#well I saw photos of him smiling w/ people but I was not blessed with his beautiful smile

[madstronaut]

guess wot my fellow hoes (fellhoes?) you’re getting a two-fer-one deal

obligatory alpha post link below:

because I have been deep in my werewolf/hybrid!CODmen fixation while I was drunk off reading moondrunk I decided to take a break...

....by reading johnny boy and i dont want to even look at that ao3 history stat that tells you how many times you've visited this story IT IS A LOT

my record for one of my comfort stories is 79 times and that was back in january last i looked, and it doesn't count the copypaste backup i have in my notes in case of airplane mode. don't look at me rn (cough obligatory @the-californicationist G&G reference/tag here)

ANYWAY MOVING ON 🐺🐺🐺

Reading: Moondrunk Monster by @ghostgorlsworld

so I went to watch the Love Death Robots episode referred to here and UNFFFF forgot how good that whole series was! wolflovers, go watch the Shape-Shifters episode from S1

once again i love a good fleshed-out reader backstory and this one is no exception

also as a certified graves simp the spittake I had to clean up at reading the phrase “Captain Graves”

also wolf-friendly pain medication? please i would happily read an appendix or endnotes/footnotes about the lore/worldbuilding here <3

"They weren’t used to humans being kind to them."🥺🥺🥺🥺

me to myself: tbh in many ways this is the world we are living in rn

that line about reader sleeping in the back of the med bay reminded me of this famous pic I saw way back when:

U.S. Army nurse Amy Stuart of the 5th MASH unit deployed in Saudi Arabia naps on a cot while hugging a teddy bear sent by her family during Operation Desert Storm (February 22, 1991)

getting a little too real but at my age, always hurts my heart and deeply disturbs me to see people younger than me who i consider children going off to/waging war COUGH ANYWAY SRY ESCAPING REALITY BACK TO FANFIC-

piney has such a succinct, tight way of writing to set the scene and story premise up so well - fucking salivating at ghost taking reader to their tent and him getting miffed at her sitting on soap’s bunk until she sits on his <3 LMAO I SEE YOU GHOSTY YOU LITTLE LOVESICK PUPPY YOU~

You glanced down, seeing the Scottish flag on the wall, the photos of a couple that looked exactly like Johnny. “Oh, sorry.” 

ok but also johnny WOULD have selfies of himself up on his own bunk

“ahm easy on the eyes, aint i LT”

“shut it”

You were American, so you didn’t have much taste for tea unless it was iced and sweet. 

me, a rabid tea swiller, raising my hand: UM NOT ALL AMERICANS HATE “TREE PISS” AS TED LASSO CALLS IT OKAY (okay but I love that show so much)

unfff wolf!ghost crowding reader into his own bed forcing her to sleep in it is just *so many chef’s kisses*

Gaz was healed within a day, coming to visit you with a Snickers bar as thanks. “I’ve been saving it for an occasion,” he said. “Wolves…well, we can’t really have chocolate without quite a bit of pain so I thought I would give it to you instead. As thanks.” 

ok this was the most adorable loredrop ever also literally heartbroken at the idea they can’t enjoy chocolate!!!!

The adjustments were freezing slabs of raw beef and plating it up still half-frozen. this reminded me of this frozen organic dog chow i kept getting insta ads for after dogsitting for a friend (if u can hear this siri/insta ad algorithms, FUCK YOU RESPECT MY PRIVACY) anyway in the ad the way the person plated it for their dog and the way their dog ate it with such gusto made me, a human, want to try the dog food lol

“Not everyone in America lives in Texas, Soap.”

👏thank👏 you👏facts👏

You smiled. “A small town in Oklahoma.”

“Bloody hell, that’s just Texas.”

👏also👏 facts👏 (don’t come for me texans this new yorker will (lovingly) fuck you up; god bless amurica)

He was wearing gloves, as always, but they were warm when he pressed them against the scars, fitting his fingers into the obvious claw marks.

The 141 was silent, watching Ghost with a mixture of surprise and horror. Price looked as if he were about to intervene, his knuckles white around his fork.

i fucking l o v e this entire scene

They were still strangers to you, but the base felt too quiet without them, and your skin felt bare without Ghost’s stare upon it.

i am shivering at how good this sentence is

ghost: has a record for being more wolf than human and acts of aggression against humans

also ghost: makes tea for reader regularly when she can’t sleep

also reader if you’re having a eat-three-powdered-donuts-in-one-sitting kind of day, you eat that whole box girl no one will fault you for it <3

Ghost hummed, then came the unmistakable sound of licking the sugar off his fingers. There had also been blood on his fingertips, from the night’s previous activities.

You don’t want to think about why that makes your belly clench. 

😏😏😏we love the feral ones

also unexpected gifts are some of the best ones

i felt the adrenaline of the humvee ambush like i was watching a live action movie - i could picture the entire scenes very easily in my head <3

and ghost taking off her boots >>>>>>>>

A man in a skull mask was asleep in the chair in front of you, his head tipped back against the wall, his legs relaxed and spread wide. 

ah yes, classic submission position~

The meek little nurse that had put a Colonel’s son in the ER. 

meek is one of my favorite words. i have heard an alternate definition for this as “meekness is great power under control” and it stuck in my head ever since; pls bow before medic reader my meek badass queen

Your heart raced. It was such a human instinct, to see a predator and want to either kiss it or run from it. 

ah yes imho the heart of why wolf/hybrid and enemies-to-lovers etc. etc. etc. tropes and fics are so popular~

Ghost seemed to like your attention, his ears perked at the top of his head. It was oddly endearing, and you normally considered yourself a cat person.

hehe big ghost wolf, smol floppy ears - i will not let this image leave my head

ok and the wolflore about the recessive genes!! eating it all up <3

also i know this is a ghostfic but soap blushing and mumbling bout his coffeeshop crush is soo <333333333

"you’re too young to feel old and miserable like me.” Soap smiled, a bit of cheer back in his eye. “You’re only three years older’n me, lass, I wouldn’t call ye old.”

literally me to anyone <30/even a year younger than me

"ALSO, yes i'm setting up for a future soap/cafe!reader fic"

okay the unholy screech that erupted from me at reading this author’s note i’m-

Graves sat in a simple metal chair, cool, calm and collected without a single blonde hair out of place. 

me fully knowing graves isnt even doing anything here, just sitting: go off, king

“I wasn’t going to let that boy take my soul, sir,” you said calmly. “Not for something as worthless as a career.”

well said indeed <3

You wondered if he would come visit you, if you asked. If he would sit in your dusty, frilly living room and drink from your pumpkin shaped mugs.

PUMPKIN-SHAPED MUGS <3 <3 <3

Price looked up from a paperback, a twitch in his brow. He preferred to keep out of conflicts between the pack, only interfering when blood was spilled. 

oh please my headcanon for price is that he inhales gossip like oxygen and keeps it filed and sorted alphabetically and chronologically in his mind palace to pull up as needed

They were on active duty, for Christ’s sake, it wasn’t like he could bend her over against one of those cots and stake his claim,  COUGHOMGWHYTHEEVERLOVINGFUCKNOTCOUGH no matter how badly he wanted to.  

The 141 hunted at night, so during the day Gaz and Soap would occasionally bring you a muffin for breakfast or a stray cup of coffee. Even Price, the fatherly man he was, brought you one of his extra novels to read while you were awake during the night shift, one of those cheesy detective thrillers that helped you get through the night without passing out on a patient.

who doesn’t love familial!141 🥰🥰

it’s nice to remind yourself that you’re still a simple woman that appreciates a nice mani-pedi and a good hair day.

this is so real - taking care of yourelf/reminding urself to feel human is so important <3

You had the rank and the experience, so of course, you got the lion’s share of reports. ahem this a small almost throwaway line but much appreciated - LEADERSHIP IS FOR SERVICE. TO SHOULDER THE BURDEN FOR THOSE UNDER YOU, AND LIFT THEM UP. TAKE THE HITS SO THEY DON’T HAVE TO - ONES THEY AREN’T EVEN AWARE OF IF YOU’RE GOOD AT IT. anyway stepping down once again from my soapbox-

ah reader i can think of many MANY MANY spicy ways to motivate ghosty to do his patriotic duty~

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

AND ALSO Reading: Johnny Boy by @ghostgorlsworld

first off being thrown into the deep end of the incredible lorebuilding had me ready to swim and dive deep without even taking a breath of reality because the story!!!! the worldbuilding!!!! absolutely immaculate

a recurring daydream/brainrot scenario ive gone back to time and again with my blorbos through the years is getting knocked up with their spawn and having to escape and go on the run and hide the child then have an implausibly wild reunion, often with some physically impossible makeup sex and then birth my own private sports team's worth of children to build our world empire (drama, romance, intrigue, adventure - i would buy out opening night tickets to the movieplots my brain spits out, anyway ty for coming to my BedTedTalk) anyway this has such a unique niche in the CODfics ive read with the almost enemies-to-lovers-back-to-enemies flavoring with brother’s best friend trope in play

on that note, shaking tom’s hand vigorously for sneaking johnny back into reader’s life, then backhanding him with my other hand - also for sneaking johnny back into reader’s life

cute-ass mactavish sire emma needs to eat raw meat to survive? her supernatural senses make her an old soul in a child’s body? no further comments, absolute perfection. i love the explorations of “hey scenting/being a hybrid, ESPECIALLY growing up as one, ain’t all its cracked up to be and is not just all 100% sexy times and funsies” and her picking up on mom being sad all the time a certain someone is near and declaring “if mommy doesn’t like him, I don’t either” just UGGHHHH i just want to give her a hug and tell her it will all work out, shes is in good hands (including but not limited to her own!) also tear the throat out of anyone who would dare steal her childhood (fistbumping my fellow immigrant first gen firstborns&eldest daughters who had to grow up too fast/take care of adults)

also one of the reasons i love this fic is the very fierce and protective love reader has for her emma and their really beautiful bond <3 fanfic can be so healing and tender in very unexpected ways and their relationship slipped past all my walls and armor and just stuck me right in the feels <3

the conversation about grandpa jack haunting them and turning the book pages for him was so sweet i think my molars rotted away on the spot, 🥺🥺🥺 piney i will be billing you for my dental visit expenses; be prepared to pay cos ive always wanted to secretly try out grillz as a new yorker girlie 

also random brainrot but 1000% positive grandpa jack was a fucking hottie in his glory days (underground fighting rings? picturing tyler durden rn)

also please give mama reader a fucking medal, cutting up raw meats and organs first thing in the morning (EVERY morning) is a feat indeed

also johnny/reader’s first meeting at the funeral home is absolutely exquisite, the perfect amount of drama and angst!!! raaaaaa biting my pillow and tearing it to pieces

- reader’s physical reaction to the “he’s behind me, isn’t he” revelation

- johnny’s physical glow-up described through reader’s eyes is just UNFFFF *chef’s kiss*

- reader going straight into panic/mama bear mode re: emma

- “it could have been longer, john” HOLY FUCKING SHIT MY ICE COLD QUEEN PLEASE I CANNOT KNEEL BEFORE YOU FASTER OR I’LL BREAK MY KNEECAPS

- “your voice so cold it stung your tongue as you spoke. The ache in your chest was overtaken by rage, pure and hot. “Excuse me.” i am f e r a l for this line, this is PERFECTION i can taste the emotions here like viscerally on my tongue 

- honestly kudos to reader for not punching tom’s lights out when she’s running to get emma from him

“I don’t care.” You wanted to scream. You wanted to cry. You wanted to dig your nails into his skin and hurt him like he hurt you. “We don’t need you, we never needed you. I loved you, and you left for years . Deal with the consequences.”

Johnny Mctavish, a wolf, a soldier, flinched from you. 

It wasn’t the victory you thought it would be.

AAAAAAAA YES THIS IS ME AS I READ THIS REVELING IN THE ANGST

also the last line of ch1 being “Forget him. John always runs.” and summary of Ch2 being “Johnny comes home.” ????? gonna run out of my lipstick giving chef’s kisses to piney here

the way piney fleshes out reader and her story and history with johnny just makes me want to give her a ginormous hug, also like an all-expenses paid weeklong vacation to the maldives or something for the absolute bullshit she’s endured (might have to join you on this though dear reader my salary/responsibilities working in [redacted] means i also need an all-expense paid weeklong vacation to the maldives)

also I FUCKING SUSPECTED JOHNNY WAS SECRETLY TRYING TO SCENT READER WHEN HE SNUCK UP ON HER TO GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO SURPRISE HER BY PUTTING HIS MITTS ON HER SHOULDER; i love that emma picked up on this through her nose

“Because you still smell like me, kitty.” brain going brrrr being overloaded with conspiracy theories about teh many layers what this may mean

wolves were different from normal men. Territorial. 

me, reading about fictional territorial wolfmen on tumblr: 🥰🥰🥰

me, reading about IRL men being ‘territorial’: 🤢🤢🤢

“Grandpa was like me,” she said, loyal as always. 

i’ll be totally honest the character i fell head over heels with in this story was not johnny taking first place no - EMMA MACTAVISH MY HEART <3 i hope my future children will be brave, kind, wise, funny and compassionate like you <3

It seemed that the only person suffering in this situation was you.

this line + the short almost throwaway line of reader “laughing wetly” just before it just ughhh my heartache! shoutout to all the hardworking parents/caregivers simply Trying Their Best And Getting No Recognition™️ (madstronaut sees you and applauds you, great is your reward in heaven and or the pits of tumblrhell, dealer’s choice)

“It wasn’t your decision to make, Tom,” you said, your voice reaching that pitch that made you feel like your mother. god this got too real, when i hear myself sound like my mother sometimes (esp. when im mad) i literally narrow my eyes at my own reflection and have to check myself before i wreck myself iykyk

also freaking love the lore about hybrids/wolves being discriminated against in society and johnny’s own experience and pitfalls navigating the world! lorebuilding>>>>>>>>>>>>

You were dressed more appropriately this time, a Black Sabbath tee and sweats, your work clothes of pencil skirts, trousers, and wool sweaters currently drying on the laundry lines in the backyard. 

ok reader i see you my little rocker <3 you would love saint vitus bar in brooklyn; make tom or johnny watch emma so we can headbang to our heart’s content and you can enjoy a well-deserved night out <3 (on that note #REOPENVITUSYOUCOWARDS)

Emma two-handed it, just like you tell her to. It seemed she was trying to be on her best behavior, the little traitor.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH EMMA YOU LITTLE DEVIOUS ADORABLE SHIT (said goodnaturedly) I LOVE THIS LINE SO MUCH

Something in your chest squeezed when Johnny tucked the blanket around Emma’s skinny arms, more gentle than you had ever seen him.

ok though real talk men being gentle and tender, esp. around kiddos - hi, yes please sirs you can indeed help me mop my panties off the floor

Susan didn’t know what to do with a little boy that chewed on the furniture and got sick when she didn’t let him eat raw meat. 

i physically need to see fanart of young wolf!soap gnawing on an armchair leg

This was why you liked Charlie, he was so, so reasonable. 

hello charlie or as i like to call you “walking beige flag” the way i would roast him if i was bffs with reader..

also emma drawing that wolf catcher memory and waiting until soap was there to show it to both him and reader - AAGGGGH I freaking loved this and how clever this is i can do an entire pepe silvia conspiracy board meme breakdown of why and how much i loved this whole interaction

emma knowing it is a tough memory for her mama but choosing to draw and show it specifically to johnny - and waiting til they are all in each other’s presences (presence? idk)

i can see reader fighting (a losing battle lets be honest this is johnny fucking mactavish) tooth and nail so far to maintain the armor of assumptions and explanations she’s told herself to deal with the pain of being in love then (from her pov) rejected and how this has bled into how she paints johnny to emma despite her best efforts 

and yet as they say sometimes the body says and knows what the mind/heart cannot say yet and 1000% sure that little miss wolf emma mactavish loves her mom but is also sure that momma isn’t sure on where she stands with johnny

also ALSO the fact that jack raised both johnny and emma HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING RIGHT - even though they’ve just met i love the little tidbits of the special wolf-to-wolf and father/daughter connection they have

AND AND AND so my grand theory here is that i believe emma made and showed this drawing to johnny because from what she knows - she perceives mama reader to despise johnny on the surface, yet still wants him - but based on what she’s told her about johnny, thinks johnny may not want mama - and drew this to prove mama is still worthy and a great protector - “You haven’t got any teeth or claws but it didn’t matter.” - and “showing her off” to johnny COUGH ANYWAY THAT’S WHERE I’LL END MY THESIS TYVM

also i love the bits sprinkled around the fic about johnny’s eyes sparkling eerie/brighter when he gets worked up

Perhaps all the war and killing really was good for his temperament.

HAHAHAHA OKAY SHIT, MAMA, WHO IS THE DELULU ONE NOW????????? (tbh it’s me, hi im the probl-)

johnny trying to find excuses to spend his PMC savings & money on reader + emma - IRL me and my bills & student loans crying laughing hysterically at reader turning this down

“Shut up!” Tommy said, frowning at you from the couch. “Fuck, lovie, he’s a friend from work.”

The man in the mask raised a hand in an awkward wave.

HAHAHAHHA SIMON!!! his entrance totally threw me off but ofc tom’s SHUT UP (true sibling energy right here, no greeting, just yells) and simon’s lil wave just UGGGGGGGHHHH such a nice palate cleanser from the intense but delicious angst - also tipping my hat at the subtle way to introduce Bi!Tommy with the “he’s not company he’s a guest” line 😏

You felt Simon’s eyes on you, judging, appraising. You were sure Johnny probably didn’t have the nicest things to say about you–most likely that you were an irritating little girl that followed him around for twenty years then proceeded to get pregnant and raise the child without him knowing,

would love to know what and how TF141 thinks of mama reader from how johnny has described her…despite her own misgivings <3

Johnny was an unsuspecting kind of violent, always smiling and laughing until he wasn’t, until it was serious.

Simon was different. He felt older. 

aaaaaa this is SUCH a good characterisation of them both

You had missed him like a lost limb-

ooh i absolutely love this phrase! I have one person in my life i went through a friend breakup with (iykyk - these are more painful than romantic breakups imho) and we mended things and discovered afterwards we both referred to our break in our friendship as ‘having lost a limb’ to other folks (!) sometimes birds of a feather really do flock together

 “It’s just…we’re adults, and adults have tricky feelings. preach mama 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️

but also pls mama i know you have a kiddo but putting on nail polish right before a date? nooooooooooooooooo though chanel polishes ARE superior cos of that fat brush so all is forgiven <3

also obligatory FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FUCK to charlie for forgetting the date, do you EVEN KNOW THE SUFFERING WE PUT OURSELVES THROUGH TO GET READY FOR A DATE? TO GET READY TO FACE THE WORLD OUTSIDE OUR DOOR, PERIODT?

IF SOMEONE DID THIS TO ONE OF MY GIRLIES I WILL BE READY TO FUCKING SHOW SOMEONE’S BITCH ASS THAT YOU DO NOT NEED TEETH AND CLAWS INDEED TO GET RIGHT FUCKED UP

anyway climbing down from my soapbox on behalf of women everywhere, back to the fic

as a tiny tiny redeemable bit - charlie having weekly dinners with his gran is a huge green flag trait

He stilled, looking at you. His hand came up, pinching your chin like he used to. “You havnae called me Johnny in a very long time.” The rawness of his voice broke you down into someone you used to be, someone that loved him.

me, extremely pleased, reading this: ah yes, in vino veritas~

The alcohol had dampened the anger in your chest, you felt…open. Open to talking about it. Bleeding the poison from the wound.

<3 <3 <3 this line <3 <3 <3

irl sidenote: u can also do this without alcohol my friends <3 trusted friends, therapy, long retreats into nature, safe places, safe people all very effective and cutting right to the heart in the gentlest ways possible, painful but highly recommend over the alternative (and lesser) options of keeping the poison inside <3 

Within a blink, Johnny was kneeling before you, his hands on your knees as his eyes bored into yours. You felt a chill, a whisper of fight or flight pricking your neck at his predatory stare.

ahem hello this is it

this is what does it for me

kneelng for your prey <3

also i love that their first real physical intimate contact after reuniting, beyond that hug after the wolf catcher story, is johnny LICKING reader’s tears off her face

“All I had was a picture and letters, but I could get off just from you writing that you missed me, just from your smell lingering on the fucking paper.” whats that phrase? marines make do? 🥰🥰🥰

me, reading about lacy underwear getting shredded: mmmmf yes sexxxxxyyyy

also me: ok i just know that was expensive, cringing inside at having to replace it

also fics that have men talking to ur pussy as they take care of it >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I CANNOT WAIT FOR READER TO WAKE UP AND SCREAM AT HERSELF  SAW PT 7 POSTED WOKE UP SCREAMING BLACKED OUT AND CONTINUED MY FEVERISH RANTING ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS FIC IN REBLOGS BELOW

[ijustwant2write]

The Nice One-Fred Weasley x Muggle!Dursley!Reader

(GIF credit to @avocadosalad2​)

Masterlist

Prompt List

Tag List: @obsessedwithrandomthings​

Requested by anonymous: 'I have this idea about Fred Weasley falling in love with Harry’s muggle cousin. a dursley. Maybe y/n and Harry were always really close and she obviously knows all about magic. She’s the only person, Harry actually loved and trusted as a child and that didn’t change when he found out he was wizard so there really close, he sees her as a sister. Maybe he wants to introduce her to ginny because Harry wants her approval. And reader ends up liking Fred, and Fred likes her back.'

Characters: Fred Weasley x Muggle!Dursley!Reader, Harry Potter x Muggle!Dursley!Reader (cousin), Weasley Family x Muggle!Dursley!Reader (platonic), Hermione Granger x Muggle!Dursley!Reader (Platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Mention of neglect/child abuse, lots of fluff

                                     *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sitting back in a plastic chair, I looked out of the huge window of the coffee shop, sighing as I realised it had started to rain. I never minded the rain really, but it had been like this since May, with no sign of a proper English summer in sight. Harry returning to the table with two mugs of tea distracted me, and I smiled as he set them on the table, sitting opposite to me.

“It feels like ages since we did this.” I said, blowing over the top of the tea.

“Yeah, I’m sorry I’ve not called or contacted you in any way recently.” he apologised, casting his eyes down.

“Harry, you don’t have to be sorry for anything.” I reassured him.“You’ve been making your life in...well, your world. We’ve all grown up, had to get used to becoming adults and such. Though it is a shame we haven’t seen each other for over a year.”

“Year and a half actually.”

“I wasn’t surprised when you invited me here though. Of course, this is under better circumstances. I’m not having to drag you out of the house to avoid my parents.”

“No, this is much nicer.”  he chuckled.“How are they by the way? I was able to see Dudley last month.”

“They’re fine, same as always. I don’t see them as much as I should, though I do call them often. Sometimes it’s hard you know, especially after all that’s happened in the last few years.” I took a sip of tea, finally able to start drinking it.

Harry seemed hesitant to speak again.“Actually, I was wanting to ask you something.”

“Yeah?” 

“Do you remember me talking to you about a girl called Ginny?”

“Ooh, has my little cousin fallen in love?” I was teasing until I saw the genuine smile on his face.“Wait, Harry, do you really like this girl?”

“W-well...I h-have for a while, we actually told each other our feelings when, when other things turned serious. And it’s been going good between us, really good, which leads me to my question.”

I was confused as to where this was going, but waited for him to carry on.

“I was wondering if you would come meet her?”

“You want me to meet her?” I excitedly repeated. 

“Yeah,” he smiled back,“there’s going to be a birthday party for me at her family home. She’s a Weasley.”

“Wait, isn’t that the last name of your friend Ron?”

“It is.”

“You’re dating your best friend’s sister?”

“I’ve already talked about it with him! Do you remember I stayed with him over that summer, and I wrote to you from there?”

“The Burrow!”

He nodded.“They’re more than happy to have you there.”

“Of course I’ll come Harry! For now, you have to tell me everything about this Ginny girl.”

The party was two weeks away, and I could not contain my excitement as it got closer and closer. Although Harry had told me much about the wizarding world, he was the only wizard I had ever met (unless I counted that giant man that had tracked us down when Harry first found out he possessed magic, though there weren’t any introductions), and I was extremely excited to meet more of them. Would they constantly be using magic? Would they just conjure up food and drink? And would they be comfortable with me there? I knew that Harry wouldn’t leave me alone unless I was one hundred percent comfortable with everyone.

It was surprising that Harry hadn’t become irritated with me on the day of his party. He was coming to pick me up, and I had greeted him with an over excited tone, setting off a party popper which made strings of confetti land on his head. I had never been able to celebrate Harry’s birthdays publicly, always sneaking into his room or under the cupboard to give him a small present and a hug to wish him happy birthday (once I was earning my own pocket money, or sweetly asking dad for a few pounds, I would buy him cupcakes as a birthday cake, stashing away sweets for him after he saw how much we were given). Dragging him into my flat, I demanded he close his eyes, dashing in and out of the kitchen with a stupid grin on my face. Counting down from three, I giggled as Harry opened his eyes, smiling when he saw me holding a cupcake with a candle in my hands.

"You didn't forget."

"Of course I didn't. Is it...is it alright?" I became worried, wondering if I had brought up bad memories.

"No, no, I actually missed this. It was one of the things I looked forward to each year."

He blew out the candle, sighing when I urged him to close his eyes and make a wish. Harry then pushed me to get a move on, his eyes widening when he saw me pick up two presents with wrapping paper, as well as a smaller one on top. I walked past him before he could say anything about them, handing him the keys to lock up.

As we turned up at the infamous Burrow, I couldn't help but stand back in awe. It was like nothing I had ever seen, and although shabby looking, very put together, it had some sort of charm to it, it was so different to other houses. Harry had already taken a few steps forward, stopping when he noticed me not move.

"(Y/N)?"

My eyes snapped back down to him."Oh, sorry."

"It's going to be fine." he said, coming to stand beside me.

I just nodded, walking next to him and standing back when he knocked on the door. A short woman opened it, squealing with excitement when she saw Harry, and as she dragged him in for a hug, she playfully scolded him for knocking, claiming that he could waltz in whenever. Staying outside, I poked my head in, still holding the presents in my arms. I watched as Harry was engulfed in numerous hugs, everyone wishing him happy birthday as well as joking and laughing with him. It shocked me. The only time I saw him this happy was when I was able to cheer him up as kids (and that was extremely hard to do when he lived in the hell hole I called home), but a sudden wave of emotion attacked me, I was so happy to see him being treated right.

"Everyone, this is my cousin, (Y/N)." Harry interrupted my thoughts once again, gesturing for me to step inside.

Sheepishly walking in, I held onto the presents a little tighter, smiling through the awkwardness. There were so many of them standing there.

"Here, let me take those from you love." a man who seemed to be the dad offered, placing the presents on a nearby table. Now I was out in the open.

"So this is the decent one?" one of the younger lads said to break the silence.

"Ronald Weasley, you mind your manners!" the woman scolded him."Don't mind him dear, it's lovely to meet you. Harry has never stopped talking about you."

"He's right though," Harry said,"this is the nice one."

"It's nice to see that Harry stayed in such a lovely place, and with lovely people."

Really (Y/N)? That's the first thing you come out with?

"Oh what a sweetheart." the woman gushed."Believe me, they look like angels, but they don't act like one."

Harry soon broke us into a general conversation, attempting to introduce me to everyone. This family was so different to mine. It felt more loving, as if they didn't hate to be around each other all the time. They included each other in every conversation, they laughed together, joked around with each other. And they also included me.

We were sat around a long table, squeezed amongst one another with food and drink laid out. I had Harry one side of me, and his old friend Hermione on my other. I believed that she and Ron had romantic connections, but I was hoping she would shed some light on Harry's love life, as Ginny was sat beside him.

"They've only recently become public. Everyone knew that they were together, it was bound to happen. But we all acted surprised anyway." Hermione and I giggled, drowned out by the sound of everyone talking.

"Oh bless him, he seemed very happy when he mentioned her. That's why he invited me actually, he was wondering what I would think about her. They don't seem to be able to keep their eyes off each other."

"Someone else seems to have their eyes on someone." she smirked.

I followed her eye line, seeing one of the twins looking in our direction before averting their gaze. I had remembered that they were each wearing the same jumper but with different colours, thankfully making it easier to tell them apart. It had been Fred looking my way, and I hated that I was blushing already; no one had looked at me like that for a long time.

"I'm sure that was nothing." I mumbled.

"If you say so." I heard Ginny say, making me whip my head round to her. She was leaning forward to look at me, and I saw Harry holding back a laugh.

"Come on, I haven't even spoken to him."

"Maybe you should. Perhaps this was meant to happen."

Molly stopped all chatter across the table, standing up to announce that it was present time. Heaps of presents were pushed down to our end of the table, Harry was shocked by how many there were, but stuck right in. After thanking all of the Weasley’s for their sweet presents, especially Ginny. With my presents left, I felt all eyes on me, nervous as to what they would think of my gifts.

One was a collection of books he read when he was younger (until my brother got angry at him and ripped out the pages), the other was two shirts I knew would look nice on him. The last present was a photo book, which I had had personalised; on the front it said ‘Harry’s Memories’, in a beautiful swirling style of writing. The toothy grin on his face fell slightly, and I began to panic again. Everyone waited for him to open the book, a slight tension in the air. Harry slowly opened the book, reading the message I had left for him in his head. It entailed fond memories we had, and how proud I was of him for setting out to school by himself, and how many times he was brave enough to put himself on the line for his friends and family. Turning the next page, a breathless laugh left his lips when he saw the photos I chose. Unfortunately there weren’t many of us together, or of him in general, but I had raided our old cameras back home to find any photos I had taken of him without my parent’s knowledge. After flipping over another page that turned out to be blank, he looked up at me, as did everyone else.

“It’s blank so that you can fill it. I knew you wouldn’t want memories of home, just...just me I suppose. But I’m sure you’ve got better memories to put in there now.” I shyly explained.

“This is amazing, thank you (Y/N).” Harry said, hugging me tightly.

“The pictures aren’t moving?” Ginny questioned.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.“Your pictures move?”

Once dinner was done with, along with a round of singing as the birthday cake came out, we all broke off into smaller groups. This would have given me an opportunity to speak to Ginny, I had a strong feeling that she was absolutely perfect for him, they seemed well matched, but I still wanted a chat at least. However, Harry had stolen her away, and it wasn’t the right time to intervene. As I thought about who to talk to, Fred walked up to me, leaning against the kitchen counter top as I was.

“Thought you looked a little lonely over here.” he said, but it wasn’t in a cocky way, he was being genuinely kind. 

“Thanks.” I laughed.

He smiled.“I-I didn’t mean it like that.”

I looked up at him.“No I know what you meant. I was actually thanking you.”

“Ah.”

There was a moment of silence as neither of us were sure what to say next. Suddenly, something popped into my mind,“You know, I’ve seen you before.”

“What?”

“When you came to rescue Harry, in your flying car. I was in my room, but my room was next to Harry’s, so I could just about see you and your brothers.”

“That was so many years ago.”

I nodded.“I just remember how shocked I was when I saw the car, but also how relieved I felt when I saw Harry get in there. I was in trouble for not going to my parents straight away though.”

“You don’t sound like a typical Dursley at all.”

“I suppose I’m not. I was never the favourite, for some reason Dudley was. But I was so focused on keeping Harry somewhat happy that it didn’t matter. I just got good results at school, made friends and kept the biggest secret in the world.”

“It is slightly strange having a Muggle about.”

“How do you think I feel? The dishes are doing themselves over there!” I gestured to the sink where there was a floating plate and sponge. He laughed at that."That would be so useful to have at home, especially after a long day."

"So," he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning towards me,"what do you think about our families combining?"

I took a sip of my drink, following his eye line to Harry and Ginny."I can't express how happy I am for him."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And I'm not just saying nice things because Ginny is your sister. Harry had a long talk about what happened in the past, he's mentioned her, well, all of you, a lot. You've all been able to give him much more than I have."

"That's not true. Harry has expressed multiple times how he didn't know what he would have done if you weren't there for him."

"Seems like everything has worked out perfectly in the end. It even feels right me being here."

"I can agree on that."

"Even if I'm a Muggle?"

"Can't say that's the first thing I noticed about you."

My eyes widened slightly, slowly looking down into the content of my cup."Fred, if I didn't know any better, I would say you were flirting with me."

"Thank god you noticed, thought I might have to start using pick up lines."

"You still can if you want to."

"Nah, think I'll save that for a first date."

"If you're asking, then the answer would be a yes."

"Well, glad that's been sorted."

I giggled quietly, trying not to show how much I was enjoying this."Do I get to find out where you're taking me?"

"If I'm honest, I wasn't sure if I would get this far."

We laughed together, catching the attention of his parents who were with Hermione and Ron. We quietened down, finding it hard to hold back on giggling. Before we could even continue speaking, Harry was approaching me, and I knew he wanted to find out what had happened since he left me alone.

"So, uh, what are you two talking about?" Harry failed to play dumb.

I rolled my eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder."OK, whilst you interrogate my date, I'll go talk to your girlfriend. Sound like a deal?"

"D-date?"

"Don't act like you weren't listening. Relax Harry, this is your party after all."

I heard him sigh to Fred as I walked away."You two are going to be trouble, I just know it."

[sexycowpoke]

[Masterlist]

[Overwatch Masterlist]

Mccree Fluff Alphabet

A = Attractive (What do they find attractive about the other?)

Well, this cowboy thinks everything of you is attractive... But if he needs to say what he’ll say your eyes. Those eyes are hyonotic and have attracted him since the first day he saw you. He says those are full of adrenaline and perfection. And the way you look at him. Damn. If he could. He’ll stay looking at those beautiful and playful eyes full of passion and love ‘til his last days.

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

Sometimes it comes to his mind. And he would love to have a family of his own. Especialy with you. He would love having little cowboys or cowgirls all over the house is his only dream. He wants to call his children with cowboys/cowgirls names. Lke Bonny or Cody. He’ll teach them ho to use a gun and he’ll buy them a nerf and a pony. But this doesn’t mean that your future child won’t be a pet. If it’s a dog. He’ll call him Jack Daniels and nobody will change his mind over it. Ever.

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

Ohh~. He loves cuddle as much as he loves his lovely serape (the red “scarf” he wears). Even more. You'll be cuddle in bed. On the sofa. On the chicken table. And when it’s cold you’ll share his serape and when it’s hot you’ll cuddle even in the pool. Everywere and everytime. He’s very romantic and very soft. And if you return after a long day he’ll go stright over you. Take you on bridal stile and take you in your shared bedroom for some confort cuddles. And he’ll never leave you so easly. Only for going to the bathroom. But that’s the only time. Btw he doesn’t mind if your the big spoon when you cuddle and snuggles. And touch hi hair while doing that. He’ll love you even more.

D = Dates (What are dates with them like?)

They’re very romantic. And for the big flirt he is. He’ll take you to a walk on a beach or in a park. Even watching a movie and then both of you sleeping and spooning each other on the sofa or everywhere you were waching the movie. But. At the same time. Your dates will even be when your on mission together. Like. Your fighting some omnics or spying someone. For him they’re all dates. And when you spy and follow someone. For not getting caught. You two end up making out. Like. When the person looks at his back. Mccree will litteraly just pin you on a wall near you two and immediately starts kissing you... And you know what it happens if you weren't on mission👀. Ok I’m out *vaporizes*

E = Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…))

You are my sunshine. You’re like the sun of his earth. The sugar of his sea. The yee on his haw.  You know what I mean. Everything. If he didn’t meet you he would never know what really love is. He can be himself when he’s around you. And he can fell loved after a very long time.

