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itslottiehere · 2 years

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se telefonando (h.s) — one shot

hello beautiful people 🤍 welcome back! it’s been a while, but life’s been crazy so i couldn’t post anything for a while. but I'm back with this little blurb inspired by my vacation in tuscany <3 it’s not my favorite piece but I hope you’ll enjoy! please, let me know what you think, in your tags or in my asks! without further ado, happy reading!! <3

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tw: none, just fluff with no plot, a bit of pining ??

word count: 3.2k

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the tuscan countryside was speeding outside their car’s windows, a scenery of vineyards kissed by the august sun looking back at them. she insisted on driving this time and let him enjoy the ride: the wind blowing through his hair, and also the breathtaking view tuscany gifted to all of its visitors.

he didn’t argue, both because of the reasons just listed and the fact that she turned into a middle aged angry italian man whenever they were driving. to hear her usually soft voice cursing out in italian a driver who suddenly stopped and turned without putting on the blinker, never failed to make him laugh.

ever since he’s met her, he’s been learning italian: he learned the curse words first — which, he had to be honest, held a certain power — and bit by bit, he began understanding longer phrases and even managed to say some in almost perfect italian. almost.

“you have to roll the ‘r’, it’s a distinct sound, roll it!”

“we don’t have that! i don’t even know where to begin with!”

after a while he got the hang of it, still not perfectly, but way better than when he first started.

ever since the beginning, she told him that she didn’t really like when people mispronounced stuff.

“i know it’s a hard language, and i’m not asking people to learn it perfectly! just please, for the love of god, stop pronouncing ‘bruschetta’ with that “sh” sound! it’s pronounced with a hard sound, like an “sk” sound. it’s easy, i promise!”

and of course, he loved pronouncing it wrong to rile her up. that menace.

they were driving down the country road to where she planned they had dinner, a little music was playing on the radio. failing to find something she actually liked, she turned to him.

“H, would you mind putting something on from my spotify? there’s a playlist i think it’s perfect for this.”

her and her playlists. she swore she could master a playlist for every occasion; and she wasn’t half wrong.

the playlist was titled “20 going on 80”, which made him chuckle, and when he scrolled through it he understood why: it was filled with old italian songs, some he recognized, some he never heard before and some with a title a little too difficult for him to understand.

she spoke up again.

“can you please play ‘se telefonando’? it should be the first.”

he kind of knew this one, even if it was only the “se telefonando” part of it, but hey, that was still something.

mina’s voice filled the car, the windows rolled down and she placed her left arm outside the one on her side, her hand cutting through the wind while she sang at the top of her lungs the heart wrenching lyrics.

“se telefonando io potessi dirti addio, ti chiamerei.”

(if by calling you i could tell you goodbye, i’d call you.)

“se io rivedendoti fossi certa che non soffri, ti rivedrei.”

(if by seeing you again i could be sure that you aren’t suffering, i’d see you again.)

“se guardandoti negli occhi sapessi dirti basta, ti guarderei.”

(if by looking into your eyes i could tell you ‘enough’, i’d look at you.)

“ma non so spiegarti che il nostro amore appena nato... è già finito.”

(but i can’t explain to you that our love, just born... is already over.)

when the chorus repeated once more, harry looked at her and how she was singing that song with her whole chest, her whole body, almost lifting her hands from the steering wheel, as if she couldn’t stop herself from doing those movements.

once the song was over, she quickly looked at him.

“what are you looking at?” she asked him smiling.

“nothing.” he smiled back. “is she your favourite?”

“oh tesoro, you can’t ask me that! i can’t choose a favourite, it’s like asking a child to choose a favourite stuffie.”

“i think she is mine.”

“really? you like mina?” she inquired, quickly glancing at him.

“yeah.” he nodded, and then concentrated to get his next words out.

“mina è la mia preferita!” (mina is my favourite).

he beamed when he saw her smiling at his phrase in — what he considered — perfect italian.

“that’s amazing! you even rolled the r’s!”

they kept driving around the italian countryside, the music still playing from the speakers and getting interrupted from time to time by the robotic google maps voice, telling her where to go.

“so now we’re heading towards Bolgheri, a famous village where a famous italian poet used to live during his childhood. he was actually the first italian poet to win a nobel prize, back in 1906.”

“ah look at you, giving me all sorts of trivia, my very own tour guide.” he smirked.

“oh shut up, they make us study this stuff since elementary school.” she rolled her eyes, but a little smile tugged on her lips.

they kept driving until they reached this beautiful road that lead right to the entrance of the village, both sides of the road filled with a straight line of cypresses.

“these trees are the subject of one of his most famous poems.” she gave him a side glance. “now, i wouldn’t want to put you in danger, but i know for a fact that if you get yourself out of the window you can get an amazing picture of the road. just saying.”

“and how would you know that?” he cocked his head to the side, the sarcasm clear in his voice.

“i may have or may have not done it once...” she paused, and he looked away. “or every single time i come here.” he snapped his head back towards her when he heard her continue, and chuckled.

“so, how am i supposed to do this without dropping out of the car?” he questioned.

“unbuckle your seatbelt, i’ll slow down and keep a grasp on your shirt. at least, that’s what my mum always did whenever i wanted to do that and i’ve never fallen out the car. it should work.” she said, shrugging at the last part.

“oh well, that sounds safe.” he answered ironically. “alright, let’s do this.”

she wasn’t half wrong, the view displayed in front of him was something out of an old movie. the warm august sun brought out the bright green of the cypresses, the little breeze caused from the car motion ran through his hair. he snapped a few pictures, but spent most of the time drinking the landscape in, relishing on the feeling of the sun on his skin and, also, of the hand death gripping his shirt.

he could understand why someone wanted to write poems about something so beautiful.

after a little while, he felt a little tug on his shirt, followed by her voice calling out loudly enough for him to hear. “it’s time to come in, we’re almost there.”

they strolled around the tiny village, with her stopping to every tiny shop to look at every trinket she could lay her eyes on. harry just looked at her fondly, not knowing how he got so lucky to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world, with one of its most amazing people.

“what are you looking at? see something you like?” she asked him, truth in her voice. she was really asking him if he wanted something from the stand, as if he wasn’t looking at it, standing right in front of him. he just shook his head no, so they bid their goodbyes to the vendor, and went back to the car.

“wait, weren’t we supposed to have dinner here?” harry turned to ask her.

“not in the village, some place very near though. i promise it won’t be long and that i’m sure you’ll love it.” she answered with a bright smile. harry quickly mirrored it.

the drive was shorter, but there was still time to listen to a little music. harry kept looking at her with heart eyes, not understanding how anyone who looked at her didn’t fall in love with her instantly, seeing her like this: the wind blowing through her hair, eyes covered by her old sunglasses – but he knew they were sparkling –, a smile gracing her lips while she sang at the top of her lungs “maledetta primavera” by loretta goggi.

“why is she cursing out a season?”

“what the hell are you talking about?”

“doesn’t “maledetta primavera” mean ‘damned spring’?”

he kept thinking about it, how could anyone not be enchanted by her, but then he remembered that this, this version of her, was for his eyes only. she always told him how safe she felt with him, free to be herself at all times and just do whatever she felt like. it was always quite a good stroke to his ego.

once a new song started, he was surprised to see her smile fade from her face.

“what’s wrong?” he asked immediately, kind of afraid of the answer.

“nothing’s wrong, i promise! just can you skip this?”

“yeah, sure... can i ask you why?” it was the song of her and her ex partner, wasn’t it? of course it was, how could he have been so stupid, she was still-

“it’s stupid” she chuckled “it’s just that this is one of my favourite songs and i can’t be driving when i sing it. we are going to drive into a ditch if we do, and i would like to have dinner first.” she smiled.

“who knew that-” he checked her phone to see who was singing “- massimo ranieri turned you into a crazed fan girl.”

“tesoro, massimo ranieri is a poet. and “perdere l’amore” is the love song.”

“well, if you can’t sing it, can you at least tell me what is it about?”

“uhm, sure. it’s a bit sad, though.” she cleared her throat. “so basically it’s about a love story that ended — of course — and the consequences of it. how much you want to curse out the world, put your head through a wall because you’ve realised how much stuff you’ve done wrong and realised it too late.”

harry waited for a bit, then spoke. “ouch.”

“yep.” she nodded. “but cheer up now, we’re almost there.” she said while taking a turn into the parking area.

the place was absolutely beautiful: it was a sort of garden, with wooden tables under vine branches; the rest of the garden was filled with ground level tables where people sat on some kind of little carpets, so they wouldn’t get dirty. trees hugged the scene and the sun was setting, painting the sky a peachy pink colour. the whole image was straight out of a painting.

“H?”

harry shook his head at the call of his name, too lost in the scenery displayed in front of him.

“sorry, love. yes?”

she smiled. “i was asking you if you don’t mind choosing a place for us to sit and i’ll go in to order something for us? would you prefer red or white?”

“whatever you want, i’m sure i’ll like it.” he smiled back, watching her walk away. after choosing a table on the ground, he waited for her to come back.

he couldn’t ignore the pull of his heart anytime he saw her walking towards him. not when he’s picking her up after work, a bit disheveled but still beautiful; not when he walks into her home and sees her down the hall in her sweats; and especially not when she’s walking towards him, two glasses of wine in her hands, a white sundress hugging her form and making her look like a celestial being.

the sun behind her showered her in a warm, golden glow, painting her as if she were an angel. he was so lucky to just be able to look at her, he thought.

“there you go.” she smiled, giving him his glass. “you chose the best table, tesoro.”

his heart grew three sizes at the pet name: no matter how much she called him that, he would always feel giddy.

“what does that mean?” he asked.

“literally, it means “treasure”, but we use it like you could use “darling”, i guess.” she paused for a second. “it’s just so sweet, i think. telling people that you think they are a treasure, something you consider yourself lucky to have found, you know?” she looked at him, a small smile on her lips. harry thanked the gods above that the room was dark, or else she would’ve seen how his cheek turned a bright strawberry colour.

“and you’re mine. i’m very lucky to have found you.” she continued, not letting much time before adding. “alright, ready for harry potter and the order of the phoenix?”

“thank you. for this and for bringing me here, it’s lovely.” he said, grabbing her glass as well so that she could sit down. “i should’ve chosen a normal table, right? you and the dress on the ground doesn’t seem-“

“hey, hey. it’s perfectly fine, i wanted this table as soon as i saw it. don’t worry.” she smiled. “and you’re welcome, tesoro; i love this place so much. i’ve come here once before, but it’s even better now.” she said, fixing her dress.

“oh really? what changed? did they renovate or something?” he inquired, putting his chin in his hand.

“mmh, no. i just have the best company a person could wish for.” she smiled sweetly, and harry’s heart was doing somersaults in his chest. he was thinking about what to do or say to avoid any attention to his — now — crimson cheeks, when she saved the day.

“cin cin!” she raised her glass, inviting harry to do the same with a nod of her head. “that’s our ‘cheers’! and when you make the glasses clink, you have to look in the other person’s eyes or else it doesn’t count.”

he chuckled, shaking his head. “you guys have the weirdest little habits, i swear.” and man if he didn’t love all of them.

“hey! i don’t know why it is like that, but you need to! so look at me and clink your glass.”

she bore her eyes into his, looking deep into his soul. he’d spend his days looking into hers, those pools of warmth that always held a special softness whenever they gazed at him.

“alla nostra salute, a noi e alla nostra amicizia.”

(to our health, to us and to our friendship),

she said, raising her glass towards his.

harry repeated the words at his best, and clinked his glass with hers, looking deep into her eyes. afterwards, they both took a sip of their wine and of course, it tasted heavenly: she always had the best taste, even if he was the one supposed to know about this stuff.

after they placed their glasses back on the table, harry spoke up.

“it’s just so beautiful here, isn’t it?”

she nodded. “it absolutely is.”

“have you ever thought about moving back here?” he asked her, surprised he never did before.

“i mean, i left for all the good reasons, but yeah, i think we’ll move here once we’re old, right? once we don’t have to work anymore.”

harry felt his heart skip a beat. did he hear that right? “we?”

she took another sip, “yeah, we, of course. don’t you think we’ll live together when we’re old?” she looked at him, as if she was waiting for an answer. “we’ll move in a nice place here in the countryside, you can play music all day and i’ll finally have my garden to attend to and we will just live a nice, slow life, enjoying each other’s company. wouldn’t that be lovely?”

wouldn’t it? this is what his dreams were made of, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to have this.

was harbouring an all consuming crush for your best friend not the best idea? perhaps.

could he stop himself? absolutely not. especially not when she threw stuff like this around. she thought not only about their future, but their future together. and not in a “we’ll be old and maybe learn to play chess” kind of way, but in a “we’ll live together and get old together” kind of way.

how couldn’t he feel his heart sink in his chest when she said that she planned to have him in her life for that long?

the dinner was lovely, she ordered for the both of them and she nailed it, everything was absolutely delicious. they ate and chatted the whole evening, but when he saw her shiver a bit, he decided to speak up.

“are you cold? do you want to leave?”

at that, she shook her head. “no, i don’t want to go.”

“but you’re shivering, you’re gonna get sick-“

“but i don’t want to-“

“here, at least take my jacket, alright?” he stood up and went over to her spot, put his jacket on her shoulders, smoothing it over her arms with his hands (a poor excuse to touch her in some way).

when he sat back in his seat, he looked at her and decided that he wanted her in his clothes till the end of time. she snuggled in the jacket some more, burying her nose in the fabric and inhaling his cologne.

they stayed there a little while longer, the stars making an appearance, so clear to spot in the clear summer sky, being so far away from the city lights.

“ready to go?” he smiled at her, putting his hand in front of her to lift her up from the ground.

“always, tesoro.” she smiled back at him, accepting gladly his hand that hoisted her up, putting her right in front of him.

the light from the stars was reflecting in his eyes, making his pools of green shine even brighter. there must’ve been something in the air there in italy, because he somehow became even more beautiful. how’s that fair, she thought.

she smiled at him and wrapped both her arms around his left arm, snuggling against him. harry looked up at the sky, wondering how he could get so lucky. he walked towards the car with her clinging onto his arm as if he was going to disappear into thin air; kissing the top of her head, he spoke softly.

“vuoi che guido io, bellissima?”

(do you want me to drive, beautiful?)

she looked up to him, smiled and nodded.

once they settled in the car, she took harry’s hand and placed it onto her thigh, playing with the rings on his right hand. a gesture she’s done so many times, but in that moment, somehow, it felt different. he could feel a new flower of hope blooming into his chest.

“so, are you ready to hear me sing “perdere l’amore” till your ears are bleeding?” she turned to him, grinning.

he glanced at her, quickly bringing his eyes back on the road. flexing his right hand, he squeezed her thigh lightly.

“bring it.”

–

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mayraki · 4 years

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“enemies?” - jj maybank

-> sebastianstahn’s gif!

summary: it was clear that their smiliar strong attitudes didn’t fit together, or at least that’s what they thought until someone hurts her and he doesn’t even hesitate on protecting her.

inspired by this post by @whumpster-dumpster and all those reblogs!

warning: jj and y/n being mean. violence, fights, and cursing

masterlist

“Asshole.”

“Idiot.”

“Dumbass.”

“Stupid.”

JJ and you were throwing insults at each other after a silly fight you two had. All the Pogues thought it was silly after all, but it wasn’t for you and JJ. Everything that one did was annoying for the other, and it would just transform into a fight or just rolling eyes annoyed at the other’s actions. It didn’t matter that at the morning you two were laughing with the Pogues after a fun morning riding the waves, it would always end up with you two screaming at each other and ruining the moment for everyone.

It was a normal morning with you and the Pogues riding the waves like always. You were sitting on your surfing board looking at Kie with a smile while she was riding the wave like a fucking pro. You clapped screaming in excitement when she swam closer to you. “That’s what’s up dude!” You yelled and Kie let out a laugh.

“I want to see the real pro ride the wave now.” She answered and you smiled. Without giving Kie an answer you paddled with your hands more deeper into the ocean and waited for the perfect wave. You could feel your heart beating a little bit faster than usual. You loved those excited nerves you always had before riding a wave. You loved it so much that you couldn’t even wait for the next one, even if you were having currently one.

You saw from a far a wave that was big enough for you to ride. So without hesitating, you paddled towards it and prepared your body to ride it like there was no tomorrow. You took the opportunity to stand on your surfing board as the wave was getting closer and closer, to the point that it was already in front of you, waiting for you to ride it.

