#we told him 1)that one is way too small 2)you should not put any animal in a hamster ball its very bad for them

[toytulini]

Media Depiction of bad things in fiction is not necessarily an endorsement but i think one i willstart #Cancelling for is depictions of neglectful pet care that is super common at least until hamster balls and fishbowls and critter trail things stopbeing fucking sold

[whos-the-seme]

Someone should honestly write a "4 Times That Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu Accidentally Acted Like Partners (and 1 Time They Finally Realized It)" thing. That would be so fun.

Here's some of what I got so far, though they're a tad incomplete. Feel free to add on!!!

Sharing a Bed

Shen Qingqiu stumbled into the peak lord meeting right before the starting time, eyes barely even open. He was impeccably dressed, as always, but the slight puffiness of his eyes and the way he was fighting back a yawn signaled to the fact that he might have rolled out of bed barely 5 minutes before.

He ignored the stares that he received as he made his way over and slid into the seat next to Shang Qinghua, groaning. Shang Qinghua raised his eyebrow at him, mildly amused. For once, he was the slightly well-rested one and his friend was the sleep-deprived mess. Despite this, he started pouring a cup of tea for the other.

"Shen-shixiong, did you even sleep properly? You were the one who told me to go home and get more sleep." He finished pouring the tea and passed the cup to his friend, before pouring himself a cup.

Shen Qingqiu groaned even louder at his words but accepted the cup. "I know, I know. I just couldn't get to sleep, though." He took a small sip and sighed in delight. "It's just that your bed is so much more comfortable than mine, so--"

Shang Qinghua, midway through drinking his tea, choked.

Silence.

Absolute silence. Mu Qingfang slowly put down his brush while Qi Qingqi's eyes darted between Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu, a smile spreading on her face.

Shen Qingqiu's slowly turning cog wheels finally realizes what he just said and the people he just said it in front of. Shang Qinghua made a slight wheezing sound.

Yue Qingyuan set down his own teacup, smiling pleasantly. "Shang-shidi's bed?"

"His guest bed!" Shen Qingqiu nearly yells. "I meant to say his guest bed, obviously that's where I sleep when I stay over, where else would I sleep, of course! I sleep in the bed that is not his!"

Shang Qinghua begins to nod his head frantically. "Yes, yes, he sleeps in my guest bed." Noticing the still dangerous glint in Yue Qingyuan's eyes, he begins to wave his hands around as if trying to stave off his impending doom. "N-not that Shen Qingqiu sleeps over often, or anything, ahahaha! It's just a spare bed that I happen to have--"

"I see," Yue Qingyuan interrupts, still smiling. Never before has Shang Qinghua feared for his life like this. He continues cheerfully, "Thank you for the clarification. Why don't we get this meeting started."

2. Robe Mix-Up

Shit! Shen Qingqiu had completely forgotten that he had to teach a morning class and was running late. He might have had too much fun last night reading trashy novels and bitching about them with Shang Qinghua, only to forget his responsibilities to his students. Upon waking and realizing the sun was already up, he nearly shoved Shang Qinghua off the bed trying to get up.

In his hurry to look presentable and still arrive on time, Shen Qingqiu grabbed the nearest outer robe that he could find and slipped it on, while simultaneously trying to fix his hair. Shang Qinghua, the traitor, simply rolled over and muttered something in his sleep, despite the chaos. He rolled his eyes at his best friend, despite the other not being awake to see it.

Finally ready, Shen Qingqiu rushes out of his bamboo house and starts to speed-walk, doing his best to still look majestic and peak lord-like, and not like he was running late to his own class. In his hurry, he doesn't notice the wide-eyed looks he was garnering from the older disciples he passed.

It was only when he steps into the classroom, and the previously hushed whispers and laughter of the teens fall dead silent, that he notices that something is wrong. They all stare at him.

"Good morning, everyone," Shen Qingqiu says pleasantly. No response. What, did he have something on his face or something?? He discreetly wiped at his cheeks, wondering what they were looking at. "Did something happen?"

"Shizun... isn't that...?" Ming Fan hesitantly spoke up, eyeing the blue robes that his teacher was wearing.

Shen Qingqiu followed his disciple's line of sight and looked down.

Ah. An Ding Peak Lord Blue. He must have accidentally grabbed Shang Qinghua's robes when getting dressed this morning.

Wait.

Fuck.

Shen Qingqiu can feel his face freeze.

Another brave disciple spoke up. "A-are those Shang-shishu's--"

"No," Shen Qingqiu says. His eye began to switch.

"But--"

"I said no."

Unfortunately for him, word spread fast, and by midday meal, there were people whispering about the fact that Shen Qingqiu had left his residence wearing Shang Qinghua's robes.

Shang Qinghua tsk'd at him from over the tea table they were taking their lunch at on An Ding Peak. "You just had to take my robe, huh? If you wanted to wear my clothes so bad, you could have just asked." An Ding disciples gawked at them on their way to do errands. One walked into a wooden post.

Shen Qingqiu glared at him, ears still burning red from embarrassment. "Shut up, Qinghua."

[mahmahmahmysharona]

When you and Bob have your first time…twice (pt. 1)

Bob Reynolds x Avenger Reader (Part 5/?)

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4

Here is what you learned about Bob after the kiss:

He loved kissing. Seriously, anytime you two were left alone, he was on you. In the day, these were light and quick, stolen out of the air in small moments of privacy. At night, when you two could hide out somewhere in the tower, they could be long, feverish kisses that left you both off-balance.

He stayed up late and woke up early. You never know what he did between those hours, but you were always dozing off before he did, and when you woke up, he’d already be alive to the world, watching the sunrise through the window or staring up at the ceiling. You wished you could learn the sound of him sleeping.

He waited up for you on nights when you headed out on missions. No matter how small, how easy, he was always there when you got back. (Apparently, he always did this.) Now, when you headed back to your room in the early hours, you’d barely touch your door before you heard his creaking open and felt him reaching out for you. He would follow you inside and watch you get ready for bed, climbing in beside you and letting you nest your head in the crook of his shoulder. Soon, it became the only way you could sleep at all.

You and Bob tried to hide your new relationship as much as you could at first.

You both acted normal in front of the rest of the team, but found solace in spending the nights hidden in one of your rooms. Honestly, it wasn't much different to what you were doing before — only this time, there was a newfound level of physical intimacy you were both trying to adjust to.

You hadn’t been in a relationship for years, thanks to your newfound status as an enhanced being and your never-ending line of duty. And Bob…well, Bob had his own reasons for a gap in his resume.

To put it bluntly, neither of you were novices in this particular field, but you weren’t exactly pros, either.

But it was undeniable: You both wanted each other. Now that you were allowed to, it was hard not to let the nights were you held each other get overheated fast. But you both broke away before things got in too deep. It became harder and harder, especially the more you fell for him.

Putting it down to a combination of shyness and lack of experience, you decided one day that it would be best to bite the bullet and take the plunge.

"Bob," you said one afternoon in the kitchen, with you and Bob eating lunch and hiding your joined hands under the counter. "Do you want to have sex with me?"

He let out a noise: half a laugh, half a strangled choke. "...What?" he asked.

"You heard me."

"Uh..." He looked around. It took him a few coughs to clear whatever food was now stuck in his throat from the double take. "Yeah. I mean, of course. Do you?"

"Yes." You picked some of the crust off your sandwich. You hadn't planned the conversation beyond this point. "Then I think we should. Tonight?"

He blinked. Then, remembering himself, he nodded, trying to match your professional tone. "Okay. Uh...looking forward to it."

You laughed: thank god. That was done with. And soon, you'd both have gotten over the initial awkwardness, and the real fun could begin.

That night, you waited up, wore your pyjama shorts and tank (the only thing you had that could even remotely be considered as alluring) and sat on the edge of your bed. You waited until you heard a knock at the door, and Bob came in.

He shut the door behind him and waited, softly smiling. There was too much waiting going on. "Hey. Come here," you told him, patting the mattress next to you. He moved over to your side, but you both remained in your own spot.

Eventually, he broke the silence. "I didn't know if you wanted me to get...stuff," he said. "Or if you already had."

"Stuff?"

"Condoms," he clarified. It wasn't a word you thought you'd hear Bob say when you first met him. Mind you, you never thought you'd be sitting here with him, getting ready to do what you were about to do. (Or at least, what you thought you were about to do.)

"Oh," you let out a small, breathy laugh. "Don't worry about that. It's not a problem."

He mimicked your laugh, not quite knowing why. "It's not?"

"I can't get pregnant. So, you know, it's your lucky day."

His eyebrows knitted together. "...What do you mean?"

"Just because of...what happened to me. The serum changed my biology. They said a lot of normal stuff isn't possible for me anymore."

You've told people this fact before enough times for it to become painless. But now, seeing the shattered look on Bob's face, you suddenly remembered the weight of it once again. You shifted in your seat, tearing your gaze away from him.

"I'm sorry," he said, resting his hand on your thigh. "...We don't have to do this if you don't want. Not tonight."

You snapped your eyes back up to him. You didn't want pity. You didn't want time. You wanted normalcy. You wanted him. You leaned forward and kissed him, bringing your hand up to his face and pulling him in.

He hesitated, but reciprocated as soon as he knew it was okay for him to do so. You stayed like this for a while, your lips moving against each other as you inched closer and closer. When his hand gripped your thigh harder, you took a sharp breath in. The sound seemed to flip a switch in him, and he brought his other arm to your hips, pulling you in and closing the gap between you.

You followed the movement and lifted yourself up, throwing your leg over him and resting yourself on his lap. Your arms looped around his neck, and you felt his hands grip handfuls of flesh on either side of your thighs.

"Do you want me, Bob?" you asked into his lips.

"Yes," he gasped in return. "You know I do."

In response, you rocked your hips against him, feeling the firm pressure underneath. He let out a soft moan, gripping you tighter, wrapping his arms around you. His lips found your cheek, your chin, your neck, striking the balance between pressing softly and giving away the hunger he was feeling from having you on top of him.

Your mouth found his earlobe, and you nipped at the skin there. "God," you heard from below you.

Taking that as a sign, you gently pushed him backwards until he was laying flat on the bed with you mounted above him. At being distanced from you suddenly, he appeared agitated, reaching up and grabbing you by the arms to pull you down and kiss you once more.

You rocked back and forth, increasing the friction between you, feeling him harden impossibly between your thighs. At seeing his face — a muddled mix of pleasure and concentration — you reached your hand down between you and guided your palm over him. The exhale he released was low and loaded. He was trying to hold back, and you didn't want him to.

As you slipped your hand along the border of fabric and firm muscle, one of his hands found your hair, hooking a handful and tugging gently. Finally breaking through, you reached down and took him in your grip. At the feel of him, you let out a soft hum, but he was nothing compared to the gasp that came from him.

"Shit," he said. "Oh, shit."

You held him in your hand, gently and slowly moving up and down, enjoying the feeling of his hips rising up to yours with each motion. He pulled on your hair even more, bringing your face down to his so your breaths became entangled between you. You increased your movement, pumping your hand harder. Bob moaned into your mouth, and you couldn't help it — your own moan followed, his name coming out right alongside it—

Suddenly, there was the sound of shattering glass. A lot of it.

A yell echoed from across the tower: "Holy hell!"

You and Bob sat bolt upright. You looked at him. He looked at you. You were both pink in the face and panting. It only took a second — and god, you didn't want to — but you slipped off him and went to the door.

"What the hell was that?" you asked, still feeling the knocks of your heart against your chest pounding through you.

"Uh...I think...I think that was me."

You turned to look at Bob. He was still sitting there, still at attention, now with a slightly bashful look painted on his face. You looked at him and back at the door.

"I'll be right back," you told him. You slipped outside, wandering towards the kitchen. When you got there, Walker is standing in the dark, in his pyjamas, staring at a pile of broken glass. It seemed every glass in the cabinet exploded, shattering fragments across the kitchen. Walker looked at you, dumbfounded.

"I just came in for some water, I swear to god," he said.

"Well..." You paused. "You know where the dustpan and brush is."

As you walked back to your room, you heard him yell, "But I didn't do this!"

"I don't see anyone else in the room with you!" you called back.

When you returned to your room, you were disappointed to see Bob standing, seemingly recovered from the position you were in not just a few minutes ago. Seeing your confusion, he came to you, grabbing your arms and pulling you closer.

"Is it a mess?" he asks, pressing his lips to your head.

"Yes. You really did that?"

"I guess so. I think I got overwhelmed, but in a good way. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be. I’m sorry. Maybe I pushed this too hard and too fast. I just wanted…I just wanted us to—”

“I know. Me too.”

God, now you wanted him even more. He’d never believe it if you told him, but you honestly thought that out of everyone in the building, Bob was the only one who ever said what you wanted to hear. You reached out and pulled him in. You felt his hand at the back of your neck, stroking the skin there. You wanted him again, and he wanted you (you could tell from the sound of his fluttering heartbeat by your cheek), but you wanted to let it be. You wanted to wait.

Turns out, you wouldn’t have to wait for much longer after all.

Coming soon: …Pt. 2.

Tag list: @purplefluffycows @i-shall-abide @avengersinitiative2012 @tatsunesworld @lovelyypythoness @yujyujj

[scarletwinterxx]

magnets - choi seungcheol imagine 2/2

hellooooo ~ and here we are. thank you to all those who waited and loved the first part. tight hugs to all of you! may we all find love like this irl🤍

tbh the longest story I HAVE EVER WRITTEN. i hope you enjoy it🤍for part 1, click here

for my other svt fics, check them here

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2025 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

(pics not mine, credits to rightful owner)

The days that followed were… different.

Not in a dramatic, world-altering way, but in small, quiet shifts that felt almost imperceptible if you weren’t paying attention.

For one, Seungcheol didn’t push. He didn’t bombard you with texts, didn’t corner you into a conversation you weren’t ready for. He gave you space but remained present in the ways that mattered. And somehow, it was worse than outright confrontation.

Because this wasn’t the Seungcheol you’d prepared yourself for. This wasn’t the pushy, arrogant, untouchable man people whispered about.

This was someone who was willing to wait.

Of course it was Jeonghan who finally called you out on it.

“You’re sulking,” he said flatly one night, stretched out on your couch with a bowl of popcorn. “And don’t say you’re not because I’ve known you too long for that lie to work.”

You glared at him from your spot on the floor, cross-legged and stubborn. “I’m not sulking.”

Jeonghan popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth. “Right. And I’m a morning person.”

There was a beat of silence before Jeonghan sighed and sat up properly, setting his bowl aside. “Okay, let’s try this another way. Why are you still running?”

You scowled. “I’m not—”

He shot you a look. “Don’t lie to me.”

You pressed your lips together, feeling cornered. “I’m not running. I just…” You exhaled sharply, struggling to find the words. “I don’t know how to trust this.”

Jeonghan softened slightly. “Trust what?”

“That it’s real.”

He studied you for a long moment before speaking again. “I get it,” he said, and somehow, that was worse than him arguing. “After everything, I get why it’s hard to believe someone when they say they won’t leave.”

“But, you know,” he continued, “there’s a difference between being careful and shutting people out completely.”

You scoffed. “This coming from you?”

Jeonghan smirked. “What can I say? I’m evolving.”

"Okay Charizard" you rolled your eyes but didn’t argue. After a pause, Jeonghan’s voice turned quieter. “He’s not your past, you know.”

You swallowed, throat suddenly tight. “I know.”

“Do you?” You didn’t answer.

The days that followed you found yourself stuck in a loop of indecision.

You weren’t actively avoiding Seungcheol anymore, you told yourself it was because you were busy—work had picked up, your schedule was packed, and frankly, you weren’t in the mood to deal with whatever emotional battlefield is going on inside your head.

But Jeonghan’s words had burrowed deep. "He’s not your past."

It should have been easy to accept. Seungcheol wasn’t them. He hadn’t walked away, hadn’t dismissed your feelings, hadn’t made you feel like you were too much or not enough at the same time.

Still, knowing that and believing it were two different things. You're aware that the only person making it complicated at this point is, because for him, liking you is as easy as 1 2 3.

One random day he texted,

Seungcheol: Are you free Friday? Seungcheol: If you’re not, it’s okay.

You stared at the messages longer than necessary, fingers hovering over the keyboard. And then, before you could think too hard about it—before you could talk yourself out of it—you typed out a reply.

You: where are we going?

Friday night, you found yourself standing outside a tiny, quiet restaurant tucked into a side street, arms crossed as you waited.

You weren’t sure what to expect. The last time you’d properly talked, you’d been pushing him away. Now, he was here again, proving that no matter how much distance you tried to put between you, he wasn’t going to let you disappear so easily.

“Nice choice,” he said, glancing at the restaurant. “You trying to make sure I can’t impress you with an expensive dinner?”

You rolled your eyes. “You don’t impress me in general.”

He chuckled. “Sure.”

You turned toward the entrance, pretending you weren’t affected by how effortlessly charming he was. “Come on.”

Dinner started off… civil. You talked about safe topics—work, Jeonghan’s latest antics, Mingyu’s questionable life choices. It was easy, familiar, almost like nothing had happened between you.

But of course, that was never going to last.

“You’re still shutting me out,” Seungcheol said suddenly, mid-conversation.

You froze, fingers tightening around your glass. “I’m not.”

“You are,” he countered. “You’ve been doing it since the beginning.” Seungcheol leaned back, watching you with that unreadable expression that made you want to both slap and kiss him. “What are you so scared of?”

You scoffed. “I’m not scared.”

He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “You know what’s funny? You keep saying you don’t care, but you do. And it’s killing you trying to pretend otherwise.”

Your fingers curled into fists. “If I do, will you leave?”

Seungcheol’s expression didn’t change. “No.”

No hesitation. No doubt. Just a simple, steady refusal.

You hated how much that made your chest ache. And just like that, the walls you had built so carefully started to crack.

You exhaled sharply, pressing your fingers against your temple. “I’m being difficult.”

Seungcheol leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I know.”

You glared at him. “You’re supposed to argue.”

“Why? You already know it’s true. Atleast now you can admit it”

You clicked your tongue, looking away. The restaurant was cozy, dimly lit, a quiet contrast to the storm brewing inside your head. “I don’t know why you’re still here.”

He tilted his head, studying you. “Because I want to be.”

You scoffed. “Yeah? Even when I keep pushing you away?”

“Yes.”

You stared at him, waiting for the usual signs of frustration, the ones you were so used to seeing from people when you made things difficult. But there was nothing. No irritation, no exasperation. Just Seungcheol, calm and steady, like he had all the time in the world.

After dinner Seungcheol walked beside you, hands tucked in his coat pockets, the cool night air making his breath visible in the dim streetlights. it was quiet. Comfortable.

Then, out of nowhere, he smirked and nudged you lightly with his elbow. "What happened to the girl who walked up to me at the bar all confident?"

You raised an eyebrow at him. "What about her?"

He shrugged, feigning innocence. "Just wondering where she went. Thought she had me all figured out that night."

You exhaled a laugh, shaking your head. "Yeah, well… turns out, I bit off more than I could chew."

Seungcheol chuckled at that, glancing at you with something unreadable in his eyes. "Regretting it?"

You hesitated for half a second. "No." It was quiet again for a few beats, your footsteps echoing against the pavement.

Then, softer this time, he asked, "So what now?"

You didn’t answer right away. Instead, you looked up at the sky, at the way the city lights drowned out the stars.

"Good question," you muttered.

Seungcheol stopped walking, causing you to take a few more steps before realizing and turning back to face him. His hands were still in his pockets, his expression unreadable, but his eyes—his eyes were locked onto yours, steady and unwavering.

"You keep running from me," he said, voice quieter now, but firm. "You keep pushing me away, shutting me out, making me prove myself over and over again. And I’ll keep doing it if that’s what it takes."

"I know you're scared," he continued. "I know you think this is going to end the way it always does. But I’m not them. I’m not going to leave just because things get complicated. I’m not going to get tired of you just because you have bad days. And I’m sure as hell not going to stop wanting you just because you're difficult."

Your throat felt tight. You hated how much those words affected you. How much you needed to hear them.

"You don’t have to let me in all at once," he said. "But stop pretending you don’t care when you do. Stop acting like this doesn't mean something to you when it does."

He stepped closer, close enough that you could feel the warmth of him despite the chilly air. "You can tell me, let me know if I’m waiting for nothing. Then I'll go"

Your heart was pounding now, an erratic rhythm you couldn't control.

"You’re not," you admitted quietly.

Something flickered in his eyes, relief mixed with something deeper, something warmer.

"Good," he murmured. 

At first, it was small things.

A text here and there—nothing too much, nothing that would make you feel like you were giving in too quickly. You didn’t realize when it started shifting, when you stopped bracing for him to leave and started expecting him to stay.

One night, it was you who called first.

"You busy?" you asked, voice softer than you meant it to be.

Seungcheol chuckled on the other end of the line. "No. Missing me already?"

You rolled your eyes even though he couldn’t see. "Forget it."

"Wait, wait," he said, laughter still in his voice. "Tell me."

You hesitated. "I just... felt like calling"

You didn't need to say it, he knew what it meant in your dictionary or atleast from what he learned so far. You wanted to talk, you're reaching out to him first and that made him smile.