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

As I said before. When you tow made eyes contact for the first time. You where the new supporter. And you already did show some ass while talking to Gabriel when he said you couldn’t help them. While you and Gabriel arguing. Jesse was practing with Genji. And when he hear you two fighting. He turns around. And BOOM. Love at first sight. He also stoped practing and come over you training defending you. Even if you were capable of that. When Gabriel knew that he lost the fight. He tells Mccre to show you the place. He didn’t even had the time to finish that Jesse said already yes and taking you by your hand while showing the place. And you two introduced yourself while he shows you around :)

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

O’course he is. He’s second name indead is gentle. Well. Actualy. His second name is deadeye but... Yeah... You know what I mean partner 👀 

H = Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

He loves holdind your hand. It gives him protection. And he’ll find every excuse to stay close to you. Everyone. Like one time he said “Darling, it’s freezing... Can I hold your hand?”. He doesn’t even care that much about other people opinions. Cause the only things he thinks in this beautiful moment is you. Your beauty. Your future together.

I = Impression (What was their first impression?)

When he saw you the fisrt he was like “Shit, I’m in love” thing. He was very curios about you at first but when he started to know you well he was always more in love than before.

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

Sometimes. Mostly is when other people watch you from up and down. Others are when people are flirting with you. And when it happens he'll wrap hi arm around your waist and pull you closer.

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

He has two mods:

This:

And this:

He's very passionate in both ways.

L = Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)

You said it at the same time. I know right? It happened the same day you two kissed forthe firt time. After you kissed both of you said those three beautiful words full of love and passion.

M = Memory (What’s their favourite memory together?)

His favourite memory is when he was on a mission. And you where at home. Since you missed him. A lot. You take his hat. That he forgets that morning. And one of his shirts. When he returns he see you on the sofa with one of his shirts and especially with his hat covering your beautiful sleeping face. He immediately takes a lot of photos and then takes you to your shared bedroom on bridal stile.

O = Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

Yellow. You reminds him happiness an love. In fact. Sometimes he gifts you sunflowers :)

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Yes, and a lot. You want something? You already have it in less than a second. He treats you like a queen.

Q = Quaint (What is their favourite non-modern thing?)

His favourite non-modern thing to do with you is reading books before going to bed.

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

He use mostly "Darling", "My love" ,"babe" and "Sunshine/Sunflower". But he calls you "Baby doll" or "Doll" too 👀

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

Remember when I told you he loves cuddles? Yep. You'll cuddle on the sofa or in bed while cuddling and spooning each other. Talking about what happened the other day.

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/others up?)

When your sad he doesn't know much well what to do. But the first thing he'll do is hugging you and tell you your beautiful and noone will hurt you. If his sad he'll going to hug you from behind. Hiding his head on your shoulder. With one hand your going to though his hair. With the other one your taking one of his hand that are hugging you by your wrist. Telling him that it's fine and that you love him. While sometime kissing his forehead.

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

Everything. He just wants to be with you. Indeed he'll talk about what happened this days and other stuff. Obviously. Trying to make you smile.

U = Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

He always relax when you play with his hair. Most of the times he relax so much. That after five or ten seconds he's already sleeping on your shoulder or on your nap.

V = Vaunt (What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?)

He's proud of finding you and he loves to show everyone how you belong to. And you know what I mean 👀

W = Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

He proposes while on a mission. You were blessing everywhere. "Darling, please don't leave me now" "O'course I won't love" "If we can get out of this... Together...." "Would you like to be Ms. Mccree?" "*Couches*...I would really like that Jesse"

X = Xylophone (What’s their song?)

His song will be "Put your head on my shoulder" by Paul Anka slowed ver.

Y = Yes (Do they ever think of getting married/proposing?)

O'course. He would love this. Especially after he encountered you. Cause before he didn't even think that he'll fall in love with someone. But then he meets you. And his plans changes.

Z Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

It'll be a dog. Like I said before. A boxer named Jack Daniels. And he'll be like a son. Especially to Jesse.

[This Fluff Alphabet is from here]

[highviewsmoved]

✽ overhaul x oc (NSFW) ✽ with the promise of a cure, a young woman uses the contents of her grandfather's will to her own advantage.

CAUTION WARNINGS: stockholm syndrome, references to illness, mental instability, emotional manipulation, unresolved sexual tension, voluntary imprisonment, voyeurism, obsession, dubious morality, masturbation. 

“A gentle hand upon a flower, causes it to bloom with love, you see. It takes a caress similar to that of a partner. It’s been a part of our family for generations, this ability.” He uses his hands to cup the sunken plant before him, slowly examining it as it blossoms upward to a renewed state.

The child blinks up at the older man, his eyes wrinkled with a faraway smile.

“But grandmother says I have a curse.”

The older man frowns, eyes downcast. “It may be, but to me, it is a gift.”

The child continues in a monotone that no one should possess at such an age. “All the flowers I touch, they come out of me, grandpa.”

The grandfather doesn’t know how else to respond, but goes and provides aid to the flowers dying from heat, the shade of brown passing over to a healthy green.

“It is a blessing, child,” he reaffirms. He is certain as the flowers that bloom from his hand that his granddaughter is special. “Always count them for yourself.”

Her grandmother lays bedridden. A restless thing that looks so close to the doors of death. Ume feels the tears spill from her eyes. It is a foreign thing to cry with meaning behind it, but it’s what she feels.

“Ume, my flower. Yuzuki left you something you must know. The Hassaikai, our business partner, can take you in. They can heal you.”

She sniffles, wiping her eyes. “Grandfather always told me it was a gift,” she coughs into her hand, an azealia appearing on her lap. Her grandmother coughs, but for a different reason.

“You’re ill, find them, show them this,” her hand is skeletal, like the gnarled twigs of a tree in winter. She nods, taking her hands. “I will, I’ll find them,” she promises.

Her grandmother heaves a shaky breath, passing quietly while the heart monitor keens a high sound, leaving her alone with the paper in hand.

Ume thinks of another time of when her grandparents were just with her moments before, still alive. Still there.

The hospital staff come bursting through, calling out to her and moving her away from the sight. She watches as they cover her grandmother’s face, they push her to the outside of the room.

Ume opens the letter, the will being precariously typed, the calligraphy neat and organized. Something her grandfather was always meticulous about.

It is written on this piece that she is property of the Boss from the Hassaikai. The newly appointed young lord of the organization.

When she returns home, doing a simple search through the calculated books her grandfather left behind. She sees the face of the older Shie Hassaikai and a photo of a young man she’s met and seen before.

A slow smile forms across her face.

Her finger tracing lines against the image of the younger man.

She finds them easily. Ume had to pull some strings. The company her family has owned had ties with the Hassaikai for many years. They developed pharmaceuticals together for people with quirks. They lobbied with one another.

It was all to keep themselves afloat.

And now she’s here. She feels an ebbing of excitement when she’s welcomed into their headquarters.

Ume sits across from the leader of the Shie Hassaikai. The young man was adorned with a plague mask. It’s a signature look for them. The massive paper is being read by the other henchman, a man by the name of Kurono.

“It reads here you are a part of the will that was granted by your grandfather, Yuzuki. The boss knew him for quite some time. And you’re fine with this?” Kurono is skeptical. He is clearly unsure of what sort of play is happening here.

She sits up a bit taller, attempting to seem much more presentable. She must play her part in this as best she can. “I am.”

The man, Chisaki Kai, one she has seen come across her family’s estate many times before. The one from the photo in her grandfather’s files. A young man who seemed quite lost when she saw him. Now looks much more hostile and methodical. He tilts his head curiously.

Mimic below makes a curious noise in the back of his throat. “You don’t think that’s a little off, miss?”

Ume smiles amiably, causing the men around him to shift uncomfortably. Her gaze was pinned on the leader. “I understand my duties entirely well, and I have been raised to meet them. Our families have had a partnership for decades. It’s to continue the union as we see it.”

Overhaul’s gloved hands she notices start rubbing against each other, she glances quickly at the motion but removes her gaze before he can notice. When she meets his eyes they’re locked on hers in a challenge. A heated fire in them, he surely must’ve seen.

“What do you gain from this, Miura? What's your endgame if you were to be kept by the Hassaikai? Is it a business alliance you wish to continue?”

Ume hearing his voice is all she wanted and she exhales shakily, heart giddily pounding. “I’m sick,” she says in a false, weepy tone. “I want to be cured and you have the capabilities to help me.”

Overhaul tenses considerably. Kurono passes a nervous glance towards his boss. Overhaul looks terse, Kurono can sense his hands twitching to rid this woman before him like an infection.

“What’re you ill with?”

Ume’s eyes glitter, the rumble coming from deep in her stomach, rising to unfurl out of her mouth. A flower upon the table. It was a shade of vibrant purple, shaped similar to that of a star with the center protruding yellow. Kurono makes a disgusted noise and Mimic reels back.

Overhaul feels his nostrils flaring at the flora before him. The belladonna, the nightshade resting against the wood of the coffee table. Ume in tears coughs into her mouth.

Disgusting, he thinks. A sickness waiting to flourish if he does not cut it out.

Ume is in a room of white. An area so pristine that she feels she will blacken it with her sight. She lays herself down on the bed as instructed and allows the men to enter with the needle. They say it’s supposed to be a prep, to see if this can really work to nullify the quirk enough to not be a bother for her any longer.

“We’ll remove the illness from you entirely, Miura,” the voice comes from the intercom belonging to Overhaul. She wants to laugh happily, she’s content with how simple it was to get herself here. They were so easily swayed. The tears leak from her eyes.

“Please," she begs. "I no longer wish to be this way.”

“Begin,” comes the buzz from the intercom and one of the men comes close towards her with the needle. The liquid is an odd shade and she forces herself to relax, the lower half of her body shaking.

When she can sense the press of the sharpened needle against her thigh she wants to pull away but she stares straight into the camera in the corner of the room, her eyes never leaving the tiny blinking dot. She knows he’s watching. He is alone and she is here with him.

“We’ll be recording you for updates on the serum we’ve injected. It’s still something roughly in the works, but there’s no reversal for it which you should already have known about—” The man before her continues to drone on about the nullifier and Ume frowns.

She feels disconnected, she’s been in this room for the last seventy-two hours and is beginning to feel restless, her mind drifting to someplace else. In her thoughts she sees Overhaul, with his face against her hand, her lips grazing his temples. She purses her lips and continues to nod as if she’s understanding. She hasn’t listened to a word.

The man coughs. “Well, we’ll leave you to yourself.”

Ume stands up quickly, reaching out. “Please, wait a moment,” her voice light and sweet.

The doctor of some sort seems rather nervous to be in her proximity, his body language on high alert. Ume notices this, thinking of how this room is on heightened surveillance.

She poses herself to be the perfect angel, a young woman in fear of the unknown. “I don’t want to be alone,” her gaze underneath the fluorescence like a sharpened jewel. The man’s entirely stumped, uncertain of what to do or say.

The blinking from the camera seems to analyze every inch of the interaction. She moves closer, her eyes watering with a pleading look. “I’m here alone and I don’t have anyone else, will you let them know that?”

The man swallows heavily, feeling the blood rush to his head, she has a mind-numbing effect on him. “Ah, yes,” he clears his throat rather loudly. “I’ll let the boss know, of course. Pardon me.”

He exits the room quickly, terrified Overhaul may have seen the odd display between them. Entirely unaware the young woman was smiling the moment he turned his back.

Overhaul sits up quickly, moving out of the observation room with a purpose. He feels overwhelmed by the sudden scene he witnessed. Ume was too vulnerable. No longer is the young woman with a horrific ailment, but now someone without it. It was gone and it could not harm her anymore.

She was as clean as that room she was in. She was a sight to behold and he watched her every waking moment bewitched by her. Seeing her with one of his men, alone and so close. It drove him to leave, it’s what’s making him go to her room to ensure the man did not linger or stay.

“Overhaul,” Kurono comes to his side, matching his quick strides. “What’s happening?” The boss doesn’t respond. Overhaul only waves him off dismissively.

Kurono stops, leaving through a different part of the headquarters, not wanting to bother him any longer. A part of him knowing full well where he’s going

Overhaul reaches her area of the base and stops outside the door. He could easily go in and see what’s happening. She’ll be there, in her room with her own personal belongings, and see her. He’s been watching her.

His first memory of Ume was back when she came to the old Hasaikai office, where the boss was in talks with Yuzuki. She was a dainty thing, with a twinkling gaze and an amicable aura about her. She seemed serene, something he was not during his early years. He remembers glancing at her, words not spoken between them, but her gaze held his. It never once left his, as if she could see right through him into the core of his head.

The memory dissipates immediately when he hears a gentle moan, he wavers. An odd feeling washes over him. Why is he here exactly? He is the one in charge and so he thrusts open the door, and he sees an image that will be seared into his memory.

Ume on her back, her hand in between her legs that are spread apart for him to see. He stands there, locked into place with the door closing with a puff of air and she looks up to see him, her hands hiding as she sits up, looking ashamed.

Her cheeks heated and a look of worry flashes across her. Overhaul hasn’t moved.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles, her eyes watering and he feels a rapid emotion overcome him.

“You—” he can’t seem to get the words out. It was like he completely lost his purpose for being there in the first place.

His mind was screaming in itself.

Ume lifts herself away from the bed, her skirt covering the legs he saw moments before. She drifts to him like a phantom.

“I’m still not well, my display must’ve concerned you,” she tells him. She is now only a few feet away. Overhaul attempts to rein in his muddled thoughts.

“Clearly,” he spits. He wants to flee, he wants to tear her apart and then rebuild her back again.

Ume was a striking beauty, the mole beneath her lips. Her eyes were a shade of pink, her hair the color of mulberries. She was such a captivating individual that he seems to understand why he feels such a magnetism towards her.

It must’ve been the number of times when she has held his gaze evenly. So at odds with what he expected her to be.

Ume snares him with a hook. “You’re just as twisted,” he feels an odd anger bubble up in him at her.

“What do you know? You’re here on account of your family selling you like a business offering.”

Ume’s eyes flash. “I am here on my own volition with what was provided.”

Overhaul doubts her, she can’t be serious.

She steps closer, her lips a beautiful shape. She reminds him of a spider creating a web. “You’re a sick man yourself. You come into the room of a woman who has no way to defend herself from someone like you.”

“You’re a witch,” he hisses. He feels an emptiness in his core with this talk. He can’t understand what this is.

Ume is unsettling, he realizes. She’s not what he thought she was. “I’m not a danger to you, Kai.” The way she says his name so tenderly, like a woman in love disturbs him more than anything.

She’s suffocating. She’s a boa constrictor wrapping herself around him ready to squeeze.

The effect she has on him is vexing. “I’ve always watched you,” she tells him like a shared secret between lovers. He shakes his head. “Just like you have been watching me.”

He turns on his heel and leaves, shutting the door. Overhaul feels his pulse rising with each step he takes. The way she looks at him, the way she has him in her hands.

Overhaul feels a genuine moment of horror.

What is she?

He returns with an ultimatum. She could finally be released, with the exception of constant surveillance on her. She could return to her old life of doing what she was before.

Overhaul does not want to push her away but his mind keeps thinking of seeing her in that specific position from that day. He wants to get rid of it. He needs her gone.

“I’m still unwell,” she tells him. She watches him warily, but something in her is telling him it's a ruse.

“You’re still sick?” He asks, his hand moving to hover across her face. Overhaul feigns his own concern for her. Ume’s eyes drift downwards. Her day-to-day was a cycle. An endless myriad of nothingness except her own thoughts to please herself with. She’s been in this room for days on end and after their last moment together, she was hoping she had finally gotten through to him. Finally, the object of her attention returned. She has him all to herself.

Ume shifts closer. Overhaul looking down at her, and he does not side step or moves away. “I’m here to get better, aren’t I?”

He tilts his head curiously to her advancing. “And you are? We’ve already given you the antidote.  Don’t you want to leave here?” Ume smiles, eyes bright. She looks similar to a specific painting he’s seen in a galleria. The piece being a ghostly woman standing across the moors in a European isle.

“But you’re here. You keep me company.” He came here on a whim hoping this offer would be one that she would comply with.

Overhaul may have underestimated her, she's like a siren calling him softly from the sea, coaxing him to shore. Her words simply hold that much power.  

His lips feel dry beneath his mask and he swallows. Her gown is loose, revealing her skin below and a part of him feels he could move to coast his hand across. To be able to hear her breathing hitch, close to his ears. To be able to see that display of her legs opening. He ceases the thoughts. She’s at his mercy. He has control.

“I know what you’re doing,” he murmurs, more to himself. His mind has become a frenzy. A demented voice in his brain begging him to lay his hand upon her. One touch won’t hurt, it won’t. It would be quick, a simple thing.

Ume drifts from side to side, her hand reaching above to move a piece of his hair. Her fingers dance across his forehead. He grits his teeth, his gloved hands twitching. His mind suddenly gearing up for a tirade. It’s filthy. It’s disgusting. It feels wonderful.

“Then leave here,” she whispers. “Don’t come back.”

“You’re a vixen. You’re sick,” Overhaul emphasizes. This time he means it, but he can’t help but let himself be entranced. She’s maddening. Enticing, his mind supplies.

Ume laughs, she’s infuriatingly beautiful. “And yet you come, again and again. For me.”

Overhaul retreats, her eyes twinkling with mirth. He leaves her there, walking quickly away, his steps echoing down the halls as he moves around the labyrinth. “Overhaul, where are you going?” Kurono asks in shock, he’s never seen his boss move in such a hurry.

“To my private quarters.”

He shuts the door to his room, locking it, hurriedly taking off his jacket stripping himself of the ailment. His thoughts cause images to be projected into his mind. Seeing himself close to Ume, pressing his lips close to her breasts, and his hands placed where hers was between her thighs.

He feels tight all over, collapsing onto the ground in a mess. His breathing is all over the place as he removes his mask from the heat of it all.

Ume was dangerous.

His hands moving on their own as if she was puppeteering them herself. He imagines her there with him. She could be, his mind adds. That filthy part of himself could go in there and take her. Keep her with him all the while. It’s what she would want. It’s what he wants.

Overhaul unzips his pants, his hands grabbing his cock, feeling the girth against his palm. He imagines her there, she’s so real against him. She is stunning as her mouth presses against his dick.

Fuck.

He begins moving, pumping to get to a fast release. The image of Ume licking his shaft, her fingers dancing across his body. Her touch is absolutely vile, but it causes his heart to pound.

He fondles himself more, beginning to feel his body clench around him. This is sickening, he thinks. It’s not right. Ume is still there, the image of her never left.

Overhaul could’ve taken her into his room. Having done everything his filthy mind was displaying out for him, his pleasure exceeded all logical thoughts.

The idea of her as his alone. “Come for me again and again.” He hears her voice so close to his ear, the way she said his name. Kai. Fuck.

He’s so close.

Her pussy would be pressing against his shaft, she would be so wet, so tight. Her moans would be sensual when she continues to take him how she wants. The way it would spasm against his dick. He grabs his balls roughly at the thought.

Overhaul comes with a grunt, a desperate sound freeing itself. He shivers at the sensation of his own cum warm against his body.

A harsh breath rakes through him and he stumbles his way into the bathroom. He starts the water, the steam rising above when he takes a step in. Overhaul hisses, the water scalding against his skin.

He thought with this he could exorcise the thoughts of her, but knowing that she could be doing this too. Ume’s own fingers deep inside of her, imagining himself was something he never experienced before.

A pleasure all their own.

Ume imagines what she would do if Kai would come and stay with her. If he would be willing to let her touch him, to touch her. His large, gloved hands caressing her thighs, reaching up to grab her breasts.

She begins trailing her own fingers down to her thighs, reaching the clit, the gentle motions budding into herself.

The thoughts of Overhaul down on his knees for her, what a simple touch could do. She moans, her fingers working with a quickened pace to reach her own orgasm. A fast one to rid herself of her desire. She needed to continue her control. She was the one above him. He couldn’t kill her even if he tried.

He kept her here offering whatever possible to release her, but her devotion to him and her own cause kept her to stay in this room so he could return.

Ume puts him through a hideous pattern and it pushes her to the edge. The tightening of her abdomen is ready for her to cum and she does. She arches her back, the sensation of her quivering pussy overwhelming.

The arousal of her knowing that he’s in his room, touching himself despite his abhorrence to it. She licks her juices off of her fingers, her breath heavy as she watches the familiar red dot of the camera.

Ume’s awakened by the opening of the door, and one of the many men announcing she’s allowed free reign to wander their base. That her status was cleared, that the nullifier accomplished its effect and healed her.

She was now free.

It was another offer she realizes, to really get her to leave this place. But she’s having so much fun here, in her own little space. She wishes to be a blight.

A stain that is so deep that it leaves Overhaul a crumbling, cumming mess every time he leaves her room.

He doesn’t touch her, there is no tenderness. Just her words and his own, and a continuous cycle of touching themselves at moments she hopes are timed at the same.

She smiles at the men, a coy thing that holds so much, but does not provide them with what exactly she’s thinking.

Ume’s not done here. She’ll see this through in its entirety.

“I won’t be going,” she sits against the wall, her hair so long that she toys with one of the strands. “I want to be here.”

They seem a bit nervous about her response. Not exactly sure what the procedure for a willing asset is.

“You can leave now,” Ume says. “I won’t be asked again.” They can hear the threat in her tone, her eyes narrowing as the men shuffle out in fear of incurring her terrifying attitude.

Overhaul returns with a quickened haste. Not even bothering to knock on her door and she grins.

“You’re a wretched thing, aren’t you,” he states. His finger pointed at her. She stares at the appendage; wishing to take it deep against her throat.

“I am, but aren’t you?” She’s challenging him. Miura Ume is a shogi piece on the board. The way she calculates his every mood, her eyes gauging him. She could eat him alive. It’s nauseating.

“I could kill you,” he’s trying to convince himself it’s the only rational thing to do. She sits up, the chemise sliding down her shoulder exposing her supple skin. He yearns, a sick part of him wants to see her exposed for him.

He wants to touch her just once.

No! His mind screams. She’s foul. She’s stunning.

Ume moves her hands to hold his, he begins to tremble. He wishes he could grapple with his failing control. To get back at her. She purses her mouth against the tip of his gloved finger, tongue brushing against the leather. When she bites down she never looks away from his sight.

He makes a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. Ume releases her hold on him and licks her lips. The pink of her tongue swipes the redness of her mouth. Overhaul is a mess of a man. What kind of the leader of this organization is he, that he is seduced by a single woman.

Ume lowers herself onto her knees, a wicked gleam in her eyes. She’s close to the crotch of his pants and he wants to run. So he can rid himself of these thoughts she’s causing.

“You won’t break your favorite toy,” her silky voice slithers in his ears. Her fingers feather across his thighs.  Ume’s own hands wishing to dig into him.

The light sensation causes shockwaves across his flesh. Overhaul is enraptured. What else could she possibly attempt to do. He replays the image of her mouth around his finger. A dark rumbling in his gut jolts him away, and she smiles. It breaks him away from the reverie of this siren below him.

He stands above her, he could press all five fingers deep into her neck, ceasing her diabolical wishes. “You’re heinous,” he grits out. A realization blooming in his mind that he’s lost this power play. He was already in her clutches the moment he saw her.

She owns him. Every touch, every single way he jerks himself off, the orgasms he has. It’s all for her.

He’s mortified. He feels the room is like a cage. He’s the canary in the cat’s mouth.

Ume pouts. “I could make you feel so good,” she says this as if it’s the only thing he needs.

Overhaul wants to throttle her. He wants to hike up her gown and shove his cock so far deep into her that it makes her hold onto him.

This is dangerous, his mind says. You need to clean yourself.

“You’re a plague,” he spits. “You’re just a wretched thing who wants too much.”

She laughs as if he said the funniest thing in the world. “I am, but you enjoy this just as much as I do.” Ume sits up no longer on her knees. He still towers above her.

Overhaul could end it right now. He just has to touch her. Let her rot against the floor. He’s torn, he fears she’ll reanimate on her own. His own personal karma.

“You want me on my knees for you, telling you the dirtiest things imaginable.” Her eyes were that of a feline.

She backs him against one of the corners of the room. Overhaul slides down against the wall.

He wants this to end.

Ume lowers herself to his level, her lips grazing his ear. “You want me to fuck you senseless.”

Overhaul grunts. “I don’t—“ he can’t get the words out. He’s completely losing himself. He can touch her. He can. He can’t.

Ume’s tongue prods against his neck and he nearly groans. The way it slides up to his chin. He would let her take a bite out of him. It’s what he wants.

He feels his cock hardening against his trousers.

She leans a bit away, getting a good look at him in this state. That longing look in his eye. The lust in his crotch. He’s only wearing his medical mask and she wants to tear it off of him.

“You’re spineless,” she mocks. “You can’t even help yourself or your boss.”

He snarls. “What do you know,” he fires back. “You come here like a leech wanting a cure.”

“I know more than you do,” she tells him.

“Your teasing routine ends here,” he stands. The way she moves away from him pushes him to continue backing her against her own bed.

“Is this what you want? Do you want me to fuck you senseless? Or do you just want my finger in your cunt?” Overhaul feels a recharge in his power. He could finally see her resolve falter.

“I do,” Ume flushes, looking away from him. A gentle admittance. “I want all of it.”

The room is silent, save for the labored breaths from Overhaul and the quiet words from Ume echoing.

They look at each other for a long moment.

Overhaul makes the move first. He presses his lips harshly against her mouth.

She makes a noise but tries to remove the mask he’s kissing her through.

He rips it off and his hands lift her gown as she lays back against the bed.

Her legs wrapping themselves around his waist pulling him to her. Her touch causes him to groan. Overhaul feels his head swimming. She’s delicious. The way her lips form around his, her tongue gliding against his own.

He refuses to lay his hand on her, that part of him with his clear disdain for touch still scratching in his mind. It tells him to stop. To cease.

She’s a drug. Her moans are intoxicating. Her lips drag against his cheek and she suckles his neck.

“I want you,” she presses into him, reaching to unbuckle his pants. Ume grabs his cock through the fabric. No, she’s filthy.

“Fuck,” he exhales. She’s pliant against him.

“Touch me, Kai,” she moans, her legs tight around him. His hips are close to hers. His hands are still balled into tight fists.

“Just one finger,” she prods. “Make me cum.”

He snarls. Overhaul bites her shoulder and she yelps. “I’m not touching you.”

She laughs against his lips. “Your loss.”

They continue like this, lost in the sensation of each other's lips. His hips thrust into hers and she groans a needy sound.

She unbuckles his pants, freeing his cock. He feels dizzy. Ume guides him towards her wet entrance.

“Fuck me,” she moans. Overhaul gnashes his teeth together, his balled-up fists feeling like an anchor.

He’s imagined this so many times. This exact image, her voice right at his ear.

“Please, Kai,” her voice calls again.

Overhaul grunts, thrusting into her. Ume’s cries were delightful. “Oh, Kai.”

He doesn’t move for a moment, and she hugs him tightly to herself, caging him in her arms.

She looks elated, something he hasn’t seen in her expressions. Her controlled, manipulative faces have only been used against him. At this moment she looks genuinely content.

His fists begin to uncurl. Just one touch to wipe the way her tendrils are covering a bit of her face.

A loud knock stops them from going any further, startling them both.

“Overhaul!” A panicked voice comes. “There’s a plan of attack from the heroes.”

Overhaul and Ume look at each other for a long moment. “Put your clothes on.”

He pulls out of her. The feeling of it winding them both up. He would let his men take care of it. He could finish here, before going out there to fight. No. He stumbles away from her. He doesn’t have time to clean himself and he shudders.

Ume is unnervingly complacent through it. Once he readjusts himself, setting his mask on.

She’s back to being fully clothed, her eyes blankly staring ahead.

“I’ll be back,” he says. His head dips, to get her to look at him. Her bright eyes stare into his. “I’ll finish this.”

Ume releases a laugh. “You won’t.”

Overhaul stands at his full height, eyes narrowing. “I will,” he promises.

He shuts the door leaving her alone.

Ume's trademark grin returning.

She walks back to her bed, curling into herself as she waits.

It’s been hours and there’s a breach in her room.

A team of heroes enters and there's a multitude of voices.

“Someone’s in here!”

“It’s a woman! We need a medic!”

They come in a cluster, checking her, and Ume’s tears come falling forth. Her character this time is a hysterical woman who was wrongly experimented on.

“We’ll get you out of here, miss. What’s your name?”

She is inconsolable as she gives them a name, a fallacious one. “Yumi, my name is Yumi. Please, I want to go home.”

The heroes escort her out with a blanket over her shoulders. She looks around the base and it is destroyed. The walls are crumbling. Nothing looks the way it did when she first arrived.

Ume tries to hide her grin. A beautiful downfall that Kai went through, she thinks.

So pretty.

The trip to Tartarus was a vicious one. The seawater lapped against the tides of the boat. The young charge, in connection with the Hero Commission, shields himself from the onslaught of the rain.

“Fujita! We’re almost to the island.”

Agent Fujita, one of Ume’s many disguises only clad in a suit and raincoat, nods affirmatively. “Good.”

The man calls for the steering of the boat to the dock, the entire vessel moving onwards and the agent does not budge. She stays with the breeze against her face, whipping her face as the boat’s sound alerts the officers on Tartarus of an arrival.

The ship is stopped against the steel dock as they rein in the anchor, wrapping the sails against each other as the young escort jogs to her.

“We’ve arrived. Please go this way to the base.”

Ume follows down the ramps. The clanking of the steel-toed boots beneath her into a rhythm.

“Private Personnel coming through please.”

“Identification is needed for passing into Tartarus.”

“I have it,” Ume says, her fingers handing over the passes and a note from the Hero Commission granting the access.

“Agents Gentaro and Fujita?” The man in the dark outfit is splashed by the nearby tide. “Dammit, alright. That’s fine. If they know you’re here. We’ll send them word you’ve arrived.”

Gentaro steps forward. “We won’t be here long, it’s a quick interview with one of the prisoners.”

“It’ll be a fast one,” Ume adds.

One of the other guards snickers. “As long as you both don’t try to break these monsters out.”

Ume smiles a familiar grin that halts the guard's laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

The massive gates open forward walking into the long corridors of Tartarus.

“This place is bright,” Gentaro hisses. Ume doesn’t react, only blinking in response.

“The criminal you’re about to meet is infamous, you know? He’s pretty vile, kept a woman and a child, using them for test subjects.”

Ume’s new voice has a low tone. “I’ve seen quite a bit in my heyday, Gentaro.”

He snorts. “Alright, alright. Gotcha, well, I’ll tell the guards you’re ready to see him.”

The room they entered was accessed only through a fingerprint scanner, which Gentaro uses. Ume walks in, standing across a reinforced glass, waiting for them to bring him in.

Ume feels her heart rate pick up. It’s been months on end since the disbandment of the Hassakai, since their separation.

Ume was taken in with the heroes, saved by them. Or so they think. But Ume returns as Agent Fujita now.

She hid her identity, easily enough with a modifying bullet she received from the underground which gave her a new quirk.

It was the ability to change the face, so one does not recognize her immediately as the woman who was captured. Ume had many ties, connections her grandfather left behind; she was able to put them to good use. She used them all to give her this gift before her.

To be able to see him again.

Chisaki Kai enters, completely wrapped in a straight jacket, pushed forth on some sort of mechanism that was strapping him in.

“Agent Fujita, Prisoner 23554 is here. Chisaki Kai, Overhaul, reporting in.” The bleeping over the intercom disperses and she is granted some privacy when the guards leave. They had nothing to worry about since Overhaul could not wield his quirk nor did they know that Ume didn’t even have one.

She smiles.

He looks pathetic, still facing downward, refusing to look up. His hair is overgrown. He has tired eyes, stubble coming in and she wishes to grab his face and rub her lips against the roughness of his chin.

“Kai,” she calls softly. Her voice is the sound of honey dripping from the corners; like it was seeping through the glass. He shifts, raising his head slowly. When he comes to, his eyes widen in shock. “You,” he swallows roughly. His throat feels dry.

She coos, walking closer to the glass, her hands resting on the counter. “Kai, my destroyed, beloved,” she grins all white teeth and red lips. Overhaul quakes, feeling overcome with the oddest emotion. Is he excited? Is he terrified? It’s a rush of cold pouring through his veins. He feels the familiar ache of the loss of his arms, wishing to thrash in his restraints, but the poisonous woman is here and she still speaks.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Ume says in that deceptive tone of hers. It sounds as if she were in awe, but her eyes. Her gaze is so dark that he imagines himself devoured by her.

The reversal of the situation. The way he had her for months on end, trapped in his own area. He should’ve had the upper hand to take back his own control of her relying on him and the odd web of seduction they found themselves in.

Before he was free, he could’ve left her to her own devices. He should’ve killed her when he had the chance, but she stands before him on the other side of the glass. This time, she is where he once was. Now she could continue to see him, the vicious cycle continuing. He wants to yell, scream out to the guards. The rush of blood goes to two places, his head and to his dick.

“You’re here,” he says. She laughs lightly, nodding. Ume was a wretched woman for this. A parasite burrowing her way into his flesh, never coming out. He wants to heave. Her constant advances were intoxicating, they cursed his life. He loathes his own weakness for not denying her. He couldn’t have. He was so close. He aches for her.

She tsks, her fingernail scraping against the glass. The sound high pitched and torturous to his ears. He gasps, not knowing how to make her stop.

Ume presses her lips too close against the mirror, the shape of her lipstick leaves a mark there. He clenches his teeth tightly together so he doesn’t groan.

She leans back, admiring her handiwork. Him on the other side, just how she always wanted to see him. Overhaul, the methodical, locked away in a small room just as she was. He was her likeness.

Ume’s voice points out the obvious, but he can’t bear to think of it, he doesn’t want to hear it.

“Kai,” she says, observing him as if she’s viewing a virus through the lens of a microscope. His head hits against the steel of the odd-standing chair that he’s restrained in. “You look ill.”

The contamination has already made its home in him. In her. He can’t escape it. He doesn’t realize he’s crying until he’s wheeled away back to his cell. Once the resounding click of the door encloses him in. He can feel her still there with him, the moaning in his ear returning and the tears are hot against his face.

Your loss, her voice returning from that time. Replaying itself over and over.