Your feet were ready to feel the wave and your body to move along with it, but instead, someone quickly moving in front of you caught you off guard, making you lose your balance and fall into the water, almost hitting your head with your board in the process.

You swam to the surface to see who was the person who stole your wave, ready to go off on their face, and the one you saw didn’t surprised you at all.

Once your feet touched the sand you dropped your board and turned around, waiting for the boy to get out of the water. Kie, who saw what just happened was now walking towards you.

“Hey, dude, let it go.” She said seeing your expression. She knew that exact face you were making, that anger in your eyes and your impatient foot going up and down. Kie knew what was coming, just like it went every day.

“Fuck that.” You said once you saw the dumb blonde boy you had so much anger in your body for walk towards where you and Kie where. “He stole my wave when I was already riding it, everyone knows you don’t do that here. He’s going to hear what I have to say.” Your firm tone made Kie understand that you weren’t going to let it go. But before she could say anything else, the blonde boy was already close enough to hear your words. “Was that funny to you?”

JJ, who was now shaking his wet hair looked at you confused and then looked back, checking if you were talking to him. “Do you see me laughing?”

“You stole my fucking wave.” You took a step forward to be more closer to JJ, who let out a grin once he looked down and nodded.

“Oh, right. That was pretty funny.”

“Wow.” You let out a fake laugh. “You love so much being the troublemaker, don’t you? The attention you seek is so sad. I feel sorry for you.”

“Why don’t you move along and leave me the fuck alone, Kook?” He said in a mocking tone since he knew you hated being called that.

At this point, you were so close to him that you could see the grin on his face more clearer now. “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?”

He nodded looking at you straight in the eyes. “Takes one to know one.” He said getting closer to your face. You had the sudden urge to push him but before you could do something, you felt Kie grabbing your arm and pulling you away from JJ.

“What’s going on?” Pope asked appearing from the waves.

“What do you think it’s going on?” John B asked behind him. “Probably JJ and Y/n going at each other again, like always.”

And John B was right; ‘like always.’

It happened so often that everyone just rolled their eyes and continued with their days while you and him were throwing mean words at each other. It was so common that if it didn’t happen, it felt like something was missing from the day. But it wasn’t like you two hated each other... well, maybe it was. But it was more the fact that you two had too firm attitudes, so similar, that when they met each other they didn’t fit well. And until this day, nothing changed.

“Would you just shut up?” He said annoyed at you while you were talking to Kie, on that other morning at the Chateau.

You turned to him with a disgust expression. “Why would I do what you want? Asshole.” You rolled your eyes before turning to Kie, who just sighed knowing what was about to come.

“We were having a fun conversation until you spoke.” JJ shrugged his shoulders with a little proud smirk.

“About what? The girl that you took to your bed the other night? Yeah, real interesting and new.” You said sarcastically.

“That’s what you need. To get a good laid.” JJ pointed at you. “Too bad your perfect Kook boyfriend can’t give you that.” You felt your heart dropped to you stomach once you heard his words. Kie quickly got up from the chair right after you did, trying to ignore that pain you were feeling in your chest.

“Guys-” Pope said before getting up from the chair and walking between you and JJ. “Stop it. Really, it’s getting very tiring listening to you guys.”

“Blame JJ, he fucking started it.”

“You were the one who talked with your annoying voice, it’s not my fault my ears can’t take it.”

“You’re the annoying one.” You felt your heart beating faster than usual. You didn’t want to let JJ know that his words were starting to hurt you, you couldn’t let that happen. “Just because you aren’t happy here doesn’t mean that you get to take it out on other people!”

“Y/n...” Kie said noticing the hurt in your voice.

“Why don’t you just go back to your perfect huge fucking mansion with your perfect arrogant boyfriend and leave us the fuck alone!”

“Shut the fuck up!” You yelled like you never yelled before. After flipping your middle finger at JJ, you walked out of the Chateau followed by Kie who shook her head to JJ seconds later.

Pope turned to him before letting out a big sigh. “What?” JJ asked confused after watching his best friend’s face.

“Sometimes you’re just too blind and stupid.”

“What did I do?!” JJ asked now turning to John B who was at the kitchen shaking his head.

“Didn’t you hear?” He asked but JJ quickly shook his head. “Her mom moved out a week ago.” John B said softly. “And Rafe broke up with her a week later, because he believes she isn’t a ‘kook material’ anymore. Sarah told me.”

“Too bad.” JJ shrugged his shoulders pretending to not care. He didn’t want to show a soft spot for you and keep his annoyed expression, but this time something clicked inside of him and that strong attitude he had for you somehow didn’t appear on that moment. “She still has a lot. Things that we could only imagine.” He sat down on the couch, leaving his feet on top of the coffee table with the intention to lose himself on his phone and ignore what was going on with him, but then Pope asked softly: “Does she?”

JJ couldn’t seem to stop asking himself that question. She did. He was repeating himself that on and on. He always thought you did, you were a kook, of course you did. After that moment, he didn’t see you at all. Not even with Kie when she came back to the Chateau, or when they were all going to the Wreck to have their normal Friday free dinner that Kie’s dad would often give them.

“Kegger tonight?” John B asked wrapping his arms around Sarah.

“Fuck yeah, bro.” JJ said. He was ready to walk away from the Wreck when Pope asked behind him.

“Is Y/n ok?” He asked Kie. For some reason, JJ didn’t want to hear that conversation, so he turned around to see what John B and Sarah were doing, maybe join their conversation, but then he saw John B’s tongue going down Sarah’s throat, he thought that he didn’t have anything to add to that, so instead, he left his hands inside his pockets and looked down hoping for his ears to focus on something else. But Kie’s voice was louder than everything, or at least JJ thought of that excuse.

“I don’t know man.” Kie said. “I haven’t seen her since she left the Chateau this morning. I tried sneaking into her room but she isn’t answering.”

“Have you tried calling or texting her?”

“Pope, we don’t live in the 80’s, of course I tried that. But no luck. Hopefully she heard about the Kegger tonight, she doesn’t like to miss a party.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t. But we’re talking about a breakup- I’m not saying that I’m not happy they broke up, but, you know, can’t be easy for her.”

“I know, Pope, I know. But for now, all we can hope is that she shows up at the party, and if she doesn’t, I’ll try calling her again.”

“Sounds good.”

“Are we ready to leave or what?” John B asked clapping excited and everyone followed him to his van.

The way to the Kegger, JJ kept thinking Kie’s conversation with Pope. It was true that you and him weren’t the closest friends, not even friends most of the time, but he knew that you weren’t the type to close yourself up like that. Maybe with Pope, or John B, but Kie? That definitely wasn’t good news.

Why do you care so much now JJ? He suddenly asked to himself in his head. And the truth was, he had no fucking clue. He snapped himself out of his thoughts and on that moment noticed the music getting clearer and clearer as the van was moving.

He immediately saw teenagers dancing and drinking on the beach the moment he stepped out of the van once they arrived. It was a normal Kegger party, just like the ones before. So, like every other party, once JJ noticed where the keg was, his feet were already carrying him towards it.

“Is that Y/n?” Kie asked when JJ had his beer in hand. He turned around looking for you expecting to be hard since the beach was full, but he was horribly mistaken, it was the easiest thing.

You were dancing while you were sitting down on someone’s shoulders. Your arms were up in the air and you eyes were closed while singing the song with your entire heart. You were clearly drunk, that wasn’t something difficult to figure it out.

“I think so.” Pope said trying to see you in the dark of the night, but Kie let out a tiny smile and then nodded.

“Oh, it’s definitely Y/n.”

JJ took a sip from his beer without taking his eyes away from you. He has never seen you this drunk, even though you did like to party and have a good time. But like that... on top of some random guy shoulders, he definitely never saw you like that. Maybe the breakup with Rafe did hit you hard. “Maybe you should get her out of there.” He said not really knowing he did. He didn’t look at Kie but she definitely did look at him. She looked at him strangely, confused on why he was worrying for you or even giving a fuck about the situation at all.

“Why? She’s having fun.” This time, JJ did turned to lock eyes with Kie and noticed she had an eyebrow raised. “Why do you care?” She asked but before he could give an answer, she let out a tiny laugh and the left, to join you in the dance floor. JJ didn’t move, he kept there in his place drinking his beer not really knowing what to do with that strange feeling he was having on his stomach.

Meanwhile, the moment your feet touched the sand the same guy that had you in his shoulders wasted no time and grabbed your waist to pull you closer and enjoy the song that was playing together. You weren’t usually the type to dance with guys like this, or at least, you didn’t for a long time because you were in a relationship for as long as you can remember. This was all new for you and you wanted to be honest with yourself, you were liking it. Since the news of your breakup with Rafe started surfing around Outer Banks, specially in the Kook territory, you started to get more attention from boys. At first, that was the last thing you wanted, it still was, but the amount of alcohol you had in your system and the party itself was making you enjoy all the attention you were receiving. Your drunk self was starting to love it, maybe more than you would like.

“Having fun?” The guy asked in your ear softly. You turned around with your eyes still closed to face him with your back and get him even more closer while his hands were still glued to your waist. You nodded biting your lower lip. You opened your eyes to see with blurry eyes your friend Kie talking to some girl and you let out a tiny smile. You wondered with your eyes around the beach to see the other teenagers having fun at the party just like you, expect one. When you locked eyes with the blonde boy you were familiar with your heart skipped a beat. He had his hand inside his pocket while his other was holding his beer, but what surprised you the most was the fact that he was staring you dead in the eyes, not looking away for even a simple second.

“I’m going to have another beer.” You said without breaking the eye contact with JJ. You didn’t know what was controlling your body, or your mind to that point, but you kept staring at him waiting for him to back down and look away, and when he didn’t, you liked it even more. You grinned as you were walking towards the keg that was lonely at the corner of the beach. From the corner of your eye you noticed JJ walking towards you. A little smile escaped your lips but you covered it perfectly by taking the new cup you had in your hands towards your mouth, to take a sip of the cold beer.

“JJ!” You said once you felt him close enough to you. “Are you looking for a girl to fuck and then leave her the next morning?”

“I could ask you the same question.” He said softly and you turned to him with a grin.

“Well, there’s a lot of pretty girls here. But I’m not an asshole like you,” you paused for a second, locking eyes with him after looking around. “I would definitely call her the next morning.”

He looked up and down at you and then shook his head. “Maybe you should stop drinking.”

“Why do you care?” You spited out. “Leave me the fuck alone.”

“I don’t care,” he shook his head quickly and then added: “I just care that you’re acting like a fucking slut and I don’t want to associate with someone like that.”

You felt your heart dropping to your stomach since you’ve never heard him call you that, or anyone. It wasn’t like JJ to say things of the sort. But the alcohol you had in your system controlled your emotions and ate all of them. Your feet started to move towards him, making him take a step back.

“I should say the same thing to you. I should say that every fucking party, JJ. Going around with tourons like there’s no tomorrow. Kissing almost every girl. You don’t get to call me anything.”

“Rafe broke up with you days ago and you’re already acting like this? Can’t imagine what you’d do a week from now?” He let out a tiny laugh but you didn’t respond to his words immediately. It took you by surprise because you haven’t told him anything about the matter. It was true, rumors fly faster than birds around Outer Banks, but you didn’t expect the Pogues to know since it was all Kook news.

“How do you know?” You asked softly but firmly at the same time.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does.” You insisted. “Did Kie told you?”

“No.” You felt a tear fighting to come out of your eye but you stopped it by swallowing and eating your strong feeling in your body.

“Fuck you.” You said almost in a whisper with anger. It didn’t matter that the music was loud and that your tone wasn’t much, your distance to him was enough.

“Fuck me?” He said looking down at your lips and then back at your eyes, letting out a tiny fake laugh in the process. “Well, it seems like you want to.”

It didn’t matter to you that you were closer to him than you’ve ever been, you took another step closer and immediately felt his breathing mixing with yours. “If I wanted to fuck you,” you said firmly “I would’ve done it by now.”

Without waiting for an answer, you walked out leaving JJ with his head full of thoughts. Your heart couldn’t stop beating faster than ever, your head started to hurt thinking of your recent fight with JJ and your eyes were getting blurrier that before. Something about that fight seemed different than the ones you had before with him. You didn’t know what it was, and you didn’t want to stay to find out why. So that’s when you decided to call it a night and leave the party to forget everything about the night.

But JJ didn’t have the same plan.

When you said those last words his heart dropped to his stomach. His heart felt like a dagger had stabbed him and then was left there to hurt him until his last day. As soon as he lost you in the crowd he quickly walked to the Chateau and closed the door with strength. His heavy and quick breathing were back. He hold the side of his head and closed his eyes to try and call himself down. The imagine of you came to his head as he was hearing your words on and on. He felt like the air was running out around him, so he walked over to the window and cracked it open so fast that he almost broke it.

The moment he calmed down, he layed down in the bed hoping to fall asleep. He was so used to having moments like that that he didn’t thought much into it. But the moment he closed his eyes again the image of you appeared again in those black wholes. He sighed, already knowing that was going to be a long night.

“Has anyone seen Y/n?” That was the first thing JJ heard the first time he felt himself falling asleep. He opened his eyes and noticed the bright light of the day peeping through the window.

“No, why?” Pope asked on the living room of the Chateau.

“Because she disappeared after last night and she hasn’t come home.” Kie said and JJ noticed her heavy breathing. “Her parents are looking for her everywhere.”

JJ got up from his bed and opened the door quickly to walk towards everyone, but no one looked at him.

“Oh my god, where could she be?” Sarah asked, appearing from behind of John B.

“I don’t know! I’m kinda freaking out here!” Kie covered her face and let out a big breath, trying to take her heart beating back to normal.

“I don’t want to say this,” Pope said “but have you talked to Rafe?”

“No! That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to him. John B and Sarah,” Kie started pointing “go to the Wreck, Pope go to her house to see if she came back. JJ, check the beach.”

“Why do I have to go?” JJ asked with his sleepy voice.

“Fucking shut up! Go!” Kie yelled having non of JJ’s attitude.

Just like Kie told everyone, the whole group left the Chateau immediately. Expect for JJ. He came back to where his shirt was and put it on with a question on his mind: ‘what if what he had said to you was the thing that made you do something terrible?’

JJ knew you weren’t the type to take his insults personally, even though they were. Both of you knew that. It was just child play sometimes. If one said something hurtful, hours later you two just forgot about and carried on to the next fight. But last night, that was something different. JJ never called you that, not even jokingly, and he didn’t even know why he did it. It was one of those moments that you just say things you don’t really mean and regret it later.

As the walk to the beach was ending, JJ found himself hoping that you were there, safe and sound. Even if he didn’t like you sometimes, just like you, he would never wish anything bad happening to you. So the fact that nobody could find you was making his stomach turn a couple of times when the thought of something really bad happening to you might be a reality.

Once his feet touched the sand, he tried his hardest to locate you in the crowd of people that was at the beach that morning. He took a couple of steps closer to the water when his eyes were now going around the ocean, hoping to see your face riding the waves. But you weren’t there.

“Fuck.” He said in a whisper to himself. Just as he was losing hope on that side of the beach and started to walk away, he recognised your hair as you were sitting down letting your feet touch the water of the ocean. The feeling of relief touched his chest so he walked over to you.

The moment he could see your face more clearer he noticed your puffy eyes from crying and that you were wearing the same clothes as yesterday at the party. A sudden feeling of guilt appeared on his stomach and chest, he knew what he had to do. But he wasn’t happily waiting for it.

“Everyone is looking for you.” He said but you didn’t turned around to face him.

“Well, you found me. You can fuck off now.”

“Stop being such a brat.” He said used to the fighting between you two, even if fighting was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

“If you don’t like it, you can go.” Without hearing you, he sat down next to you. “You’re still here.” You said annoyed.

“Don’t make this harder than it already is. I think I’m going to hate myself for saying this,” you turned to him confused but JJ wasn’t looking at you, he was staring down at the sand next to his feet. “but I want to say that I’m sorry for calling you a slut. I shouldn’t have.”

You rolled your eyes and let out a tiny laugh. Even if you did believed his apology, you weren’t going to forgive him that easily. “Stop the act, JJ, you don’t care about how I feel. You never did.”