There was a brief pause, then, "Stay where you are. I’m coming over."

And just like that, it became normal.

Some nights, he’d show up with takeout, and the two of you would eat in comfortable silence. Other times, you'd find yourself leaning into him when he sat next to you, your head against his shoulder without thinking. He never commented on it, never teased. He just let you.

One afternoon, after a long day, you called him again.

"Are you home?"

"Yeah," he said immediately. "You okay?"

"I don't know."

He was quiet for a moment. "Come over."

It wasn’t some grand confession, wasn’t some dramatic shift. It was just that—getting used to him. Letting yourself reach for him the way he had always reached for you. The moment Seungcheol opened the door, he took one look at you and sighed.

“You look like hell.” he says when you got to his apartment, holding the door open for you

“Wow, thanks,” you muttered, brushing past him

He didn’t argue, just closed the door behind you and followed you inside. His place was warm, dimly lit, the faint scent of coffee lingering in the air. You stood there for a second, suddenly unsure why you even came.

“Did you eat?” he asked, already heading toward the kitchen

You shook your head.

“Didn’t think so,” he muttered, grabbing something from the fridge. You heard him moving around, the quiet clink of plates and the sound of water running.

You sat on the couch, letting your head fall back against the cushions. The weight of the week settled on you, exhaustion creeping in, but you fought it. Seungcheol came back minutes later, setting a plate of food and a glass of water in front of you.

“Eat first,” he said, sitting beside you.

You frowned. “I didn’t come here for food.”

“No, but you need it,” he countered. “And you need sleep, too. Don’t try to deny it.”

You glared at him, but it was weak. You were too tired to argue. “You really think I came here just to crash on your couch?”

“No,” he said, watching you carefully. “I think you came here because you didn’t want to be alone.”

Your fingers tightened around the glass of water. He wasn’t wrong.

When you were done, he took the plate without a word, disappearing into the kitchen. You let yourself sink deeper into the couch, your eyelids growing heavier. By the time he came back, you were barely awake, your body losing the fight against exhaustion.

“Told you,” he murmured, sitting next to you again.

You mumbled something incoherent, your head tilting to the side—against him. You didn’t mean to. But you were too tired to move, too tired to think. And he was warm, solid, steady.

Seungcheol didn’t say anything, just shifted slightly so you were more comfortable. And for the first time in days, you finally felt like you could rest.

Seungcheol didn’t move for a while. He just sat there, watching as your breathing evened out, your face finally softening from the tension you’d been carrying all week.

You came to him.

Not to fight. Not to push him away.

You came to him because you were tired, because you didn’t want to be alone, because—even if you wouldn’t say it out loud—you trusted him enough to just… be here.

That meant something.

His hand twitched like he wanted to reach out, to brush the hair out of your face, but he held himself back. You were already asleep, and he wasn’t about to wake you up now.

Instead, he just sighed, shifting slightly so you were more comfortable against him.

“Stubborn as hell,” he muttered under his breath, though there was no real bite to it.

If someone had told him back then, on the night you first met, that the confident, sharp-tongued person who strutted up to him in a bar would be the same one sleeping against his shoulder now, he would’ve laughed.

But here you were.

And for the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel like he had to fight to keep you close.

You were slipping. your head tilting lower, the weight of exhaustion making you lean into him without a second thought. Before you could slip too far, he moved, instinct guiding him as he wrapped an arm around you, pulling you in until your head rested against his chest.

And you didn’t even stir. Didn’t tense up. Didn’t fight it. Just stayed there, completely at ease against him. He let out a slow breath, his hand resting lightly against your back, fingers twitching slightly like he wasn’t sure if he should move or not.

This was new.

You letting him hold you. Trusting him enough to fall asleep on him.

Seungcheol leaned his head back against the couch, staring at the ceiling for a moment before glancing down at you again.

The first thing you register when you wake up is warmth.

The second thing is the steady rise and fall beneath your cheek. Your eyes snap open, and the moment you realize you’re still on Seungcheol, still curled into his side, your entire body goes rigid.

“Oh my god—” You practically throw yourself off of him, scrambling upright so fast that you almost trip over your own feet.

Seungcheol groans, his hand moving to his neck, rolling it slightly like he’s trying to work out a knot. “Good morning to you too.”

“I—” Your heart is racing. “I didn’t mean to—I wasn’t—”

He watches you, amused, as you struggle for words, running a hand through his already messy hair. “Didn’t mean to what? Fall asleep?”

You stare at him, still half in shock, like you’re just now registering that you slept on him all night.

“Exactly! I didn’t mean to do that!” Your voice is slightly panicked. “I just—oh my god, I used you as a pillow.”

Seungcheol stretches, the corners of his lips twitching like he’s holding back a grin. “I noticed.”

You groan, pressing your hands to your face. “I’m so sorry. You probably have a neck cramp—”

“Oh, I definitely do.” He cracks his neck for emphasis.

You wince. “Ugh, I’m really, really sorry.”

He just looks at you, amusement laced in his voice as he leans back against the couch. “You gonna keep apologizing all morning?”

“Maybe.”

A few days later when you were out getting food, Jeonghan texted he was dropping by. When you return to your apartment, takeout bags in hand, you expected Jeonghan to be there waiting. What you didn't expect was Seungcheol sitting across from him. 

The tension in the air is palpable, and Jeonghan looks far too smug for your liking, while Seungcheol looks—annoyed? Amused? It’s hard to tell.

You blink at them. “Uh… what is happening?”

Jeonghan leans back against the couch, arms crossed. “Your boyfriend came to visit.”

You scowl. “He’s not my— Never mind. Why are you here, Cheol?”

Seungcheol stands, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I wanted to see you.”

Before you can respond, Jeonghan cuts in. “He was just telling me about the night you fell asleep at his place.”

Your stomach drops. “Oh my god.”

Jeonghan smirks. “Did you know he was shocked that you actually slept well?”

Your eyes snap to Seungcheol, who is watching you carefully. “You��” You pause, shifting awkwardly. “I mean, it wasn’t a big deal.”

“It was a big deal.” Jeonghan hums. “Because she usually doesn’t sleep well.” He looks at you.

“You never told me you had it that bad.” Seungcheol is still looking at you, his gaze softer now.

You roll your shoulders, avoiding his gaze. “It’s not that bad.”

He sighs, stepping closer. “He said you only get four hours of interrupted sleep, if that.”

You groan. “Can you both stop?”

But Jeonghan is looking at Seungcheol with something like understanding now. “And yet, she slept well with you?”

Seungcheol nods. “Didn’t even wake up once.”

Jeonghan lets out a low chuckle. “Damn.” He glances at you. “Looks like you’re screwed.”

You glare. “How?”

Jeonghan gestures lazily between you and Seungcheol. “Because you like him. And your subconscious trusts him.” He grins. “And knowing Cheol? He’s not letting that go.”

You groan again, pressing your forehead against the door. “I should’ve stayed outside.”

Seungcheol chuckles, stepping even closer, voice softer now. “I don’t mind.”

You peek at him, hesitant. “Don’t mind what?”

He shrugs. “Being the person you can actually rest with.”

And that—that’s the moment you realize you’re in deeper than you ever planned to be. You don’t say anything for a moment, just stare at Seungcheol, feeling your heartbeat pick up. Then you turn sharply to Jeonghan, who is looking way too pleased with himself.

"Get out."

Jeonghan snorts. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." You point to the door. "Get. Out."

Jeonghan laughs, standing up. "Wow. I help you realize your feelings, and this is the thanks I get?"

"You’re not helping."

"Sure I am," he says, already grabbing his things and the take out bag. He turns to Seungcheol with an exaggerated pat on his shoulder. "Take care of our girl, yeah?"

Seungcheol smirks. "I plan to."

You shove Jeonghan toward the door. "Out!"

He barely dodges your foot as you fake a kick at him. "Alright, alright, I’m going! No need to get violent." He winks. "You two have fun." You slam the door in his face, exhaling hard before turning back to Seungcheol, who is now watching you with his usual unreadable expression.

"Sorry about him," you mutter, rubbing your temples.

Seungcheol just shrugs. "I don’t mind." Of course, he doesn’t.

You cross your arms, still feeling the remnants of irritation from Jeonghan’s meddling. “So? Why’d you drop by?”

Seungcheol leans back against your couch like he has all the time in the world. “You weren’t answering my texts.”

You blink. “That’s it?”

His lips twitch slightly, like he’s amused. “You usually text back, even if it’s just to tell me to go away.”

You look away, suddenly feeling warm. “I was busy. And you didn’t just come all the way here because of a few missed texts, Seungcheol.”

He shrugs. “Maybe I did.”

You narrow your eyes at him. “You have a company to run. You don’t have time for things like this.”

He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You don’t think you’re worth my time?”

You freeze. That wasn’t what you meant, but now, hearing it like that… You shift awkwardly. “That’s not—”

“Because you are,” he says, completely serious now. “And I don’t mind making time for you.”

Your throat feels suddenly tight, so you break eye contact, looking anywhere but at him. “…You’re annoying.”

He chuckles. “You say that a lot.”

You huff, turning toward the kitchen. “Whatever. I’m getting something to drink.”

As you walk away, you don’t see his smile soften, but you do hear him say, “I’ll take a coffee if you’re offering.”

As you set down a cup of coffee in front of him, Seungcheol watches you closely. His voice, quieter now, carries none of the teasing from earlier.

“Is it true?”

“What?”

He tilts his head, studying you. “What Jeonghan said. That you don’t sleep well.”

Your fingers tighten slightly around your own cup. You shouldn’t be surprised—of course Jeonghan would tell him. But something about hearing it from Seungcheol, hearing him ask so gently, makes your stomach twist.

You exhale, feigning nonchalance. “It’s not a big deal.”

“That’s not an answer.”

You sigh, setting your cup down. “It’s true. I’ve had trouble sleeping for a long time. Four hours on a good night, but it’s usually not restful.” You try to sound casual, but admitting it out loud feels weirdly vulnerable.

Seungcheol’s jaw tightens, like he’s holding something back. “And the other night? When you fell asleep on me?”

You hesitate, then force yourself to shrug. “I guess I was just really tired.”

He hums, swirling his coffee absently. “Or maybe you finally felt safe enough to sleep properly.”

His words make you freeze. Seungcheol watches you carefully, then speaks again, even softer. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

You scoff lightly, trying to cover the sudden, unsteady feeling creeping in. “It’s not exactly first-date conversation.”

He smirks, but there’s no real amusement in it. “We skipped that part anyway.”

You roll your eyes, but he doesn’t let it go. “I mean it,” he says. “If it’s something you struggle with… I want to know. I want to help.” Your heart clenches. You’re not used to this—someone caring this much. 

You exhale, looking away. “It’s just how it’s always been. I got used to it.”

Seungcheol watches you for a moment, then leans back, stretching an arm along the back of your couch. “That doesn’t mean you have to deal with it alone.” A strange warmth settles in your chest. You don’t respond right away, but for the first time in a long time, you think maybe—just maybe—you don’t have to.

Seungcheol is naturally thoughtful, in his own way. The way he takes up space in your life has always been subtle yet persistent. But then, you start noticing more.

It’s little things at first. A new set of blackout curtains showing up at your place with a casual, “Figured they might help,” when he drops by. A bottle of melatonin on your kitchen counter that wasn’t there before, though he never mentions it. One night, when you’re at his place, you find a weighted blanket neatly folded at the end of his couch. You give him a suspicious look, but he just shrugs. “Jeonghan said it helps,” is all he says.

And then there are the nights.

You don’t even realize it at first, but he starts staying later. It’s not obvious—he doesn’t make a big deal out of it. Some nights, when you’re curled up on his couch, watching some random movie, you doze off without meaning to and he doesn’t wake you up.

It only clicks when, one night, you stir awake just enough to register the warmth at your side, the solid presence of Seungcheol beside you. His arm is draped loosely over the back of the couch, but his fingers are grazing your shoulder lightly, like he’s debating moving you or just staying still.

Then, carefully you feel him shift just enough to pull a blanket over you. His fingers brush against your arm for a second before he stills completely.

The next morning, when you wake up in your own bed, you realize—he must’ve carried you there before leaving. For the first time in a long time, you’re sleeping better. And you know it’s because of him.

Another night, something unexpected happened. Your fingers are barely grasping the hem of his shirt, like even in your half-asleep state, you don’t want to let go.

He looks down at you—your face relaxed in sleep, your breathing even. It’s rare to see you like this, vulnerable and unguarded. He knows how much you struggle to sleep, how restless your nights usually are. And yet, tonight, you’re not just asleep—you’re at peace.

And you want him to stay.

He swallows, hesitating. His instinct is to leave, to give you space, to not push. But then, your grip tightens just slightly.

“Stay,” you murmur, voice barely audible.

His chest tightens.

He exhales softly before finally relenting. He carefully shifts, settling back onto the couch beside you. You naturally gravitate toward him, your head resting against his shoulder. He doesn’t dare move, doesn’t want to break the moment.

Minutes pass, and then, without thinking, he reaches for the blanket draped over the back of the couch and pulls it over the both of you.

You sigh, a content little sound that makes his heart clench.

Seungcheol stares at the ceiling for a long time, completely still. He was supposed to leave. But instead, he stays.

The morning light filters softly through your curtains, casting a golden hue over the room. You blink groggily, your body warm and comfortable in a way you haven’t felt in a long time. You’re in your room now, that’s when you notice him.

Seungcheol is still asleep beside you. For a moment, you just stare. His breathing is slow and steady, his face completely relaxed. The sight is… nice. Too nice.

The second he sees you awake, his lips curl into a lazy smile. “Morning,” he murmurs, voice still thick with sleep. 

Then, before you can stop yourself, you mumble, “I like your dimples.”

It’s soft, barely above a whisper, but he hears it. Seungcheol’s smile widens, and just like that,  his dimples deepen. You immediately bury your face into the pillow, realizing what you just said.

He chuckles, his voice still husky. “You like my dimples?”

You groan. “Forget it.”

“Nope,” he says, his amusement clear. “Too late. You said it.”

You peek at him from the pillow, your cheeks warm. He’s still smiling, still looking at you with that soft, fond expression. It makes your heart stutter.

You don’t talk about that night—not really—but you feel it lingering in the air, in the way he looks at you a second too long, in the way your body leans just a little closer to his without thinking.

He still checks in on you, still sends those random texts that somehow always come right when you need them. He still helps you sleep—whether it’s subtle things like sending you links to calming music or, on the nights you really struggle, staying until you doze off.

And then there’s you.

You find yourself texting him first sometimes. You don’t push him away when he’s close. You even catch yourself looking at him a little too long, memorizing the curve of his smile, the shape of his eyes, the way he somehow always smells really, really nice.

You don’t know when it happened, when he became someone you reach for instead of push away but it’s happening.

It’s a slow, quiet weekend. The kind where you don’t feel like doing much, so instead of going out, you’re at his place.

Seungcheol is on the couch, arm draped lazily along the backrest while you sit beside him, legs tucked under you. Your mind drifts, thinking about something, debating whether or not to ask.

You hesitate. You open your mouth, then close it. And of course, he catches it.

“What?” he asks, turning his head slightly toward you.

“Nothing,” you mumble, shaking your head.

But Seungcheol isn’t the type to let things go so easily. His hand finds your waist, tugging you just a little closer. “No, come on. What is it?”

You fidget, suddenly feeling ridiculous for even thinking about it. “It’s stupid.”

He scoffs. “You do realize I put up with your so-called ‘stupidity’ on a daily basis, right?”

You roll your eyes. “Great way to convince me to talk, Cheol.”

He chuckles, squeezing your waist lightly in encouragement. “Okay, okay. I’m serious. What is it?”

You hesitate again, fingers fiddling with the hem of your sweater. “I just… I wanted to know your favorites.”

“My favorites?”

“Yeah. Like… your favorite color, favorite food, drink—just… everything.” You shift, feeling a little embarrassed now. “But I didn’t want to sound annoying.”

Seungcheol stares at you for a moment, and then he groans. Like you just physically pained him. Like you just did something devastating.

You blink. “What?”

He grabs your face, thumb brushing over your cheek. “Do you even realize how cute you are right now?”

You push at his chest, groaning. “Oh my god, Cheol.”

“No, seriously.” He pulls you closer, practically caging you in. “You’re pouting. You’re actually pouting. Do you even know what you’re doing to me right now?”

“I was trying to be serious!”

“I am serious.” He presses a quick kiss to your forehead, grinning. “You’re adorable. And for the record, you could never be annoying.”

The action felt so natural you didn't even register what he did. You just let yourself relax against him. “So, tell me then.”

He hums, pretending to think. “Well, my favorite color is black.”

“Figures.”

“My favorite food…” He pauses, then smirks. “Lately, anything you make.”

You scoff. “Liar.”

“I’m dead serious. Even when you mess up, it’s good.”

You roll your eyes, but you don’t fight the warmth spreading through your chest. “Okay, what about your favorite drink?”

“Hm. Coffee, obviously.”

You nod, committing each answer to memory. You keep going, asking about little things—his favorite season, his favorite scent, even his favorite childhood memory. And he answers every single one. Somewhere in the middle of it, you rest your head against his shoulder, and he lets you.

Eventually, he asks, “Why the sudden curiosity?”

“Just wanted to know more about you.”

He chuckles, resting his chin atop your head. “Then ask me anything, anytime. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Just the faint hum of the TV and the steady rhythm of his breathing beside you. Your head is still resting on his shoulder, and his fingers are tracing mindless patterns along your sleeve.

And then, so softly, you whisper, "Why do you like me?"

You don’t know why you ask. Maybe it’s been lingering in your mind for too long, sitting in the back of your thoughts, waiting for a moment like this to slip out. Maybe you’ve been too scared to say it until now.

Seungcheol doesn’t answer right away. You feel him shift slightly, his head tilting down toward you. His fingers stop their slow tracing. Then, slowly, his arms tighten around you, pulling you in closer, like he’s afraid you’ll slip away.

And finally, he smiles.

“Because it’s you.” Simple. Like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Like it was never even a question to begin with.

Your heart stumbles.

He keeps going, voice quieter now, like he’s letting you in on a secret. “You don’t even realize it, do you? The way you pull people in without even trying. The way you act all guarded, but deep down, you care so much it hurts. You pretend to be tough, but you—” He exhales a quiet laugh, shaking his head. “You’re probably the softest person I know.”

You swallow, suddenly unable to breathe properly.

“You make people want to stay,” he says, gaze warm, unwavering. “You make me want to stay.”

Your chest feels too tight, your throat closing up. It’s overwhelming, too much and not enough at the same time so you don’t say anything.

You just press your face into his shoulder, gripping onto his sleeve like it’s the only thing keeping you grounded. He doesn’t push. He just holds you a little tighter. He doesn’t say anything for a while, just lets you bury yourself against him. His fingers move again, slow and steady along your back, tracing something soothing.

And then, in the quiet, he asks—

"What about you?"

His voice is soft, careful. Like he’s giving you a choice. Like he knows you could still push him away if you wanted to. You stay still, trying to ignore the way your heart is suddenly racing.

Seungcheol waits.

You don’t look at him when you mumble, “What do you mean?” 

“You asked me why I like you," he says. "So now I want to know—" He leans in just slightly, enough for his breath to brush against your hair. "Why do you like me?"

You tense. He must feel it, because his arms stay firm around you, like he’s telling you it’s okay. That he’s not going anywhere. You open your mouth, but nothing comes out.

Because what are you supposed to say? That you like the way he makes you feel safe, even when you’re scared? That you like the way he looks at you like you’re the only thing in the room? That you like how, even when you try to push him away, he stays?

"I don't know."

Seungcheol hums, but he doesn’t sound disappointed.

"You do," he says, amused. "You're just not ready to say it to me yet but that's okay" he bumps the tip of your nose with his finger

That makes your stomach flip. You finally look up at him, and he's already watching you. Not expectantly, not impatiently. Just there. Waiting. And somehow, that makes you want to say it more.

So you whisper, "I like you because..." You trail off, then exhale, pressing your forehead against his chest.

He chuckles. "Because what?"

You groan again. "I don’t know. Because you’re you.”

Seungcheol stills then you feel him smile against your hair, arms pulling you in tighter. He understood what that meant for he said the same thing, but in his mind it meant more and maybe that's how you felt too. But he doesn't push instead he presses his lips against your hair

"Okay," he says, voice full of something you can’t quite place. "I’ll take that."

You don’t know why you do it.

Maybe it’s the warmth of his arms around you, the way he looks at you like you’re something precious. Maybe it’s the way your heart has been hammering against your ribs since he asked but before you can think, before you can stop yourself, you lean in.

A quick press of your lips against his.

Soft. Barely there. You pull away almost immediately, heart pounding, and Seungcheol just blinks at you. Like you’ve stunned him. Like he wasn’t expecting it at all.

And maybe that should make you panic, but instead, you just breathe

"Because you make me feel safe."

Seungcheol’s eyes widen. You don’t stop.

"Because you always stay, even when I push you away. Because you don’t make me feel stupid for being scared." Your voice is quieter now, almost shaky. "Because I sleep better when you’re around."