[sportyclown]

how sawamura, miyuki, yuki, and kuramochi text (friends + s/os)

will most likely do a part 2 with more boys at a later date! these got freakishly long because i am, at my core, a very mad. also might revisit as i get re-familiar with the characters, i just had this idea floating around in my head. also the way these got pro

sawamura eijun

no matter who he texts, it’s always extremely extra. not only does he always give more information than you asked for – ex. if you text him wya? he will give you a play by play of his entire route or something

 he also uses tons of emoticons. and yes I do mean emoticons, baby boy has a flip phone. ifhe does eventually get a smart phone, then this boy overuses tf out of emojis. he’s the sort of person that sees someone use a combination of emojis he likes and then tries to copy them, but uses it completely incorrectly, but its v cute.

if you send him a meme, he will respond with an unnecessary amount of hahas. 

when he’s texting his lil bae, they’re always on his mind so he ofc texts them every thought that comes to his mind! when he sees something that reminds him of you, he won’t hesitate to share it with you. 

if you have been together for a long time, then we will definitely text you words of affirmation and be very honest/blunt about how he feels about you. he’s also always sure to ask you about your day - and he seriously cares. but i still i feel like with a s/o he would prefer facetime to texting just because he likes to see you :)

overall, a very adorable texter and his enthusiasm is just as contagious when texting as it is in person. he’s kind of clueless so he doesn’t pick up on subtext. so be blunt, just like he will be with you~

kuromochi youichi

my bias might be showing here, but I feel like he is one of the most well-adjusted boys in terms of being ready for a serious relationship tbh (at least post-high school). i mean we all saw that he regularly corresponded with wakana wish that were me lmao

i think he would most often use proper capitalization, but not to the point where he uses a period after every text

would send his friends news articles about his favorite fighting games where u like gaming or not

a meme fiend in general. the sort of person who uses reaction images of people he knows. (if you’re dating, he would still have a stash of funny pics/screenshots of you on ft, but he’d ofc only use them with you <3). his convos with his friends are rarely serious

 i don’t think he’d be the type to text haha out loud, but he does use LOL on occasion. with close friends/his lil bae he might send a voice memo of him laughing hysterically if you send him something REALLY funny. ugh my annoying king <3

unlike eijun he’s the king of being perceptive / picking up subtext. 

similarly, i do think he’s pretty reliable, but for friends i feel like he might make a lil bit of a stink lmao. like lets say a friend wants him to pick something up for them, he might play like he won’t do it then miraculously shows up with the requested item. its giving tsundere vibes on the low.

with his partner: i feel like he would use emojis when he’s trying to be ~cute~. i think with a established partner he’d be pretty flirty still but he’s v much whipped for his partner so its way more mushy than it would be early in the relationship.

yes your name has hearts/stars in his phone. mans is a SAP for you

his love language is more quality time imo, so I think he values time spent with you over texting time. so a lot of your texts might be asking you to come over to hang out / get a meal or vice versa

like eijun he wants to hear about YOU, and is very supportive and good at advice when he wants to be. he can be goofy but this is how he shows you he cares/sees you as more than a friend

he’s a blushy/shy boy with his s/o esp early in the relationship, so he might be hesitant or nervous to say “i love you” or anything like that outright, but you know anyway, which just makes the times when he does outright say it that much sweeter.

miyuki kazuya

i mean it goes without saying that this man is snarky. he’s not a meme king himself but he enjoys when people send them to him and will usually play off the meme to make his own jokes.

i feel like he also likes deep-fried memes or the very abstract, post-modern memes. miyuki is good at making other people laugh, but he has a generally very-off brand humor and the things that make him cackle hardest are either at someone else’s expense (very similar to kuramochi, so they bond a lot over that) or just indiscernible without access to a huge layer of context/background

saves the reaction photos kuramochi sends him, but doesn’t usually use them. but seeing an ugly pic of eijun yelling never fails to make him grin LMAO

i think he also texts A LOT about baseball, even more so than these other baseball dummies. texts his teammates a lot of articles he reads or clips from games/cool plays. this is mostly about texts, but in terms of social media I think miyuki uses twitter/instagram the most especially for baseball related reasons, while kuramochi uses snapchat the most. 

he probably texts a lot about baseball as well, both seriously and playfully

i can see him using hahas and LOLs in equal measure, but he would also utilize the haha reaction if he had an iphone. this boy does value his wit so he would definitely have commentary about any memes or jokes he’s sent

you won’t win a joke war against him, he will definitely one-up whatever you send him with either a one-liner or another joke. how tf does he do it?

definitely ignores people/conversations if he really wants to - but ofc he never does that to his BAE

if miyuki give you a dry one-line response...he’s not interested at all or he’s feeling frustrated about something else. but when he’s really happy? he will text his friends all the time and spam them! i see him as someone who enjoys texting when he has the attention span/state of mind for it. and when he’s texting his s/o his texting gets even more ~flavorful~

wit his lil bae: i don’t think miyuki would switch it up much w his s/o. is probably even more teasing with you over text than he is with his friends, which is saying something.

like talking with you just by nature of you being his partner. prob prefers texts to facetime because text kinda allows for maximum snark

he LIVES for you guys’ witty back and forth 

if he’s traveling for work or something, will definitely relish in you guys binge texting a tv show or something but just making funny commentary (or he’ll just send you funny commentary to get a reaction)

 he can dish it and he’s also not a super sensitive guy so he can take it tenfold from you as well. nothing y’all wouldn’t be used to when talking in person!

sometimes when texting him you’ll want to beat his a*s because he can be so cheeky but its endearing in a way. he definitely adds emojis to the end of his more annoying messages to give it that loveable vibe (and it works ofc, we love u miyuki)

he’s kinda clingy on the low so i think he’d prefer a partner that’s more open with their affection via text than he is. he would live for your random ilys or whatver throughout the day. also would not mind at all if you updated him on your actions throughout the day or sent him snaps - might not be able to respond to everything, but will react and appreciate it. very likely to make jokes about whatever you’re doing.

would also apologize over text. he’s not always used to apologizing can be awkward about it, so text makes it easier for him.

he would use emojis w you in a joking/ironic way. would absolute use those dumb but genius emoji combinations

yuki tetsuya

i’m literally cracking up thinking about texting him. he is one of my ultimate baes but im sorry i just know he texts dry asf. but its part of his charm!

has a flip phone. either never upgrades or gets the chunkiest most basic android if he is forced to

the thing is this man thinks that he is infusing all his texts with, like, tajin level seasoning, when in reality its pepper

uses punctuation. always. exclamation marks are used sparingly to express excitement.

but i can’t get the image out of my head of an upset tetsuya texting you a simple angry emoji (or the angry emoticon >:( LOL) if he’s reeeeeeally mad. but its v cute i can’t take him seriously. i just want to give him a hug <3

 but you know what he is so PASSIONATE about whatever he’s talking about that his passion bleeds into his text through sheer quantity of words and depth of thought. ultimately, all his conversations end up being extremely flavorful in terms of content. he is surprisingly good at having deep conversations over text.

he’s better at holding conversations with more extroverted personalities, truthfully.

he’s another one who sends random things to people when he thinks about them. miyuki of course gets so many texts/thoughts about shogi. if you get a random haiku, poem, or quote from testu, that means you’re blessed enough to be in his inner circle! he definitely thought of you when he read it and and wants you to respond!

with bae: he doesn’t really change up his texting style tbh, but he has a stronger outward reaction to what YOU text in response.

definitely the type to smile almost imperceptibly at his phone as he texts you, even if you send him something like “hey i’m at the store, want anything?”

he’s not great as verbal affection early in the relationship, so you’ll have to discern his love/affection. however baby boy is NOT afraid to just straight up say he loves you, he does it all the time and early.

he’s KNOWN for being reliable and responsible, so he will be at your beck and call when he’s able to for anything you need, but his heart is also warmed by the thought of you reciprocating that care. if your texts show him you’re thinking of him just like he does too. he’s very gentle and sweet, and checks up on you when he’s able to see if you need anything at all.

he might be reliable, but that doesn’t mean that he’s the quickest guy to respond to texts. he’s a busy guy, and he doesn’t think about his phone all the time, but he will always get back to you (bae does not play when it comes to completing things).

if they came up with a shogi game for gamepidgeon and tetsu had an iphone, your phone probably would be spammed with requests for games lol.

this is my first time doing headcanons like this so please let me know what you think or give me tips on how to improve! I really enjoying thinking about it so I hope to do more in the future <3

[xmyshya]

Bumpy road

summary: What if two of your favourite boys were pining after you? genre: angst, fluff, crack warnings: stupidity special thanks: the whole HQ Headquarters DS, for giving me ideas, for hyping up, for everything, I love you all. a/n: Colour coded! Red for Kuroo, Yellow for Atsumu, black for neutral/both! There's an Easter Egg! wc: 3.9k words

[April]

“Please take a seat in the last row”, your eyes followed an extended arm of your new homeroom teacher until they landed on a boy with the messiest bedhead you’d ever seen. He didn’t seem to pay much attention to you though, instead resting his eyes on a faraway point on the other side of the window. Until he heard the noise you made while shuffling your chair, that is. “Hiiiiii, I’m L/N Y/N, nice to meet you neighbour!”, a wide smile formed on your face. “Kuroo Tetsurou, nice to meet you too”.

One week later, you were standing on the gym's threshold, filling your lungs with a deep breath before taking the first step in as a new manager. Volleyball had never been a sport close to your heart, but you had had some experience with it, as well as basic knowledge, so you were up for a challenge. All the more reason to after being asked by an unexpectedly fun friend. And being able to spend more time with said friend. But more time spent on talking came with another consequence. You started hearing rumours and whispers. Things like wow, she’s really talking to him or oh, another victim to his charm reached your ears from everywhere. “Kuroo, am I not supposed to talk to you or something?”, slipped your lips one day. You might as well continue, since he already heard you and was now looking at you with a confusion clear in his eyes. “I just heard people being… surprised about this”. “Oh, apparently I’m either intimidating or hot enough to be a fuckboy”, you choked on your own saliva. “You’re what?” “Intimidating or hot, or both”, did he really say that with a straight face, not once but twice? You just burst out laughing, eyeing him up and down. “Sorry, where?”, laughter bending your body in half, you bumped your head against the desk. “Ouch”

[July]

School premises were swarmed with sweaty boys. Some of them were familiar, like Bokuto or Akaashi, who had been friends with Kuroo for quite a long time. You recognised Karasuno, also known as Country Bumpkins, due to a practice match 2 months prior. The rest? Well, you only knew they were parts of the Fukurodani group. There was a mock game going on, and you, being a diligent manager, observed every move of your teammates to give them performance feedback. Further into the game though, your eyes shifted more and more onto your best friend’s lifting shirt, every time he went for a block. Or spiked. Or served. And wow, his thigh muscles were really… “Okay people, time for a break!”, a shout somewhere near you brought you back to reality. You stood up and made your way to the door, to catch some fresh air, while you bumped into quite a firm body. Looking up revealed it was Kuroo. His smirk made you wonder if he noticed your stares. His wink convinced you he, in fact, did. “Y/N, your name should be Neon, cause daaaaaamn you’re a perfect 10” “So you must be Helium, cause I sure as hell want you on top of me on a table”, few people whistled. Oh shit. His reaction gave you an extra boost of confidence, because now it was painfully obvious that all the rumours about the man in front of you were pretty much it, rumours, since his ears could as well be beacons. You winked at him on your way back to the door, and he still stood there dumbfounded when you looked back after reaching it.

[October]

Something had changed. You couldn’t quite put a finger on what exactly, but it was different. Like a tiny heat wave whenever your hands brushed, and they brushed more often. Like an extra beat of your heart whenever you felt his touch on the small of your back. Like your eyes lingering on for a second longer, before dropping to each other’s lips. Like a blush tinting his ears when you smile at him. Or like the way his heart clenched, when your thick tears threatened to burn their way through his chest, because the world had been unfair to you once too many, while the only thing he could do was to hold you so tight and kiss the top of your head so gently.

[November]

Having to stay late at school really was a blessing, when it was just the two of you in an empty train compartment on your way home. Otherwise, you surely would be scolded or at least stared at, because the decibels of your laughters while fooling around were beyond socially acceptable limits. He was now chasing you, fingers threatening to tickle you once you’re caught… You started to turn just in time for your back to hit the wall, and you definitely didn’t expect him to be so close, with the way he hovered over you and his hand making a loud thud. Or maybe it was your heart. “Oh sorry, the train bumped”, there was something in his eyes that compelled you to look into them, even when he leaned on his forearm above your head. He was so close, you could almost feel his breath on your skin. “Are you sure it’s not you falling for me?”, a chuckle in your throat died instantly as you saw his eyes open wide in fear for a fraction of a second, before his usual cocky smirk curled his lips again. He booped your nose before leaning against the wall next to you. The rest of the way home was silent.

[January]

It was time for you to run to your own team’s match. There was no way to miss a game for a manager, even if it was just your presence serving as a support on court. Your eyes slipped down to your watch only for a moment, but it was enough for a disaster to occur. You felt your body clash with another. “I’m so-” “Watch where yer running, ya fucking idiot”, you really wanted to apologise, you really did. But obviously not anymore, not when the other person was shouting at you like that. “Excuse me?! And where the fuck did your eyes go, huh? And don’t you dare speak to me like that”, your finger digging relentlessly into this stranger’s chest, despite his posture being so much bigger than yours, rage boiling in your veins blocking successfully any feeling of intimidation. “Do ya have any idea who ya talkin’ to? Miya Atsumu of Inarizaki, ya pig”, he straightened up and lifted his chin, looking down at you with a half smirk. You, however, only raised a brow. “Ooohhhhh…”, you squint your eyes for a moment, tapping a finger on your slightly pouty lips. “Never heard of ya”, you gave him a wide smile as you continued your rushed steps towards another gym. “W-wait a sec!”, shit, you really didn’t have time for this, “I uhh, sorry? I thought ya were one of dem stalking fangals and uhh...”, it was clear he wasn’t used to apologising. “The way ya talked back at me was so freaking cool! Can I have yer number?” You were shocked that he dared asking you that after the insults he spouted. Even more so, when you found yourself tapping your digits into his phone.

Nekoma won the match. Not that it was surprising, you always believed in the boys, and you had believed in their plan. But now that the game was over, you were heading to have a sneak peek at your Crow friends. You didn’t expect the situation to be so dire. From the scoreboard, your eyes moved to their opponents and… oh shit. Preparing to serve was HIM, none other than self-proclaimed “THE” Miya Atsumu. He noticed you too, surely, because he was grinning your way and oh my god was it a wink? Because it definitely looked like a wink. The whole match was a pain to watch. It had you hyped, it had you devastated, it had you crying and laughing uncontrollably. But when Oranges finally won, indescribable joy overwhelmed you, while you screamed and jumped around. Sudden hand on the small of your back startled you, emotion quickly replaced with surprise and confusion when you saw Kuroo attached to it. He hadn’t touched you in 2 months. “C’mon, time for us to go”, he pushed you gently towards the door while staring down the blonde setter behind your back. His gaze said he was taking up the challenge.

In the evening, the whole team was gathered in front of the tv to watch repetitions, over and over again, and figure out a strategy. Honestly your focus only could last that long, mind already looking for distractions, when you heard a ding from your phone. [unknown]: Ya know, could’ve been less happy about our loss. ‘M heartbroken now. [Y/N]: That’s what you get for playing against my friends ;) who’s this, btw? [Miya]: Whaddya mean ‘who’?! It’s Miya Atsumu here! [Y/N]: Aaahhhhh… Never heard of him :D [Miya]: We gotta change it then “Maaaaan, I wish we could play against Miyas”, Yamamoto’s voice dragged you back into the room. “Yeah, me too”, Kuroo hissed through clenched teeth.

[February]

Recent weeks were crazy. Preparation for college entrance exams was consuming most of your time, along with your sanity. If only Kuroo was with you, he would surely tell you to take a short break, instead, your mind was spiraling into educational anxiety. Am I doing enough? What if I fail? What if I forget something? What if… the soft sound of a notification brought you down to Earth. Miya Atsumu sent you a friend request. Ah, right. You were overworking yourself so much lately, that you almost stopped replying to his texts, still you were sure to receive at least one every 2-3 days. Request accepted. Just when you were about to re-focus on the textbook in front of you, another notification came. Miya Atsumu liked your photo. Amused, you click on it only to discover the picture was from… 4 years ago. Reaction disappeared, however, almost as quickly as it appeared. On the other side of the line Atsumu’s hands were shaking and sweating, his face red, as his brain was sent into an overdrive. Oh no, oh no, ohnonono, what have I done, has she noticed, do I look desperate, what do I do now, whatdoIdo. But you never said anything about it.

[Miya]: Ya need ta relax once in a while, ya know? [Miya]: Stress ain’t bringing in results [Y/N]: Wow, so you can say something wise :0 [Miya]: HA. HA. HA. [Miya]: Now please wouldya get me? I dunno Tokyo too much. 10 minutes later you were scanning the crowd on the train station in search of a familiar blonde. It wasn’t too hard to find him, but unexpectedly… he had company. Of 2 other guys, including one looking exactly like him, except for a different hair colour. They were introduced to you as ‘Samu (apparently Atsumu was too nervous to go alone) and Suna (he would never miss a spectacle like this). “So where do you need to get to?”, Suna looked at his friend with amusement, and you could swear you heard his twin whisper “she doesn’t know?”. Suddenly you had a phone screen right in front of your eyes, pictures of your favourite cafe on display. How did he.... “I wanna take a certain gal here”, Atsumu tapped on the screen, his eyes focused intensely on yours. As soon as you shifted your gaze from his mobile to his face though, he looked away. “Let’s go then, I guess”

Having your favourite hot chocolate in your hands would have been relaxing, if not for the deafening silence and weird smirks between two extras. “Soooooo, care to explain what you’re doing here?” “Sightseeing?”, blonde sitting opposite of you looks quite adorable with the pink tint, hand on the nape of his neck. Wait, adorable? “Yeah, y/n here being the sight, OUCH”, Suna jumped in his seat, definitely kicked by Atsumu. Maybe he was right, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to have a breather from books and notes. On the other side of the window, Kuroo was clenching his fists, as he watched you laugh, not really sure of the reason behind his anger.

[April]

Being late on the very first day is a bad omen, you cursed as you ran through the campus. It was NOT your fault that it was so needlessly big. It also wasn’t your fault that you spent way too much time searching for motivation to attend this class, which was clearly added to the program to harass students. It was bound to be the most boring subject, you just felt it in your bones. You opened the door to the lecture hall as quietly as you could, and then tiptoed to the nearest free seat, eyes trained on the lecturer (you thanked gods she was turned back to the room). Luck was on your side, she hasn’t noticed. “Whatcha doin’ here, babe?”, a sudden whisper and lips barely brushing your ears made you jump in your chair. You almost screamed, but the man’s reflexes were almost inhuman, as he covered your mouth with his hand. Truthfully speaking, it might have been better to prevent your knee from bumping against the desk, because now you had all the unwanted attention. And a hurting knee. “K-Kuroo?!”, you whisper-shout back at him. “I knew we enrolled in the same university, but same class?” “I think this might be the only one, since it’s mandatory for everyone” You thought this course might actually be your favourite.

Obviously he noticed it. It was impossible not to, since the pisshead was a new follower on almost ALL of your social media. Not just a follower, no. He was commenting on nearly each photo, and reacting to every. Single. One. At first Kuroo was just mildly annoyed. Then angry. And then he could feel his blood boil whenever he saw his name under your post. He wasn’t going to tell you though how he checked every hour or so if you had replied. That day, when you both sat in your room, working on some early assignment (two heads are better than one), your phone was blowing up. Tetsurou knew who it was, he saw the bubbles popping up on your screen. You didn’t pay attention to them, much to his relief. On the other hand, Atsumu was going crazy. “Samuuuuuu, she ain’t replying!” “Samuuuuuu, ya think she’s on a date?” “Samuuuuuu, did I annoy her too much?” “Samuuuu….” “Shut up, Tsumu” “Y/N? Smile for the photo”, he laughed when your head snapped towards his raised hand, and your eyes opened wide. Kuroo pushed the shutter button exactly when you smacked his arm. “What the hell’s wrong with you?!”, notes and the search engine slowly reclaimed your main focus, partly because you wanted to hide a blush blooming on your cheeks. “Just wanted to commemorate our first study session in our university life!”, he mused as he entered First assignment with the best girl <3 - @y/n in caption and pressed <upload>. Let’s see if you react to this one, asshole. He didn’t.

[May]

[Y/N]: Are you okay? You’ve been awfully silent lately. [Miya]: ‘M ok! Didn’t want to bother ya. [Y/N]: Huh? [Y/N]: Why the sudden change? [Miya]: Idk, maybe I shouldn’t text “best girl <3” [Y/N]: Atsumu… You’re an idiot [Miya]: Am not! He was. He realised this few days later, right before hopping on a train to Tokyo. Or rather… his brother made him realise this. “Huuuuuuuh?! Whaddya mean I like her?! I mean, I do, she’s cool, but whaaaat?!” “Tsumu… Yer about’a get on a train ta see her!” “So?” “Yer an idiot” “Hey! That’s what she said too!” Looking back at it, that might have been true. Maybe. After all, he was on his way to a city 500 km away, just to see… a friend. Would he do that for just a friend?

He found you outside, and he swore it was the prettiest scene he had ever seen. Gentle breeze blew your hair, as you basked in the sunshine. With your floral dress you reminded him of a flower praising the sun. In that very moment he regretted he hadn’t bought you anything, not even some flowers. Not that they would compare to you. He watched you turn to him in slow motion, as if he was in a movie, and you were about to jump into his arms. You just smiled instead, but its brightness could rival the orb up in the sky. At that moment, he knew he was gone.

“So ya say… there’s anime about volleyball?” “Yes! And it’s so good! Seems pretty accurate too!” “Ya hafta show me! That’s so cool!”, he reminded you of a kid, with his eyes shining like glitter, and a smile covering at least half of his face.

He had exactly the same expression, when he suddenly stopped walking and you bumped into him, ice cream spreading nicely on your nose as he was taking a selfie of both of you. And then again at the train station, when he was worried his arms might have lingered a tad too long around your waist, but you didn’t pull back. Later, a screech could be heard in your room as that photo appeared on your timeline. With your name attached to it. In yer face, rooster bastard, Atsumu thought as he had clicked the <upload> button. Kuroo only scoffed, original much. But if that’s how he wants to play…

[July]

Lunch break was your favourite part of the day not just because it was, well, a break, and not only because of lunch. It was the time spent on talking, goofing around and stealing each other’s food, together with Tetsurou. That day, however, exhaustion took over and you couldn’t do much more than just lay your head on the cantine table, your hair a messy veil. “I can’t wait for summer break to come, I want it to come already! My brain is so tired” “Hang in there! It’s just 2 weeks of exams, and then we’re free!” “Why are you doing this to me, Kuroooooo” “I’ve always been a nice person” His hand was soft as he gently uncovered your face, strand by strand. “Wanna go somewhere and relax a little before all hell breaks loose?” Soft hum was the only thing leaving your lips as you melted into his touch.

The sun was merciless, as if its sole purpose was to burn the Earth to ashes. The fact that you were ankles deep in a stream and shielded by dense leaves didn’t help at all. Undeniably though it was soothing for the soul. “Okay, let’s move on”, Kuroo said, despite wanting to watch you forever. There was something about this relaxed expression that strung the cords of his heart. Yes, you looked happy. It took you too short a while to have shoes on and be ready to walk again. Summer breeze felt wonderful as you climbed up a rocky hill, scorching heat finally letting up a little. Temptation to just stand there with eyes closed and arms open wide almost too strong. Still, you let yourself submerge in it enough, not to notice a slippery boulder. You were preparing yourself for the impact, but instead, you felt a pull on your wrist and then a firm chest in front and a strong arm around your waist. “Please be more careful”, a whisper rather felt than heard, barely louder than a breath. This and his scent intoxicated you. “Let’s go?”

The view was magnificent. Just behind the hill, there was a lake, as clear as glass. Its naturally azure colour was tinted with golden afternoon light and rosy flowers covering the trees growing around the coastline. Some of the petals were floating on the surface, between the sun kissed shimmers. It was truly breathtaking, both of you wished you could stay in that moment. Neither of you noticed, none of you had let go of each other’s hand.

[Y/N]: Random thought. [Y/N]: What if I were a werewolf? [Miya]: … [Miya]: Are ya? oO [Y/N]: Hmm? Would it be a problem if I was? [Miya]: I… ‘m allergic to dogs… :( [Miya]: I swear I’ll get meds! [Y/N]: Wow, such a sacrifice! You would do that for me? [Miya]: I would even hunt squirrels for ya! [Y/N]: Squirrels? [Miya]: Or whatever werewolves eat [Y/N]: Wow, I’m speechless “Samuuuuuuuuu, she sent me a heart! A HEART!”, the fluttering in his chest was almost unbearable. “Shut yet mouth, ya simp! It’s 1 am!” He wasn’t a simp, of course not. Sure, he did watch whatever you recommended to him, and listened to whatever song you said you loved. He did research on things you had said were interesting, and rushed to his phone whenever it announced a new message. But being a simp? Him? Never.

[August]

If this wasn’t heaven, you didn’t know what would be. Warm sand under your back, cool water coming in waves to wash the heat off of your skin, and the sun watching you from the clearest sky. You heard a click somewhere behind your head, and opened your eyes to see your relative, showing proudly their creation. “You just looked so blissful, Y/N. Couldn’t help it”. You couldn’t blame them. You didn’t remember feeling this much at peace either. “Send it to me, please!”

Tucked gently in your covers, you were swiping through your gallery, admiring the pictures you and your relative had taken. After another round you finally decided which ones you wanted to share with the world, a mixture of landscapes, sunsets and portraits. As soon as you were informed about the post being up, you silenced your phone and closed your eyes ready to sleep… This might have been one of the best decisions you had made recently. You had never seen that many alerts on any of your content. Majority of these were from Atsumu, who obviously made sure none of your uploadings went unnoticed, which spread a warmth in your chest. What really caught your attention though, was how many times one particular picture was mentioned. Yes, the one on the beach. It was almost scary. {Kuroo}: Babe, you shouldn’t expose yourself like that, there are thirsty bois around. {Atsumu}: Who tf are ya callin’ thirsty?! {Kuroo}: Never said I was talking about you, but I guess I found one {Atsumu}: Listen here ya smug ass’ole, ya think yer funny? Suna only sent a gif of popcorn eating {Osamu}: Okay Y/N, as much as I find this exhilarating…just choose already, spare those two poor souls! Suna sent another gif, this time a very disappointed one.

Choose? Wtf does that mean? And then it hit you. Kuroo suddenly getting touchy again after distancing himself from you. His sudden clinginess whenever Atsumu interacted, phone in plain sight. Miya’s constant attention. His willingness to travel and never asking for anything in return. His eagerness to learn about anything you liked. Had you really been so oblivious for this whole time? Well, it could wait until you were back home.

Memories flooded your mind as you were typing the message, your heartbeat rate over the roof, your hands shaky, but you knew you needed to do this. For your sake. For his sake. One last glance over the text “I think it’s time for us to talk…” before you press <send>

Epilogue 1 - Kuroo Epilogue 2 - Tsumu Epilogue 3 - both

[songbirdsingingthings]

As The Years Went By (Daichi Sawamura x Reader

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS, THEY BELONG TO HARUICHI FURUDATE You didn’t really understand why people hated the rain… you found it rather beautiful. Maybe it had something to do with age. No longer were you anxiously waiting to go and play outside with the kids of the neighborhood - now you were studying for your final exams, holding a job at the local bakery, and on top of that, being manager of the boys volleyball team. Being a 3rd year has been, to put it bluntly, kicking your ass. You never really meant to make your schedule this busy, all of the opportunities just kind of fell in your lap as the years went by. 

The first was as the Karasuno boys volleyball team manager. You had loved volleyball for most of your life, but never expressed the want or need to actually play the sport. You were far more interested in looking at the subtle movements between the players on the court and how in tune they all were with each other. That’s what led you to becoming friends with a brown-haired boy when you were about twelve years old. You saw him playing volleyball with some other boys in your grade at the middle school court. You had to stay behind at the middle school since you were in charge of planning out your year’s graduation party. After writing down where most of your grade was going for high school, you were exhausted. But, curious as ever, you poked your head out and watched the boys, bump, set, and spike the ball. The brown haired boy, however, caught your attention. The grin on his face was kind of mesmerizing and the way he moved with such intent and purpose to receive the ball was incredible to you. It was almost as if-

“Hey! Do you want to play?” The boy’s voice startled you, causing you to drop the big binder that you were holding. Embarrassed, you managed to hoist the heavy thing back into your arms. You shook your head, “U-uh, sorry! I was just watching, I don’t play. I can go now!” The brown haired boy couldn’t believe how fast you were talking, so he jogged right up to you and placed a hand on your shoulder. It was a little weird, considering that you were about two inches taller than him, but he was smiling nonetheless. 

“Well, why don’t you sit down on the bench then? It’s a lot closer to the action!” He said. You blinked, speechless for a few seconds, and then returned a small smile.

“Okay, as long as I’m not bothering you guys.” You said. The brown haired boy shook his head.

“You’re anything but a bother! It’s like we're playing for an audience now. I’m Daichi Sawamura, by the way.” 

“Y/N L/N,” You said, smiling. 

From that day on, you and Daichi had begun a friendship that grew stronger through each experience you went through. First it was revealing to each other that you both had chosen to attend Karasuno High. The wide smiles on each of your faces were considered blinding to anyone who could see them, except to each other. Then, it was your decision to become manager of the boys volleyball when Daichi had made the team. The moment you walked into the gym as the boys started to warm up, you knew that you belonged there. The smiles from the boys in your year greeted you warmly. Asahi Azumane, Kōshi Sugawara, Daichi Sawamura, and you had formed quite the friend group ever since that day.

Next was your job at the local bakery. As a second year, you wanted to earn your own money. The times that weren’t taken up by your managerial position or your avid studying, you and your friends would go out to the mall or at restaurants, and you always felt bad asking your parents for money. They, of course, were happy to give you spending money, but due to your independent nature, you longed for a tiny taste of the real world. So, you interviewed at your favorite little place to study and grab a bite to eat. Thankfully, the people who ran the place already knew, and loved, you. They put you in an apron almost immediately and set you up at the cash register. The look on Daichi, Asahi, and Kōshi’s face as they walked inside to grab a cup of coffee after practice was incredible. The three of them reached over the counter to give you a tight hug in congratulations. After that, they became regulars at the little shop.

And finally, you were in the top 5 percentile of your grade. This was both a blessing and a curse to find this out. You were happy that the hard work you were putting in was paying off, but that only made you study more and more. It caused a somewhat withdrawal of you spending time with friends and really having fun. Your schedule consisted of going to school, volleyball practice, working a three hour shift at the bakery, and then studying until it was almost 2 in the morning. 

Currently you were nodding off during volleyball practice. The drumming of rain on the top of the gym was like a perfect little lullaby to you. You heard the yells coming from Daichi to the team, having them go through various workouts. Normally you would’ve been wide awake, maybe even ogling Daichi as you could normally see the strain of his muscles through his shirt when they were doing burpees. As the years went by, thoughts of Daichi were increasingly invading your mind, but you weren’t opposed to that. Daichi was special. He was caring and respectful of everyone, well mostly everyone, he met. His commitment to his team was admirable and he maintained good grades all at the same time. A special place in your heart was dedicated to this boy. 

Thankfully, the owners of the bakery had given you an entire week off from work due to them having renovations done. While you were free from that responsibility, the principal gave you a massive one recently - designing and managing the 3rd years end of year dance that was rapidly approaching. Not really having the ability to refuse, you “gladly” took on the operation. Your brain was now fried. You kept getting  budgets for the team and the school mixed up, all of the opinions of the students and faculty were revolving around in your head, and now you had to choose between streamers and balloons. So, you thought that if you closed your eyes for a second, you would be able to think clearly. Well, you fell asleep. Oops.

A shaking of your shoulders woke you up. As your eyes slowly opened, you saw gorgeous chocolate eyes staring into your own Y/E/C ones.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Daichi asks, concerned. Nodding, you raise yourself so that you’re sitting. The gym was mostly empty - practice must be over. Mentally face-palming for missing the entire practice, you were about to ask what had happened when Daichi spoke. “You didn’t miss anything. Just Hintata and Kageyama bickering over something stupid.” Earning a laugh out of you, Daichi gave you his hand to help you stand up. Gladly accepting, you stood, smoothed out your skirt, and grabbed your bag. Looking out of the double doors of the gym, you softly cursed. It was still raining and you had forgotten to grab an umbrella this morning. 

“Do you happen to have an extra umbrella?” You asked Daichi sheepishly. What a stupid question, you thought, nobody has two umbrellas with them!

“No, but I do have one. Care if I walk you home?” Daichi asks, giving you a classic smile. You give him an even bigger one. Not at all.

The walk home was lovely. Since you and Daichi don’t live that far away from each other, you didn’t feel guilty for having him walk you to your house. The two of you talked about the team, your job, and your new responsibilities with planning the dance.

“I just don’t get it Dai! I mean the logical color choices are black and orange because those are our school colors, but there’s this whole group of people who are campaigning for silver, white, and blue! Like where the hell did those colors come from?!” Daichi listened to you vent, nodding and laughing at the appropriate moments. Finally, the two of you reached your house. Just as you expected, none of the lights were on. Your parents were very busy people with jobs that required them to work pretty late hours. Seeing this, you sighed. “Thank you for walking me home Daichi, I really appreciate it.” You say, giving him a smile. 

“Hey, if it’s okay…” Daichi begins, blushing a little, “what if I stay with you until your parents get home? I don’t really like the thought of you here all alone.” Now it was your turn to blush. Of course, you have spent lots of time one on one with Daichi, but this felt oddly… intimate. Of course, you were perfectly fine with that. 

“Y-yeah! Come on in!” You say, opening the door and allowing Daichi to step into your house. You shut the door behind you as Daichi walks around, looking at the pictures hung up on the walls. You see him stop at one, which intrigues you. Making your way over to where Daichi was standing, you look at the photo. It was from your first year at Karasuno. You were, surprisingly the second tallest out of you, Daichi, Asahi, and Kōshi, but that fact no longer held up. Daichi was now a couple inches taller than you, but you didn’t really mind. Laughing a little, you nudge Daichi with your hip. “Shorty,” You say with a slightly teasing tone. Daichi looks back to you, emphasizing that he was, in fact, actually looking down at you.

“Oh yeah?” He chuckles, “We’ll see about that.” He grabs your phone from your pocket and raises his hand so that it was the highest he could possibly reach.

“Hey! That’s so not fair, your arms are so much longer than mine!” You shout, jumping up a little to try and snatch your phone back from him. That’s when your phone pinged with a notification. Oh shit. Oh shit, shit, shit. You remember texting your friend, Kiyoko,  about how Daichi offered to walk you home. She knew about your crush for the brown-haired captain, so the text she sent back would probably be about Daichi. This situation couldn’t be more awful.

“Oh look! It’s from Kiyoko, I wonder what she says!” Daichi says in a teasing manner. 

“W-wait! Hold up, give me it back!” You say, a lot more desperately now, chasing him around the downstairs floor. He managed to gain quite a lead against you and flopped onto the coach so that he could read the text.

“‘Why don’t you ask Daichi already Y/N, it’s not like he’s gonna say no’...” Daichi read aloud, confused about the nature of the text. As soon as he read that, your eyes went wide. “What are you gonna ask me about, Y/N/N?”  Trying to think of an answer quickly, Daichi knew that wheels were spinning in your head. Standing up slowly, he walked over to you, and put his hands on your shoulders. He was no longer the boy asking you if you wanted to play volleyball. He was a man trying to get an answer out of you. “Y/N, what were you going to ask me about?” He says, softly now.

“Dammit Kiyoko…” you mutter, looking at your feet. Daichi knew you well enough to tell when you were lying, so you were going to have to tell him the truth. Yes, you wanted you and him to go to that stupid dance you were planning together. You have been daydreaming about it for the past month. You in a pretty dress and him in a handsome suit, walking arm in arm into that banquet hall. He would ask you to dance with him to a slow song, leading you to the middle of the dance floor. His hands would be on your hips, yours wrapped around the back of his neck, maybe even playing with his hair a bit. At the end of the night, he would bring you to a quiet spot, maybe the practice gym, and confess his love to you. Alas, that was in your imagination. Now, you had to tell him, indirectly, that you like him. “Umm, Kiyoko was referring to uh,” you swallow and close your eyes, your head still tilted down towards your feet, “she was referring to me asking you to the dance.” Silence greeted the two of you for a bit, but was interrupted by Daichi wrapping his big, strong arms around you. He held you tightly and even laughed a little bit. A little shocked, you open your eyes. He pulls away from you, just a bit so that you and him can see each other.

“Well I guess you beat me to it, huh?” He says, giving you a grin. Your confused face makes him laugh even harder. “I was going to ask you tomorrow. I had the whole thing planned out with the team. We even got you a volleyball that says “Dance with me?” on it.” Daichi laughs out loud. Now, you joined him. “Since it’s kind of out in the open though, I guess I can do it right now.” Pulling the volleyball out of his bag, you recognize it immediately.

