you,” he mumbles under his breath, taking another bite of his sandwich that you can’t help but notice overlaps your bite, and the way he shuts his eyes and lets out a low groan while chewing makes your skin tingle with intrigue. When he reopens his eyes to see you staring at him, your eyes widen and he lifts his brows in a blatantly flirtatious greeting before you look back down at your food, your cheeks blazing with warmth that gradually engulfs your whole face.

If the food sharing wasn’t suspicious enough, you really start to suspect that something’s up when Haechan leans over you suddenly, his hand landing on your knee to brace himself. You jump in surprise at the initial contact, but manage to ignore it for the most part while he retrieves the ketchup.

“You could have just asked me to pass it to you,” you say when he’s settled once more in his seat. When he looks at you, you shoot him a surreptitious warning glance down at your lap, where his hand still remains resting against your leg.

He meets your gaze with a naughty twinkle in his eye that only confirms your earlier suspicions, his hand staying exactly where he placed it.

You honestly don’t know what’s worse; the fact that Haechan feels comfortable enough to massage and knead your thigh under the table less than five feet away from his unsuspecting girlfriend, or the fact that the whole situation is beginning to turn you on somewhat.

You’re not sure if what’s turning you on most is his persistence, his blatant and shameless attraction to you, or—and you hope this isn’t the case—the fact that Winter is absolutely none the wiser.

As if he can hear your thoughts, his hand slides up your leg to stroke your upper thigh, fingers trailing dangerously close to your inner thighs and where they meet.

You decide you’re at your limit with his shenanigans for the evening, clearing your throat loudly before announcing, “I have to use the bathroom!” 

Chenle exits the booth first before impatiently gesturing for a reluctant Haechan to follow suit. When Haechan slides out of the booth, you follow him until you’re standing in front of the table, taking the opportunity to head to your destination.

Right when you’ve finished and are in the middle of washing your hands, someone knocks on the bathroom door, making you jolt.

“Just a sec!” you call out as you dry off and open the door. To your surprise, Haechan is on the other side of the door, and he doesn’t let you slip out before he steps in and shuts the bathroom door behind him. “Haechan, you’ve got to be joking.”

“I just wanted to say hi somewhere where you won’t avoid me like the plague,” he says with a frown that’s somehow both sincere and playful. 

“Well, hi.”

“Hi,” he replies with a secretive smile.

“Are we done? Can I go?” you ask, and he shakes his head with a growing smile.

“Maybe I could get a kiss before you go?”

“No!” you protest, and he frowns deeply, moving to block the door. “You’re insane.”

“Come on, you look so good and I can’t even have a tiny little kiss?” he complains, reaching out and taking your hand. When you stare at him warily but don’t move, his lips quirk up into a knowing smile and he pulls you in closer to him. “Come on, pretty girl.”

“Just one?” you ask quietly, and he nods, drawing you in even closer until his warmth and his scent consume you entirely. 

“Just one.” His lips ghost over yours as he speaks and you swallow thickly, leaning in to meet him. “That’s my girl,” he breathes before your lips connect and he winds his arms around you tighter as your lips move smoothly against each other’s. 

The second you let out an involuntary whine, you break the heated kiss with a small intake of air and you point at him with narrowed eyes.

“Be on your best fucking behavior out there, do you hear me?” you warn, and he gives you an obedient nod, a dopey smile on his lips. 

You both move away from the door with a start when someone knocks and your eyes widen as you realize the compromising situation you’ve been put in.

“I’m going out there.” you whisper loudly, and Haechan just waits slightly behind the door as you open it and face an extremely disapproving Chenle. “Oh, thank God,” you exhale with relief.

“Not ‘Thank God,’ actually,” Chenle sighs with a roll of his eyes. “You two are unbelievable.”

“I slipped into the bathroom after her,” Haechan admits plainly, and you look back at him in surprise. “She didn’t plan this, she was just going to the bathroom.”

Thankfully, Chenle’s face softens slightly, and you swallow thickly. 

“Her lipgloss is on your face.” Chenle points out, and you blanch, looking between Haechan and Chenle.

“Also my fault,” Haechan confesses sheepishly as he wipes around his mouth. “I was being difficult.”

Chenle eyes you both suspiciously before sighing deeply and moving out of your way to let you pass. You slip by him with an apologetic squeeze of his arm and head back to the table, Haechan coming out shortly after. 

As you all are starting to get ready to leave, Haechan raises his hand to flag down the waitress, and several people at the table make some sort of confused or bewildered noise.

“Haechan, what are you doing?” you ask, and he levels his gaze so he’s staring directly at you.

“I wanna order another entree to go.” Haechan explains.

You blink at him. “You just had a whole entree right in front of you—that you ate—and now you want another one?” 

Haechan frowns. “It’s for when I get hungry later.” he says stubbornly, and you pinch the bridge of your nose and breathe in deeply.

“Haechan, be satisfied with the entree you got!” you whisper-scold, and suddenly it hits you that he might be using this entree situation to hint at something larger than this—and so might you.

He stares at you, gaze burning with intensity, and says, “I love the flavor of this one though.” He says it slowly, and you can’t help but feel warmth rushing to your cheeks as he stares you down, adding, “tastes so good. I don’t think I can get enough of it.”

You try and fail to come up with a worthy reply, Haechan’s remark leaving you flustered and stunned. “Damn,” you mutter, both impressed and annoyed.

He smirks triumphantly and Mark rolls his eyes from across the table, leaning forward and staring Haechan down. “Don’t be greedy, Haechan. You probably won’t even finish the second entree.”

”First of all, I’ll definitely finish it,” Haechan counters defensively. “And second of all—that’s a risk I’m willing to take.” When Mark scoffs and rolls his eyes again, Haechan takes the opportunity to wink at you, sending you even further into your flustered frenzy.

He’s lost his goddamn mind, you think as Yunjin talks him into placing an order for delivery so you don’t all have to wait for his dish to be prepared. And if I don’t get my shit together and leave him alone, I’m definitely going to lose mine, too.

Later that night, you, Yunjin, Chaewon, and Seulgi have reconvened in your apartment, the four of you lounging around the living room until Yunjin speaks up.

“So are we going to address the elephant in the room, or…?” Yunjin asks after a moment of silence and Chaewon shifts uncomfortably.

“Sorry, guys; my frozen burrito from earlier is fighting back.” she sighs sadly, holding her stomach as her face twists slightly in discomfort.

“What on Earth are you talking about?” Yunjin shoots her a puzzled look and Chaewon balks.

“Was the elephant in the room not my stomach gurgling?” Chaewon questions softly, and you can’t help but snicker.

“Wait—why would you eat a frozen burrito?” Seulgi asks curiously, her response several exchanges too late, and Chaewon blinks at her blankly.

“Girl.” 

“What?” Seulgi asks, looking around and growing more bewildered when she sees that you’re all looking at her the same way. “What?”

“It wasn’t frozen when I ate it?” Chaewon explains slowly, rolling her eyes in mild annoyance. “It was actually good as hell.”

“Hope it tastes decent coming up,” you say worriedly, patting her knee comfortingly. “Although with the way your face is twisting, I’m thinking up is not where it’s going.”

“Yeah, no.” Chaewon mutters, standing up and rushing to the bathroom.

“Please spray!” you call after her and she shoots you a thumbs up without turning around. “Godspeed to her.” you sigh sympathetically, and Yunjin snickers.

“Now that we’ve solved one issue, let’s address the other elephant in the room.” She fixes you with a stern look and you freeze. “How long have you been fooling around with Haechan?”

Your blood runs cold. “Well, I don’t remember exactly when it started,” you start to say, trailing off uncomfortably. 

“Okay, so a better question: when and how are you going to stop?” Seulgi continues the interrogation, and you fiddle with the edge of the couch cushion you’re sitting on. 

“I don’t really know… like, Chenle and Mark already figured it out and they told me to cut ties and I’ve been trying but he sat right next to me today!”

“You’re lucky Winter was busy eating her food instead of watching you two practically play footsie under the table.” Yunjin scolds, and you frown deeply.

“Okay, can we skip the ‘I’m a terrible person, cheating is bad’ spiel for right now so we can figure out how I can end things with Haechan with Winter being none the wiser?” you plead, messing with your hair nervously.

“Just call him and break it off. That way you don’t have to see him and say it.” Chaewon pipes up from the hallway as she gets closer to where you’re all sitting. 

“Feel better?” Seulgi asks, and Chaewon nods, smiling.

“Much.”

“Okay, well… I can call Haechan tomorrow, I guess,” you mumble with uncertainty, and they all nod encouragingly. 

“You can do it! And I’ll be here after work to help you if you wanna wait until I get off.” Yunjin offers, but you shake your head.

“No, I did this, so I’ll fix it.” you sigh defeatedly. “You know, I’m just wondering; why did none of you tell Winter?”

“We were hoping it’d fix itself on its own,” Seulgi explains. “The longing stares, the lingering touches, the blatant flirting had to stop for us to maintain a healthy equilibrium in this friend group.”

“Fair,” you reluctantly agree. “But I’d argue that nothing about this is healthy; so far the only two people who don’t know anything are Jeno and Winter… and Haechan doesn’t know you all know… lots of secrets in this friend group.”

“I mean, yeah, but what Winter doesn’t know won’t hurt her, right?” Chaewon supplies hopefully.

“Somehow, I don’t think that applies to when the thing being concealed is, like, objectively bad.” Yunjin replies.

“Literally when else would it apply?” Chaewon counters snarkily as she turns to shoot Yunjin a blank stare, and Yunjin pulls her fist back like she’s lining up for a punch, which in turn prompts Chaewon to scoff in disbelief and lurch forward in a wordless challenge. 

As the two of them lunge at each other and start to poke and pinch each other in a playfight, you look over at Seulgi, who’s watching them with a look of amusement on her face. 

“You guys are crazy. I’m going to bed, by the way.” Seulgi announces, stretching her limbs before walking to Yunjin’s room. 

“Good night!” you all call after her, but you sigh before following in Seulgi’s footsteps and standing up, stretching your body in preparation to head to your own room to go to bed.

“I’m gonna go to bed, too,” you decide. “Big day tomorrow, y’know?”

“Good night!” Chaewon yells.

“Good luck!” Yunjin says encouragingly.

“Good night, and thank you!” you call back before shutting your bedroom door.

When you’re alone in the safety of your room, you can’t help but wonder if this could have all been avoided before you get in your bed and drift off to a fitful, restless sleep.

You wake up the following morning to what sounds like an empty apartment, and a quick walk around the unit confirms your suspicions. You walk into the kitchen to find something to eat, only to spot three colorful sticky notes on your refrigerator.

Picking up the first one, a light blue square, you read it to yourself.

Good morning! Good luck with You-Know-Who today; stay strong! Love, Chaewon :)

The next one, a sticky note in the shape of a yellow speech bubble, reads:

You got this!! Just remember, it’s for the best. Love, Seulgi ᵔᴥᵔ

With a smile, you pick up the last one, a light pink square, and read it over.

You can do it, babe! No matter what happens, I’m proud of you for even trying. Love, love, love, Yunjin

Feeling emboldened by the words of your friends, you head back to your room to grab your phone to call Haechan. Sitting cross-legged with your back to the headboard, you take a deep breath to center your nerves before unlocking your phone and opening the dialpad.

When you dial Haechan’s number, the phone barely makes it past the first ring before he picks up.

“Hello?” He sounds confused but hope rings clear in his voice. “Did you mean to call me?”

“Yeah—yeah, I did. Hi, Haechan.” you confirm, and there’s a pause on the other end. “Hello?”

“Hey! Hi, hey, I’m here, I’m sorry—I’m just a little shocked to hear from you is all.” he stammers, and you start to feel a horrible twisting sensation in your chest as you remember why exactly you called.

“Oh, I just wanted to tell you something,” you say quickly, deciding that once it’s out there, you can’t take it back.

“I wanna see you,” he says plainly, and you falter. “Can you tell me in person?”

This was not part of the plan. 

“Um…” you trail off quietly. “No, I can’t tell you in person?” you say before smacking a hand to your forehead.

He chuckles. “You’re cute. I’m coming to get you in a bit, by the way. You can tell me in 45 minutes.” Haechan states, and you blanch.

This absolutely was not in the plan.

“Um, I can’t hang out.”

“Why not?”

“I’m… doing things… already.”

“Oh, yeah? Doing things?” His amusement is audible on the other end, and you feel a growing sense of defeat.

“Yeah, you know… partaking in… activities… and the like…” you say slowly, and he snickers loudly.

“Well, make some time in your busy, busy schedule for me because I’m about to leave my house in fifteen minutes and drive to yours. It’s only gonna take me about thirty minutes to get to you.”

Rendered utterly speechless by how far off-track this whole thing just got derailed, you just sit in silence for a moment before uttering a defeated, “Okay?”

“That’s more like it,” he says with an audible grin. “See you soon, pretty.”

He hangs up before you can say anything else and you sit frozen for a minute before you fly into a panic, hurriedly running in the bathroom to wash up and get dressed, cursing vehemently all the while.

When 45 minutes pass, you’re touching up the final parts of your appearance and, true to his word, Haechan texts you.

haechan [14:24] i’m downstairs buzz me up

You do so, waiting with bated breath as he makes his way to your apartment, finally knocking on the door after what feels like ages and making you jolt. 

You take a deep breath to calm your nerves before opening the door to face him.

“Hi, there,” he greets you with a playful lilt, appreciatively taking in your appearance. To your dismay, he looks nothing short of delicious, sporting a plain black t-shirt and gray sweats with annoyingly perfectly mussed-up hair.

You offer a small smile in response, trying desperately to hide how affected you are just from seeing him. “Hi, Haechan.”

“Did you wanna go somewhere?” he points over his shoulder with his thumb, and you shake your head firmly.

“No, here’s fine.” you say, realizing a moment later that you absolutely should not let Haechan in your apartment if you’re not trying to sleep with him. “Actually, no, you’re right, let’s go somewhere.”

“You sure?” he asks, concerned and slightly amused—why, you can’t seem to tell—as he studies you, stepping closer. When you step back slightly, you realize the mistake you’ve made, as his eyes darken and intensify in their gaze. “Are you running from me right now?”

“No,” you respond quickly, but you fail to convince him, his grin widening.

“You are.” he confirms, his tone a mix of surprise and satisfaction, and you swallow thickly. “You know what?”

“What?” you ask warily, and he leans closer without warning, visibly relishing the way you move away nervously. 

“We should talk somewhere more… private, yeah?” he suggests. At your hesitation, he adds, “I mean, unless you want our friends or someone else we know to see us talking right now.”

“Okay, I guess you’re right,” you agree. 

“We can talk in my car? It’s parked in the indoor garage down the block.” he offers, and you shrug and nod, looking away a moment too soon to catch the way his eyes flash with triumph like he’s lured you perfectly into his trap.

You follow him down to his car in the indoor parking lot, where you move to open your door on the passenger side, only for him to swat your hand away dismissively.

He opens your door for you himself, gesturing for you to get in the car, and when you’re settled in he leans down and so unnervingly close to you that you almost choke on your spit. 

“Still gonna try to run from me, hm?” he presses in a dangerously soft voice, and you look down at your lap to avoid eye contact. He places a hand on the seat by your leg, his hand so close to you that you’re practically touching, and lowers his head to meet your gaze again. “I wonder how far you’d get before I catch you.”

“What makes you so sure you’d catch me?” Your retort slips out without a moment of thought and you stiffen as he grins slowly, absolutely taking your words as a challenge.

“We both know I don’t give up easily.” he replies simply but seriously, and you hesitate, staring at him in shock as he flicks his eyebrows upwards suggestively and stands up, closing the door on your side before crossing around the car and getting in the driver’s seat.

“You wanted to tell me something, yeah?” he reminds you, and you blink twice, snapping out of staring at him like a wary prey animal before nodding.

“Yeah, I did. Um, well…” you mumble, losing all your nerve the longer he stares at you. 

“Well?” he presses gently, and you decide to just blurt it out.

“Haechan, we can’t keep sneaking around like this.”

The silence is thick, and you finally meet his gaze only to wish you hadn’t.

Haechan doesn’t reply, just stares at you unwaveringly, and you feel your resolve slip as his eyes slowly drop to scan your frame. You shift uncomfortably under his gaze, crossing your legs at the knee and regretting it instantly as his stare darkens watching the hem of your skirt ride up to expose more of your thighs.

“Haechan, did you hear what I said?” you huff, and his eyes drag back up your body to lock on yours. 

“Yeah, I heard you.” He has the gall to raise his brows in amusement, and you raise your own incredulously. 

“What’s funny?”

He doesn’t reply yet again, chuckling as he shakes his head and pokes his tongue in his cheek, and your brow furrows in frustration—both at his unbothered reaction and at how irritatingly arousing it is. 

“I wanna laugh, too, Haechan,” you say, sarcasm dripping from your voice not unlike the arousal that now clings to the seat of your underwear. 

“What’s funny,” he stresses, sitting back and rubbing a hand along his thigh, smirking when you snap out of staring at his fingers just a second too late, “is that you really think I’m gonna buy this whole spiel when—” he shifts to lean forward again without warning, moving into your space in the passenger seat— “I can name at least three reasons why I can tell you’re lying through your teeth right now.”

seatbelt’s off, but you won’t leave, yeah how many times do you want what we don’t need?

You can’t help but roll your eyes. “Oh, really?”

“Yep,” he replies casually.

“Name them.” You huff stubbornly, and Haechan’s probing eyes light up in triumph, making you mentally slap yourself for taking the bait.

“First of all? You didn’t want to do this over text.” 

“I didn’t want a paper trail,” you defend yourself but you know it’s weak and worst of all, you know he can see through your flimsy excuse. 

“We could have talked over the phone,” he points out. 

“You insisted on seeing me!”

“You didn’t put up very much of a fight.” he regards you with an unimpressed raised eyebrow. “You let me get to see you in person. Up close and personal.” Haechan continues as if you haven’t spoken, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as his eyes drop from your face to glance at your lap as if waiting for a physical confirmation. When you cross your hands over your lap, he grins, seemingly receiving the cue he was looking for, and flicks his gaze back up to yours. “Second of all? I’m willing to bet you didn’t tell anyone you came here. Because you know good and well what you came to do.”

“I didn’t tell Chenle or Mark I was going to be doing this right now, no,” you start carefully, not sure how to approach the revealing of the fact that more people know of your arrangement. 