Seungcheol exhales sharply, jaw tightening. His hands flex against your waist, like he’s holding himself back.

But you’re not done.

"And because—” You swallow, forcing yourself to look at him, to really look at him. “—because I think I like you more than I’m ready to admit."

Something shifts in his expression. And then he moves. His hand lifts, fingers threading gently through your hair, tilting your face up.

"Can I kiss you?" His voice is rough, barely a whisper. You don’t trust yourself to speak, so you just nod. And then his lips are on yours, slow and deep and warm.

And this time, you don’t pull away. You don’t know how long you stay like that. kissing him, feeling the warmth of his hands steady on your waist, his breath mingling with yours.

It’s slow, unrushed, like he has all the time in the world for you. When you finally pull away, you’re both breathless. He presses his forehead against yours, his hands still holding you close. His eyes are closed, like he’s savoring this moment, like he’s trying to commit every second to memory.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this," he murmurs.

Your fingers tighten around his hoodie. "Have you?"

He pulls back just enough to look at you, his gaze soft but serious. "Yeah. Since the first night I met you."

You let out a breathless laugh, shaking your head. "Liar."

"I’m not lying." His thumb brushes over your cheek, his touch unbearably gentle. "You walked up to me, all confident, all fire. And I knew I was in trouble."

You roll your eyes, but your heart is thudding painfully in your chest.

"I’m serious," he says, tilting his head. "You think you’re the only one who got caught up in something bigger than they expected?"

You don’t know how to respond to that. So you just stay there, pressed against him, his warmth seeping into you.

Eventually, he sighs, pulling you even closer, until your head rests against his chest.

"Are you going to run away again?" he asks, voice quieter now.

You hesitate. Then, with a small shake of your head, you mumble against his hoodie, "Not this time."

Seungcheol chuckles, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "Good," he whispers. "Because I’m not letting you go."

A few days passed since then.

You’re mid-story, animatedly recounting something that happened at work. something about a ridiculous customer complaint and how Jihyo nearly lost her mind handling it. You’re laughing, shaking your head as you lean back against the passenger seat

“So then, Jihyo turns to me and goes, ‘Do you think your boyfriend would cover bail if I strangled this guy?’ And I was like—”

You don’t notice the slip.

But he does.

Seungcheol doesn’t say anything at first, but his grip tightens just slightly on the steering wheel. His lips twitch like he’s holding back a smirk. You keep talking, unaware, until the silence stretches just a little too long, and you finally glance at him.

“What?” You frown at his expression, at the barely concealed amusement in his eyes.

He hums, tilting his head slightly. “Nothing.”

You narrow your eyes. “No, what?”

He shrugs, but that damn smirk is there now, full and knowing. “Just thinking about what you just said.”

Your brows furrow, replaying the conversation in your head—until it clicks. Your eyes widen slightly.

“Oh.”

“Oh,” he repeats, mockingly

Your face heats up instantly, and you groan, covering it with your hands. “Forget it. I misspoke.”

“Mmm,” he hums, clearly unconvinced. “I don’t know. Boyfriend, huh?”

You glare at him from behind your fingers. “You heard nothing.”

He chuckles, so pleased with himself. “I definitely did.”

You groan louder, sinking into the seat, but he just reaches over, lacing his fingers through yours as he drives.

“Don’t worry,” he murmurs, squeezing your hand. “I like the sound of it.”

You grumble under your breath, something about him not even asking you. Seungcheol hears it, of course. He always hears everything.

“What was that?” he asks, tilting his head slightly.

“Nothing,” you say quickly, looking out the window.

He scoffs, giving your hand another squeeze. “No, no, I definitely heard you.”

You sigh, shifting in your seat. “Just saying... You didn’t even ask me.”

He chuckles, amused. “Didn’t think I had to. Thought it was obvious.”

You turn to him, raising a brow. “Oh? And what exactly is obvious?”

“That you’re mine,” he says smoothly, like it’s the simplest truth in the world.

“Cocky.”

He smirks, glancing at you as he slows at a red light. “So? Are you saying I should ask?”

You cross your arms, pretending to think. “Maybe. It’s the proper thing to do, you know. Can’t just go around assuming.”

He hums, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. “Alright then.” He turns to you fully, eyes soft yet unwavering. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

You blink. You weren’t actually expecting him to ask—at least not now. A beat of silence passes. And you just reach for his hand, he smiles looking down at your intertwined hands.

Dating Seungcheol is both a blessing and a menace. Most days, he’s a teasing little shit, poking fun at you, making sly comments just to see you get flustered. But then there are moments—fleeting but potent—where you do something that makes him completely malfunction.

Like now.

It’s like the universe is testing Seungcheol. You don’t even notice. Just plop onto his couch, tugging your knees up, he’s across from you, jaw clenched so tightly it might snap, fingers curled into a fist against his thigh.

“You okay?” you ask, tilting your head.

He exhales through his nose. “Peachy.”

Then there’s the way you touch him so casually, so carelessly. Like now, when you’re leaning over to grab the remote from beside him, palm resting on his thigh for balance. You don’t even think about it. But he does. Oh, he does.

“Sweetheart.” His voice is low, strained.

You pause, remote in hand, blinking at him. “Huh?”

“Nothing,” he mutters, rubbing a hand over his face, trying to focus on anything that isn’t you.

But the universe isn’t done torturing him yet.

Because then there’s the time you’re at his place late at night, exhausted from work, and you decide to shower there  And he’s fine. He really is, until you step out of the bathroom, steam rolling behind you, skin still damp, wearing one of his shirts.

And it’s too much.

You’re rubbing your towel over your hair, completely unaware of the way his gaze darkens. Your legs are bare, your collarbone peeking from where the fabric slips off your shoulder, and when you look up at him and pout because your hair won’t dry properly, he damn near blacks out.

“Come here.” His voice is hoarse.

You step between his legs as he grabs the towel from your hands, gently drying your hair. You close your eyes at the feeling, sighing in content, and something inside him snaps. The towel drops. His fingers card through your damp strands, then skim over your jaw, tilting your face up until your noses are almost touching.

“Why do you do this to me?” he murmurs.

You blink, confused. “Do what?” He exhales sharply, pressing his forehead against yours, trying to steady himself. You’re too close, too soft, too fucking tempting, and you have no idea what you do to him.

He can’t kiss you. He won’t. Not now. Because if he does, he’s not sure he’ll be able to stop. You look at him, genuinely clueless, which makes it so much harder for him.

“No, tell me,” you insist, voice soft but stubborn. You throw your arms around his shoulders, pressing yourself against him like you belong there. Like you have any idea what you’re doing to him.

Seungcheol swallows hard. His hands hover over your waist, unsure whether to pull you closer or push you away before he loses all control. He exhales sharply, eyes flickering between yours and your lips, and fuck you’re looking at him like that, all wide-eyed and waiting, completely oblivious to the war raging inside him.

His fingers tighten around your waist. “Sweetheart,” he warns.

“What?” 

“You,” he murmurs, voice low and thick with restraint. “You drive me insane.”

You blink. “Me?”

He scoffs, running a hand through his hair. “Yes, you.”

You tilt your head, lips pursing in thought. Then, with a teasing smile, you press even closer, fingers toying with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Like… in a good way?”

He groans, dropping his head onto your shoulder, body tense under your touch. “You’re killing me.”

You grin, clearly enjoying this now. “Oh.” You hum, pretending to think. “Should I stop?”

Seungcheol lifts his head, eyes dark as they lock onto yours. “No,” he says, barely above a whisper. “Don’t.”

Instead, you shift, adjusting your position, and in doing so, you press even closer, your breath warm against his jaw. His fingers twitch against your waist. His breathing is uneven now, ragged. You’re playing with fire and you don’t even know it.

You pout. “Why won’t you just tell me?”

He exhales sharply. “Because if I do, I’ll do something reckless.”

Your brows knit together, still oblivious. “Like what?”

One second, you’re tangled in him, his lips hot against yours, his grip firm and possessive. Next, you’re suddenly weightless.

“What the—Cheol!” you yelp as he lifts you effortlessly, your legs instinctively wrapping around his waist, your arms clinging to his shoulders. He doesn’t give you a chance to react, he strides towards his bedroom like a man on a mission. Before you can even fully process it, he tosses you onto the bed.

You bounce slightly, gasping, and before you can sit up, a blanket is thrown over you, covering you completely.

Then, his voice, rough and absolutely wrecked— “I’m taking a cold shower.”

The bathroom door slams shut. For a moment, you just lie there, wrapped up in the blanket, in shock. Then, the realization of what just happened hits you.

You burst out laughing.

Seungcheol, the ever-composed, ever-in-control man, just physically removed himself from the situation because of you.

After his cold shower, you watch as Seungcheol grabs a pillow—no, two pillows—and shoves them between you, effectively creating a makeshift wall. His jaw is tight, his ears red, and he mutters under his breath, “I’m not taking another cold shower because of you.”

You blink at him, amused. “You make it sound like I’m the problem here.”

He scoffs, pulling the blanket over you properly, tucking you in like you’re some misbehaving child. “Oh, you are the problem.”

You grin, burrowing into the warmth of the bed. “Wouldn’t be a problem if you just—”

“Sleep.” His voice is firm, though the way he fluffs your pillow for you before lying back down betrays his exasperated fondness.

“Really? You think this will stop me?”

Seungcheol groans, throwing an arm over his face. “For the love of God, just close your eyes and go to sleep.”

You smirk in the dark, fingers lightly tapping against the pillow barrier. Then, just to mess with him, you whisper, "Seungcheol." You hear him exhale sharply, like he's really holding on to his patience. 

"Baby, please." His voice is strained, almost desperate.

You giggle, completely unbothered, and finally, finally let yourself relax. “Okay, okay. Good night, Cheol.”

He doesn’t respond right away, just sighs heavily. Then, softer this time, “Good night.”

And with that, you finally fall asleep—while Seungcheol spends the next half hour staring at the ceiling, trying to get his heart to calm the hell down.

Things are going good, great even. But of course it's like your mind can't let you have a moment of peace.

The thought hit you out of nowhere, settling like an annoying weight in your chest.

You were out with the girls, sitting in your usual corner of the café, but your mind was far from the conversation. The last few nights replayed in your head—every time you teased Seungcheol, every time he pulled away, walked off.

It made you wonder… What if he doesn’t want you like that?

What if you’d misread everything? What if he was just tolerating you, indulging you even, but deep down, he didn’t actually—

"Okay, what’s up with you?" Jihyo’s voice snapped you back to reality. You blinked, realizing everyone at the table was now looking at you

"Huh?"

Irene smirked. "You’ve been spacing out. Something on your mind?"

You hesitated. You weren’t about to pour your heart out in the middle of a brunch spot, but at the same time, the thought was eating at you.

"It’s just…" You chewed on your lip. "Do you think it’s possible for someone to really like you but…not want you like that?"

Jihyo raised an eyebrow. "You’re talking about Seungcheol, aren’t you?"

You avoided their stares, but your silence was enough of an answer.

Irene sighed, setting her cup down. "He’s a grown man, babe. If he didn’t want you like that, he’d say so. Trust me, men are not subtle when they’re not interested."

"Yeah, but what if it’s not that?" you pressed. "What if he just doesn’t see me that way?"

Jihyo scoffed. "Oh my god, you’re actually dumb."

"Excuse me?"

She leaned forward, eyes sharp. "That man looks at you like you hung the damn moon. He gets all flustered because he’s trying so hard to be good for you. He’s literally suffering, and you’re sitting here thinking he doesn’t want you?"

Irene nodded. "You don’t see the way he looks at you, do you?"

You swallowed, suddenly feeling even more ridiculous. "I just— I don’t know," you admitted. "Every time things get…close, he walks away. And now I can’t stop wondering if maybe—"

"Okay, I’m stopping you right there," Jihyo cut in. "Because if we let you spiral, we’ll be here all day. This is you, the same woman who walked up to him that night all confident and emerged victorious after getting THE Choi Seungcheol's number. Babe, don't doubt what you do to that man"

"Then what do I do?" you asked, exasperated.

She smirked. "You stop overthinking and talk to him, obviously."

And that's what you do. When Seungcheol opened the door, the first thing he saw was your pout. His brows furrowed instantly. "What's wrong?"

You just walked past him, kicking your shoes off, before flopping onto his couch with a dramatic sigh.

"You don’t want me, do you?"

Seungcheol blinked. "What?"

You sat up, arms crossed. "I mean, you like me, but you don’t want me like that."

It took him a full three seconds to process your words. Then, he let out a sharp laugh like the kind you make when you’re so caught off guard you don’t know how else to react.

"Wait, are you serious?"

You narrowed your eyes. "Don’t laugh! I’m being serious."

He ran a hand down his face, inhaling deeply before crouching in front of you. His hands came to rest on your knees, fingers warm against your skin.

"Baby," he said slowly, as if trying to make sure you really heard him. "I want you so badly it’s a problem."

Your face heated. "Then why do you always stop?"

His jaw clenched, and he exhaled through his nose, like he was trying to rein himself in. "Because you’re not just some girl I want to mess around with. You matter to me. And if I’m gonna have you like that, I want to make sure you’re really ready."

You frowned. "I'm a grown woman I can make decsions you know"

"I know"

"And what if I am?" you ask, peering down at him

His fingers flexed against your knees, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. "Then you need to stop looking at me like that," he muttered, voice lower now.

"Like what?" you challenged, tilting your head

His grip on you tightened slightly. "Like you want me to lose every bit of self-control I have."

You held his gaze, feeling your own heartbeat pick up. 

"And if I do?"

His jaw locked. For a moment, he just stared at you, like he was weighing every possible option. Then, in one smooth motion, he pushed himself up, towering over you.

"Get up," he murmured.

Your breath caught. "Why?" but you follow his words. Now you’re standing in front of him, look of frustration and something else in his eyes

“The next time you feel like I don’t want you, you have my full permission to hit me on the face”

“Cheol, I’m being serious” you mumble

“So am I, I want you. Always. In ways I didn’t even know I can ever want someone. That’s why I want to do this the right way. So tell your pretty little mind how crazy I am about you, because I will never get tired proving it to you. I want and I will kiss all those worries away, get rid of all those doubts in your head until all you can think about is me.”

The way he’s looking at you tells you everything you needed to know, and his words just proved to you that this man means everything. 

The following days, that conversation floated inside Seungcheol's head. Even though you came to him full of worries, which he shut down quite fast, atleast now instead of running away from him you came straight to him for answers.

And to you, that's a big deal. A huge step for you, a big win for him. He's so proud of how far you've come.

That's exactly why now he's staring at his computer screen, but he wasn’t actually reading anything. His mind was elsewhere, circling the same thought over and over.

"Hey."

Joshua’s voice snapped him out of it. He looked up to see his friend leaning against the doorway of his office, arms crossed, a knowing look on his face

"You’ve been spacing out for the past ten minutes," Joshua said, stepping inside. "What’s up?"

Seungcheol exhaled, rubbing his temple. "Nothing."

Joshua raised an eyebrow. "You? Lost in thought like this? Yeah, that’s not ‘nothing.’"

Seungcheol rolled his chair back slightly, leaning against it. His jaw tightened before he finally admitted, "How do you know if it’s too soon to say something?"

Joshua frowned slightly. "Say what?"

Seungcheol hesitated, then shook his head. "Doesn’t matter."

Joshua scoffed, dragging a chair over and sitting down across from him. "Oh, it definitely matters."

Seungcheol let out a slow breath. He wasn’t the type to get caught up in things like this. He had always been rational, controlled. But now?

Now, he was thinking about you. How you felt curled up against him. How you whispered things when you’re half-asleep. How one pout from you and it’s messing with his head without even realizing it.

Joshua watched him closely. "You know you’re terrible at being vague, right?"

Seungcheol let out a humorless chuckle. "Shut up."

Joshua smirked. "It’s about her, isn’t it?"

Seungcheol didn’t respond, which was response enough.

Joshua leaned back, thoughtful. "You’re wondering if it’s too soon to tell her how you feel."

Seungcheol’s fingers tapped against his desk. "It’s... complicated."

Joshua tilted his head. "Is it? Or are you just scared?"

"I’m not scared."

Joshua just smirked, clearly unconvinced. "Uh-huh."

Seungcheol shot him a glare. "I’m not." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "I know how I feel."

That was the problem. He wasn’t second-guessing himself. He wasn’t unsure. He knew exactly what he wanted, exactly how much he cared about you. That wasn’t the issue.

The issue was what if he said it and you freaked out? What if you weren’t ready to hear it? What if he messed this up when things were finally good between you two?

He had worked so damn hard to get here, to get past your walls, to get you to trust him. If he said the words too soon, would you take a step back? Would you run?

Joshua was watching him, a knowing look in his eyes. "So... what are you going to do?"

Seungcheol exhaled. "I don’t know."

Joshua nodded slowly. "Well, you better figure it out. Because from what I can see? You’re already in deep."

Seungcheol had been acting different.

It wasn’t anything obvious, nothing anyone else would notice, but you did. He was still the same—still teasing, still touching you when he could, still looking at you in that way that made your stomach flip. But there was something underneath it all, a tension in his shoulders, a weight behind his eyes, like he was carrying something he wasn’t saying.

And you hated that.

You hated when people acted like they wanted to say something but didn’t. It made you anxious, made your mind wander to all the worst possible reasons. Was he mad at you? Annoyed? Regretting something?

You tried to ignore it at first. You didn’t want to overthink things, didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing. But it had been days, and it was still there.

Like now.

You were at his place, curled up on his couch, your legs resting over his lap as he scrolled through something on his phone. It should’ve been a normal moment but you weren’t relaxed. Not when you could feel it—his energy, the stiffness in his posture, the way he wasn’t fully present.

You narrowed your eyes. "Okay, what’s up with you?"

Seungcheol looked at you, brow raised. "What?"

"Don’t what me," you shot back, sitting up a little. "You’ve been weird. Tense. You keep looking like you wanna say something but then don’t, and I don’t like it."

His mouth parted slightly, but he didn’t say anything. And that just pissed you off more.

You swung your legs off him and sat up properly, arms crossing. "Seriously? You’re still not gonna say anything?"

"There’s nothing to say," he finally answered, running a hand through his hair.

"Bullshit."

His head snapped toward you, startled by the change in your tone

"You think I can’t tell? You think I don’t notice?" You shook your head, jaw clenched. "I hate when people do this. When they keep things to themselves like I’m too fragile to handle it. So either say whatever it is, or stop acting like you’re carrying the weight of the world."

Seungcheol exhaled sharply, leaning back against the couch. "It’s not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Because," he said, voice low, "I don’t wanna mess this up."

That gave you pause.

Your frustration flickered with something else, something softer, something unsure. "Mess what up?"

His eyes met yours then—dark and unreadable, but heavy with meaning. And suddenly, you felt tense. Seungcheol watched as you pushed off the couch, your jaw tight, your movements sharp. You didn’t even look at him as you grabbed your phone and hoodie from the coffee table.

"What are you doing?" he asked, voice low

"Leaving," you said shortly. That one word had something hot and annoyed burning in his chest.

"You’re really gonna walk out just because I don’t want to talk about something right now?"

You let out a humorless laugh. "I don’t wanna say anything else that’s gonna piss me off even more, so yeah, I’m leaving."

Seungcheol stood then, stepping toward you. "You’re mad."

"No shit," you bit out, finally meeting his eyes.

He could see it—the way your hands gripped your hoodie tighter, the way your expression was carefully set, like you were forcing yourself to hold back.

He took another step closer, his voice softer. "Hey."

You didn’t move away, but you didn’t soften either. "Fine," you said, shaking your head. "Don’t say it. Keep whatever it is to yourself. But don’t act like I’m imagining this."

Then you turned toward the door. And for a second, he let you but the moment your fingers touched the handle, something in him snapped.

"Wait."

You paused, but you didn’t turn around. Seungcheol exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. He could let you go. He could pretend this tension between you wasn’t suffocating him, that he wasn’t overthinking every second he spent with you now.

But he couldn’t.

"Wait," he said again, softer this time.

You still didn’t turn around, but you didn’t move either.

"I—" He hesitated, clenching his jaw. He had to say something, or he was going to lose you to this stupid misunderstanding.

"I don’t want to keep anything from you," he admitted. "But I’m trying to figure out how to say it so I don’t fuck this up."

At that, you finally turned, your eyes narrowing. "Fuck what up?"

He let out a frustrated laugh, rubbing his face. "Us, obviously."

Your lips parted slightly, and for the first time, he saw the flicker of doubt in your eyes. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I feel something, and I don’t know if it’s too soon to say it. I don’t know if you’re ready to hear it."

Your breath caught, and he saw your fingers twitch by your side.

"But the way you’ve been looking at me," you whispered, voice quieter now. "It’s been messing with my head. I don’t like not knowing."

"I know," he said, stepping closer. "And I don’t want to make you feel like that."

You held his gaze, searching his expression for something, anything that would make this all make sense. "Then just say it, Seungcheol," you murmured. "Whatever it is."

Seungcheol took a deep breath, his fingers twitching like he was holding himself back. Then, with a quiet chuckle—one that sounded more like surrender than amusement—he finally said it.

"I love you."