“Is this the ball from when you invited me to play?” You asked slyly, taking the ball out of his hands, looking at the ball. You found the “Dance with me?” written on the part just above where you’re supposed to pump it up.

“Yeah, how could I get rid of it? That was the first time I really spoke to a cute girl.” He said, winking at you. Your cheeks lit up. “So, Y/N, will you go to the dance with me? And then, go out with me after?” He asks. You give him the biggest smile he’s ever seen on you.

“Of course Daichi!” Feeling high on adrenaline, you move towards him and softly grab his face with your hands. He nods immediately which prompts you to close the small gap between the two of you. His lips were soft and his hold on you was tender. His hands wrapped around your waist, but slowly inched up so that your face was now in his hands. You two pulled apart for what seemed was way too soon, but you were pretty out of breath.

“So… what color tie should I get?”

[bubbashawn]

Honey

author: Here’s my first completed request!! Also this is day 7 or 8 of me posting in a row so I’m patting myself on the back. Hope y’all like it and yes it mentions the “pr” stunt w/ Camila so don’t attack me

synopsis: You overhear something you should’ve known all along. But why does Shawn care? He’s the one who threw 5 years away. Throw in a New Year’s Eve Party and everything is bound to go haywire.

warning: requested by anon. Forgive me I swore lol but really it falls in my brand so 2k of angst to fluff :)

“Baby, I love you.”

“Yeah well maybe you should’ve thought about that before Miami!”

“It’s all a PR stunt, Y/N. I don’t get it! Why is this such a big deal to you? That all means shit to me! You know that!”

“Because you didn’t tell me, Shawn,” your eyes started watering but you ignored them, “because I had to explain to my family why your tongue was down some other girls throat and I didn’t know how to because you didn’t tell me!”

Shawn knew a fake relationship would go haywire, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to love you right if he was pretending to love some other girl. Shawn knew what would happen and yet here he was. Standing, begging, in front of you to stay with him because he didn’t think he could ever lose you.

“Honey, you know I love you.”

“Saying I love you isn’t going to fucking fix anything!”

It was true. He loved you so much that he didn’t consider that you’d end things, not when you were so in love with each other. His stupid ego was causing havoc while you cried in his kitchen with your key resting on his counter.

You loved him too much. This hurt too much.

You had that key since he first bought his condo, he remembered the two of you moving him out of his family home. You also used to have a key for there. The two of you had met back in Pickering before Handwritten, before Vine even and your relationship had guided the two of you through your rising fame. You were the one constant in his life, his love for you the only thing keeping him grounded through it all.

“I’m done. I won’t be made a fool and the paparazzi probably will be here soon, so I’m just going to leave.”

“Y/N…”

“Bye Shawn, have a nice life.”

You felt arms shift around your waist and your eyes snapped open. It was just a dream. Except it wasn’t because it wasn’t Shawn’s arms wrapped around you or his cologne covered pillow your head rested on. It was your boyfriend’s.

Not Shawn’s.

Collin must have noticed you shift in his bed because his crystal eyes were staring down at you. He had the sharpest blue eyes you had ever seen, a stark contrast to the familiar hazel.

Collin Bradford had been perfect.

He was what any girl like you could dream of. He wasn’t famous which was foremost the best because you didn’t have to deal with a rivalry about who’s better. He understood your strange hours and never complained about the red carpets or photographers. He was happy to let you take the spotlight. ENews was obsessed with him, not that you blamed them, Collin was by far the most attractive man you had been with since Shawn.

Collin Bradford had been perfect, until he wasn’t.

Once he got comfortable in the relationship he started letting all the new attention get to his head. He became flirty and arrogant. He was the golden boy of Hollywood and he always claimed to love you, so you let him stay in your life. When the cheating scandal happened you let him back in. And the 2 after that. Funny how you let him make you seem like a fool when you’d broken Shawn’s heart for the same reason.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. What time is it?”

“Almost 6. Do you need to get up?”

“Mmm,” you hummed in agreement, “I’ve got that interview with Spanish Vogue in three hours.”

Carol, your stylist, would kill you if you weren’t sitting in front of her within the next hour. You rose to your feet ignoring the ache that Shawn always massaged out of your back.

“Want an espresso?”

“No, don’t bother,” you smiled back at him, “let at least one of you enjoy a morning in bed.”

“Want to get me one?”

“Sure thing.”

“You’re the best Baby,” his face was hidden in his phone before you could say another word. That was his way of saying he’s done with this conversation.

You walked out of the bedroom and hurried to make your boyfriend his drink before scurrying back to place it by his head. He didn’t acknowledge you.

“We have Hailey Bieber’s New Year’s Eve Party tonight. You still want to come?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there.”

You were out the door by 6:10, accustomed to the tight schedule. It was two and a half hours when you noticed a 6’2” frame with curly hair towering over you. You didn’t dare look up until you saw his swallow tattoo emitting an unwanted gasp from your throat. Carol looked at you weirdly but your eyes were trained on pointed Chelsea boots that were hesitantly shuffling towards your seated figure.

“Y/N,” he sounded the same, honey smooth like the rest of him, “Y/N?”

Your gaze lifted from the ground where he stood, up his body and past the undone buttons of his shirt until you stopped on the hazel eyes from your distant memories.

“Hey.”

“Wow, Hi,” he was staring, “it’s been what, 2 years?”

“Just about. 2 years at the end of next month.”

Shawn didn’t pay attention to the nervous quake in your voice and if he did he didn’t make any moves to soothe your mind. He just remained mere feet away and looking down at you.

You hated that you could see the love behind his irises. He had put you through so much even after you left. Shawn hadn’t broken up with Camila for another 8 months after yours. That’s why you didn’t run back to him.

“Wha-what’re you doing here?”

“Oh, um I have an interview about my new work.”

“I heard about that. Congratulations by the way.”

“Thanks.”

He was still staring and watched you shift off the chair to stand before him. Shawn wasn’t paying mind to how close you two actually were until the air between you was mixing. You took his breath away, literally.

“Are you still with that asshole, Charles?”

“Charles? You mean Collin?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Then yes, yes I am.”

“Why? Didn’t he cheat on you?”

“Keeping tabs on me?”

He was growing frustrated with your stubbornness.

“Believe it or not, I still love you, Y/N. And I hate seeing you get hurt, especially by some guy who doesn’t deserve you!”

“And who deserves me? You? Shawn, the whole reason I was in this relationship to start was to get you out of my head,” your eyes were tearing up just like that night years ago, “because believe it or not, you hurt me first.”

Carol, bless her soul, gave an apologetic smile towards Shawn for interrupting your conversation and began walking you towards your interview.

“Honey, you okay?”

You nodded your head trying to piece your mind together before some poor interviewer talked to you.

“It was hard not to listen in,” she smiled softly, “but if you want my thoughts, I think he was telling the truth.”

You looked into her eyes searching for answers that you already knew.

“He loves you, Y/N, and I think you love him too.”

With one final look to make sure her observations got through to you, Carol opened the door and guided you towards your manager.

The interview went fine and before you know it, it was over. You spaced out one too many times, you were sure, but it was over and done with. A photo shoot followed so you would have a cover image on Spanish Vogue and before you knew it the sun was setting.

After a long day filled with too many people and the run-in with Shawn, the last thing on your mind was New Years. You had honestly forgotten about it until you got a slew of texts all talking about the plans for the evening. Everyone was going to show up around 10 and the night would progress from there.

You, however, wouldn’t leave the Vogue building until 11:20.

“Your dress is in the car so you’ll have to change in the back which is why I made sure the car would have a partition. And Collin can help you, okay?”

Collin would not be helping if you had a say in anything.

“Thank you, Carol, enjoy the holiday!”

“You too.”

You slipped into the Bentley waiting by the glass doors ignoring the flashes of cameras. And quickly pulled your dress from the door before turning to your boyfriend expectantly.

“Go up to the passenger seat.”

“It’s not like I haven’t seen you strip before,” he chuckled, eyeing the silky minidress in your hand, “is that even a full dress? Like I’m actually going to let you walk out of here in that.”

“Go to the fucking front and you haven’t had a worthy opinion about anything in the last 8 months because you cheated on me so get out.”

He glared at you but didn’t have any excuse. What could he say to you? Sorry? Collin hopped out ignoring the questions and the shouts about his scandals and sat in the front next to your driver. He glowered even more, if that’s possible, when the divider screen went up.

The party was in full blast by the time you had arrived. With only ten minutes until midnight everyone was bustling to reach their lover or any stranger with a decent pair of lips. Everyone was drunk, and if not absolutely hammered then tipsy. Not one person was standing without leaning on something for support.

“Collin, I’m ge-”

Your boyfriend who was minutes ago standing behind you was now leaning against the kitchen counter between some pretty girl’s thighs. His lips sipping from her solo cup before latching on her neck. Shocker.

Shawn was surely the only person aware of his surroundings and though no one else paid mind to you slipping into the party looking absolutely gorgeous except him. No one noticed the asshole behind you sneaking off to fuck some model. No one noticed your unsurprised yet hurt expression.

No one noticed except him.

He’d be lying to say he hadn’t been watching the front door since he arrived, looking for your familiar face. He was elated when you walked through the door because despite the fact that every time you two spoke it resulted in a fight, he still missed you. Had Shawn been a man with any common sense he would’ve shut down the whole pr relationship concept before it even became a possibility. But he hadn’t and then he lost the most important person in his life.

10

He made his way through the crowd offering friendly greetings to the drunk party goers before he was standing feet away from you again.

9

This time however your eyes didn’t shy away like they had earlier that day. No, they watched his gaze flicker across your entire being drinking you in.

8

“Hi,” your voice was breathless.

7

“Hey,” his hands found your waist.

6

“Are you drunk?”

5

“No,” he smiled before repeating your question back at you, already knowing the answer.

4

“Are you drunk?”

3

“No.”

2

“Good.”

1

Shawn’s lips were pressed against your own and he tasted the same as when he was 16. It was like his eyes, pure honey, just so undeniably sweet. You wondered how you didn’t wander back to him like an addict during your 2 years of deprivation.

“Happy New Years, Baby.”

His mouth latched to yours again not wanting to pull apart longer than he had to.

“We still,” you whimpered when your lips separated again as he looked down at you, “we still have to talk about this. About us.”

“As long as there is an us, I’ll talk to you forever. And you have to break things off with that asshole.”

“Mmhmm,” you hummed against his lips.

“You’re my honey. You’re my sweet, sweet honey.”

“You sure you aren’t drunk?”

“Not drunk,” he couldn’t help but smile against your lips, “just happy. Really fucking happy.”

permanent tag list: @wholesomemendes @fallinallincurls @ashwarren32 @mendesficsxbombay @haute-shawn @turtoix @prncsnee @http-isabela

[horrorslashergirl]

Can we get a s/o who is a single mother trying to raise their kid with Chromeskull or Jessie, or both? They happen to be browsing at the park when a kid walk right up to them before the mother shows up to thank the two for finding their child

Soft and Humurous Chromeskull on the way! Jesse deserves a wife and a happy ending.

Chromeskull x Single!Mother!Reader- ‘Jackpot’

It never fazed Jesse how he got into this predicament in life, call it karma, but it’s not easy to hear that your wife shot herself, killing along with herself the unborn child. When he heard he was devasted. All these years everything went smoothly; his wife thinking he was all on business trips, and at some point, he will come home to her. Not really how he predicted his future to be.

Jesse wasn’t one man to view him as a father, the thought was scary even to the 6′7 killer, but that was the gift of life: Spending the rest of your life with your loved one who will at some point give you a child.

He was taking a walk into the park in Jacksonville, he needed to get out more because staying all days inside his homemade Jesse a little more anxious than normal, plus he needed to continue with his ‘job’ and mourning over the death of his wife wouldn’t help. Its been two years and he should go on with life, but dating it’s tough when you have a disfigured face that women run away from.

He learned to walk in the outside world with his new face but been given all these looks of fear, disgust, and pity were making him want to slaughter the whole park.

His brown eye looked at the happy families, the dads taking their small children into their arms, spinning them around, laughing while their wifes giggled or took photos. He grimaced at the image, it was probably envied because God thought he didn’t deserve such a blessing. Not even his money could bring him this gift.

He remembers all the words his ex-potential lovers after his wife died.

‘Ughhh...Such an ugly piece of shit.’

‘How can I even kiss you? You make me puke.’

‘The child probably would look just like you.’

‘That face is turning me off.’

So different from what he used to be told when his face was all perfect.

‘So handsome. Would you like to come home with me?’

‘Hey, stud! Wanna have a drink?’

‘Never seen you before, gorgeous.’

Well, it looks like it’s true what they say; a pretty face can make wonders. Jesse was pulled out of his thoughts when a purple glitter covered ball landed in front of him at his feet. His gaze moved up and saw a little girl approach him. She had blonde hair in curly pigtails, rosy cheeks, wearing a white shirt with a unicorn, a pink tutu with colorful leggings, and purple sneakers with wings. She stopped in front of him, taking her ball.

“Wooow...Are you a giant?” she asked, her eyes widen as he took in his tall form. He couldn’t help but chuckle silently at her words. She didn’t look to be afraid or disgusted by his face, more like mesmerized.

That was a reason for why he didn’t go after kids; they were the perfect epitome of innocence, so honest and always speak their minds.

“Maddison! Come back here.” he heard a feminine voice speak from afar, his eyes looking from the small girl to a young woman running to them.

“I told you not to run away from me.” you said, crouching down to your daughter, then looking up at the tall man.

“Mommy! Is he a giant?” your daughter asked with curiosity, making you blush in embarrassment.

“Maddy! That’s not polite! I’m so sorry for her. She is always speaking what she thinks.” you apologized, standing up and looking at the mysterious man, your eyes taking in his scarred face, a little intimidating.

‘No harm is done. She’s just a child.’ Jesse signed out of instinct, sometimes he forgot people don’t know ASL.

Your eyes widened, seeing that he was mute.

“Still, I should apologize for her.” you said, signing at the same time, making him look shocked.

‘You know ASL?’

“Yes, my brother is deaf-mute and I had to learn.” you explained.

‘I’m Jesse.’ he signed.

“[Name].” you said, shaking hands with him. Your daughter looked curiously at you two.

“Mommy! Can we have ice cream?” she asked, jumping on her little feet, making you smile and nod, then she looked at Jesse.

“Do you want some? Mommy always said that I should apologize and ice cream is the best form to say sorry.” she spoke, looking up at Jesse with puppy eyes, making him a little nervous, but couldn’t say no to such a cute face.

She skipped to the ice cream booth of the park with you and Jesse following. He didn’t saw you with any man and wondered where her father and your husband is.

‘I hope her father won’t get any ideas.’ Jesse signed as you walked, making your eyes widen and sadden, looking down.

“Her father is dead.” you said, making his eye widen, knowing he opened a sensitive subject.

‘Sorry.’

“No, no. It’s fine. He died in a car accident three years ago. She’s a smart girl and understands.” you said.

Jesse understood you in a way, losing someone of importance to you, but your cases were a bit different; his wife killed herself because of him.

After you bought the ice cream you sat with Jesse on a bench eating the delicious dessert as your daughter playing with the kids not too far away from you two.

‘I’m only curious. Why?’ Jesse signed, looking at you. You raised an eyebrow, not quite catching on what he meant.

‘I mean. Why are you so nice? I’m not exactly the most prince charming here.’ he signed, motioning at his face, making your eyes widen.

“You mean the fact that something bad happened to you and you are a lucky soul that you survived?” you said, making the bald man even more curious.

“My father worked as a mechanic and he was also a lucky one. A car battery exploded and burned half of his face, neck, and chest.” you said, a sad sigh leaving your lips.

“We are all the same on the inside and some differences shouldn’t make us treat the ones bad.” you said, taking a lick of your ice cream.

Now that was a pleasant thing to hear. It’s not every day a woman is so accepting of the outside looks and a gorgeous one at that. You were gorgeous in Jesse’s eyes, the kind of woman he would take out to dinner, to a movie, to the point of sharing his bed with, and also life.

You two were looking at each other, not speaking at all or signing, but you felt his face get closer to yours, blush on your cheeks. Just a little bit more, until your daughter came running to you.

“Mommy! I’m hungry! Can we go and eat?” she asked with a pout, making you nod, ready to stand up, but...

“Oh oh! Can Jesse come to dinner too!” she asked, her hands wrapped around Jesse’s leg like a kid who found the best toy in the store and wanted it.

“W-Well, if he wants too. I cannot force him.” you said with a nervous smile, looking at Jesse.

‘I would love too.’ he signed, nodding at the smaller version of you. She jumped up and down in victory.

“Oh, mommy! Is he gonna be my new daddy?” she asked with curiosity, your eyes widening at her response and making you choke a little on your ice cream, a deep red blush on your face.

Jesse’s shoulders moved up and down in silent laughter, his hand coming on top of her head, ruffling her hair. He pulled out his phone writing a message for her.

‘That depends on your mother.’

She looked at you with begging eyes.

“Come on, mommy! Please, please. Can we keep him?”

Alright, maybe not exactly how you wanted the first date with a potential new husband to be, but in Jesse’s eye this was priceless.

‘Jackpot.’ he thought with an internal smirk.

[tomspancakes]

This Way: Part 6 (pls read author’s note)

*not my gif*

Pairing: Tom Holland x Actress! reader

Word Count: 6824

Warnings: A crazy bih. Bit of violence and a smidge of blood? Probably wrong stuff about investing/ business world and such (sorry I’m a kinesiology major lol don’t judge) 

Summary: A lot ensues when Tom apologizes to y/n. Old feelings are brought up and a little adventure begins.

A/N: I was thinking of writing a story about Tom and y/n’s past after this, would you guys like that? Please lmk! Anywho don’t hesitate to ask to be in the taglist and lmk if you’re enjoying this. Enjoy part 6 <3

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

+++

“Tom, before you say more, I’m going to move out.” Tom’s heart broke.

“W-wait, what? You can’t leave, y/n. You don’t need to.” He walked toward the edge of your bed and sat down next to you.

“Tom, I caused so many problems already a-and you were right, it was selfish of me to blame you for making things worse with the whole Allana situation. You were just trying to help.”

“No I was wrong hear me out before deciding to leave. I-I can change your mind. Please let me at least try.” He took your hand in his and looked at you in a pleading way. You thought about it before giving in and nodding your head.

“This doesn’t mean I’ll stay. I’m just gonna listen.” He nodded with a little hope in his mind.

“First off, everything I said to you down there I didn’t mean that. O-or I did say what I’ve been feeling, but in a completely wrong way. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was getting tipsy and saying stupid shit.” All he could look at was your hands in his. 

“No, Tom, you were right. I let you take the fall for MY privacy. I’m being selfish for letting you stay in this toxic ass relationship just because of my fears and insecurities.” Tom rubbed his thumbs over your knuckles and looked up at you.

“Y/n, I could never blame you for being afraid. I-I’ve been afraid, numb, and distant from everyone ever since we broke up…” You gave him a sad look, were you the cause of all his pain?

“B-but don’t worry it’s not your fault. I-I couldn’t move on. When we broke up I let most of my joy go along with you. I let all of my anger and sadness build up until I was numb a-and couldn’t even see which people would be good for my life, hence why I started dating Allana. I was just trying to fill the gaping hole in my heart. As soon as you came here it was like…” He looked into your eyes with realization, “I-I could feel again. But what I felt was all the pain and anger that was pushed to the back of my mind, it was creeping back and I tried to push it aside, and leaving was the only way to do that. I was happy to see you don’t get me wrong, but when I saw that you were on instagram live with Gavin it just made all my bottled up emotions burst out.” Tears began to well up in Tom’s eyes when he saw a couple rush down your cheeks. 

“You were the first person to talk to me so I released all that anger out on you. It was really a dick move for me to do, but they were all negative feelings from a dark place in my head. Please understand I didn’t mean everything I said.” You let go of his hands and jumped into his arms squeezing your eyes shut. His cologne filled your nostrils and you both relaxed in the hug.

“Tom, I’m so sorry you went through that and felt like you couldn’t tell anyone.” Tom started to shake a bit with sobs and you began to rub his back. 

“I-I understand. I was a real mess the first 2 months after the break up.” You let go of him and sat next to him again. He immediately held your hand again to comfort both you and him, your touch calmed him down. “It was hard for me to get out of bed every morning. I had to stay at a hotel alone because I’d lash out at my family members if they tried to help. A-and I had to delete social media for a few weeks because I couldn't bear to see your face. I-I cried or got angry every time I saw you. Harry and Zendaya helped me though because they noticed I wasn’t looking very healthy anymore, they watched me have some really bad breakdowns. Then I thought I was ok and started dating Gavin…” Tom’s brows furrowed not really wanting to hear about your relationship with him, 

“B-but I decided to break it off because it wasn’t fair to Gavin that I kept thinking about you.” You looked at Tom and his head snapped up at what you said, his heart skipped a beat. “Y-You were in my dreams and I frequently found myself checking on your instagram. Of course Harry and Z never knew because they’d scold me, but I couldn’t help myself.” You chuckled then sighed, “Thankfully Gavin understood though.” Tom’s eyes were wide, “Y-you never stopped caring for me?” You scoffed.

“Obviously not. I tried to reach out to you, remember?” Tom felt so dumb and face palmed.

“God I’m a damn idiot.” He groaned.

“Just a little bit.” You joked.

“I-I guess I was just afraid to see what would happen if I did decide to reply. I was scared to get hurt again.” You nodded understanding, “You know when I took you to that burger cafe that was the first time I’ve been in months.” 

“Yeah Harry told me. What happened the last time you were there? I-if you don’t mind sharing of course...” You asked curiously, but cautious because you didn’t want to make him more upset. 

“Well I thought I was over you. I had just started dating Allana and I wasn’t thinking about you as much anymore. When I finished ordering the burgers I thought it’d be a good idea to check your instagram… along with the photos you were tagged in. I saw that single photo the paps took of you and Gavin holding hands and I-I uh just broke. I know nothing was confirmed or anything, but I knew you’d date him because he was so good to you before and during the time we were dating. I wished so much that I was him in that moment, I regretted letting you go.” You looked at him sadly and he looked stressed. “I stayed in my car for a really long time just crying and I went through old videos and pictures of you and I.” He scoffed, “I even went through our old messages and stalked accounts that shipped us together. I-it was really hard for me to be there because it always reminded me of you and the pain I went through. I didn’t want to feel like that again, but when you came back I just felt like it’d be ok to go there. Even though we barely spoke then, I-I just felt so good for some reason.”

“I guess we never really got over one another then…” You said looking at him apologetically and he nodded in agreement.

You sighed and flopped back on your bed and put your hands over your lap with your legs dangling off the edge. Tom followed suit, but took your small hand again, this time intertwining your fingers together.

“Tom, I don’t think we should be hol-” Tom didn’t want to let go so he cut you off.

“You know when I said everything I do is for you, the night before I left?” He turned his head to look at you, you kept staring at the ceiling and nodded, “Well I meant it.” 

You sighed, “Tom you don’t have to do anything for me.”

“I know I don’t. Yet I both unconsciously and consciously do. I’d do anything for you, y/n.” You turned to him and his face was so close you felt the air coming out of his nose, “Haz and Tuwaine told me I couldn’t run from my feelings, so now I’m going to confront them. I never stopped caring for you, I’d throw away all my happiness just to make sure you're ok. If you don’t want the world to know about our past then I’ll stay with Allana.” He said that with all seriousness. Your heart melted and you looked into his eyes. He looked down at your lips then back at your eyes and started to lean in. You sat up quickly,

“S-sorry, Tom, we shouldn’t do that now.” He sat up as well looking down at his hands sadly and nodded, “But I’m not gonna let you stay with that bitch. We have to figure something out.” He gave you a half smile and nodded,

“I actually went to my old mate, Connor, and found out some really terrible things, but it could really help our case. I was gonna tell you as soon as I got home, but you know I fucked everything up.”

“No you didn’t, Tom, you needed to get things off your chest and we needed to talk about our feelings. We can look at it as a blessing in disguise.” You smiled at him kindly and patted his hands, “Now tell me everything.” Tom smiled at you admiringly.

“Well first off when we first started dating she told me that her last boyfriend broke up with her because she was moving to a new city, but then Connor ended up telling me that it was actually because she cheated on her ex.” He looked at you thinking you’d know what’d happen next. “What? Keep going, I’m no sherlock.” You both laughed for the first time in a long time.

“Well, Connor told me that her ex, Cody, went to the bank one day and he took out some of the money he invested in Allana’s company because it wasn’t doing too well. When she noticed there was less money to spend she started spying on him. Coincidentally a new girl came into his work and he was showing her around and Allana assumed he was cheating. Mind you they were on the 6th floor of a building which is nuts...” You widened your eyes and checked your window to make sure the curtains were closed.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised to hear that, but keep talking.” 

“That’s not even the crazy part, love. First off Cody was some super successful real estate agent and invested maybe $2 million pounds. Second Allana thought she needed a new guy in case Cody was actually cheating, and the guy she cheated on him with was Ollie Williams.”

“Wait… That farm guy from season 6 of Love Island?”

“Yeah and guess what?” Tom asked enthusiastically, waiting for you to reply.

“Oh my god he’s rich too.” You said realizing the connection. Tom nodded.

“When Cody found out Allana was cheating he immediately broke up with her. After a few days his banker called saying he was making some weird purchases, like buying a bunch of designer clothes and whatnot. After that he found out that Allana had been sneaking into his flat at night and taking his credit cards and then putting them back when she was done with it.” 

“She’s fucking crazy, how do we know she’s not in here right now?” You asked, scooting closer to Tom, he laughed and he slid his arm around your waist. He looked at his phone,

“It’s a Friday so she should be drinking with her friends about now.” You nodded and relaxed a bit, “Anyway Cody tried to have her arrested, but Allana threatened to tell Ollie’s girlfriend that he cheated on her. So to keep Allana’s mouth shut, Ollie’s family did the task of investing in Allana’s business and she has an uncle in the Police department. All Cody has now is a restraining order on Allana.”

“Wait there’s no way all this happened, this is literally insane. Connor must’ve lied a little bit.” You said in disbelief.

“I thought the same thing, this is something you’d only see in the movies, but Connor wouldn’t. He told me he could literally get sued if anyone in Ollie’s family finds out this news got out since it was a private investment. Obviously Ollie’s girlfriend ended up finding out about Allana though because he confessed on Love Island that he cheated on her.” Then it hit you.

“Holy shit. Have you checked your bank account?” You asked, this was insane.

“Yeah I did, no weird activity.” He said nonchalantly.

“Ok then how’d you meet Allana?” 

“At a mutual friend’s party. She came up to me saying she didn’t really know anyone else and-” Tom’s eyes widened, “Oh my god. The Williams' probably stopped investing and she set something up so she could start dating me huh?” You nodded, but still curious about something.

“I just don’t understand why she hasn’t taken a lot of money away from you yet though.”

“I’m not quite sure either, I mean I’ve given her like 2 expensive things, but she’s never asked me to invest or anything.” He thought in silence for a second and you yawned. Everything that happened tonight was making you sleepy.

“Oh shit. There’s a safe in the house with emergency money.” Tom said, he jumped up and you followed closely behind him. “God I’m such an idiot! I wrote the code down on a paper and thought I misplaced it. Allana probably stole it.” He was stressing out. When you entered his room he pushed aside clothes that were in front of the safe and punched in a 7 digit number and opened the door.

“Fuck fuck fuck!”

“What, Tom, is something gone?” Tom got up and gave you a view of the safe.

“It’s about ¾ empty.” He stated and began cursing furiously and pulling his hair.

“H-how much did you have in there originally?” You asked, worried for Tom.

“A little over 3 million pounds.” He groaned and slid down the wall next to his closet.

“Oh my god, Tom.” You didn’t know what else to say or do.

“I know it’s not much of a dent in my bank account, but it’s still a lot of money that belongs to me. We need to do something.” You nodded, “But if we do she’s going to tell everyone about you and I. It’s also gonna cause so much unnecessary controversies in the media.  Remember what happened to you the last time the world found out about your pa-”

“Yes of course I remember.” You said not wanting to talk about it, “What are we gonna do then?” You asked, defeated. Tom took your hand and pulled you down to sit next to him. 

“I think we should go over to her flat tomorrow and call the police.” 

“Why don’t we just call them now?” You asked him like he was crazy.

“Because today was already shit enough. And I can tell you’re really tired, love, I know I am.” You nodded and he rested his head on your shoulder, “Plus tonight may be the last night we spend together... unless you don’t move.” 

“Oh... right, I uh totally forgot about that.” The decision floating back in your head of whether or not you should stay.

“Yeah so, I think I’d rather end the night on a lighter note. Perhaps with a movie or a little cuddle with my…” He looked up at you with his tired eyes, “friend.” You chuckled, but both of you hurt by the word somehow.

“How the hell are you calm right now? A shit ton of money just got stolen from you, we should be talking to the police right now.” You said shaking your head.

“So much shit happened today, yet you just being here with me somehow makes me feel like everything will be ok.” Tom breathed out, taking your hand in his. Your heart sped up when you both locked eyes, “Can we please do something else now?”

“You’re unbelievable. You know that?” You rolled your eyes, hinting that you're giving in. 

“Yay!” Tom exclaimed and he picked you up and put you on his lap holding you so tight. 

“Tom, come on let go.” You hit his arms, but he just squeezed you tighter. You giggled and rested your chin on top of his curly hair.

“I’m not gonna lie. I did miss your crackhead energy.” You joked and he moved his head up close to yours quickly. 

“You’re gonna pay for that.” Then he got up and began tickling your sides.

“T-Tom p-please stop!” He laughed at your struggle. “Please, I-I can’t b-breathe.” He stopped tickling you and kissed your cheek. He stared at you wide eyed realizing what he just did. Tom felt like you were a couple again just in those 45 seconds, it was crazy that your cute little laugh could make him forget all the crazy shit going on. You cleared your throat and stood up.

“So a movie then?” You patted yourself down and he nodded, “Ok I’ll go put some pjs on then.” You turned to walk out and he face palmed as soon as you passed through his door.

-

You and Tom sat with your backs on the headboard watching Inception. You began to get sleepy half way through the movie and laid your head on Tom’s lap. He looked down, the light from the film reflected off your beautiful face and Tom felt like he was falling for you all over again. He began to gently brush your hair with his fingers making you sleepy. You enjoyed this and missed his soft touch making you relax, and that’s when you decided, “Tom?” You asked sleepily.

“Yes, darling?” Although he called Allana darling once, the nickname made you feel how you did when you two were previously dating. It made your heart feel light.

“I’m not going anywhere.” With that you drifted into sleep. Tom smiled widely and kept brushing your hair until he heard your cute soft snores indicating that you were officially out cold. He carefully picked you up and moved you so that your head was now rested on his chest. He shut the TV off and looked at your face lovingly until he too drifted off into the best sleep he’s had since before you two had broken up.

- 

“Tom! Have you seen Y/n? She wasn’t-” Harry barged into Tom’s room, “Oh what the fuck, are you serious?” You stirred and opened your eyes to see Tom’s sleeping face.

“Mmm shut up.” Tom said and you tried to get up, but he grumbled and pulled you closer.

“No get the hell up.” Harry said, sounding unhappy and you finally got out of Tom’s embrace. He rubbed his eyes and sat up fast realizing what was going on.

You laughed awkwardly, “Harry… how’s it going?” He looked at you then at Tom then smiled,

“So? What the hell happened, I’m surprised you guys made up so fast, are you dating again?” Harry said super excited and he jumped onto the edge of the bed. You and Tom gave one another a strange look. 

“Well I wasn’t expecting that...” Tom said awkwardly.

“N-no we’re not dating again. We made up as friends. Tom is still with Allana at the moment.” When you said that you were both reminded of all the bad things that you both have to deal with now.

“Harry, we found out some really bad shit about Allana.” Tom said.

“Oh you finally realized she’s a psychopa-” Tom rolled his eyes and cut him off.

“She stole almost 2.25 million pounds from our emergency vault.” 

“What the fuck?” Harry yelled and he got back up, “Mum and dad are going to kill you for losing this much money. How the fuck did she even get the code? Tom, you’re literally so irresponsible. We need to call the fucking police.” Tom let his little brother ramble and scold him before saying,

“Yeah we’re gonna head over to Allana’s soon and if she doesn’t give us the money we will. Trying to not have too many controversies right now you know?” Harry looked at his brother like he was insane, but sighed and nodded.

“That’s literally the dumbest shit I’ve heard, but it’s your money. How the hell are you being so calm about this?” 

Tom slid his hand on top of yours, but under the duvet so that Harry wouldn’t see, “I don’t know, just have a feeling that things are gonna be ok.” He squeezed your hand lightly and your pulse quickened. 

“Hm maybe Allana’s insanity is just rubbing off on the both of you.” Harry said suspiciously, “Wait, y/n, does this mean you're staying?” He looked at you with hopeful eyes and you nodded. Tom quickly removed his hand from yours when Harry cheered and pulled you up from the bed to shield you from Tom, “As much as I’m glad that you guys are good now, Y/n, is my best friend and MY best friend only ok? So back off, Tom.”

“You're such a goof, Harry. You will always be my best friend.” You hugged Harry and he stuck his tongue out at Tom. This started a playful fight because Tom slapped Harry in the face, so Harry jumped out of your embrace and onto Tom and they wrestled before you said,

“Oh my god. You are both so immature. Knock it off so we can bring that bitch down and get your money back.” They laughed and got up to get ready.

-

“Ready to go? Harry’s warming up the car.” Tom said with a piece of toast in his mouth as he tied his shoes. You nodded and had ice cubes over your eyebags. 

“What the hell are you doing?” 

“Reducing the puffiness of my eyes from last night’s antics.” 

“Mm fix mine.” Tom said while chewing the last bit of his toast. You giggled and walked over to him and placed the cubes on his puffy eyes. He was looking down at you and you stared into his beautiful brown irises.

“You look gorgeous even with puffy eyes, y/n.” You blushed a bit, “Well I mean you always look gor-” You and Tom were snapped out of the moment when Harry honked the car horn. You put the ice cubes in the trash and Tom asked, “Do I look less shitty now?”

“You never look shitty. Handsome as always.” You pinched his cheek and walked off. You were making Tom’s heart beat like crazy. He couldn’t even keep his mind straight on the mission you three were about to embark.

-

“Harrison and Tuwaine were playing games and drinking when I put the dishes away last night. So they’re probably gonna be out til this afternoon. Why can’t you just tell me everything now?” Harry groaned.

“Because it was a really long story which wouldn’t be fun to repeat.” You said.

“Plus, we’re almost at Allana’s.” Tom added and Harry huffed because he was impatient. “Ah park there, not in the driveway just in case she chases or something and need to drive off fast.” Tom said seriously and pointed at an empty spot on the street near Allana’s flat.

“Do you think she’s awake?” You asked.

“Who cares? I hope that bitch is asleep so we can ruin it.” You laughed at Harry’s sass.

“Even better that she’s most likely gonna be hung over.” Tom added, “Ok, Harry, keep your phone out just in case Allana does something crazy.” Harry nodded and you all walked to her front door with Tom leading. Tom knocked on the door aggressively.  

“Open up Allana we need to talk.” Tom yelled.

“Ugh you can stop I’ll get it.” You heard a muffled raspy voice. The door swung open to a hungover Allana, “Tommy, I wasn’t expecting you til-” She realized who was behind him, “What the fuck are they doing here.” She snarled then laughed at all your glares. “Oh so you found out mine and Tom’s little deal didn’t you?”

“We found out about a lot of other things too.” You said sternly. 

She raised her eyebrow, “And what may that be?” 

“We know about your situation with Ollie and Cody.” Tom said and her eyes widened.