“But?”

“But I’m doing this because Yunjin and Chaewon and Seulgi know and they told me I should stop before it gets out of hand.” you blurt out, and he raises both eyebrows as if to challenge you. “What?”

“So your friends think we should stop,” Haechan says slowly, and you nod firmly. “What about you?”

“Wh– huh?” you stammer. 

“What about you? What do you think we should do?” he asks, his voice softening dangerously. 

i recognize the hungry eye both hands on your side, but you’re looking back

“The right thing,” you mumble, and he shakes his head playfully, a wolfish grin growing as he leans in closer to you.

“And what is that?” his voice is barely above a murmur as he brings his lips closer and closer to yours.

You suck in an embarrassingly ragged breath. “Stop.”

He lifts an eyebrow once more, grin widening suspiciously. “Are you telling me to stop, or are you telling me the right thing to do is stop?”

right now, say it if you want it, laugh out loud just let me know

“Second one,” you say feebly, and he chuckles, a dead giveaway you’ve made a mistake.

“So you don’t want me to stop.” he confirms, ignoring your bewildered splutter as his hand creeps up to caress just above your knee. “Got it. Just making sure.”

“You’re insufferable,” you groan.

“You like it.” he dismisses you, and you scoff.

“Do not.”

“Oh, yeah?” he asks, eyes flicking down to your lap before he smirks and looks up at you once more. “So answer this. Why’d you get all dolled up to see me?”

“I—well—hey, I said I had plans today!”

“But you could have come to see me dressed in something at least a little less cute.” he points out, and you growl exasperatedly.

“Well, I figured I’d go straight to them after,” you lie, gesturing vaguely between the two of you and he nods slowly before you continue with a small gulp— “well, y’know. Plus,” you pipe up as you think of another defense, “I didn’t plan to be here for long enough for it to matter.”

He arches an eyebrow at that, and you can’t help but feel stuck in yet another trap. “You wanted it quick, yeah?”

You have a sneaking suspicion he’s not referring to the conversation you’re having. “Perhaps.” you say warily, settling for the most ambiguous answer you can think of.

“But you know how I love taking my time with you,” he says, frowning as he draws little hearts on your knee with his finger. 

You let out a deep sigh. “Haechan, don’t be crude.”

“But you love it when I’m crude.” he points out with a pout that’s struggling to conceal his growing smirk. “Whenever I talk you through it and tell you I love how well your pussy sucks me in—”

“Haechan!” you squeak in alarm, but he bulldozes over your warning.

“You get all slick around me, remember?”

“Oh, my God, Haechan, please shut up.” you mutter, scandalized as you avert your eyes from his intense stare.

“Always get my cock nice and covered in your cum.” he grunts and you make the grave mistake of looking down only to stifle a gasp at the sight of his gray sweatpants straining to accommodate the growing bulge of his length. As if it couldn’t get worse, his fingers grip his knee tightly, veins prominent on the back of his hand sending your mind to the most sinful places as you envision him taking you in his backseat with his fingers all over your body, mouth soon to follow— “I know you’re thinking about it.”

“Am not,” you lie through your teeth, and he scoffs loudly, sitting back and crossing his arms. You gulp internally as the muscles of his forearms flex slightly and your mind is sent plunging to the gutter once more.

“What are you thinking about, then?”

“Thinking about how I shouldn’t have agreed to come here.”

He nods slowly, pensively. “Maybe you shouldn’t have. Because now,” he softens his voice as he unfolds his arms and rests his elbow on the door, regarding you with his cheek in his palm, “I don’t think I want you to leave.”

You don’t think you want to either, at this point, but you continue to pursue the moral high ground you sought after when you asked to meet up.

You sigh quietly. “Haechan.”

“Baby.” He blinks at you expectantly, and you swallow the thick lump that grows in your throat at the pet name. 

“Don’t call me that.”

“You love when I call you that. Especially when I do it while I’m inside of you.” he counters with a taunting smile, and you roll your eyes.

“Well, you’re not inside of me! And as a matter of fact, we are talking about you never being inside of me again.” you stress, and he rolls his eyes right back at you. At his silence which holds all the defiance he need not say, you sit up in your seat, straightening your back to strengthen your resolve. “We are not having sex again.” you say firmly, finding it devastatingly attractive when he arches his eyebrow skeptically. 

“Oh, yeah?” He’s challenging you, and you could almost curse your pride for walking once more into his trap. You watch in an almost frozen trance as he walks two fingers from his own leg across the middle compartment between you to creep up your leg. He studies you carefully the entire time, almost daring you—to do what, you don’t quite know—before flicking at the hem of your skirt so a portion of it flips up. You suck in a soft gasp and he chuckles quietly. “Then why did you wear this skirt to come and see me?”

“I like this skirt!” you protest immediately. 

“I do too,” he echoes, bringing his lips dangerously close to your ear. You can’t help but notice that his fingers are tracing small circles on the newly revealed flesh of your thigh, and you blink hard in an attempt to regain your composure. “And I know that you know that.”

You’re absolutely lost for words, and it must show plainly on your face because he pouts at you sympathetically. 

“Poor baby. You really thought you were going to dangle your pretty self in front of me—these legs, those eyes—”

“Haechan—”

“—lips all pretty and glossed up, begging to be kissed—”

“Haechan,” you warn weakly, but you both know it’s too late. Desire is building in you rapidly, your body heating up and breath quickening, and judging by the way that Haechan is watching you like a hawk, you’re way too far gone to come back now. 

“—and you really thought I’d just let you go like that?” He scoffs, so amused it’s almost derisive. His hand leaves your thigh and strokes your cheek affectionately, thumb massaging your skin when you subconsciously lean into his touch. “Without at least a kiss?” Haechan breathes the words so quietly that you have to lean towards him to hear him properly, and he takes the opportunity to shift his hold on you, fingers now grazing the side of your neck. 

“Wh—a kiss—” you splutter, mind reeling from how badly you wish he’d just take you already—

“A kiss.” he confirms, and you freeze, wading through the fog of desire in your mind to contemplate your options. “I just wanna feel your pretty mouth again.”

“Haechan,” you scold pathetically.

“What flavor of lip gloss is that?” He ignores your warning, tilting his head curiously. 

You don’t know why you answer him. “Raspberry peach.” Your voice is quiet and nervous, and it becomes apparently obvious to both of you that you’ve just sealed your fate. 

“Can I taste?” He gives you a dazzling smile, and it hits you—not only did you never stand a chance, but also now you’re not sure if you ever really wanted to.

While your eyes widen in shock, his twinkle with excitement, and your minuscule nod is all he needs to lean forward and connect your lips. The kiss is brief due to you pulling back first, and Haechan groans in delight when he licks your lip gloss off his lips, but he doesn’t release the side of your neck. In fact, his fingers slip further behind you, cupping the nape of your neck, and he gives you a playfully disapproving look. 

“You know you’re going to have to give me more than that, right?”

You balk at the suggestive tone in his voice. “How much more?”

“Mm, at least another taste of that lip gloss.”

“At least?” you protest in a quiet squeak, but he’s already pulling you back into a kiss, this one greedy and desperate as Haechan clutches the back of your neck and your thigh, the hand on your leg sliding higher up to hike up your skirt further. You moan weakly—you’d like to say it was in protest, but the two of you know better than that—and the sound seems to embolden him, his lips wrapping around your tongue for a brief moment to suck before he pulls back slightly, taking in a ragged breath before surging forward to capture your lips once more.

“Haechan—” you manage to get out between his insistent kisses, and he hesitates—but only slightly.

“Mm?” he hums before busying himself with kissing your face, cheeks, jaw, neck and lingering along your pulse point. 

“That was more than enough, don’t you think?” you ask feebly, and he chuckles, the sound low in his throat.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.” he confesses plainly, and you freeze, momentarily swooned by the sheer desire in his voice. He pulls back and studies your face, no doubt taking in the sight of your glazed over eyes and parted, panting lips, glossy with residual lip gloss and a mix of your saliva, and you’re all too familiar with the steadily growing glint in his eyes.

It’s triumph, mixed with the intensity of his desire, and it’s enough to send you reeling, your resolve melting like putty between his fingers.

“Baby?” he calls softly.

“Mm?” you reply, softer, without thinking, and his gaze darkens considerably, victory and lust radiating off of him in waves that you come dangerously close to losing yourself in.

“Come here.” He pats his thigh and watches you expectantly. When you hesitate, he raises an eyebrow. “Don’t make me come over there.”

You’re moving before you can even register it, lifting out of your seat to crawl sans dignity—though you suppose you forfeited that the second you kissed him—into his seat. Haechan reaches for you immediately, hands bracing you by your hips and guiding you closer until you’re seated comfortably on his lap, your knees on either side of his frame and aching core planted firmly just below his clothed erection. 

He takes a moment to study you before his hands slowly move to untie the string of his sweats. He chuckles when your gaze drops instantly to his hands with a desperation he knows only he can draw from you. “Does my pretty baby want to see how hard she makes me?” His soft, adoring gaze hardens slightly when you only offer a nod. “Use your words.”

“Yes,” you whisper, not trusting your voice to make it any louder. He smiles, pleased, and one hand continues the painfully slow task of maneuvering his length out of his pants while the other trails up your leg from your knee to between your legs, shamelessly pushing your skirt up your legs and out of the way before snapping the band of your underwear against your stomach teasingly. He grins up at you when you yelp and leans up to slot his lips with yours again, kisses slowly building in intensity as they muffle your crescendoing moans and whimpers from his fingers stroking at the damp spot over your core. Every now and then his middle finger grazes the underside of your clit and a sharp hiss escapes you as your hips rock into his touch.

“You’re practically dripping down my fingers, baby,” he coos patronizingly, swirling his fingers around your clit and gathering more of your arousal as if to prove his point. “How could I not give you what you wanted this whole time?”

Your mouth moves to defend yourself but only a pathetic cry slips out when he pushes two fingers into the slick warmth of your core, walls tightening around him reflexively and making him let out a throaty groan. 

“You drive me insane,” he mutters the admission, the words holding more gravity from his sudden bashfulness. 

“Haechan,” you whine softly, and he moans before kissing you again and guiding his tongue between your parted lips to stroke at yours gently.

“How could I ever give you up, baby?” he asks between kisses, and you whimper. “You must not know what you do to me.” At his words and the way they drip with utter devotion, your abdomen tightens and you feel the beginnings of an approaching climax. 

You try to speak once more but, again, only broken gasps spill forth as he speeds up his pace, fingers fucking into you with reckless abandon. The wet, slick sounds of his fingers moving in your core blend in with your growing moans and his encouraging hums to create a soundscape of pleasure you easily lose yourself in, your climax rushing towards you as you know you’re helpless to stop it.

“Haechan—gonna cum,” you stammer, and he coos affectionately.

“I know.” he replies with a grin and curls his fingers inside of you, stroking at your g-spot and working you up further and further until you’re panting and whimpering his name through your climax. He kisses you as you come down, slow but intentional movements of his lips swallowing your trembling whimpers as his fingers keep stroking inside of you. “My pretty fucking girl,” he whispers reverently, adoring brown eyes twinkling up at you. “You’re never getting rid of me, you know that, right?”

“Haechan,” you keen softly, rocking down on his fingers, and he hisses in pleasure before slowly extracting his fingers from you and looking down at his lap.

“Baby, you make me so hard,” he whispers the words like a confession. “Your moans, and the pretty faces you make, and the way you feel—fuck.”

Your hands trail down to his lap, resuming his earlier task of untying his sweats and maneuvering his length out of his boxers, and he sighs in relief when his erection is freed from the confines of his clothes, his head tipping back onto the car seat as his eyes flutter shut.

You waste no time, wrapping your fingers around the base of his length and starting to stroke him up and down. 

He shudders with delight and reaches for the hem of your blouse, cool fingertips gliding up your bare stomach with ticklishly light strokes as he slips behind your back to unclip your bra. As soon as the last hook is undone, he’s pushing your blouse up and pulling your bra down to expose your breasts, a delighted groan escaping him before he leans in and draws slow circles around your nipple with his tongue.

“So good to me, baby,” he says in an adoring whisper. “Keep stroking me just like that.”

“Feels good?” you hum breathlessly, and he nods, eyes flicking up to yours to display his sincerity.

“Feels amazing,” he sighs dreamily, making you smile in satisfaction as you focus on squeezing as you near the head of his length. When you pull your hand away, Haechan looks up at you with disappointment and a question in his eyes, both of which disappear in favor of a heavy-lidded stare of desire as he watches you collect your own arousal and return your hand to his length, your fist gliding up and down his shaft with the new lubrication.

“God, that’s so hot.” he grunts, sliding his hand up his shirt to tease his nipple. You watch his abdomen flex and tense as you swipe your thumb over the slit in the head of his cock, smiling in amusement and fascination as you press the pad of your thumb into the small slit experimentally and he jolts, letting out a low swear. 

With your free hand, you join his hand under his shirt, tracing circles around his nipple and relishing the hiss he lets out. Making sure to maintain the pace of your fist pumping up and down his length, you massage the little bud on his chest before moving over to give the other one the same treatment. 

He moans openly at the stimulation before leaning forward and cupping both your breasts in his hands, showering them with kisses given by full, pink, spit-slicked lips that suck and kiss and part to let his tongue lick at your skin. He pushes your breasts together, kneading and squeezing the flesh before sucking one of your nipples into his mouth, echoing your responding moan as he sucks harder, teasing the bud with his tongue. He looks up at you and lets his tongue hang out wide and flat as he drags it across your chest from one nipple to the other, lips making loud, wet sucking and kissing noises as he busies his mouth with your breasts.

Absentmindedly, one of his hands leaves your chest and moves down to wrap his fingers around his length, lazily tugging at himself as he sucks on your nipples, humming contently, and gazes up at you with his eyes half-closed and blazing with desire. 

You reach further down into his boxers to massage his balls, squeezing gently, and he lets out a feeble whimper that has triumph purring in your chest. His length is hot and heavy, the vein running along the underside of it throbbing invitingly, and you’re not quite sure how much more of this you can take.

Growing impatient, you re-grip the base of his cock, fingers overlapping with his, and lift yourself up slightly to guide his tip to your entrance, making Haechan chuckle fondly.

“Pretty girl got tired of waiting, hm?” he teases, and you frown petulantly, looking up at him from where you were focused on staring at where your bodies meet. “Here I was, thinking you were really done with me.” He pouts back at you, a teasing glint in his eyes, and you roll your eyes.

“Haechan?”

“Baby?”

“Shut up,” you mutter, gasping in relief when you sink down onto his length. He lets out a loud hiss of pleasure and his hands move to grip at the fleshy part where your thighs and hips meet, kneading and massaging slowly.

“That’s it, fuck, that’s my good girl.” he groans in ecstasy, sitting up slightly to leave kisses along your neck as you clench around him, gradually adjusting to his size. “See how good that feels?” he murmurs breathlessly, and you nod, tilting your head down to catch his lips in a lazy kiss.

“So good, Haechan,” you exhale as you slowly roll your hips against him, and he grins into the kiss as one hand slides up from your thigh to cup your breast in his palm, gently tweaking your nipple.

“You gonna ride me, pretty?” he asks with a small smirk, raising his eyebrows expectantly, and you wordlessly reply by lifting yourself up and easing yourself down, steadily building a decent pace. “Just like that, baby, that’s my girl.” he coos proudly, and you whimper in response as you bounce up and down on his lap.

Haechan ducks his head down, trailing wet kisses from your lips to your breast, where he takes a nipple into his mouth and sucks, swirling his tongue around the bud and flicking it back and forth as he studies your reactions with an almost greedy curiosity. 

As he laps at your nipple, his hand sneaks between your legs to toy with your clit, a snicker escaping him when you yelp in surprise and flinch away from the overly sensitive stimulation. “Let it happen, baby.” he urges softly, words muffled from his face being buried in your chest.

As you ride him, Haechan takes a moment to lean his head back against the headrest and admire you. “You look so pretty… my pretty girl.” he sighs dreamily, eyes glazed over with a heady blend of lust and adoration. When you avert your gaze nervously, he makes a sound of disapproval and turns your chin so you’re looking at him again. “Look at me.”

“Haechan,” you whine, biting down on your bottom lip to control yourself. You’re already starting to feel the building ache and burning in your thighs as you maneuver yourself on top of him, and Haechan laughs fondly as he brushes stray pieces of hair out of your face.

“You want me to take over?” he asks, and you nod eagerly, bracing yourself as you hover just above his base. “You like how I fuck you, huh?”

“Please move,” you complain, and he shakes his head tauntingly, poking his tongue to the inside of his cheek as he grins. 

“Tell me you like it.”

“Haechan,” you groan, and he shrugs as nonchalantly as someone buried balls deep inside of another person can. “Please don’t tease me.”

“You tried to leave me,” he points out as he rocks his hips upwards into yours, and you gasp from the sudden sensation. “I don’t think you get what you want so easily.”

“I’m sorry,” you moan, fighting back the urge to roll your eyes. “I was trying to do the right thing!”

“Yeah? Well, how right does this feel, hm?” He braces your hips in place as he starts to fuck up into you with deep, powerful strokes. “You were going to leave this behind, baby; you know just as well as I do that you’d have been making a mistake.”

“Yes, Haechan—you’re so good, you’re amazing—just fuck me—” you blabber pathetically, your orgasm so close you can almost taste it. He maintains his pace while capturing your nipple between his teeth and pulling it between his lips to suck with wet, lewd noises.

“You like that, don’t you?” he purrs, and you nod dumbly, causing him to frown in disapproval. “I want to hear you.”

“I love it so much,” you confess, dropping your forehead to rest on the headrest behind Haechan as the tightening feeling in your abdomen grows. “I’m sorry I tried to leave!”

“You gonna do it again?”

“No!”

“Promise?” Despite the menace that he’s being, you can definitely detect some hope in his voice, and you can’t help but feel warmth blooming in your chest.

“Promise, Haechan, I promise!” You’re on the verge of tears at this point, hoping, praying for just a bit more friction so you can cum.

“That’s what I thought,” he says smugly, pressing down on your clit as he angles his hips just right to fuck into your g-spot.

You cry out Haechan’s name weakly as your climax floods through your body, your muscles tensing so tightly that it’s almost painful before they go slack, a wave of satisfaction and relief washing over you as the fuzzy afterglow settles in.