The words hung between you, heavy and charged.

Your breath hitched, and for a moment, you just stared at him, like your brain needed time to process what he'd just said. "You—"

"I love you," he repeated, firmer this time. "And I know it’s fast, but it doesn’t change the fact that I do."

You were silent, and his heart pounded in his chest. He wasn’t scared of how he felt—he never was—but this was the first time he was terrified of what you’d do with it.

When you finally spoke, your voice was small. "You weren’t going to tell me?"

"I wanted to," he admitted. "But I didn’t want to push you before you were ready."

Your fingers curled into fists at your sides. "You idiot."

His brows lifted. "What?"

Before he could say anything else, you stepped forward and grabbed his face, pulling him down into a kiss. It wasn’t gentle, wasn’t careful—it was desperate, like you were making up for every second you spent doubting him.

He groaned into your mouth, his hands gripping your waist as he pulled you impossibly close. When you finally broke apart, you stayed there, forehead resting against his, breath uneven.

"You love me," you whispered, like you were still trying to believe it.

"Yeah," he murmured, his thumb stroking the side of your face. "I do."

You swallowed hard. "Then say it again."

He huffed out a soft laugh, pressing a lingering kiss to your lips before whispering against them, "I love you."

You just hug him, burying your face into his chest, your arms wrapping tightly around his waist. You don't say it back—not yet—but you don’t freak out either.

"You're an idiot," you mumble against his shirt.

Seungcheol lets out a soft laugh, his hands running up and down your back. "I figured that much"

You pull back slightly, just enough to look up at him. "You're an absolute idiot for thinking I’d run away now."

Something in his expression softens, like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. His fingers tighten slightly where they rest on your waist.

"So... you're not mad anymore?" he asks, a bit cautious, a bit hopeful.

You roll your eyes, but there's no real bite to it. "Maybe at myself. The world, I don't know," you sigh, shaking your head before leaning back into his chest. "But I’m not running away, so you better deal with it."

Seungcheol chuckles, holding you even closer, his chin resting on top of your head. "Oh, I’ll deal with it just fine." he doesn’t let go. If anything, he holds you even tighter, like he's afraid that if he loosens his grip even a little, you might change your mind.

"You know," he murmurs, his voice warm against your hair, "I really wasn’t trying to keep anything from you. I just… I didn’t want to mess this up."

You sigh, your fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. "You almost did."

He chuckles, but it’s breathy, like he knows how close he came. "Yeah. Noted."

You tilt your head back, looking up at him. His eyes are searching yours, and you can tell he’s still a little hesitant, still waiting for you to process everything.

But you stay there, in his arms, with him. No running away, no deflecting, no hiding away. Then you smile, kissing him softly like you know he'll know what you wanted to say.

And he does.

It's the end of another long workday, the only redeeming part of it is when your boyfriend texted you letting you know he'll come and pick you up. Though for Seungcheol it's the norm, he just likes updating you.

He barely has time to react before you're already right in front of him, practically bouncing on your feet. His eyes widen slightly at your enthusiasm, and then—he smirks.

"What’s with the happy energy?" he teases, arms already opening for you.

You don’t even answer, just throw your arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "I just missed you," you mumble against his shoulder.

He chuckles, wrapping his arms securely around your waist. "Yeah?" he murmurs, voice warm. "That much?"

You nod, still clinging to him. "Mhm. And my day was annoying, so fix it."

He huffs a small laugh and pulls back slightly to look at you. "Fix it, huh? And how am I supposed to do that?"

You dramatically sigh. "I don’t know. Be my boyfriend or something."

Seungcheol grins, tilting his head. "Oh? Thought I already was."

You roll your eyes but can’t hide your smile. "You are. I’m just reminding you."

He chuckles, pressing a quick kiss to your forehead before opening the car door for you. "Well then, let me take my girlfriend home."

You pretend to think. "Hmm… ice cream first?"

His eyes narrow playfully. "So that’s why you missed me." He laughs, shaking his head, before pulling you into another hug. "Alright, ice cream first. Then home."

Seungcheol glances at you from the driver’s seat, watching as you hum along to the song playing on the radio, fingers drumming idly against your thigh. There’s something light about you now, something warm and unguarded.

He never thought he’d get to see you like this. Not after how hard you pushed him away in the beginning. But now, here you are—grinning at him like he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

"What?" you ask, catching his stare.

He shakes his head, a soft smile tugging at his lips. "Nothing. Just… I like seeing you like this."

You blink. "Like what?"

"Happy," he says simply.

Your smile falters just a little, eyes searching his like you’re trying to understand him. You still have those moments, where doubt creeps in, where you hesitate—but they’re fewer now. And even when they do come, Seungcheol just holds on tighter.

"I am happy," you finally say, quieter now.

His hand reaches for yours, fingers intertwining effortlessly. "Good."

For a while, neither of you say anything. You just hold his hand, tracing little shapes against his skin absentmindedly. He doesn’t miss the way you squeeze his fingers, like you’re reassuring yourself that he’s really there.

It hits him all at once—how much he loves you.

How every part of you, even the difficult parts, even the stubborn parts, only makes him love you more. 

That night, you’re at his place again, curled up on the couch with him. The TV is on, but neither of you are really watching. You’re leaning against his side, playing with his fingers, and Seungcheol just watches you—completely, utterly taken by you.

"You’re staring again," you mumble without looking up.

"Told you, can’t help it," he says, voice warm with amusement. You roll your eyes but don’t pull away. Instead, you let out a little sigh and shift closer, practically molding yourself against him.

"Comfy?" he teases.

You nod against his chest. "Mhm. You’re warm."

Seungcheol chuckles, wrapping his arms around you, holding you close. These are the moments he treasures the most—the quiet ones, when you let yourself just be with him without hesitation.

"You’re staying over, right?" he asks after a while.

You hum, considering it. "Do you want me to?"

He scoffs. "Obviously."

A small smile tugs at your lips. "Okay."

Seungcheol grins, satisfied. But then you shift again, resting your chin on his chest, looking up at him with that thoughtful expression he knows too well.

"What?" he asks.

You hesitate, like you’re deciding whether or not to say what’s on your mind. But then, after a beat, you ask, "What did you think of me when we first met?"

Seungcheol raises a brow. "You mean when you walked up to me all confident like you owned the place?"

You groan, burying your face in his shirt. "Forget it."

He laughs, pulling you even closer. "No, no. I liked it. I thought you were interesting. A little reckless, but definitely interesting."

You peek up at him. "And now?"

Seungcheol’s gaze softens, thumb brushing gently over your cheek. "Now I think you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me."

You stare at him for a moment, and Seungcheol swears he sees a million thoughts flicker across your face. But in the end, you don’t say anything—you just smile, a little shy, and nuzzle back into his chest.

He holds you tighter, pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head.

Yeah, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

It happens so naturally that neither of you realize it at first.

It’s a lazy weekend morning, the kind where neither of you are in a rush to do anything. You spent the night at his place again, and now you’re curled up under the covers, half-awake, watching Seungcheol pull on a hoodie as he gets ready to leave for the gym.

"I’ll be back soon," he says, fixing his hair in the mirror

You nod sleepily, your voice still thick with drowsiness. "Okay. Bye, I love you."

Seungcheol freezes.

You don’t even notice—you just turn over, snuggling deeper into the blankets, eyes already fluttering shut again.

It takes him a full five seconds to process what just happened.

You said it. I love you. Just like that, so effortlessly, so naturally, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

His heart is pounding.

Does he wake you up? Does he say it back right now? Should he pretend he didn’t hear it and bring it up later? What is he supposed to do with this information?

Seungcheol lets out a breath, running a hand through his hair. He glances back at you—you’re already asleep again, completely unaware of the internal crisis you just threw him into.

With a small, almost incredulous smile, he leans down, brushing a soft kiss against your forehead.

"I love you too," he murmurs, even though you’re not awake to hear it.

And with that, he leaves, a stupid grin on his face the entire way to the gym.

Later when he comes back from his workout, he's practically bouncing on his feet. Seungcheol walks through the door with an energy that’s almost suspicious. He’s humming—actually humming—as he tosses his gym bag aside and heads straight for the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

You, curled up on the couch with your phone, raise an eyebrow at him. "Why are you so jolly?"

He grins, twisting the cap off his water bottle. "Can’t a guy just be in a good mood?"

"No, not you. You, specifically, are annoyingly smug right now," you counter, narrowing your eyes. "What happened at the gym? Did you beat Joshua at something?"

Seungcheol lets out a short laugh, shaking his head. "No, nothing like that." He takes a sip of water, still smiling

You watch him for a second, suspicious. "You're acting weird."

"Am I?" he teases, walking over to you. Before you can protest, he flops onto the couch beside you, pulling you into his arms with ease. "Maybe I’m just happy to see my girlfriend."

You squint at him. "Okay, now I know something’s up."

Seungcheol just chuckles, squeezing you tighter as he buries his face into your shoulder. "You’re overthinking, baby."

You poke his cheek, trying to get a read on him. He’s still grinning, a little too happy, but whatever it is, he’s clearly not going to tell you. You sigh, deciding to drop it—for now.

Instead, you rest your head against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. He kisses the top of your head, and even though you don’t know why he’s in such a ridiculously good mood, you find yourself smiling anyway.

Seungcheol holds you close, his chin resting lightly atop your head. His voice is quieter now, softer, just for you. "I love you."

It’s not the first time he’s said it, and he never expects you to say it back—not until you’re ready.

But today, it feels different.

Today, he heard it from you first, even if you didn’t realize it. You shift slightly in his arms, letting out a sleepy hum, but you don’t react beyond that. You’re still completely unaware of what you said before he left earlier.

Seungcheol doesn’t mind, though. The words are still lingering in his chest, making everything feel a little bit lighter, a little bit warmer. He tightens his hold on you, just a little. He’ll wait until you’re fully aware of it, until you choose to say it again—because he knows you will.

For now, though, he just lets himself enjoy the moment.

What he doesn’t know is that you've been thinking about it too.

You didn’t realize how much space the thought was taking up in your head until recently. how much you wanted to say it, how much it sat at the tip of your tongue every time he smiled at you, every time he pulled you closer without a second thought.

You've always been cautious with your feelings, but with Seungcheol, it feels different. It is different.

"You're thinking too hard," he finally says, pulling you from your thoughts.

You blink, turning to him. "What?"

His eyes crinkle with a teasing grin. "You're staring at the TV, but you haven’t reacted to anything in the last twenty minutes. Either you’re really bad at watching dramas, or something’s on your mind."

You open your mouth, then close it again, hesitating. If only you knew that he was fighting the same battle—wondering when you'd say it, waiting to hear it again, completely unaware that it had already slipped past your lips once before.

You exhale, shaking your head. "It’s nothing."

Seungcheol just hums, reaching over to tug you into his side. He doesn’t press, doesn’t push. Neither of you knows that you’re both waiting for the same thing.

You feel the warmth of his palm as he rubs gentle circles on your back. His voice is soft, comforting, steady—just like him.

"You know you can tell me, right?" he murmurs, his eyes searching yours. "Anything. I’ll be here. But take your time."

Your fingers tighten slightly around the fabric of his hoodie. You want to say it. You really do. The words feel heavy on your tongue, but there’s still something in you that holds back—maybe fear, maybe habit.

Seungcheol doesn’t push. He never does. He just stays close, waiting, patient as ever.

You nod, resting your forehead against his shoulder. "I know."

And he just smiles, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "Good."

Little does he know, the next time you say it, you’ll be wide awake and it happened in the middle of a completely ridiculous argument.

“You’re doing it wrong,” you insist, arms crossed as you watch him attempt to assemble the shelf you bought.

He scoffs, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “I’m doing it wrong? I literally followed the instructions!”

“You’re not supposed to tighten that part first! It’s going to make the other side uneven.”

“That makes no sense.” He stares at you, completely baffled. “How does that even—?”

“Cheol, baby, I love you, but you’re being so stubborn right now.”

Silence.

Your own words register a second too late, and your eyes widen in horror. Seungcheol, on the other hand, freezes mid-motion, screwdriver in hand, looking at you like you just knocked the wind out of him.

You both just… stare at each other.

Then he slowly puts the screwdriver down, standing up to his full height, taking a step toward you. “What did you just say?”

You immediately backtrack. “I said you’re stubborn—”

“No, no, before that.” His lips are curving into a slow smile now, eyes practically glowing with amusement.

Your face burns. “I—nothing, it’s nothing—”

He traps you against the counter in a second, hands braced on either side of you. “Say it again.”

Your heart is pounding. “Cheol—”

“Sweetheart—” he drawls, voice teasing.

You groan, covering your face with your hands. “I hate you.”

He chuckles, effortlessly prying your hands away. “That’s not what you said.”

“I am never speaking again.”

His grin softens as he leans in, pressing his forehead against yours. “Too bad, ‘cause I love hearing you say it.”

And just like that, he kisses you, completely ruining your ability to argue back. Seungcheol pulls back just enough to look at you, his lips still curved into that teasing grin. “Say it again.”

You groan, trying to push him away, but he doesn’t budge. “Cheol—”

“Come on, just once more.” His voice is soft, coaxing, as if he’s trying to savor the moment.

You purse your lips, pretending to think. “Hmm. No.”

His grip on your waist tightens as he buries his face against your shoulder, groaning dramatically. “Baby, please.”

You laugh at how genuinely desperate he sounds. “I already said it once—”

“You accidentally said it. I need to hear it properly.” He pulls back again, looking at you with those warm brown eyes, filled with so much adoration it makes your stomach flip. “Please?”

You bite your lip, trying to hold back your smile, but it’s impossible. “I love you,” you finally mumble, cheeks warm. A full-blown grin takes over his face, and before you can react, he lifts you off the ground, spinning you around. 

“I knew it! I knew you loved me!”

You yelp, holding onto him for dear life. “Cheol—put me down!”

“Never,” he declares dramatically, but he does set you back on your feet only to pepper your face with kisses, making you giggle.

He pulls back just slightly, his hands cradling your face. “Say it one more time?”

You roll your eyes, but the way he’s looking at you makes your heart melt. So you cup his face in return, smiling softly as you whisper, “I love you, Seungcheol.”

He kisses you like he’s been waiting forever to hear that. And honestly, you think you could get used to this.

You never thought you’d be here. Wrapped up in Seungcheol’s arms on a lazy Sunday morning, his even breathing against your hair, your legs tangled together like there wasn’t a time you used to push him away.

It still amazes you sometimes. How this happened. How he happened.

Seungcheol shifts, arms tightening around you as he mumbles something incoherent. He’s warm, comfortable, and you let yourself sink into him for a little longer before peeking up at his face.

“Hmm?”

“I said,” he repeats, voice raspy from sleep, “you should get up and make breakfast today.”

You snort. “No thanks.”

He groans dramatically. “You’re lucky I love you.”

That makes you pause, thinking back to how long it took you to get here—to be able to hear those words and not flinch, to not shut him out at the first sign of something real.

When you first met him, you were all sharp edges and walls built so high even you weren’t sure how to break them down. You’d walked into his life all confidence and bravado, pretending like you could handle him, only to realize you’d bitten off more than you could chew.

And still, he stayed.

Through every time you tried to push him away, through every moment of doubt, through every scar you never wanted to talk about—he stayed. He waited.

“You okay?” he murmurs now, pulling back to look at you. His eyes are soft, filled with something so deep it makes your chest ache.

You nod, smiling a little. “Yeah.”

“Hmm.” His gaze lingers like he knows you’re thinking about something, but he doesn’t push. He never does. He just looks at you with love you thought you'll never feel again, arms feeling like a home you thought you'd never find.

So, naturally, you decide to ruin the moment.

“Though, if we’re talking about luck,” you muse, dragging a finger down his chest, “you are the lucky one here.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yes.” You hum, barely biting back a grin. “Because who else would deal with your ridiculous gym obsession, your clinginess, and—oh! The way you steal the blankets every night?”

Seungcheol gasps, scandalized. “I steal the blankets?”

“Yes.”

“Baby, you are the thief here. I wake up freezing at least twice a week because you bundle yourself up like a burrito—”

“Sounds like a you problem.”

He huffs before suddenly rolling over, pinning you beneath him. “You’re lucky I’m patient.”

You grin up at him. “You’re lucky I let you love me.”

"Baby, give credit where it's due. I worked hard to be here" he jokingly says, cuddling you even more. And he really did, he is exactly the man he said he is. He didn't leave, he stayed when it mattered. He never let you go when you wanted to disappear.

To him, you will always be worth all that wait. It wasn't luck. It was him being sure of you from that very first night. It was luck when you saw him that night at the bar.

But the rest, that's all him and you. It's hardwork but with the person, with you, it's easy.

And that’s why, despite all the teasing and the banter, you lift a hand to cup his cheek and whisper, “Thank you for waiting for me.”

That makes something flicker in his eyes, something real and tender, because you both know how hard it was for you to accept love—to accept him.

His face softens, and he leans down, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Always.”

And really, this is how life with Seungcheol is—full of laughter, playful teasing, and more love than you ever thought possible. You never expected to let someone in so completely, but here he is, and you wouldn’t change a thing.

[reader-lola]

Annoying screams

Chris Sturniolo Based on the last video (Making gifts for fans) Warnings: +18, oral (male receives), female masturbation, sexual intercourse, no reference to condom. Let me know if you see any more

Links X: 1 , 2

You were in your boyfriend Chris's room. You were trying to read, but the screams coming from the kitchen weren't letting you concentrate. You knew your boyfriend was very loud and yelled a lot, but this time he was going overboard. “We're just going to record the invitations for the fans. We won't bother you.”

I missed the first few screams, knowing Chris it was usual for him. But there came a time when all you could hear was him yelling without actually saying anything coherent. I tried to concentrate on the book. I looked through the pages. I dwelled on the rest of the chapter. I repeated the same paragraph I had been reading for 15 minutes until I gave up and closed it. I focused on my phone for the rest of the time. “Hey mom, what are you doing with your phone? Did you finish the book?” Chris's voice brought me out of my trance. I turned off my phone and with a louder voice than expected I faced him. “I tried that, Owen, but by a strange coincidence, a boy kept yelling in the kitchen. I tried to read, but someone made it an impossible task for me. It was impossible because you, young man, NEVER STOP YELLING” “Take it down a notch with me, girl, or I'll have to put you in your place” “No, I'm sorry, you're going to apologize to me for not letting me read, it wasn't that hard to say nice things to your fans instead of yelling at them and, by the way, letting me read” “Okay, you've gone too far, let's see if you're capable of keeping quiet”

Without warning, he grabbed me by the hair and, without any care, he pushed me against the door “Let's see, you yelled at me, you answered me back, and you spoke badly to me. You deserve a punishment” “It's not true, I didn't do that” “And now we add that you lie to me and contradict me. Honey, if you don't want to make it worse, you better shut up.” With one hand he supported my head against the door and with the other he pulled down my pants and thong in the process. Without time to react he put two of his fingers inside me causing a loud moan from me. “You're going to have to shut up if you don't want to be heard. From what I understand Matt and Nick are going to be in the living room watching TV.” His fingers went in and out of my pussy causing me an incredible feeling of pleasure. My legs trembled as I noticed the imminent release, but then his fingers stopped. “No, Chris, please.” “If you ask me like that I'm not going to do anything else.” “Daddy, please.” I whimpered at the need of his fingers dancing inside me. “I told you that you needed a punishment, on your knees.” Without hesitation I got on my knees and as soon as he pulled out his member I didn't hesitate to suck it, choking in the process. His hand grabbed my hair marking the rhythm he had to follow. As I sucked I couldn't help but look up, meeting his blue eyes that gave me a satisfied look, making me feel grateful for being able to eat him. At times I heard small sighs coming out of his lips at the sensation I was feeling. “God, I can't take it anymore.” He pushed me away from his member and in the blink of an eye I had him on top of me. He quickly took off my shirt and mine. He placed his member at my entrance. “I should teach you a lesson and not let you cum,” he said, slowly entering me. I could feel the sensation of his body fitting perfectly with mine. The sensation of his veins entering my interior. “You deserve a punishment for the way you spoke to me. But now I simply need to have you. Feel you.” His thrusts began slowly as I adapted to his size. But they gradually increased in pace. My hands grabbed his back, scratching it as a way of releasing the sensation that was consuming me. Chris' lips traveled to my neck where he started sucking, I'd probably have a mark there tomorrow. “Daddy, I can't take it anymore.” “What do you want?” “Let me cum, please.” “Cum for me, princess.”

[dekariosclan]

What do you think are some things that would give Gale “the ick” ? I think we all know he values people’s character over all but everyone has some things that just make them go “egh”

Ah, an excellent question! 🧙‍♂️☝️💜

You are so correct that our wizard values people’s character above all; Gale is not put off by appearances, because he’s solely interested in the values and kindness of each individual he meets. In addition, he is extremely open-minded and forgiving, so I think his list of ‘ick’ traits is relatively small. I myself have narrowed it down to three things that I think give him ‘the ick’, two of which are linked to his in-game dialogue, and a third one that I personally think is just….very fitting of Gale. So let’s get into it!