“That’s true, I don’t.” He quickly responded. You rolled your eyes once again and went back to staring at the ocean. But JJ didn’t. For some reason the sound of the ocean covered the people talking around them and that was the only thing JJ could hear. He kept staring at you and took the opportunity to see some things he never saw before. Those long eyelashes you had were slightly moving because of the wind blowing. Even if your body gave off anger and annoyance, your eyes were saying something completely different. They looked sad and disappointed. Something that JJ understood. You two did have different lives, different stories, but somehow you two ended up feeling similar things, pain, hate, sadness...

Maybe you two had more in common that you and JJ thought.

“Stop fucking staring at me or I’ll kill you.” Your words made JJ snap out of his thoughts.

“Bet, I’ll be waiting.”

You rolled your eyes. “Fuck off.”

“Happily.” JJ said with a firm tone while getting up and walking back to the road.

You two couldn’t help it. Somehow, no matter the circumstances, fighting was always going to happen with you two. It’s like when something horribly happened, fighting with each other released some type of emotion that made each other feel... safe. As strange as that sounded, it was true. Because no matter what was happening, no matter the day, the hour, the other one was there. Throwing words, fighting, being mean, but that didn’t matter, it was there. And that was what you and JJ wanted, something to be there and don’t change.

Lost in his thoughts, JJ didn’t realise that he was already far gone from the beach and that he was closer to the Chateau. The trees that were around him made the scenario more darker, even if it was the middle of the day and the sun was shining. Some voices were getting louder and louder as he was walking. After a couple of seconds, he recognised the voice immediately.

Rafe.

“What is going on?” He asked once he got closer to the group of people that was between the trees. He noticed Kie looking with anger at Rafe, you next to him trying to calm Kie down and Rafe, with a grin on his face once he saw JJ walking towards them.

“Oh, the Pogue is here.” Rafe said. “Great! The party is full.”

“Fucking idiot.” Kie said shaking her head.

“This isn’t your territory, Kook.” JJ said getting closer to Rafe to intimidate him.

“And who are you to tell me where I can be and where I can’t?”

“Guys, stop it.” You said when you saw JJ and Rafe were very close to each other, with so much anger and arrogance in each eye.

“Hold on, hold on, we’re just having fun here.” Rafe lifted his hands and then let out a tiny fake laugh.

“Yeah, so much fun.” JJ said sarcastically. “Leave our side of the island.” His jawline was now clenched and you noticed how his hands were now closed, making his knuckles more paler than they were.

“And what if I don’t?”

“Rafe, don’t.” You said firmly.

“What’s that Y/n?” Rafe said with a grin looking at you. “Should I give this Pogue a lesson?”

You looked at JJ and immediately realized that there was no out of it. This wasn’t going to end well. Your brain started to look for ways to get out, but non of them had a good ending. Calming the boys down wasn’t an option, this wasn’t a movie that with just looking at someone in the eye was going to cut it. This was real life, and sometimes, you have to do what you have to do to protect them, even if that meant hurting them in the process.

You noticed that JJ was getting closer to Rafe, but without hesitating, you quickly got in front of Rafe, making immediately eye contact with JJ. “Why don’t you just go home, JJ.” You said firmly trying to ignore the pain your chest was feeling.

“Y/n...” Kie said surprised.

You knew about JJ’s home life. You knew about his dad and the things that he did to him. But you never talked about it. JJ didn’t want to, in the first place. So that’s what you all decided when you first found out. But you knew, you knew that was going to get him angry at you and not Rafe, that was going to get him out of that situation and get off, just like you wanted.

“What’s that sweetheart?” Rafe asked getting next to you.

“Go home, JJ.” You said almost in a whisper this time. The pain and anger in his eyes made your chest hurt like a dagger had stabbed you multiple times. You wanted this to be over. Now.

“If that’s what you want.” He said, trying to fight the tears in.

“It is.” You said once you felt Rafe’s arm go around your shoulders. JJ did a little nod and then walked away, with his heart on his stomach, just like you.

“Y/n?” Kie asked softly looking at you.

You looked at her with a warm smile, trying your hardest for it to look real. “I’m safe, Kie. It’s done... don’t worry.”

“Yeah, Kie,” Rafe said looking at you with a smile. “don’t worry. She’s fine with me.”

Just like that, Kie left you and Rafe alone. That wasn’t the way that you expected this to end, but the the best ending came out of it, JJ is safe. And for some reason, that’s all that mattered to you right now.

Just like every other night where something was wrong, there was only way the Pogues wanted to fix it: a Kegger. So, with a new keg and music as louder as it can get, the group got a few Pogues and Turouns to start a party.

JJ found himself with a girl on his lap touching him on ways a lot of girls wanted to at that party. He felt the girl’s fingers going through his hair as her lips were getting closer and closer to his lips.

“Why don’t we go so somewhere more quieter?” The blonde girl asked softly against his lips with a smile.

“Maybe we will.” JJ answer, with a grin even though having a girl around wasn’t in the list of things he wanted to do on that moment. He found himself thinking of you multiple times since he left you with Rafe. What he was feeling was a mix of worry and anger, things that he was used to feeling but not because of you. He usually felt annoyed and irritated, so the fact that his feelings did a full turn was totally consuming his brain.

“What are the Kooks doing here?” He heard Kie asked behind him while the blonde girl, that JJ couldn’t seem to remember her name, was playfully touching with his hair.

He slightly turned around to find teenagers with light brown shorts and polo shirts, with their usual arrogant grins and stupid haircuts.

“This isn’t going to end well.” Pope shook his head.

“Is Y/n here?” John B asked with annoyance, once he located Rafe with her eyes.

“The last time I saw her she was with Rafe, so maybe.” Kie said looking around, hoping to find you in the crowd.

“Maybe.” JJ said more to himself than to anyone around him.

He turned around to go back to the girl that was now, even more closer to his lips than before. He needed to get you out of his head, the fact that he couldn’t even if he had a girl on his lap ready to do anything JJ ever did with different girls at parties was so strange that he even thought of moving the girl aside and ending the party and hopefully fall asleep, not like the night before, but when he saw you quickly walking towards the Chateau, his worry grew up even bigger and the thought of leaving the party seemed more interesting now.

The way that you were covering your face with your hand made him furrowed his eyebrows and gently move the girl from his lap, which she complained but JJ was already walking towards the Chateau, leaving everything behind.

“What are you doing here?” He asked once he saw you sitting down on the couch, with your elbows resting on your knees and your hands covering your face.

“Get the fuck out.” You said. The living room of the house was only being illuminated by the light of the moon so JJ couldn’t see you clearly. But he did notice your heavy breathing and your foot going quickly up and down, making the situation even more weirder.

“Y/n-”

“Get out!” You yelled so loudly and out of the blue that it caught JJ off guard, making him take a step back. But he wasn’t done.

“No, what the fuck are you doing here alone? Are you alright?”

“What do you care?” You asked. You were making sure your face wasn’t illuminated by the poor light that was hitting the room. You clearly didn’t want JJ to see you, and he noticed that. “Get out and go back to the girl you were about to fuck.”

“Stop being a fucking brat and look at me for fucks sake!”

“And why should I do what you want JJ?! Leave me the fuck alone!”

“No! No until you tell me what’s going on with you!”

“Why should I?!” You turned around to see him with the anger that you felt in your body, but quickly went back, remembering what you had in your face. “You don’t fucking care.”

JJ was starting to feel irritated and annoyed at your attitude. So he let out a big sigh and covered his face with his hands to calm himself down and not take the situation to an ever more bad turn. But his mind was playing tricks on him. “Alright! Maybe I will go back to the party and fuck the girl I was with because I can’t fucking stand you and your annoying ass!”

You didn’t respond immediately. You felt a tear coming down your cheek and your throat hurting so much you felt the need to rip it out. “I hate you.” You finally said, softer than your prior tone.

“Well... the feeling is mutual.”

“Then fucking leave.”

“You know what? Maybe you and Rafe are fucking perfect for each other. You two are just two spoiled brats that your only concerns are where to buy your next boat!”

“Is that what you think? Is that what you fucking think!?” You’ve had enough of his words, so without thinking your next move, you got up from the couch and walked closer to him. “You’re so fucking blind that you can’t see what’s in front of your eyes no matter how many times you have it in front of you!”

JJ quickly looked down to your lower lip and your chin where he noticed something new in your face. He furrowed his eyebrows and that’s when you remembered. You looked down when you realized it was too late, he saw it.

A little red scratch was on the side of your lower lip, making them a little bit more bigger than usual. The line went perfectly with another one on your chin, making a big red line on the lower side of your face. Something that you hoped JJ didn’t give much thought into it, but you were clearly so dumb to think that.

“What is that?” He asked looking at you in the eyes, but you quickly broke the eye contact.

“Nothing, leave me alone.” You walked back but JJ grabbed your arm, not giving you the opportunity to walk away from him.

“Y/n, you’re hurt!”

“And so fucking what?!” You yelled but he didn’t answered in the same tone, instead he tried to gently grab your chin to see it better.

“Let me see it.”

“Fuck off.” You pushed his hand away and tried to walk away, but the grip that JJ had in your arm didn’t let you. “JJ! Let me go!”

“No, Y/n, let me see it because I think you need to patch it up!”

“Fuck off!” With a quick move, you managed to leave JJ’s grip and walk back, but he tried to take your chin back to his hand. “Stop it JJ!” You yelled but he wasn’t listening, you tried your hardest to move but the pain that you sudden felt was so strong that you gave in, letting JJ grab your chin.

Once he saw that you were more calm, he grabbed your chin more softly and started to caress your chin with his thumb. The only thing that was on your ears was yours and JJ’s heavy breathing because of the sudden movements you just did a couple of seconds ago. He ended so close to your face that you could feel his hot breath against your skin, making you feel butterflies on your stomach.

With his eyes, he slowly started to move from your eyes to your chin while his thumb was still gently caressing your chin. Once his eyes stopped on your scratch, he pulled your face up so the light of the moon could let him see more clearly.

Your eyes couldn’t part from his, how he was watching carefully your wound and how the feeling of his thumb on your chin made you even more weak. This new feeling that you were experiencing was so unexpected that at some point, you being under his eyes, make you feel uncomfortable. Until you saw his jaw getting clenched and the anger in his eyes.

“Who this did to you?” He said firmly going straight to your eyes. His eyes felt like they were penetrating you, so with slow hands you grabbed his hand that was holding your chin with the intention to end the moment right there, but he wasn’t letting it go. “Was it Rafe?” He asked more firmly now, but with more anger in his voice. Once you gave him the eye contact that he was longing for, he immediately understood what your eyes were trying to say. He did a little nod and bit his lower lip once he let go of your chin and did a quick turn to walk out of the house, already knowing where his next stop was going to be. And you did too.

“JJ!” You yelled trying to stop him, but it was too late, he was already out of the house.

“Cameron!” You heard JJ yell once you stepped out of the house with quick steps. You saw how JJ was quickly walking towards Rafe, who was now looking at him with a grin.

“Pogue! It’s Mr. Cameron for y-” Rafe was saying, but JJ’s fist didn’t let him finish since it was already on his face, leaving it with a incredibly big pain.

John B immediately appeared after that and grabbed JJ by the arm, with the help of Pope. You saw Rafe grabbing his chin in pain, but a couple of seconds later he was already going towards JJ, clearly not letting the Pogue get the first and last punch. But your body and hand on his chest made him stop.

“Stop it!”

“You’re very stupid for doing that Pogue!” Rafe yelled with blood all over his mouth and chin, making him look even more crazier than he already was.

“Rafe! Leave him alone!” You yelled again with more anger, hoping to get his attention.

He looked at you disgusted. “You? Defending him?” He pointed at JJ with his eyes on you, but once he heard JJ moving again he went back to him and you turned around, seeing the disaster that was behind you.

“You fucking leave her alone!” JJ yelled while he was being held by his friends. “Fucking asshole!”

“JJ? What is going on?” Kie asked looking worryingly at you and your chin.

“You dirty Pogue!” Rafe moved you aside with strength that almost made you lose balance to go towards JJ, but you recovered quickly and grabbed his arm with your whole strength, making him slower his steps.

“Rafe! Please! Do not hurt him!” This time, it seemed that Rafe heard you and actually took your words into his brain, since he stopped and looked back at you.

“You’re lucky my girl is here, Maybank.” He said looking dead at you in the eyes with a grin coming out of his lips. You felt the tears fighting to come out, but you hold them back, not wanting to show any type of feeling on that moment.

“Your girl?” You heard JJ ask with anger going back and forth from you and Rafe. But after a couple of seconds he stopped on you, with his heavy breathing and the pain in his eyes, he asked softly: “Are you back with him?”

On that moment you knew that Rafe said something that led to Kie also saying something, but you didn’t hear anything of it. All your attention was on JJ and his eyes, you could feel the pain in his eyes just like they were your own. Your heart was beating faster than ever and your mind was having so many questions. Your eyes saw a single tear coming down his cheek and that made your heart drop to your stomach, making you want to leave Rafe’s side and hug him like there was no tomorrow. But before you could do anything else, he let go of John B’s grip and quickly turned around, leaving the beach behind.

Your feet stayed put since you felt Rafe’s arm going around your shoulders, the party still going around you and Kie talking shit about the Kooks, but somehow you couldn’t hear any of it. It was all silence and one thought going on and on on your mind: You don’t do all of that for someone you hate.

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soobmint · 4 years

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paper hearts | choi soobin [f] ; [c] 80s! au, 9.6k words

s u m m a r y ; if there was one thing you wanted to avoid on valentine’s day, it was running into your ex best friend, choi soobin. but when a series of unfortunate events involving too much purple eyeshadow, drunken punches, and one stolen bicycle leads you right back to his side, you begin to realize that maybe you truly belonged with him all along.

c o n t e n t s ; soobin x fem!reader, 80s! au, valentine’s day, ex best friend! soobin, rich boy! soobin, but he’s a major dweeb and the biggest softie, yeonjun is a major prick (i’m so sorry junnie), reader is a part time worker, soobin is best friends with lee felix of stray kids, some themes of social classes, roughly inspired by the 80s movie “pretty in pink,” mentions drugs, alcohol, and single parent households, mostly just fluff, fluff, and more fluff, with a hint of crack/humor

n o t e ; hello friends! this was a very quickly planned, last minute valentine’s day idea, and it’s actually a collab with one of my dearest friends, @chanluster ! she posted her piece of the collab as well, you can check it out by going to the collab masterlist here! this was so much fun to write and i think that 80s! soobin was just too good of a concept to pass up! anyways, happy valentine’s day, i hope you enjoy this oneshot! do leave a like, reblog, or comment if you could, it really helps so much <3

[back to my masterlist] [oneshot playlist]

IF ONE MORE CUT-OUT, CRAFT-PAPER HEART HIT YOU IN THE FACE, YOU WERE GOING TO QUIT YOUR JOB.

Of course you would never actually quit. With your mother out of the picture and your father working nonstop overtime just to barely have enough cash to put food on the table for the both of you, you had come to rely on your minimum wage part-time hours more than you liked to admit. However, the handmade strings of paper hearts that hung from wall to wall throughout the entirety of the record shop you were employed at was enough to make you consider it; not to mention the Phil Collins record that had been spinning all day, filling your ears with melodies embodying the very air of romance, and the embarrassing pink sweater your boss had forced you to wear. You mumbled curses beneath your breath as you pulled at the collar, itching away at your neck.

When you made a step towards a crate full of records, ready to tidy it up after a customer had rummaged through it leaving it a mess, you were met with another face full of cheap red construction paper. With a large growl of exasperation, you swatted at the hearts and accidentally caused the entire string of them to fall to the ground. You cleared your throat, glad that no customers were present to see your little outburst.

Your boss, Jen, still saw it all.

“That’s not very festive of you, kid,” She said, taking a drag on her cigarette. “It’s Valentine’s Day! Lighten up.”

“Ah, my bad. I forgot that I was supposed to be overjoyed on the day honoring the execution of St. Valentine,” You said as you gave her a sarcastic smile. “I’ll make sure to smile at the next couple that walks in and ask them how they plan to contribute to the commercialization of a martyr’s death.”

“You must be real fun at parties,” Jen mumbled. She shook her cigarette at you from behind the counter. “You’re just bitter because you don’t have a valentine. I can’t blame anyone for giving you the cold shoulder with that attitude of yours.”