“God—Haechan, I can’t—too much—” you stammer, and he nods, humming in understanding.

“Just hold on for me, baby; I’m so close,” he grunts, pistoning his hips up and into you roughly, deep strokes riling you up even further as he chases after his own high with determination. Seconds later, his hips still as he buries himself in you as deep as he can get, warmth filling your core as he spills his seed into you. 

His head lolls back against the headrest as relief floods his expression, letting out a spent laugh as his hands move to your hips, fingers gently massaging your hips in soothing strokes as he leans forward, eyes sliding shut as he blindly leaves kisses along your skin, starting from your collarbone to trail up your neck to finally catch your lips in a slow, languid, but deep kiss. 

You sigh, content, against his lips, and he places soft kisses to your bottom lip, then your top lip, then to both of them, soft pecks filled with unspoken words of adoration.

“So,” he says after a moment, breaking the silence, and you look at him. “What did we learn?”

“Not you talking to me like I’m a child.” you huff petulantly, and he chuckles fondly before pressing a kiss to your cheek and letting his lips linger there.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he murmurs, words slightly muffled by the flesh of your cheek but spoken clearly enough to be heard. “Isn’t that right?”

You sigh in defeat, realizing that if you’re gonna be serious about becoming a better person and cutting this fling situation off, you’re gonna have to come up with a much better plan than the one you just failed to enact.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” you mumble dismissively, and he makes a noise of disapproval before pulling back to look you square in the eyes.

“We’re gonna try that again.” he says, a slight edge to his voice that has your eyebrows raising in surprise. “You’re not going anywhere, baby. Isn’t that right?” 

“Yes, that’s right.” you answer, and he nods proudly.

“That’s more like it.” he states, pleased. “Now, do you wanna get something to eat?”

“Oh, my God, yes, please,” you agree instantly, and he laughs, reaching into the backseat to retrieve your purse that, truthfully, you hadn’t noticed had fallen back there. You fish out your phone and check your notifications to see if any of your friends magically found out what you’ve just done, finding with a relieved sigh that you’re safe.

“Let’s get ourselves dressed and sorted out, then we’ll get some food.” he promises you, and you shift off of his lap and back into the passenger seat, tugging your skirt and underwear back into place, re-hooking your bra, and pulling your shirt back down to cover everything it’s supposed to cover. 

“So much for having plans and activities to partake in today,” he calls your bluff from earlier with a snort, and you huff, frowning. 

“Listen, they canceled,” you lie.

“Oh, really? Was that before or after I made you cum all over my fingers in my car?”

“Um… after?”

“So just now?” he asks skeptically, and you nod. “Show me.”

“You wanna go through my phone?” you gasp incredulously. “What are you, my boyfriend?”

As he chuckles and shakes his head, you could almost swear you hear him mutter, “Not yet,” and elect to ignore him with a small roll of your eyes.

You feel slightly dirty, your inner thighs smeared with arousal and your chest covered in sweat and Haechan’s saliva, and you attempt to remedy how messy you feel by pulling the mirror down and starting to mess with your hair, all the while fully aware of Haechan’s fascinated eyes on you. Finally somewhat satisfied with your hairstyle, you pull out your lip gloss, unscrewing it and bringing the applicator to your lips, only to freeze at the realization that Haechan’s already rapt gaze has intensified, your illicit lover’s eyes trained on your lips with an unmistakable longing.

“Haechan, we just had sex in your car,” you remind him, and he shoots you a devilishly handsome smile. 

“Just one more kiss,” he says, wetting his lips subconsciously in anticipation.

You roll your eyes slightly but fail to hide your smile as you swipe the lip gloss over your lips, rubbing them together for an even application before turning to look at Haechan, who’s watching you expectantly.

You lean closer, cupping his chin and pulling his face to yours to press your lips to his in a brief but sweet kiss. He hums happily into the kiss and chases after your lips when you pull back, his eyes still closed and lips still parted.

“Are you happy now?” you ask, and his eyes flutter open before he licks his lips, smacking slightly as he tastes your lip gloss. 

“For now,” he replies with a mischievous smile, and you snicker. “Are you happy?”

“Yes, I am,” you assure him, and he smiles, relief evident on his face. “Now drive.”

“So?” Yunjin yells from the kitchen as soon as she hears you enter the apartment. “How’d it go?”

“Um…” you call back hesitantly as you lock the door behind you, and you can hear her turn off the water and her rapidly approaching footsteps as she comes to meet you. “It went. I suppose.”

She stops short as soon as she catches sight of you, hawk-like eyes surveying your appearance for an uncomfortably long period of time before she sighs in disappointment and realization.

“You two had sex, didn’t you?”

You fidget with the bag of Five Guys that Haechan took you to get. “I got you a cheeseburger,” you tell her as you shake the paper bag invitingly, hoping it might distract her somewhat.

“Five Guys and their delicious ass cheeseburgers can’t save you now.” Yunjin huffs, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. “Spill. What happened? How did you two end up having sex again… at the very meeting you scheduled to tell him you two wouldn’t be having sex anymore?” 

“Well,” you start, not really sure where to begin. “He’s very persuasive, you know.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” she remarks dryly. “Okay. I’ll spare you the shame of going over every minute detail of your little failed meeting—for now.”

“Thank you,” you exhale in relief, walking past her and collapsing on the couch. 

“But at least tell me how you two ended it?” she asks worriedly as she follows after you, standing in front of the couch, and you start to nibble your bottom lip nervously.

“He said I’m not going anywhere.” you say quietly, and she blinks, momentarily stunned into silence.

“And what did you say to that?” she asks, and you can tell by the defeated tone in her voice that she already has an idea of your answer.

“I agreed.” you mumble shamefully, and she lets out a deep sigh. 

“Of course you did,” she mutters under her breath, running a hand through her hair. “I’m guessing he didn’t give you much of a choice.”

“No, he did not.” you confirm softly, maneuvering yourself up into a sitting position and plopping your hands in your lap pathetically. “Again—very persuasive.”

“Is he that persuasive?” Yunjin asks, tilting her head to the side as she analyzes your body language. “Or do you just have feelings for him?”

You make an indignant, surprised noise that sounds like a strange mix of a squawk and a gasp, but Yunjin silences your impending protest with one look, leaving you to think about her question. “Well,” you say after some time, “if it turns out that I do have feelings for him… hypothetically… then how would I handle this… in this, of course, entirely hypothetical situation?”

Yunjin scans your face again, her no-nonsense demeanor shifting as her eyes widen almost imperceptibly in realization before her features gradually soften into a sympathetic expression, and your heart drops, not needing to be told what she’s thinking.

“God, what am I gonna do?”

She moves to sit down beside you on the couch, draping her arm around your shoulders comfortingly. “I’m gonna be real with you—I don’t think I know, my love.”

“Well, hopefully I figure something out soon, because he’s gonna be at Mark’s and Jeno’s party next weekend.”

“We’ll do our best to come up with something,” she assures you, and you can only sigh forlornly. “In the meantime… how about you let me heat up the rest of this food and we’ll watch something to take your mind off of it, okay?”

“Okay,” you agree dejectedly, and she gently takes the bag of food from your hand, patting your thigh comfortingly before rising from the couch and heading back into the kitchen.

To make matters even worse, your phone buzzes with a text notification and you check it to see a new message from none other than Haechan.

haechan [16:44] hope you’re enjoying your food

haechan [16:44] miss you already, baby

haechan [16:44] can’t wait to see you again soon

You finish reading the text messages and realize with a start after catching your reflection on the screen that you’re smiling giddily at your phone.

You snap out of it quickly, defiantly throwing your phone to the other side of the couch and crossing your arms in a huff.

You definitely need a game plan by next Friday, because you’re not sure just how much more of this you can take.

TA DA!!!!! i hope you enjoyed your read! the fourth part will be up in exactly one week! reminder that (only if you’re able) tips are very much appreciated, as is positive feedback! if you’d like to be added to the taglist, just shoot me an ask and please make sure your privacy settings are updated accordingly!

DON’T WANNA WAIT TO READ THE WHOLE STORY? it’s available on my patreon here!

LINKS: KO-FI // VENMO // CASHAPP // AMAZON WISHLIST // (if you’d like to support via paypal, let me know off anon!!)

[runnning-outof-time]

K! I'm sorry this is so late, but congratulations on 3.5K! I'm so happy for you and there's no one more deserving of such a milestone. I'll always be in your corner. Here's to the next 3.5K! 🥳🥂

For the 3 word list, could you do #23 - “You’re bleeding, (name).” - with Tommy? Thank you and congratulations again!

(1 of 2)

Thanks for sending this in and for your kind words, Bri! I’m sorry it took me a bit to write this for you. I just had to get some season 5 Tommy in here (even though the hype has surely died down by now). Enjoy! :)

I’D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! - YOUR COMMENTS & REBLOGS HELP ME WRITE!

Part of my 3.5k Celebration - find more stories here!

Sometimes It’s Still Required

Tommy Shelby x Reader

Warnings: mentions of blood, drinking, a terrible summary

Word Count: 916

Summary: (Y/N) finds Tommy sitting at her vanity one evening.

(Y/N) Shelby found her husband in the last place she expected him: sitting at the vanity, which was usually reserved for her, in their master bedroom. He had his palms rested on his knees and his gaze was cast down onto the floor.

She shut the door and proceeded towards him with caution.

“I didn’t expect to find you in here,” she said when she was a few steps away from him, making herself known before she was right behind him. Tommy lifted his gaze and turned slightly to find his wife approaching him. He didn’t say anything, just nodded to show that he heard her. “Calling it an early night?” she asked a question as she stopped behind him.

“It was a long day,” he answered her indirectly, reaching forward to grab the glass of whiskey so that he could take a healthy drink from it.

“Is there anything that I can do for you?” (Y/N) asked as she set her hands on his shoulders and pressed her fingers into his shirt-covered skin.

“No,” his answer came like a breath. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back against his wife’s midsection, thankful to spend some time with her after the hectic day he had.

(Y/N) looked down at him with a soft smile. She was thankful that she could have one of these quiet moments with him. He’d been away for a lot of the days now that he had to be present in Parliament and out among his constituents.

Silence filled the room as (Y/N) continued with massaging his shoulders, trying her best to get the noticeable knots out. The silence persisted until Tommy brought his hand up to run across his face. (Y/N) happened to be looking down at the time, and what she saw surprised her - even though it shouldn’t have at this point.

“You’re bleeding, Tommy,” she commented on the red splotches that were scattered across the back of his hand. She could even see some on the white cuffs of his dress shirt.

“‘S not my blood, love,” Tommy didn’t even open his eyes to take a look at what his wife was talking about.

A sigh left (Y/N)’s lips before she could stop it. The sound of it made Tommy open his eyes. (Y/N) looked down at him with a frown before she explained the reason behind her initial response: “I thought you were finished with that kind of stuff, Tommy,” she said, hating that there was disappointment present in her tone.

“Sometimes it’s still required,” he responded, brushing her concern off.

“Tommy…”

It was obvious that that wasn’t the response she wanted to hear. Tommy lifted his head and turned slightly on the chair so that he could look at her. “Hey, it wasn’t anything serious. Arthur cut his hand on the bar and needed help cleanin’ it up,” he acted quick on his feet and came up with a story of how the blood got on his hand.

(Y/N) pursed her lips. She knew that that wasn’t really what happened. She’d been with Tommy long enough to know that there could have been one hundred explanations for the blood. Usually she would dig to find the correct answer. But she wasn’t in the mood tonight. Tonight she was just thankful that he made it home.

“Are you going to clean it up?” she asked after a few moments had passed. A look flashed across Tommy’s face. It was almost as though he was surprised that she’d let the matter rest.

“I will,” he nodded in response.

“Now?” she asked for specifics.

“When I get ready for bed.”

“Which will be now?” she still wasn’t satisfied with the answer he’d given her.

“Soon, love,” he told her, a smile tugging the right corner of his lips upwards as he stood from the chair and turned to face her. She kept her hands rested on his shoulders as he secured his to the sides of her waist.

The couple stared lovingly at each other, basking in the warmth that their bodies were giving off.

“I love you,” Tommy mumbled then, breaking the reverie surrounding them. If there had been any other noise in the room, she would have missed his three word phrase, but she heard him loud and clear in the silence.

“I love you,” (Y/N) responded, repeating what he’d just said to her, “I just wish you’d leave the blood in the past,” she added, sending him a pointed look after she spoke.

Tommy chuckled at her expression, leaning in to press his lips to hers in a languid kiss. “It’ll be left in the past,” he whispered against her lips before pressing his back to them, so as to seal the ‘promise’.

The look was still present on (Y/N)’s face when they pulled away, although it wasn’t as prevalent as before. She knew that this was something that he couldn’t wholeheartedly promise to her. There would always be a chance that he would have blood on his hands…it just came with the paths he chose. But right now she chose to take him at his word.

“Go wash up,” she said to him, jerking her head in the direction of the bathroom as a soft smile formed on her face.

“Ok,” he breathed, leaning in and stealing one last kiss from her before he let her go for the bathroom.

Tags will be added in separate reblogs so that hopefully they get sent out

MASTERLIST

[whisper-in-the-night]

Undesirable

Plot: Thomas is omega who will never find his true mate. Or no?

Warnings: omegavers; deviation from the canon; omega!Thomas Hewitt, alpha!male!reader / Y/N; mention of murdering, cannibalism, blood, little angst.

Note: hey everyone. I finally finished this chapter :) Thanks for reading this, don't forget to eat properly and drink water, love ya

•••

Part 4 || Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

After a while, you got along quite well with this unusual family. At first it was a little difficult, they had their own rules in household management and home life, but you quickly adapted to this and began to help. It was good for the family that another strong man appeared in the house, which greatly facilitated Thomas's life.

Besides, you were still working. Early in the morning you left for another city, and in the evening you returned, even brought groceries with you, for which Luda was immensely grateful to you, considering that her shop did not pay off much. The meat in this family really bothered you, because you had never eaten such a slightly bitter and tough meat, but you put it down to unsuitable storage conditions, after all, it was always hot during the day, and even the darkened cabinets did not create cold meat. You offered your family to buy meat as well, but no one supported your idea. It's probably a matter of habit.

And yet, you decided to try cooking with this meat. One evening, you made something like a quick marinade for meat from apples and garlic that you bought earlier after work, and left the meat like that until the next dinner. In the evening, you used your favorite seasonings and cooked a very tasty soup. It was the easiest and fastest dish, and you knew how to cook it well. And the whole family really liked your culinary skills. Especially for Hoyt, who is tired of eating solid hard meat and small potatoes in broth. The meat has softened a little, and the apples have removed this strange bitterness. In general, you have found a solution to the problem, for the most part. Luda also appreciated that there was another person in the family who could literally feed the family, so now it was your unspoken duty. And you were only there once to help this tired woman.

You've become very close to Thomas. He turned out to be a very nice and kind person. Just a giant with a kind heart. Something about him made your heart beat faster every time. Maybe it's his skillful hands, able to sew various little things, if necessary. Or maybe it's his strength: this man is able to lift you up in the blink of an eye with one hand and not even sweat. Although he was mute, you were still able to find a language of communication. Body language, head shaking, or facial expressions on the exposed part of his face. You mentally cursed yourself for giving up extracurricular sign language lessons at a young age. And yet, little by little, Thomas taught you sign language himself, which made communication much easier. Other family members wondered how you could understand each other so easily. It made you very angry when Hoyt treated Tommy like some dumb dog. On days like these, Thomas would come to your bedroom late at night, he knew you were still awake. Already clean after a hard day (you taught him the basics of hygiene, it just didn't make sense for the guy to follow them very much before), he lay his head on your lap, and you gently fingered his dark wet stripes. You could have sworn Thomas was making a little purr. There was a slight sweet scent of peaches in the room, which you liked so much now. Who would have thought that this big guy was an omega? You thanked yourself for your foresight and for having drunk your dose of suppressants earlier in the day. This man was too cute. He even started you.. Do you like it? Maybe. Before that, you weren't particularly attracted to representatives of both the opposite and your own sex. As a child, when you were still in elementary school, relatives often asked if you liked any 'bride', pointing to pictures of girls in a shared photo. You just shrugged your shoulders. Were you wrong? Is it bad that you don't like anyone? Then why did your heart yearn tenderly at the sight of this big boy?

Thomas wandered absently up the stairs, loosening the ropes of his work apron along the way. He was tired. All those screams and screams of the victims, and then Hoyt's complaints about his sluggishness and slowness. The man hastily took a shower and changed his work clothes for more comfortable ones: a loose short-sleeve shirt and light sleeping shorts. His feet were already automatically leading him to the cherished room. The click of a door handle and the creak of an old door. He climbed onto your lap and let out a relaxed sigh. My head was buzzing with unpleasant thoughts. All he wanted was to melt into your arms. Your hips were soft and comfortable, his personal pillow to rest on. Your gentle, strong fingers immediately found their way to his hair, massaging his skin. His hair was a little unpleasantly tangled, and small drops of water dripping from his dark hair soaked the fabric of your clothes. But you didn't seem to mind. You were humming softly to yourself, and it caused Thomas a strange pleasure in his chest. No one had ever been so kind to him. But that will surely change if you see his real face under the mask, won't it? This is only a temporary pleasure and peace of mind, when you see his real one, you will definitely want to leave him. Closing his eyes, Tommy instinctively leaned towards your touch, relaxing with his eyes closed. It was good. You're so gentle and caring. You always meet him with a warm dinner after work, bring him sweets, give him a massage and comb his hair. Thomas liked it, very much. You were so good, like he.. liked you.

When you finished helping Luda with cooking dinner, you wiped your hands with a towel, listening to the sounds in the house. Hoyt and Monty went somewhere not so long ago, before handing out 'tasks' to all the remaining household members. You smiled while watching Luda work. In the last three weeks, she's become like a real mother to you.

"Mom, where's Thomas?" You asked with a slight smile. You liked to address her that way, and the woman herself didn't seem to mind, on the contrary, she was glad to have another child in her house.

"Tommy is sorting things out in the barn, dear. Go and tell him that dinner is coming soon, okay?"

You nodded curtly and left the house. The sun was baking, shining unpleasantly into my eyes. Beads of sweat instantly appeared on your forehead, which you hastened to remove with the back of your hand. It's been even hotter than usual lately. Although the nights were cool. And yet, this did not cancel out the heat of the day, which burned the lungs unpleasantly.