1.Disgusting eating habits. Ah, the infamous ‘STOP LICKING THE DAMN THING!’ Which of course comes after Gale is so appalled at seeing Tav sampling rotting spider meat (and their…enthusiastic reaction…) that he floats the idea that ‘the time might just have come when you and I should split ways.’

I think his disgust here is more than just the unsavory food factor, because per Shadowheart, there have been times when the team has had to consume fish heads and stale bread just to survive. But this isn’t a matter of survival, it’s a choice to stick rotting spider meat in your mouth! The same mouth that issues orders to the team, talks to Gale in friendship, OR shares a kiss with him if romanced…just the thought of what Tav’s breath would smell like gives ME the ick!

2.Disgusting hygiene habits. Look, we all know Gale loves (and I mean LOVES) a musky Tav 😍. And oh, what’s this, a sweaty Tav in battle?! Muscles all shiny and sleek?? Why yes, Gale appreciates that too! Very, very much! What I’m talking about is the truly gross stench of the Goblin camp (‘this place is rotten!’ as Gale says), the foul sewers in Baldur’s Gate (‘nothing like the stench of human effluence to make you regret any and all prior life decisions’) and Act 2’s bloody disgusting illithid colony (‘Gods, that smell! Abattoir crossed with privy.’) Gale makes it quite clear he is not a fan of any of it.

The thing is, Gale isn’t a super fastidious guy—his home in Waterdeep has books scattered all over the place, and Tara even says he keeps his potions in disarray. All he’s asking is that Tav not kiss any diseased Goblin toes or take a dip in any sewer runoff. But Tav working up a bit of a sweat? That’s fine! Totally fine!

And finally, the last thing that I think would give Gale the ick (albeit a modern-day AU Gale) is:

3.The use of AI for artistic creation. I’m pretty sure Gale, the man who crafted a beautiful night sky with his own two hands and told Tav, “I know this is all unreal, but I created it for you,” would despise AI. Gale values creativity and imagination, and to have them thrown away for the sake of outputting an image or piece of writing faster would be appalling to him. Seeing the Ghibli AI art trend would make him shut down his computer, rub at his temples to try to calm down, fail miserably, and then burst out at the dinner table: “DO THEY NOT REALIZE THAT BY CREATING GHIBLI ART VIA AI THEY HAVE STRIPPED IT OF EVERYTHING THAT MAKES GHIBLI ART SO BELOVED IN THE FIRST PLACE?!” while Tara and Tav try to calm him down so he doesn’t spill his wine.

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Holidays Shana!! I really love your prompts about Greek mythology. Could you write a continuation of Hades or God's and Monsters?

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Zagreus is mid word when he stills, eyes going distant. "Huh. I'll be right back."

"You're joking," Megaera says flatly. "You can't just drop this on me and-"

"Technically, Than did that." He would really prefer if Zagreus didn't pull him into this. "I'll be quick. She's calling me, it can't be anything good."

"Who's she?" Megaera demands but Zagreus is already gone. She scowls and turns to the others. "Who's she?"

"Eliana, maybe," Sisyphus offers, completely unruffled at Megaera's ire. "At least take a look out the balcony. This is the highest point in the court and the view is really spectacular."

It is. Thanatos hadn't known the underworld could be beautiful before he'd seen what Zagreus had built.

Her eyes narrow. "How long has this been going on?"

"Oh, I can't say for sure," Sisyphus shrugs, his lips almost curling into a smile. "I wasn't really there for the beginning."

"I was."

They both turn to Patroclus. Eurydice is the only one of them that's suitably wary of either him or Megaera.

"He grew poms in my clearing first," he continues. "It's where we grew things until it became too full and then he created this. Zagreus has woven protections around it, to keep others from stumbling upon it accidentally, but I'm sure you could find it if you looked."

Megaera crosses her arms. "I'm not leaving."

Patroclus shrugs. Eurydice looks longingly towards the door and Sisyphus seems to actually be enjoying himself.

Thanatos stiffens, pain with no physical cause blooming from his chest. "He's died."

"Really?" Eurydice asks, taking a step closer. "He doesn't really do that anymore."

"Except for show," Sisyphus adds, frowning. "But you're both here."

Before Thanatos can decide how he feels about that, Zagreus is slipping back through the mirror, flicking off blood from his arms. "Sorry about that, Artemis wanted a favor."

Thanatos cannot have heard what he thinks he did.

"Artemis?" Megaera repeats dangerously.

"Oh, she told Aphrodite by the way," he adds casually, then pauses. "Actually, she was pretty surprised to see me, so I guess Artemis just called me and let her figure it out herself. Cold."

"Well, this is all unraveling," Patroclus says, but he doesn't seem that worried about it. Not nearly worried about it as Thanatos thinks he should be.

Zagreus shrugs. "They can keep a secret. Also it's been almost fifty years already, this can't go on forever. I suppose I could just challenge Demeter outright?"

"Do not do that," Eurydice says.

Thanatos wants to sit down.

"Have you LOST YOUR MIND?" Megaera screeches, grabbing Zagreus's shoulders. Her nails dig into him, but he doesn't bleed. "You can't do this! You can't - have you - this is crazy!"

Zagreus shrugs, pressing her nails deeper into him. "What's she going to do? Kill me?"

"There will be war," Thanatos says quietly while Megaera seems lost for words.

"Long overdue, if you as me," he says casually. "She's killing a lot of people, Than. She's undermining the other gods and making things worse for everyone all because she lost her daughter. She's turning against her own domain because her grief is more important than her duty. I can't make my mother talk to Demeter. But I have the power to stop her, to put an end to this winter. So I have to stop her."

"This isn't your responsibility, Zag," Thanatos says quietly.

"No," he agrees, expression souring. "It's my mother's. But if the goddess of spring won't do her duty and put an end to winter, then I will."

"Why?" Megaera asks, something small and scared in her that Thanatos hasn't seen since the first time she heard of Zagreus attempting to escape. "Why does it have to be you?

"I am a son of life's beginning and of life's ending." Zagreus says gently. "I know there is balance. I exist because of that balance. When I was born, I had too much of my father, and Nyx filled me with my mother's blood, because I can only exist when there is both." Thanatos hadn't known that, hadn't known how exactly his mother managed to save a stillborn Zagreus. "Who else, Meg?"

She doesn't have an answer.

There isn't one.

[lunaharrygurl]

Part 2: Hurt

A/N: ahh back at it again hi. I really hope you guys like this one. Im a little anxious about what to do after, but eager for yalls feedback! Let me know what you think!!!!!

Word count: 2.6k

Part 1

Fall 2019

“You should let me pick out your outfits more often.” 

He’s sitting on her bed in a t-shirt and dark blue shorts with his arms behind his back. He has a small smirk on his face because he loves to see her all shy and out of her comfort zone. 

“Harrrry, you know I hate this stuff! Why are you torturing me like this?” Twirling in the mirror and looking behind her back to see the outfit in whole. She would never have picked this out, but she kinda likes the idea of him dressing her. She would never let him know that though, of course.

“Because you look pretty when you’re dressed like that. Plus your butt looks good, Annie.” Harry whistles. She throws a sock across the room and manages to hit him square in the face. His giggling tells her he’s not offended. She walks out of the bathroom to greet him in her room. His sock covered feet are swinging and dangling off. He’s dressed before her since he said he has plans in 30 minutes. Ana skips over to meet him and lets herself fall in between his legs, his arms wrap around her to hold her up. Her head falls against his chest and says something but he can’t hear. 

“Can’t hear you pretty girl.” He sings. Harry takes her head in his hands and it pushes her cheeks together. Finally making eye contact with him, she tells him that she’s too nervous to go to this book market alone. 

“It’ll be good to get out of your comfort zone,” he smooches a wet kiss to her nose and she shakes her head, “and to make friends.”

Ana pushes herself off of him and walks back to the mirror. She’s been at University for 3 months already and the only friend she has is him. She wishes she could be more outgoing, but would rather spend her nights in her dorm than to be out partying, like her dear friend Harry. Still lost in her train of thought, Harry comes up behind her and lands a soft kiss on the back of her head. 

“Why can’t you come with me? We would have so much fun together!” 

“I wish I could, sweetheart. But I have big plans tonight, I already told you.” 

“Yeah, yeah, big secret blah blah.”

“You’re gonna have a good time, I promise. I want you to have fun. I want to see you later though, so call me when you get home.” With a wink and a quick swat to her butt, he opens the door and slips out. Ana’s cheeks turn a deep red and she puts her fingertips to her mouth, thinking about what transpired earlier. Her ass is still a little sore.

Ana heard about the book market through her creative writing class. It’s basically a book swap for all the students on campus and a way for them to meet new people and make connections and counts as extra credit that she desperately needs. She ends up trading three books with some dudes she recognizes from her Calc class and finds herself having a good time.

As she picks up a book, Ana hears a squeal. “Oh my gosh, I LOVE that book!” She quickly turns around and ends up dropping her belongings. 

“My name is Penny,” the ginger girl yells and rushes to pick the fallen items for her. Penny points to the tall dark haired girl next to her, “and this is my friend Jess.” Ana returns a smile and introduces herself. Maybe making friends wouldn’t be so hard. 

After talking with the duo for ten minutes, she learns that Penny and Jess are both first years like Ana and they realize they actually have a lot in common. All first years, book lovers, and hopeless romantics. The book market finishes around 5 pm and the trio walks out together shoulder to shoulder. Ana pulls out her phone to shoot Harry a text, letting him know she’ll be going to dinner with her new friends and for him to stay with his friends. He replies with a thumbs up and a hundred exclamation points after which makes her smile.

They decide to go to a diner not too far from Ana’s dorm and it wasn’t too packed. Jess flips open the menu back and forth before saying “I dont know I’m kinda feeling chicken alfredo.”  Penny smacks her menu against hers and laughs saying her meal was basic. 

“Yeah, okay miss chicken parm.” Ana jokes back. All three girls are laughing when their waiter comes to the table and announces himself.

“Hi ladies. My name is Alex and I’ll be serving you guys tonight.” All girls quickly hush up and make quick eye contact with each other. The three of them finish ordering before Jess squeezes Ana’s hand from across the table. 

“He was totally looking at you dude! And he was flirting!”

“Noooo, he was not. He was just being polite!” Ana is full on blushing and pushing her hair behind her ear. She was sitting with two beautiful girls and she was no near their kind of pretty. There’s no way he could have been interested in her.

“Oh hush up. He looks like a school boy in love. You should definitely get his number.” Penny is looking at her with soft eyes and Ana can tell she was being genuine. She sips her strawberry lemonade and ignores the girls’ comments. She’s not really interested in pursuing their waiter anyways.

“I’m sorta already seeing someone else.” she blushes and begins to spill her complicated love life with Harry. She’s not sure if she considers him to be her boyfriend, but she for sure knows they're more than just friends. They spend every other night in each other’s dorms and not just to sleep. Ana has never been more satisfied in bed with any other person than with Harry. And not even just sex, he makes her laugh, he makes her smile, and she trusts him. She’s almost in love with him, but the only thing stopping her from professing her love is the fact that he might not feel the same way. 

Jess asks if Ana’s ever told him how she feels. She shakes her head and laughs “He probably doesn't feel the same. Let’s pretend I just went out and told him I liked him, yeah? And then he says he doesn't feel the same? I’d die. I would literally die.”

“You’ll never know unless you try Ana.” Penny sings. “I mean, it sounds like he likes you?”

“Or screw them both! Being single is fun! You deserve to not worry about who does or doesn't like you. You're young. Act like it.” 

“Damn, Jess, laying it on thick.” Ana laughs but keeps the words in her head.

Thankfully, they move on and finish their meals talking about their classes. Alex comes around with the check and tells the girls to have a good night, ending with sending Ana a wink. She for sure saw that. She picks up the check and her mouth opens.

“What? Is it a million dollars?”

“No, he left his number. “ Penny shuts up and her eyebrows shoot up. “No way!”

The group gathers their leftovers and walk out of the diner on the way to their respective dorms.

“It was really nice to meet you guys.” Ana gushes. “I hope we can hang out again.” 

“Oh we had so much fun! Of course we’ll see you again!” Penny pulls Ana into a hug and they rock side to side. 

“Pen, jesus.” Jess laughs out and pulls her friend off. “I have a feeling we’ll be best pals for life. You have our numbers and socials. I’ll text you when we get to our dorm.”

Ana gets a few steps in before she hears Penny yell, “And call that boy! Or tell the other boy you love him!” 

“We’ll see girl!” Ana laughs her off and walks away with a good feeling in her chest. She went out of her comfort zone and it paid off. And she got someone’s number. Who woulda thought?

She moves the crumpled receipt around in her pocket but can’t bring herself to actually fantasize about a new boy in her life. She really likes Harry. She’ll talk to him tonight, she decides. Excited to exclaim her crush, she has a pep in her step. Some loud rowdyness in front of her brings her out of her thoughts. She sees a few frat boys ahead of her seemingly drunk. 

“Bro, you do not have more bitches than him! He’s like - he’s like every girls’ dream here!” The boys are pushing each other and yelling apparently about who has better game.  “Harry is fucking someone like every other week, you can’t touch him.”

Suddenly, she freezes.

Harry? There has to be at least 1,000 people named Harry, so surely it can’t be him. 

“Nah, he has that Annieee girl he’s always with. Pretty sure they’re dating with how much he talks about her. ” She’s feeling a little queasy because one, these boys think Harry and her are dating and two, he’s having sex with all these other girls? 

“Annie’s just the side chick bro. He told me he’s still fucking a girl at least every other weekend. He’s with one tonight!”

Disgusted. Gutted. Is this a joke? Her Harry? Sleeping with other people? Every other weekend? Why hasn’t he told her? If he wanted to see other people, he should’ve said something. Of course she would’ve been a little hurt, but she would’ve understood. They were friends, or at least she thought they were. All those nights with her and countless times she’s opened up to him. Now this has her rethinking everything. 

Ana rushes home with tears running down her face and grabs all of the things that remind her of him. His rainbow cardigan he left this morning just in case she was cold. His purple toothbrush he leaves with how much he stays over. All of his socks and boxers. His blue nail polish he wears because he thinks it makes him edgy. Everything is shoved in a box and thrown to the side. She knows it's dramatic but she's hurt. She catches her reflection in the mirror and stops to glance at herself. She knows she’s somewhat pretty, but her face falls a bit at the realization that she wasn’t good enough for him. All the sweet things he’s whispered to her has been a lie.

She spots the diner receipt from the restaurant and zeros in on the phone number. Alex is a guy who thinks she’s pretty. He didn’t know anything about her, but saw her face and thought she was worth knowing. Fuck Harry. She doesn’t need him. She should be looking for men who actually like her and aren’t wasting her time. Ana quickly puts Alex’s number in her contacts and is about to send a quick text when Harry’s contact pops up and takes over her screen. Fuck fuck. Ana pushes the button on the side of her phone repeatedly in efforts to stop the call. He calls again and again and she begins to get annoyed. Dude, get the hint. A fast knock on her door has her head turning fast. 

“Annie, it’s me” She hears Harry call out. 

She holds her breath and stays still in hopes that he thinks she’s not home. 

“I have your locationnnn, I know you're in there” he sings. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she mutters. Well, here goes everything.

“Hey, why didn’t you answer? What’s going on, why are you crying?” Harry puts a hand out to her face but she quickly puts a step back. His hand retreats and hurt laces his face.

His face is begging her for an answer, but she can’t bring herself to speak. This was someone she cared about, someone she was close to being in love with. Did she mean nothing to him? All those nights shared together made her feel stupid. How could she be so blind?

“What do you want?” 

With a dry laugh, he asks her what’s going on. “Why are you upset? I thought the book swap went ama-”

“Where were you tonight?” Ana manages to look him in the eye. She wants to be able to see his face as he attempts to lie to her. 

“I was out with friends. Annie, why are you crying?”

She blew a breath out and quietly spit out, “You sure? You sure you weren’t fucking someone?”

That shocked him. His eyes were wide and mouth slightly open. With a shake of his head, “Annie, no, please, what are you talking about? Who told you that?”

“You’re a liar,” she choked. So much for not crying in front of him. “You’ve been here lying to me, making me think you actually liked me. Every night not spent in my bed, you were in someone else’s. How many friends with benefits do you have? How many others do you lie to?” 

Ana puts her hands up in defeat. “You know what? I don't wanna know.” She quickly steps back into the room and rushes to shut the door. 

“Babe, please you have it all wrong. Let me explain!” His voice is muffled through the door and she puts her back against the wood. She can hear his ragged breathing as he tries to plead with her. 

“Let me explain,” he repeats, “It’s not what you think.”

Her heart tightens and she’s feeling a whirlwind of emotions: betrayal, anger, heartbreak. She feels like she could hate him, but a small part of her wants to believe him. To believe he actually could love her. 

“Why should I?” she finally says, voice trembling.

“I would never lie to you, Annie. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this.”

Ana lets out a hollow laugh. “So you’ve been meaning to tell me you’ve been whoring around? What I heard was true?”

There’s silence, but she knows he’s still there. She can hear his breath hitch.

Finally, he speaks, his voice quiet. “Can I come in?”

Her chest feels extremely heavy hearing him in pain. She’s aching for answers, but knows if she saw his face, she would cave. 

“No.” 

A hard knock which she assumes is his fist bumps her head forward. 

“You have it all wrong, just let me explain. I need to see your face.” 

“Please leave, Harry. I don’t want to see you.” She forces herself to stay strong and gets up to lock the door. 

A heavy silence follows. Ana presses her forehead against the door, eyes shut tight as if that could block out the pain swelling in her chest. She hears him exhale sharply, his hand dragging down the wood between them.

“Annie…” His voice is strained. “Please, don’t do this. Just let me—”

“I said leave.” Her voice is firm this time. She won’t let him weaken her resolve. Not again.

A long pause. Then the sound of footsteps retreating. The ache in her chest tightens. She listens, waiting for the finality of his departure - but nothing comes. Just the eerie quiet of the night pressing in. She replays his pleas in her head. He didn’t deny her accusation. 

A knock, softer this time, makes her flinch.

“Annie, if you want me to go, I’ll go.”

Her throat tightens. She should want that, shouldn’t she? Shouldn’t she want him gone after everything?

But the weight of those words presses against her ribs, because she knows Harry—knows the way he means things. He’s not saying it as a threat. He’s saying it because it’s the truth. If he leaves tonight, whatever this was is over.

Ana grips the doorknob, her fingers trembling.

Should she believe him? Does she let him explain? Or does she choose herself for once?

The choice sits heavy in her hands.

And then—

She turns the lock.

[sanjisblackasswife]

𝕋𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕞 “ℍ𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣’𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕪”

ʙʟᴋ!ꜰᴇᴍ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

Ft. Zoro, Sanji. Luffy, Law, Ace

Suggestive Language, All Jokes, Established Relationships , They’re called “Daddy” as a joke relax

Zoro

Didnt even know Father’s Day was a thing.

“Happy Father’s Day, Daddy”🤭

“What?”

“Happy Fa—“

“I heard you, what the hell is Fathers Day.”

You had to explain to him its a day to acknowledge fathers and he immediately is more confused

“I’m not a dad why’d you call me daddy.”

“Because you—

“Oh…this is a sex thing isn’t it.”

He picks you up over his shoulder with a smug smile and takes you to your room????

“See if you wanted to have a quickie you should have just said so.”

“ZORO NO PUT ME DOWN!”

You still tried to explain it was a JOKE but his stupid ass can only think about the last time you called him daddy in bed.

And that’s what you did again today😁

Sanji

Dont do that.

If you don’t actually want to become parents today dont do that.

Throws him off at first though, so he pauses when you say it, leaving him to stare at you for a second

“Happy Father’s Day, Daddy😘”

“…You’re pregnant!?”

He thinks this is your way of announcing you’re pregnant.

“What no! I’m just playing! Besides we haven’t had sex in a month. I just wanted to tell you it as a joke.”

He is a litttlleeee sad but tries not to show it, unfortunately for you you notice and kiss his disappointed face

“Well…can we one day make it a reality? Y’know..so next year you can tell me and it be true?”

Ugh, he wants to be a dad so bad and his glistening eyes always get you so you couldn’t help but to agree.

“Of course, Daddy…or should I say future daddy.”

Luffy

Didnt even hear you.

You said it during breakfast and all he did was pause for a second to acknowledge your cheek kiss and went right back to eating.

Everybody else heard you though.

“Happy Father’s Day, Lu…”

“YOU’RE PREGNANT?!” (said everybody)

Now Sanji is crying pounding the floor saying “God I HAVE SEEN WHAT YOU’VE DONE FOR OTHERS”

It was pretty bad timing considering 1. nobody on the crew knew you and Luffy had sex. 2. Now everybody knows you and Luffy has sex.

You have to explain you’re not actually pregnant like 4 times and Luffy just didn’t get what was happening

“Y/N and Luffy—-you both—oh my gosh i’m going to gag.”

“Alright calm down usopp it’s not a big deal😒”

The rest of the morning was just small jokes and side eyes by everybody and your wonderful boyfriend finally starts paying attention by asking you later that day:

“Y/n who’s pregnant?”

Law

Knows it’s a prank.