“Wait, that guy Ollie from Love Island?” Harry looked at Tom who rolled his eyes because he interrupted and nodded at his brother. 

Harry’s mouth formed an ‘o’ before adding, “Well we also know that you stole about 2.25 million pounds as well. If you don’t give us the money back we’re gonna bring the police into this.” Harry showed his phone to her with the numbers 999 ready.

“And also make sure your business is shut down for good.” Tom said.

“I’m afraid half of the money has already been spent.” She said smugly and smirked.

“What the fuck. Harry, call the police.” You said, he nodded and was about to press the call button, but Allana stopped him. 

“Oh no no wait a second. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” She pulled her phone out her robe pocket. “I knew something like this was going to happen so I went ahead and made a draft of the story I was going to tell TMZ. If you call the cops I’ll send the story in with the click of a button.” Tom looked at you knowing that you really didn’t want that. You were trying to think of any solution, but Tom sighed and held your hand before speaking up,

“Alright then. You want money right? How much do you want so you can get out of my life.” You widened your eyes.

“Tom no you can’t do that. I-It’ll be ok. I need to learn to get through it, I signed up for this life when becoming an actress.” You smiled at him and squeezed his hand. Harry’s eyes never left Allana’s phone as she waved it in front of you two. 

“Uh hello? I’d happily make a deal with you, Tommy. Your choice, do you really wanna break your promise…” You drowned her voice out as Harry slid his phone in your other hand and he jumped between you and Tom successfully taking Allana’s phone. 

“Hurry, y/n. Call the cops!” Harry yelled from behind Allana and you pressed the call button letting go of Tom’s hand. Allana got angry and grabbed a vase that was on a table by the door. She chucked it right at Harry’s head and he knocked out. 

“Harry! Oh my god.” You stepped inside to help Harry, but Tom stopped you. “No, I'll help him. talk to the police.” You nodded and he rushed to help his brother. You looked around and couldn’t see Allana until you felt cold metal pressed against your neck and you knew where she was. Tom stood up looking both scared and angry,

“No. Try to come near me and I’ll fucking slit her throat.” She yelled and you whimpered as tears began to roll down your cheeks, “Now, Tom, slide my phone to me. And y/n I want you to hang up.” 

As you were pulling the phone away from your ear you heard, “Hello? What-” and you ended the call. ‘Well that was shit timing.’ You thought. 

Tom kicked her phone over while tears began to roll down his cheeks, “Allana, p-please let her go now. We did what you wanted.” He said with his arms out trying to calm her down.

“No. Now I want money in exchange for her life.” She pressed the knife closer and you shut your eyes in fear.

“Ok ok. How much do you want? I can’t give you too much right away because that’d be suspicious.” Tom looked into your eyes and you knew he was stalling, the police still had to come just to make sure everything was ok.

“Well you’ll have to figure out a way to get a lot to me very soon. I want 7 million pounds by next week.”

“What’d you need that for, fleeing the country or some-” 

“Stop messing the fuck around. Now agree or she dies.” Tom looked behind you and relaxed a bit.

“Freeze! Drop the weapon.” You felt a bit relieved that the police came after all. Allana turned the both of you around and you squealed because you felt the knife cut into your skin a little bit. Tom tried to run up to you but Allana’s grip tightened on you, “Back the fuck off!” She snarled at Tom.

“Sir please stay where you’re at we’ll handle this.” You looked into Tom’s eyes and all you saw was fear. 

“Miss please drop the knife now or else I will shoot you.” The officer clocked the gun. Allana contemplated for a bit before sighing and removing the knife from your neck and dropped it. She was put in handcuffs, “I swear you both will pay for this shit.” Allana snarled as she was pulled away. 

You ran over to Tom and you sobbed. He held your quivering body and rubbed your back. 

“I’m so sorry, love. I shouldn’t have brought you, I put you in danger. I-I was so scared.” He kissed the top of your head and you felt his tears drop on your head. He hugged you tighter like it was the last time he’d see you.

“We need medics.” An officer said into her comms then she crouched down and shook Harry after feeling his pulse, “Sir? Can you hear me? Please wake up.” You let go of Tom and rushed over to Harry.

“Harry come on get up you’re ok.” He stirred and blinked his eyes a few times. 

“What the fuck? Wh-what did I miss? Y/n why is your neck bleeding?” You widened your eyes and felt your neck, it stung a tiny bit and felt wet. 

Tom was freaking out, “Shit, Y/n, are you feeling ok? I swear I’m gonna make that bitch pay.” You nodded.

“Ya. I-I think she just gave me a little scratch.” He looked at you worriedly.

“Yeah thanks, Tom, I’m good too.” Harry joked and Tom looked at his brother apologetically while helping him sit up. A medic went up to Harry and another one followed closely behind and went to you. 

“May I check the cut?” They asked and you nodded. Tom sat you down on the couch. You lifted your chin. “You’re ok, thankfully she didn’t cut deep, but you’ll need a thicker bandage. This is gonna sting a bit.” You nodded and hissed as the rubbing alcohol burned your cut. Tom squeezed your hand and kissed the top of your head. “You’re ok, darling.” When he called you darling you took your mind off the pain. You opened your eyes to see Tom’s brown ones already looking at you and you smiled at him. His face was full of concern so you put a hand on his cheek and he relaxed in your touch. You felt a cloth go over your cut.

“Alright you’re all done. Just change the bandage every so often.” The medic gave you a bag of more bandages.

“Thank you.” You smiled weakly and they nodded. You and Tom walked over to Harry and the other medic shined a light to his eyes.

“Yep you have a concussion forsure. You need to take it easy for the next few days, no bright lights, and no crazy exercising. Make sure he follows what I said and make things easier for him.” The medic looked at you both and nodded. The medic gave Harry an icepack and you all thanked him.

“You guys are gonna be my servants haha.” Harry joked and you laughed lightly as he tried to make the situation better.

“We need to talk to the officers.” Tom said putting his hand on the small of your back. You nodded giving Harry a quick hug letting him rest in his spot before heading over to the police. 

-

“Well today was really eventful.” Harry said sleepily from the backseat.

“It’s been an eventful 2 weeks for me, she made that dumb deal the night of the dinner.” Tom said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“I mean I’m just glad we got her off your ass.” You said.

“Yeah me too, but I feel like it’s not the last we’ll see of her. Her uncle is a cop, remember?” Tom reminded you. You’re body tensed a bit and nodded. Tom noticed and reached over the console to rub your hand indicating that he won’t let anything bad happen.

“Oh you’re shitting me. That’s not right.” Harry groaned. “Well maybe they’ll be more strict on her because she literally tried to kill y/n.” Your eyes widened realizing that you really almost just died. 

“Harry! Don’t say it like that.” Tom said realizing you got even more scared.

“N-no. It’s alright she knocked you out, loser.” You weakly joked and Harry laughed. Tom just looked over at you concerned.

-

“Yeah the money will be returned when they finish interrogating Allana.” Tom said. Everyone living in the house was seated in the living room, Zendaya and your parents were on facetime on your laptop, and Tom’s parents were on facetime on his laptop. You and Tom had just explained everything that went down with the whole Allana deal. 

Nikki sighed, “Well I’m just glad that all three of you are safe now. Tom, you need to be more careful with your money.” Tom got a little embarrassed and you rubbed his back. “I trust that this will be a lesson learned.” 

He nodded and sighed, “Definitely learned something.” Nikki and Dom nodded worriedly.

“Alright well, if that’s all we’ll let you go. If you lot need anything, we're only a call and just a few blocks away.” Dom said. You and the boys nodded.

“Oh, Y/m/n, make sure you send me that recipe of the beef roast. It looked delicious on your facebook!” Nikki added and your mom nodded before everyone exchanged goodbyes with Tom’s parents.

“I’m so sorry for putting your daughter in danger. I-I shouldn’t have brought her, I assure you that she is very safe with my mates and I. If you want I can update-” Tom was beginning to ramble nervously, but your mom cut him off.

“Tom, sweetie there’s no need to do that. We trust all you boys and we trust y/n can take care of herself.”

“Yeah we’ll make sure she’s eating her veggies and fruits as well.” Harrison said and Tom slapped his arm. Everyone laughed at the way he teased Tom. 

“Alright, I’ll talk to you guys later!” You said.

“Wait, y/n, can we talk to you in private?” Your dad asked and you nodded as Tom gulped. You got up from your spot to go to the kitchen. As soon as you sat your dad spoke.

“Are you sure you’re ok there? ‘Cause I’m not sure I want you to stay. And I don’t know if I even trust Tom being there. Maybe-”

“No, dad, I swear to you everything is ok. Plus, you know Tom is a good guy, he wouldn’t do anything bad.” You stated.

“Yeah if he does anything stupid I’ll make sure he pays for it.” Zendaya said seriously.

“Ah thank you, Z. You’re always such a good friend.” Your dad said and you and your mom agreed as Zendaya nodded and flipped her hair jokingly.

“But seriously y/n’s right. Tom is a really good guy. You can trust him.” Your parents looked at one another nodding trusting her words. ‘Why the hell don’t they trust what I say?’ You thought.

“Alright we’re going to go eat now. Text or call if you need anything. It was wonderful seeing you, Z, I’ll drop off some baked goods in a few days.” Your mom said and Zendaya cheered while you pouted. You all said your goodbyes, but Zendaya stayed on.

“Y/n, I know damn well that something happened between you and Tom. It’s literally so obvious he kept looking at you and I saw you rub his back like you guys didn’t have a past.” You laughed at how well she could read you and every situation ever.

“Well a lot happened in literally one week. I just don’t think I’m ready for anything though, like you said it’s time for myself now.” You sighed then cleared your throat, “but nonetheless I’ll update you as soon as you’re not busy, as long as you update me about Jacob as well.” She laughed and nodded.

“Will do, but take as much time and space as you need. I know he’d wait.” You nodded trusting every word she said, “alright I’m gonna go eat now. Love you bihhh!”

“Love you too, stay safe!” You hung up and walked to the living room.

“Everything ok?” Tom asked a little nervous because your dad wanted to talk in private.

“He was probably saying he wants to drop kick your ass as soon as he sees you, Tom.” Tuwaine said and you the boys snickered as that only made Tom more nervous.

“No he didn’t. He just wanted to make sure I’m alright.” You said and Tom relaxed.

“You guys want to have a comedy movie marathon to cheer you up?” Harrison asked.

“I think that is very much needed. Go ahead and start it. I’m gonna change my bandage first and get Harry some shades, he can’t look at bright lights.” You explained and the boys snickered at that. Harry flipped them all off.

“I’ll help you, y/n. Plus I have some nice shades Harry can wear.” Tom said kindly and you nodded smiling back. Haz and Tuwaine made kissy faces behind Tom and you rolled your eyes before walking upstairs.

When you got to your room Tom pulled out the desk chair for you and he grabbed the first aid kit. “I can do it myself, Tom.” 

“Nonsense, let me take care of you, darling. It was my fault after all.” Your heart melted, he was being so kind.

“It wasn’t your fault at all, we wouldn’t have been in this mess if I wasn’t scared for the world to know about us. The situation would’ve been handled a lot less hectic.” You sighed feeling bad. Tom peeled the dirty bandage off and held your hand as he wiped your cut with the alcohol. You squeezed your eyes shut and Tom pulled your hand to his lips kissing your knuckles gently then rubbing them with his thumb. He placed the bandage on your cut and let your hand go.

“I wouldn’t mind hiding a relationship with you again though…” He said as you lowered your head back down. you opened your eyes and he looked into yours seriously. You looked at him apologetically and he dropped his head back while brushing his hands through his hair. “God I’m such an idiot. Sorry pretend I didn’t say that.” His ears and cheeks were turning red.

“Tom-” 

“No no it’s ok I get it. You want to be friends. Wh-which is ok of course because I’d rather be friends than nothing. I’m not saying I like you right now or any-” You giggled a bit, but got a little hurt when he said the last part. 

“Tom! Let me speak.”

“Oh s-sorry, love.” He said looking at you and you smiled at his cuteness.

“I’m not going to lie. I-I think I started to have feelings for you too. Like I said I don’t think I ever truly got over you…”

“Oh. Well in that case I definitely haven’t gotten over you. I didn’t mean what I said just now I think I do li-” He stopped realizing he interrupted you again, “oops sorry.”

You giggled again, “Anyway, I know we both want something more right now, b-but we should just stay friends for now.” His heart dropped and he looked at you with confusion and sadness, “I just got out of a relationship a few weeks ago and I told Zendaya this would be the time for me to grow. Plus you just got out of a really crazy relationship. And after hearing about both of our stories after our break up, I-I really think we should learn to be ok with ourselves first.” He sighed and nodded. “Don’t get me wrong though. I have feelings for you, Tom. I’m just not ready to-” “Yeah ok I understand. I’m gonna go get my orange shades for Harry now.” He turned and began to walk away.

“Tom wait I wasn’t done ta-” He turned back to face you at your doorway. 

“Just know that I’ll wait for you, darling. Take all the time you need. I’m a little upset, but just take your time.” You looked at him as tears welled up in your eyes and your heart skipped a beat. “Really. I’ll wait for you.” He was upset, but he couldn’t let his anger cloud over his feelings for you.

+++

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[aestheticdenki]

Butterflies- Tamaki Amajiki

You had a quirk where you could grow butterflies. It’s Tamaki’s favorite thing when you make them when your frightened.

Warnings- Tooth rotting fluff

—-———————————————————————

Tamaki Amajiki caught your attention from the moment you stepped foot into the classroom. His shy nature and sharp pointed ears were the cutest in your opinion. When you were introducing yourself, you accidentally made eye contact with him causing him to blush furiously and look away. The days following, you found yourself wanting to get to know him more than what the school tells you. You knew he was the top three and would soon be replaced by a younger promising student the moment he became a hero, be it underground or pro. Nejire was the first of the three to talk to you with Mirio following suit. They took a liking to you considering, you were like their other friend, reclusive. You were also the youngest of that class surprisingly but of course, switching from the other best school helps. Nobody even cared that you were an entire year younger.

“So were you recommended to Shiketsu Highschool? Is that why you are so young. Are you a daughter of a famous hero or two?” Well, everyone except Nejire. You knew it was her personal mission to find out everything about you and you didn’t mind. It felt nice to have someone want to know you. Setting down your pencil, you looked up at her expecting eyes. You stifled a scream when you saw Mirio popping up putting his clothes back (that Tamaki had to go get) on from using his quirk right next to you. “I was recommended to Shiketsu High when I was only ten due to my growing powers but they took me at twelve. I am not a daughter of a famous hero unfortunately. My mom and dad are both reclusive and scared of people.” While Nejire was talking, you resumed the paper you were filling out with a doodle of the Big Three in hero form. They couldn’t see it though, as you had it pulled closer to you at a weird angle.

“What are your powers?” You thought of how to explain it. Maybe you should just show them. A butterfly formed out of your wrist and flew around the classroom before landing on Tamaki’s nose and he smiled. Apparently, it was rare for him to smile so Nejire took a photo shoot. “So cute!” That startled the boy and the butterfly landed on your hand and disappeared. “So you have a butterfly quirk?” “Yes and no, I can deal with anything plant and bug related i.e growing, controlling, creating.” She smiled in delight. “I-I think I-it’s cool. I-I l-like the butterflies.” You couldn’t help but smile a little. Just the fact that he liked your butterflies made you feel a little better about your quirk. You were by far not the most confident person in your abilities. “What are you drawing? Can you show us?” Nejire pressed, not leaving any time for you to fawn over the boy with red cheeks. Slowly, you put the pad on the table and showed them the drawing of them. “I-I’m not that g-good so please d-don’t criticize me.” They offered you only good compliments and you sighed.

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Being a quiet person can be a curse and a blessing unless you were one of the big three. No one messes with you then. Since you weren’t part of the big three, you were getting picked on by the other classmates. You’ve become close with the ones everyone is pining for and that made you the easiest target. That is how you found yourself thrown on the ground with your sketches flying everywhere. “Oh look at these. These are all of the Big Three. Oh what is this?” The girl’s condescending voice made you feel small. She picked up the small stack of papers that hadn’t fallen out of your sketchbook. They were all of one person. “YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON TAMAKI?” She laughed in your face and you stuttered to come up with a response but nothing came out.

“B-B-But. But nothing. Stay away from them or else.” Tears in your eyes, you released vines out of your skin to grab the drawings. The girl pulled her hand back from the vine and cried out in pain when it wrapped around her wrist forcing her to drop the drawings. “You bi-” Her words were cut off by Mirio popping up in front of her, his smile never wavering despite being naked. It wasn’t long before she took off and he turned to you. You screamed and fell back into strong arms. Nejire handed Mirio his clothes while you were still being held by whoever had caught you. “A-Are you o-okay?” You shook your head. How could you be okay? Humiliation and embarrassment were all you felt, the tears in your eyes were long gone. Amajiki hugged you tighter and the other two joined in. You were their friend and they were going to protect you no matter how much it costs them.

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Your bully has been docile the past few weeks and you have been feeling better. On the other hand, your friends have just come back from their talk about hero work studies to class 1-A. Nejire and Mirio were as happy as ever but you noticed Tamaki looking glum. “What’s wrong with Tama?” Mirio explained how Amajiki couldn’t envision everyone as potatoes therefore got embarrassed and couldn’t talk the entire time. You watched silently and sympathetically as the nervous boy took a seat next to you. Feeling sad that they couldn’t cheer him up, Nejire and Mirio sat and watched him silently. No. You couldn’t watch your crush beat himself up over something he couldn’t control so you were going to do something about it. Taking his hand, you turned it over so that the back was in your palm and you hovered your other hand over it.

A butterfly formed in his hand. It had an indigo hue to it’s wings, almost the same color as his hair. You were confident in your decision until he looked up at you and just like that, you lost all your confidence. “Y-You said you l-liked butterflies s-so I wanted to c-cheer you up. I-I’m sorry, I-I shouldn’t have d-done that.” “T-Thank y-you.” He smiled and you did too. Cheering yourself up in your head, you watched as he played with the butterfly for a few minutes. Mirio nudged you, grinning. He knew your secret crush and he loved to tease you about it and push you to confess. “Mirio, no.” “______, yes.” God, you just wanted to smack him into next week. Luckily, he dropped it and moved onto something else Nejire was talking about and you went on watching Tamaki and the butterfly.

The bell rang signifying lunch. Everyone got up and raced towards the cafeteria leaving you behind in the dust. This time, you had to go alone because Principal Nezu and Aizawa wanted to talk to the Big Three. “Well. Well. Well. Look who doesn’t have her bodyguards.” Not again. “I saw that little stunt you pulled for Amajiki and it’s honestly pathetic. He doesn’t like you. Get over yourself.” She used her storm quirk to make it rain on you, drenching you from head to toe and anything you had with you which was the torn sketchbook she ripped the last time. All the pictures you drew would cease to exist anymore. You rushed to cover it to protect the pictures “Are you still drawing him!?” She grabbed the book and threw it on the floor causing it to flip open to a random page clear for everyone to see.

“Just give up and go away.” Your eyes stung with tears and you just let her hurl her insults at you. Why argue? They were all true. All of a sudden, the rain stopped and the girl didn’t move. She couldn’t. Aizawa had trapped her and canceled her quirk. At this point, your tears mixed with the water dripping from your hair. “Are you okay?” Mirio asked with seriousness in his tone. You looked up at him and saw Tamaki holding your sketchbook looking at the pictures. He wasn’t supposed to see them and your friends sure as hell weren’t supposed to see you getting bullied. “GO AWAY!” “We aren’t going to leave you alone right now.” You released vines as a shield and ran off to wherever your feet took you. “Amajiki…” Nejire’s voice was soft, far from her happy self. “I-I have to go.” They watched as the boy ran in the same direction you were knowing this was important.

He found you in an empty classroom crying, the plants around you growing at an alarming rate. Maybe it should be the Big Four, you’d make an excellent partner in battle. “________?” You looked up at him. Why is he here? “A-Are you here t-to make fun of m-my crush o-on you?” “N-No. I-I wouldn’t do t-that. I-I’m happy you h-have a crush o-on m-me.” Amajiki placed your sketchbook in your hands. “Y-You left this. I-I like your d-drawings of me.” “T-Thank you.” The two of you sat in silence. Thankfully, the plants stopped growing and returned to normal. “Y-You already know this b-but, I l-like you.” His eyes met yours and he smiled. “I-I like you t-too.” Tamaki quickly kissed your cheek. You yelped and released a butterfly. Hurriedly, you explained that because he kissed you, you got startled and created a butterfly. “W-Wait! E-Everytime I kiss you, y-you release b-butterflies?” You nodded. “I-I might have t-to kiss you m-more.”

[nctzendreamz]

One Year Anniversary w/ BTS

a/n: i had written this so long ago, but I thought you guys might enjoy!! <3333

jin:

how would he feel?

i feel like this would be a very big deal for jin and he’d make sure you knew it too. with his hectic schedules and time being limited, the fact that you haven’t left him yet is a celebration within itself, but he still can’t help but wake up and feel like it’s a dream to be with someone he loves and admires so much.

what would y’all do?

definitely a stay in the house kind of day. you are an extreme homebody, so you didn’t have any problems with that. he would cook your favorite meal and the two of you would just eat and talk with each other about things going on. time would just be flying by with the two of enjoying each others company like it was a first date. your heart still skipped a beat when you heard his laugh, and his practically jumped out of his chest when your smiled radiated against him. expect passionate love time after your stomachs get settled as well.

what will he get you?

honestly, I feel like jin will get you a whole bunch of nick nack type of items that are special to your relationship like a picture of the two of you, a carving of a baby tiger that you can put on your table because that was your favorite animal to play with when he took you to the zoo, while also getting you a few personal things you like too, like a bracelet with your initials on it, a necklace with your favorite shape as the charm.

[[MORE]]

yoongi:

how would he feel?

yes, I’m fully aware that yoongi is not some emotionless man who doesn’t have a care in the world, but regardless I do think he’s a lowkey person. what I mean by this is that when it comes to your one year anniversary, he might feel head over heels about it, and want to plan this whole romantic thing for it, but you might catch him not exactly showing it by being all over you until later in the night. he would show you more affection with an abundance of gifts and not words.

what would y’all do?

you and yoongi usually just chilled together at your house or his when you both were free to, but for your anniversary you both agreed that you needed to leave the house and try something different. you both would get dressed up really nice, and go to an expensive restaurant, laughing at the prices of the food compared to the actual size of the meal and even though you ate it, you would end up getting fast food after. yoongi would not be able to keep his eyes off you and every time he saw you smile or heard you laugh, he would want to pull out a ring for you to be his for eternity.

what would he get you?

this is gonna so so typical lmao, but one of the things he would definitely do is write you a song. i feel like music is one of yoongi’s favorite ways to communicate, so writing you a song would be the first thing he thought of. secondly, he would get the two of you couple rings. he knew you always wanted those and he also agreed although he would never be caught saying it out loud that when the two of you were far apart, it would make him feel like you were still connected somehow. yoongi would also get you bags and bags of expensive clothes and hoodies, followed by a matching watch to the one you bought him for his birthday a couple months before.

hoseok:

how would he feel?

hoseok would be so overjoyed that you’ve made it this far, and you’re gonna know it. everyday that you’ve been together has done nothing but give him this warm feeling that he didn’t know he needed, and you truly are his best friend in the whole entire world. he loves you so much and is so grateful to have you so he’s going to do everything to make sure you understand that.

what would y’all do?

the one thing the other members always teased you and hoseok about was how “high end” you were. after you started dating hoseok, in his eyes you became one, so everything he had you had too. we all know how lavish he lives, and your 1 year anniversary would be nothing less than that. he will plan a 4 day trip to Japan. hoseok is taking you shopping until your arms fall off, you’re going to the most expensive restaurant, you’re going to the nicest hotel in the city, he’s going all out.

what would he get you?

i didn’t realize I lowkey said it above, but most definitely takes you shopping. he will legit just follow you around the store, letting you model everything you buy for him wishing he could do this all day. he’s also another member that will have you ICED OUT! more than any other member tbh. y’all will have so much matching jewelry, but his favorite was the gold J chain that you eagerly put around your neck.

namjoon:

how he feels about it?

oh does this boy love you more than anything. he might not have told you everyday, but you are his rock and his soulmate for real, yet he’s similar to yoongi in the sense that he’s not over the top about showing how he feels. actually, for the whole year you’ve been together namjoon has been lowkey, only allowing you to see his “soft” and complete boyfriend material side, nobody else. on his Instagram he posted a few aethstetic pictures and you could get the occasional women crush wednesday on his snap story, but the rest was really between the two of you. it was something you often complained about, which is why on the day of your one year namjoon really did try his best to be extra romantic.

what would y’all do?

another trip taker. he made it a surprise as he knew you’d never offer it even if you thought about it as you knew how tired he was. you woke in inside of a house with him sleeping beside you. yes, he rented a whole house for y’all to stay in for the weekend as he had to get back to work on Monday.

what did he get you?

instead of writing a song, he writes you a long poem about how favorite things about you and how much he loves you. namjoon isn’t much of a icy man, but he knows you love jewelry so he gets you plentiful.

jimin:

how does he feel about it?

y’all know jimin is somehow a soft baby but at the same time the manliest man ever. like idk what it is about him, but I soooo see him as the “I’m sweet&goofy to my baby but I can also get serious” type of guy, and that’s definitely what you’re gonna see. he’s gonna take your one year very seriously and he's so blessed to have you in his life. for every day that you’ve loved him, you’ll get all that love back in one day. he knows y’all have had your ups and down and just like Jin there were times where he swore you would leave him because of the hectic schedule, but y’all made it and he loves you so much.

what will y’all do?

thankfully, your anniversary fell on a time period where bts had some time off, so he got you a week vacation to busan, where you two honestly didn’t do anything over the top compared to hoseok. the both of you were perfectly content staying in bed all day, catching up on all the love you missed out on while the two of you were at work. he’ll continually post you all over his (private) Snapchat story to brag to all of his friends and members about the great time you’re having, and he’ll cook for you legit everyday. like it might as well be your birthday because he’s not letting you love a muscle even though it’s a mutual event.

what did he get you?

i feel like I’m saying jewelry for everyone but they all be low key blinged out I can’t help it. another couple ring appreciator. in yours, his initials were carved in the inside, and in his yours. he also gets you the most sentimental gift ever. a whole book with all your memories. pictures and pictures ft more pictures of every date, every selfie ugly or cute, and lastly a letter. in this letter jimin would tell you everything he’s never said. he’d tell you about how after the two of you hung up on FaceTime when he was on tour, he cried when he thought about the fact that he couldn’t touch you, kiss you, wipe your own tears away that he had just saw before the call ended. how just the sound of your laugh can cure any depression, sadness, or worrieness he feels. all of that.

taehyung:

how he feels about it?

it wouldn’t hit him until the day before that you two had made it this far. he would be so quiet and people would think he was upset, but in reality he couldn’t be happier. every memory would run through his mind, and it would put a permanent smirk on his face.

what will y’all do?

another trip taker. he asked you a month ago if you could go anywhere in the world where would it be, and you said Aruba. now you were in Aruba. he would be sure that he didn’t have any conflicting schedules, and would try to make it the best vacation ever. the two of you will do everything possible to do.

what did he get you? other than Aruba lmfao

a lot of clothes. he had thought long and hard about it, and he felt this was the best thing to buy. he also wrote you a letter like jimin, but he wasn’t very confident in it. he tried his best to express himself on paper, but how could he put his love for you in words? it was impossible.

jungkook:

how does he feel?

jungkook is going to try his hardest to be cool about everything. of course he will tell you how much he loves you, but he still will be fighting to be relaxed and calm about it all. it wouldn’t hit him until the day was over that he had truly reached a milestone with you.

what will y’all do?

in reality, he would want to take you on a trip so bad. he didn’t care where, he just wanted to get away with you. but he wasn’t allowed as bts was still promoting, so he had to settle on two days with you, promising more later. the fact that you said one day would’ve been okay made him feel even worse. he had let you plan it out since you told him you wanted to stay home. the two of you cooked together, failing horribly but making more memories. as you ate, you would just talk forever. it’s 1am, and you’re still talking. after that, you’re going to bed and not leaving until he has to leave again unless one of you have to pee.

what will he get you?

when he gave you a bag of photos, you thought it would be pictures of you, and some were, but a lot were pictures of nature.

“they remind me of you. even though you’re more beautiful.”

he would also get you jewelry because...it’s a must. he had a shopping spree waiting for you as well, but he was saving that for when you two actually had a vacation.

[chocosvt]

⚬ pairing: soonyoung x fem!reader. ⚬ word count: 12.8K. ⚬ warnings: drugs, alcohol. ⚬ genres: theme of unrequited love, friends to lovers, romance, a good dosage of angst, fluff to mend your heart, spiciness near the end.

✧✎ synopsis: there are lots of bits and pieces that come with being a best friend and soonyoung is certainly taking his time in figuring them out. was it right for his stomach to somersault at the sound of your laughter? was it normal his smile fell when junhui took your hand? he isn’t exactly sure what a best friend really is, but he’s sure of what it’s not.

✧✎ a/n: this was requested to me awhile ago! anon asked for a hoshi!best friend confession w lots of fluff. but ME being ME. i literally cannot write anything without turning it into some angsty, love-laced, fluffy fuckin roller coaster of ??? so..um.. yes… enjoy!!!

If Soonyoung had one wish, he would – without question – wish to glean the thoughts of others, to understand the precise lettering in their head when he stared them in the eyes. Sure, it was kind of lame in comparison to something like invisibility, the power of flight, a wish for a hundred more wishes, but he didn’t really care about those things because they didn’t apply in any way to the one thing he did truthfully did care about: you.

He knew he was rather eccentric to say the least, and maybe that caused some people to glance at him strangely, develop their own notions concerning his variety of behaviours. Soonyoung knew that you at first saw him that way too, and he was perfectly content with that. However the pathway into your thoughts soon became blurry when your relationship escalated.

Because at this moment you were ‘best friends.’

At least in the premature days of your friendship Soonyoung had been fully certain you thought him to be bizarre and oddly energetic. But things were largely different now. The more you know about a person, the more your head fills and fills with the shiny bits of their character; everything that makes them, well, them.

And sometimes the people you meet are so outstanding that you can’t even pluck one word down from a sky full of twinkling adjectives to describe them. So how was Soonyoung supposed to live comfortably when he looked deep within your eyes and couldn’t read their writing? What did you think of him besides a best friend? Did you ever let your mind wander beyond that? He was itching terribly to see within your mind.

Yet he was equally suppressing a fear that you could perhaps gauge into his own galaxy of notions, that you could fix the constellations together and see how Soonyoung’s thoughts about you delved much further than friendship. Hopefully if a genie ever approached you, you would never pick to have the same wish as him. You were more of the invisibility type anyways. 

Soonyoung was a dancer. It built into a passion that burned him hotter than bubbling wax, a compulsion to illustrate an entire story through the art of his movements.

Dancing invited more blessings into his life than setbacks. Twisting an ankle was temporary, but turning the lights off on Lee Chan to hear his high-pitched scream pierce through the practice room walls was forever. Aside from meeting Chan, Soonyoung came to know Minghao, the boy with a knack for photography.

He was always outside the studio at dawn taking pictures of cobwebs that sparkled with dew, or the mute colours belonging to the downtown street as they would blend against a soft, lavender sky. Soonyoung was so extraordinarily close with both boys that he thought it was time to start warming up to the studio’s newest addition, the sharp-featured, broad-shouldered, incredibly long-legged Wen Junhui.

The studio was full today. Chan was busy mounting his iPod to the doc station, Minghao was highly concentrated on tying his sneaker, and even you were there, sitting in a chair off to the corner sipping impetuously from a milk tea and thumbing through your phone. Soonyoung loved having you visit the studio during his training. There was such a prideful glow that encompassed his chest at viewing your complete awe of his performances.

Junhui was the last to arrive. He pulled off his long, wool trench coat and tossed it onto a hook after the duffle bag slid from his shoulder onto the polished floor. Beneath the heavy coat he wore a simple white t-shirt and black sweatpants. When Soonyoung caught a peripheral glimpse of himself in the anterior mirrors, he did a double-take, subsiding with the fact he was wearing exactly the same as Junhui, even down to the stripes along the leg.

There wasn’t much versatility available when it came to practice clothes. It was of course more appropriate if they were loose, comfortable, and breathable. Minghao was usually the one to come in a wide array of outfits since fashion was another dominant area of his life, but still, Soonyoung found his gaze trailing to the mirror a little too frequently to switch between himself and Junhui. He looked at you as well, but you had yet to note Junhui’s presence.

Not that it needed to be a competition.

“So, do you guys just jump in or…? Do you do some stretching, an exercise?” Junhui asked whilst swaying back and forth, his hands awkwardly digging into his hips.

Minghao looked at Chan, but Chan was looking at Soonyoung who was looking at you who was looking at Junhui. It was a mouthful, but the point was that Junhui wore the expression of tiresomely holding a grin much too long for a family photo, desperately waiting for someone to cut the tension and throw him a bone. Soonyoung was sort of the captain who orchestrated the practices, so he took initiative, pulled his gaze from you, and smiled warmly at the newcomer.

“Yeah, we do a bit of stretching first, and play some music to get pumped up. Minghao got you caught up with the choreography for our newest project, right?”

Junhui carded his fingers through his black hair, though the tresses simply flopped back to their initial curtain over his forehead. “Yes,” He then said, “I’ve got it all down.”

“Great,” Soonyoung replied enthusiastically, (he heard your muffled cackle escape the hand tightly woven across your mouth, but chose to ignore you), “Better get started then. How’s the music working, Chan?”

“It’s set up. Do you have any suggestions?”

Soonyoung saw you cross your legs and take a notably loud sip from what remained of your tea. He scoffed playfully at you and inquired, “Do you have a suggestion, [Y/N]?”

“Why yes, I do, thank you for asking,” You responded whilst eyeing him with a composure that suggested you were withholding laughter, “I think that you should play Life is a Highway for your warm-up song.”

Minghao snorted almost too quickly, “You’re so funny.”

“Shut up,” You toed off your flats before tucking your legs close to your chest, “You guys play the same three songs every time. I’m trying to spice up your boring lives.” It was then that your gaze fell upon Soonyoung, and for a split second a tiny, electric jolt smoothed up the length of his spine, the imploring glint of your eyes already sanding away his resistance.

“Please can you play something different, Soonyoung?” You cooed.

Like a wilted flower, he was far too weak to conjure the strength to protest. “Okay, okay,” He agreed, “But it’s Chan’s iPod. He has to have the song.”

“I have a suggestion,” Junhui’s dulcet voice suddenly intervened after remaining quiet amongst the dispute, naming some song Soonyoung had never heard of in his life.

Immediately you squealed from your perch, your hands flailing about, “I love that song!”

Soonyoung heard Junhui’s laughter for the first time, brassy and in short breaths, his face pulling taunt in a wide, ear-to-ear smile that let his teeth and their rosy gums show. You were beaming in Junhui’s direction, babbling on and on about the artist and your love of her music as the boy eagerly nodded and continued brightly laughing. Soonyoung felt his chest tighten, like it was trapped within a balloon that had just popped, the thin plastic pulling so harshly it was almost suffocating. The feeling only became more apparent when he looked between you and Junhui.

“I don’t think I have that song…” Chan mumbled as he flicked through his playlists.

Soonyoung breathed out almost gratefully, “That’s okay, we ca—,”

“I have it actually,” Junhui piped up, “Would you mind using my iPod instead?”

Chan shrugged, “I’ll hook it up for you.”

“Awesome,” Junhui chirped before diving into his duffle bag.