The wooden door of the barn creaked open, unpleasantly jarring to the ear. It was dusty and hot inside. There was dust and old hay everywhere, in some places you could see old parts from disassembled cars, and somewhere there were children's things, as you assumed, that belonged to Thomas.

The man was standing almost in the middle of the barn and sorting out old boxes. His dark hair was tied carelessly in a ponytail, and his shirt had been taken off and was lying on one of the old shelves, so now you had a view of Tommy's muscular chest and his beautiful ass. Strong muscles flexed beautifully under his tanned skin with every movement.

You slowly approached the man from behind, putting your hand on his hip, and pulled him towards you, attracting attention. Your nose is filled with the smell of sweat mixed with a little dust and the already favorite peach sensation on your lips. Your mouth curled into a grin when Thomas turned in your direction.

"Hey, handsome," you said softly, enticing Thomas's lips into a wet, clumsy kiss. It was hard to kiss his bitten lips through the mask, but you didn't complain. After a couple of minutes, the man let out a light sigh and closed his eyes, awkwardly responding to the kiss. You've already kissed a few times, but he still didn't do very well. Thomas's hands found your waist, pulling you closer to him as he turned around in your arms. He backed away and sat down on one of the boxes, pulling you onto his lap. This guy was too fond of using his size. You wrapped your arms around his neck, burying your fingers in his damp, night-black hair. Finally breaking away from the sweet lips of your lover, you smiled. "Mom asked me to said to you that dinner is ready, y'know." Thomas muttered something indistinctly, but nodded, squeezing your hips in his hands. You could have sworn that something big was pressed against your body.

•••

And yet, you had a strange feeling. On the first day of your arrival here, you were going to go back to Luda's store to take that boy and his friends to the city they needed, but Hoyt immediately stopped you, saying that when he returned home, no guys were there. It seemed strange to you, because there was hardly frequent transport in this place. Although, perhaps some friend picked them up?

Sometimes you heard strange sounds, it seems, from the basement. It's like a dog whining or even gnashing. You tried not to make a big deal out of it, but the sound was getting too intrusive. It got on your nerves.

Nothing bad will happen if you just check on the poor animal, right?

The night was quite bright, the full moon shone brightly in the starry sky, reflecting on the screen of your phone. In only pajama pants and a light shirt, you slowly descended to the first floor, trying not to wake anyone from home. The floor creaked unpleasantly underfoot, but no one in the house seemed to hear it. Your hand was on the cold cellar door. A high-pitched squeak filled your ears, causing your body to shrink in slight fear. Goosebumps ran down my spine. You shone your flashlight on the stone steps, which were flooded with water for a couple of inches.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Plop.

Your feet touched the cold water, and you let out a soft sigh. It wasn't so hot at night to enjoy this coolness. You slowly picked up the phone, shining your flashlight on the walls. The basement was damp and dirty, smelled of dust and the acrid smell of metal. The light from your phone was slowly sliding along the stone walls. There were a lot of tools, meat hooks and other things.

A chill ran down your spine.

You pointed the flashlight at the center of the room, and your stomach clenched. On a table in the center of the basement lay something that looked like a man. An almost gnawed skeleton without a pair of limbs and with a bald spot in some places on the head. Long dirty hair was lying on the table, and the body was covered with dirt, blood and something else. The eyes were missing, as were the internal organs under the ribs. It was.. creepy.

Clang.

You jumped slightly, pointing the flashlight in the opposite direction from the table. God. There, against the wall, in a pile of boxes.. the boy you were driving was sitting there. His face was disfigured and his jaw was visibly broken. His leg was amputated to the knee, and there were strange stitches on the side. He looked very pale and weak, scared. His broken mouth made whining noises, but it seemed that he had already resigned himself to his fate.

You slowly stepped back. Your gaze darted between the poor half-dead boy and the body on the table. There wasn't so much meat, it looked like they were being eate-

Your stomach clenched painfully, and your throat burned. Your entire dinner immediately ended up on one of the stone steps. Suddenly it became so difficult and painful to breathe, it seemed that your heart was tearing in your chest. It hurts, it hurts so much, like it's beating in your head. Panic has gripped your mind. Did you live in a cannibal house?

Your movements were fast. You ran out of the basement without even bothering to close the door behind you, and grabbed your car keys from the housekeeper in the hallway. The front door slammed hard, and you could hear the grumbling in the house. The lights started to turn on immediately. You quickly reached the car, inserting the key into the ignition with shaking hands. My eyes burned, but there were no tears. It seemed like a primal fear for your own life filled your body, wanting every breath to be very painful.

Finally, the car started up, and you jerked the steering wheel sharply, pulling out to the road.

You drove as fast as you could. The heart was beating wildly in your chest, forcing you to turn around so that there would be no pursuers behind you. You would have been eaten too, wouldn't you? Where should you go now? Home? Police? You gripped the steering wheel harder, trying to bring yourself to your senses. God...

•••

"Fuck, I knew that! I knew that this boy was just like them! What should we do now? He's gonna tell the cops!" Hoyt screamed, clutching his gray hair with his fingers.

Thomas stared absently after the departing car. Hoyt was growling menacingly behind him, but the man didn't care. He was.. sadly. Painfully. My heart screamed unpleasantly, watching you drive away without even telling him yet. Did he do something wrong? Or did you know that boy? Did you love that boy? His heart ached uncomfortably at the very thought of it. He clenched his hands into fists, his nails leaving red crescents on his palms.

[bloatedandalone04]

Bets & Bargains - Part 3

Series Masterlist

➪in which you and bradley hang out again and get to know more about each other, and quickly realize that you’re more alike than you thought.

PSA: strongly suggested to read the warnings before proceeding.

WC; 3.5k | Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡ | THANK YOU FOR 4.4K FOLLOWERS

Bradley reread Bri’s text an embarrassing amount of times, and he was still reading it now as he made his way onto the campus grounds. 

His phone was in his hand, her text on full display as he tried to think of how to respond to it, despite it being sent a mere sixteen hours ago. After he got home last night, he stripped down and had a shower in an attempt to cool himself off. He felt guilty about hanging out with you, mainly because he had agreed to that bet he was going to call off, and because he was clearly still hung up on Bri.

He was always bad at replying to texts, which is why he had yet to get back to her, and that was probably another reason she broke up with him. 

Still not knowing what to say, he pockets his phone, his fingers brushing against his wallet and a piece of paper. He had thrown on the jeans he wore last night to the botanical gardens, and when he pulled his hand back out of his pocket, he saw that he was holding the ticket you bought for him. 

God, were you sweet last night. You and he talked for so long, and it was all enjoyable conversations, which was a bit unexpected for the first time he’s actually hung out with you. One of the first things Bradley noticed about you was your voice, and he was sure he could spend hours on end just listening to it, which was a bit concerning since he had no business feeling that way about you so soon after meeting you. 

He was actually a bit shocked that Bri had texted him after seeing him once outside of his house. As much as he hated to admit it, him going out to meet you might have actually scored him a few points with her.

When he tore his eyes away from the ticket, he immediately met your gaze, and a genuine smile took over his lips that matched your own. He puts the ticket in his bag this time before meeting you halfway, his eyes lingering on your floral printed skirt for longer than necessary. “Hi, Bradley,” you greet in your sweet voice that made Bradley bite down on his lip to stop the groan that nearly slipped from his mouth.

“Hi, Y/n,” he said back, watching your lips curve upwards. “Is floral your trademark?”

You look down at your white cropped tee and skirt before shrugging. “It can be,” 

Bradley’s grin only grew at that as he moved to stand next to you. “Can I walk you to class?”

“You definitely can,” you answered and began walking towards the opposite side of campus from where his own class is. He’d probably be late if he were to walk you all the way to yours, but he didn’t care too much, which is a bit surprising for him as he’s always tried to be school-orientated. 

“I had fun yesterday,” he says as he quickly catches up to you. One thing he’s learned about you is that you’d easily leave him in the dust if he isn’t quick enough to keep up, and that was actually something he admired about you. 

You look up at him as you grab hold of the strap of your bag. “Me too,” 

“We should hang out again,” he offered, then added, “Only if you want to.”

You raise a brow as you ask, “Do you want to?”

He scoffed, “I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t want to,”

You nod and break eye contact. “I was just checking to make sure you’re still different from all the stereotypical frat guys I’ve met in the past, that’s all,”

“Trust me,” he started, holding the door open for you. “I’m very different.”

You grin at him as you enter the building. “And you’re proving it very well,”

“Good to know,” he replied and you turned to give him a softer smile. 

“You don’t have to walk me the whole way,” you tell him as you adjust the strap of your bag on your shoulder. “You’ll probably be late for your own class.”

That was true, but oddly enough Bradley didn’t care. “It’s fine, I just finished my class,” he said and you raised a brow as you checked your phone. “I had an eight AM lecture.” He added when he saw you read the time. 

“Oh,” you say, believing him with a nod. “That sucks, I hate lectures.”

“I think everyone hates lectures,” he says as you resume walking again. 

“I have a question.”

Bradley saw the opportunity and took it, “Shoot,”

You smile at him then give him a shy look. “Will your girlfriend get mad that we’re hanging out?”

That had his own smile fading a bit and his brows furrowing. “My girlfriend?” He asked, wondering if you had seen him and Bri around campus before and he just didn’t see you. If that’s the case, it was nice to know that Bri hadn’t gone around and told everyone she knows that she had dumped him like he was nothing at all to her. 

You nod and drop your gaze to his neck, and he thought you were going to ask about his scars or something, then you said, “She seems very possessive of you,”

Your index finger pokes at a sore spot on his throat and he knew then that you were referring to the hickey Bri had given him before breaking up with him a couple mornings ago.

“Oh, yeah, uh,” he trailed off as he felt his face flush in embarrassment. “That’s a really fucking embarrassing story, I’m not gonna lie.”

“Oh,” you repeat and give him a small smile. “That’s okay. Maybe one for another day then. My class is right here.” You point to the door next to him and he nods, grateful that you didn’t try to pry the story out of him.

“Okay,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck before running his fingers over his sore throat. “I’ll see you later then?”

You nod and give him a small wave before disappearing into the classroom, leaving Bradley to stand in the hallway for a few extra seconds with a dumb grin on his face before he quickly realized that he would probably be close to ten minutes late to his own class if he didn’t start walking right now. 

-

You were blushing pretty much the whole three hours you were at class for. 

Bradley was so hot and so not the kind of guy you would ever go for, which is exactly why you found yourself wanting him. You usually stayed with the attainable ones, hence why you were with your ex-boyfriend for three years before ending it. Luke was your best friend’s brother and he went to the same high school as you, so you got to see him everyday. It was easy with him, but now you wanted a challenge. 

While Luke was your first love, you knew he wasn’t going to be your last. Maybe you thought that at first, when the relationship was still new, but three years later, it was dulling for you. 

With that being said, you still weren’t entirely sure if Bradley was in a relationship or not, so you couldn’t get your hopes up too much. Maybe a good guy friend is all you need. 

Just then your phone went off, and you found yourself wishing it was him texting you, but you also knew better.

Luke♡: Fine, don’t answer me. But just know that I don’t plan on waiting forever for you to figure your shit out. 

You scoff and click on Bradley’s contact instead of answering your ex, but just as you began typing, a text appeared on your screen. 

Fratley: Hope your class went by super fucking fast, and it wasn’t boring.

You smile down at your phone and type with one hand while you use your other to rummage around for your keys in your bag. 

Funnily enough, it went by super fucking slowly, and it was a total bore. I blame you.  

You pull out your house key and were just about to insert it into the lock when he texted you again,

Fratley: That’s not really fair, I walked you to that class and everything. Would grabbing some food and shakes with me make it better?

You look at the time and see that it was nearing four thirty in the afternoon, and then your stomach growled. With a shake of your head, you drop your keys back into your bag and turn around as you replied to him.

You know what, it just might. Meet you at Five Guys in a bit?

Fratley: You read my mind.

Five Guys was around a thirty minute walk from campus, but you could probably make it in half that time if you really tried. You’d be risking looking like a sweaty mess when you got there, but it beat paying for a cab. 

You make it to the restaurant by quarter to five, and you spend a second or so admiring the nice looking red two door Jeep in the parking lot before entering the building. 

Bringing your hand up, you wipe away the thin layer of sweat that gathered on your browline as you look around the red and white interior. You drop your hand when you meet Bradley’s gaze, and you smile at him as you begin to walk again. 

He was sitting towards the back near the windows, and you were a bit out of breath when you finally reached him. 

You definitely reached your step goal today. 

“Hi,” you greeted as you dropped your bag onto the seat across from his at the booth. 

“Hey,” he said back with his cute smile that had you blushing like a teenager. 

“I’m sorry I’m a bit late,” you say as you sit down across from him and rest your palms against the table. 

He shrugged, that damn smile still painted on his lips. “It’s okay, we didn’t set up a time,”

You look at him for a few seconds before letting out an embarrassed laugh. “You’re right, that probably would’ve been a smart thing to do,” 

“That’s alright, we’re both idiots,” he grinned and you laughed again in agreement. He looked a bit nervous as he nodded towards one of the two paper cups on the table. “I ordered us shakes, I didn’t know what kind you liked, so I played it safe and got you vanilla.”

“That was nice,” you beam and he slid it over to you. “Thank you.”

He smiled before it promptly dropped. “I just realized that I should’ve waited to order these. You probably think I drugged it or something,”

You laughed loudly before slapping your hand over your mouth. “I wasn’t thinking that at all,” you say as you look down at the shake before back up at him. “And I still don’t think that since you would’ve just admitted to it, and despite what we just said, I think you’re smarter than you let on.”

Bradley quirked a brow as he sipped on his chocolate shake, then grimaced. “I hate paper straws,” 

You snort softly and shrug. “Save the turtles?”

He set his drink down with a look of fake disappointment on his face. “Oh no, you’re one of those girls?”

You lift a brow as you sip on the vanilla shake. “I won’t apologize for thinking about the environment, frat boy,” 

“So you’re telling me you prefer cardboard straws? Is that it?” He scoffed, pulling the soggy straw out of the cup and setting it down on a napkin. “It’s like drinking from a rolled up newspaper.” 

You laugh again and cover your mouth, your gaze softening at the smile that formed on his lips. “That’s oddly specific,”

“But am I wrong?” He asked, and you stayed silent, making him smirk as he sipped on the shake. “That’s what I thought.”

Half an hour goes by, and Bradley was a proper gentleman when he asked what you wanted, then went up and ordered for the both of you. You didn’t know anything about his family life, but you could tell that he was raised at least somewhat right, and that’s going off of the hours you’ve spent with him since that night at the party. 

You were already done with your food and were sipping on your shake as he asked, “Am I allowed to know who made you so mad yesterday? Because I was genuinely caught off guard when you told me to fuck off when I didn’t even say anything yet,”

You shake your head and smile as you pull out your nearly-dissolved paper straw. “I wasn’t telling you to fuck off,” 

“Who were you saying it to then?” He asked and smirked when you tossed the straw into the paper bag with your wrapper. “Told you, by the way.”

Rolling your eyes, you shrug. “It was just my ex,” you answer then add, “And you didn’t tell me anything.”

“I did, too,” he replied as he leaned back and crossed his arms. “Your ex, huh? Do you still like the guy?” He asked and you were probably imagining it, but you could’ve sworn he sounded the smallest bit jealous when he asked that. 

“Like is a strong word, Bradley,” you mutter and he huffs out a laugh. “In all seriousness, I think I stopped loving him long before we broke up.”

“You were in love?” He asked as he gathered up the wrappers and napkins, stuffing them into the paperbag afterwards. 

You nod and give him a grateful smile. “Yeah, he was my highschool sweetheart or whatever,” 

Bradley raised his brows as he nodded. “It was pretty serious then,” he trailed off and you nodded again. He fell silent for a few seconds before leaning over and bracing his elbows on the table. “Are you gonna get back together?”

Now it was your turn to be quiet as you took in his question. You hadn’t let yourself give it much thought, and hadn’t actually decided if you wanted Luke back or not. He was a past chapter in your life, a good one at that, but you wanted more. 

You wanted a fresh start. 

Luke was an amazing boyfriend, and the perfect match for highschool Y/n, but you were getting older. You were maturing, and you supposed Luke was, too, but not in the same way as you. 

You were entering your second year of college, and it was clear that he wasn’t the right fit for the person you were becoming. “I don’t know,” you answer, though you were starting to strongly feel like the relationship was great while it lasted, but maybe it was past the due date to move on. 

Bradley looked in thought for a couple of beats before he asked, “What happened?” He sounded hesitant to ask that, and you could appreciate his kindness and subtle interest in your life. 

“I guess I just…stopped missing him,” you confessed, and it was the first time you’d admitted to that. Your eyes widen a bit in embarrassment and you try to laugh it off as you sit up. “Anyway.”

He gives you a small smile as he stands up and throws away the bag. “Did you drive here?” 

“No,” you answer and stand up as well, grabbing your bag and slinging it over your shoulder. 

Bradley nodded as he pulled out car keys from his pocket. “You called a ride then,” he stated and you shook your head, making him furrow his brows. 

“I walked,” you clarified and watched as his lips parted slightly before he looked out the windows and at the darkness that came with it being night time now. 

“You walked?” He asked and looked back at you, and you nod. “Are you planning on walking back, too?”

You shrugged with a smile. “I don’t like paying for rides,” 

Bradley laughed before taking your hand in his and unknowingly releasing butterflies all over your body with the simple gesture. “Good thing I don’t charge,” he replied and guided you out to the dark parking lot. 

“You have a car?” You ask, a bit shocked since not many people you knew drove or had their own cars. He nodded and your surprised expression dropped as you added, “You already paid for dinner, you don’t have to drive me home as well.”

“I’m not letting you walk half an hour back to campus in the dark by yourself,” he murmured as he led you over to the very Jeep you were looking at before dinner. “I was raised a bit better than that.” 

His words were sweet, but you were too busy looking at the pretty red car. “This is yours?” You ask the most obvious question and he holds up the keys in response, the Jeep label on the chain enough of an answer. “It’s nice.”

He laughed, “Thanks, it was a birthday present,”

“Recently?”

“No, I’ve had her for just under four years now,”

“Her?” You ask with a smirk as he lets go of your hand in order to open the passenger side door for you. 