You scowled, picking up the string of hearts that you had sent crashing to the floor. “I’m not bitter, and I don’t want a date. Also, I told you to stop smoking inside! It smells awful.”

“Last I checked, this was my shop, not yours.” You rolled your eyes as you approached the counter, handing the discarded string to Jen so she could throw it in the trash. “Now you’re making me do chores for you too? You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that.”

“Jen, please, I’m really not in the mood for this today.”

Jen shrugged, bending towards the trash can to throw away the string of hearts when she paused and pulled something from the bin. You glanced over your shoulder and gasped when you saw what she held in her hand—a small red envelope with your name scrawled across the front and a pink heart-shaped sticker stuck on the back.

“What’s this?” Jen asked, opening the envelope and shaking out the contents. A single slip of paper fell out, landing atop the counter. You rushed to grab it, but Jen snatched it up just before your fingers reached the countertop.

“Give me that,” You insisted, face growing warm. “I threw it away for a reason!”

“It’s an invitation to a party?” She seemed beyond surprised, glancing back and forth between you and the paper several times. “You got invited to a Valentine’s Day party, and instead of going, you asked me to give you extra hours? Why?”

You looked down at your feet, digging the toe of your sneaker into the blue carpet. There were, in fact, many reasons why you did not want to go to that party. They were as follows:

One: Choi Yeonjun was the one who had invited you. After you had rejected his offer when he asked to take you to a basketball game a month before, you could barely make eye contact with him in the school hallway without feeling guilty. That and the fact that he was one of the richest preps in the school, you knew he had just been asking you out for some sort of prank or dare that you preferred to not potentially fall victim to.

Two: you needed to work as much as you could. Money, as always, was tight for you and your father. There was no way you would sacrifice precious hours to go to a party full of rich kids where nothing but humiliation was sure to await you.

Three: your old childhood friend and the one person you couldn’t bear to see was probably going to be there—Choi Soobin.

You had barely spoken to Soobin in the four years you had been in high school. Crossing paths with him in the cafeteria, turning down the same aisle of books as him in the library, all those tiny stolen glances and accidental encounters were the only bits of interaction you had kept throughout all that time. The worst part was, he hadn’t done anything wrong.

It was nothing but your own cowardice that had driven the two of you apart, and you were still too afraid to own up to it.

Instead of explaining all of this to Jen, you simply shrugged and said, “I dunno. It just sounds lame.”

Your boss sighed, holding the invitation out towards you. “Okay, I’m letting you off early. Go to the party.”

With wide eyes, you shook your head immediately. “Absolutely not. Why in the world would I go?”

“Well, first of all, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. Who knows when your next chance to go to a party will be.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at that.

“Second, it’s a holiday! The only reason I even opened today was because you were begging me for hours. I thought it was because you were bummed about having no plans, but clearly it’s because you wanted an excuse to be a recluse.”

“Hey, I’m not a recluse.”

“Clearly.” She shook the invitation at you once more, brows raised. “If you go, I’ll raise your pay by fifty cents for the next month.”

Your ears perked up at that.

“Well?” She asked, well aware that she had hit the jackpot. “What'd ya say?”

Weighing the risks against the benefits, you bit the inside of your cheek.

“Make it a dollar and you’ve got a deal.”

“HAPPY VALENTINE’S, CHOI.”

When Soobin heard the sarcastic remark coming from his best friend, Felix, he had to fight back the urge to burst into tears then and there. He still wasn’t quite sure how Felix had convinced him to come, but he was already regretting it. The last thing he wanted to do to celebrate the day dedicated to love was spend it at a house party—or, as Soobin preferred to call them, any outcast high school kid’s version of hell on earth.

With a quick peek between his fingers, which he had used to cover his eyes immediately upon arriving at the site of the Valentine’s party, Soobin caught another eye-full of couples getting all too familiar with one another out in the open. He gulped, letting his hands grip the handles of the bike as he averted his gaze, choosing to cast his best glare at Felix, who was busy adjusting his ever-present beanie.

“Shut up,” he murmured, slowly sliding off the seat of his bike. He dusted off the worn, tearing cushion, glancing around the area. “Now quick, we gotta put our stuff somewhere safe.”

Felix looked aghast, making no moves to help Soobin in his search for a hiding spot. “What are you doing?”

“Tryna find a safe place for my bike?” He thought the answer to be somewhat obvious, but clearly Felix wasn’t on the same track of thinking. “You don’t know today’s world! Anyone is willing to steal nowadays.”

“Soobin, your bike is coughing up oil from its chains. It should be in its own care home at this rate.”

“I don’t wanna hear your slander, skater boy,” Soobin retorted, eyeing Felix’s ebony skateboard that he refused to be seen without. As if on cue, when he pushed his bike forward, the chains squealed, drawing the attention of a pair of particularly passionate individuals who had been wrapped up with one another moments before. Soobin ignored their annoyed stares, feeling his ears burn from embarrassment. He glanced back to Felix. “Help me find a hiding spot.”

Felix was anything but enthusiastic, but he began to help Soobin search nonetheless.

“Slide it in here, Soobs,” Felix called a few moments later. He was pointed to an empty space between the home’s perfectly trimmed bushes. Soobin pursed his lips together, pushing his large glasses further up the bridge of his nose—a nervous tick of his. Felix groaned, rolling his eyes. “Or you can leave it out in the open so it’ll spit more oil on the passersby? Is that what you want?”

“Fine, fine!” Soobin huffed, wheeling his bike over to the shrubbery, chains squeaking all the way. He carefully laid it beneath the brush and moved a few branches to cover it up nicely. He stood up straight, dusting his hands on the front of his loose blue jeans. “What about your skateboard?”

Felix gave the board a pat, awarding his most prized possession a dazzling smile one would expect to see a proud father giving his beloved son. But in reality, it was the school’s stoner grinning ear to ear at his old, dusty skateboard. “Nightrider stays with me.”

Soobin scrunched his nose, cringing on instinct. He still calls that thing by that stupid name?

Felix clapped him on the shoulder before he could make a remark, catching him off guard when he said, “Right. Let’s go and get your girl.”

There was nothing Soobin could do to stop the flush that rushed to his cheeks right away. Images of you, his ex-best friend and the only reason he had even come to this party in the first place, flashed through his mind. Had he not overheard Yeonjun invite you earlier that morning and then casually mention the encounter to Felix, there was no way he would have even stepped foot out of his house that night. Part of him was peeved, wishing he had never uttered a single word about you to his overbearing friend. Yet, deep down, there was hope within him—the tiniest sliver.

If there was even the slightest chance that he could talk to you that night, he would do anything. Even if it meant dealing with a stupid party, and the never-ceasing teasing he was bound to continue receiving from Felix.

“Don’t even say that,” He said, emphasizing each word as they walked up the front steps. Soobin had to glance down at his much shorter friend to see the devious grin on his freckled face.

“Say what? That she’s your girl, your woman, your one and only?”

The blush must have been creeping to his neck by that point. He could feel it. “I. . .” There were many things Soobin wished to say; angry words that would hopefully shut the blonde skater boy up real quick. But he couldn’t bring himself to say a single harsh word, so he sighed in defeat. “I can’t even say it.”

“That you hate me?” Felix only grinned even bigger, and Soobin couldn’t help the tiny defeated smile that slipped over his features. “Oh, I know. It’s because I’m too good of a best friend.”

They stepped into the house then, instantly being overwhelmed by loud music, boisterous laughter, and drunken yells echoing throughout the halls. Soobin latched onto Felix right away, gripping his friend’s sleeve as someone stumbled into him, a bit of beer spilling from their cup. He pushed his glasses up, only for them to slide right back down as he began to sweat.

“Maybe we should go home, Lix!” Soobin shouted to be heard over the noise as they travelled further into the house. “We can always try next year!”

“Stop being a scaredy-cat!” Felix shouted back, and Soobin thought he might actually begin to cry as they squeezed their way into the living room. Soobin nearly gagged at the strong smell of alcohol as it burned in his nose. The scene was nothing short of a nightmare to Soobin—loud voices, smoke rising in the air, vodka assaulting his nose and sweat beading on the back of his neck. He had never been one to drink, and he didn’t plan on starting that night; but he was beginning to understand what Felix meant when he had once told him it was nearly impossible to get through one of these parties sober.

He was about to make another complaint and beg to leave when someone from the crowd hollered his name, causing him to wince when he recognized that voice as the one that belonged to none other than Choi Yeonjun.

“Soobin! Where you been?”

Soobin smiled nervously at the school’s heartthrob—and textbook snobby rich kid—before he turned back to Felix. He didn’t want to leave his friend, but he knew that he would never hear the end of it if he ignored Yeonjun’s persistent calls. “I’ll be right back,” He promised Felix, still holding onto his sleeve.

“No, no,” Felix assured. “You go. You’ll probably find her around that place anyway.”

Soobin wasn’t so sure of that. You were definitely not of the right social standing to be caught amongst the circle of the school’s rich boys—which was why it had surprised Soobin that Yeonjun had invited you to the party in the first place. Your high school had its own caste system, and you were near the bottom of it.

And, as much as it pained him to admit it, Soobin was stuck at the very top with all the other rich snobs who cared about nothing more than their daily allowances that came straight from their daddy’s bank account.

“What about you, buddy?” He asked Felix, desperate for any excuse to remain by his friend’s side. He would have tried to bring Felix with him, but his friend was in an even worse social standing than you were—he was poor, and he was most known for being the school’s pothead. There was no way Soobin would willingly drag him into a situation where nothing but slander and torment awaited him.

“Me?” Felix shrugged, gripping his board tighter. “I’ll just smoke away the night.”

Soobin pouted, glancing back at the group of preps as they called for him once again. He sighed, clapping Felix on the shoulder. “Just make sure you won’t smell too much of it when I come back.”

Submitting himself to his doom then, he turned on his heel and slowly made his way to where the group of boys sat near the sofa, giving them a half-hearted wave.

“Why were you hanging around that Felix guy?” Yeonjun asked once Soobin had reached their circle. “Did he blackmail you or something?”

Soobin frowned, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “He’s my friend.”

Yeonjun rolled his eyes, brushing a hand through his perfectly-straightened ebony locks. “Sure he is. Tell me, do you see every kid you find on the streets as some sort of personal charity project? Or is it just Felix and—what was her name—” He snapped his fingers then before he said, “Y/N, right?”

Soobin didn’t respond—well, it was more like he couldn’t respond. By nature he was a very passive being, but nothing drew him closer to bouts of anger than when the people he cared about were being insulted right before him.

Especially when it came to you.

Yet, as much as he wanted to tell Yeonjun off or give him a nice shove into the smoke-stained walls, words failed him. They always did. Perhaps this was why you had abandoned him all those years ago. Nobody knew him better than you did, so of course you were able to see what he truly was beneath all the expensive clothes and nervous laughter—a coward.

He figured that he’d probably have left himself too.

“Drink up, buttercup.” The chipper voice that belonged to the other Choi in the small gathering of socialites, Choi Beomgyu, thrust a plastic red cup towards Soobin’s chest.

He shook his head, throwing another wavering smile in his direction. “No thanks. I don’t drink.”

Yeonjun rolled his eyes. “Of course you don’t. Why are you even here then?”

Once again, Soobin chose silence as his only response. He swallowed, patting the front pocket of his denim jacket. As the group of boys began conversing once more, he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander around the room, searching every drunken face for the features that belonged to you, trying to hear your name in every conversation, desperate for your voice to break through the blasting music and shouting voices.

“Who ya looking for there, Big Choi?” Soobin grimaced at the nickname. He was skinny, but incredibly tall, and nobody would let him forget that. “Big Choi” was one of his most common nicknames among the elitists. He despised it, but of course, he would never voice that aloud.

He glanced at Beomgyu and smiled nervously again, shaking his head. “Nobody.”

His eyes met Yeonjun’s and he gulped yet again as the latter eyed him with suspicion. It wasn’t as though he had anything to hide, but something about Yeonjun’s calculating gaze made his skin crawl.

He needed to escape. Just for a moment, at least.

“I’ll be right back. Going to find some water.”

He slipped out of the living room then, apologizing profusely to each couple he accidentally bumped into, bowing in remorse to each person’s toes his big feet happened to stumble over. He ached to be by Felix’s side—the stoned skateboarder had become somewhat of a security blanket to the taller of the duo—but his blonde friend was nowhere to be seen.

After snagging a bottle of water from the kitchen, Soobin managed to slip into an empty bathroom. He slammed the door shut and wasted no time in locking it. Letting out the biggest sigh of relief, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door, taking a big gulp of the ice cold water.

He set the bottle on the counter and carefully reached into the front pocket of his jacket, his fingers finding the piece of paper he had been storing there all evening. He pulled it out and let his eyes wander over his middle school creation. It was a big heart, cut out from a scrap piece of red construction paper. Scrawled across it in his eight-grade handwriting were the words, Be mine this Valentine’s! His name was etched at the bottom, and at the very top, delicately printed in hot pink glitter glue, your name was written as well.

He had planned to give this to you four years ago on Valentine’s day. Everything had been planned out perfectly; he was to pick you up on his old, trusty bike. It wasn’t really made for two people, but the two of you had fashioned a makeshift extra seat for you to sit upon whenever you went places together.

He wanted to take you to the Dairy Shack, which was the local ice cream shop where the two of you spent the most time together. You always got a large chocolate shake to share, playing a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to eat the cherry on top. He was going to order a shake and specially ask for two cherries that time, and planned to give both of them to you before he would bravely present you with the handmade card he had spent all day working on.

However, when he waited for you outside your house that day, the red dusk turned to pitch black night, and you never stepped foot out your door.

He had even gone up to your door a few times and knocked, but there was no answer. Eventually he pedalled off into the night, back to his house. He was disappointed, of course, but more worried than anything else. He had hoped you weren’t sick.

But when he saw you at school the next day, he knew that hadn’t been the case.

And when you ignored him calling your name as you passed by him in the hallways, he knew that something had drastically changed.

For weeks, Soobin was in great turmoil as he replayed your last few encounters together before you had stood him up. Perhaps you were angry that he had won the last few games of rock, paper, scissors? If he had known, he would have given you all the cherries for the rest of time if it meant you would still talk to him. He didn’t care about them—he cared about you.

He missed you.

And as weeks turned to months, and months turned to years, you still barely spoke to him, and he missed you more and more. The best friend he had wanted to take a step closer to had taken a thousand steps back from him, and he still had no idea why.

But that night, he was determined to find out.

Well, if he could muster up the courage to get a single word out, of course.

He folded the heart back up and stuck it back in his pocket, taking a deep breath as he observed himself in the fogged-up mirror. He fixed his bright blue hair that Felix had helped him bleach and dye, making sure the pieces fell over the corners of his eyes just right. He straightened his white turtleneck and cuffed the sleeves of his denim jacket until he was at least somewhat content with his appearance.

“You can do this, Soobs,” He told himself, adjusting his big round glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “That’s what Felix would say.”

“Hey, rich boy!” A loud scream came from outside the bathroom door, accompanied by harsh knocking that sent Soobin stumbling backwards until he fell in the shower, pulling the curtains down with him.

“Hurry up in there! I’m about to piss myself!”

Soobin let out a shaky sigh, scrambling to his feet as he rushed to fix the curtain he had torn down with his clumsiness. “Sorry,” he mumbled, though he doubted the person on the other side of the door could hear him.

He realized then with an ever growing dread that it would be a miracle if he survived the night long enough to even find you, but it would take the work of God himself for him to actually speak to you.

He figured it was time for him to start praying.

YOU KNEW IT WAS A MISTAKE TO LET JEN DO YOUR MAKEUP.

When she had stopped you on your way out the door with a compact of bright purple eyeshadow, you had turned her down right away. No way in all of creation were you walking in a party with such an atrocious color caked up to your brow bone.

“How can you say it’s gonna look bad if you haven’t even let me try?” Jen had asked.

You had given her a once-over, your lips pressed into a thin line. “If it’s gonna look anything like the way you do your own makeup, I’m gonna have to pass.”

After that snide remark, she had threatened to fire you if you didn’t let her apply the makeup. And so you obliged, though you didn’t have much of a choice.

The booming sounds of the party hit your ears before you had even reached the lawn. Screaming teens—well, there were probably some adults thrown in there as well—and the sound of music spilled through the open windows of the home. Couples and singles alike were scattered throughout the perfectly kept lawn that was now littered with empty cups and other assortments of garbage.