You tend to forget not only is he your boyfriend but your doctor too

“Happy Father’s Day!🤭”

“You’re not pregnant you’re on your period.”

“😒Mmmtch. That’s not the point.”

“Get out.”

“Why can’t you just for once engage in my shinanagains 😒”

“I am not a Father so why tell me that.”

“….Well I was calling you Daddy this morning while you was helping me with my cramps i—“

“Y/N!”

“JUST SAY THANK YOU?”

“FOR WHAT?”

“…..Ion know just say it.🦦”

“ThankYou.”

“AWWW YOU’RE WELCOME DADDY!”

“Don’t call me that…..now.”

Ace

From the way his breeding kink shows in the bedroom you’re shocked that he isn’t already one

You wanted to poke fun at it today too especially since last night you both had sex so you say it to him.

“Happy Father’s Day, Daddy😘”

He Kinda just stares at you blankly

“I’m not a dad— Oh! But if it is Father’s Day we should get Pops something—“

“….”

“….”

“What.”

You explain to him the joke that you only told him that because of his kink he begins to blush uncontrollably.

“I-um…sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize silly. It is only a matter of time that you do y’know…”

Seeing as he was already flustered especially now that your arms are around his neck, he just buries his face in your neck.

“You gatta stop embarrassing me like this, Y/n.”

You giggle, giving him a kiss on his temple at his light hearted tone. As an apology though you take him to your room and well…

He almost became a daddy alright.

[starlight-bread-blog]

Why Katara's Lines Come Off As Rejecting In EIP

Like I said in a previous EIP meta, this will be a doylist meta and an isolated look into the scene and the second half of book 3. So first things first, what are Katara's lines and body language?

As soon as A\ang brings up the kiss, she turns away, and just says she doesn't know.

When he asks her why doesn't she know, she seems slightly irritutated for a second, gives him a perfectly reasonable explanation, but doesn't hold eye contect for too long before drifting off.

A\ang keeps pushing, so she puts an end to this. This time she stays faced to him to say she is confused, signifying she's more comftable now that his questioning has ended.

Now it is clear as day that A\ang violated her boundries and she is pissed off.

Her lines and body language tell us two things I wish to break down:

Katara is very uncomftable talking about the possibility of a future romance and can't commit to an answer.

The reason she gives is that she is because she's confused.

2. Katara States That She is Confused

Let's try to take her at face value here. She's genuinely confused about her relationship with A\ang. Do you know what is the first role of storytelling? Show don't tell. If the writers wanted to show us that Katara trurly is confused, we should be seeing Katara grapple with that.

It wouldn't break the "Will They Won't They" tension, if anything, it'd amplify it. We can see this in action all the way back in season one, where Katara also is confused and considers if A\ang is a possible partner.

So, is that what we see? Small moment/moments of Katara looking at A\ang, being confused and considering him as an option? No, we do not. Instead, what we get from Katara, is...

We are told that Katara is confused, but what we're shown is Katara completely ignoring the source of her supposed confusion. What we're shown is not confusion, it's denial.

This is a sharp contrast to how well the writers made sure to remind us that Katara is still angry at Zuko over the course of these very episodes. From her threatening him when he first joins, to a mean spirited comment (at 0:21), there was a clear effort to keep up the tension, to make sure you know that Katara hasn't forgiven Zuko yet, until said tension is resolved. Meanwhile with Katara and A\ang what we see is the show, and by extension Katara, in denial to the whole event.

1. Katara is Uncomftable and Unable to Commit

If she is in denial and A\ang is making her face reality, would her behavior in the scene be compatible with that? Would she keep on avoiding the topic? Could her words register that way based on who she is? To know that, we could ask: does she have a history of shielding A\ang from reality?

(If the scene was revealed to be her shielding him), this isn't to say that Katara would consciously shield him the way she does here, she could've genuinely thought she was confused. There would be many ways to interpret the scene. However, it is in character for her to want to keep the peace to protect him from being hurt. Therefore, her lines in EIP could easily register to be of a similar fashion.

The show continuously refused to show Katara being confused, showing us nothing but denial. When she is faced with the reality, she refuses to commit when having a history of trying to shield A\ang for as long as she can. And this is why Katara's lines in EIP come off as rejecting.

[urinarythreatinfection]

YOO what up!! You should def do some luffy x reader stuff. Safe for work plz I’d love angst or just some good hcs. I always wondering how he’d react when you like argue with him and you like flinch or back down and how it’d play out.

Thx pookie

Sorry for taking a bit, it's the weekday and I have school (I also stayed up watching videos on bloodborne lore on sunday). Anyway as apology I'll let you choose how this goes. Option'll be at the end.

Kindness Isn't Spineless.

Luffy x gn!reader angst. 1,088 words. Part 1.

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

“Again…” You look inside the fridge and sigh, the leftovers you had got eaten again. You know exactly who it was . This had been happening for a while now, the first time it happened you told yourself it was okay, the second you said it was okay again, the third you finally talked to Luffy to ask him to stop, this is now the 4th time. You don’t even know why you bother at this point. Closing the door to the fridge you leave the kitchen and see Luffy fishing with Usopp, seeing them talking happily makes you feel worse; like you’re the dumb one getting upset over some missing food while he’s unaffected. “Dammit…” You end up just leaving to go to your room, not wanting to sour their mood with your own unhappiness. After shutting the door behind you, you flop onto the bed and sigh. You keep telling yourself the same things you have before, it’s just food, Luffy is more important than some leftovers, no need to get upset over something so small… but it’s not making you feel any better. Not when something so simple as continuing to eat your leftovers shows so little respect. “Maybe.. Maybe I should try telling him again, maybe he’ll listen this time.” You mumble to yourself and get up, walking out of your room and going back to where Luffy and Usopp were fishing. “Luffy?”

“Mm?” He hums.

“Can we talk for a bit in my room?” You ask him and he’s silent for a moment before turning his head to look at you.

“Can you wait? I’m fishing right now.” Is his response, your heart sinks and you consider saying yes, but decide to steel your heart and refuse.

“No, the fish aren’t going to disappear. You can continue fishing after we’re done.” You manage to muster out. He sighs and gets up, following you to your room. Once you’re inside, closing the door, you confront him. “You ate my leftovers again.”

“Oh, yeah I did. Oops.” He says, way too casually for him to care.

“Luffy I told you it wasn’t nice to do that, I don’t want you eating my leftovers. Sanji already makes you a lot of food and those leftovers were ones I got from the last island we went to. I was really looking forward to them since it was a specialty there.” You explain.

“Yeah, they were really good.” He responds, and you frown. Luffy’s acting so uncaring about all of this, he isn’t even being stupidly happy about it. Usually when he’s caught eating something that wasn’t his he fights about it, trying to weasel his way out of getting scolded; but this is just straight up rude.

“Luffy…?” You call his name, not believing what you’re hearing.

“Yeah?” The captain yawns. “Can I go now?”

“Luffy, what's wrong with you? You’re acting weird.” This is stressing you out.

“You’re the one acting weird, it’s just food. You can just get something else, maybe ask Sanji to make you something.” His words make you scowl slightly, you’re trying to stay calm but he’s being so disrespectful it hurts. It hurts and it’s making you angry.

“Why are you being so rude, did I do something?”

“Hmm…” Luffy puts a hand to his chin. “Well I mean it doesn’t matter anyway.” You tilt your head in confusion. “Cuz you’re just gonna forgive me, even if I keep doing it. So there’s no point in being all sorry about it, yeah?” You stare at Luffy in shock, he can be selfish at times sure but not like this; and not to a crewmate, this isn’t mentioning that you too are lovers as well.

“Luffy you’re being really mean, don’t say that.” You say, your eyebrows furrowing into a pained expression. “You’re hurting me.” Black eyes look away, not even bothering to meet your gaze. “Look at me, Luf, don’t just look away. Please?” He doesn’t respond. “Luffy! Please don’t do this to me. I’m sorry for getting mad at you, don't just ignore me like this…”

“You’re so spineless.” He finally responds with a frown and your heart sinks. “I don’t like it, you’re not even trying. It’s kinda um…” Luffy looks for a word in his head before it pops into his mind. “You’re really pathetic!” A smile forms on his face.

“Luffy!” You yell

“It’s true though. I liked you because you never backed down for what you believed in, but now that we’re dating you don’t even do anything to me. It’s annoying seeing you so much of a coward where you back down at any argument with me. I don’t like it.” Once he’s done there’s silence for a bit, Luffy’s about to try and continue when you stop him.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” You apologize and he perks up, but you don’t end it there. “I should’ve known, you don’t like cowards or crybabies. I don’t blame you, so we don’t have to be together anymore.”

“Wait, you-” He’s interrupted.

“No Luffy, I get it. You’ve made it clear enough that you don’t like me.” You talk as you start to move him out of your room. He tries to reach for you when you go to shut the door on him but you flinch away like he’s lashing out. It shocks him to freeze, giving you the chance to shut the door and lock it.

The captain stares at the door, spaced out before he snaps out of it. ‘...I think I messed up.’ Luffy thinks to himself and knocks on the door, but you don’t answer. He continues this for a while and considers breaking the door down but the image of you flinching away from him like he’d do something as horrible as hitting you is shaking his resolve. ‘I don’t want to see them do that again.’ He frowns, unhappy. His plan was to make you mad enough that you would gain confidence and grow a spine, but this went wrong. He made a mistake, or maybe this is really just you? Luffy doesn’t know, he hasn’t been in a relationship before, but he wants to know; and he wants you to tell him. You did so well when you didn’t back down and told him to follow you to talk, even when he was fishing. He was so relieved he even sighed, but now it’s all messed up and he’s stuck outside this door wondering if breaking it down will make things worse.

_____

The options are if he breaks down the door or not and whether you want this to have a happy or bittersweet ending (asker only). You dont have to say if you dont want tonyou can also just tell me to continue if you dont want the choice.

[ladykailitha]

The Au Pair Boy 8

Yeah...so because of the mix up last week with accidentally posting two chapters in one and having to split them...if I want my backlog to last until the end of the year, you're getting another one of these to make up for it.

But this chapter is so super cute and sweet, I teared up editing it, soo...

The boys get together for the first time, Eddie is amazing, and Wayne is too.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

~

It was the first D&D session. The kids had been meeting up to that point to work on their characters and decide who the DM was. All the little nitpicky things that went into a campaign before they even got started.

They were arguing who should be DM, Mike thought Will should. Lucas and Dustin thought that Mike should since he had the most experience.

“But I don’t want to DM!” Mike cried. “I always DM. I never get to play.”

Steve held up his hand with a wince. “I have a suggestion, if I may.”

Every head in the room turned to him like creepy dolls in horror films, slow and menacing. “What’s it called when it’s not a campaign, a one off?”

“A one-shot?” Lucas asked, tilting his head to the side. “Is that what you mean?”

Steve snapped his fingers. “Yes! That’s it. Have like an adventuring business where they post different jobs for the characters to do and if idea gets picked, you DM for the week. And then next week the remaining ideas will be chosen from so you don’t have to DM twice in a row if you don’t want to.”

“But how would experience work?” Dustin huffed in annoyance. “Because your character wouldn’t get experience for the job.”

“What if for that game the DM’s character is off on a different adventure?” Will suggested excitedly. “They won’t get magical items, but they’ll get the same amount of gold and XP as everyone else.”

“Yeah, I like that,” Lucas said, nodding with a smile slowly growing on his face. “This way even I might try out DM’ing because it won’t be as scary to run a one-shot as it would a full campaign.”

“I’m definitely down,” Mike said, “it would mean I’d get to play, too. And try out this new build I was thinking of.”

The four of them turned to Dustin, the newcomer. “So what’s gonna be, Dusty?” Steve asked. “You in or not?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dustin said. “I think I can make it work. Let’s do this!”

And they all started rolling up their characters. There was a gnome artificer, a bard, a fighter, and a thief. Steve didn’t think the party was very balanced so he suggested the adventurer’s guild as they decided to call it should sell potions, weapons, and armor as well as standard adventuring gear to their guild members for a fraction of the cost.

That went over even better than the initial idea.

Steve just sat back and enjoyed the chaos. He wasn’t going to tell them that the original idea had come from Eddie. They had been talking about D&D because the kids were coming over and Eddie had told him about the idea he had always wanted to do, but never found the time.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Steve went to go answer it. It was Wayne.

“The girls just wanted to say good night before they went to bed,” he explained.

And sure enough, hiding around each of the older man’s legs was a doe-eyed little girl in their sleep attire.

“Oh my gosh!” Lucas cried. “They’re so cute!”

Everyone else turned around to the open door. Janice came out from behind Wayne and toddled up Steve.

“We aren’t supposed to play in here,” she admonished him. “Why do they get to?”

Steve picked her up and turned to the boys. “These are friends of mine, Janie and you’re daddy gave them permission to be in here. And when you’re older, you’ll be allowed in here, too.”

There was a tug on his pant leg and he looked down to see Joan begging to be held too. Steve huffed, but picked her up too. “Boys, this is Joan and Janice Munson. Joanie and Janie, this is Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and Will, you know.”

The two little girls waved shyly. Joan put her thumb in her mouth and Mike huffed a small laugh. He came up to her and offered her a ring pop that no longer had the sucker on it, but it had a wide base that wouldn’t accidentally go in her mouth and a little nib.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said gently, “I bet your finger doesn’t taste very good, does it?”

Joan shook her, but kept sucking away.

“But it makes you feel better, huh?” Mike continued. Joan nodded. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you suck on that instead? That way you don’t have eat your yucky fingers.”

Joan took the toy from him and replaced her thumb with it.

“Now isn’t that better?”

She nodded and tucked her head under Steve’s chin. Steve mouthed ‘thank you’ and Mike just nodded before going and sitting down. He steadfastly ignored all the wide-eyed looks from the rest of the boys.

Steve gave both girls big hugs and then set them back on the floor. “Good night, girls. See you in the morning.”

Wayne took the little girls off to bed and Steve settled down to play mediator to four grumpy teenaged boys.

He had barely gotten settled when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“Stevie, Stevie,” Eddie said excitedly. “Have they started yet? Please tell me they hadn’t started yet.”

Steve burst out laughing, causing all four boys to look over at him strangely. “No, you dork. They’re in the middle of creating their characters right now.”

“Video call on the big screen,” Eddie said practically vibrating on the other end of the line. “Pleaaasseee!!”

“Hold on,” Steve said fondly get up and fiddling with something on the wall. All the boys shouted “WHOA!” when a large screen TV dropped from the ceiling. He got the remote and turned it over to the video calling app.

Then Eddie’s face appeared on the screen much to the kids utter glee. “Welcome young travelers! I am Edmont de Luc master of the adventurer’s guild.”

He zoomed out and they could all see that Eddie was dressed in black leather armor and gloves, with a broadsword strapped to his back. He was clearly in front of some kind of white sheet to block out the rest of the hotel room.

The kids roared their excitement as Eddie controlled the table to look like the adventure’s guild. They giggled as Eddie described each thing and it came to life in front of them.

“So, who’s DMing first?” Eddie asked rubbing his hands together. “Because if no one wants to, I’ve got one for ya!”

All the boys looked at each other, wide-eyed and grinning from ear to ear. They all shouted over each that they wanted that very much.

“Just have Steve scan your character sheets,” Eddie said gleefully, “and we’ll get started.”

Steve did as he was asked and then sat down to watch them play. Eddie was a good DM, doing voices for all the NPCs and weaving everything together.

When Steve stepped out to order more pizza, Wayne spotted him in the hall. “Hey, I’m glad I was able to catch you outside...” he made a hand wave gesture toward the D&D room, “of all that.”

Steve laughed. “It is a bit much, I’ll admit. But Eddie Face Time’d in and they are having the times of their lives.”

Wayne chuckled, shaking his head. “That boy never could resist playing D&D. Anyway. I just wanted to tell you that I was getting ready for bed.”

“All right,” Steve said, “I’ll make sure they aren’t too loud, what with your room being closer to the game room than mine is.”

“I appreciate it,” Wayne said with a nod. “It’s real nice of you setting this up for them. And Eddie for going along with it.”

Steve smiled broadly. “It was the least I could do, kids at fifteen shouldn’t have to work, and with so many of the people we hired having actual teenagers help, I thought this was a nice way to pay that back.”

“You’re good man, Steve Harrington,” Wayne clasped him on the shoulder and the bid him good night.

Steve smiled as he watched the elder Munson go. He was more like his nephew than you could tell at first glance. The first of which was definitely that they looked rough on the outside but were gooey marshmallows on the inside.

He ordered the pizza and then a roar erupted. Steve turned on his heel and ran. That didn’t sound like an excited roar, that sounded like the sound of four very upset teenaged boys.

“What do you mean that we can’t do that?” Dustin was yelling. “It’s in the rules!”

“I mean, Elendril Whitehart,” Eddie said firmly, “is that if you do that, the whole mountain is going to come down on you and your entire party.”

The entire room fell silent.

“Everyone roll a perception check,” Eddie said gravely. And when most of them passed he calmly told him that the pillars holding up the temple were unstable, but as it was built into the mountain, the whole thing would indeed come down on their heads.

“So my intrepid adventurers,” he continued spreading his arms wide, “what are you going to do now?”

Steve sighed in relief as they all settled back down. He made eye contact with Eddie as the boys all had their heads over their character sheets and Eddie winked and smirked. He settled down to watch the game until the pizza arrived.

Finally they were done and they all settled down to wait for their parents to come get them. Steve had offered to take them home as Wayne would be watching the girls but he got turned down.

He privately thought that Joyce, Claudia, and Karen all wanted to see the house and talk to him. Especially since it was a stranger’s house. Yes, Will and Lucas worked there, but they hadn’t met Eddie and were concerned.

Sure enough all four of the moms came up to Steve twittering on about how were they, were their any problems, who was Eddie Munson. And Steve answered all their questions and told them that he was there the whole time and everything was fine.

Sue Sinclair was the least worried because Charles had seen the place and she trusted her husband’s judgment. Claudia had known Steve and while she was concerned about Dustin joining in with a group of boys she hadn’t met before, she trusted him to look after her Dusty. Joyce and Karen had both known Steve from when he ran with Nancy and Jonathan in high school, but it had been a few years and wanted to catch up.

All four of them left secure in Steve’s abilities to watch over their sons.

Steve waved at them as they drove off and walked back into the room. It was a disaster. He slumped against the door and seriously contemplated paying the Mayfields extra to clean it up for him.

But then he decided he wasn’t a sadist and got to work cleaning up the worst of it at least.

He was throwing away the pizza boxes when a voice startled him from behind.

“You do know that is why we have a cleaning service,” Eddie intoned dryly. “So that they can clean up after parties and things like D&D sessions. And two toddlers.”

Steve jumped, startled. He whirled around and saw that the app was still up on the big screen TV.

He looked down at the large back trash bag with a blush. “I know. I even thought about leaving it for them in the morning...”

“So do it,” Eddie said sternly. “It’s what I pay them for. I already told them it would probably be a mess and to come with hazmat suits.”

Steve set the garbage bag down and wandered over to the big screen. He crossed his arms over his chest protectively. “It’s a throwback from my own mother. She couldn’t stand knowing that our cleaning service could dare to think that we weren’t clean people.”

“When I spoke to them about the job after you vouched for them,” Eddie said, “I set clear expectations that this is house with small children expect spaghetti on the fucking ceiling, socks under the sofa, and toys in the fridge. Then when you brought up those boys having D&D here, I warned them about that, too. I remember what I was like when me and the boys got together to play. So let it go.”

He let out a shuddering breath and then two. “Yeah. I’ll try. Thank you!”

“I’ll say good night and sleep well, fair prince of the nannies,” Eddie murmured and the screen went dark.

“Good night, Eddie,” Steve whispered back and then turned everything off and pulled the screen back up into the ceiling.

As he got ready for bed, the more he realized how entrenched he had become in this household and how dear they had all become to him. And of course none more dear than the weird little man who decided to get dressed up and DM for a group of teenagers he’d never met because he saw his friends and him in them.

He climbed into bed and with a sigh finally admitted to himself, that yes, he was falling in love with Eddie.

~

Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @tartarusknight @gregre369

2- ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @cryptid-system @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi

3- @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch

4- @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @ollieolive @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1

5- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

6- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

7- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

8- @sadisticaltarts @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @dolphincliffs @steddie-as-they-go @steddieislife

9- @kultiras @morallyundefined @themoonagainstmers @fearieshadow @blondie1006

10- @thesecondfate @wheneverfeasible @depressed-freak13 @genderless-spoon @yesdangerpls

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Away (Part 2)

Regulus Black AU

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader 

Rating: T- mentions of abuse

Summary: Growing up in abusive homes has finally reached its breaking point. Regulus comes to run away with you in the middle of the night. Its time for a new life.

Link to Part 1

Link to AO3

____

An hour later, you stood outside of what must have been Sirius’ home. You weren't sure how Regulus had found the address. In the time that Sirius had been gone from the Black family, Regulus never uttered his brother’s name. Something told you that it wasn’t out of anger from Sirius’ departure. It was probably to keep himself safe. That made sense now.

“Regulus, what are we going to tell him?”