A faint blush formed on his cheeks, but he wasn’t embarrassed as he nodded. “Yeah, her,”

“Why am I not surprised?” You laughed as he shook his head and closed the door before getting in on the drivers side. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He grunted as he started the car and effortlessly backed out of the parking space. 

He did that whole one hand on the wheel while the other was gripping your headrest thing, and you were powerless to stop the blush that formed on your face. “I don’t know,” you were actually at a loss for words at how you managed to find yourself in the continuous presence of a guy like him. 

Not wanting him to see how red your face had gotten, you lean forward and turn on your seat warmer. Bradley glanced over at you with a small grin as he kept his left hand on the steering wheel and his right elbow braced on the center console. “Are you cold?”

“No,” you answer and look out at the dark scenery. “I just like being warm when I’m in a car.”

He laughed, “Why am I not surprised,” 

You spare a look at him and see that he was wearing a boyish grin, and when you asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?” he just shrugged with a smirk.

Oh yeah, you two matched each other’s energy almost too well, and it was a bit concerning how quickly you found yourself liking him. 

“Thanks for dinner,” you say in an attempt to change the subject. “I can pay you back.”

“Please don’t,” he laughed again and glanced over at you before looking back at the dark road. “Five Guys is, like, the cheapest place to eat at. You also bought the tickets yesterday, so we’re nearly even now.”

“Nearly?” 

He nodded and looked over at you again as he said, “Nearly,” 

You fall silent after that, wondering if that meant that he wanted to keep hanging out after tonight. You made it back to campus and Bradley pulled over to the side of the road outside of your dorm, and he turned the car off before turning to you. “Thanks again,” you start and take off your seatbelt. “I like hanging out with you. I know I keep saying it, but you’re different from the other guys I’ve hung out with in the past.”

He smiled at that. “I like hanging out with you, too,” 

You debate on your next words, and you knew you didn’t have much to lose at this point, so you take a nervous breath before saying, “My ex and I aren’t getting back together. I know that earlier I said that I didn’t know, but I think I do. We had a few good years together, but I think it’s time to move on,”

Bradley nodded in understanding, “I hope you didn’t feel pressured to come to that conclusion. I didn’t mean to pry earlier,”

“Oh, no,” you wave him off and grab your bag. “I knew it before, I just wanted you to know, too, I guess.”

He nodded again and shifted in his seat. “I just got out of something, too,” he tells you. “It wasn’t as serious as yours was, but it still fucked me up a bit. I mean it, though, I really like hanging out with you. I almost wish we met sooner, I could use a few more good people in my life.”

You give him a comforting smile. “Yeah, I get that,” you trail off and sling your bag over your shoulder. “Have a good night, Bradley.” You hesitate for a few seconds before leaning over and pressing a kiss to his cheek, and he laughed softly before smiling over at you. 

“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow? Or later in the week?” He asked with that same smidge of desperation that had you nodding in response. “Have a good night, too, Y/n.” 

You waved at him as you closed the car door and pulled out your keys, and you tried not to think about the fact that he waited until you were fully inside the building before he started the car again and left.

[qwimblenorrisstan]

Stitching Us Together

Chapter 2: The Puzzle

Summary: Following the previous night’s bizarre events, and the consequences it had brought, the group of four is back at it again, this time with one more puzzle piece than before.

Word Count: ~ 3.9k

Warnings: allusions to death, violence, military things, bri getting policed and parented, sassy teenagers, awful school food, nothing terrible

A/N: help I love writing for this story so much I wrote 2k words in my study block, I think I’m finally getting the hang of accents + writing for multiple characters at the same time, so now I’m just going to try and slowly flesh things out and make sub-conflicts, hope you enjoy<3

Requests are open!

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Junior was just praying to whatever gods that would listen that his dad didn’t find out.

And that Bri wouldn’t snitch.

He’d already had enough talks of “responsibility” and showing a “good example” for Josie and some of his younger relatives, even if they were worse behaved than him, and he hadn’t done anything that bad at their age.

“That oatmeal done something to you?”

His father’s ruddy voice, raspy from his previous years of smoking, interrupted his thoughts. He glanced up, finding his father wearing a black beanie, beard combed out, but he could still see the bits of sleep clinging to the corners of his eyes. Junior’s bowl of oatmeal for breakfast lay in front of him, almost untouched, other than a few little cat bites he’d taken.

“No, just…tired.”

His dad raised a brow, knowing it wasn’t like his son to be so distracted. He must’ve known the anxiety he saw in his brown eyes, because he let out a breath, sitting down in an old wooden chair that creaked under his weight. The bus would be coming by soon.

He really should finish the oatmeal.

“Doesn’t have anything to do with what Brianna was doin’ last night, does it?”

He tried not to look too guilty. Brianna wouldn’t have snitched on the rest of them being out there, but she hadn’t gotten into contact with anyone since being taken home by the police. Hadn’t responded to any of their calls or anything. Hadn’t even read all of the texts Isla had sent.

“What’d she do?”

Keep your head down.

Don’t avert your eyes.

He tried not to focus on how his hands were sweating around the spoon he held, digging into the oatmeal and shoving a bite into his mouth just to keep from saying something stupid or outright admitting it, which was hard under his father’s piercingly blue stare.

Junior didn’t think a minute had ever been longer, when eventually his father let out a little humph, adjusting his beanie, when his mum walked in just in time to save him from whatever his dad had been about to say.

“Now what’s going on in here, boys?”

Her eyes went to him, a brow expectantly raised, expecting an answer.

“Nothin’, mum.”

The sound of a heavy vehicle sighing outside reached his ears, and he got up, scraping what was left of his oatmeal out into the trash, pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

“Bye.”

He mumbled, his father giving him a firm look when he glanced back, only for Junior to board the bus faster than ever before, sitting down on one of the blue leathery seats.

The school was right up the street, but his parents always insisted he take the bus, for whatever reason, as if he’d get mugged while walking a mile or two down the road. Bri and Isla took the bus too, while Charlotte was usually at her dad’s restaurant in the mornings, being driven by her dad when she was in his custody. Her mom had her take the bus when she was over at her house.

However, Brianna wasn’t here today, and only Isla was, right across from Junior to his left. She quickly noticed him, shifting over to the right to lean in and whisper to him.

“Have you heard from her?”

He shook his head, not missing the anxiety in Isa’s tone.

“It’ll be fine, maybe she just overslept, you don’t know.”

He suggested, at this point just trying to keep the girl’s nervousness down. It was pretty obvious, from the way her leg was bouncing.

“But we still don’t know who that person was, and if she’s walking to school, what if they’re waiting or something? And she hasn’t answered any texts either or called me back. I mean, I know she’s dry, but she always-“

“Isla.”

She must’ve realized she was rambling, because she slumped into her seat with a sigh, and Junior put a hand on her shoulder. He made her look like an ant, and he just now realized that.

“Her dad probably took her phone, and jumping to conclusions about last night isn’t going to help anyone. We can talk to her once we get to school. You have second and third block with her, right?”

“Yeah..”

“Exactly, and Charlie’s with you almost the entire day, so am I, we’ll manage.”

She breathed out a sigh as the bus stopped, wheels beginning to slow as the large, old vehicle also sighed as if to match her, the small doors on the side opening as everyone began filing out.

Predictable as ever, Charlie was standing with a hand on her hip by the entrance of the school, scanning through the crowd for them, finding the two of them, and cocking her head to the side in silent question.

He shook his head once.

She pursed her lips but didn’t question it further as the three of them grouped up.

“About time.”

She said, giving both Junior and Isla a look.

“For the millionth time, we can’t control when the bus gets to our houses and drops us off, Garrick.”

Isla said, shooting Charlie a venomous look, before walking off into the crowd. Charlotte raised a brow, glancing over at Junior who stood there like a big lumbering oaf, everyone having to move around him.

“Who pissed in her cereal?”

She mumbled, grabbing Jr by the arm and dragging him off to their first block. He chuckled lightly.

“Language, Garrick.”

He said, imitating the manner that Isa had said ‘Garrick’, before shaking his head and muscle memory kicking in as he began walking through the school without Charlie dragging him.

“She’s just worried about Bri. You know how they are.”

“Thick as thieves, I know.”

She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Jr shrugged, strolling into their classroom as he set his bag down by his seat, which happened to be right to the left of Charlotte’s seat.

She took her bags out in an organized pile from biggest to smallest, laying out her pencil and highlighters for the day, as well as a color-coded notebook with stickers neatly placed on it. Junior simply grabbed a notebook out of his bag, hoping it was the right one, and snatched a pencil from Charlie’s pencil pouch.

She gasped, trying to grab it back, but too slowly.

“Don’t you dare. That’s one of my nice mechanicals.”

“It’s a pencil.”

“Give. It. Back.”

He grinned, dangling the pencil in front of her between his fingers, and snatching it away right when she tried to grab it.

This happened about three times, before she huffed, and snapped.

“John Price Jr, give it to me.”

His full name being said made him drop the pencil he’d claimed from shock, and he grumbled about something under his breath while Charlie picked it up, placed it back into her pencil pouch, and fished out a normal orange wooden pencil before placing it down onto his desk with a light ‘clack’.

“Thanks.”

He said dryly, and she gave a snake’s smile.

“You're welcome.”

She replied a shade too sweetly.

The first bell rang, meaning everyone had to get to their class within five minutes, and Junior watched as Isla walked in, still sulking, and promptly sat down next to Charlie.

“Where were you?”

Jr asked, brows raised as he saw her pull out her things from her cluttered bag, and push them onto her desk, not bothering to organize it at all. Messy and uncoordinated, but somehow making sense for her. That was definitely Isla.

“Getting the stick out of her ass, hopefully.”

Charlie muttered, casting a look at her, and Isa shot her a glare in return.

“I was emptying my bladder, Johnny-boy.”

Isla responded, slowly fading out of her bad mood as Jr cringed at the nickname. Johnny-boy was not something he wanted to be called. Anything other than junior or ‘little johN’ that some of his relatives affectionately called him. It always made him a bit irritated, now was no different.

”That’s lovely.”

He said dryly, and the bell rang not a moment later their first block beginning. Junior tried not to worry himself, but he hadn’t seen Brianna yet, not through his glances to the halls, trying to catch her walking by, or through his frequent checks to his phone when the teacher wasn’t looking. No word of her.

That was until the second block.

He walked in, backpack over his shoulder, glancing around the hallways, entering his classroom. The teacher wasn’t there, probably in the bathroom or getting some water, and most of the students in this class were clustered in small groups, talking about god knows what. He recognized some of them from brief conversations, but others were from different grade levels and whatnot.

Someone he did recognize, though, was the human version of an angry, wet cat sulking, when he saw a familiar blond braid, walking over and finding none other than Brianna Riley in all her scowling glory.

”Where have you been? We’ve been trying to get ahold of you for-”

”This can wait until lunch.”

She said, and Jr sighed, walking back to his seat. This particular teacher had caught onto the little friend group quickly and promptly separated all of you for her peace of mind. He didn’t blame her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t annoyed by it.

Fine.

It could wait until lunch.

~

After listening to her Spanish teacher drone on for nearly an hour, Charlotte decided that she wanted to never hear his somehow monotonous voice ever again in her life.

Something must’ve heard her mental prayers because her worries and thoughts were quickly interrupted by the bell ringing through the classroom. Girls started packing up, picking up their bags, while the boys shoved their things in their messy backpacks and began shoving people out of the way to get to lunch. Per usual.

She could put up with their overly strong colognes, their strong-smelling deodorant, and even the disgusting smells of sweat they would leave behind in classrooms or on the bus, but the thing she couldn’t stand was all the shoving and idiotic hyena laughing she heard in the hallways.

Slipping her notebook and pencil pouch neatly into her bag, she waited at the door of the classroom for when she could find a spot to slip through and leave, interweaving between the crowds and masses of people, the metallic clanging sound of the small lockers some chose to use filling the hallways.

She strode down the hallway, turning to the side so as not to bump into two girls standing around and blocking everyone for no reason, spraying their perfumes so many times that her nose burned when she smelled it and went to one of the side stairwells that led to the lunchroom.

The main stairwells were always clogged, so she’d learned to use the side ones in her freshman year after nearly being trampled.

It meant that she usually got there before everyone else, which she did today, getting in line and walking over to the table that the group of four usually took up, and sliding her lunchbox onto it. A perk of having a family that ran a restaurant was that she always got good lunch food, never having to eat whatever sloppy mess of barely-qualifiable food the cafeteria served for lunch.

The rest of her friends, however, were not so lucky.

Isla arrived first, waving from the lunch line, and going through it before sitting down and watching Charlotte unpack her daily sandwich with nothing short of pure jealousy.

Bri was next, Isa noticing her in the line, per usual (She always had an uncanny ability to spot people in crowds, probably because of her obsession with the Where’s Waldo games) and pointing her out. Junior was right behind her, the both of them arriving at the table at relatively the same time.

Had today been an A-Day and not a B-Day, they would’ve had nearly identical schedules, and been here at the same time. But it wasn’t.

”You wanna explain why ya haven’t been answering none o’ us?”

Isa asked, the frustration in her tone obvious despite the food shoved into her mouth. Charlie cringed at it. Junior’s big, brown eyes didn’t hide his worry at all, but he remained silent for now.

”’M dad took my phone and the walkie, said I’m on house arrest for a month.”

They let out a collective breath at that, and most definitely not in relief. Junior and Charlotte opened their mouths to speak at the same time, before catching each other’s eyes, and Jr gesturing for her to go first.

”What did the police do, I mean, do you have a fine or anything?”

She questioned, and Bri’s scowl deepened.

”Detention for a week straight, is all.”

Charlie heard Isla mumbling, and doing what she assumed to be cursing under her breath, but her accent was so thick when she was worked up that she could hardly even decipher it.

”I’m assuming that means you won’t be coming by for a while?”

She asked with a raised brow, feigning sarcasm despite the worry that tugged at her. They all usually met up after school at her grandparent’s restaurant, then Bri would walk them all home, other than Charlie, since she stayed with her dad until he was done working. Some nights she would take the bus to her mom’s house, though, sometimes only on weekends, sometimes only on weekdays. It depended on how the custody was worked out every month.

But the fact of the matter was, it would be strange not having her there for a week.

”Not for a month. That’s par’ of the house arrest, can’t go out at all.”

Even stranger not to have her there for a month.

”I know your dad can be strict, but a month? Seems a bit overkill.”

Junior said, shaking his head lightly, before taking a spoonful of cafeteria tray beans into his mouth. Isla remained oddly silent, but eventually spoke, her hand going to dig into her backpack.

”Well, on the bright side, look wha’ I brought.”

She said, pulling out the manila file folder that Isla had told both Charlie and Junior about last night, after the entire arrest. Charlotte didn’t remember every detail from her Scottish friend’s rambling but knew the gist of it. At least she hoped.

A deep sigh from Bri.

”Let’s see if it was worth it,”

She said, and Isla opened the file up, placing her open backpack on the table to hide the folder from anyone in view. After what had happened last night, she didn’t know who to trust anymore. Who could’ve been in that office with the folder, who could’ve led them out to the school and called the police?

”I was lookin’ through it last night, and it’s weird, just our dad’s name’s with little nicknames in the middle. Sort o’ like a dog tag.”

She said, opening it up, and surely enough there were different things on each page. The key part of it was the names listed on one of the pages, as well as other things that had been crossed through with a thick black marker, covered up. Charlie could’ve sworn she could still smell the Sharpie ink from it. Twisting the page to a proper angle for her to see, she took a good, long look at the page.

Cap. John Price

Lt. Simon “Ghost” Riley

Sarg. Johnny “Soap” MacTavish

Sarg. Kyle “Gaz” Garrick

Everything else was either redacted or blotted out. All of them paused for a moment before Bri spoke.

”Your dad’s first name is actually Johnny?”

Isla looked confused for a moment, before taking one look at Brianna’s slightly judgmental and flabbergasted expression, and busted out laughing.

The tension in the air deflated quickly, as Jr joined in, and Charlie let out a few giggles herself. Brianna still looked quite confused by the time they were done, glaring at the piece of paper like it was the root of all evil.

”No, seriously, I thought it was John, and Johnny was just a nickname. You’re telling me that…”

She muttered, before sighing and shaking her head as if to shake off whatever had possessed her for a moment.

”Never mind.”

Jr picked up on the blonde’s subtle cues of embarrassment, and allowing himself a final little chuckle, he then refocused on the file at hand.

”Back on task, guys.”

”Right,”

Isla said, glancing back down at the piece of paper, skimming over it again, and lifting it to one of the buzzing cafeteria lights as if to try and see through the ink covering more than half of the words.

”So, what does this even mean?”

Isa asked, and Charlie took the paper from her hands, putting it back on the gray table.

”It means our dads have been keeping secrets from us.”

Brianna’s eyes narrowed, glancing at the paper again, then at the rest of them, eyes drifting over each of them quickly.

”Why go through all that effort? Never met a vet’ tha’ hides their background, unless they were on tha’ wrong side of a war.”

Junior and Charlie’s eyes met, briefly remembering the conversation they’d had in that alley before. It was risky to reveal it now, especially when Isla could hardly keep a secret from any of her family, but she felt odd hiding it.

“They were Special Forces,”

She said in a hushed tone, leaning in, her eyes glancing around for any eavesdroppers. Both Bri and Isa looked mildly surprised, Bri more angrily confused than anything.

“Wha’s that?”

Isla asked with a furrowed brow, and Charlie answered back.

“Dealin’ with terrorists, missing bombs, all that deal.”

“How do you know wha’ they were?”

Bri asked with narrowed eyes, all the while Jr silently watched, keeping his mouth conveniently full of food so he couldn’t be questioned like Charlotte.

“I..went through my dad’s computer a while back, got into some old locked files. There wasn’t a lot that wasn’t redacted, but it gave some of their mission reports.”

Bri and Isa shared a glance, the scot of the group’s nostrils flaring.

“And ya dinnae think te tell any o’ us, nay?”

Per usual, her accent got thicker the more worked up she was, leading to some mostly non-legible sentences that took Charlotte a few minutes to even mentally translate.

“I thought it would be better to let them come to us about it first, and I don’t want my dad to know I snooped through his computer and broke into some of his files.”

“Righ’, because the Garrick family name can’t be tarnished, can it?”