Minghao had finally popped up from the ground and was making his way across the room to grab a water bottle. Soonyoung joined him, and together they hovered at the opposing corner whilst Chan, Junhui and you included swarmed the doc station. Soonyoung couldn’t evade the manner in which his stare adhered to you beside Junhui, how you titled your head up at him, eyes seemingly enchanted.

There was a bitter taste washing into his mouth, though it certainly wasn’t the water. He felt Minghao nudge his shoulder, a warm chuckle then fanning against his ear,

“Careful with Jun, or else you might not have a best friend any longer.”

Soonyoung didn’t possess the right heart to laugh, so he feigned a lousy scoff and began walking toward the centre of the room, the music at last easing through the speakers and echoing between the glossy wood as well as the high ceiling. You returned to your chair, grinning with pleasure and chewing at the straw of your emptied milk tea. Soonyoung was stretching, occasionally tracing his movement in the mirror, though he faced ample distraction.

You usually watched Soonyoung stretch, but now you were watching someone else, and that horrendous, tight feeling in his chest stayed with him throughout all of practice.

Considering that Soonyoung spent nearly an entire day at the dance studio, he was expecting to feel nothing short of fatigue; a particular drowsiness that might tug at his eyelids until it became a chore to keep them locked open. Most days he went to the studio a little earlier than lunch so he could have an excuse to go out on the town and eat with his friends. Besides, they often played nonsensical games, such as whoever tapped the light switch last was the one to pay for the entire meal.

It was usually Chan who lost since he was always occupied with something else whilst his older friends were deciding the game. However, Minghao generously payed the most, taking advantage of a vacant table to call over the server whilst Soonyoung and Chan were discussing the scent of the soap in the washroom.

This particular morning, Soonyoung received a text bright and early from Minghao, his phone vibrating next to his disheveled, spiky hair as an amber spool of sunlight slanted through his curtains. The next thing he knew, he was standing on the bridge just a block down from the studio with Minghao kneeling across the street, setting up what he referred to as ‘an immaculate shot’ of Soonyoung against the sky’s flush, peachy pink colour, illuminated beneath the fire of sun rays.

“I just needed someone to model,” Minghao explained as they walked back to the studio together, “You were one of the first people to come to mind.”

“Awe,” Soonyoung crooned, the faint blush on his cheeks identical to the hue that blotted the sky, “Thanks.”

But then Minghao had to go and throw a bucket of water over Soonyoung’s happiness.

“Next to Junhui. You know, when I first saw him in the studio I wanted to ask if he had ever experimented with modelling. He’s quite defined, like his face was cut from marble or something. He opened up to me a bit when I was catching him up with our dance. He did a lot of acting when he was younger, went to one of the most prestigious schools in Shenzhen, and won first place in a bunch of piano and Wushu competitions. Can you believe that?”

There was that feeling again, that stupid bitter feeling that made itself painfully known by wedging into Soonyoung’s chest like a wooden splinter. He had only walked a short distance from the bridge, but he hardly contained enough breath in his lungs to even sound fascinated or deeply intrigued. Junhui had never given Soonyoung any reason to formulate malice toward him, so why was such a sullen atmosphere suddenly clouding his mood?

“He’s a pretty extraordinary guy,” Soonyoung commended whilst staring straight ahead.

Minghao huffed, sounding marvelled, “No kidding. I mean, yeah, he’s kinda odd, but he’s got a hundred lifetimes beneath all those trench coats. We should invite him to eat with us next time.”

Soonyoung wasn’t properly filtering his thoughts. Suddenly he scoffed, “Yeah, I bet he’s a world class chef too. He’ll just whip up the whole meal from thin air at the drop of a hat.”

Laughter immediately bloomed from Minghao’s chest, the younger then slouching an arm around a stiff Soonyoung’s shoulders and lightly punching him in his side, “I think he has some experience in cooking! Sounds like you need to talk to him more.”

“I think we talk plenty,” Soonyoung earnestly defended whilst steering away from his friend’s grasp, knowing that plenty in his own dictionary meant: ‘as much as I think is necessary, so probably once or twice.’

When Soonyoung was nearing the end of his day at the studio with Minghao, you made the decision to swing by and bring them take-out from a small family business down the street. He was so hungry that hardly any conversation clung to the air apart from slurping, chewing, and drinking noises. Minghao tried to be more civil in his eating, but Soonyoung had known you for so long that he could eat like a starved animal and still meet your warm, adoring gaze afterward.

You then walked back to Soonyoung’s place together, smiling and laughing and haphazardly bumping into each other as day faded into night, fully expecting to receive a brutal shove that made him stumble off the sidewalk in consequence. Whilst Soonyoung took a shower, you threw yourself happily onto his bed, flipping through old comic books that had the particular scent of aged paper and fiddling with his Rubik’s cube that never seemed to change colours apart from when you touched it.

Soonyoung remembered the few times you’d asked him why he kept all this stuff.

He always said something along the lines of, “Oh, y’know, I’m gonna start hoarding now so I can get on TLC,” when in reality it was a far fonder reason that engendered his skin to surge with an embarrassed but candour heat.

He kept them because of you. He was in love with the way you looked when you lay perfectly content across his bed still rumpled from morning, smiling faintly at the fragile, yellowed pages of the old comics he kept on the shelf because you always read them. He was in love with the whittled concentration on your face as you hunched over the Rubik’s cube he won at some spelling bee in the tenth grade, valiantly twisting the cubes, adorably huffing when it was never quite right.

Soonyoung was in love with how you were always patiently waiting for him to emerge from the shower, head poking up from the mattress, your eyes drawn to him as though he were brilliantly glowing. He never got used to the feeling of his heart jumping so profoundly in his chest when you fell asleep beneath his bedsheets either, even when you promised you could stay awake for ten minutes at least as he dried off his hair with a towel.

No matter how many times it had happened, he still felt the same. He still had this feeling that never quieted.

In fact, it blared incessantly when he was with you, demanded to be released because there would come a point when Soonyoung would be incapable of compressing it any longer.

Now that the day was approaching its final chapters, and the sky had bled out its soft, rosy colours into patches of cobalt and dark indigo, Soonyoung wasn’t at all exhausted like he expected. Maybe it was because he had you tucked close against his side, your leg strewn over his lap, your arm curled around his stomach like a tight wire that never lost its shape. He could feel the gentle warmth of your breathing tickle his neck as your head cozied at his shoulder.

Together your eyes were transfixed on the sea of stars that speckled the sky, stretching so far and wide you almost believed you could see the Earth’s curve. It looked like a silk sheet that had been pricked by a thousand pins, leaving tiny breaks of luminescence to shine through from a different world that perhaps constantly glistered with light. A few meters away at the floor of your feet burned a small fire, slowly crackling out its embers.

He was only in his backyard, yet having you pressed so close with entire galaxies looking down on him, Soonyoung felt that he could be in a paradise beyond anyone’s comprehension. It was his paradise, but it only became complete when you were in it with him.

And maybe tonight as you leaned against half an oak trunk, entwined beneath an endless sky and a fire prickling at your feet, its light capturing your expressions like a photo frame, would Soonyoung unearth the courage to confess his heart to you.

“[Y/N],” He hummed, rolling his shoulder gently, “You still awake?”

When you shifted your gaze to blink up at him, your faces were in such proximity that Soonyoung could count each of the golden flames that reflected in your eyes.

“I guess,” You replied, laughing slightly at your own humour, “What’s up?”

This was it, the perfect moment to confess, to put his one wish into action and finally comprehend the pictures your mind illustrated when he intruded your thought. Soonyoung hadn’t planned much to say in advance, he was more about spontaneity, seizing moments as they came rather than charging a current that would never crackle. There was nothing to distract you from each other, just the black sky and cool earth that remained silent as Soonyoung pressed you closer against him with the arm wrapped around your waist.

“Well, actually,” He began, knowing there was quite literally nothing that could make his confession any easier, “I want to tell you something, and I’ve been meaning to say it for a while now, but it’s not like, the simplest thing to tell somebody, especially your best friend, so if it sounds stupid and just totally incoherent then…”

You set your palm on his chest. The very second your stare met his frantic eyes that fluttered faster than a hummingbird’s wings, a weight dropped to the soles of his feet. How was it possible that someone could make him so downright nervous, yet so enamoured and spellbound at the same time? You giggled at how tongue-tied he was. Soonyoung’s laughter mixed with yours, but it was evidently uneasy and oddly breathy and the sincerity of your gaze had brought his heart to pulsate in his throat.

Your brow stitched together as your hand continued to lay on his chest, the mellifluous, innocent chime of your giggles replaced by accumulating concern.

“Gosh, your heart is beating a hundred miles a minute, Soonie. Are you feeling okay?”

No, he fought off the dire urge to scream, but somehow found a single tassel of composure to latch onto. He thought he would be able to elaborate, but then your hand rose from his chest and suddenly your fingertips were brushing softly along his jawline, stroking the sweltering skin with a gaze that could melt thick slabs of titanium. He wasn’t sure if you were attempting to calm him, but it certainly did the exact opposite.

You appeared so innocent beneath the moonlight, yet the fire’s orange glow ignited half your face with such an intense beauty he could hardly break his desire to kiss you right then and there.

Okay, Soonyoung thought, I know what I’m going to say. He’d swallowed the remaining taste of his fear, nodded confidently, and took your hand that sweetly grazed his jaw to hold within his own grasp. But then—

Something buzzed in your jean pocket. And then it buzzed again, and again, and again. You heavily sighed whilst fishing for the device, a lurid sheen bathing your face as you separated from Soonyoung to check your messages. His entire chest thundered to the floor, shattering as though it were a glass vase, his confidence and composure instantly seeping away like the water inside that once gave life to the vase’s beautiful flowers.

When you turned back to look at him, an apologetic glimmer in your eyes, Soonyoung had this sinking feeling his confession wasn’t meant to be tonight.

“I forgot I asked Junhui to pick me up. He’s waiting out front.”

Soonyoung nearly choked. “Junhui’s picking you up? Usually I drive you home.”

“I know, I know,” You replied quietly whilst staring into your lap, “But I thought you would be tired after such a long day, I didn’t want to bother you. Besides, Junhui was really happy to do it, you should have seen him.”

As much as Soonyoung yearned to argue, he wasn’t about to leave what was once a perfect and spectacular night on an unpleasant note. He simply nodded. Your heat that had encompassed his body drifted away into the night as he grabbed the pail next to the fire, silently dousing out the entrancing flames and glowing embers in a tiny hiss. He saw your frown when he set the pail down and led you inside, your arms folded over your chest as the cold air suddenly nipped into your skin.

“That thing you wanted to tell me,” You murmured whilst standing at the doorway to his front porch, “How important was it? Can it wait?”

Soonyoung opened the door for you, smiling half-heartedly as you ducked under his arm and waved at Junhui who had the car running at the end of the driveway. Figuring he should wave too, Soonyoung gave a lousy toss of his hand, this cloud that was heavy and depressing growing denser and denser in his chest by the second.

“It can wait.” Soonyoung really had no other choice but to make that his verdict.

You smiled meekly at him, giving his cheek a small pat before stepping off the porch, hands delving into your pockets as Junhui popped from the driver’s seat to open the passenger door for you. Soonyoung observed how the contours of your face brightened when looking up at Junhui, how your laughter was already echoing into the crisp, chilled air. He wasn’t sure how to describe the feeling that rung through his body at watching you two together.

Soonyoung could only think of the once brilliant fire that lost its heat, its strength, to the wave of water that snuffed out its radiance in a mere second.

Maybe he felt something like that.

Soonyoung sat on a patchy green sofa that had at least four broken springs, ten coffee stains, and twenty-five burnt circles from cigarette ashes, feeling the lowest he had ever felt in his life. He kept purloining Minghao’s silver flask of cranberry vodka and partial gin to take quick, impetuous gulps, hating how the alcohol hardly stung his throat because he was just so damn numb to everything. The party was probably approaching its climax, yet in lieu of enjoying the raw energy Soonyoung was stuck on the stoner’s couch.

Minghao was next to him, but not because he wanted to be. He was simply cognizant to the fact that when Soonyoung let his melancholy consume him, he became even more unpredictable and his behaviour could spike at any given moment. Minghao would rather not get trapped in the whirlwind of his friend’s rage, though he figured he could keep him settled with more vodka if that storm were to start brewing.

Wonwoo orchestrated the stoner’s corner like it was his own business, constantly offering the use of his chrome grinder and organizing his rolling papers in case anyone had the instant urge for a hit. He offered Soonyoung a joint at least three times already. Minghao had declined each invitation for him since the sole thing Soonyoung did was unresponsively stare into the distance, but on the fourth attempt, he finally seemed to break from his musing and accept it.

Using the elder’s lighter, Soonyoung leaned forward with the blunt between his index and middle finger, giving sharp little sparks to the end of the paper until it began to slowly crisp. It had been awhile since he’d last gotten high, but the wispy curls of smoke he exhaled off his lips transiently distracted him from what he’d been blankly staring at. You and Junhui were situated at the base of the staircase across the room, looking with very evident ardour into each other’s eyes, smiling, flirtatiously brushing the other’s cheek or arm.

You were dating him, had been for the past six months.

Well, at least now Soonyoung knew what had been most occupying your thoughts, and it certainly wasn’t him. That initial jab to the chest when you first gushed to him about your new relationship with Junhui was absolutely one-hundred percent terrible. He didn’t think the pain could get much worse. But then the hole in his chest where that jab struck began slowly collecting with this estranged poison. As it filled and filled, the poison seeped and seeped, spreading throughout his body with the burning sensation of a wildfire.

The fire seemed to irreparably char his nerves.

In the beginning it unbearably hurt Soonyoung to see Junhui hug you, kiss you, stroke his fingertips down to your hip before pulling you tightly against his body. But then he noticed himself feeling nothing at those same sights that used to be so painful; there wasn’t even a crackle, a fizzle or a hiss. If he were to glean one feeling, it was emptiness. As he blew the smoke in gentle puffs from his mouth, alcohol scorching hot in his veins, Soonyoung found himself looking at you again.

He supposed that beneath the ashes his heart still beat, and it still beat because it refused to give up on how he felt about you.

He darkly eyed the flask in Minghao’s lap.

“Give me that,” the boy suddenly barked at his friend.

“Are you sure?” Minghao posed with concern, watching Soonyoung eagerly take another hit off his joint before he left it on the coffee table’s ash tray. “Do you want to step outside for a minute maybe? Get some fresh air?”

Soonyoung growled, “Just give me the fucking flask.” He’d already swiped it from his lap, hastily spinning the cap off and taking a long, deep gulp of whatever alcohol remained.

He didn’t even grimace after shoving the flask back into Minghao’s grip, instead scratched a hand through his thick, black hair, further disarraying the strands. Wonwoo had pretty much rolled over in his seat at this point, counting invisible sheep that jumped on the ceiling, and everyone else occupying the stoner’s corner was too blazed beyond coherence to even take note of Soonyoung’s sudden aggression.

Minghao opened his mouth, then silently closed it, following Soonyoung’s clouded gaze to where Junhui had you pressed against the wall, hands slowly squeezing down past your hips to the black fabric of your pleated skirt.

The manner in which your fingers slowly plunged through Junhui’s hair and tugged wantonly at the strands suggested what your mouths were busy with. It certainly was far from conversation. Maybe then Minghao understood what was racing through his friend’s mind as he rose from the couch, using Minghao’s shoulder to steady himself.

“Be right back,” Soonyoung mumbled, not squandering another breath as he weaved his way between small congregations, leaving Minghao to sit on the couch in slight bewilderment whilst the cogs turned in his head.

Feeling emboldened, Soonyoung marched right up to Junhui’s broad backside, an unusual calmness steadfast in his blood even when he could hear the way you softly moaned against the boy’s plump mouth. It could have been the alcohol, it could have been the intoxicating aroma of the blunt still lingering in the dense air, or it could have been the fact that Soonyoung just didn’t fucking care anymore. He was determined that this would be the night he at long last confessed his heart to you.

“W-What?” Junhui stuttered when Soonyoung tapped his shoulder, turning around in a disoriented fashion, his eyes lasciviously hooded and lips shiny.

You appeared to recognize Soonyoung before Junhui had. Surprise leapt across your face like a tidal wave, and whilst Junhui was still processing that someone had interrupted his make-out session, you were harshly swallowing, appearing overwrought beneath the dim lighting.

“Can I talk to you outside?” Soonyoung said very firmly, making it clear he was speaking to you and you only by gently grabbing your wrist.

You licked your lips, eyes darting between your boyfriend and Soonyoung, seemingly unsure on whether you should agree or not. Soonyoung was well aware of the fact he most likely reeked of alcohol and marijuana, his hair was completely strewn in every direction, his gaze not the clearest nor was his patience concretely stable, yet he still prayed that above his manic state you would be able to connect with him. He needed you to share a moment of your time now more than ever.

“Please,” Soonyoung implored, hardly able to care about the desperation rife in his words, “It’ll only take a few minutes.”

Junhui parted the lust curtain draping across his concentration, finally seeming to acknowledge the situation. Well, more like the situation he was more or so not included in.

It was then, as your hand fidgeted to properly hold Soonyoung’s, fingers fitting like puzzle pieces between his own that the boy knew he’d gotten his wish. You stepped away from the wall your body was once pressed against a mere minute ago, quickly stroking Junhui’s cheek whilst murmuring into his ear, “I’ll be right back. Sit tight.”

Junhui blinked a bit mistily, but nodded, allowing Soonyoung to guide you out the front door where the cool night air dusted his skin and refreshed his senses. There weren’t many people out front. A majority of them were walking along the end of the road, talking on their cellphones, presumably calling someone to pick them up or asking a friend where they were parked along the line of blinking car lights.

Soonyoung didn’t want to be too close to the house, nor did he want to be right at the curb. He just wanted to place enough distance between himself and the party that he could hear his own thoughts. You didn’t start asking questions until Soonyoung pulled you beneath the overhanging leaves of a willow tree near the property’s edge, your eyes glistening in disconcertment against the darkness, fingers wrapped around Soonyoung’s hand so tightly that he could feel his circulation dwindling.

“S-Soonyoung,” He heard the dry gulp between your words, “What are we doing out here?”

He then let go of your hand. Instead, he cupped your cheek, caressing in slow, gentle passes along the heated arch using his thumb. It was like the entire world became shrouded in silence as his touch grazed your skin, burning profoundly, with the strength of a catastrophic supernova.

“I’m in love with you.” He spoke softly. The words sounded vastly different aloud in lieu of in his head.

Your expression marginally twitched.

“I-I… What did you just say?”

“I know that sounds so fucking weird for you to hear,” Soonyoung murmured, his thumb pulling back to rub circles upon the sweet spot just in front of your ear, “And I know I couldn’t have picked a worse time but… I’m just so sick of pretending like I don’t look at you every day, wishing I could be more to you. I need you to hear this. I just—I need you to know how I feel about you.”

Soonyoung couldn’t help himself. He’d never felt this consumed by your beauty. Titling your head back, Soonyoung admired you, allowed himself to mellow in the firm warmth of your cheek beneath his palm, how he could only wish to have you closer and whisper everything about you in which he was infatuated by. Every little secret he’d kept hidden over the years, he wanted to tell you all of them, place kisses on your skin in the places that made you tick between each confession.

A breeze then whispered between the swaying fronds of the willow. It delightfully swept upon Soonyoung’s skin and transiently cooled the raging pulse that was practically electric in his veins.

Perhaps he was entranced, but you were a gigantic question mark. Your lips were parted, yet they made no sound. He could feel your pulse thundering behind your ear, yet you stood so still. Never seeing your expression like this before, Soonyoung could only breathe with the faintest rise in his chest. Evidently you were lost, you were panicking, and your eyes were screaming at him with everything he couldn’t read.

Eventually you budged. Your hand rose up and your fingers wrapped around his wrist. The touch could have been everything Soonyoung wanted most in the world.

“Why are you saying this? It’s because you’re drunk isn’t it? Or you’re just high. You have to be, or else... Or else I don’t understand…”

But instead that touch pulled Soonyoung’s comfortable palm from your face and returned it to his side.

“It’s not because – I mean yes, I am a little drunk and a little high – but I’m being completely one-hundred percent serious right now.”

The sheen of your gaze was noticeably lacquering, “You mean as a friend though, right?”

With every word that pursed at your lips, Soonyoung felt his hopes deflating.

“No, not as a friend. I want to be more than friends,” He found himself being verbose, but he couldn’t help in expressing his heart, every sentiment he’d locked inside it for as long as he could remember. His words, they openly flowed, the heat that inhabited his body mounting. “I want to be with you. I want to take you out on dates, wake up next to you, kiss you at the end of every day. I want to be the only person who’ll ever get to touch you, make you breathless but so, so happy. I’m in love with you.”

Emotions repressed to the deepest whorls of his being were welling up within him like rainwater, “What isn’t clicking?”

“What isn’t clicking?” You were beyond flustered repeating his question, soaked in pure bewilderment that clasped onto you, made you involuntarily rigid and tightly wound. “What do you expect me to say to that, Soonyoung? What are you expecting to happen?”

He tangled a hand through his hair, burying his fingers close to the scalp so that it stung and kept him grounded. “I… I don’t know. But I can’t keep it inside anymore.” A look of pain slotted across his face. “I even tried confessing to you that night we were together in my backyard, with the campfire. But it didn’t work out. Even before then I’ve wanted to say something—anything to you, but it’s just so petrifying and I’d never had anyone make me feel that nervous before.”

You were no longer holding eye contact. Your stare was glossing the grass, the stray tatters of dry leaves that had blown in from old wind, your body frozen from how overwhelmed you were feeling. It was only mere seconds that trickled past, though it felt like agonizing hours before you spoke again. Your voice was as strong as tattered cloth, nothing but wisps struggling to remain together.

“But why wait?... I-It’s just that... That you waited so long— ,”

“It’s really not easy, y’know?” Soonyoung chuckled, though it crumbled away in seconds, in the time it took his hand to collapse back at his side. “Having to pretend that you’re not in love with someone? That fucking eats away at you, [Y/N]. It’s the reason I’m telling you this. I just... I don’t want to be miserable anymore, thinking I’ll stop feeling this way about you when I know how untrue that is, when you’re on my mind twenty-four fucking seven and I can’t even sleep because of it.”

There was this sensation pushing at his tear ducts, incredibly hot, scalding even, but he was able to blink it away. However, perhaps you weren’t as tuned at concealing your emotions. A sniffle suddenly pervaded the silence and Soonyoung saw you wipe your hand beneath your eye, your stature shrinking inward akin to a flower kept hidden from the sun.

“I-I’m sorry, Soonyoung. I didn’t know you felt this way… I didn’t know it was bringing you all this pain and I—,” Your tongue peaked out to wet your lips as your fists clenched, nails burying upon the fragile flesh like crescent daggers, “I don’t know what to say to you. I-I don’t. I’m so fucking sorry. I just don’t have the words right now.”

In an instant his expression earnestly softened.

“Hey, c’mon,” He cooed whilst pulling down his sleeve to dot the first tear that had slipped down your cheek, glistening like a little pearl. He knew in the case of a sober Soonyoung, it would be impossible for him to formulate malice toward you because you couldn’t reciprocate his feelings. As elated as he would be for you to return the sentiment, there was still much for you to process.

However, with the weight of the alcohol and the intoxication of the blunt, he was far from sober. He could feel it dragging him down, could feel disarray teetering at his brain’s forefront like a performer balancing on a tightrope.

“It’s not at all your fault, okay?”

Yet he did his best to soothe you, to flatten the creases of your pain. Soonyoung moved timidly, unsure of whether he should pull you into an embrace, but as you sniffled once more and clutched the sleeves of his hoodie in need, he was gliding his arms around your neck, gently resting your head against his shoulder where he knew you were bound to find solace.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, sweetheart.” Sounded his tender murmur.

It almost felt like a dream, the fact he could stand here with you forever, beneath the slight rustling of willow branches brushed silver and the cool air that ghosted his skin in the gentlest reassurance. Clocks were turning, though the world certainly felt still where you were standing, seconds adding up into minutes as your hair tickled his nose and made Soonyoung smile to himself.

But there persistently remained a shadow prowling at his awareness, the live wires that sparked his senses becoming increasingly dull as the alcohol and marijuana burrowed deeper into his blood. For a fleeting moment he felt like he could be floating, almost as though his body were more weightless than the air sweeping his flushed face. Soonyoung suddenly wobbled. At first you didn’t seem to pay much attention, until his condition then veered toward the inevitable and he swayed slightly before leaning a little too far into you.

Soonyoung felt you shift in his arms.

“Are you okay?” You squeaked, but he couldn’t focus on even a single sector of your body as the rush to his head continued pumping. All Soonyoung registered was that you had stepped away from him.

“M’fine,” Came his slurred response. He stumbled a few misplaced steps toward you before finding his footing. Whatever composure and reason he once possessed, it was slipping, fast.

Your hands gripped his shoulders to steady him. Peaking up at him, watery-eyed and innocent, your mouth then opened. For a split second Soonyoung believed he was truthfully going to hear those three words echo quietly to him and his blood began boiling hot enough to bend metal, the world slightly spinning beyond your frame. Yet instead you were stepping away.

All that remained attached was your hand in his.

“Soonyoung, listen, you need to reunite with Minghao. Those drinks, whatever it was that you smoked, it’s getting to you, alright? We should really go back insid—,”

“Are you in love with me?” He blatantly interrupted, blinking widely and unconsciously speaking louder than beforehand.

Soonyoung watched as your mouth slowly gaped, heard the fluttering of a sentence catch in your throat. It seemed that very meticulously, you were choosing what to say.

“I... I love you but, not in the way that... I mean, I think you’re a really, really phenomenal friend, Soonyoung, and I value what we ha—,”

An impulsive flare whirled to life inside him. The sole thing that seized his body to the same amount as his alcohol and half-smoked joint were his emotions. He couldn’t evade how he cut you off, the words that catapulted from his tongue so distanced from what he would have said in his right mind.

“Don’t do that,” His voice sounded like it was going to split, heart plummeting faster than an anchor to its sand bed beneath the sea, “Y’know I want to be so much fucking more than that. I-I want you, need you, please.”

“I know, Soonyoung, and I wish more than anything that I had the words for you,” You unsteadily warbled, your lips trembling whilst an unprecedented type of hurt cracked between your words, “ I’m so, so sorry, but I just… I-I can’t. I’m with Junhui, and I’m committed—,”

Soonyoung sharply squeezed your hand, an abrupt, indignant pain welting on his tongue, “Y’re with him? When you walked away from getting fucked to be out here with me? With him but y-you’re always staying the night at my place... Fall asleep n’my bed, wear my sweaters in your underwear, kick your legs over my lap so you can have my h-hands on your skin. Say you’re with him but what do you really feel?”

“What are you doing?” A hiss ruptured your voice and the tone drastically flipped. “I’m still out here with you because I genuinely care about your feelings and want to hear you out. You’re the one trying to force this narrative that I don’t actually want to be with Junhui. How do you know what I’m feeling, Soonyoung? How do you expect me to walk back into that fucking party and face my boyfriend knowing my best friend just said he’s in love with me?”

Fingers sheathing tightly into the skin of your hand, he pulled you back into him, looking you square in the eyes. He saw how they pooled with constellations of emotion and turmoil, and they might have looked strikingly similar to his own if it weren’t for the alcohol masking the dark ore of his gaze, the lingering potency still settling from his joint.

“How do I know what you’re feeling? I know because I’m your best friend. I know you better than Junhui ever will.”

With your chin pointed up at him, leaning in so close Soonyoung could see the slight bruising on your lips from Junhui’s kisses, he had to fend off the overwhelming urge to cup your face in his hands – to do exactly what Junhui had done when your body was flush against that wall. Soonyoung wouldn’t care if Junhui walked outside and saw either, if the entire party rushed from within the house to watch his lips connect with yours beneath the willow tree.

Still, he knew there was no way he’d won your heart. In fact, through the thickening of his daze, he knew he’d made everything ten times worse. Instead you huffed at him, snapped your hand free, and whipped around with word that Minghao would be sent to fetch him. You abandoned him beneath the moonlight’s solemn rays, the canopy of drooping branches that enclosed him akin to a metal cage.

The most agonizing part of it all – Soonyoung having to accept the fact that maybe he didn’t know you as well as he thought he did, that all his wishes seemed to crumble when he needed their magic most.

“It’s almost ten o’clock. Did Junhui forget to roll out of bed or something?”

Chan was lying on the shiny hardwood, his arms stretched out behind him whilst he stared into the ticking clock above the mirrors. There had never been a time where Junhui was late to practice at the studio. He didn’t exactly prefer waking up at nine in the morning, which he made very apparent in his texts to the group chat, sending bathroom pictures of himself angrily brushing his teeth with his hair still spiked up on one side from his pillow.  

No one really knew how to respond to the pictures. Soonyoung used to say he only sent them despite just having flopped out of bed because he thought he looked good.

“I don’t know,” Soonyoung replied from his sitting position against the wall, using the outlet next to the coatrack to charge his phone, “Maybe he forgot to turn on his alarm.”

Chan sighed heavily and got to his feet, “Well, I don’t feel like waiting around. We can start the warmup without him.” He then mumbled something about getting his iPod set up, along with listing more reasons as to why Junhui could be late.

Soonyoung wasn’t sure, and he wasn’t really listening either. He hadn’t gotten a message from you in the past couple days, therefore drawing out this strange obsession that included him ceremoniously checking his phone for something that wasn’t even there. Before his confession at the party last month, you messaged Soonyoung quite frequently.

Before you started a serious relationship with Junhui, you had texted him every day.

The bond between you undoubtedly shifted, and Soonyoung believed that the world hadn’t felt like a real place since he poured his heart out to you beneath the weeping willow. When you whipped around and thundered back inside, Soonyoung remained outdoors, staring at the soil your presence had occupied mere seconds ago, unable to feel the cool breeze feather at his cheeks or hear Minghao’s shouts of his name when you had approached him spitting fury.

Word spilt before it even had the chance to be trapped.

Like sand grains slipping through a tight fist, it appeared that everyone and their dog was cognizant of Soonyoung’s confession, his little crush that actually wasn’t a crush at all, but a deep, profound love that he couldn’t ever seem to make tangible. You couldn’t even stand next to each other outside the entrance to the lecture hall or sit next to the other on the bus without the knowing gazes splaying across your skin. A few times you’d both gotten unbearable jokes. “Just kiss her already!” or, “I hope you’re being loyal, huh?”

They would always smile ear-to-ear afterward; crinkle their noses before swinging their hand like it was no big deal, saying, “Oh, I’m just kidding!,” As if the air between you wasn’t already thick enough to slice through like butter.

Of course, this concluded that Junhui caught wind of the details concerning that party and its events, in which Soonyoung had indeed unabashedly confessed to his girlfriend beneath crisp moonlight, surrounded by the shimmering locks of an almost fairy tale-looking tree, hands holding hands and breaths so close they mingled. It sounded quite romantic and definitely something to be alarmed about.

However, Soonyoung made the decision to pull Junhui aside before their first practice after the party to explain that he shouldn’t worry, that you were completely infatuated by Junhui and that his presence in your life was a far greater focus than Soonyoung’s own presence. It was inexplicably awkward, especially as Junhui only looked at Soonyoung with impassive, blinking brown eyes and a parted mouth.

“It’s okay,” Junhui told him, “I’m not scared that she would run off with you or anything.”

“Yeah,” Soonyoung responded, firmly slapping him on his broad shoulder, “Definitely not. You guys are great. I just want to put this behind us.”

But Soonyoung never really truthfully, “put it behind him.” He was still in love with you to an extent that couldn’t fit within the universe. It was indescribable. His confession merely scratched the surface of what he truly felt, yet love could be such a complexity that it was best demonstrated through actions rather than words. Well, that’s what Soonyoung learned at least – his words had certainly not been enough. He could only continue to support you as a friend, even if it felt akin to a knife twisting through his heart at times.

Spiraling back to the present, Soonyoung finally looked elsewhere rather than his phone as Minghao returned from the washroom, stretching his arms high above his head. He paused at the corridor, taking in the brightness of the studio as sunlight shone through the windows.

“So, he’s really not coming, huh?” Minghao rasped as he continued his stretching.

Chan was still focusing on the doc station, scrolling through the playlists on his iPod. “Are you talking about Junhui?”

“Yeah,” Minghao sighed, speaking presumably, like Chan and Soonyoung were already supposed to know the reason for Junhui’s absence.

“Did he text on the group chat?” Chan asked.

Minghao’s brow suddenly pinched together, his face hollowing, “Uh… No, he sent it to me only. But—Oh my god! That means you don’t know what happened!”

Soonyoung then felt his phone buzz in his hand.

“What?!” Chan exclaimed after tearing his attention away from his music, entranced like a little child witnessing a magic trick, except the magic was replaced with modern day drama, “Tell me! What happened?”

Peering down at the white light of his phone screen, Soonyoung nearly choked, his eyes opening wide and gleaming almost skeptically as he repetitively read the message, scanned the ID of the person who had sent it to him. Minghao begun speaking quietly, his voice shushed, as though the information he possessed was extremely confidential and ears all over the nation were intently listening.

However, Soonyoung knew he couldn’t stay; in fact he was already leaping to his feet whilst Minghao beckoned Chan over and said,

“Well, Junhui and [Y/N]… They broke up last night. And to make matters worse, Junhui was planning on saying the L word too.”

Chan gulped, “Love?”

“Yeah,” Minghao solemnly nodded, “But, I don’t know, she broke it right off in the middle of his confession. He’s devastated and that’s as much as I know. I figured he wouldn’t show up to practice.”

“Wow…” Chan touched his fingers to his lips, wearing a highly perplexed expression as he seemed to entre a personal musing. But then he was calling for Soonyoung who was in the midst of hastily wriggling on his pullover, grabbing for his duffle bag at the same time.

“Soonyoung, did [Y/N] say anything to you about—Hey! Where are you going?”

His head suddenly popped free from the collar, a hand ruffling out the black fibres of his hair as Soonyoung quickly glanced down at his phone.

“Something came up,” He coughed into his fist, “I probably won’t be back. I’ll explain everything later!”

Minghao hardly grasped the chance to bark out, “What the hell are you talking about?” Before his friend had shot straight like a bullet toward the door, practically toppling onto the sidewalk and grunting an impetuous apology to some lady he ran into. Soonyoung felt the burning singe of his friends’ eyes (not to mention the lady herself) at the back of his neck, watching him dart away from studio without a clue as to what provoked this unprecedented urgency.

All they had to understand was that he would explain himself in the future.

All that Soonyoung had to understand was one simple thing.

[Y/N | 9:58am]: can you come over? please. i need you.

He knew he was a bit late the second he arrived at your porch, the wooden, faded blue steps creaking beneath his weight and his heart ferociously pumping. Soonyoung brushed a hand against his sore ribcage as he knocked on the door, waiting in an anxious coalescence of overwrought nerves and a budding hopefulness. On his way over he’d passed by his own house, which prompted Soonyoung’s decision to shove his duffle bag through his bedroom window to discard the troublesome weight.

However, he then had a small epiphany, found himself climbing and squirming through to grab something that he was unable to leave without.

The doorknob jiggled.

Soonyoung stood in the sweetened, morning air, the birdsong turning into blurred background noise as his breath hitched and the moisture in his throat dried up, waiting for you to appear. Though when the door at last swung open and the sunlight twinkled in the wet depths of your eyes, the sight reminded him of why he charged here in utmost determination. A mess stood before him to put it kindly, still dressed in yesterday’s clothes – so distraught that your lips quivered, bitten bright like rubies, so emotionally drained that once glossy tear tracks turned to matte patterns on your cheeks.

Defeat had spun you around its orbit for far too long. You couldn’t even speak, just glanced at Soonyoung and hiccuped in the preluding fashion of a sob.