You looked down at your patchwork jeans and pink sweater, certain that you would be underdressed compared to the rest of the partygoers. But from the looks of things, as you carefully squeezed your way through the front door and into the home, everyone was probably too wasted to even notice your arrival, let alone care about your looks.

You caught a glimpse of your face in the hallway mirror, cringing at the sight of your eyeshadow. You had tried to wipe some of it away before arriving, but it simply smudged, giving you quite the shocking smoky, purple eye look. For someone who didn’t even know the difference between a paintbrush and a makeup brush, it was a bold look, to say the least.

If Soobin saw you looking like this, he’d probably have a heart attack.

Soobin.

In the midst of all your frantic preparation, you had nearly forgotten about the main reason why you had planned to avoid this party at all costs. With a quick glance around the room, you realized that he was nowhere to be seen. You wouldn’t have been surprised if he hadn’t shown up at all. He was never a fan of parties, anyway.

You crossed your arms over your chest and slowly slipped past the couples crowding the hallway with their limbs intertwined, mouths practically swallowing one another whole, until you reached the living room. Surprisingly, it was less crowded in here than you thought it might be. A few minglers were scattered about the room’s perimeter, but they all kept away from the center of the room, which was occupied by none other than Choi Yeonjun and all his brainless, rich-boy worshippers. You quickly scanned the group, not able to make out Soobin among them. When you realized he wasn’t there, you were partly relieved and partly disappointed. If was to be anywhere at this party, it would probably be with these guys.

With a quick turn on your heel, you planned to make your way out of the living room before Yeonjun could see you. The last thing you wanted was for the boy with a bruised ego to see you, regardless of whether or not he had been the one to invite you.

“Y/N? You came?”

Too late.

Plastering a forced grin to your face, you slowly turned to face Yeonjun, who had just called your name. He was eyeing you with slight surprise, but soon, a smirk slipped across his lips as he motioned for you to come over. You had to hold back your sigh, wishing there was some way for you to get out of this situation. It was all Jen’s fault that you had to show up in the first place. You decided you were going to demand an extra ten cents be added to your raise the next time you saw your pushy boss.

“Hey Yeonjun,” you said once you had walked over to him. “I figured I’d stop by for a minute or two, since you were kind enough to invite me.”

He smirked, glancing at a few of his friends. They shared a knowing laugh with one another, but the meaning of it was lost to you. You wanted nothing more than to get away from them, but that wasn’t an option.

“You’re too busy to go out with me to a basketball game but free enough to come to a party, huh?” He asked.

You blinked, digging your nails into your arms. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s fine, really,” He drawled, swirling his plastic cup of beer in his hand. “You didn’t think I’d be upset or anything did you? I only asked you out because I was dared to shack up with you. But I’m guessing you already knew that, since you’re so smart and all.”

Your eyes went wide, but you managed to control the rest of your expression. It was just like you had guessed—Yeonjun had invited you to the party with the sole purpose of making a scene.

If you survived the night, Jen was never going to hear the end of it.

“You’re not gonna say anything?” He asked, pushing himself to his feet. You could tell by the slight stumble in his step and his hooded eyes that he had quite a bit to drink. He took a step towards you, causing you to back up immediately. Your back hit the wall, and you placed your palms against it as Yeonjun towered over you.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I know why you’re here anyways.” He leaned forward, his lips hovering near your ear. “You’re here to see Soobin, aren’t you? Since he’s the only one here willing to waste his time on filth like you.”

Your blood boiled, and you had to clench your fists at your sides to control your anger.

“Don’t,” You seethed, “Call me that.”

“Call you what? Filth? Or sweetheart? Why, is that something good old Binnie used to call you—”

He never got to finish that sentence, because with one big burst of anger, you stomped on his toe as hard as you could with your worn-out platform sneaker.

“What the hell!” He screeched, drawing the attention of several others in the room. His outburst even caused a few of the couples to pull away from each other’s faces long enough to eavesdrop.

Before you could even say anything back, lukewarm liquid was splashed up in your face, burning your eyes and nose. You gasped, running your hands over your eyes to see Yeonjun with his now empty cup of beer pointed towards you.

“Think twice before you act out against me next time, sweetheart. Never forget your place.”

Tears of anger burned in your eyes, and you scanned the room to see several people exchanging whispers and giggles as they glanced in your direction. You pushed past Yeonjun and quickly made your way out the back door of the house, unable to stand the humiliation for a moment longer.

Soobin arrived in the living room just in time to see you leave.

He wasted no time in rushing towards Yeonjun, grabbing hold of his arm. “Yeonjun, was that Y/N?” He asked, eyes quickly taking in the puddle of alcohol on the floor and the empty cup in Yeonjun’s hand. “What happened?”

“Nothing you need to worry your pretty blue head about, Big Choi. I just put her in her place is all.”

Soobin’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean you ‘put her in her place?’”

Yeonjun laughed, giving Soobin a nonchalant pat on the back. “Just drop it, would you? It has nothing to do with you.”

“What did you say, Yeonjun?”

Yeonjun was growing irritated now. He huffed out a breath, crossing his arms over his chest. “I said it has nothing to do with you, Soobin. I know you like to hang around people like that pothead Felix, but the rest of us live in the real world, where we’d rather not waste our time with those who have no future anyways. I bet he’s the one that got you to dye your hair that god awful blue, isn’t he?”

Soobin bit the inside of his cheek. He so badly wished to rip Yeonjun to shreds then and there. If he had Felix’s courage, the cocky bastard would have been knocked to the ground ages ago. But if there was one thing Soobin was sure he could never be, it was brave. And so, despite his rage, he remained silent, his eyes practically burning a hole through Yeonjun’s chest from how intently he was glaring.

It seemed as though Yeonjun was about to say something, but his eyes landed on the bit of red that peeked through the front pocket of Soobin’s denim jacket. Before Soobin had time to defend himself, Yeonjun had reached forward and snatched it from his pocket, revealing the large paper heart—his valentine for you.

“So this is why you care so much,” Yeonjun said, laughing as his eyes scanned the glittery words that decorated the page. “You want her to be your valentine.”

“Give that back,” Soobin said quietly, his hands beginning to shake.

Yeonjun instead lifted his eyes to Soobin, gave him a sickly sweet grin, and ripped the heart straight down the middle. He let the two pieces fall from his hands to the ground, and with them Soobin’s heart went also.

“You’re really willing to try and go against me, and for what? For the sake of a girl who can’t even afford a new pair of jeans and a boy that smokes his life away in the bathroom stalls?” Yeonjun took a slow step towards Soobin, his eyes glinting with a sinister determination. “You may be rich, Soobin, but if you choose to lower yourself to their standards, you may as well be dirt poor just like they are.”

With his hands clenched into tight fists, his glasses sliding down his nose, and his heart quite literally in two pieces on the floor below him, Soobin decided that he had had enough.

“I’d much rather be associated with people who are kind and have actual depth to their character than be lumped together with a bunch of pricks like you with no real personality—because that’s something you can’t buy with daddy’s paycheck.”

He had to physically restrain himself from slapping his hand across his own mouth in shock. It was as if the spirit of Felix himself had possessed him to say such harsh things. He wondered where Felix was then, wishing more than ever before to have his best friend by his side as he began to tremble from either the rush of adrenaline that coursed through his veins, or from fear. Or perhaps it was both.

He didn’t have time to ponder it any longer before Yeonjun’s fist collided with his nose, resulting in a sickening crack as pain echoed throughout his face in tidal waves.

He stumbled backward as people began to shout, raising his hand to his nose and gasping when he saw that his palm was covered in blood.

Beomgyu had his arms wrapped around Yeonjun, who was desperately trying to lunge towards Soobin once again.

“Knock it off, Yeonjun!” Beomgyu shouted, pushing the elder back. “His dad is on the school board! Are you trying to get expelled?”

Beomgyu looked over his shoulder at the still stunned Soobin, who was gaping at the blood that now stained his once white turtleneck.

“Get lost, Soobin,” Beomgyu said, to which Soobin only blinked in reply, his ears ringing.

“Now!”

Head spinning, Soobin picked up the two halves of his paper heart, stuffed them into his jeans, and stumbled out the same door he had seen you go through just minutes before. After checking to make sure his glasses were still intact—they were, thankfully—he shook his head in an effort to clear his mind of the static, eyes scanning the front lawn looking for any trace of you.

It didn’t take long for his eyes to spot you among the now dwindling crowd of partygoers. Your bright pink sweater stood out against the darkness, so he was able to recognize you even with your back towards him. He sniffed, wiping the back of his hand against his dripping nose as he slowly made his way to where you sat on the curb, your feet planted on the asphalt street. He wished that he looked a bit more presentable—when he played this scene out in his head over the years in which he would finally reunite with you, he never imagined himself dazed and covered in blood.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, he supposed.

When he reached you, he simply stood beside you in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say. He could tell that you sensed his presence, but you refused to look up at him as you kept your face buried in your hands. He could have sworn he heard a few muffled sobs slip through your fingers, but of course, he wasn’t going to bring that up.

Eventually he decided to slip his jacket off of his shoulders, leaning down to drape it over you. You still kept your head down as he sat beside you on the curb, but he watched you grip the jacket and pull it tighter around your body. He smiled a bit, holding the collar of his turtleneck against his throbbing nose.

“Thank you,” you muttered, wiping your hand across your eyes. You finally looked over at him, and when you did, you couldn’t hold back your gasp. “My God Soobin, what happened to your face?”

“Oh, well, I might have gotten punched,” He said quickly, trying to wave off your concern. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Punched? By who?”

He looked down at the ground, sniffing as a drop of blood hit the pavement. “Yeonjun,” he muttered under his breath.

“I’m sorry, did you just say Yeonjun? Are you insane? Why on earth would you butt heads with the Choi Yeonjun?”

Soobin didn’t say anything in response, he simply stared at you, eyes wide with beer dripping off the ends of your hair, makeup smeared across your face, your sweater stained down the front. It didn’t seem to take long for you to put the pieces together, as the shock left your face and was replaced with something akin to guilt.

“Oh,” You said, looking back down at your shoes.

“So she knows that I did it all for her,” Soobin thought.

For some reason, the idea of that both terrified and excited him.

A second later, he glanced over to see you ripping one of the hand-sewed patches of fabric off your jeans, leaving a square of your skin exposed to the chilly night air. You leaned towards him, pushing his hand away from his nose so you could use the patch to clean up some of the blood on and around his puffy red nose.

“Y/N, your pants!” He exclaimed, trying to push your hand away. “They’re ruined!”

“I’m not worried about my pants, you idiot,” You said, swatting his hand away as you continued to press the cloth against his skin. “You got punched in the face because of me, this is the least I could do.”

“That was my choice though,” He muttered, although he stopped trying to resist your touch. He ignored the way his heart thrummed harder in his chest, hoping that you couldn’t hear.

“Well, this is my choice too.” Your eyes flicked to his for a brief moment, your bottom lip pulled between your teeth. “Why did you do it, by the way?”

“Do what?”

“Stand up to Yeonjun for me and get a nasty nosebleed as a result.”

“Oh.” He blinked slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on yours. “Just ‘cause.”

“Because . . . ?”

“Because of you.” He blurted, causing your hand to go still against him. He swallowed his fear, braving the best smile that he could. “Just you. That was my only reason.”

You didn’t say anything as your hand fell from his face, the cloth clutched between your fingers. The anxiety he had tried his best to suppress came rushing up all at once, and he was surprised that his ears didn’t begin to squeal like a tea kettle from all the pressure.

“Y/N,” He said, gently placing his hand over yours despite how his fingers trembled. “Why did you pull away from me?”

“What?”

“Four years ago. Why did you stop talking to me?”

You were quiet for a moment, digging into the ground with the toe of your sneaker. Soobin held his breath until you finally replied with, “I was afraid.”

“Afraid? Of what?”

“We were getting older, Binnie,” You said, and his heart skipped at the use of your old nickname for him. “You and I, we’re from very different walks of life. You get to hang out with people like Yeonjun, whereas I get a cup of beer poured all over my face just for existing, and you get a fist to the nose for trying to stand up for me. We’re from different sides of the track, one might say.”

“So?” Soobin asked, his hand tightening around yours. “Did you really think that would affect us that much, Y/N?”

You frowned, glancing down at his hand over yours.

“I thought you’d be embarrassed of me,” You said, your voice barely above a whisper.

“Embarrassed?” Soobin’s eyes went wide as he gripped your hand tighter still, pulling it into his lap. “Y/N, I would never, ever be embarrassed of you. Besides, have you seen my best friend? He’s on a first name basis with the principal because of how often he gets written up for smoking behind the school. If I’m not embarrassed of him, why would I ever be embarrassed of you?”

You laughed, wiping the back of your hand across your eyes once more. “I guess I was worried about nothing, huh?” You sniffed, giving his hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry, Soobin.”

He shook his head, squeezing your hand right back. “Don’t apologize. You’re here now, that’s what matters. Do think we could—you know—”

“Pick up where we left off?” You smiled, nodding vigorously. “I’d like that very much, Binnie.”

He beamed then, almost pinching himself to be sure that he was not dreaming, but the pain in his nose was real enough to remind him of that on its own. He jumped to his feet, pulling you right up with him.

“In that case, how about we finally go on that Valentine’s date I had planned all the way back then?”

“Date?” You asked, a brow raised. “Is it really considered a date if two friends are just hanging out?”

He didn’t respond as he pulled you along behind him towards the bushes where he and Felix had hidden his bike. He crouched down and moved the branches aside, feeling his heart drop to his stomach when he realized that his bike was, in fact, no longer there.

He shot up, turning to face you with eyes wide. “Felix—that bastard took my bike!”

You were quiet for a moment, but then, you burst into boisterous laughter, leaving Soobin utterly confused.

“It’s not funny, Y/N!” He whined, shoving your shoulder lightly. “I was supposed to take you to the Dairy Shack on my bike!”

“It is funny,” You said between bursts of laughter. “Only you would get such a rusty old piece of metal stolen from you.”

He pushed his lips out in a pout, sliding his glasses up his sore nose. “It’s a good bike, don’t make fun of it.”

You grinned, interlocking his fingers with yours, which was enough to instantly wipe the pout right off his face.

“Let’s just walk, Binnie. The Dairy Shack isn’t that far anyways.”

You were right; the walk to your favorite milkshake place was very close to the house where the party had occurred. Although Felix stealing his bike had thrown an obvious wrench in his plans, it was a minor hiccup, and one he could most definitely handle. Besides, he wouldn’t have to see Felix until the next day anyways. He could deal with his frustration then.

At least, that’s what he thought anyways, until the two of you spotted Felix at the skatepark on your way to the dairy shack.

Soobin’s eyes took in the deplorable sight before him—from where he stood on the dimly lit sidewalk, he could see Felix and a girl he had never seen before, their faces nearly pressed together, and most importantly, with his bike discarded a few yards away from them.

“Soobin,” You said, tugging on his arm. “They look like they’re busy, let’s just go—”

But Soobin, who had little patience when it came to Felix messing up his plans, didn’t let you finish before he screamed, “Give me back my freaking bike!”

You had to hold back your snort of laughter at his choice of words. Even when he was trying to sound angry, he was undeniably adorable.

Soobin watched as Felix startled, clutching his spliff between his fingers as he glared daggers back at his friend. Soobin gulped, trying not to let his fear show on his face. What did he have to be afraid of, anyways? He was the victim of thievery, and his best friend was the offender.

Felix took a big step towards him, but he paused, his eyes landing on your interlocked hands. Soobin glanced down as well, his face growing furiously warm as he realized the situation he had gotten himself into.

He decided to divert the subject before it could even be brought up by saying, “I can’t believe you stole my bike! All this time I was trying to hide it from strangers, but you, my best friend! I should’ve been hiding it from you!”

Soobin noticed Felix’s female companion step off the skateboard and walk over in his direction, and for a second he felt bad for possibly ruining her night with his best friend. However, his frustration was more prominent in the moment as he fixed his gaze back on his best friend, who had fixed a mischievous smirk upon his face that made warning sirens blare in Soobin’s head right away.

“Now, now, buddy,” Felix said, his voice calm and carefree as ever. It probably had something to do with what he had just smoked, but Soobin didn’t care all that much. “You’re just gonna have to let me borrow it for a little longer.”