Bri said in a rough tone, Isa opened her mouth again, but one of the blonde’s hands lying on her arm that was on the table stopped her, making her settle down. Looking upset, rightfully so Charlie would admit, Isla then turned her attention to Jr.

“An’ what about you? You’re not mad?”

She questioned as if the obvious answer was yes. Charlotte knew the obvious answer was yes, she’d kept something important from them, even if only trying to keep things good, and if they’d known beforehand then things could’ve been different.

Junior looked like a deer in headlights.

He swallowed a spoonful of beans, glancing between the pair at one end of the table, and back at Charlie on his side, clearly weighing his options here.

“I think it was wrong to keep it from us,”

Isla opened her mouth to speak again, her fiery temper stoked higher, but Jr cut her off before she had the chance.

“But, I think she had the right intentions, and the only thing we can do is move forward.”

He finished. A sigh of relief from Charlotte, one of probable resignation from Isla, and a final sigh of reluctant agreement from Brianna.

“He’s right. Whoever set us up last night, they knew this,”

One of her fingers went to tap against the names on the file.

“And for wha’ever reason, they wanted us, or at least Isa, to know it too.”

Junior nodded, the gears in his head coming back to life, working out a plan, a solution to a problem.

“Do you think it’s possible they only meant for Isla to follow? I don’t see how they could’ve known she would walkie all of us.”

He suggested, his forearm now propped against the table, the back of his hand holding his chin up, utensils now discarded on the lunch tray that he’d forgotten about by now.

“Unless they’ve been watching for a while.”

Charlie suggested, and a collective shiver went through the group at that. The thought of someone watching them, stalking them for days, weeks, even months on end was nothing short of terrifying.

“I’m wonderin’ if our shadow-man called the cops, or someone outside all o’ this did.”

Isa said, stabbing at her food with renewed vigor, Bru nodding as if to support her point.

“Who would be up that late other than someone purposefully watching, anyway?”

Charlie asked, and Jr shrugged.

“Some people go out for a midnight cig, or stay up late watchin’ the game, you never know. We can’t just write off any civilians because we’re suspicious and paranoid.”

Jr offered to the conversation, another nod from everyone involved. Bri glanced over at Isa, then at Charlie.

“You said they were special forces?”

She asked, and Charlie nodded. A slight pause.

“Any other details you remember from those files?”

Charlie wracked her brain, thinking if anything she remembered from the lines of text she’d gotten out of breaking into her father’s locked computer files. It had been gibberish, mostly, just military lingo that she didn’t understand and a lot of numbers.

“Not really. Numbers, a few maps near Western Asia, military lingo. Nothing I understood.”

She said, and Bri nodded.

“Why? What’re you thinkin’?”

Jr then asked, and Isla watched carefully.

“You’re saying our dads killed terrorists and I’m assumin’ a whole lotta other crazy shit, so even if they’re retired, doesn’t mean any of their relatives are safe. Anyone lookin’ for some payback…”

Her voice trailed off at that, shaking her head. Junior’s first thoughts were of his little sister and mother, and the countless nieces and nephews he had, Charlotte’s mind going to her grandparents and family, and Isla’s mind shooting to her giant Scottish family.

“They wouldn’t. I’m sure you’re just overthinking’ it.”

Isa said, swallowing thickly. A shadow passed over Bri’s eyes as she spoke next, her eyes focusing on the paper, on her father’s name, more on the thick letters before her father’s name.

‘Lt.’

“You ever met my uncle, nephew, or my grandparents?”

She asked, and they exchanged glances before Junior dared to speak.

“No, I’ve…never heard of them before.”

Charlotte watched Bri’s knuckles go near white with her death grip around the cafeteria fork she held which looked all too close to snapping.

“Exactly.”

Tags:

@valscodblog

@seconds-over-first

[daydream-cement]

Movie Night (NSFW)

Miranda Hilmarson x F!Reader

Authors Note: Thank you for this lil idea from @bri-sonat <3 and thank you @booitsrue for making sure it was adequate :) it's a teeny tiny lil smutty fic about mirandy andy

It surprised you when Miranda’s hands began wandering under the blanket that covered the both of you. When she held out her arms and beckoned you to sit in her lap, naively you hadn’t expected her to attempt to seduce you. She had been the one to select the movie and had been talking nonstop about how much she thought you were going to like it, so you were expecting her to want to pay attention.

Now her hand was tracing the inside of your thigh, her eyes still glued to the tv screen. You felt the growing ache between your legs, closing your eyes momentarily in an attempt to center yourself. Perhaps she wasn’t trying to initiate anything and you were taking the physical intimacy in a sexual way? 

Miranda quickly disproved this theory when her hand traveled higher, thumb grazing the fabric covering your core. She wanted to tease you, fingers grazing over your heat before traveling back down your thigh, repeating the same action again and again until you whined in desperation. 

Your girlfriend leaned in close, her lips millimeters from your ear when she whispered, “Do you want more?”

“Mhmm...” You hum in response, parting your legs wider for her to hopefully slip her hand down the front of your pajama pants so you could feel her wonderful fingers against your clit. She wasn’t interested in teasing you any longer as she was longing to feel your wetness against her fingers. 

Miranda’s lips dove down against your neck, beginning to gently scrape her teeth against your flesh. Her hand pressed to your abdomen, sliding down beneath the waistband of your pants and underwear simultaneously. The movie was about to be entirely forgotten about. 

Swiftly, her fingers found your clit, circling it with an achingly slow speed. A groan rises from your throat, your head thrown back to rest against Miranda’s shoulder. Her free hand came down to rest on your abdomen, keeping your hips steady as she applied more pressure to your aching clit. 

Miranda’s face rose up by your ear, teeth nipping at your earlobe and her own voice hoarse from her own arousal, “I love how wet you are for me. You always feel so good.” 

Your moans were growing louder as her pacing shifted from tantalizingly slow to leg-shakingly rapid and back again. Each time she brought you to the brink of orgasm before pulling you back again. For Miranda, claiming to be inexperienced with women, she was incredibly talented in manipulating your clit and bringing you the most Earth-shattering orgasms. 

Miranda was the softest top in the world, most of her own pleasure derived from your own orgasms. Her voice cut through your moans of pleasure, “You are so incredible… I’m so in love with you. Cum for me, sweetheart…”

You were happy to follow her commands, giving yourself over to the waves of pleasure Miranda was bringing you. The pacing of your breathing increased, your legs beginning to shake and thrash. The moans and whimpers spilling from your mouth were uncontrollable. 

“So close...” You mumbled, turning your face into Miranda’s neck, attaching your lips to her flesh and sucking gently to bring her a portion of the pleasure she was giving you. 

“Yes, honey.” Miranda threw her head back, allowing you increased access to her neck to bite and suck as you pleased, not caring what marks you left behind. Her fingers alternated between quicken and slowed pacing, bringing your orgasm closer and closer than before. When your cries grew louder and your body leapt against her hand, Miranda pulled you closer and increased her pressure on your clit. 

You were sent tumbling over the edge, shockwaves pulsing across your body as you rode out the orgasm. Your lips detached from her neck so you could cry out in ecstasy. Miranda continued moving her fingers against your clit until you reached out, grasping at her forearm to signal for her to stop. 

She stopped her movements, turning her head to press yet another kiss to your forehead. Miranda pulled her hand from your pants, opting to wrap it around your middle and snuggle you closer. She would have you return the favor until later tonight after the movie was over. For now, Miranda wanted you impossibly close so she could press kisses to your temple as you continued watching the movie. 

When you attempted to turn your attention back to the movie, you were absolutely lost, unsure of what was happening after Miranda’s detour of attention. The blonde dipped her head low by your ear, beginning to explain how the plot had thickened since you started watching the film. Her arm stretched out before you, beginning to gesture along with her words, her chin coming to rest on your shoulder, happily explaining what you had missed. You tilt your head, leaning your head against hers as you hum along, showing you were actively listening to her. 

Miranda was so pleased talking about the movie, you couldn’t help turning your face and pressing a kiss to her cheek. To say you were in love with her was an understatement. She was everything to you. 

You finished the movie in her peaceful embrace, her lips dipping down by your ear when the credits began to roll, “Ready to continue our conversation from earlier?”

[480pfootage]

any thoughts about the bri-guy (brian thomas)?

hehe bri guy

i do have a lot of thoughts abot him... (under cut, extremely long tangent I apologize)

hmmm His mom wasn't in the picture while his dad was one of those paranoid doomsday preppers so he didn't have much of a childhood.. However with his dad being the way he is, he drilled into Bri's head at a young age how to handle guns, encode messages, some basic medical stuff, n other stuff like that. I think I mentioned it in another post but my Brian has ASPD and uh... growing up with the constant dread of everything being snatched away from you and the world ending combined with arduous 'training' kinda fucked him up in the head.. Around ten-ish he began to practice hunting animals with the neighborhood pets. Sooner or later though, he was found out (he may have preformed an impromptu surgey on the class pet lol) and got appointed a counselor at school.

During middle school he started to realize that he was exceptionally good at getting what he wanted. He could throw on a nice charm and even if things didn't go his way, he could steer it back to where he wanted....

High school was when he met Tim and Brian went onto college to major in psychology whilst rooming with him :3 Tim was the only one that Brian really really trusted back then, and the only one who knew of his diagnosis (which was a reason why he got so pissed when he found Tim's medical records because he thought that having trust in each other constituted to Tim having to tell him everything). And then marble hornets happened but you all know about that stuff.

OH before getting into the more pasta oriented stuffs just wanted to say that the operator and slendy aren't the same entities in my universe (if you wanna know more just ask!!). Either way, under the operator's sickness it was said in the mh comics (3.5) that his head was just filled with all these lines of codes and I interpret that as him being paranoid to the point that he had to encrypt anything he was saying as he thought he was going to get caught by someone.

OKAY pasta time. After mh happened, Tim had tried to escape the op and ended up somewhere up in wisconsin. He was at his breaking point then, he wanted his friends back, he didn't want to be on the run again. And then he met slender. At first he thought it was the operator and i don't want this Tim tangent to go on too long so uh... hehe ask if you'd want more but basically Tim made a deal with slendy to bring one of his friends back under the guise that he and said friend had to gather people for Him to feed on. He had asked for Jay, but that didn't work (Jay was already in Skully at this point) and so Brian was brought back from the ark.

hmm ok after that things get a bit fuzzy for me i can't remember what I planned out, but basically Brian, Tim, Kate, and Toby live in a cabin in the woods together working for slender. Brian doesn't consider himself human anymore, despite the fact that his heart was still beating, hell he didn't consider himself 'Brian Thomas' anymore. During the beginning stages of his revival he would always keep his stupid mask on and was extremely snappy. Brian is a very petty person and he holds grudges, so remembering the fact that Tim kept his medical records away from him, he continued to steal Tim's pills (and also Toby's whenever he came around and pissed him off). But those times are rarer now that he has gotten used to his.... situation.

Brian's the stalker type in their little operation. He gets the information for the gang and scopes the place out, not usually going in for the kill (that's Toby and Tim's jobs). Kills to him are something to relieve stress, whenever a victim is able to escape the others, he pursues them, the thrill of the chase is really what gets him going (it's a plus if he gets to hear them beg for their lives), he likes being in control of the situation. During missions like those he likes to make little snuff films, like I said he finds killing to be stress relief, and he edits it with his quirky little style (think the weird tta vidyas TT) accompanied with nature documentary type videos he takes himseslf.

I would talk about his relationship with Amos but this is getting a bit too long GRHGHRGHGAHGHAGH. OK. Next time I wil........

[hannahhook7744]

Isle Representative Group Chat! (Part 3);

Usernames: Captain/Theeleganthannahhook/Captain Elegant= Hannah Hook, adoptive daughter of Zarina the pirate fairy and Captain Hook. livelaughfuckyou= Zee Snoops, daughter of Madame Medusa and Mr. Snoops. theisleshottestprince= Lucas ‘Luke’ Tremaine-Westergaard, son of Prince Hans Westergaard and Drizella Tremaine. Gothbitch= Darcy Aoratos, daughter of Hades and Narissa. thegoddessoffear= Skia Aoratos, daughter of Persephone and Hades. Dashadowman= John Facilier, son of Ursula and Dr. Facilier. Clever= Kailani ‘Clever’ Athanasiou, daughter of Ursula and Dr. Facilier. Flamingkaratemaster= Treycor Fae-Aoratos, son of Maleficent and Hades. Princess Peach= Peachy Gothel, daughter of Mother Gothel and Captain Flynn. Yellow devil= Remi de Vil, son of Cruella de Vil. Gothmermaid= River Le Beak, son of Lord Fathom and Beatrice Le Beak. WarriorBri= Shan Bri, daughter of Shan Yu. Thescarletking= Aaron King. Redbitch= Anna King. Thephantomstabber= Alexander ‘Alex’ Procrustes Aoratos-Sinclair ||, son of Helga Sinclair and Hades. Sunshine boy= Noah Aoratos, son of Persephone and Hades (he's 8).

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

Chapter 6: Damn it, Julie.

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

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

Trigger warnings: sibling on sibling violence, stress, anger, swearing, threats of knife violence, etc.

Co-written with @igetthedisneybox as usual.

6/01/2024 at  12:20 PM.

Thephantomstabber: WHO THE FUCK IS SCREAMING, I'M TRYING TO FUCKING SLEEP YOU FUCK HEADS!

livelaughfuckyou: that would be our elegant captain

theisleshottestprince: Why are you trying to sleep, it's noon?

Thephantomstabber: Fuck you. Fuck your mom. Fuck your whole family!

theisleshottestprince: Well, someone's cranky.

theisleshottestprince: No wait that's how you always are.

Thephantomstabber: Do you want to get shot?

Princess Peach: No threats in the GC Alex!

Thephantomstabber: You're not the boss of me. 

6/01/2024 at  12:30 PM.

Sunshine boy: Whys Luke laughing?

Sunshine boy: And whys Alis swearin?

thegoddessoffear: Luke is laughing because Treycor smacked Alex because he was being a dickhead–don’t repeat that word–and Alex is sweating because Treyocr smacked him. 

Princess Peach: Noah’s in the chat, nobody’s allowed to swear starting now!!!!

Redbitch: How long has he even been here????

Gothbitch: His mom gave him a phone, remember?

thegoddessoffear: I forgot mom did that.

theisleshottestprince: I thought that happened weeks ago?

Sunshine boy: It did!

Sunshine boy: I was just tryin’ to think of something to say!

theisleshottestprince: Darcy, babe, I'm adopting your brother.

Gothbitch: The fuck you are! 

Gothbitch: You have more siblings than I do and my dad is literally a god . Go adopt your own siblings!

theisleshottestprince: But your brother is adorable!

theisleshottestprince: My siblings, minus Dizzy and the triplets, are just annoying. Or dead. 

Thephantomstabber: I was being attacked and none of you did anything?! 

Gothbitch: We all agreed to stay out of siblings’ arguing. 

Thephantomstabber: BITCH YOU'RE MY SISTER!

[Seen]. 

6/01/2024 at  12:40 PM.

Princess Peach: Treycor! Stop hitting Alex!

Flamingkaratemaster: Wasn't me this time. 

livelaughfuckyou: so we jus gonna ignore that h is still screaming or

Gothmermaid: oh, Julie Foulfellow just brought one of her contracts again.

Gothmermaid: *broke.

Thescarletking: that and her dads won't stop approaching children and breaking their contacts. 

livelaughfuckyou: i see. continue on w ur argument spawns of hades

[ihateapbiology]

It’s A Date

Part 2 to Well Well Well

You rubbed your eyes and stretched and turned to your right… no Julien. You can still see the indentation of her body on the futon. “Fuck, well if she went back up to her room this is gonna be hella awkward.” You start to collect the few things you have and fumble for your phone to call an Uber. You check the outlet forgetting if in your tired haze last night you plugged it in but instead you find Julien’s block of an iPhone 5. You laugh to yourself and then think “wait wouldn’t she have brought her phone up?” If on cue you hear from behind you “morning sunshine.” You turn to see her holding two plates of food and two cups- well trying to hold it. You walk over to help her carry it all. Food a la Julien has always been your favorite.

“Thank you so much Julien wow you didn’t have to do that” you grin.

“no no i love cooking it was my pleasure” she responds.

“You fell asleep so fast last night” you tease digging into the food.

“It’s easy to sleep when you feel safe and comfortable” she says with a smile but the shocked look on her face after she realized what she said makes you take mercy on her and not press it.

“I’m loving this new house Jules you’re an official grownup it feels like.”

She beams “thanks I bought it last year I mean the realtor showed it to me and it was immediate. The windows are just like the ones we talked about.”

You nod and remember back in your guys’s small little Nashville apartment spending nights surfing Zillow joking about buying one of the fancy houses.

Julien continues “so with your fancy new job you gonna buy an apartment in DC and Nashville or…?”

“Yeah I’ve thought a lot about it and it just makes the most sense I mean I could get a dingier place in DC cause I’ll be there less and then hopefully a nicer one in Nashville.”

“That job sounds like it’s gonna be gettin you some good money huh?”

You blush and nod “mhm”.

She grins “so we’re both basically official grownups then huh?”

You swallow and nod and think to yourself grownups should be able to talk about their feelings. “Julien?”

She gives a half smile “I can tell where this next sentence is going.”

You smile “do you think breaking up was necessary?”

She sighs “Do I think it was absolutely 100% the only feasible option? No. Do I think it was okay in the long run and it had some benefits? Sure. I think it allowed both of us to make significant bounds in our respective careers without the stress of a long distance relationship. I think it also allowed us to look back at eachother fondly and not have to watch our beautiful relationship slowly dissipate and have resentment grow.”

You nod “I agree with everything you said I just..there were so many times in the past 3 years when I would know that whatever moment I was celebrating would’ve been 100x better with you.”

She gives a sad smile “me too y/n me too but I mean what’s that phrase distance makes the heart grow fond? From what I can tell you’re still an amazing woman and you’ve really matured. I mean hell you’re talking about your feelings.”

You laugh and rebuttal “let’s focus on how YOU are talking about YOUR feelings…I miss you Jules.”

“I miss you too y/n very much.”

You two sit in silence before Julien speaks up.

“I don’t know how to phrase this cause I’ve never done it before but could I get to know you again? Could I take you out some time?”

I grin covers your entire face “yes I’d like that a lot.”

She grabs her phone “what’s your number? Is it still the same or?”