Immediately he’d stepped past the doorframe – every bittersweet word of his confession, every aching memory of your relationship with Junhui, every argument you’d ever had completely erased from his mind. Soonyoung solely focused on your comfort, planting his gentle hands against your cheeks, massaging away the damp film that slowly reformed beneath the sore skin of your eyes. His thumbs picked up the tiny, glistering beads and swept each one away.

Your fingers shakily kneaded into his waist, twisting the thick fabric of his pullover as though it would absorb and alleviate your pain.

“You’re okay,” Soonyoung lilted softly, “I promise you’re okay. I’ve got you now, and everything’s gonna be alright.”

Despite your strength being quite meek at the moment, Soonyoung could feel the loop your arms formed around his waist had infinitesimally tightened. Your body surged with the faintest flicker of energy as he rubbed his thumbs upon the warm skin of your temples, pressing a kiss to the space between your brows. As you breathed in tatters, the unstable warmth ghosting at his neck, Soonyoung kissed the space again, this time his touch lasting a bit longer, the tautness of your frame that was like a crossbow slowly loosening.

“S-Soonyoung,” He heard you breathlessly croak whilst blinking at him wetly, “W-What’s w-wrong with me?”

Soonyoung gave your face tender squeeze, his thumb brushing away a stray tear that soaked from between your lashes, “What do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with you, baby.”

But you immediately shook your head, a hiccup sounding at the back of your throat as you grabbed onto his waist harder. “No, no, no,” You chanted, “Please don’t lie, Soonyoung. I hurt you a-and then I h-hurt J-Junhui. That’s all I do a-and I don’t know why. Why do I do this?”

He sighed, the strained cadence and desperation in your voice newly pronounced to his ears. This state of agony you’d wilted into was uncharted territory for Soonyoung – he had to be careful and delicate with his choice of wording. After sticking his arm out to close the door, he took a light grip on your chin using his index finger and thumb, pointing your face upward where he could examine your expression in clarity. You had inflicted pain into his life, yet he could never get angry at you for it.

“Try not to be so rough with yourself. You’re a gorgeous, strong girl, and people are going to fall for that, okay?” Soonyoung humoured slightly, knowing that was merely a sliver of the reasons he’d fallen for you. Still, there remained a serious nuance in his tone. “People are going to come into your life, they’re going to evoke feelings from you, and you’ll evoke feelings from them. Just because those feelings don’t always match up, that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you.”

His thumb stretched out to stroke your jaw, his gaze warm, flaring in amber hues reminiscent of honey.

“You have so much time to discover what you want in your partner. They’re gonna come along one day and sweep you right off your feet, all these things you worry about will turn to dust. I know that for a fact, trust me. But for now, please just focus on yourself, sweetheart. You need some time to heal, alright?”

A cast of sunlight shafted through the glass on the door, pooling in a melted, golden stroke across your face. Audibly you gulped and sniffled, blinking at Soonyoung against the heat of the sun’s ray before returning back to his shoulder, your nose softly pressed to his neck where he could feel that your breaths had exponentially calmed. He smiled, his palm rubbing up and down along your spine, gently easing whatever small sobs you had left into open air. It wasn’t until your arms loosened around his waist and your voice quietly rustled by his cheek that he stopped.

“S-Soonyoung,” You feebly squeaked his name.

“Yeah?”

“Do you… Do you have something in your, um, pocket?”

That’s when it came to him. His face lit up as he dug his hand into the pocket of his pullover, your expression incredibly perplexed as Soonyoung pulled out his Rubik’s cube.

“I do actually,” He chuckled, “This thing! I had to run by my house to come here, and I had my dance bag with me. So I just shoved it through my bedroom window. But then I saw my Rubik’s cube and thought… Well… I dunno really. Maybe it would like, relax you or something since you’ve always liked playing with it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense when I say it out loud.”

He spilt into a wide smile at hearing your laughter. Maybe it trembled slightly and foretold the start of a deep exhaustion, but it allowed Soonyoung’s heart to feel less heavy.

“No, it makes sense,” You giggled, pawing beneath your nose, “I just— I can’t believe you would think to bring that.”

Soonyoung shrugged, speaking with such casualness as he said, “Well, I’m always thinking of you, so.”

Your mouth opened slightly for a transient moment, revealing nothing but a black diamond gap until you seemed to shake away whatever thought plagued your mind. You took the Rubik’s cube from Soonyoung and then looked back into the corridor, sniffling whilst you touched the wall with your hand before sinking down to sit on the floor. Without having to think, Soonyoung slouched down snug beside you, shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg.

Already you were working the different panels with a dexterous speed. Leaning his head against the wall, Soonyoung watched silently, though enjoyed thoroughly. The silence was tranquil and continued as the sun began etching higher and higher into the eggshell blue of the sky, a dusty sea illuminated in warm, caressing light as floating particles shone through the glass door.

He felt a faint weight on his shoulder, peeked down to see you resting against him.

Swallowing as discreetly as he could, Soonyoung harnessed the courage to set his hand on your bare knee, his lips curling when you didn’t protest, just continued to fiddle and experiment with the cube. However, his lungs were teetering on the edge of shriveled leather as you momentarily paused your game to grab his wrist, move his hand higher up your soft, smooth skin until you placed his touch at the inside of your thigh. White speckles tingled in his peripheral vision. He wanted to pinch himself just to ensure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Is there anything else I can do to make you feel better?” Soonyoung asked whilst peeping at the game from above your head, squeezing the warm skin of your thigh reassuringly.

There was a pause the scope of a heartbeat.

“Stay.” You then replied.

So he did exactly that.

It was a somewhat late night at the studio, a couple rotations past nine o’clock, the streets slowly but surely beginning to teem as most prepared to embark on a Friday night escapade. Minghao had gotten out of the shower fairly quickly, but Chan must have aimed to dawdle or maybe take a nap beneath the soaking hot water and webs of steam. There was hardly any heat left, even when Soonyoung cranked the handle all the way to the right, into the red section.

Still, it felt rejuvenating to peel the sticky clothes from his skin that had once adhered like paper-mâché and stand beneath the water, his eyes closed, hair swept back from his face, hands gliding and scrubbing the ache from his muscles. Minghao had come up with the idea to go out and dine, so whilst Soonyoung would usually be at home at this point, snuggling into bed, probably thinking about he could fall asleep so much easier with you in his arms, he was instead getting ready to stuff his face.

Not that he would ever complain about such a thing.

Roughly two weeks had passed since Soonyoung cradled you in his arms, your tears absorbing into the fabric of his pullover, a hand soothing down your spine in an attempt to crease out your self-loathing. Two weeks had passed since you sat together in the corridor, his gaze trained to how you maneuvered his Rubik’s cube, almost on the brink of solving its puzzle until there was a single panel that didn’t match and you huffed in sheer frustration. The cube was still sitting on your dresser.

Soonyoung never bothered asking for it back. He figured you could make much better use of it than he ever would. Little by little, it felt like your friendship was padding its way back to its golden era, where life wasn’t so serious and there wasn’t this attribute of stiltedness whenever you were alone together. Junhui seemed to be feeling better too. He started arriving at practices a week after the break up, though it was impossible to truly read the writing on his heart. He was an actor after all. Maybe he was just immaculate at hiding his truths.

Unsurprisingly so, Soonyoung’s utter affections for you remained unyielding. When he believed you had attained remarkable stability back into your life, he made sure you were aware of this, in which his emotions were quite possibly never going to change. He wanted to make sure you were okay with everything – that you were okay with his thoughts about you, what he felt when he looked at you, that his desire to have you wasn’t something that imbued discomfort.

Soonyoung remembered telling you this by his campfire as you stargazed together, except there had been no interruptions.

Once he’d gotten out from the shower with a towel rubbing his hair dry, he could faintly hear the muffled conversation shared between Minghao and Chan.

They were speaking quietly, which Soonyoung found rather peculiar considering there was no one else occupying the studio apart from the three of them. He swore that your name as well as Junhui’s had popped up multiple times in the same sentence. Soonyoung was completely aware both you and Junhui were going to be at the dinner. Sure, it was off-putting and questionable, but you were mature and would know not to start anything to create an awkward atmosphere.

Hell – Soonyoung thought that even Wonwoo was invited.

However, Soonyoung’s curiosity was far too puissant. He couldn’t evade pressing his ear against the door, a smirk prancing up his lips as he strained to hear the conversation. It couldn’t be that fucking terrible, probably something about how it would be a little unsettling to have you and Junhui in such proximity.

But then—Oh no, Soonyoung’s jaw had bloomed with rust, nearly unhinging from its bone and clattering to the floor.

“Why are we whispering again?”

“Shh! Chan if you don’t lower your fuh— I mean fabulous voice, I said I was going to explain!”

“Sorry.”

“I-I have some news, but don’t start yelling, okay? Anyways, [Y/N] isn’t meeting us here and walking to dinner with us anymore.”

“What? Why?”

“Well… She’s going to Junhui’s apartment before instea—would you pick your mouth up off the floor? She’s going over to Junhui’s apartment beforehand.”

“How did you find that out?”

“Junhui told me. She texted him and said she wanted to come over.”

“Do you think she wants to get back together? Maybe she changed her mind and does love him. ”

“I have no clue, Channie. I really have no clue. But Junhui’s had some stuff he’s really wanted to say to her. Maybe they’ll come to the dinner as a couple, maybe not.”

“Damn, this is going to destroy Soonyoung. I… I—,”

“I know, and that’s exactly why we’re not going to say anything to him. We shouldn’t assume. We’re not going to assume. He doesn’t deserve this.”

Soonyoung wasn’t sure what the pain felt like exactly. There was nothing physical that could come close to its depth, its unbeknownst strength that abruptly flared within him so potently he could feel even his blood vessels concaving. He just knew it hurt. He knew that sensitive wounds recently set to heal had been torn up without warning, and they poured open, pouring and pouring as Soonyoung’s head thumped against the door, wanting to rail his fist through the wood if there had been no one there to witness him.

Actions weren’t solely reserved for testaments of love. They were just as representative of anger and heartbreak as they were anything else.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

Minghao posed as set his handbag around his shoulder, Chan standing next to him and shyly tugging at his fingers. They both gazed worrisomely at Soonyoung who sat on the table with the doc station, dressed in a fresh t-shirt and black sweatpants, not exactly the primmest attire for dining at a somewhat sumptuous restaurant.

“I never said I wasn’t coming, but I feel kinda sick right now. I might join you guys later.” He heartlessly defended, his arms lying like cement blocks in his lap.

Chan gulped nervously, “Y-You don’t have to make something up if you don’t want to g—,”

“I’m not making it up!” Soonyoung unabashedly snapped, leaning forward slightly and fists harshly balled to collect the energy in his outburst.

Chan didn’t flinch, but he most definitely looked drained, his face paling to that of morning frost. Minghao clearly read the situation much better than Chan, suspicions dangling at his mind’s forefront, however he wasn’t about to voice them and further collapse the situation when what he’d been craving all week was a relaxing dinner, some smooth music, a glass of wine to swallow his stresses to. Instead of interrogation, he decided to give Soonyoung the quietness and air he evidently needed, simply nodding his head with a tight lip.

“I hope you feel better,” Minghao said whilst patting Chan on his shoulder, “We should really get going though. There’s no pressure for you to show up. Do what you feel is best.”

Soonyoung leaned back against the wall, his legs bobbing as they hung over the edge of the table.

“Thanks.” Was all he muttered before Minghao and Chan left the studio, the enticing bustle of nightlife sounding for a mere fraction, until the door clicked shut and Soonyoung was left to kick his feet as cars sped past beyond the studio’s glass window.

Soonyoung was unsure of how long he sat in silence, his head titled to gaze upon the luminescent families of stars that gathered in the black sky. He couldn’t see the moon from his position, but he knew it shone brightly, a silver-bluish glow bathing the polished floor like an ocean light. If there happened to be a thing or two on his mind, it was a question rather than a sentiment.

How could you do this? You seemed to allow yourself to slip so effortlessly back into Junhui’s reigns, as though you were a tiny leaf on the pond, simply following the current that tugged you downstream.

Even when Soonyoung thought he could read you, it only took mere seconds for that confidence to be erased, yet there always remained a lifetime of pain that jabbed him wherever it hurt most.

Getting lost in his head, Soonyoung failed to recognize the figure that approached the studio in haste, which walked up the staircase and gently tried the handle to see the door push open. He failed to recognize the swift patter of its steps, the light citrus of its scent, even the melodic lilt that weaved into its voice as it ventured into the studio. Soonyoung felt like he’d been plunged underwater, his lungs withering to scream yet were unimaginably full of something dreadful.

He caught the figure’s eyes—your eyes, how they timidly sparkled.

You swallowed, arms unnaturally crossed against your chest. “Minghao said you would be here,” sounded your soft-spoken introduction.

There was no barrier separating you from Soonyoung, yet you hovered in the middle of the studio like there was a vast gorge that kept you apart.

Soonyoung nodded, “Yeah.”

You licked your lips, rubbing your arms up and down, “He said you were feeling sick. Is that true? Do you feel any better?”

“Dunno.” Soonyoung answered.

Despite his curt replies, emptiness echoed so loudly in between every pause that he suspected even you could feel a part of it. Very cautiously, you stepped further toward him. He wasn’t some feral animal that was going to burst from its chains and attack you, but you approached him as such.

“It didn’t really feel the same without you there,” You made the effort to potentially ignite some warmth into the air, “Not without your jokes and stuff.”

But Soonyoung indolently blew out the warmth with a cold reply of his own. “What are you doing?” He said. His tone wasn’t sharp, but flat, and he could see how you uneasily shifted at his complete flip of attitude.

Your arms fell from your chest, perhaps a foreshadowing of how you were willing to confront the obvious weight in the room, the dark shadow that prowled directly where Soonyoung sat, staring you down with ice in his eyes, but your gentle words suggested opposite.

“I want to talk to you.” You replied whilst stepping closer and closer.

Soonyoung remained mute, though continued to follow your movement, how you fluttered in step by step until you were standing right in front of him, right at his legs that dangled off the table.

He sat up straight and looked nowhere else but directly into your eyes. It had always been him that shuddered with nervousness, and now the coin had been tossed so that you were seeking trouble in finding composure, a method to ground yourself whilst his gaze prickled you like an intense fever. Soonyoung didn’t split the connection for even a second; he steadfastly maintained eye contact, your faces only inches apart as you momentarily looked to your fumbling hands before shaky laughter filled the studio.

“I-I, um, I have something to tell you, alright? But it’s really, really not easy. I don’t know how you’ll react or what you’ll say or what you’ll think of me but, I don’t want to keep this a secret. I guess there’s no sense in rambling though.”

You took a deep breath, your eyelashes feathering and hands pushing down past your stomach, almost as though your fear was palpable and you were attempting to subdue it.

Soonyoung’s eyes fell to the shape of your lips, how they pursed with the breath you exhaled. Your scent had encompassed him, mild and sweet like the fresh fruit of summer, and moonlight splashed along half your face, illuminating your skin like a glinting crystal. Perhaps he could have possessed more self-control, but this may be the last time he could ever act before what he suspected you were going to say became reality.

“Soonyoung, I need to tell you that I’m—,”

He didn’t resist. A squeak erupted from your mouth as Soonyoung slid off the table, his hands gripping with modicum force at your waist and pushing your back against the mirror. The second your skin seemed to hit the cool glass, a gasp burst from deep within your chest, Soonyoung then seizing the sliver of time to press his lips against your own. For a fleeting moment your body was rigid, though it fell ultimately weak, melted like cream into his touch as his fingertips tightened the silk of your dress into your skin.

Your mouth was soft, corresponding eagerly to his movement, and your teeth were gentle in their quick, teasing bites against the plush of Soonyoung’s lips. This specific moment what was played most commonly in his head, from restless sleep that could never grace his eyelids soon enough to long, morning bus rides where his head had yet to leave the clouds and the sunrise ignited embers in his vision.

But at last, he was kissing you; he was drawing heavy, hot breaths from your chest as he collected your taste on his tongue.

Briefly Soonyoung pictured the party, how he’d sat watching Junhui’s large hands roam your body, dig crescents upon your skin that was softer than a peach with his nails, turn the colour of your mouth a vibrant, cherry red, the sheen of saliva on your lips glossy and bright. But at long last it was Soonyoung’s turn to ruin you – to elicit the sharp, breathy mewl from your chest.

The mere realization further emboldened him, caused him to lick into your mouth whilst your hands trembled, threaded into his hair in tight, concupiscent fistfuls.

Inch by inch his kisses strayed from your lips. Your back was pressed with a more solidified firmness into the mirror as Soonyoung’s hand crept down your waist and tucked beneath your thigh, hauling it over his hip. His fingertips curved fire upon your skin, inducing a sting that overweighed in pleasure than in pain. You titled your head back, heat coursing through his veins when he heard a beautiful moan flutter from your mouth. His lips then reached the sensitive crook of your neck where the sweet scent was most concentrated.

His teeth delicately bit down upon the warm, velvet flesh, the manner in which you arched toward his touch encouraging Soonyoung.

His world was tuned to nothing but your hedonism, the tiny noises you were unable to supress beneath the wet pressure of his tongue against the new, glistening bruise. And it continued like that, blossom after blossom being suckled, nipped and licked into the column of your neck, your chest, fingers knotted into Soonyoung’s hair not to guide him, but to express the euphoria he masterfully summoned at your core.

However, as Soonyoung’s palms cupped your ribcage, and as his kisses adapted a much more sentimental, slower rhythm once they pressed upon the soft swell of your chest, there was a gaping feeling that howled inside him. He couldn’t have you. He shouldn’t even be doing this with you. Where you should have been was at dinner with your friends, enjoying the music, the food, the conversation. Despite Soonyoung’s intimate wishes to continue with your fingers tugging at his scalp in a dull sting, your breathless mewls, your swollen lips gasping his name, he believed you were not in love with him.

A splash rolled onto your chest, tiny and wet, and then another and another. Soonyoung had stopped kissing you, his grasp on your ribcage fading in strength.

“W-What’s wrong?” You questioned whilst he heard that your heart still beat like a metal pendulum. “Why did you stop? It felt so good, really good.”

Undoubtedly the damp trails were leaking from his eyes. They were no longer tinted with a thick lust, but a vacantness that left his irises hollowed and indiscernible. Soonyoung’s vision of his marks on your chest blurred. He heard you gulp, your fingers winding down from their tangled clasp in his black hair to gently cup his face; raise it into the meagre light of the studio.

“Soonyoung? You okay?” However, the very second you peered into the clear lacquer that lined his eyes; he assumed that you understood his answer before he even spoke it.

“N-No.” His voice cracked.

The soft pad of your thumb brushed beneath his eye. “Tell me what’s wrong,” You were notably pleading rather than politely asking, “What’s hurting you?”

He didn’t care anymore. His face plunged straight into the junction between your shoulder and neck, his hands uselessly clutching at the back of your dress, compressing the silk in his hands. Your heartbeat thrummed throughout your entire body, and Soonyoung could easily detect its sporadic pulse with his ear pressed tightly to your neck. He hiccupped and the dam suddenly broke loose, your fingers coaxing down the back of his head in a lambent hope it would soothe him even marginally.

“Y-You don’t love me, you don’t love me, you don’t love me but I’m so fucking in love with you that it’s all I can ever think about. Nothing has ever hurt this bad but I can’t keep myself away from you. I-I don’t know what to do. You’re with Junhui again and I want to be angry at you because how could you fucking do this to me when you know how I feel about you, how badly I want you, how I’d drop everything for you. B-But it’s not your fault, it’s not your fault and—,”

“Soonyoung, Soonyoung,” You’d gotten a hold of his face, fingers gripping into the teary trails that soaked from his eyes, from his gaze that had broken like a glass sheet. “I need you to listen to me, baby, okay? Calm down.” Soonyoung wetly blinked at you, never having experienced such a heartfelt reflection glaze in your eyes.

Sweeping the black hairs that had masked to his flushed, tan skin, you gave his head a small shake, staring at Soonyoung with moonlight slanting across your features.

“You beautiful, beautiful boy who I adore so much I can’t even describe it. I’m not with Junhui, I don’t know where you got that idea from, but I’m not with him. I came here specifically to tell you that—,” Your thumb brushed beneath the plump curl of his bottom lip, “For fuck’s sake, that I’m in love with you! I’m in love with you, and I am being one-hundred percent serious.”

Your hands drifted from his cheeks to the sides of his face, where Soonyoung could feel their slight pressure and their solacing heat.

He wasn’t able to pinpoint that last time he’d allowed his emotions run so rampantly before you, completely abducting control of his body until he felt like a vessel running on autopilot. His face was still damp and there were watered pearls clinging to his eyelashes, though Soonyoung wasn’t as concerned with a little blotchiness marring his vision when you looked at him like you needed him, like you couldn’t live without him.

The tender, grazing movement of your fingertips along his jaw pulled with a feather’s daintiness, Soonyoung sniffing a bit raggedly as your arms then wrapped around his neck.

“If you’re wondering about why I drove to the dinner with Jun, it was just because I left a lot of things at his apartment I wanted to pick up. I was finally feeling well enough to face him on my own… When I broke up with him, I knew exactly why I did it, Soonyoung.” You chewed your bottom lip and huffed in slight amusement, adapting to how it felt to ultimately speak these realizations, these thoughts, aloud.

“I did it because I finally understood this feeling I’ve always had for you, but could never put my fingertip on. I know that I’m in love with you. And, like you said, one day someone is gonna come along and sweep me right off my feet, make me forget about all my worries as though they’re nothing but dust. You’ve always been that person; I guess I just didn’t understand myself well enough at the time to see that.”

Fragile laughter rumbled in your throat, “You really took all my years of blissful ignorance like a solider, huh? I’m not really sure how I’ll ever make up for that.”

Soonyoung hands returned to your waist, clutching with a notable pressure, as if your body was fabricated from the swirling soot of a star that could ghost between his fingertips in a mere second. He straightened his posture, rested his forehead against your own, and peered directly into your eyes that blinked at him with a sentiment he could at long last read.

Without another wasted heartbeat, Soonyoung whispered right at your cupid’s bow, “You can be with me.”

To which a smile blossomed at your bitten, bright mouth.

“I’d love that more than anything.” Your voice slipped into a gentle hush just before the tips of your fingers swept down his neck, guiding Soonyoung forward the tiniest amount to kiss his pink mouth so sweetly.

The night ended on quite an interesting note. Minghao ended up hopping from the dinner table early because he was reunited with the sudden urge to photograph their memorable night; however, he’d forgotten his camera in his dance bag which he left at the studio. The air was chilly and misted, but felt ever so refreshing against his skin heated from many glasses of wine. As he quickly paced down the street, nose buried in his coat and hands in his pockets, he found himself coming to an abrupt stop outside the studio.

With a hammering heartbeat clogging his throat, he vigilantly did his best to peek into the dance studio’s front window, his jaw hanging on by a mere thread as he gauged the sight that had been beautifully framed by a shower of moonlight. Soonyoung’s hands were pressed against your back, holding you close to him whilst your arms cradled his head at your shoulder, fingers just barely combing his hair. Together you swayed, tangled in the other’s company, to a much muffled melody Minghao had to absolutely strain to hear.

Once he saw Soonyoung’s iPod glowing from the doc station, Minghao nodded to himself, a smile crossing his lips at a relationship he never thought possible.

Yet, now that he witnessed Soonyoung raise his head from your shoulder and softly capture your mouth in a slow and gentle kiss, Minghao could see that it was a relationship that made the most sense. As much as he yearned to fetch his camera, Minghao decided to place his own needs aside. Besides, he would most likely return to the restaurant to find Wonwoo offering the server a blunt and Chan shoveling handfuls of mints into his pocket whilst Junhui distracted the front-of-house manager.

Minghao left the two of you to your moment.

Soonyoung had finally attained his wish.

✧✎ a/n: lol starting this i inferred it would only be abt 6-7K... obviously that DID NOT happen! i dont know why my brain is solely programmed to make such long stories. i mean... i have written shorter things... but not very many. hopefully you can see why it takes me eons to respond to requests!! i havent posted smth this lengthy in a while so i hope those who read it had fun!!! comments r welcomed!!

it felt very nice writing a one-shot for soons bc i only have ONE other one-shot for him... and it’s like done in a second. Tragic!!!! anyways, i envisioned this story listening to allie x’s song, catch!! i would have linked the song, however adding links seems to prevent work from showing up in the tags :( if youre interested in listening tho, i guess youtube exists lol. this author’s note is going to become as long as the fic if i dont stfu, sooo... BYE!!!!

[simonxriley]

Suspension Without Suspense

Pairing: Timur “Glaz” Glazkov x Skylar “Phoenix” Jackson (oc)

Summary: When Skylar get’s tasked with a mission, Glaz it left watching their toddler son, Sasha for a few days until she returns. The morning of her return Glaz wakes up to find Sasha not in their room. Sending the sniper into a panic, will he be able to find Sasha before Skylar gets back? 

Words: 5,669

Warnings: light angst

Prompt: I lost our baby

A/N: I decided to do a cute little one-shot based on a prompt that could be very sad for Glaz and Skylar. This was also an idea I had for awhile because I picture their son having a very close relationship with one of his ‘uncles’. This also turned into 96% fluff and 4% angst. I hope you enjoy!

Russian Translation: Opezdol = Idiot. Tysyacha blagodarnostee = A thousand thanks. Pozhaluysta = You’re welcome. Da = Yes.

Ao3 and FFN

“I miss mama.” Sasha looked over to his papa from the floor where he sat playing with some of his toys. It was late and Timur thought it’d be best to wind him down in their room. “When is she coming home?”

Timur gave him a small smile and slid down to sit on the floor with him. “She’ll be home tomorrow.”

Sasha put his action figure down and crawled into Timur’s lap, resting his head on his shoulder and wrapped his little arms around his neck. Timur smiled to himself as he wrapped his arms around his son in a gentle yet firm hug. He couldn’t thank the stars enough that they granted him and Skylar such a sweet, loving and laid back child. Sasha was such a blessing to them both, as well as to his aunts and uncles.

“That’s a long time papa, why can’t she be home now?” He started playing with his papa’s earlobe, like he always did since he was an infant and could hold things.

“She’s not done working. How about tomorrow we go into town and buy her something special?”

Sasha let go of his earlobe and pulled away, looking up at him with a big smile across his face. “Da!”

Timur laughed and smiled down at him. “What should we get her?”

He looked down and started to pick at his camouflage pajamas he was wearing, Timur moved some strands of black hair out of his blue eyes. “Flowers, mama likes them.”

“Mama does like them! Okay, we’ll get her flowers and what else?”

Timur watched his son with nothing more than admiration, for being three years old he already had what people called an old soul, yet he could still be a rambunctious toddler at the same time.  

“Another baby.”

“Another baby?” he quirked a brow, a smile spreading across his face. “I think that’s going to be a little hard to get mama.”

“Why?” Timur’s face faltered as Sasha looked up with a curious expression on his face.

“Babies take a little longer to make than flowers are.”

“Why?”

Timur is usually quick to come up with an answer but trying to tell a three year old where babies come from is a feat he didn’t expect. And he wasn’t about to have the ‘talk’ with him right now. For one he was way too young to be knowing what sex is and two, he would ask way more questions.

“Why don’t we ask mama when she returns?”

“Okay.” He shrugged his shoulders and went back to his toys. “Papa do you want another baby?”

“I do! Having another baby won’t happen until your mama says if it’s okay or not though.”

Becoming a father was the best thing to happen to him and he would love to have more someday. But when they do decide to add another to the Glazkov family it’ll be when Skylar is ready, since she is the one carrying the child.

“Why?”

Timur laughed and shook his head. “Because she’ll be the one carrying your little brother or sister, like she carried you!”

“Mama carried me?” His blue eyes lit up under the fluorescent lights and a big smile spread across his face.

“She did!” He got up for a moment, going into one of the nightstand drawers to pull out a photo album, then sat back down. “Come here I’ll show you.”

Sasha scrambled over to him and sat back on his lap. Timur placed the photo album in front of him and turned to the first page. As he looked down at the first picture, a small smile started to spread across his face. Skylar wanted to do one of those maternity shoots a month before Sasha was born and Timur couldn’t say no. He loved going back to old photos of her pregnancy, seeing how happy and excited they both were to be expecting their first child together. A child that would end up blessing them both more than they would ever realize.

“See you’re in mama’s tummy.” He pointed to Skylar’s bump to show him.

“I made mama look fat.” Timur snorted, making Sasha turn to him for a brief second before he turned back to the picture. “She looks super happy and so do you papa!”

“She looked beautiful!” He kissed the top of Sasha’s head, sighing in content. “We were super happy. That picture was taken a month before you were born and your mama and I were beyond excited to finally meet you!”

“You love mama a lot, I can see it in your eyes! You look at her like I look at plyushka, with love.”

Timur shut the photo album and laughed, then stood up with Sasha in his arms. “It’s getting late, why don’t we get you some warm milk and you can say goodnight to your aunts and uncles.”

“Okay papa.”

He tossed the album on the bed then left the room. As he headed down to the cafeteria with Sasha on his hip to warm up some milk the base was still buzzing with people, that was the only downside of still living on base when you have a toddler. They would definitely need to buy a house before adding another child to the Glazkov family.

“Would you like a snack before bed?”

“Ice cream.”

“Ice cream?”

“Da.”

“Okay you can have a little ice cream before bed, don’t tell mama though you know she doesn’t like you having sweets before bed.”

“Can I eat it in uncle Alex’s room?”

Timur chuckled and kissed his head making Sasha giggle. “Of course. We’ll get you some ice cream and bring you over to uncle Alex’s room so you can eat it. He’s going to watch you for a bit while I clean up your toys and get you your milk.”

“Yay!”

When they walked into the kitchen, no one was in there beside Ash. And as soon as Sasha saw her he bounced himself in Timur’s arms. “Auntie ‘Liza!”

Ash looked up from the sandwich she was making and smiled over at him. “Hi buddy!”

Timur set Sasha down on the counter where he gave Ash a hug and went for the bowls.

“I’m having ice cream before bed even though mama says not too.”

“What mama doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” She smiled over at him and ruffled his black hair making him laugh. “As much as I would like to stay, I have a bunch of paperwork to finish. So goodnight Sasha, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Okay night night Auntie ‘Liza!”

“Goodnight Timur.”

“Goodnight Ash.”

As Ash left the kitchen Timur set the bowl down and went to the freezer. “What flavor do you want Sash?”

“Chocolate.”

Timur grabbed the chocolate ice cream, shutting the freezer door and setting it on the counter next to the bowl. He went to go fetch the ice cream scoop and a spoon from the drawer, glancing over at Sasha to see him picking at his fleece pajamas again with a distant look on his face. “What’s wrong Sasha?”

He looked up at him with glistening blue eyes and quivered his bottom lip. “I want mama.”

Timur picked him up, gently rocking him. “I know you do, I want her too.”

This was the first mission Skylar has been on since his birth and he wasn’t used to her being gone for over twenty-four hours, especially when going to bed. She would always read him his favorite story and tuck him in and Timur thinks now it’s fully hitting him that mama won’t be there for that tonight.

Timur felt his body shake as he started to cry into his shoulder, he gently swayed him and rubbed up and down his back as he softly hummed a Russian lullaby that his mom used to do for him.

He never noticed how much Sasha missed his mom, he was fine throughout the day, barely asking where she was. Now that night was here and everything was becoming more calm he was showing it more and it didn’t help that Skylar left before Sasha woke up.

“Shh, shh mama will be home after lunch tomorrow, it’s okay.”

“I I I w-want mama n-now.” He sobbed out.

“I wish I could get you mama.” He sighed and set him back down on the counter, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Why don’t we get you that ice cream and spend some time with uncle Alex. He always cheers you up and I’m sure he wouldn’t like you being upset.”

Sasha nodded his head and sniffled.

Timur quickly got his bowl of ice cream, placing it back in the freezer and the ice cream scoop in the sink for some other soul to wash, picked up Sasha - handing him his bowl of ice cream and headed for Tachanka’s room.

As he rounded the corner he hoped he was there and not somewhere else on base, he wasn’t going to search for him. Good thing he always had his phone on him.

He stopped in front of the door and knocked, patiently waiting to see if the door would open. Thankfully it did and a relieved sigh escaped Timur’s lips.

There was an ounce of annoyance on Tachanka’s face until he saw Sasha, his face softening, but Timur could see the small amount of sadness in his eyes. “What’s wrong with little Sasha?”

“He misses his mama. Do you mind taking him for a bit? I need to clean up the room and get him some warm milk. It doesn’t look like he’ll be sleeping anytime soon.”

“Timur you don’t need to ask me.” He took Sasha into his arms. “I’m always happy to take the little guy.” He smiled over at Sasha, tickling his side. “We have fun, don’t we Sash?”

“Da.”

“Alright, thank you! I shouldn’t be longer than a half an hour.”

“You’re welcome! Take your time, he’s not going anywhere.”

Timur smiled, kissing Sasha’s head. “I’ll be back soon, be good for uncle Alex.”

“I will papa.”

Timur left after that, leaving Sasha with Tachanka.

Tachanka turned around, shutting the door with his foot. He walked over to his bed and sat Sasha down on it so he could eat his ice cream. He grabbed the chair from his desk and pulled it over to the bed and sat down in front of him.

“You know, your mama misses you too.”

“She does?” Sasha took a bite of ice cream, keeping his attention on Tachanka.

“Of course, you mean the world to her Sasha! I’m positive you haven’t left her mind from the moment she left home.”

“Why did she have to leave uncle Alex?”

“Sometimes we don’t get a choice and we have to leave, even if it means leaving someone we love behind for a few days.”

Sasha took another spoonful of ice cream, getting some on his face. He set the spoon back in the bowl and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand making Tachanka chuckle.

“I know you love my mama uncle Alex, just as much as papa does but you don’t get to kiss her.”

Tachanka’s mouth fell open and he became dumbfounded, Sasha has said some funny things in the past like Thermite being old because of his gray hairs, Ela reminding him of the grinch because of her green hair, but Tachanka never thought he would be called out by him, even if unintentional.

“I do love your mama and I’m sure your papa would not like it if I did kiss your mama.”

“No he wouldn’t, I think he would be very mad.”

                                                                     xXx

Timur entered his room, shutting the door behind him and sighed. He knew it was going to be a long night if he couldn’t get Sasha to sleep at a reasonable time, but he couldn’t blame him. Sasha is three and he doesn’t fully understand why she had to leave for a few days, that’ll change in time.

He walked over to the bed, picking up the album and sat down. His fingers traced over the black vinyl of the photo album, and a small smile started to spread across his face. He opened it, glancing at all the pictures from the maternity shoot to the day Sasha was born. It was hard to believe that was over three years ago already.

He flipped through the pages until he got to his favorite one, it was taken an hour after he came into this world. Skylar had Sasha in her arms, all swaddled and looking down at him with nothing but love, and Timur was sitting right next to them, looking down at him with his arms wrapped gently around them both. All you could see in their eyes was love and happiness.

He closed the album and placed it back into the drawer. He stood up and looked around the room, it wasn’t too messy, but he thought it would be nice to clean it up a bit more before Skylar came back, just so she wouldn’t get stressed over it.

It wasn’t even that long ago when he was sharing a room with Kapkan and how nice and orderly it was. Now that he has a wife and child and sharing a room with them, the room was now more messy. He didn’t care, there’s more to life than cleanliness.

He picked up Sasha’s toys that were on the floor and placed them back in his toy-box.

Six was gracious enough to let them have one of the bigger rooms on base, that surprisingly fit a queen size bed, a toddler bed, a dresser and a toy-box. Him and Skylar knew they were going to need to find a place of their own soon, Sasha was growing a lot faster than they anticipated. Until then, this was their home, they’ve made so many good memories on base and Sasha was close to his aunts and uncles.