Soobin nearly laughed at the audacity of such a statement. “You are gonna give me the bike, or—”

“How about this, Soobs?” Soobin’s lips clamped shut at his friend’s interruption, as the thief in question gestured with his joint to where Soobin’s fingers were locked with yours. “You let me keep your bike for the night, and I don’t tell your dad about you hanging out with the opposite gender.”

Unable to control yourself, you let out a big laugh. Soobin would have felt betrayed, but he was more terrified than anything else at the idea of his father finding out that he was taking a girl out without his permission. He would be grounded for weeks—no, months.

“You wouldn’t.”

Felix’s lips curled up even more into a twisted grin that Soobin wished he had the guts to slap off his face. “God, just imagine the look on Mr. Choi’s face. Imagine him finding out about your premarital hand holding.”

No. Not the hand holding.

Soobin almost felt faint, but he steeled himself to the best of his abilities as he cleared his throat. “One night, Lix,” he warned. “If I don’t see it on my porch in the morning, you’ll be sorry!”

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Felix teased. His expression changed a moment later though, when he finally noticed Soobin’s swollen nose and blood-stained turtleneck. “Wait, Soobs, the hell happened to you?”

Soobin, however, had already taken his first steps away from the skatepark, pulling you along behind him. “I’ll tell you later, bud. Enjoy your spliff with that kind girl who you probably don’t deserve!”

“Hey!”

Soobin couldn’t help but laugh as he swung your interlocked hands together, grinning as you let out a laugh as well. The anger that had seeped through him seemed to melt away in an instant as the two of you continued your journey to the Dairy Shack.

“Would your dad really be that upset if he found out about this?” You asked.

Soobin grimaced. “We should probably wait til next year to tell him about this outing. Or maybe the year after that.”

When the two of you had finally reached the Dairy Shack, you waited outside for him while he went in to order your drink. A large chocolate milkshake, with two straws, just like you used to get every time before.

When he had the drink in hand, he walked back outside and sat down beside you on the curb, smiling as you wrapped his jacket tighter around your shoulders. You smiled back up at him, your eyes creasing from the expression. Your smile had always struck him right to his core; he had missed seeing it every day.

He hoped he could see it every morning and every night from that day onward. There was no way he would let you go this time.

He just had to muster up the courage to grab hold of you first.

“You know what, Binnie, you turned out to be a lot taller than I thought you ever would be,” you said as you took one of the straws from his hands. “You’re actually enormous. It’s shocking.”

“Should I find that offensive? It sounds kinda like an insult.”

“Take it however you will,” You teased, leaning over as he popped the plastic lid off the milkshake. He grabbed the cherry by the stem and held it towards you.

“What are you doing?” You asked, holding out your fist. “We have to rock, paper, scissors for it. Remember?”

Soobin laughed as he shook his head. “I’m giving it to you this time. It’s what I planned to do all those years ago, when I asked you to hang out on Valentine’s.”

You seemed to be taken aback, but you simply shrugged as you plucked the cherry from his hand and pulled it from the stem with your teeth, glancing back over at him. It was silent for a moment, but then your eyes landed on the pocket of his jeans, where you could see a bit of red paper poking out. You leaned over even further, reaching your hand out to snatch the paper.

“What are you—hey! Give that back!”

Soobin desperately tried to take his Valentine back from you, but it was too late. You held both halves of what used to be a whole in your hands, your eyes scanning the words as you pieced them together.

“Soobin . . .”

He held his breath. Had his act of young love left you completely speechless? Were you so touched that you would burst into tears?

“This looks like a middle schooler made it.”

He let out the breath in the form of a long, long sigh.

“That’s because it was made by a middle schooler,” He said as he set the milkshake down beside him. “I made it back in the eighth grade. I planned to give it to you that Valentine’s.”

“Oh.” You ran your finger along the card’s surface, the smallest smile creeping across your lips. “Well in that case, it’s not half bad. Why’s it ripped though?”

“Ah—well, Yeonjun . . .”

You nodded, taking another glance at his swollen nose. “No need to elaborate. It seems you had a lot planned for our Valentine’s Day back then. Is there anything else you wanted to do?”

His mouth went dry at that, and he wished that you couldn’t see his face because he was sure that his expression was quite comical. All the way back then, four years prior, he had in fact planned the perfect, ideal day in his head. Picking you up on his bike, giving you the cherry from his milkshake, and presenting you with his hand made card.

There was only one thing left on his list.

He didn’t move at first, willing himself to have enough courage to even look back in your direction. But when he finally did allow his eyes to meet yours, he felt his shoulders relax and his heart rate became more manageable.

He took a deep breath, leaned forward, and pressed his lips against your cheek.

He lingered there for only a moment before he pulled back, daring to pry one of his eyes open to take in the look on your face.

The disappointment was palpable—from the way your brows furrowed together and the way you pursed your lips. His stomach dropped, and he scooted the tiniest bit away from you.

“I’m sorry,” He blurt out, his face growing warmer by the second. “I shouldn’t have done that, I just—”

“Is that all?”

Your question stopped him mid-ramble, his eyes growing wide. “Huh?”

“Is that all?” You repeated, closing the distance between you that he had created. “It’s Valentine’s Day, Soobin. I think we can do better than a peck on the cheek.”

The implications of what you were saying didn’t register with him right away, but when it finally did, he could have sworn his heart began to beat loud enough for the entire town to hear. His hand curled into a fist as he gripped the denim of his jeans. He leaned forward, keeping his eyes open just enough to watch you as he brought his lips closer to yours. He could feel your eyes on him all the while, causing his heart to pound fiercer still within him.

When he was just a breath away, he whispered, “Can you close your eyes?”

“Hm?”

He lifted his hand, gently placing it over your eyes. He leaned closer then, filling the space between you both as his lips met yours. You tasted vaguely of cherry and strawberry slice soda, and he found it quite nice the way his lips seemed to fit perfectly against your own. As the seconds drew on, your hands slipped around his neck, pulling him closer. He slowly let his hand fall from your eyes, tracing lines with the tips of his fingers down your cheek before he cradled your jaw, letting his lips part just enough to taste the sweet sugar on your lips once more.

He thought in a haze that it was a good thing he didn’t drink anything at the party, as kissing you was proving to be intoxicating enough on its own.

When you finally pulled away, leaving your forehead resting against his, he let his eyes flutter open enough to see the euphoric smile that adorned your features. He grinned as well, gently running his thumb against your cheek.

“I think that back then, I had planned to ask you this before kissing you,” He whispered, “But Y/N, will you be my Valentine?”

Instead of a spoken answer, you laughed, leaning forward to capture his lips with yours once again, and that was the only answer Choi Soobin would ever need.

WHEN SOOBIN ARRIVED HOME THAT NIGHT, HE WENT STRAIGHT FOR THE TELEPHONE.

It was kept upstairs at night right outside his parent’s door, to keep himself and his brother from using it in the late hours. Of course, this never stopped Soobin from sneaking it downstairs to his room in the basement to make late night calls to Felix.

And that particular evening, he really needed to give Felix an update.

He grabbed the phone from the small table in the hallway, carefully tiptoeing towards the basement stairs. Before he had even taken the first step down, the bathroom door creaked open. Soobin whipped his head around to see his brother Kai standing there, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he raised a brow at his older brother.

Soobin froze, blinking slowly as he realized the incriminating situation he found himself in.

“Please don’t tell mom,” He whispered, his eyes pleading with his younger brother.

Kai nodded, although Soobin wasn’t quite convinced that the boy was even coherent enough to understand what was going on. Soobin offered a rushed thank you, and ventured his first step down the stairs.

Well, he tried, anyways, and ended up missing the first step. He tumbled down the rest of the stairs, landing on his butt at the very end.

He winced in pain, glad to see that the phone was still intact in his hands. He glanced over his shoulders to see Kai staring down the stairway with wide eyes, his lips parted in shock. Soobin quickly put a finger to his lips, begging his brother for silence.

Kai simply shook his head and walked away, allowing Soobin the freedom to breathe out a sigh of relief.

He quickly ran to his bedroom and shut the door, collapsing onto his bed with the phone as his breaths came in ragged gasps as an aftereffect from his tumble down the stairs. He figured he should have dialed Felix’s number right away, but he couldn’t help but brush his fingers against his lips, remembering the feeling and taste of having yours pressed against them.

He was so caught up in his daze that he didn’t notice Felix calling until the third ring.

He picked it up, breathing heavily into the speaker as he rubbed a sore spot on his lower back.

“Please tell me that panting is from running a marathon, and not what I think you’ve successfully tried.”

Soobin nearly gagged, holding the phone away from his face as he coughed, flustered by his friend's crude words. He brought the phone back to his face and said, “No, you sicko, I just fell down the stairs.”

“How the hell did you manage that with those long legs?”

“That’s not important, Lix!” He laid back onto his pillows then, twirling the phone cord in his hands as he stared up at his ceiling, the memories of his adventure with you that night flooding his mind once more. He couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear as he said, “Look, I need to tell you something important.”

If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that he could hear the smile in Felix’s voice too as his friend replied.

“Well buddy, I got something to tell you too.”

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howdybesties · 3 years

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This was literally inspired by the fact that there are American/Russian versions of Kettlebell Swings. and the discussion I had with @academiaipromise on the VA discord. Thanks for inspiring me to post my first fic like ever? I wrote this in like a few hours so forgive any tense/grammar issues. Here is my little drabble. I’d say this is set in like Frostbite or something

The Romitri Kettlebell Conflict

Rose could already hear Dimitri's 80s playlist blasting through the speaker when she made her way to the gym for their usual 5 PM session. Five minutes late as per usual, because it was punishment enough making her get up this early.

She expected to see Dimitri with his head buried in another one of his Westerns but, she was pleasantly surprised with what she found. Somehow, Dimitri hadn’t noticed her coming in and was in deep concentration doing a set of reps. Of kettlebell reps. Only he wasn’t lifting it as high as he should be.

Then the realisation hit her that she could finally teach him something for a change.

“That’s not how you do kettlebell swings, Comrade,” Rose announced to him and the empty gym.

“You’re late again, Rose,” Dimitri sighed as he put down the kettlebell, turning to look at her. Only to be greeted with her wide grin. His expression turned to one of confusion.

“What are you so happy about?”

“You weren’t doing kettlebell swings properly.” She stated as she walked towards him. Her grin grew wider as she took in his confusion.

“Are we really having this conversation right now?" Dimitri's arms folded across his chest. "You were late again, Rose. You want to discuss how you’re not taking these sessions seriously?”

“Stop changing the subject! I finally know something you don’t!”

“They’re standard kettlebell swings. I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

Rose scoffed at that response. “Yeah, in Russia, maybe. But over here, that’s not how you do it.”

He arched an eyebrow curiously. “Fine, warm-up and then show me how you would do it.”

A few laps and 10 minutes of stretches later, the pair were back at the weights. Rose made a big show of looking over all the kettlebell weights before picking up a standard 15lb one.

“I have to ask if you’re ready for this, Comrade. It might blow you away. Liss and I learnt this from that one pilates class we took.”

“I’m sure it will, Roza.”

Rose got into position, then swung the kettlebell over her head and down. Then up and down. And up. And down. On this last swing, however, her eye caught the door opening. Before she realised what was about to happen, the kettlebell slipped from her grasp. Instead of the expected thud of the weight hitting the padded floors, a furious yell erupted from the entrance.

“HATHAWAY!”

The kettlebell had landed precisely on the foot of the Guardian who had just entered the gym to set up for his morning sessions.

The kettlebell had landed on Guardian Alto's foot.

And that is why there is a poster of Rose Hathaway’s face in the Academy Gym with a big red cross over it and bold text reading: NO KETTLEBELLS ALLOWED.

#vampire academy #dianawrites

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no-brain-just-akutagawa · 2 years

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Orchid, bamboo, jasmine

Hii! Thanks for the ask ^^ Sorry it took a little longer than the previous ones, wasn’t my plan haha

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

The song I chose this time is Maniac by Conan Gray. Leaving the realm of anti-drops, this song is like a throwback perfection. 80s music is ageless and I love modern takes on it and Conan is just such an amazing artist it was bound to be awesome. His Kid Krow album is perfect from strat to finish and I can’t wait for Superache to be released on the 24th. And about the song, it’s another one that I listen to both the regular track and the clear instrumental, because they’re both phenomenal.

To begin with the instrumental, it’s full of synthesizers typical for this 80s vibes. The chorus has mostly bassline with drums and a sprinkle of synths and as someone who loves the sound of bass, I’m in Heaven. It works as a great build-up to the chorus because it’s so minimalistic but as the same time you really don’t need more to set the stage for what’s yet to come. The pre-chorus with this long long synth also works so well to hype the chorus upand oh my, I love the intrumental in the chorus. One of the prettiest 80s inspired choruses. This de do de do dee melody in a psychopath is chef’s kiss. I’m obsessed with it. I don’t know what they put in these few seconds, but it’s working so well on me. The only downside of this song is that because of the lyrics, it’s REALLY hard to hear in the actual song. Maybe that’s why I love it so much. It’s like a secret between people who listened to the clear instrumental. Like it’s there, but if you know and pay attention to it, you’ll hear it at least partially, but it’s a well-hidden gem. Then we have this complete stop and and the you maniac part and only after listening to the instrumental it clicked for me that Conan actually says ma-ni-ac in this part. Like this distorted sound in the chorus does say Ma-ni-ac some may say. That’s wild!! It took me weeks to notice and I only did because I thought huh the ma-ni-ac would kinda fit this instrumental and checked lyrics on Genius. But yeah going further, I really like that moment of silence at the beginningof the 2nd verse. I feel like after the post chorus, it was definitely needed to kinda cool of the emotions haha And then the beat comes back and it’s the same thing as before (why change somthing that’s perfect). The last thing is the brige which has both the bassline and synths and it sounds lovely with that very low synth and then we get drums?? Like this drum moment is so 80s I adore it! It’s simple, it’s stunning what more to wish for.

Now the vocals and lyrics are amazing as well. The whispered maniac at the begining was such a good move. Like for some reason it adds everything to this track and the into would be empty without it. Besides that Conan does nice layering with vocals with the song calls for it. One of his greatest strengths is how he can express his emotions through his voice and he spends this whole song taunting the past lover while also being kinda hurt by that on the inside and it sounds amazing. I could tell you that just by listening to his voice, I wouldn’t even need to understand the lyrics, and he always adds an extra attitude to make his songs more emotional. And another cool part of that is that quite often Conan tells a story in a song with plot twists and such (this one is a good example, but Fight of Flight is a great example), so we see his emotional reaction to the events we are told about. And I always get invested in the storyline as a bonus to an already great song. And one last thing, he often uses they or you while talking about love interests and other character in stories or makes the song so that it can be read as queer, which I find really cool.

bamboo ⇢ do you change into a different outfit when you get home?

Depends on the outfit, but unless I’m wearing something really fancy or uncomfortable, I don’t change outfits. I have some clothes that I consider inside clothes, but I don’t wear them unless I have nothing else to wear, because my outdoor clothes are already comfy and make me feel really confident, so changing into something else would take this atmosphere of being unstoppable from me haha

jasmine ⇢ do you have a movie or book you loved but will never watch/read again?

There were so many books that I loved as a child but grew out of and reading them again would only ruin the magic. There was this one book about dragons that I absolutely loved, but I don’t know the title and trying to find it would be too time-consuming. Sometimes I wish I remembered the title, but deep down I know I’d be disappointed if I read it now haha

#sorry for not addressing you with a name but you don't have one in your bio so I had no idea what to say #I added the cut because once again I went into an essay mode while talking about a song and hopefully I didn't make too many typos sjcgsghs #asks

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mystic-writings · 4 years

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worth the wait | luke patterson

PAIRING — luke patterson x fem!reader

SUMMARY — you run into luke in the diner you used to frequent with the band 6 years after you last saw him

WARNINGS — angst, nostalgia, fluff

WORD COUNT — 2,287

NOTE — it’s been like a month since i posted the first part to this fic but i finally got around to actually writing the second part to something for once, so enjoy 😅 if you haven’t read the first part to this fic, please read it here or else this one won’t make sense!