“It’s changed here…Jules can that phone take another contact without imploding” you tease, you secretly loved her phone.

“Hey hey hey don’t make fun of my girl” she grins and types in the number you give her.

You guys finish your breakfast and you put on your clothes from last night to go to leave.

She laughs “I am not sadistic I’m not gonna force you to Uber or walk while lookin like you are doing the walk of shame.”

You blush “oh thank you yeah I didn’t need that embarrassment at 10 am.”

She brings you a hoodie and some shorts.

“Thank you!”

“No problem but now it forces you to see me again” she smiles.

“trust me I wouldn’t need a reason” you grin as you open the door “you better text me Baker.”

She smiles “well how about you text me where you’re staying now and we go to dinner tonight if you’re free.”

You nod “it’s a date.”

[leonsliga]

Y’all I learned how to make gifs!!

[vaalthus]

Convergence Part 1 (spoilers)

*Deep inhale*

*Long exhale*

THE TIME IS NIGH!!!

So to start,

I have to say I was utterly shocked that Jaania chose not sacrifice any more of her forces to buy her more time weave her spell but after giving it some thought it's an action that makes sense for her. As I mentioned in commenting on the Final Steps release, Jaania is finally able to see that our motivations we're always intended to strive for everyone's sake in the best of ways we knew how. As a result, she's hoping we can see and have faith in the good she's trying to bring about through her ascension.

As such, it makes no sense in her eyes to waste the lives of those who have been so loyal to her in helping her reach this moment when there's a chance their lives can be spared by us and they in turn be able to experience the world she seeks to achieve. Though those same troops would have been more than happy to lay down their lives for her so that world is brought to fruition. It's just a pity Jaania didn't give the order to retreat sooner otherwise the last of the Pelekoans might have survived.

What troubles me is the comments like these:

It's no secret to anyone that the last of Jaania's forces were those who were most loyal to her and her vision but what I find troubling here is the inevitable aftermath of these people once this conflict reaches its conclusion. As Hansa, pointed out to us in the Awakened Depths, Jaania became a beacon for those who had a simple wish to be achieved: to be free of any and all magical threats that Lore offers. However, it's not just these soldiers that want that, it's the nobles, the farmers, the little guys that have been supporting the Rose all these years across Greenguard and likely still do, sure that number has definitely taken a dive since the start of Book 3 but I doubt it's still insignificant. All of those people will soon find their dreams and the person who was meant to bring back a sense of uninterrupted peace in their lives is about to be dashed. We can only hope their response to this reality is constructive as opposed to the opposite.

What I've been saying all along folks :3

Miss me with that "we're not so different you and I" speech.

I like to think this is the Hero taking all they've learned about the ability to make choices in the Maleurous saga and is just throwing that much needed wisdom back at Jaania who feels the need to instill order in the world.

This comment is interesting to me because we have seen the Hero effectively try and be everywhere all at once for eveyone's sake, quite almost obsessively I might add, and I feel if Jaania hadn't recently just had a change of heart on her perspective on them, and taken the time to analyze the Hero's deal, she might have been able to more strongly appeal to their need, their desperation, in protecting everyone they can. Not that it would work either way, the Hero's distrust and deep-rooted fear of her, as seen in Fear, showed that getting us on her side was simply not possible.

If she was more predatory, of course, she would have used that aspect against us as every other villain that attacks our psyche has done before. A neat contrast here is what I'm pointing out.

*sigh* Every single new questionable scene with this woman continues to force me to find comfort in the fact that her and the other Magesters too dependent on the Mana Core Fragment will be dead eventually thanks to Roirr's actions. I truly want to believe there's a positive future for the Shapeless Empire that doesn't involve exploiting its citizens through this agreed upon cycle without violence but the rotting hands of the past never want to let go of control easily.

YOU GAVE THEM TRAUMA AND WEREN'T EVEN SORRY!!!

Okay technically this right here is the more sensible reasoning, but I stand by what I said! What I like most in this scene is that we simply reaffirm what we've been trying to tell her since this whole mess started with her organization. Everything we bring up about the harm the Rose has done thus far has been consistent and aren't negated by the fact that Jaania, at heart, wants to do what she believes is best for everyone's sake.

What I love even more however is how she averts her eyes the moment we bring up Akanthus because she knows she can't even reasonably, or delusionally for that matter, deny she has made a grave error in judgement in allowing Akanthus' abuses on, well, basically everyone, and soon everything, in his wake. It's that "Yeah, ya got me there look" that just sends warm feelings down my spine.

Now if you told me at the start of this saga Jaania was going to offer us a bargain to effectively play as the puppeteer god of fate alongside her, I definitely would have called you insane. It's moment I'm sure comes as a complete shock to everyone, it certainly did to me anyway. And honestly why wouldn't it? It's one thing to ask us to stand down and simply allow her to achieve apotheosis but it's a completely different matter to propose to come and play god. But it's one that sadly makes all too much sense.

Jaania has admitted that she has made terrible mistakes and has been too much of an imperfect being in her quest to achieve peace and prosperity for Lore. So better way to accommodate for her ham-fisted actions and judgement so far then to have someone like the Hero to hopefully keep her worse tendencies in check. As opposed to someone like Akanthus or Zadd who would, in all likelihood, make things worse had they been afforded the opportunity. There's another reason I believe she makes this offer but I'll get to that later.

Nothing else to say here beyond epic callback!

Out of all the Hero's moments in this quest, I believe this is where their experiences throughout the Maleurous saga shines through the brightest.

In a way, you could argue that, in spite of the obvious chaos that will come with it, Jaania's plan is to instill an eternal order, a Destiny, upon Lore itself, one in which she will insists never ends as she dictates. Yet the Hero knows the importance of others being able to decide the paths they choose to walk, I'd argue they've known that since Calamity, without some transcendental hand to yank them in another direction against their own will. So they certainly would not agree to be the one to dictate the fate of all those that live on Lore let alone allow someone as misguided as Jaania to do it.

Okay, I think we all knew that the void pearl was too easy a solution to deal with Akanthus and was likely not going to work but there's something absolutely amusing about Hesperrhodos being used a shield to be sent to the Void and then teleport immediately back to Lore without issue since, ya know, Elemental Spirits can just do that at any time. Hell I at least would have thought that thing would have let a monster through or something. The downside to seeing Zvezdana looking completely slack-jawed after these events unfolded is the fact that we still don't have a damned plan to take Akanthus out of commission...so yeah.

I have to say I love this final appeal Jaania gives to the trio of combatants because it shows a few things. First, that she still fails to understand that her organization was really only giving the illusion of peace to all those the dwelt within range of the Rose's reach and even then only really through the lens of normal humans. Second, it displays that she never truly had a proper grasp on the relationship she fostered with those she worked alongside. Lastly, she places too much hope that wanting the same things is not the same as agreeing ideologically how get those things.

Which inevitably leads to one option: Violence

I have waited 12. long. years. for this very moment. 12 years spent waiting since we broke free from that ice cap. 8 years I waited since from the first time we saw her again in Timelines. 7 years since the original Gala and our spat. 4 years since dealing with the second rift and I had a deeper appreciation for her mental state which motivates her.

And now I am finally here to fight Jaania one on one. So, you best believe I fought alone to prove which of us was could beat the other!

The following boss fight that ensues is perhaps one of the best thematic story fights in the entire game at this point, as it should be for the antagonist that is the face for this entire saga. I'm quite pleased that devs designed her to be difficult, hell I'm even glad that couldn't easily soul gambit my way out of this one.

In terms of mechanics, it's everything you could expect, Jaania does everything she can to debuff us and each time she fails and has her health cut down in bulk she commands even more strength to take us down, even attempting to go for the old freeze'em solid trick and when that doesn't draw any purchase thanks to Aegis she relies on her new found soul weaving arts to dispatch us. All the while we deal with the tragic music in the background tugging at the heart strings for a conflict that should have been avoided.

How far we've come since the Doom Amulet was our first real challenge in-game for year, eh?

And can I say how amusing it is that Jaania trapping us in ice is something that could only work once? Aegis apparently always had the means of unfreezing, he simply couldn't due to Draco keeping everyone away from where we were placed. So, with him already being close by to protect our soul from going poof, there's no way he's going to let us get trapped again. Even more amusing is to think about how Jaania is basically using the old ice soul weaver meta to take us on.

But after all of that we prove in the end, with or without aid, to be stronger than Jaania, at least in this exact moment.

It's a pity though that the moment does not last as expected Jaania will not let it end without fighting at her full potential.

This right here is the reason I believe Jaania made her initial proposal to us and why I bring up the Maleurous saga. For me at least, it's easy to see the similarities between Jaania and Notha. Both are exceptionally powerful accomplished mages that desperately sought out to change a world that gave them deep rooted traumas that they wished to change that world so that the suffering they experienced could not continue. However, where Notha wanted to bring about chaos to change the order of the world; Jaania is hellbent on imposing order on the chaos the world of Lore and its magic offers its inhabitants. Furthermore, I suspect, unlike Notha, that Jaania cannot bring herself to reconcile with the trauma magic has placed on her life and the people she cared about. Most defining of all though, which will likely be her downfall, is her need to be in control of everything so that she or anyone else might never hurt again.

Antagonists like Jaania are always left in a hard spot. They seek to rid the world of suffering and conflict forever and while that is a noble desire they fail to realize how unfortunately intrinsic those things are to existence. Thusly they bang their heads on a wall until they're bloodied and broken only for that dream they longed for to dissipate before their very eyes.

And so, her last option is to go full synchronization. I can't guess what happens next here with Jaania. Judging by the increased streaks of white in her hair, her soul is continuing to unravel though I think she's in no worse of a state than Tomix was when he was at the end. I was originally going to say synchronizing with a corrupt spirit created through forbidden magic would spell instant catastrophe for Jaania but then I remembered Aspar was created through the same means, although he was just a fragment, so she might pull off the effect with little issue.

I suppose we must simply wait and see what becomes of our troublesome Arch Magus and where the winds will turn for her ambitions.

And of course, there's still this asshole and the doom device.

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 33. brb x oc

a/n: was Rooster born to be a dad???? yes.

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: fluff, mentions of pregnancy, ROOSTER IS POWER DADDYING RIGHT NOW.

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!! )

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @shrimping-for-all @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

@emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads @bigpoppajes @taytaylala12

@caitsymichelle13 @becks-things @caatheeriinee07 @dhwanishah09 @jesfreedark @katiemcrae

-

Beatrice woke up to the sound of a guitar being strummed, not inside their room but downstairs, the smell of something made her blink her eyes “Roos?” She questions, looking around for her husband but without success in finding him. Which meant he was the one downstairs.

Since it was Saturday already and they were planning on buying everything for Nicole’s room she could understand why he was up so early. He’s been excited about it ever since the first time he suggested it.

Beatrice took a few minutes to get up, smiling as she heard his voice and the guitar, it was gentle and soft, probably because he didn’t want to wake her up so early on a Saturday, but she was already up anyway. She kicks off the covers, stretches her arms above her head then smiles down at her stomach “Good morning Nikki.” She grins, “Let’s greet daddy, Hm?”

She slowly makes her way down the stairs, the music becoming louder alongside Rooster’s voice, that raspy tone always sent shivers all over her body, but she couldn’t identify the song yet. The dogs were probably with him since Eleanor and Jack got used to him quite quickly, it was early morning too it was time for their breakfast as well. 

As she got closer to the kitchen, the smell of toast and freshly squeezed juice entered her nostrils and she saw him sitting on the kitchen chair with the guitar on his lap, strumming random notes and murmuring songs for the two puppies who were sitting by his feet, staring at the tall pilot as if he was out of this world. Beatrice leaned against the doorframe in silence, smiling at the scene with her cheek pressed on the threshold, admiring her handsome husband from a distance.

Beatrice could watch him from afar and admire him every day, he was so handsome, he still made her feel the same way since the first time they met. She still blushed, she still felt she was stepping on clouds when it came to him but could she be blamed? She had a healthy relationship with a man who loved her, who was her husband and who was now the father of their baby.

Sometimes she still had these thoughts of ‘this is just a very detailed dream and you will wake up any second’ only to be reminded, amazingly so, that he was real and what they had was real too. Beatrice got a lot better from the beginning of their relationship, she had to admit that, but things like that happened sometimes…and he understood.

When she called him one in a million she was being sincere.

She had never met a guy who is so understanding and so kind and he was hers. Well, he wasn’t her property, she’d never call him her property, but he was just…him. He was just Rooster, her Rooster, her pilot.

She didn’t know what brought these thoughts up today, maybe the pregnancy hormones were acting up a lot more, but she was just very thankful for him.

Speaking of him, he stopped strumming his brand new guitar to lift his head and meet her eyes. His hair was a bit messed up from sleep, waves more prominent and his eyes were relaxed, the usual gray sweatpants were traded by his dark cotton briefs since it got warm late at night. He noticed her watching him from the doorframe and he smiles, setting the guitar aside, about to greet her but the puppies and Jolene did it first. The two little babies scampered to Beatrice’s legs, Eleanor yapping and jumping so high she almost touched Beatrice’s shoulder while Jack whined and begged to be picked up, which he eventually was.

After greeting Jolene as well, Beatrice walked into the kitchen with Jack nestled against her neck, his curly tail wagging happily, “Serenading the dogs?” she questions as she nears the kitchen table.

“Asking for their opinion.” he smirks,turning his eyes to Jack, “Hey,little man, don’t snog too much of her attention. She’s still my wife.” Jack yaps almost in disappointment, then wriggles in her arms to be put down. Beatrice does put the puppy back on the floor, giving Rooster an amused look, “What?”

She places her hands on her hips, tapering the large shirt at her waist and showing the hourglass figure Rooster adored so much, “That was a bit mean.” she chastises him, narrowing her eyes but chuckling when he opened his arms and wriggled his fingers. Beatrice let out a comically painful sigh, then sat on his lap only for him to keep his hold on her the second she settled down.

“Maybe I like getting your attention too much.” he muttered against her neck, kissing the soft skin with quick little pecks, “Maybe you spoiled me.”

“Oh,I spoiled you, huh?”

Bradley hums a laugh against her neck, then puts his chin on her shoulder, “Yes, ma’am, you spoiled me so much that now I have issues sharing you with others.” he jokes, sending a look towards Jack who just looked up at them with the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen, “...oh fine.”

One of his arms let go of Beatrice’s waist to scoop up the puppy, a grunt leaving his mouth because he was getting bigger and bigger every day. Beatrice smiles, holding the little puppy in her arms, watching as he turns into a little ball in her hold, “He’s a lot more clingy than Eleanor.” The white puppy was just zooming around the house, around them and around Jolene who chose to lie down by Bradley’s feet, “Which isn’t bad, right? You are just a tiny baby.”

Jack nuzzled both Beatrice’s cheek and Bradley’s mustache, being more curious about the man’s facial hair than anything else, “Alright, okay,” the pilot laughs, playfully grabbing the dog’s face and shaking a bit, just enough to make Jack nip his fingers gently, keeping his still growing teeth on the digits, “Anyway, speaking of tiny babies,” he drops his eyes to Beatrice’s stomach, “How’s ours?”

“She’s fine.” she replies with a sweet grin, “I haven’t got the nausea yet, which is interesting.I got really sick when I found out about it, but these past months have been really calm.”

“People are going to call that trail the baby trail after you were there.”

She laughs a bit more, adjusting Jack within her hold as Rooster kept her there, with his lips briefly coming in contact to her neck, “Maybe,I’d feel honored.” she says, using the hand not holding Jack up to gently touch the side of his face, “Who can say they found out their pregnancy while hiking? I think that’s a one of a kind thing.”

“And Nicole, when asking about it, is going to think that’s the coolest thing.”

Her smile softened, “...it’s odd but, seeing that she has a name now, that she is…you know, she’s now a person with a name and we refer to her as such.” she gently holds Jack’s paw in her hand, rubbing the back of it with her thumb, “...I don’t know, am I making sense?”

“In thinking that things are changing?” he suggests, “A little, it’s not…like we didn’t think of Nikki,” the way he said her nickname only made her heart beat faster, “As anything but a person, but you know, she’s not four months along, she’s healthy, she’s…you know, a baby now.”

Beatrice purses her lips but nods, ‘Yeah, she’s a baby now.” Jack’s soft snore made the two of them look down at the white and brown puppy, his form curled up in Beatrice’s arms as he slept peacefully, pink tongue peeking out from behind his lips and the little dots on his forehead - just like Jolene’s - were pointed downwards as he dreamt. “I better put him on his bed.” but Rooster doesn’t take his arms from around her, “Roos.”

“One more,” he purses his lips, “Before you go.” she just chuckles quietly but does kiss his lips, twice, with Rooster slowly letting go of her body, watching with an intense gaze as she put Jack down, “Where you going?”

“I just need to charge my phone.” she says, “We’ll be out today and if someone sends me a message I’ll be able to get it.”

“But you are coming back,right?” he coos, dropping his eyes down the length of her body, ‘Because what if my lap gets cold?”

“Oh my God.”

“It could happen.”

Beatrice smiles, walking quickly back to him, cupping his cheeks and kissing him one more time, “You are too smooth,” she whispers against his lips, loving how he immediately smiled, “And you have me around your finger, I’ll be right back.”

His smirk is still present when she backs away, their eyes never leaving each other until she’s finally out of the kitchen. Rooster eases out a breath, one that holds a lot of emotion, one that says ‘she’s just everything I wanted’ without him having to say anything. He hears Beatrice’s footsteps going up the stairs, entering their bedroom and stopping right by her nightstand.

With her gone, he stood to his feet to continue their breakfast, which wasn’t a lot, it was just toast with scrambled eggs and some yogurt. Ever since Beatrice got pregnant they’ve changed a bit of their diet, not too much since they didn’t eat a lot of take out or anything of the sort, but he did enjoy preparing their meals whenever he could.

Beatrice returns a few minutes later, her bare feet touching the floor the same way as before,”My mom asked if we needed any help.”

“Your mom?” his hand hovers on top of the toaster with his eyebrows furrowed, “Bea, it’s seven in the morning.”

“Yes,I know.” she laughs almost humorlessly, “She…wants to know if we want my old crib.”

“Wait, your old crib is still around?”

Beatrice shrugs her shoulders, approaching him by the counter,”I honestly thought she gave to Leo and Cyn, or even to anyone else really…but I don’t think if it’s still usable. She said it is but, you know how they are.”