He picked up the clothes that were covering the floor near the hamper, Skylar would just toss the dirty clothes towards it and if they got in, that was another story. Placing the dirty clothes into the hamper, he noticed the laundry would need to be done soon, maybe he’ll do it in the morning.

Timur walked back over to Sasha’s Mickey Mouse bed and got it ready for him, placing his teddy bear under the blanket with his head on the pillow.

Above his bed was a canvas with one of his newborn pictures on it, done professionally of course. That was one thing Skylar was very adamant about, getting newborn pictures done professionally.

He glanced around the room, thinking it wasn’t too messy, then headed back towards the kitchen.

                                                           xXx

“Can we watch Mickey Mouse?”

“Of course we can. Are you done with your ice cream?”

“Da.” Sasha handed him the bowl and went to lay on a pillow. “I think my mama loves you a lot too uncle Alex.”

Tachanka set the bowl on the desk that was in his room and grabbed his laptop. He turned around with a smile on his face and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Does she?” He opened up his laptop to get it ready, feeling Sasha move behind him.

“Da. She smiles every time she talks about you, you make her happy too!” He crawled over to him, snuggling up right next to him. “I like it when mama is happy.”

He got Mickey Mouse on and wrapped his arms around him. “I like it when your mama is happy too! She deserves to be happy.”

Alex scoop Sasha up with one arm, grabbing the laptop with the other and moved them both up the bed. Sasha snuggled back against him as he set the laptop down on his lap, both waiting for Glaz to come get him.

“Da, she does! And to have another baby like you said.”

Alex laughed. “That’s up to your mama and papa, mostly your mama. Not me.”

“That’s what papa said too.”

“I’m sure they’ll talk about it soon.”

“Okay uncle Alex.”

Sasha went back to watching his show and Tachanka leaned his head back against the headboard of his bed. He was surprised Skylar even asked him to be Sasha’s godfather after all he did. He was selfish, wanting her for himself even if he never made it known, but she was smart and figured it out. Now he’s come to peace with that it wasn’t meant to be and that he could still have a very good relationship with her.

He’s happy for her and Glaz though, they were made for each other and now have a beautiful baby boy that he loves more than words can express. Sasha may look almost exactly like Glaz, but he can see a lot of Skylar in him as well. His wit for one.

A moment later his door opened and Glaz walked in with Sasha’s sippy cup of warm milk.

“Papa!” Sasha sat up more as Glaz handed him the cup. “We’re watching Mickey Mouse.”

“You are?” Glaz smiled and took a seat in the chair in the room with a sigh. “You can finish this episode and then it’s time for bed, okay?”

“Da papa!”

Tachanka turned his attention over to Glaz, seeing the tired look in his eyes. “You’ll get the hang of it Timur.”

Glaz looked over at him, meeting his gaze. “I highly doubt that, parenting is hard. I feel like once I figure it out, he changes.”

“You’re a sniper Glaz, one of your jobs is to adapt to your surroundings. Use that as a parent, be adaptable and you’ll be fine.” He gave him a reassuring smile. “You’re already a wonderful father Timur, that’s not going to change!”

Glaz’s face softened, his eyes darting to Sasha who was snuggled up to Tachanka’s side. “Thank you Alex, that means a lot!”

“You’re welcome comrade!”

Eventually the show ended and it was time for Sasha to go to bed. Glaz stood up and stretched, looking down at his son. “Give uncle Alex a hug, it’s time for bed.”

Sasha whined in disapproval, then turned around and gave Tachanka a hug. “Night night uncle Alex. I love you!”

He smiled and wrapped his arms around him. “Goodnight Sasha and I love you too!”

He let him go then raised his arms out for Glaz to pick him up. Glaz gave Tachanka a small smile and a nod then left the room.

                                                                 xXx

“I don’t want to go to bed papa, not without mama.”

Glaz sighed as he opened the door, he knew this would be a feat of it’s own. He walked in, kicking the door shut. “If you go to sleep, that means you’re closer to seeing mama.”

“But she’s not here to tuck me in and kiss me goodnight.”

He walked over and sat him on his bed, kneeling down beside it and placed his sippy cup on the nightstand. “I know she’s not Sasha, but it’s okay she’ll be able to tuck you in tomorrow night.”

“I want her now!” He slammed his hands against his blanket, eyebrows narrowing into a thin line.

“Sasha, we’ve talked about this!” There was a little warning in Glaz’s voice, only his face softened when he say Sasha’s bottom lip quiver and tears welling in his eyes. “Come here.”

He picked him up and stood up, gently swaying him back and forth as he started to cry again. Glaz closed his eyes as he kept swaying him, tomorrow he was definitely going to buy Skylar something really special. He never realized how hard it was to parent on your own and she does it almost everyday. Without complaining too, Skylar was wonder women in his eyes.

“Would you feel better if you slept in the same spot mama does?”

“Da.” He said through a sob.

Glaz set him down on his bed, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Okay, there’s no need to cry, would mama be happy if you were crying?”

Sasha looked up, all tears faced. “No, she would want me to be happy.”

“Exactly!” Glaz smiled over at him, ruffling his hair to make him smile. “Mama would want you to be happy, even when she’s not here.”

“I feel sad when she’s not here papa.” He wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand and sighed.

Glaz stood up and sat on the bed, picking up Sasha and placed him on his lap. “I feel sad when she’s away too. But I know she wouldn’t like it if I cried when she was gone, so I try my very hardest to be happy.”

“You feel sad too?”

“Of course I do, I love her just as much as you do and I hate when she has to leave. It feels weird without her here, I miss her voice.”

“I do too.” He yawned and laid against his chest. “I tired papa.”

“Why don’t you get under the covers and I’ll grab your teddy bear.”

Sasha nodded and Glaz placed him on the bed. As he got under the covers, he went for his teddy, handing it to him. Sasha took it in his arms and hugged it, making Glaz smile.

He leaned down, giving Sasha a kiss. “I love you, now get some sleep.”

He yawned again, nodding his head. “I love you too papa!”

                                                             xXx

The next morning Glaz woke up to an empty bed, not thinking much of it. It wasn’t unheard of if Sasha woke up early and decided to play with his toys on the floor. However when he turned over, he didn’t see him and he toy box hasn’t been touched since last night.

His heart started to beat rapidly in his chest, he looked around frantically in their room wondering if he was getting into something he wasn’t. When there was no sight of him, he threw the covers off of him, grabbed his boots and pulled them on, then grabbed the shirt from yesterday off the floor, pulling it back over his head and left the room in a hurry.

“Sasha!” He yelled, hoping he wasn’t that far away.

When no answer came, he yelled his name again, only this time louder.  “SASHA!”

He jogged down the hallway, looking in every direction to see if he could spot him. The base was huge and Sasha could be anywhere, especially if he decided to be bold and go somewhere he shouldn't ...like the shooting range.

Glaz’s heart sank at the thought and his light jog turned into a sprint. He sprinted past Sledge and Mute on his way out of the dorm section, both of them giving him a confused look, then went about their business. He ran to the shooting range, yanking open the door and walked in. Looking around frantically, to see if he was. Thankfully he wasn’t and he calmed himself a bit and leaned against the wall.

Not many people were in here, but luckily someone who could help, was. He walked over to him, lightly tapping him on the shoulders.

Kapkan looked over his shoulders to see who it was and took off his ear protectors. He noticed Glaz to on edge and that’s not something common for a person like him. “Is everything all right?”

“No I lost my child and if I don’t find him before Skylar comes home…”

“How did you lose him in the first place?” He placed his hands on his hips and his blue eyes pierced into his own. “You share a room with him.”

“I don’t know, I woke up and he was gone.”

Kapkan settled a little bit, his arms dropping to his side. “You are very lucky I love that boy like he’s my own and I’ll help you find him. Afterwards I keep no promises on telling you you are an opezdol.”

Glaz visibly relaxed, letting out a breath he never realized he was holding in and hugged him. “Tysyacha blagodarnostee!”

“Pozhaluysta!” He hugged him back and chuckled. “We should split up, be easier to find him before Skylar gets back and divorces you for losing your child.”

Glaz let him go and sulked. “Don’t say things like that Maxim. I agree we should split up, I’ll take the locker room, the workshop and the rec-room.”

“Okay. I’ll take the gym, the mess-hall, and helipads.”

He nodded his head. “Text me updates.”

“I will.”

Kapkan holstered his handgun and left the shooting range, Glaz following right behind him. They went their separate ways, Glaz heading towards the workshop and Kapkan towards the helipads.

Glaz opened the door to the workshop, only seeing a few people in there. He made it look casual like he was going in there to see Fuze, glancing around the room to see if he could spot Sasha. But the room was rather quiet for a toddler to be in, so he took a seat next to Fuze who was working on his cluster charges.

“Good morning Shuhrat.”

“Good morning Timur.” Fuze looked over at him, raising a brow. “Where’s Sasha?”

“Oh he’s having breakfast..with Maxim.”

Fuze set his screwdriver down and turned to him. “Maxim had breakfast an hour ago, I know because I was with him. What is going on Timur?”

Glaz sighed through his nose, glancing towards Frost who was working on her traps at another table. “I lost Sasha. I came here to see if he was here, Maxim is looking for him too.”

“Do you want more help?”

“No, I’m sure Maxim and I can find him.”

Fuze nodded. “Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for him as well.”

“Thanks.”

Fuze nodded and went back to his cluster charge while Glaz left the workshop. The next place to check would be the locker room.

He hurried his way to the locker room, or building checking his phone to see if Kapkan texted him. Nothing yet, and it was getting very close to when Skylar would be back. He needed to find him asap.

Glaz yanked opened the door to the locker building, starting at the first floor he jogged down the hall, trying to see if he was here. Luckily there was no place for him to hide and everyone's lockers were locked which was a plus.

The ding of his phone, alerting him that someone texted him made him stop in his tracks. He grabbed his phone to check.

“Sasha isn’t at the helipad, heading to the gym. Any luck?”

“Okay and no, I’m at the lockers now.”

The bottom floor was clear, now the second. And the longer it took to find him, the more his heart was breaking. Sasha never did anything like this before, running off wasn’t like him and that worried him even more. Would he do this every time Skylar had to leave for a mission? He hopes not.

The second floor was clear too, not the only place left to check was the rec-room. Glaz stopped at the bottom of the stairs and retrieved his phone from his pocket.

“He isn’t in the locker room either. How about you?”

Glaz leaned against the railing and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. If he wasn’t afraid of being critiqued as a bad father he would have the whole base looking for him. Having forty plus operators looking for a three year old, Sasha would have been found in an instant.

“The gym is clear, heading to the mess-hall now. We’re going to find him Timur, don’t worry.”

He didn’t reply back, just shoved his phone back in his pocket and headed to the rec-room.

There was a chance most of the base was in there, which didn’t entice Glaz one bit. He’ll just peek his head in and if he can’t see him, he’ll leave.

Glaz knew becoming a parent would home a few problems here and there, like every other parent out there. Waking up to find your child gone was not one of them. He even started to sweat because of this, wiping the sweat off his brow he jogged to the rec-room.

Turning down the hallway he could hear people talking, ignoring their conversation he peeked his head in and looked around. Still no sign of Sasha. He sighed and then stood out in the hallway.

“He’s not in the rec-room either.”

He paced back and forth trying to think of where he could be. Skylar was going to be back in fifteen minutes and if he couldn’t find him...who knows what will happen.

“He’s not in the mess-hall either. Why don’t you go meet Skylar and I’ll keep looking?”

“Okay.” Glaz sighed and made his way to the helipads.

                                                                       xXx

Glaz paced around, waiting to hear the sound of a helicopter approaching. Yes he was excited to see Skylar after a few days, but not like this. Now he’ll have to face the music and tell her what happened. She’ll be mad but maybe Sasha will come out of hiding hearing his mama’s voice.

He stopped in his tracks, heartbeat quickening up as the chopper approached. As he watched it land his hands started to tremble, great something else to make it look more suspicious.

But then he saw her and couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t wait to have her in his arms tonight.

Skylar smiled in return, then raised a brow when she didn’t see Sasha. She was expecting both of them to meet her. She sighed and hopped off the chopper and walked over to him.

“I’ve missed you!” She gave him a quick kiss and hugged him, feeling him tense into it. She let him go and raised a brow. “Is everything okay?”

Glaz waited until the other operators left the helipad, then turned to her. “I lost our baby. I woke up and Sasha wasn’t there and I can’t find him. I’m sorry Skylar, I should’ve been more responsible. Maxim is searching for him too.”

Skylar chuckled and cupped his cheek. “Follow me.”

“What?”

“Just follow me.”

He nodded his head and followed after her.

They made a quick stop to her locker so she could put her weapons away and then headed towards the dorm. Glaz didn’t say anything, he already felt terrible losing their own child and he didn’t want to anger her more.

Eventually they came to a door, and his face paled. When she opened it and stepped to the side he saw Sasha sitting on Tachanka’s bed playing with his helmet.

Sasha looked up as did Tachanka and a big smile spread across his face. “Mommy!”

“Hi my angel, I missed you!” Skylar walked in and Sasha jumped into her arms. She wrapped her arms around him and gently swayed him.

“Sasha you nearly gave me a heart attack, you know better than to leave the room without telling me.” Glaz sighed through his nose, and narrowed his brows. “I’ve been running all over this base trying to find you. Uncle Maxim is even looking for you.”

Sasha looked over at him, his blue eyes glistening. “I sorry papa!”

Glaz relaxed a little, and softened his look. “It’s okay, but for now on tell me you’re going to see uncle Alex so I won’t be running around trying to find you.”

“I will papa.” He laid his head back on Skylar’s shoulder and smiled.

Skylar looked over at Glaz with a cheesy grin and laughed. “There’s only one person on this base that Sasha loves just as much as he does us and you never thought to check there first?”

“It never crossed my mind, I went directly towards the places he shouldn’t have been.” He turned to Tachanka and shook his head. “You could have told me you had him.”

“I did, I left a note in your room saying I was taking him until you woke up. It’s not my fault you didn’t read it.” Tachanka chuckled and set his phone down. “I also texted Skylar telling her I had him.”

Skylar set Sasha back down on the bed and took a seat. Only he didn’t stay seated, he crawled into her lap and snuggled up against her. “I missed you mama! Don’t ever leave again.”

She pouted her bottom lip and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m never leaving you again, I promise!”

Glaz looked away, feeling the guilt inside him. He was Sasha’s father and he couldn’t even keep track of him, and he doesn’t blame Skylar for never going on a mission again.

She looked over at him, seeing the almost broken look on his face. “Timur, you’re not a bad father, you made a mistake, a big one but it was still a mistake.” She got up, placing Sasha on her hip and cupped Glaz’s face again. “I’m not angry and it helped that Alex told me. And it also helped that you told me what happened, what you did.” She turned her attention back to Sasha, kissing his forehead. “You don’t go scaring your father like that.”

“Da mama!”

“I love you milaya!”

“I love you too!”

Glaz leaned down and kissed her, passionately this time. Not caring that Tachanka was in the room. A moment later he pulled away and took Sasha into his arms, smiling at him. But he only had his attention on his mama.

“Mama, Papa let me have ice cream before bed and uncle Alex watched Mickey Mouse with me.”

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (5)

Ao3 | FF.net

The next morning, Marinette awoke to a blaring alarm, again. Another day. But today there was no arguing with Tikki, no begging for a few more hours of sleep. She just got up, took her shower, got dressed and came downstairs for breakfast.

“Well, look at you, sunshine!” Sabine smiled at her. “Uh oh, what happened to your cheek?”

Marinette had practiced her lie and explained that she had fallen out of bed, and hit her cheek on the corner of her desk, and yes she dressed the wound all by her self, wasn’t she very clever?

“I’m proud of you,” Sabine said, as she wrapped up her breakfast. “You’ve taken this very well.”

Well of course. She’s very clumsy, she hurts herself all the time. Why would a scratch on the cheek be any different? “Thanks mom, love you!”

And she hurried off to school.

The moment she stepped on school property though, she was suddenly aware of wary glances in her direction.

That’s right, everyone hated her.

“Oh shit.” She said aloud.  

“You forgot about that, didn’t you?” Asked Tikki.

Marinette sighed, and continued on. “Yeah, but it’s nothing compared to what I’m actually worried about. Honestly, I’d rather deal with this.”

Tikki zipped back in her bag, as Marinette went inside and up the stairs.

Not a word of greeting. Not a friendly face. Not that she had been expecting one, of course.

In the classroom, Alya, Adrien, and Nino were all talking, and when she entered, they all gave her a surprised look.

“You came!” Adrien chirped.

“Yep.”

Alya turned away, still disappointed.

Nino saw the exchange, shrugged and stood. He gathered his things and moved to sit next to Alya.

Marinette looked at the vacant seat. “Can I...do you mind if I sit here?”

“No, please, be my guest.”

She sighed in relief. “Thank you, Adrien.” She set her book bag down and relaxed into the seat. Who knew how long she’d have it before Lila concocted another lie and get her moved?

“What happened to your cheek?” He asked.

“Uh, I fell. I got my feet tangled in my sheets and hit my face in the corner of my desk. I’m such a klutz.”

He gave her a look, one she was unfamiliar with, but then he just smiled and said, “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks.”

His cheeks tinged a slight pink. “I actually have a gift for you.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Really?”

“Yeah, I was going to bring it to you at lunch, but since you’re here...” He dug around in his bag and pulled out a black portfolio, handing it to her. Inside were the most beautiful and high quality prints of various shoots. Some that were never even released to the public.

“Adrien…”

“You took down all those other photos, and I know you really do like fashion. So I put this together. We had some extra prints at home.”

She flipped through them, her cheeks warm. Then she closed it and hugged the book to her chest. “Thank you so much! This means a lot to me.”

He smiled in return. “Anything for my friend.”

The ‘f’ word didn’t even sting anymore, because it was such a sweet and thoughtful gift.

A few moments later, Lila came in. She looked at Marinette, and opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and went to her seat. Possibly preparing the next stage of her master plan.

Marinette and Adrien talked briefly, as the bell wrung and Miss Bustier came in.

She noted the changed seating arrangements, and then stated, “Marinette, I’d like a word with you after class.”

Marinette sighed. “Yes ma’am.”

—

True to her promise, Marinette stayed behind while her classmates went to Ms. Mendeleiev’s class.

All except Adrien.

Miss Bustier looked between them, but didn’t ask him to leave. “Marinette, Lila told me something pretty concerning yesterday...”

“If it’s about me taking pictures of Adrien in the locker room, it’s not true. She’s lying.”

“Marinette...” Miss Bustier said with a reprimanding tone.

“I’m serious! I didn’t do it! She told the whole class that I did, and I had to get up in front of everyone and admit that I had a crush on Adrien! She told everyone first! Just to humiliate me!”

“I’m sure that’s not her intention. But she should have told a teacher first.”

Marinette groaned. “But I didn’t even take any photos! She’s lying!”

“It’s true, Miss Bustier.” Adrien added, bless his heart. “I even went through her phone. She had some pictures, but none of me changing.”

Miss Bustier sighed. “Well, Lila also had witnesses to corroborate her story. I don’t know who to believe.”

“That’s impossible! I didn’t do it in the first place! And yesterday she said she was the only one that saw me! Her witnesses are lying!” Marinette was growing more and more frustrated as the conversation went on.

Miss Bustier rested a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Marinette, you’re a good kid. You always have done good and made sure there was justice for all. But this is it.”

It felt like the floor opened up beneath her and swallowed her whole. “W-What?”

“You’re becoming increasingly more absent from my class. And when you are here, you fall asleep half the time. Your grades are slipping, and Alya has had to fill in for a lot of your duties as President.”

“That’s—that’s just because I’m—I’m always helping in the bakery! I have to wake up early to help and—“

“Marinette, I’m sorry.” Miss Bustier smiled at her so sadly. “But if you’re this busy, then having you as President isn’t helping. We’ll find someone else.”

Her mouth felt dry, but her eyes welled up with tears and her vision blurred. “But…but I worked so hard…”

“I know you did.”

Adrien tried to say something, anything to help, but there was nothing to say.

Marinette clenched her fists and then stormed out of the room without a word.

Adrien was quick to follow after. “Marinette…”

She stopped walking and turned to him. “This is stupid!”

“I agree.”

“I don’t need this right now! I’m dealing with a lot! It’s not—It’s totally unfair!” Tears escaped. “I didn’t take any pictures…”

“I know you didn’t, Marinette. I believe you.”

“Are you sure? Because every time someone doesn’t believe me, I start to think that you’re only here for pity. That you’re trying to keep me from becoming an akuma.”

“I don’t want you to become an akuma,” he confirmed, “But I also believe you. You’re our everyday Ladybug. I still believe that.”

She rubbed under her eyes. “Thank you, Adrien. I’m sorry, if…if I’m causing you trouble.”

He waved her off. “Don’t even worry about it.” He placed a warm hand on her back and steered her towards the next class. “Once she trips up, you’ll have people lining up to apologize, and I’ll be right next to you, smiling.”

He opened the door for her, “After you.”

She grinned. “Thank you, sir.”

The second they stepped in the room, Mendeleiev was shouting. “Adrien! Marinette! So glad you decided to come to class! Where were you?”

“We were talking to Miss Bustier.” Adrien supplied.

“Oh that’s it? Do you have a pass then?”

Marinette paled. “Oh…no…I walked out before—“

“Detention. Both of you.”

“What!” They both cried out indignantly.  

“If you’re late for class, at least don’t lie about it!”

“I’m not lying!” Marinette cried out.

“Yeah, like you’re not lying about taking photos of Adrien.” Alix muttered under her breath.

“Miss Mendeleiev, Miss Bustier held us back after class, everyone heard it. Right?” Adrien asked the room.

No one came to their rescue.

Marinette was at her wits end. She balled up her fists and trembled. “Anybody else want to drop anything on me?!” She cried out. “Anyone else want to be my enemy!?”

We’re enemies now, Ladybug. You’re going to regret that for the rest of your short life.

She suddenly felt nauseous. “I need to go…”

“You’ve missed enough of my classes. If you don’t want to have another detention, sit down.”

“But—“

Chloe snickered, “Well, do you want her akumatized in the room, or outside?”

Marinette wanted to cry. “I’m not going to become an akuma!” She shrieked.

“Sit!”

So she sat, in the front of the room, where Nino usually sat. He had taken her spot again, and that was fine with her. If Alya wasn’t going to be helpful, then good riddance.

She glanced over to Adrien, who had his head in his hands and looked absolutely devastated. “You okay?” She whispered.

“I’ve never had detention before. My dad’s going to kill me…or at least pull me out of school.”

She exhaled, dejected. Today really was the worst day.  

But it’s not like it could get worse.

Right?

It came quite suddenly. A large boom from across the street. Debris and shrapnel flew across the street and crashed through the windows, ending class for the day.

“I would have thought Dupain-Cheng would have been our akuma.” Chloe said, just loud enough to be heard as they all evacuated the building.

Marinette ignored everyone, the teachers, her old friends, and even Adrien, and ran.

An akuma is exactly what she needed right now. Something to fight, something to direct her anger on, and for Marinette to disappear for a few hours.

She snuck into the bathroom and Ladybug escaped through the window.

—

Chat Noir was on the scene nearly the same time she was, surveying the damage.

“This one’s going to suck.” He said, plainly, his eyes focused on the giant gaping hole in the building.

“Yeah. You haven’t seen a glimpse of it yet, have you?”

“Nope, just heard it.”

There was another boom a few blocks away, and they both turned towards it.

But someone else was already running towards the sound.

Ladybug groaned. “Alya!”

The reporter perked up immediately. “Ladybug! The Akuma is this way!”

“I know! You need to get out of here!”

“No way! I need to get footage for the blog!”

She had it with her. Ladybug clamped her hand down on Alya’s shoulder and forced her to look at her. “Would you listen to me for once?!”

Alya shrank at the anger, completely blindsided by it. “Ladybug...?”

“Go home. This one is too dangerous. Just...please.”

Alya swallowed, hurt, but understanding. “Yes ma’am. I’ll go.”

Ladybug simply nodded and continued on.

Chat caught up with her quickly. “You having a bad day too?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Then let’s end this quickly so we can get some ice cream and sulk.”

She actually smiled. “That sounds awesome.”

Around the corner, they found themselves to the back of the akuma. A gargantuan man, with long stringy hair hanging down. Instead of arms, he had long, thick chains that dragged. And at the end of the chains, two massive iron balls scraped against the ground in place of fists.

Each step he took punctured a hole in the street.

“Shit.” Ladybug said under her breath.

The akuma stopped, hearing her speak and turned to her.

“Double shit.”

It didn’t say anything. No grand announcement or introduction, which was standard for most Akuma.

Instead, he simply grunted, and the left wrecking ball came barreling towards them.

Chat hooked her around the waist, and vaulted them away, leaving a crater in their wake.

“Okay, so he’s fast too. Great.” Ladybug huffed.

The next second, another wrecking ball came at them, prompting them to run farther away.

“Stay away from the buildings,” Ladybug reprimanded. “They won’t stop him.”

“Right.”

Ladybug dodged the next attack by slinging out her yo-yo around a flag pole, and then going over the akuma, careful to avoid the arch of his swing.

Ladybug landed next to the last crater, with Chat landing behind her shortly.

“I don’t particularly like being a fly when the akuma has such a permanent swatter, My Lady.”

“I agree.”

The wrecking ball was coming back around, being swung around sideways.

“But I barely have a moment to run, let alone think!” She wrapped an arm around him, and flung them both in the air. The smaller the target, the better.

They watched from above as the akuma stomped his way towards them, the ground shaking with each step.

“So he can swing the wrecking balls really fast, but he can’t run, or even walk quickly.”

“I can cataclysm one of the chains, so that way we only have to worry about one instead of two.”

“That’s as good of a plan as any.” With that, she released them to fall, just as the akuma was going to take a swing at the building they were attached to.

“Catacls—AUGH!” Mid shout, Chat was struck and went flying backwards and slammed into a building, hard.

“Chat!” Ladybug called out for him.

He laid on the ground, unmoving.

The akuma turned towards him, as the ground started shaking with each step. He wound up to bring his wrecking ball down on him.

“Don’t you dare!” Ladybug sent out her yo-yo, wrapping around the wrecking ball, but it didn’t stop it. Instead, she went flying, and collided with the building right next to her partner.

Her vision swam, as she tried to move. The akuma was coming their way, and she could feel the ground shaking. Turning to her side, she found her self alone, with no sign of Chat anywhere.

“Ng…Cha—?” She managed to choke out.

Turning back towards the akuma, she saw another figure there instead. They grabbed her arm, and began to drag her away.

“Where…?” She managed again, her head pounding.

“Shh…” said the figure, pulling her up short.

Ladybug would remember seeing her reflection in a pair of sunglasses, and a salty taste on her tongue, before she fell unconscious.  

[bryonysimcox]

Cutting, calling, sticking, sitting, subtitling: Week 15, Spain

With future certainty and concrete plans nowhere in sight, this week’s blog post is in praise of the mundane. Seven days of everyday life.

When prepping for this blog entry, I started panicking. What’s the overarching message? The big-picture mood of the week or the lesson I’ve learnt? Well this week, there isn’t one. It’s been seven days of everyday life and I reckon that’s worth celebrating too.

We’ve been pitching for some exciting work this week.

I can’t talk about the specifics, but it’s heartening to be actually planning and quoting for real-life projects that could bring in real-life money and real-life experience. We pretty much work on Broaden as a full-time venture anyway (regardless of if it makes us money), so when prospective clients reach out to Broaden to ask us to do more of what we love, then that’s a bonus.

I guess that’s the beauty of filmmaking, it’s so broad and its potential is so great that it can be valuable for a whole lot of people. I also think in the coming ‘new normal’ as countries, cities and communities come to adapt life around Covid-19, that the role of video and online streaming will shift, and perhaps become a more central element in our lives.

I’ve also been working away at editing the video we started filming last week about Economics for a more just and equitable world. It’s starting to take shape, though there is a lot of refinement needed (I’ve cut 150 minutes down to 30 minutes but still have a fair way to go!). Working on this video is also bringing about a newfound challenge of how we make videos like this visually stimulating, when they predominantly feature digital interviews and we can’t film footage out and about due to lockdown. It’s forcing us to get more creative with motion graphics, which is no bad thing.

In what is the culmination of a longstanding project, we also interviewed Rich Evans about The Foundations in New South Wales this week.

‘The Foundations’ is a truly extraordinary project/place in Portland, a tiny town about two-hours inland from Sydney. I first discovered the project when I worked in Australia, and the company I worked for, RobertsDay, was involved in a masterplanning process. Portland was established around a cementworks which went on to not only be the driving economic force behind the town, but also the backbone of the community. It was a source of civic pride (cement from Portland famously went to Sydney amid the building boom, coining it the phrase ‘The Town That Built Sydney’), and also helped establish social infrastructure like the swimming pool that is still a celebrated destination in the little town today. Sadly, as the cementworks decreased in scale and eventually closed in the nineties, it had a huge impact on the town.

(images) Scenes from January 2019 when we started filming at The Foundations, Portland NSW.

Back at RobertsDay, I had the pleasure of working on the masterplan and placemaking work for the next chapter of the cementworks, and I immediately fell in love with the place. Not only was it this incredible place of industrial heritage, but the owners actually wanted to transform the site into something really special - a tourist destination, an asset to the community, and a revitalised part of the town. From its current state - fenced-off, closed, and perhaps even an eyesore, the owners wanted to introduce artwork, markets, community gardens, museum collections, fishing and camping, weddings, concerts and a whole host of other things.

It was obvious that there was a story about The Foundations that deserved to be told, and so in January 2019 George and I spent a weekend there, filming local residents, business owners, and the wonderful Rich Evans, ‘Chief Reactivation Officer’ from The Foundations. This was before we’d even launched Broaden, but we were passionate to use filmmaking to document the transformation that was taking place there. However, over the course of 2019, other things took centre stage in our lives and we never got around to editing the final film.

And so, in lockdown here in Spain, we decided it was finally time to close off this story. Just this week,we called Rich over Zoom and asked him all about how things have progressed since we last visited Portland. Rich is a larger-than-life character who had so much good stuff to report (an artist in residence, growing market attendee numbers, new custom-designed public furniture, and the renovation of a central historic building which involved the removal of 1000s of bees!).

In a strange way, I’d originally thought of this hiatus as a weakness for our film, but it now has added another facet to the story: giving Rich a chance to reflect on progress at The Foundations and show viewers how much is possible in the space of a year.

Making collages serves as respite for the mind.

I return to my collage practice as a meditative practice, and a restorative one too. It’s something I do when I want to clear my mind, and use a different part of my brain from the video-editing-zoom-calling-analytical-planning side of my brain.

That said, the last few paper collages I’ve made have felt like a bit of struggle, and I’ve felt rather uninspired. The collages are never meant to be a forced thing, but instead something visceral and playful, but in recent times they’d stopped being that.

Until this week! This week, inspired to make a collage for my mum’s birthday, I started getting my boxes of magazines and compiled sheets out, stuck my ‘Making Collage’ playlist on, and somehow just found my groove. Shapes and forms shouted out to me, and I was more preoccupied with the mood of the pieces than perfection and precision. I was drawn to more ambiguous textures and the way that they could be layered, and what started as one collage ended up being a series of three (the other two of which I’ll later publish this week).

(image) The collage I made for my mum’s birthday, ‘Flirtatious Textures’.

Whilst I’ve feel as though I’ve found my swing with collage-making again (and have been also considering embarking on some critical writing about my creative process using academic texts for reference), this week I had a piece rejected. I’d made it to enter into a competition, and when the rejection email landed in my inbox this week, the usual heart-racing pangs of inadequacy entered my mind. Not only had I lost money on the entry fee, but my work was ‘unwanted’. I’ve spent some time facing those demons these last couple of days and reminding myself that I make my work for ME.

So if that’s the cutting and sticking, and the zoom interviews were the calling, what’s the sitting and subtitling this week’s post refers to?

We’ve been doing a lot of sitting. Sitting and staring, sitting and watching the sun set, sitting and reading books, sitting and checking Instagram, sitting and feeling guilt for sitting, sitting and swatting mosquitoes away (it’s rather hot all of a sudden), sitting and eating crisps, sitting and calling friends, sitting and laughing, smiling, frowning, thinking.

(images, left to right) Everyday scenes from the cottage, cutting and sticking, and a lot of sitting (as demonstrated by George!)

It feels totally bonkers that as we face a global health pandemic, all I’m drawn to do (or able to do) is sit. And George and I have certainly discussed the guilt, lack of motivation, boredom and soul-searching that’s grown (and comes along with sitting!) in recent weeks. I’m not sure if there’s some grand benefit to all this sitting, but it has called for the enjoyment of many a good book, and also a good phonecall.

One of the most joyful moments (spent sitting!) this week was surely the video call I had for my Granny’s 80th birthday, between my mum, my brother, my aunt and my Granny herself. There were laughs and cheers, ridiculous filters used and lots of talk of birthday booze and plentiful cake. But after the call, there were also moments of reflection and of gratitude; that we are able to celebrate together (albeit digitally) for the momentous milestone that is my wonderful Granny’s eightieth birthday, as she sits alone in her house in Scotland, is a blessing. Of course, I would have loved to have seen her in person, but I am so bloody grateful that we can connect to her even if just through the airwaves.

Birthdays in May seem to be a common occurrence in my family, and this week saw my Mum’s birthday too. Again, there was a sense of loss that unsurprisingly, I couldn’t be with her due to coronavirus (a fact made worse by the fact I don’t think I’ve been with my Mum on her birthday for about five years), but we were also able to chat and videocall. And I was also able to go back through my photos, reflecting on wonderful times shared across the years.

(images, left to right) Looking back at memories with mum - as a child in a sling, on our trip to Sri Lanka in 2018, and at the exhibition opening of ‘Talking Sense’ where one of her sculptures was displayed at the Portico Library last year.

Access to computers and the internet, free time to sit and chill, and family who are safe and sound is not a privilege everyone shares. And I am so aware of that.

I continue to think of the inequalities this pandemic is highlighting, and the gaps it is widening. Access to the fundamental elements for a just and equitable life are basic human rights, and yet as BBC newsnight’s Emily Maitlis reminded us, 'The disease is not a great leveller'. If while I’m sitting this week, I can at least read, watch, learn and share ideas about how we can tackle these gaping inequalities, my sitting was perhaps not in vain.

As our fifteenth week on the road drew to a close, and looked ever less like life actually ‘on the road’, I decided to take on the task of subtitling The Hundred Miler.

Initially, the only motivation to create comprehensive subtitles for Broaden’s thirty minute documentary was so that we could enter foreign film fests. And even then, we’d have had it professionally subtitled if we weren’t looking for ways to save money!

And so I naively embarked on what was to become a two-day odyssey involving Artificial Intelligence transcript detection, manually correcting the script, learning about timecodes, downloading .srt files and working to integrate them with YouTube.

The long and short of it is that The Hundred Miler (which also hit a whopping 100,000 views this week) now has complete ‘closed caption’ subtitles which you can use and enjoy on YouTube! But more than that, through conversations with others I realised the importance of subtitles from an accessibility perspective, as a critical tool to help deaf and hard-of-hearing people, as well as those for whom English isn’t their mother tongue. It was a refreshing reminder that we exclude people without meaning to, but that we can also actively include them if we take certain measures.

So that’s it, Week 15 in all its mundane glory. To those of you who are still here, reading my reflections on these strange and tumultuous times, thank you. Maybe this week you’ve been cutting, calling, sticking, sitting and subtitling too, and for that, I salute you.