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6 years. It’s been 6 years since you last saw Luke Patterson. A lot’s changed since the day you left him standing in that driveway, on your way to a new life for yourself. Ever since then, you swore to focus on yourself and your career, even if it got lonely sometimes. It didn’t take long for you to find the best friend’s you could’ve ever asked for, even if they weren’t the boys. Sometimes you thought about them, wondering how they were doing and if they still thought about you, too.

Sure, you left them behind, but just because they weren’t part of your life anymore didn’t mean that you didn’t think about them sometimes, in the little obscure things in the world. Every time you saw something Star Wars related, you couldn’t help but think of the nights you would let Reggie come over to marathon the movies with you. Without fail, every time you went to the beach you thought about how much Bobby hated the sand and the seagulls, and whenever you heard Dancing Queen you were reminded of Alex’s 17th birthday, when you woke him up by playing the song for him. What was the worst of them all, though, was when you went into record shops. The smell and ambience would never fail to bring memories of spending hours searching for a specific record with Luke to your mind.

Despite all of that, though, you had tried your hardest to put the past behind you. You had a band now, friends to keep you afloat. And one of them was none other than Julie Molina. Once upon a time, you were friends, and then you met the boys and you drifted. There were no hard feelings, but when you reunited in your first year in college after being placed down the hall from one another in the dorms, you became as thick as thieves in no time.

From there, you met Aidan in your English Lit class and Julie met Damien in her musical theory class, and from there your band grew. Speaking of your band, you had just come back to LA from the last leg of your tour, which was in Europe. You loved seeing your fans and interacting with them in person, but all that travelling was generally exhausting. So, here you were, wandering the main streets you grew up on with your songbook clutched in your hand, looking for some inspiration.

You turned onto a busy street, old and beautiful shops, boutiques, and uniquely decorated diners lining each side. Walking with the flow of people, you looked around before coming to a stop at an old, 80s themed red and white pizza shop. And as if the past 6 years never happened, you felt the cold from all those nights you broke curfew seeping into your bones, hearing the laughter of your best friends echoing in your ears as you all sat in the same booth, cracking jokes and eating pizza. You could almost see all of you squished into the booth near the window, duct tape holding the leather of the seats together.

And, taking a deep breath, you went inside. Everything was the same as it always had been. The same jukebox playing old and upbeat songs in the back, the red and white checkered tiles that matched the theme of the restaurant, the smell of the pizza. Slowly, you walked up to the counter and ordered a few slices from the old man with a kind smile before sliding into the same booth you used to sit in all those years ago, pressed between the window and Luke’s shoulder.

The same hesitance came back as you put your palms flat onto the table, feeling the nostalgic memories flowing through you. And, as if it were magic, you could feel the inspiration coming back to you. A thousand ideas flew through your brain and you had to scramble to write them all down. A new album theme, new snippets of song lyrics, everything. You were still struggling to write them all down fast enough when your pizza came.

All you could do was send a smile to the waitress that delivered your food to you, taking one of the slices into your hand and taking a bite with your eyes focused on the pages of your songbook.

From across the diner, a pair of eyes were trained on your slouched figure. He’d been looking at you since you walked into the diner. Not in a stalker-ish way, but in an ‘I haven’t seen you in so long and I’m shocked you’re here but you look better than I could’ve ever imagined’ kind of way. Luke didn’t know what to do. His heart was screaming at him to just get up, just get up and walk over to you and ask you how you’ve been and if you had a boyfriend now, but his body refused to let him move.

Every minute from the moment you left, Luke prayed that you would come back to him. But now that you were here, a mere 10 feet from him, he didn’t know what to do or say. He was frozen in his seat, watching your pencil furiously scratch against the paper in the familiar way it used to when you wrote songs together, watching your hair fall over your shoulder and block your view of the window before you frustratedly tucked it behind your ear again.

It was all sudden, seeing you here. Even if his friends told him he just had to move on, Luke never could. Not from you. It was painful, realizing you loved someone after they were already gone from your life. So he never did move on. He stayed in that hurt, wondering how different life could’ve been. How different everything could’ve been if he wasn’t a coward, if he had just realized how he felt sooner. But he didn’t. And now he was stuck.

Sooner than he could register, his body finally began to move and he was picking up his things, bringing them over to your booth. He felt his heartbeat pick up as he smelled the lavender of your shampoo, a smell that would forever be ingrained in his mind and his memories. Nervously, he stuttered out, “Uh, h-hey.”

Looking up at the sound of a familiar voice, your breath caught in your throat when your e/c eyes locked with Luke’s familiar green irises. Your eyes widened and you could feel your throat constricting as you let out a meek, “Hi,”

“C-can I sit here?” The boy - who was a man now - motioned to the seat across from you and you nodded politely, not trusting your voice right now. As he sat down you took a sip of your water, moving your focus from your songbook to Luke.

His hair was a little longer than it was the last time you saw it, still unkempt with a beanie to cover it. He was wearing his ‘Rush’ muscle tee, and you wondered why he was still wearing them. But then again, Luke never really wore anything else when he reached high school. His eyes were trained on you and you wanted to shrink under his gaze, the awkward tension becoming suffocating.

Luke spotted your songbook and nodded to it. “You come here for inspiration?”

“Uh, yeah,” you cleared your throat, sheepishly looking at Luke. “I just finished the last leg of my tour and I wanted to get a head start on my next album and this place- it brings up a lot of happy memories, so why not come here?”

Laughing to himself, Luke shook his head as a smile formed on his lips. “Like the time Reggie tripped when he was bringing the pizza over to us and had to replace his shirt because he got pizza sauce all over it?”

The resurfaced memory brought a smile to your face as you laughed and nodded. “Yeah, exactly like that. I guess when places like this have such a strong emotional presence in your memories, it’s not hard to be inspired, is it?”

“No, I guess it isn’t.” And just like that, you felt the tension melt away as if nothing ever happened. As if you didn’t confess your love and walk away, as if you didn’t leave the band and stop talking to your childhood best friends. As if Luke didn’t spend years waiting for you and as if you didn’t spend years trying to push him from your memory with all you had and still failing.

You joked around and laughed like you were still 17, blind in love and trying to hide it with all you had. But things were different, you both knew that. You knew he probably had a girlfriend, and it was probably still Thalia, and you were alone, lying to yourself and pretending that you actually got over Luke. No one knew that every sad song you wrote was because of him, or maybe they did and just never told you.

None of that stopped you from accepting Luke’s offer to walk around the park a few blocks away, though. The sky was being painted an array of blues, pinks and purples, captivating you as you walked around the park with Luke. The fresh air lightened your heart and made you feel happy, the lull in conversation making for a peaceful silence.

As you walked down the asphalt path in the trees, you noticed that Luke stopped walking. Turning around, you saw him standing still, an upset look on his face. Taking a few steps toward him, your face contorted into a look of confusion as you asked, “Luke? Are you okay?”

“I was wrong, Y/n.”

His reply sent you further into the depths of confusion and you asked, “What? What do you mean?”

“I was wrong about everything,” Luke said, looking up from his shoes and into your eyes. “I thought- for so long I thought I was right. I thought I loved Thalia, but I didn’t. I-I don’t.”

The boy continued to talk, coming a little closer. “I mean- even when we were together I knew I didn’t love her but- but I pushed it away because I thought I could be happy with her. And for a little while, I was. But after high school she just… left me. Said she was going to go to New York for school instead of here because she met a guy there. I never saw her after that.”

Your features softened out of sympathy as you said, “Oh, Luke. I’m sorry she did that to you,”

“No, no, there’s no need to apologize, it’s not like it was your fault. Besides, it was years ago.” He shrugged, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. “It’s what she told me before she left that stuck with me, though. It just… I don’t know, it got to me and I couldn’t figure out why. Not until now.”

“What did she say?” You asked slowly, wondering where the conversation was going from here.

“She-” he sighed, pulling a hand from his pocket to rub his face. “She told me that she knew she couldn’t be truly happy with me because I would always be in love with you. I thought she was just using it as an excuse to justify leaving me and that she was wrong but…”

You wanted to say something, but you didn’t know what. You stood there, your feet glued to the pavement as you watched Luke take another step closer, stopping mere inches from you. Again, your breath hitched and your eyes glanced at his lips as he said, “For years I told myself that she was wrong, that I was right and that I didn’t love you, but I’ve been lying to myself, N/n. I was wrong,”

It was like someone had their hand clamped around your heart. You could feel it practically beating out of your chest and you wondered if Luke could hear it as loud as you could, but you pushed that thought away long enough to take a breath and, with a low voice, ask, “Can I kiss you?”

In the same tone and volume, Luke answered, “I thought you’d never ask,”

Within seconds, Luke pulled you in by the waist and you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling his lips down to meet yours. For years, you could only dream about what it felt like to kiss Luke, and none of them could ever live up to actually kissing him. You felt like you were a giddy school girl again as you stood on your tiptoes to kiss your first crush, Bradley Baker. But this kiss was so much more different, so much more special.

The worries of tomorrow washed away in the moment, in the feeling of Luke’s lips on yours. A tidal wave of happy and loving emotions washed over you, basking in the close proximity and Luke’s body heat. When you pulled away for air, Luke wrapped his arms around your waist and you couldn’t help but smile. “I’ve been waiting to do that for almost 10 years,”

“Was it worth the wait?” Luke asked teasingly, resting his forehead on yours.

Humming, you closed your eyes and nodded. “It definitely was.”

Despite how long you’d waited to kiss Luke, how long you’d loved him, how long you’d spent away from him, you believed that it was worth the wait. Waiting was painful and nearly suffocating, but it was worth it. It was all worth it because now, after all that time, you were able to be together.

Permanent taglist: @simonsbluee @probably-peeves @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @mazerunnerrose @theboldandthebootyful

Luke Patterson taglist: @starjane312 @juliefromaustralia @the-romanian-is-bae @hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis @lovesanimals @jemimah-b99 @katrina765 @notsosmexy @writing-for-the-people @hesvoid34 @bright-forever-drabbles @msmarvelsmain @heavcnslyre @l3sko @serpntines @cowboysarecool @xitsyaiizax @teti-menchon0604 @whitemanshoe19 @magicalxdaydream @tenaciousperfectionunknown @watermelonsponge @allinfangirl @sunsetcurvej @killerqueenfan @sonnydoesrandomshit @i-thought-i-knew-what-love-was @caprisunsister @justthatfangirloverthere @cadencebeat2662 @cordeliascrown @moatsnow @iainttakingshitfromnobody

taglist form is in my navigation!

#luke patterson #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson x y/n #luke patterson x you #luke patterson imagine #luke patterson angst #luke patterson fluff #jatp x reader

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syndianites · 3 years

Text

A Queen Serve and Protects

Chapter Six

First Chapter –> Last Chapter –> Current –> Next Chapter TBA! Summary:

Post-Style Queen, Pre-Queen Wasp.

Chloe finds the Bee Miraculous, but instead of finding an obliging, subservient Kwami, she finds the Kwami of Order and Subjugation, and Pollen is not about to let herself be used like Nooroo was.

Granted, the only danger in a teenage girl is the damage she poses to herself. Can Pollen shape Chloe into a hero? Or will she stubbornly refuse to change and remain the bitter, harsh person the city has long since known?

[My take on how Chloe’s character could have developed] ——————————————————————————————

Pollen tapped the tablet pen on the table. School had ended and the duo was officially home.

“Chloe,” Pollen began. “It has come to my attention that you don’t do your own work.”

“So?” Chloe nonchalantly replied, crossing one leg over the other from where she sat on the chaise in front of Pollen.

Pollen tried not to roll her eyes. “So, I want you to learn how to be self-sufficient.”

Chloe scoffed. “I am plenty self-sufficient.”

“Really?” Pollen had a sweet smile on her face. “Then prove it.”

:readmore:

Before Chloe could make any remark, Polle flew over to her school bag. It looked more like a purse, honestly, with how much makeup and accessories she had stashed away inside. Seriously, what did you need an extra pair of heels for?

Pollen shook off the thought and grabbed the binder Chloe used for class, as well as her homework folder. Brining both items back to the table, she flipped the folder open. She pulled out the first sheet of homework she saw- something math related- and waved a paw at it.

Chloe gave her a dumbfounded look. “You want me to do that? Sabrina normally does.”

Pollen raised an eyebrow.

“Ugh, fine, I get it.” Chloe grumbled. “What does doing my own work have to do with being self-sufficient anyway?”

“When was the last time you did your own school work.”

“Ughhhh!”

Letting out a little giggle, Pollen decided to make a compromise, “For every question you get correct, I’ll let you ask a question about the Bee miraculous and its powers. However!” Pollen held a paw up before Chloe could get too excited, “For each you get wrong, you have to listen to some history and background on the miraculous.”

“Ooo-kay? How is that a loss for me? I still get to know what I want to know,” Chloe replied.

If only the poor girl knew.

Pollen beamed. “I’m glad you asked! You know how much you love our ‘Bee Nice’ Sessions?”

Chloe groaned.

“Anything I tell you will come along with lessons. I will tell you tales that are important for a number of reasons. And you have to sit through all of them!”

Chloe’s eye twitched. That sounded excruciating. Buuuut, she did want to know more about what powers the Bee miraculous could give her. It was just a simple math worksheet. Surely, it couldn’t be that hard. So Chloe took out a blank sheet of paper and began working.

She was wrong. So, so wrong. Chloe was by no means a bad student. She got solid B’s and pleased her daddy enough with her grades to get by. Did she need to have a study session with Sabrina before each test or quiz to get the contents down? Yes.

But that was all pish-posh. She figured if she could pick up enough for a test or quiz a day before it, she could do homework with no problem. Apparently, she hadn’t been giving Sabrina enough credit. That girl made it so much easier than this.

It didn’t help that her notes were a total disaster. Half-finished sentences, unclear instructions, and a clear lack of interest in each page. For a moment Chloe cursed her own apathy. She wanted to know more, damnit!

By the time she finished she felt exhausted. Pollen, ever chipper, hummed as she looked through each question. She procured a pen and started making marks. That was a lot of red. Oh GOD, there was so much red.

Pollen tapped the pen to her chin in thought. Giving a nod, she wrote a score at the top of her sheet.

6/15.

That was just under half! And that meant she would have failed had it been a test. Chloe resisted the urge to hit her head on the table. She could not afford to be forced into tutoring. Again.

Despite Chloe’s despair, Pollen was excited. This was better than she was expecting! Sure, she had been hoping for closer to a 75% or 80%, but Chloe at least had the idea down.

Plus this meant she could drill some more lessons into her charge.

Rubbing her paws together, she addressed Chloe. “Alright. Since it is almost an even split, let’s go back and forth with questions and history. I’ll start with a history lesson first, since you missed more than you got correct. But since I’m feeling nice, I’ll give you a choice here: Would you rather hear some history about my previous holders first, or about all the miraculous as a whole?”

“Your past wielders, of course! I need to know who would be so lucky to use the same miraculous as moi.” Chloe flipped her hair back to accentuate her point.

Pollen huffed. Nonetheless, she thought back to her past holders, humming all the while. Who would be the best to start with to help Chloe learn?

She smiled as someone came to mind. “Now, before we start, I should say that we aren’t always deployed to battle some great evil. Sometimes, we are let out into the world to help inspire something. For me, I either inspire Order and Control. Or, when that gets to be too much, I inspire freedom from Order and Control.”

“Wait,” Chloe interrupted. “Why would you go against your whole Order thing?”

“I thought you wanted to talk about past wielders first,” Pollen brought a paw up to her lips to hide a smile. “To get into that would mean I would have to talk about all the miraculous.”

“Ugh, fine, whatever. Tell me the basics about all the miraculous first. But! You better tell me about your past users after!” Chloe conceded, pouting at the little god.

Pollen started again. “Like I said, we don’t always need a great evil to fight. At their core, each miraculous is meant to balance out their respective aspects. Tikki- Ladybug’s kwami- is the kwami of Light and Creation, for example. She is largely put out into the world to inspire new ideas and innovation.”

Chloe scrunched her nose in confusion. “Didn’t you say you also get put out to stop Order and Control? Why would you ever want to stop Light and Creation?”

“Well,” Pollen looked off to the side. “You can’t endlessly create. Tikki works on a more individual scale. She inspires Light and Creation in people as individuals. I, however, inspire Order and Subj- Control in a much larger scheme. After all, a bee’s focus is on the hive, isn’t it?”