You asked. Regulus stood staring at the door. He was nervous about facing his brother but didn’t understand why. Regulus never blamed Sirius for leaving. He was a little moody that Sirius didn’t take him with him when he left but he understood Sirius’ reasoning. Sirius didn’t have a safe place for Regulus to tag along to. He also couldn’t ask the Potters to take in two children unexpectedly.

“The truth. He’s my brother. He’ll understand.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

You questioned. While you never had an issue with Sirius, you were unsure if he would be willing to entertain the idea of letting the two of you stay. Would you be putting him in an uncomfortable position? Would you be asking too much?

Regulus squeezed your hand.

“Then we will figure something out. Please don’t worry. You know that I will never let anything happen to you.”

“I know that, love.”

You replied as Regulus knocked on the door.

“It will be fine.”

Regulus murmured as the door opened.

Sirius’ mouth dropped the moment that he saw the two of you. Clearly, this was the LAST thing that he ever expected to happen.

“Regulus? Y/n?”

Sirius was stunned, to say the least. He thought after leaving to go to the Potter’s, his brother wanted nothing to do with him. Now here he stood…with an extremely bruised face.

Regulus took a breath before speaking.

“Hi, Sirius. We need your help.”

Sirius continued to stare stupidly at Regulus for a few moments before remembering that he could speak.

“Come inside.”

He managed to get out before moving out of the way. Sirius’ eyes dropped to Regulus’s hand that was still wrapped around yours.

Good. They are still together.

You were one of the few things that Sirius was glad Regulus held onto. If there could be one good thing in Regulus’ life you were it. You were the good example that Regulus needed to follow.

Sirius led the two of you into a small sitting room where Remus sat with a book on his lap. When he noticed Regulus and yourself step in, he automatically frowned and closed said book.

Regulus was no fool. He knew that Remus saw his face. That was going to be the topic of discussion until the bruising healed and he looked normal again.

“Okay, what in the hell is going on? What happened to your face?”

Sirius asked, sitting down on the arm of the couch beside Remus. Regulus sighed.

“I think you know what happened to my face.”

Sirius was on his feet in an instant and began pacing. He was totally enraged! Walburga was hitting Regulus again. Sirius had hoped that since he left, his parents would use that as a reason to treat Regulus better. Clearly, that was not the case.

“Why is she hitting you?”

Regulus shrugged. He hated that he had to say this in front of you. He knew that you probably had a feeling but that didn't make saying it in your presence any easier.

“Mum doesn’t approve of Y/n. I told her that I wasn’t going to give her up to marry some dolt that they picked out for me. After that…she really let me have it.”

Your hand tightened around Regulus’.

"If I didn’t hate Walburga before. I have a reason now.”

You thought as Sirius ran a hand through his hair.

“There is nothing wrong with Y/n. The two of you have been together since you were fucking 12. I couldn’t have picked a better girl for you. She has made you less…Black family like. I should go over and beat the hell out of dad and see how they like it.”

You gave Sirius a thankful smile as he continued on a rage filled tangent for a few moments. Regulus waited a moment before speaking. He knew that Sirius would be angry. If there was another thing that Regulus could give his brother credit for it was his protective nature. It didn’t matter how old Regulus was, Sirius always kept a protective eye on him.

“That is why I married her.”

Silence filled the room. Sirius had stopped his raging and fell back down onto the couch while Remus’ mouth dropped again. Remus was the first to speak this time.

“How did you marry her? The two of you are 16 years old. “

Regulus groaned.

“We lied! You don’t grow up in the Black family without stretching the truth on something.”

Remus muttered “oh shit” under his breath while Sirius moved to the edge of the couch.

“The two of you are 16.”

“Yes, we know.”

Regulus replied.

“What do either of you know about being married? What if you change your mind?”

“We won’t.”

Regulus again replied. Sirius took a breath.

“What do you want me to say?”

Regulus held his hands up.

“I wanted you to know. I would have felt silly just showing up and not saying anything! Look, I married Y/n because I love her. If she and I are married, mum and dad won’t be able to split us up. I’m not going to change my mind and neither is Y/n. We will both be legal in a few months. I know it may sound crazy to you two but to us it felt right. I had to keep Y/n safe too. Her dad is as bad as mum. I couldn’t stand by anymore and see her being hurt.”

Sirius looked between Regulus and yourself with a sad expression. This was another thing that he didn’t see coming. He didn’t expect Regulus to get married until he was made to. Whether it be to you or someone else, Regulus wasn’t one to step outside of his comfy little bubble that he made for himself.

Remus stopped his pacing and turned to face the two of you.

“You both realize how serious this is, right? Not only serious, but it will be difficult. Most marriages that start this young won’t last. Statistically…”

Regulus immediately cut Remus off.

“I know the statistics but we will be different. I simply need the two of you to have some faith in us. I also need help staying safe from mum and dad…not only mum and dad…”

Sirius frowned again.

“Who else is there?”

Regulus pressed his lips together.

“There is more that I haven’t told you. The death eaters have been trying to recruit me for some time now. You know there are only so many times that you can say no to those people.”

Regulus ignored the look of pain on your face. He hadn’t exactly told you about the death eaters trying to recruit him. You weren’t surprised. With the way the Blacks supported Voldemort and all of the dark magic Regulus knew it was only a matter of time. The dark lord probably saw a load of potential in Regulus…a potential that you didn’t want to think of.

Sirius was on his feet again.

“Nope, you aren’t going back. No way in hell are you going back…fuck it. I’ll go tell mum that she can take a toaster to the bathtub. Neither of you are going back to this shit.”

Remus nodded in agreement. He had a dark feeling that the dark lord would, at some point, find something good in Regulus. Remus has only been hoping that he would be wrong.

“The two of you can stay here. It would only make sense.”

You decided it was your time to speak. From the moment that Regulus had come to whisk you away, you had felt that your life was spiraling. You needed to regain some control.

“We can help too with whatever you have going on. We don’t want to be part of the problem that is happening in our world.”

Sirius nodded.

“The two of you are adult enough to get married so I think you are old enough to make a decision on who you support. I will warn you that it isn’t always easy…sometimes it's dangerous.”

“You can’t stop a madman sitting at home knitting a scarf.”

You replied. Sirius focused his attention back on your hand. Right away he noticed the engagement ring that his grandmother had specifically given to Regulus.

“No, you can’t. What is going to happen when your parents come looking for the two of you. Are you going to say that you love each other and that's what it's all about?”

You smirked at your now brother-in-law.

“No, that is the hokey pokey. We’ll figure it out when it happens. You made it when you ran away. I think we will be able to also.”

Sirius wanted to argue. He wanted to say that he knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Walburga and Orion would probably put up more of a fight for Regulus. Sirius always felt like he was the “practice” kid while Regulus was the son that they had always wanted. Regulus was the one that they seemed to not make most of the same mistakes with.

Regulus focused his attention back on his brother while absentmindedly stroking his thumb over your palm.

“I don’t care what mum and dad have to say. I will do whatever I can to keep us safe.”

Sirius was satisfied enough with that response. It appeared that Regulus was not being selfish. He was no longer the arrogant self-absorbed child that he used to be. It appeared that he had finally grown up.

“One question?”

Sirius asked as Regulus turned back to him.

“Yes?

“Is she pregnant?”

Both Regulus and yourself shook your heads. That was one of the LAST things that you even wanted to think of. Children had been something that you had discussed with Regulus. At the time, that was something that neither of you were interested in.

“We can barely take care of ourselves. It would be foolish to even think of such a thing.”

You commented.

“I don’t even like kids.”

Regulus added. While he didn’t mind taking care of you, the thought of another being so dependent on him for every small thing sounded absolutely miserable. He also didn’t want to entertain the thought of losing his precious sleep. Being up in the middle of the night with some angry human screaming at you while you were sleep-deprived was a horror that Regulus didn’t even want to entertain.

Both Sirius and Remus were relieved to hear that.

“Well, you are the responsible one.”

Sirius commented before leaning back into the couch. For the first time in a while, he was feeling somewhat better with the events happening.

“It's settled then. The two of you can stay here. You can stay as long as you would like.”

“Thank you.”

Regulus said as Remus turned to the doorway.

“Come on. I’ll show you to the guest room.”

Once the three of you were out of the room, Sirius ran a hand over his face feeling even more exhausted. He hated knowing that the two of you were having to grow up so fast but, unfortunately, it was just another sign of the times.

“Well, he’s not a little boy anymore.”

(meanwhile at Grimmauld Place)

Walburga sat in her sitting room, stirring a cup of tea. She was seething in anger after the altercation with Regulus.

Just what does he think he is doing falling in love with some halfblood? That boy was raised better. He knows better than to associate with scum. I’ll just have to beat it out of him. I can break him.

Walburga thought coldly. While she adored her youngest son, she was not about to let him throw his life away for a woman not worthy of him. She would not sit back and watch a half blood leach onto the family name and fortune. The family had worked too long and too hard to deviate from their Toujours Pur motto.

Why the men in this family must be so weak is beyond me.

She thought coldly. Men in the Black family being “weak” had been Walburga’s soapbox for a long time. From her brother Alphard to even her husband, Walburga constantly called the lot of them weak. Now, her baby was even stepping into that thought process.

Like his useless weakling of a father, he can’t say no to a pretty face.

Walburga was certain that she could find Regulus a suitable pureblood girl to marry. He didn’t have to love her. Regulus could hate her for all Walburga cared. He did, however, have a role to complete. Since her blood traitor of a son left the family, everything fell on Regulus. Walburga had a strange feeling anyway that Regulus would be the one to complete everything anyway.

“Walburga?”

Her brooding was interrupted when Orion stepped into her sitting room. Glaring at her husband, Walburga didn’t like when her “me time” was interrupted.

“What is it?”

She snapped. Orion immediately rolled his eyes. Why he put up with so much from this bitch of a woman was still a mystery of itself.

Oh, right. I have to.

Orion thought coldly before speaking.

“I was curious, did you let Regulus go out after we told him that he was to stay home?”

Walburga frowned.

“I told him to stay in his room until he was ready to admit that he was wrong and wanted to apologize. Why do you ask?”

Orion shrugged.

“I just came from his room and he isn’t there.”

Walburga’s typical frown intensified as she got up and started for the stairs.

“Regulus!”

She screeched his name as she practically kicked the door open. Walburga had been hoping that Orion was simply not opening his eyes properly and Regulus would be sitting on his bed. Unfortunately, it appeared that her head was right.

Inside Regulus’ room, everything was just as it had been. The bed was neatly made and all of Regulus’ belongings in orderly places. The only thing missing was Regulus himself.

Walburga walked around the room looking for any signs of her youngest son’s whereabouts. Finding nothing, Walburga turned to scowl at Orion.

“Have you checked the rest of the house?”

Again Orion rolled his eyes. This was yet another reason why he absolutely hated the woman that he was married to. She was downright ignorant. Walburga seemed to take pride in trying to make him feel as dumb as she was but always failed miserably.

“If you think that I am too stupid to take the initiative to look all over the house before I come to check with you then you are most welcome to scour the house yourself. I’ll be in my study when you discover that I am correct in my assessment that Regulus is missing.”

Walburga growled before shouting Kreacher’s name. A moment passed before the old house elf popped into the room.

“You called, my mistress?”

Walburga turned to the elf.

“Kreacher, where is Regulus?”

Kreacher looked hesitant for a moment. He knew exactly what Regulus was doing and didn’t want to out him. Kreacher knew, sadly, he had no choice but to tell Walburga the truth.

“Master Regulus has left. He said that he was leaving. Master Regulus didn’t exactly say where.”

Kreacher decided to slightly embellish that he didn’t know where Regulus was going. He knew. Kreacher had seen Regulus take the engagement ring from the desk drawer. If Regulus was going anywhere, it was to you.

Walburga stood motionless for a moment before screaming. Both Kreacher and Orion jumped slightly. Neither party was expecting that loud of a noise so suddenly.

Neither said anything for a few moments as Walburga stood stewing in her rage. Walburga immediately stomped over to the desk where the engagement ring lay. She hoped that she was wrong but something told her to check on her mother’s ring.

Pulling the drawer open, Walburga felt around until a small velvet box touched her fingertips. She quickly pulled the box out and opened it. Just as she suspected, there was nothing in the box. Her mother’s ring was gone just like her youngest child.

“He took the ring.”

“What ring?”

Orion questioned as Walburga turned. She glared at him as if he was the single most stupid being on the earth. Throwing the empty box at her husband’s chest, Walburga started yelling at Orion again.

“My mother’s ring, you fool! The engagement ring that she left Regulus is gone! He has probably taken it and ran off with that half blood bitch!”

___

@millies0bsimp @geeksareunique @knreidy1 @jessyballet @fific7 @@teletubiswszpilkach @spideyxalmighty @lucasfilms77 @dumbbunnys-safes @dumybitch @readtomeregulus @i-love-scott-mccall @taylor-will-be-the-death-of-me @s-we-e-t-t-ea @iluvthe-marauders @woohoney @abaker74 @regulus-black-223048 @saramaple @missgorldafirst @stelleduarte @gugggu6gvai @jag9000 @bennyberry @f4iryluvy @panpride @haroldpotterson @mentally-unstable-hoe @goldensunshineshit @padf00ts-l0ver @saramaple @goldensunshineshit @ravenhood2792 @playmore-zeppelin @authoressskr @emiwrites3reads @knight-of-gleefulness @rogue-nyx88 @shaylybaby2032 @coffeeaddictednymph @livshifts @ell0ra-br3kk3r @ad-astra-again @regulusblackswhorecrux @kindestofkings @criminalyetminimal @rubes-xoxo @untoldshortsofthefandoms

[strawberrynightmere]

anon cooked with the suggestion this and you delivered, can we got a second part of this? An idea like they get back together,him picking her up from the hospital or med school (yeah even 4th/5th year med student still go to campus),and Julia!reader be like "my hubby is insane but that's okay I love him this way" lol.

Uuhhhh... OK.

Found You [Part 2]

TW⚠️: yandere tendencies, mentions of manipulation, possessive Andrew, gossip, bullying(?), pt 2 takes the event two months after first, slight yandere Ashley, mentioned murder, spying, cannibalism, etc.

A/n: Sorry, this has taken a while.

Part 1

To think that you got back with Andrew in the most insane and obscure way possible was not on your list, nor was him trying to subtly manipulate you into skipping class or work. Good thing you stood your ground cause you did work hard to get in.

You were packing up after your last class of the day and hear whispered giggles. You didn't mind it. Knew that it was just two students indulging in some gossip.

"Someone said they kicked her out of the dorm cause she got knocked up. And now she's living with some guy who has like a turn-on for pregnant chicks."

Oh. This might be about you.

"Pfft! Gross. Does she have to get pregnant again, so he doesn't kick her out?"

Yep, it's about you.

"Judging by her size, she probably has a month left."

Wrong. You had two months until your due date.

You feel the baby kick harder than it usually does. You put a hand over your belly and leave, hearing the two students giggle again, but this time, it was louder.

Once you made it to campus, you spot a familiar car. Going up to it, the door immediately opens for you.

When you got in and fastened your seat belt, making sure the belt didn't go over the baby.

"How was college?" Andrew asked.

"Are you attempting small talk?"

"I'm trying."

"You sound unnatural."

"Whatever. Let's go somewhere to eat."

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

This pregnancy was gonna be the end of you.

As you and Andrew enter your motel-room, you sprinted towards the bathroom at fool speed, leaving a concerned Andrew.

"What's her problem?" Ashley asked, watching something something on TV.

"We've been over this. The pregnancy is making it hard for her to hold down her food." Andrew said.

"Aaaand~?" Ashley asked again.

"Is there something you know?" Andrew asked, giving a suspicious look to Ashley.

"Maaaaybe." She answered.

Andrew walked up in front of the TV, blocking her view.

"She's been too quiet since I picked her up from campus. Spill."

Ashley rolled her eyes at his demanding tone but still answered.

"Must be some skanks, purposely near her earshot gossiping about her." She said nonchalantly.

"What did they say?" Andrew asked, now angry.

"Mmmm. How should I know?" She said teasingly.

"Ashley!"

"That she got kicked out of the dorm and that she's living with some weird fetish guy who's gonna kick her out once she pops that thing out of he womb."

Well, that got his blood boiling.

However, Ashley was looking at him with a smug expression. Andrew didn't need to be a mind reader to know that she had already planned something.

"What's your plan?"

"Something that would kill two birds with one stone."

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

"We're back." You announce once you and Andrew came back.

"Took you long enough." Ashley said, looking up from the pot. "I made stew."

Three bowls of stew were served. The smell didn't make you sick. That's a first. You eat a spoonful of stew. The Grave siblings have been staring at you.

"Can you pass the salt." You ask.

Andrew looked relieved before passing you the salt shaker. You wrote it off as worrie for your pregnancy craving.

Ashley just looked at him in a way that said, "told you so."

Who would've known that those two gossip girls would make a good meal.

But you don't need to know that.

A/n: Don't know how to feel about this fic, I do hope it was enjoyable, tho.

[morgana-larkin]

After over a month I got part 10 of Mine done! Next part will be Melissa’s birthday celebration! 🥳. And yes I made it canon for me that Melissa is a Leo just like Lisa. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I’m halfway through Worth It and almost done a prompt which should be out tomorrow!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 11

Mine - Part 10

Warnings: Smut, talks of death (small part)

Words: 4.15k

*Fourth of July*

“Amelia, for the last time, come and put your shoes on!” You tell her and she crosses her arms and ignores you. Just then Melissa comes up behind her, picks her up, and carries her to the car.

“Mamma! I don’t want to go!” Amelia complains.

“Well that’s too bad isn’t it.” Melissa says as she straps Amelia in.

“How do you get this thing off me?!? I don’t want to go!” She continues complaining.

“We’re going to Aunt Barb’s place, you love seeing her.” You say as you strap Nico in and Melissa straps Caty in. Amelia just continues pouting the entire way there.

When you get there, Amelia refuses to hold either of your hands and just tell her to stay close. Barb opens the door and can immediately tell that Amelia must still be defiant. Amelia runs away in the house and you both walk to the backyard while carrying the twins.

“Where’s Amelia?” Janine asks.

“Don’t ask.” Melissa says with a sigh.

“Ran away somewhere in the house. She’ll come out when she’s hungry, I hope.” You tell her and she nods.

“Is a 3 year old getting to you guys?” Jacob asks teasingly.

“Yes.” Is all Melissa says and sits in one of the chairs. All of a sudden Amelia runs out and goes to Melissa.

“Mamma?” She asks and Melissa looks at her. “I fell on my knees.” She says and Melissa looks down and sees a small cut.

“Alright, come on.” Melissa says after putting Caty down. “Barb, do you mind if I use one of your bandaids?” Melissa asks Barb.

“No, not at all.” Barb tells her and Melissa grabs Amelia’s hand and leads her to the bathroom. Melissa gets Amelia to sit on the toilet lid and then cleans the cut on her knee and then puts a bandaid on it after.

“Thank you Mamma.”

“Of course.” Melissa says and places a kiss on top of the bandaid. “Amelia, why do you keep not wanting to listen to us?” She asks.

“I don’t like being told what to do.” Amelia says.

“I understand that, I really do, but we’re your parents. If we ask you to do something, it’s for your best interest.” Melissa explains to her.

“I’m sorry.” Amelia says. “Am I still your Tesoro?” She then asks and Melissa smiles softly at her.

“Of course, you’ll always be my Tesoro, no matter what.” Melissa says and then Amelia gives Melissa a hug.

You see Melissa and Amelia walking back out and it seems Amelia is in a better mood right now. Melissa tells Amelia something and then Amelia runs up to you and gives you a hug. You immediately hug her back but then you look at Melissa confusingly. Amelia pulls back and then looks at Melissa who nods.

“I’m sorry mommy for not listening.” She says and you immediately move some strand out of her face.

“It’s ok sweetheart, I love you.” You tell her.

“I love you too mommy.” She says and then she goes and plays with some other kids.

“What in the world happened in there?” You ask Melissa.

“We had a little heart to heart, that’s all.” Melissa tells you.

“That’s all? She apologised for not listening to us.” You say and she nods. She then picks Nico up and places him on her lap.

“Mamma.” He says and she smiles at him.

“That’s right my sweet little boy.” She tells him.

“Food is ready!” Barb yells as Gerald is placing the burgers and hot dogs on plates. Everyone gets up and goes to get some food while you and Melissa wait until everyone is done. When people start leaving the food table, Melissa gets up, hands you Nico and then gets food for you, herself and Amelia.

“I don’t want the bun mamma.” Amelia says and proceeds to take the bun off the hot dog and gives it to Melissa. You and Melissa watch in amusement as she eats the hot dog without a bun.

“I’m not that surprised she has a weird quirk like you do.” Melissa tells you and you snort.

“You’re one to talk.” You counter and she laughs.

A couple hours later Amelia is playing with some other kids while the twins are playing with a toy on the ground near your feet. You’re sitting on Melissa’s lap on a deck chair and she has her arms around your waist while you’re nuzzling your head in her neck.

“So what are you planning for my birthday?” She asks.

“Not telling you, it’s a surprise.” You say and she sighs.

“Not even a hint.”