He smiles, looking down at the toaster when the freshly warmed up bread popped up, “What did you tell her?”

“That we were going to buy a new one for Nikki.” she explains, grabbing the plate he just placed the toasts on, “And they don’t need to worry.”

Which was like telling a lion to not eat meat, her parents, ever since they found out about her pregnancy, have been trying over and over to jump in on certain decisions. While she understood her mother’s suggestion about using her old crib, she wanted something new - also because the old crib definitely needed repairs, more than just a fresh coat of varnish-  for their baby.

She also knew her mother was itching in the idea of joining the two of them while shopping so Beatrice cut that really fast before she could elaborate more. Her mother always did that for every grandchild to be born, every single one of her siblings knew how bad she’d get whenever baby shopping with them - Guillermo and Sabrina were the first ones, so they had to warn everyone else about it and now almost all of them knew what their mom did. 

Plus, it was something for her and Rooster, she didn’t want to add someone else into the picture even if it was her mother. 

Both of them worked great together, both of them knew what to do and what to look for, having someone else there would only stress both of them out. “How long do you think we’ll be there?” she hears him ask, “Buying everything?”

“Well,” she thinks on it for a few seconds, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe one hour, one and a half? We are going to get everything after all.”

“Unless we get distracted and buy more.”

“Unless we get distracted and buy more,” she repeats with a grin, then places her hands on her hips, “Are you going to be distracted,Roos?”

“Baby,I can be heavily influenced sometimes.” he smirks, leaning down to peck her lips, “Not often, just some days. Now come on, let’s have breakfast, I’m starving.”

-

They were doing a good job, they managed to find a crib, a nursery chair and a dresses-changing table that matched the room’s design amazingly. Beatrice noticed that he was even more excited than before, he was the one that found the things first, he was the one that checked the sizes and he was the one adding stuff - that was small enough to fit - in the shopping cart.

And then they went to the clothing aisle.

Then they were just getting distracted every minute.

While the furniture they got wasn’t exactly cheap, Beatrice feared they might spend more on clothing and decoration than anything else. Especially because Rooster was the one who’d mention it first. They got separated for a few seconds, just enough for Bea to grab the mini aviator suit, and when they met again her husband had his arms full of clothes all of them infant size, “Roos, oh my God.”

“Look,” he wiggles his fingers, showing a pair of minuscule socks with chickens on them, “We gotta take these too.”

“Honey these…are great but they are so…” she hesitates, “There’s so much Roos. We’ll also get gifts from everyone else and I’m sure clothing is part of that.”

He pursed his lips, looking down at the pile of baby clothes in his arms with a slight frown, “But look,” he picks up an onesie “This one has tiny fawns!”

“...Roos.” she smiles at his excitement, then sighs when he throws the Jack tactic of puppy dog eyes at her, “Okay, fine, we can take those. But remember we have to–”

“Maybe a new lamp.” he says,”Maybe those cloud lamps- no it wouldn’t work, oh!Ohhh! A flower one!” he starts to back away as he puts everything else in the cart, “I saw one a few feet away, come on.”

“Rooster I–” Beatrice stops, shakes her head with amusement and follows him, keeping the mini suit on top of the other clothes. “Your daddy is so happy, yes he is.” she whispers to her stomach, the bump a bit more visible now, “He’s the most excited about this, well so am I but, you know what I mean.” she rolls the cart forward, easily finding her husband since he towered over pretty much everyone in that place.

He was grabbing a large box from a high shelf, looking towards her with a bright grin, “Look.” He pointed to the box, ‘It’s a giant flower.” and indeed it was, it was huge, it’d cover a lot of the ceiling but she liked it. Beatrice leans her folded arms on the back of the cart, watching as he put the box inside, “What else do we need?”

“Well,I don’t know Roos.” she smiles, supporting her head on her palm, “Do you think we got enough?”

“...oh, a bookcase.” he says suddenly, making the height of the said bookcase with his hands, “About this height, maybe those modular ones you can latch on the wall and then get it off when time goes by.” Beatrice just agrees with him, stepping back from the handle so he could grab it with one hand - the other immediately interlacing with hers - “Honestly I can’t wait to build all this.”

“I know,Roos.” she smiles, “...honestly,I’m glad to see you so excited.”

“Well,I have a reason to.”

Her eyes dropped to the floor, “No,I know…I mean, you seemed really off this week.” the muscle on his jaw popped, she could see it under his skin, “You don’t have to tell me what happened yet but, I just want you to know I’m here for you.Always.” and she squeezed his hand.

Honestly he’s been pushing those images to the back of his brain ever since it happened and while it got better over the months, he still had some flashbacks of that huge chunk of metal almost ripping the jet’s wing and if it wasn’t for Mav’s quick thinking they’d both go down and- “I know baby.” he whispered, rubbing the back of her hand, “I know…I…I appreciate it a lot.”

Beatrice was glad he was opening up a bit more, it wasn’t an answer but it was something at least, “Don’t mention it Roos…anyway,how about we get some more decor?” 

He let out a soft laugh,  thankful she changed the subject, “We might need another cart.” he murmured, seeing that the one they were taking along was already reaching the point of exploding with items of different shapes and sizes, “If you want that is.”

“That depends how much stuff you wanna buy-”

“I’d take this whole store if I could.” he says, “Everything reminds me of Nikki.”

Beatrice’s heart fluttered with happiness, because she understood what he meant. Everything they looked at, everywhere they looked at, they could see their daughter enjoying something from it…which was strange to admit since she hadn’t been born yet. Beatrice moves her gaze from his for a brief second, her green eyes stopping at an item they hadn’t seen before, “Roos, look.” she steps away from the cart to grab the box, turning for him to see, “It’s…tiny robins.”

It was a crib mobile with small maroon and red robins that moved in a circular pattern, “It’s perfect for her room too.” 

“It really is,” he picks it from her hands, turning it front and back to check the size, “And we can cram it in here, I’m sure there’s space for it.” he chuckles, lifting a few items and putting it underneath…then noticing how there was no space left anymore, “Well…I think it’s done now.”

“I think so too.” she pulls out her phone to check the time, “It’s…well, it’s eleven thirty-five right now and we did spend one hour and a half here. So…I think it’s better if we wrap this up and go have lunch.” 

“Fine by me, gorgeous.” he smiles, leaning down to kiss her temple, “How are you feeling?Everything good?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah,I’m fine.” she says after putting the phone back, “No nausea nor anything, Nikki is behaving quite well. I’m just craving something sweet so after lunch I think we should get something and-”

“Beatrice?”

A voice, one she hadn’t heard in a very long time called her name and Beatrice’s hand latched on Rooster’s out of habit. Her husband furrowed his brows, looking behind her to see an older woman with platinum blonde hair and gold framed glasses approaching them with her own cart. He narrowed his eyes…she looked familiar, “Who’s that,Bea?”

Beatrice took a while to reply, but she inhaled enough to come out with an answer, “Margareth. Eric’s mother.”

Rooster’s whole demeanor changed once she said that prick’s name, his eyes darkened and he brought her closer to himself. He took the time to analyze the surroundings, analyze Margareth herself, almost thinking that Eric was somewhere close by. “Beatrice…it’s been so long. How are you?” Eric’s mother looked…tired, she didn’t look like she was going to do something that’d harm Bea…but he couldn’t be sure.

“Hello Margareth.” she whispers with a small smile, “I’m fine, um,this is my husband,Bradley.” Margareth looked from Beatrice to the tall - brooding - pilot behind her, standing tall like a statue guarding a treasure. Both of them expecting some sort of reaction, neither knew what kind, but seeing your ex-mother-in-law was definitely strange…especially when buying baby stuff.

“Hello,ma’am..” was Bradley’s reply, eyes still moving about to check for that big headed asshole…but he was polite.

Margareth smiled, Beatrice noticed how the bags under her eyes were more prominent, “Nice to meet you, dear…I see you are buying something.” something? Their cart was about to burst. “As am I…for Kevin. My eldest.”

“Oh, he got married?”

Margareth inhaled shakily, “...no.” and she slapped on a tight grin, almost painful, “He hasn’t…anyway, I just wanted to say hello and I hope you two have a lovely day. Good bye,” and like she showed up, she disappeared almost like the wind. 

Both Bradley and Beatrice watched her walk away, “Should we be suspicious?” Rooster asked, “About seeing her?”

“I don’t think so. She was always kind to me…a bit oblivious to her son but very kind.” 

“Do you think she is really here to buy stuff for her son?”

Beatrice frowns, “From what I remember,Kevin was always the one that never had a stable relationship for more than a few weeks…so yeah,it’s possible…anyway, we better go, there’s a lot to do today,Roos.” she squeezes his hand, guiding him to the opposite side that Margareth went to, even if his eyes were still directed at the older woman, almost trying to see if Eric’s head would pop out of anywhere.

He didn’t and when they walked to the parking lot, there was no Blue Corvette parked there. He felt calmer but still alert to his surroundings. Now that Beatrice was pregnant his protective mode was on fire.

And he could easily burn someone.

[theragethatisdesire]

hi rage, it’s bri! (i made a new account while you were gone hi but that’s not why i’m here right now)

i’m so, so sorry to hear about your split with mr. rage. a few years back i also had to end a 3 year relationship with someone i loved very much and thought was the love of my life, where the relationship had become too toxic to deal with any longer. my advice 5 years down the line from it is this: allow yourself to feel it. whether it’s happy, sad, angry, indifference, grief- whatever the feeling is, feel it. let it come and sit with you for a bit. listen to what it has to tell you. you’ll find the feelings pass much, much faster with just a little acknowledgement.

do things alone!!! take yourself on a date!!! it sounds SO cheesy, i know!! but there is magic in it. give yourself the love you deserve. spend time with friends and family, too. they’re a treasure trove of love, support, and advice. they want to see you through this, too.

i don’t know what your specific situation is, but this is advice that comes more from hindsight for me: don’t talk to them. exchange things, move out, whatever it is, then don’t talk to them. block them, even. doesn’t have to be forever, but for the short term. getting space from it allows you to truly process your own feelings about it without any influence from them.

to conclude, the most beautiful and heartbreaking thing is that life moves on! it’ll hurt for a bit, but wounds scar and then fade. like i said earlier, i’m 5 years on the other side of it. my scar is faded, and it no longer hurts. despite the bullshit i went through in the relationship, the breakup, and the initial aftermath, i can smile at it. because i chose me. over and over again.

and you’ll get there too. i promise.

my dms are always open if you need ANYTHING at all. i’m here and sending you all the love in the world 🖤🖤

BRI I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU GENUINELY I LOVE YOU THIS BROUGHT THE BIGGEST GRIN TO MY FACE.

i must address this gorgeous new blog/aesthetic, it's so beautiful, and i'm so proud of you for opening up this cool new space for the ships and your writing, i'm def going to go creep on you later!!

the advice you've left me is genuinely truly invaluable. like it's just exactly what i needed to hear today. it has been really, really difficult, honestly, but there's so much relief that comes with removing something like that from your life, and the outpouring of support i've gotten both on and offline has just been staggering. i am so appreciative of you and your friendship, thank you for sharing your experience because sometimes, the best thing to hear is "i did that too, and i am better for it".

I LOVE YOU JUST SO VERY MUCH. i don't even have anything to say just in awe of this. thank you so so so so much.

<3 rage

[sunnybunny2468]

any fun facts abt ur ocs? im rlly interested in them :3

oh betbetbet

four facts about each!!!

BRI:

-she's a huge vocaloid fan!! specifically english songs, but she is the type to listen to darker songs in japanese so long as the instrumental is peppy and poppy. nobody tell her.

-she knows how to understand ASL somewhat, a friend taught her! she messed up salt four times and mixed up salt and fork. ....she really just struggles with salt, huh.

-she is incredibly sheltered, but has bad luck sometimes. if it's deceptively dark under cuteness, she will likely fall for it....especially if it has pretty girls. DDLC and Madoka Magica are things she will never recover from.

-her spirit animal is most totally a bunny. besides her love of them, she taps her foot when she's impatient, she runs more than she fights, and she jumps in place when she's excited but good luck getting her to eat anything but coffee rolls. :3

ALLIE

-she is popular canonically, but doesn't like it too much. ah, it's so hard to be a girlboss girlfailure in this world...luckily, she's good at telling them to fuck off. (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

-Bri thought her trans flag on her wall was hatsune miku related. i mean, miku did help her figure out her gender crisis, so task failed successfully.....??? once she finds out, Allie is just planning to make it into an inside joke though. Bri aint escaping this one.

-oh her gaydar is crazy good. she knows Bri is sapphic as fuck but isn't about to tell her. she's gonna let the clueless girliepop figure it out herself like she had to <3

-used to do magic as a teenager, and brought Bri along. still wears her mini tophat near constantly, to the point the pin always attached to it is her calling card at this point. doesn't do magic often anymore, but she did use it to keep her sis occupied when she was little, along with annoy Miley these days by confusing the fuck out of him.

MILEY

-he loves rain. his favorite gift from the group is an orange umbrella he got for his birthday. the reason he likes it? it keeps other people inside and lets him chill alone outside of his room. vibe lil man.

-if there's one hobby he loves, it's photography. he only takes pictures of other people or things, and often ends up deleting them out of worry someone will criticize something about the photo and he'll lose interest/start hating it. the only exception to this is pictures of animals and his friends, since he loves them too much to get rid of them.

-mans sleep schedule is FUCKED. he stays up late googling things related to his friends interests, and then spends the rest of the day paying for it. Bri is very tired (pun intended) of having to constantly wake him up in the middle of class because he decided that last night he wasn't gonna sleep until he beat a minigame. that he had only started an hour ago. which was 11PM.

-he shares a birthday with hatsune miku! (august 31st, 2007) his weeb of a best friend reacted to this by, without fail, every single goddamn year, showing up wearing at least one miku related thing. he's grown to love it, promise. that exhausted sounding sigh is a loving exhausted sounding sigh. <3

LAVENDER

-Lavender is a nickname, due to her first name being hard to pronounce, that being Liliana. eventually, everyone started either calling her Lav, Lavu, or Lily. Most times it's just Lavender though hehe

-she keeps track of the favorite snacks of every close friend she has, and makes sure it's always in her basket. for each member, Bri has coffee rolls, Allie has chocolate chip cookies, Miley has fruit gummies, and she packs herself white chocolate.

-she refuses to curse under any circumstances. you cannot make her. she sees it as inappropriate and immature. compare this to Miley, who if you asked him to stop cursing, would tell you 'are you goddamn serious?- shut the hell up and fuck off!' they argue over it often. very often.

-she wears gloves whenever she leaves the house. originally, she started wearing them as a gift from Allie, but slowly realized it made her more comfortable to have them. sadly, her trips into the woods behind her house and picking flowers have ruined quite a few pairs :(

thank you for asking! <3

[twothpaste]

Hiiii Clark I don’t know if you do or if you’re still taking these but I’d be interested to hear any thoughts or hcs you had about Leder :0

oh man, oh man. being asked about leder by the guy who did The Best (Only?) Written Leder Ever??? half the stuff sloshing around in my brain about this guy was written by you!! i'll bow my head gently and share what i've got, though.

i first played mother 3 a decade ago. to this day, The Leder Scene still gives me chills. i know some players aren't fond of the way the game delivers its big exposition dump, and i can't blame 'em one bit. but for me personally, it's an ethereal moment in time. something about the way the scene is set, the music, the red lighting, how solemn and straightforward it is. the way you first see leder's chained up legs, before climbing upstairs to hear him speak for the first time, and weave the whole story back together. lucas hearing it from a quiet old friend, of all people. the way he pauses every few lines to to ask if lucas understands, and kiddo has to politely nod along like "yep, y'can keep going," as leder painstakingly re-arranges his entire reality. the dawning sense of pity for this humble unsung martyr, and his broken community, and the world at large. agh. there's just nothing quite like it.

my favorite detail, one i latch onto, is that he's surrounded by books. on a literal level, i figure, aw, at least he had somethin' to read, all that time he spent locked up. symbolically, though? they must represent history, yeah? the one and only guy who remembers, imprisoned with volumes of forbidden knowledge. were these his own books? brought from the old world, and secretly stashed away somewhere? were they brought from different eras through porky's phase distorter? i feel like the former's more sentimental, but either works. got a postgame headcanon that leder founds a library in tazmily. books become a precious commodity in the postgame world. not a lot of written word remains from back before everything went to hell. they take whatever they can find and salvage, be it history or science textbooks or novels or picture books. their community'd be wise to cherish, preserve, and share this stuff, instead of locking it away. the idea of a valuable lesson learned. leder naturally being the one to foster a space where history can finally breathe.

i like to think he and lucas could become close friends. kid lucas would've always taken the time to greet leder, and leder would've always answered with a smile. postgame, my lucas develops a fervent interest in history, and stories about his community. i think he'd ache for that context. kid's got a sense of duty, too, not to repeat the same mistakes. leder'd be relieved to finally get everything off his chest. and, seeing the egg as a fatal mis-step, he'd be eager to amend tazmily's greatest mistake. giving future generations the opportunity to learn from their past. besides, leder n' lucas are both mild-mannered folks with a lot on their minds. i imagine the two of 'em could spend hours talking, or listening. maybe share some green tea. lucas goes exploring in the ruins of the world, and brings back tattered volumes for leder's library. they talk about novels they've read, and the good ol' days (with bittersweet retrospect), and hinawa.

on account of his absurd height, leder's probably got some sort of fantastical bone condition that makes it difficult to travel or get around much. on account of his age and world-weariness, maybe he's just fine with that. i imagine he's got a quiet, brittle, crackly voice, and you kinda have to listen extra close to make out every word. some of his neighbors are sheepish to get to know him again. but once their memories start returning, they recall him as a near n' dear pillar of their apocalyptic escapades. they eventually come bearing apologies, somber gratitude, and fond recollections. your premise of leder working as a sort of guidance counselor for recovering amnesiacs is brilliant - and the thought of him bearing that burden alone makes my heart ache. that he'd give himself up for so long, on behalf of everyone else, then go right ahead and selflessly do it all over again?? it's so heavy, but so real. i can definitely picture him falling back into old resolute habits, forgetting he's a deeply wounded person who needs time and care to recover too. maybe his fellow steadfast souls, like lucas' family, duster, my favorite guy bronson perhaps, could eventually lend him some shoulders to lean on.