“If I give you a hint will you stop asking?” You ask her as you lift your head up and she nods. “Ok the hint is it’s gonna be awesome.” You tell her and then give her a kiss when she whines.

“You tricked me.” She says and you laugh.

“I did, and now you can’t ask me again.” You tell her. All of a sudden Caty starts crying and you pick her up and place her on your lap. “What’s wrong honey?” You ask her and she keeps crying but then adjusts herself to get more comfortable on you.

“I think she’s getting tired.” Melissa says as Caty starts falling asleep on you. You start scratching Caty’s scalp and she sighs happily before falling asleep on you.

“What time is it?” You ask and Melissa checks her phone.

“Almost 7:30.” She says.

“Their bedtime isn’t until 9, why is she already so tired?”

“Maybe it’s been a bit overwhelming for her. We should go soon anyway and feed them before bed.” She tells you and you nod.

“Why do we have to go just because my sister is tired?” Amelia complains as you say your goodbyes.

“Because we do.” You tell her and she pouts.

“Put your pout away, Tesoro.” Melissa says as she picks Nico up and onto her hip.

“But I want to stay, I was having fun.” Amelia says.

“Tomorrow we can go to the park and you can have fun with the other kids there.” Melissa offers and Amelia sighs before you all leave.

You both head home and you then put the twins down for an early night while Melissa plays with Amelia downstairs. Melissa puts Amelia to bed around 9 while you get ready for bed. You finish brushing your teeth and then you feel hands wrap around your waist and you lean into her touch.

“What are you doing?” You ask her and she hums.

“Just being affectionate with my wife.” She says softly and then she puts her hand under your pj shirt and trails up to cup your boob. You moan under her touch when she starts playing with your nipple.

“Just affectionate?” You ask and she removes her hand from under your shirt, and then moves your hair to access your neck.

“Can you blame me for wanting some intimacy? It’s been 4 whole days since we last had sex.” She says and goes back to your neck and starts sucking.

“You’re so horny.” You say and you hold her head in place.

She then spins you around and kisses you on the lips. She hoists you up unto the sink counter and you wrap your legs around her. She gets you to unwrap your legs and then she takes your shorts off of you. She bends down and dives down to your clit and starts licking and sucking. You’re gasping and moaning from the sensations she’s giving you and you have one hand in her hair and the other clutching the edge of the counter. She then slips two fingers in your entrance and you gasp out loudly, and pray that you didn’t wake any of your kids. You bite your lip to keep yourself quiet as she’s doing everything to give you the best sensations.

“Mel, I need your lips.” You manage to get out. Melissa pulls away from your clit and stands up and immediately kisses your lips. She then puts her thumb on your clit and begins rubbing it while also pumping in and out of you.

“I know you’re close baby, come for me, pretty girl.” She whispers in your ear. You cover your mouth on her shoulder as you come with a muffled gasp. She gives you a few seconds to calm down before she helps get you down off the counter.

You then push her into the wall and press your body against hers. “Let’s see how turned on you are.” You tell her while you play with a nipple and she moans out. You then move your hand down her shorts and feel how wet she is. “You’re already soaking, I guess you really needed this.” You tell her and then insert a finger inside of her and she brings a hand to the wall. You start pumping in and out of her and bring your mouth to her neck and start sucking. You insert another finger and she gasps out. You then decide to test it out further today and insert a third finger and her legs nearly give out. “You need 3 fingers today? You must really need it. Want to feel me fill you up with my fingers.” You tell her and she whines out.

She then leans in and kisses you while putting her other hand in your hair. You feel her start to clench around you and then you go faster. She wraps her arm around her neck and then she comes seconds later. She pulls back from you and leans her hand against the wall and tries to catch her breath.

“How do you feel?” You ask her and she smiles at you.

“So much better, I really needed that.” She says and you kiss her and grab her ass before walking out of the bathroom.

Both you and Melissa are in a deep sleep and then Melissa feels someone shaking her. She opens her eyes and sees you still asleep and then she looks behind her and sees Amelia there.

“Tesoro, why are you awake?” She asks.

“I had a nightmare.”

“Again? This is the third night in a row.”

“I can’t fall back asleep.” She says and Melissa moves the sheets so Amelia can join in the bed. She climbs in bed and snuggles in Melissa’s arms and falls asleep.

When you wake up, the first thing you notice is you don’t feel Melissa pressed up against you or her arm around you like usual. You look behind you and you see her facing the other way. You sit up and you see Amelia in the bed again. You gently shake Melissa awake and she groans, not wanting to wake up yet.

“Mel.” You say and her eyes flutter open. She looks around and sees you looking down at her and she moves her head to face you.

“What is it, Amore?” She asks with a yawn.

“Did Amelia have a nightmare again?” You ask her and she nods. “We need to have a talk with her, something is obviously bothering or scaring her.” You tell her and then Amelia wakes up.

“Morning, Tesoro. Did you have the nightmare a second time last night?” Melissa asks and Amelia shakes her head. “Alright, good. But we have to talk with you.” Melissa says as she sits up. She then gets Amelia to sit in between you both and Amelia fidgets with her hands. “Now Tesoro, about these nightmares, is the same one every night?” Melissa asks and Amelia nods. “And what happens in it?” Amelia looks down at her hands and stays quiet.

“Amelia.” You start and she looks at you. “If you don’t tell us then we can’t help you.” You tell her and she stays quiet. “A nightmare one night is normal but a recurring one means something is bothering you or something scared you. We just want to help you so you don’t keep getting these nightmares.” You tell her and then you hold her hand.

“It’s about mamma.” She says softly and you both look at her with confusion and she continues. “On the last day of daycare, another kid mentioned her grandpa died and he was 60.” She tells you both. “Mamma is turning 60.” She admits and you both look at each other, not knowing what to say.

“Are you worried that I might die?” Melissa asks her and Amelia nods. “Tesoro, come here.” Melissa says and Amelia crawls on her lap and lays her head on her chest and faces you. Melissa wraps an arm around her and rubs her back and places a kiss on the top of her head.

“Mamma isn’t going anywhere.” You begin but she interrupts you.

“She could.” Amelia says and you realise you have to try a different approach.

“You’re right, she could.” You say and Melissa looks at you. “But she’s not gone right now. It’s not something you should worry about or else you won’t enjoy the time you have with mamma right now.” You tell her and Amelia still looks worried. “I’ve worried about mamma too, we all worry about losing someone.” You tell her and Melissa cuts in.

“I’ve worried about mommy.” Melissa says. “And she’s 25 years younger than me.”

“Exactly, it’s normal because we don’t want to lose people we love. But we shouldn’t worry about it because they’re not gone yet and we shouldn’t worry about something that hasn’t happened.” You tell her. “Do you understand?” You ask her.

“Mamma is ok?” She asks and you nod.

“I’m perfectly ok, Tesoro. The doctor said I’m healthy and I’m not in pain.” Melissa tells her.

“How’s this, how about instead of going to the park, I take care of the twins and you and Mamma can spend the day together?” You offer and she nods. “Ok how about you go downstairs and play with some toys and we’ll be down to make breakfast shortly.” You tell her and she climbs off of Melissa and leaves. Melissa brings you to her and hugs you.

“I didn’t think my 3 year old would be worried about me dying.” Melissa says and you hum.

“Don’t kids think about death until they’re older? Like 7 and not 3.”

“Depends on the kid, and the situation.” Melissa says. “Jerome from your class this year, he was sad in my class everyday the year before, and Barb told me that his father got diagnosed with cancer when he was 4. Jerome told her that he’s worried about his father everyday. And he said that when he was 4.” Melissa tells you.

“He wasn’t sad this year though, he was happy.”

“He told me his father is recovering near the end of the school year last year.” She says.

“I‘ve worried about you as well. A couple of times since starting to plan your party actually. Kristen Marie has had to talk to me about it each time.” You tell her.

“Remind me to thank my sister after the party.” She says. “And we’ve already talked about this.” She adds and you pull away and look at her.

“I know we have but like we told Amelia, it’s normal to worry about the ones we love.” You say and she kisses you.

“Maybe you need to join us today.” She says.

“No, you and Amelia should spend it together.” You say. “Plus someone has to watch the twins.”

“Ask your parents if they’re free to watch them today. I think Amelia needs time with both her parents.” She tells you. “We can go swimming and then have a picnic in the park, maybe ice cream after.” She suggests and you smile.

“Ok.” You say and she kisses you before she gets out of bed.

“Call your parents, I’ll tell Amelia and start with breakfast.” She says and you grab your phone as she leaves.

After your parents confirm that they’re free to watch them, you go downstairs and go straight to the kitchen.

“Hey.” You tell her as she’s cooking eggs.

“Hey, are they able to watch them?” She asks and you nod. “Good, well I told Amelia and she was happy to spend time with both of us.” She tells you. Just then the toaster oven dings and you pull out one piece of toast onto a plate and put peanut butter on it and cut it up in 4 pieces.

After you all finish breakfast, you get ready for the day and then you go to get Amelia’s swimsuit and a towel for her while Melissa gets food ready for a picnic.

You all head to the pool and you help Amelia put her swimsuit on in the change room and put her hair in a ponytail. Melissa pulls her floaties out and puts them on her while you get changed.

“Alright, are we all ready?” You ask as you come out in your swimsuit and Melissa nods. You get in the pool first and then you help Amelia in as Melissa puts all your towels on a chair.

“Are you coming Mamma?” Amelia asks and Melissa makes her way over to the water.

“It’ll take her a minute to get in fully.” You tell her. “She’s a bit of a chicken with cold water.” You add and Melissa rolls her eyes at you.

Once Melissa gets in, you get Amelia to doggy paddle while Melissa holds her up by her stomach. Once she gets the hang of it, you back up a few feet and Melissa gets her to swim to you. She ends up splashing Melissa by accident when kicking her feet and you can’t help but burst out laughing and Melissa subtly flips you off.

After spending a couple hours at the pool, you all head to the park and find a picnic table to sit at. Amelia helps Melissa get all the food out of the basket and then you all have a nice lunch together.

“Now this is watermelon, it’s really juicy.” Melissa explains to Amelia as she hands her a piece. “And only eat the red part, not the green.” She adds before Amelia takes a bite. As expected, once Amelia takes a bite, some of it drips down on her and you quickly wipe it off with a napkin. “Do you like it?” Melissa asks as Amelia takes another bite. Once she swallows she nods her head.

“It’s good mamma.” She says and takes the last bite of the piece.

After eating, you watch as Amelia and Melissa throw a ball to each other for about 10 minutes while also packing up.

“You know I think I’m in the mood for some ice cream.” You say and immediately catch Amelia’s attention.

“Ice cream! Ice cream!” She shouts and jumps up and down. Melissa giggles at her daughter’s excitement and you all head to the car and go to the ice cream shop down the street. Melissa holds Amelia up so she can get a look at all the flavours she can choose from before deciding on chocolate.

“Do you want a cone or a bowl?” You ask her as you give your order to the worker.

“Cone.” She says.

“And one scoop of chocolate on a cone please.” You tell him and then pay. You all get your ice cream and you hand Amelia her cone while you all go to a table outside. Amelia sits on Melissa’s lap while you all eat and you watch in amusement as Amelia gets ice cream all over her face.

“How in the world did you get some on your forehead?” Melissa asks as she’s cleaning her daughter’s face with a wet wipe. “You have your mommy’s talent.” She adds and you scoff.

“I’ve never gotten ice cream on my forehead.” You tell her and she looks at you and raises her eyebrows. “It was one time.” You say and she smirks.

“Still counts.” She says and finishes cleaning Amelia up. “Alright let’s head home and digest this ice cream.” She says and stands up. “Should we pick the twins up now or later?” She asks and you text your mom. “My mom says she wants more time with them.” You say. “As if she doesn’t see them a couple times a month.” You add.

“Well that just gives us more time together. Maybe we could watch a movie and then go pick them up.” She suggests and then you head home and you all watch Sleeping Beauty. Amelia ends up falling asleep on Melissa by the end of the movie and Melissa brings her upstairs to bed while you go get the twins.

“And I’d be happy to take care of them and Amelia at any time.” Your mom says as you strap the twins in their car seats.

“I know mom, you already said that.” You tell her with a smile.

“Is Amelia feeling better?” She asks and you take a breath.

“I hope so, we’ll see tonight if she wakes Melissa up again due to another nightmare.” You tell her.

“Poor kid, it must have been tough to hear that about someone’s family member and then worry about one of your mom’s.” She tells you and you nod. “She’s strong though, just like the both of you.” She adds and you give her and your dad a hug goodbye.

You return home with the twins and you see Melissa isn’t downstairs. You go and check up on Amelia in her room and you see Melissa ended up falling asleep, on Amelia’s bed, cuddling her daughter. You snap a picture and then you head downstairs to keep an eye on the twins.

Melissa and Amelia both come downstairs a couple hours later. Nico is playing on his toy that makes animal noises and Caty is playing on her small piano toy.

“Mommy.” Amelia says and you look up and see both of them there.

“Feel better after your nap?” You ask both of them. Amelia nods while she comes to play with her siblings. You get up and go to Melissa. “Did you fall asleep with her due to her having another nightmare?” You ask her and she shakes her head.

“I was just watching as she slept and ended up falling asleep.” She admits and you smile.

“Well you were cute together.” You say and show her the picture.

“You take photos of everything.” She says.

“And you don’t? How many photos do you have of the kids from the past 4 days?” You ask her and she thinks about it.

“Fair point.” She finally says and then gives you a hug. “I enjoyed today.” She tells you and you hum.

“So did I. And I think Amelia did as well.”

“She did, I asked her before we came down.” She says and you turn around in her arms to watch your kids playing together. “You know I still want to know what you’re planning.”

“And you’re gonna keep wanting to know.” You tell her.

“You know it seemed just like yesterday I was holding her in my arms and now she’s asking about death.” She says and you look at her.

“Mel, you were just holding her in your arms like 10 minutes ago.” You say.

“You know what I meant.” She says.

“I know, I just like playing with you.” You tease her and she hums.

“Well maybe just for that, I’ll play with you tonight.” She says and then starts tickling you. You start laughing and trying to get out of her hold and that catches Amelia’s attention.

She just looks back at her siblings and whispers to them. “You’ll get used to our mommys.” She tells them.

A few hours later Melissa rolls onto her back, after making you come 3 times. You move into her arms and lay your head on her chest.

“Today made me feel better.” You suddenly say. “Spending time with you and Amelia made me really happy.” You add and she moves some loose hairs out of your face.

“Today made me happy as well.” She says and looks at you. “I hope Amelia will finally get a good night's sleep without those worries getting to her.” She says and gives you a kiss on the top of your head. “Y/n?” She says and you look up at her. “I still want to know what you’re planning.” She says and you roll your eyes.

“Ask me again and I swear I’ll leave.” You say and she laughs.

“We both know that you’d never.” She says proudly and you sigh.

“Shut up.” You tell her.

“Maybe you should make me.” She says and you straddle her lap and kiss her.

“Gladly.”

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Dissecting the Jaku General Hospital Disaster and MHA's failures with complexity

Ahhh, The Jaku Hospital Raid. The point where MHA's story went from it's ever increasing decline to throwing itself right off a cliff.

(boooring)

I think most can agree this event was a travesty writing/plot wise, but how about all of those in regards to MHA's setting. Well that's what I'd like to discuss.

Point 1: A Goal Without a Plan is a Dream

The plan summed up is "fuck around and find out".

The heroes came in to uncharted enemy territory relying soley on brute force, broke a bunch of equipment that did God knows what (for all they knew, it could have been lethal*).

Then they proceed to shoot themselves in the foot by getting too cocky, despite knowing that Shigaraki was undergoing some sort of procedure. X-less shoots a machine that for all he knew could have been a bomb or generator. Why?, because he had a "bad feeling".

* I'm talking potential toxic fumes, gas leaks, accidental combustion, etc

Now let's focus on the evacuation effort...

Oh.

Oh FUCK!

That's it!?. A couple hundred dozen heroes and a select handful of first and third year's.

One of whom, mind you, is strictly combat oriented by the (extremely niche) capabilities of his quirk. What can Bakugo actually do here?, in the worst case scenario (being Shigaraki's awakening) he's limited to one arm and two legs (maybe his mouth?). That will further drag him down due to his quirk relying on both hands to be viable.

And we see this!

Moving along.

Another thing they didn't count on was outside help. The moment Gigantomechia arrives, it throws another curve ball. With the only reason for their survival being Dues-Ex-Machina Best "Dirty laundry" Jeanist.

They failed in the end anyways because a large portion of the LOV+ the MLA escaped.

Point 2: Organisms Used for Nefarious Means

I will keep this section brief

Nomu are in my opinion one of the biggest wastes of potential MHA produced. Going from being unnatural goliaths capable of striking dread into the hearts of even the long standing No1 Hero, to being undead cannonfodder that heroes can beat up so the audience doesn't question their ethics or (lack of) morality.

It is a sheer miracle that the Nomu didn't leave the heroes worse for wear. This is again more due to Hori relying too heavily on "convince" and not enough on in-world solutions, but I digress.

The Nomu should have been the biggest threat and again, the heroes failed to account for this. They had no way of knowing, sure.

But they should have accounted this early on. What about the civilians, evacuating them isn't enough as seen in Hosu. I mean they were walking into a lab and they had dealt with Nomu facilties before (Kamino)

Were there inpatients during the raid? and if so were they evacuated or did the Heroes say "fuck it." Given what eas allowed at Central Hospital I wouldn't put it past them.

Point 3: A civilians point of view.

I want you to imagine for a moment: You're a civilian and your whole life, you've been told how wonderful heroes are and how they'll always be there, after all they're heroes.

Sure, they may dictate what quirks are "in" and maaaybe they have a tad to much influence over your average person but they're licensed and your not.

Why question it?

Then one day everyone and everything you've known is just blown away. Heroes barge into your house and begin scrambling to get you and your family out of your house before something happens, they dont tell you what.

It is a sloppy and hurried effort, your life's belongings tucked into a small carryon if you're lucky and some plastic bags if you're not. They tell you it's probably only temporary and you'll be back to normal shortly.

Then the nearby Hospital blows up. You and your family can only watch as heroes flee from the scene, some rising into the sky, others sprinting like hell. You barely make it out alive yourselves.

Within minutes everything is gone and it's not until the fightings iver that you hear it. You hear people (you think it's your neighbors) pleading in pain underneath the rubble, a little girl can be heard sobbing somewhere in the torn landscape.

Everything's been torn upside down.

And the heroes, the poeple you've depended on your whole life...

They quit. They say they need to find another line of work.

Is that what you are to them!?. Just another line of work, a number on a tally!?.

Worse still. The NUMBER ONE HERO has just been exposed by his presumed to be dead son for being a child beating, wife trafficking, eugenist with an implication that some, if not all of his children were made against the mother's will.

The current Number 2 murdered a man for the "greater good" (what even is "good" anymore).

The people who were supposed to protect you are quitting in droves, leaving vast portions of city to fall to villains and are refusing to take any responsibility for their negligence and poor planning that made an already bad situation worse.

Oh, also the single most dangerous villain in history has broken out of Tartarus and multiple prisons have been destroyed leading to further destruction.

This is then followed by a "blackout" period. Heroes give zero insight into what they're doing or what their plan is. Mutant discrimination is running wild, support gear is flooding the streets and any protests are being silenced.

So I'll ask you again, how do you react?.

Point 4: Hubris

Over all the entire operation was a complete and utter failure. I see alot of people giving the civilians flack for their strong reactions, but honestly I can't blame 'em.

The issue is Hori paints the narrative to minimize the damage towards the heroes. (For example he characterizes one of Enji's critics as a snobby shut-in surrounded by trash bags). We only ever see the worst aspects of the civilians because Hori has consistently failed to delve into anything beyond surface level emotion/themes.

Eri is a good example, she should be a very different character. She should be allowed to show her trauma and all the "ugly" emotions and baggage that come with that, we as the audience should see the lasting impact being killed repeatedly has had on her.

For example, Eri should be very adverse to touch. A problem that started with her father and was worsened by Kai.

She should be expressing her trauma through play (think reenacting her "surgeries" on dolls)

She should be distrustful and even cold (especially after Mirio abadoned her).

Her inability to smile might stem from a lack of viewing her self as equal to others, viewing herself as more of an object than human being.

But do we ever see this. No.

Because Hori doesn't let us. He simply as a writer, cannot appropriately handle or even seem to grasp complexity and every part of the story suffers because of it.

With the civilians it's no different and as a result Hori whether intentionally or not, twists the narrative to make them seem unreasonable.

This doesn't help when from what we've seen a shocking amount of MHA's main cast are drenched in hypocrisy. The only experiences we've had with the civilian population is through Shigaraki's backstory (bad) Toga's parents (very bad).

It's just not a good look.

Conclusion:

Over-all, the Raid and by extention the war was a mess in every aspect and I personally think the story would have been better off doing something else.

The time wasted here could have gone to any number of things (how about fleshing out the non existant world building) but I honestly believe that it would have been subpar regardless, it's all to apparent Hori had no idea where he wanted the story to go. That can be seen as far back as everything post MVA.

Just, what a mess.