“In any case, sometimes people burn themselves out when creating too much or spreading too much light. If you give and give and give, what is left for you? Nothing. And those left with nothing often crumble and fall apart- or worse. Tikki, when she is needed to, can either help her holder ease off themselves or help their holder teach others to let go of such demanding responsibility.”

Chloe nodded slowly. That… sort of made sense. “So it’s like when Adr- a friend of mine kept being happy and smiling even after his mother died to help others stop being sad. Because he wanted others to feel ‘lighter’” She made finger quotes, “Despite the tragedy that happened?”

“Yes, that could be a good example,” Pollen agreed. “If your friend gave away all his light and such to others, it could burn him out and leave him feeling empty and cold. Though, in this case I would lean more into the Peacock- he worked to give good emotion to others to cover their grief. But we’ll get there in a moment.”

“Plagg, Chat Noir’s kwami, is Tikki’s counterpart. He is the kwami of Dark and Destruction.” Pollen stopped as Chloe seemed to ponder that.

“If he is all about dark and destruction, wouldn’t that make him more likely to be evil?” Chloe mused.

Pollen, for her part, wasn’t bothered by the question. “If I am all about order and control, wouldn’t I be more likely to use and abuse people?”

Chloe bit her lip, but shook her head no.

“Exactly. Just because that is what we represent it does not mean we are prone to be good or evil. In the balance of all things, there IS no good and evil. Really, it just comes down to what a certain group likes or dislikes, or how a person’s morals are aligned.”

“Okay, no, Hawkmoth is totally evil. There is no doubt about that. How could taking control of others and using their emotions to turn them into monsters be seen as a good thing?” Chloe didn’t like the idea of Hawkmoth being in the ‘right’ at all. It went against everything he had done to Paris.

“Well,” Polled offered, “Does Hawkmoth see himself as evil?”

Chloe sat back in her seat. If movies were anything to go by, he probably didn’t. She sighed and motioned Pollen to continue

Pollen pushed on. “In any case, Plagg is often put into the world to ruin things. Surprising, isn’t it? But sometimes the best things are made in the ashes of destruction. Growing from losing things is important for many people. Like how your friend lost his mom- he likely felt sad and lost. But if he grew from that? He could learn to see that others will have his back and he can lean on them. Even in the hard times.”

Chloe looked away from Pollen. She was right, sort of. When Adrien’s mom died, Chloe had been there trying her best to cheer him up. Did it really work? No. But she helped him escape the house and run around the city with her, and watch stupid cartoons and shows, and sometimes, just sometimes, get him to smile.

“But losing your mom isn’t a good thing!” Chloe snapped back. “That devastated my friend and his family.”

“I know, and I’m sorry I painted it as such. Loss is a horrible thing to endure. But I wanted to make a connection to something you mentioned.” Pollen bowed her head. “Destruction is rarely a happy thing. But, a more positive example would be something more metaphorical- the destruction of insecurities, or breaking a bad relationship, or- or bashing down a wall so you can open up a room to have more space!”

Sighing, Pollen shook her head. “It is far too easy to see Dark and Destruction as a bad thing. Darkness can be used to hide when you don’t feel safe. Or it can be used to tone down how bright something is when you feel blinded. It can also be used as a complement and give things more depth.”

“Of course, Plagg has also been put out to tame destruction. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘fighting fire with fire’? It’s the idea that you fight destruction with destruction. But he can also help people see their bad habits, or the things that hurt them, and get them to reign them in and stop themselves before it’s too late.”

“Okay, sure, that makes sense. But didn’t you just describe Tikki and Plagg as opposites anyway? Light and Dark, Creation and Destruction? Why do they need to get people to go against their aspect when the other IS the opposite?” Chloe butt in.

Pollen brightened. “That’s technically later in this lesson, but I can touch on it now. You’ve likely noticed that Ladybug and Chat Noir came together as a pair, correct?” At Chloe’s nod, she continued. “That is because they are like Yin and Yang- opposites that complete each other. While other kwamis do have opposites, none quite work the same as Tikki and Plagg. They were once a single being- one that was the kwami of Balance.”

“Well,” Pollen rubbed her cheek, “They weren’t a kwami, per se. But that is too much to explain for right now. You recall how Hawkmoth’s goal is to get the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous?”

“Of course, that’s all he ever talks about when he akumatizes someone!”

“Well, that’s because when you combine the two into one you can have any wish granted.”

“What!” Chloe slammed her hands down on the coffee table, startling Pollen. “That’s horrible! I mean, the power is cool, but if Hawkmoth got his grubby hands on that wish who knows what he would wish for!”

“Exactly! But there’s a catch with that- whatever you wish for will have an equal and opposite consequence. If you wished for someone to come back to life? Someone else must die. If you want to have all the power in the world? Everyone else must become powerless. These may sound simple, but the gravity is just as dire as the wish would be grand.”

Chloe fell back. “So, if I- well, if I wished for my mom to love me..?”

“It depends,” Pollen shrugged. “Maybe everyone else around you would hate you. Maybe your father would stop loving you. Or, in a more subtle fashion, she wouldn’t love the real you, just a facsimile of you. Whoever she thinks you are. Sure, there are ways to make a wish that has a mostly positive outcome- for the one making the wish- but the consequence will always hurt someone. Even if it has to be a lot of someones.”

The two fell into silence after that declaration. It was a heavy thought. What could drive someone to want to change something so badly they would be willing to suffer or let others suffer for it? How cold hearted must you be?

The whole thing baffled Chloe. She could just ring her father and have what she wanted with no consequence. Could she imagine doing something so drastic as to ruin someone’s life to make hers better?

Instead of voicing any of this, Chloe leaned forward. “So tell me about the other miraculous…”

#chloe bourgeois #chloe bourgois redemption #miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #pollen (ladybug)#pollen #pollen the kwami #Kwami of the Bee miraculous #Bee miraculous #every time i get lazier and lazier with these tags #anyway if you reblog this i would kill for you uwu

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dossi-io · 3 years

Text

An introduction to DeVita

Do you want to learn all about the AOMG artist DeVita? This article will cover everything you need to know about the third female member to join the labels roster.

The content of this article is also available in video format, embedded at the bottom of this article.

Prelude

In early April of 2020, the Korean hip-hop label AOMG ambiguously announced that a new artist was signing onto the label. This label was grounded by the Korean-American triple-threat; Jay Park, who’s also one of its executives. This is a label with a very organic feel and artist-oriented nature, which stands out compared to many other music labels.

On April 3rd, the label’s official Instagram account posted a video. It was titled, “Who’s The Next AOMG?” where fellow AOMG members talked about this upcoming recruit. They sprinkled small hints and details by sharing their thoughts on the artist without mentioning who.

Around the world, fans immediately began speculating on who this could be. The major consensus was that it had to be the solo artist Lee Hi, due to reporting like this: “AOMG responds ‘nothing is confirmed’ to reports of Lee Hi signing on with the label”

A few other names got thrown in fan speculations like Hanbin (B.I), previous member of IKON, Jvcki Wai, and MOON (문) aka Moon Sujin. This despite a few of these already being signed to other labels.

On April 6th, three days later, the account was updated with a part two. This time dropping more hints, which would exclude many names from fan speculations.

On the 7th of April, the label’s official Instagram account posted a short teaser. The video sported an 80’s retrofuturistic setting, with a woman turned from the camera, dressed in all black, rocking braids, and some glistening high-heels. As it seemed to be a female, some were now certain that it had to be Lee Hi. A small few actually guessed correctly that the one who would be joining AOMG would be Ms DeVita.

Finally on April 9th, it was official! She debuted with the music video, from which the teaser clips was taken from, EVITA!, which accompanied the release of her EP, CRÈME.

What does the name DeVita mean?

The name DeVita, draws inspiration and meaning from two things. Firstly, Eva Perón – also known as Evita – who was Argentina’s former First Lady. When Chloe was learning about Eva’s life, it inspired her to combine “Devil” and “Evita”, thus creating “DeVita”. The name signifies the duality of how both Eva Perón and DeVita could be perceived. Either being a devil, or an angel depending on the eye of the beholder. Secondly, Salvatore Di Vita, a character from Cinema Paradiso, was also a source of inspiration.

An introduction to DeVita

Chloe Cho – now known under the artist name DeVita – was born and raised in South Korea, until the age of eleven. In 2009, she moved to Chicago, where she would learn English.

In 2013, she went back to Korea and participated in the third season of the show; K-pop Star. A talent show, where the “big three” (the three largest music labels in Korea) hosts auditions to find the next big k-pop star. However she didn’t win, therefore neither got signed.

Later on, she returned to Chicago and graduated high school. After reflecting on what she wanted to do next, she decided to make music. In 2014, her pursuit to become an artist brought her to the talent show Kollaboration. On this show, she performed covers and actually ended up being a finalist. Despite her talents, she did not triumph as the winner of the show.

Not letting these losses stop her, she started releasing music on Soundcloud. The earliest release I could find, Halfway Love (Ruff), was from 2016. Her catalogue consisted of both covers and original music.

One day, Kirin, an artist and CEO of the music label 8balltown Records, was introduced to DeVita’s music. He liked what he heard and the two linked up. In May of 2018, WEKEYZ, one of 8balltown’s producer duos released a track titled Sugar. This track featured both DeVita, and the AOMG rapper Ugly Duck. This was the beginning of many collaborations to come.

On August 28th of 2018, just a few months later, AOMG released Sugar (Puff Daehee Mix).

This was a remix done by Puff Daehee, the alter ego of Kirin. Along with this track, it was accompanied by a music video starring Kirin, DeVita, and Ugly Duck. For most people, this was their first time seeing DeVita.

DeVita continued doing features on many songs by Korean artists while creating a little buzz for herself. There’s one notable feature, which could be seen as an important milestone in her career. That is her feature on the track Noise, from AOMG artist Woo Won Jae’s project, titled af.

In a tweet a few days after the release of CRÈME, she shared the significance of this moment.

“I was still making minimum wage working at a restaurant back when Noise dropped- I wrote my part during my shift on the back of this receipt paper. This was about a year and a half ago. A little bit after that I got a call from Pumpkin at 3am Chicago time. He said Jay wanted to meet in Philly in 4 hours. They put me on a plane and the rest is history.”

The phone call she mentioned in her tweet, about Jay wanting to meet, must have been made around September 2018. Jay was performing in Philadelphia at the time. The moment they met in Philadelphia was actually captured through a photo of the two. However, this picture ended up getting removed later on.

Fast forward a few months and Jay had just released his Ask About Me EP. The project focused on a western audience, so he went to the States on a promo run. During his visit, he also met up with DeVita once again, as can be seen here.

Finally, on April 9th, her being signed to AOMG was officially announced and she debuted with her EP titled CRÈME. Her joining AOMG, looked like something that happened pretty naturally. The vast majority of artists she had collaborated on tracks with happened to be AOMG members. Getting comfortable with the AOMG family, likely made the decision to join crystal clear.

Artistically

Just a quick look at her body of work thus far, a majority of it is in English. However, she has no issues singing in Korean, as proven by her feature on Code Kunst’s; Let u in. The tone in her voice has this sort of mixture of many singers, a melting pot of sorts. It reminds me of Audrey Nuna, SAAY, H.E.R, some vocal riffs from Dinah Jane, and at times, just a tiny bit of Ariana Grande.

As an artist, she’s still in the early stages of carving out her own unique sound and style. There’s incredible potential here, but her distinct identity is not completely there yet. I see before me a caterpillar that within a couple years, will transform into a butterfly, with its own identifiable pattern to spread its wings out on.

From what she’s shown so far, I would say she seems most comfortable doing R&B and soul music. However, beyond a quick description I prefer to refrain from categorizing her. Mostly because artists generally feel limited when categorized. More importantly, because we have no idea what she has in store for the future.

Debut EP: CRÈME

CRÈME is DeVita’s “crème de la crème”. She constantly modified the tracklist to present her debut project in a way that held her personal standard; essentially presenting us her best tracks. The result is CRÈME, which consists of five tracks, with a runtime of fourteen minutes altogether.

This EP showcases the fact that she is a competent songwriter, able to write some soulful, emotional ballads. It is completely in English and all the tracks are written by her, telling both life stories of her own and that of others. A majority of the production was handled by her “musical soulmate”; TE RIM, but other notable names, like Code Kunst show up as well.

Tracks:

Movies, introduces the project in a very gentle manner. In the track, DeVita paints a picture of a criminal couple, getting a rush, by committing crimes together. The lyrics feel inspired by movies like Bonnie and Clyde. My initial thoughts were that, for some ears, it could possibly be “too” calm as an opener. It doesn’t demand attention the way EVITA! does. Simply put, it’s not a bad track. I would just have put this track later on in the EP.

EVITA!, is something different compared to what I hear from others in the K-R&B lane. I love the 80’s aesthetic in both the track and music video. Sonically, the nostalgic saxophone riffs, warm lush synth pads, thumping bass line, results in a trip back to the 80s. With this recipe, topped with DeVita’s “current” contemporary soul and R&B voice makes for an interesting combination. The music video had that futuristic 80’s look with the neon colors, and I loved how the guns she played around with looked a lot like the “Needlers” from the Halo franchise. The title is once again just like DeVita’s name, an ode to the controversial Eva Perón. The instrumental was originally used by TE RIM, the producer of the track in 2017. His version has the same title as DeVita’s version and I recommend giving that one a listen as well, as it has a different feel to it. This track was definitely one of the highlights of the EP.

All About You, is a simple yet beautiful piano love ballad. Originating from her own tales of love, her vocals effortlessly capture what she felt during these moments.

1974 Live, is yet another ballad, but this time, with a calm guitar backing, playing a poppier R&B chord progression. DeVita’s voice is given a lot of space to be in the center of the track. As soon as I heard this track I became curious. What was the significance of this year, which would have her title the track as such? My questions were left unanswered… until the EP had marinated a while, when she tweeted: “1974 Live is about Christine Chubbuck”. In case you’re unfamiliar, Christine Chubbuck was a television news reporter, who made history in 1974. She was the first person to commit suicide live on air. According to her mother Christine’s suicide would on paper be due to an unfullfilling personal life. All throughout her life, she had experienced unreciprocated love. With this information tying back to the track, it becomes a lot less ambiguous and reveals a more cohesive narrative.

Show Me, is the final track of the EP, featuring immaculate production from the talented CODE KUNST. The sound is very moody, which fits her voice like a glove. This is my favorite performance on the entire EP, both lyrically and vocally. The lyrics present someone who’s fed up dealing with men, who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. Now she’s looking for love with someone who’s honest and “real”.

With the project being a year old now, it has already gotten her nominated for both Rookie of the Year along with EVITA being nominated for Best R&B & Soul Track in the 18th iteration of the Korean Music Awards.

A majority of listeners seemed to enjoy the project. Many seem to be in love with her voice judging by the endless amounts of praise she has received, often described as painfully addicting, soothing, smooth, and so on.

I also asked a friend who’s a huge fan of Korean music, especially the hiphop and r&b scene to share her thoughts on the project. Here’s what she said:

"This whole project is empowering, in particular the tracks Show Me and EVITA! DeVita being a new artist, managed to impress me and many more listeners through this EP. As mentioned earlier, empowering lyrics with unique melodies and beats. Especially with the track EVITA! The fact that 1974 Live and EVITA! was referring to, two historically important women, is something that I love. This is one of my favorite EP:s of 2020 and DeVita is now included in my list of favorite artists." @Haonsmom

From what I’ve seen, only a few have been vocal about not really being too fond of the project. Some were left a bit disappointed, as they were expecting more hip-hop and R&B from an AOMG artist. The lack of “danceable” tracks was also a concern to some. Despite these criticisms, one thing was always mentioned; the girl has a beautiful voice and is obviously talented.

After listening to this EP, I hear a lot of potential. Being an EP with just five tracks, it definitely avoids overstaying its welcome. It’s brief enough to allow a listen through the entire project, no matter what you’re doing. My favorite tracks would have to be Show Me and EVITA!, but I found the whole project to be enjoyable. This EP is sprinkled with lovely vocal performances and simple but captivating production. I do still stand by my opinion that Movies would have fit better later in the tracklist if you’re chasing that mainstream ear.

I think the way EVITA! kicks you in the face, demanding attention, would’ve been a better fit as the opening track. In contrast to the other tracks, the energy level is unique, making the placement feel odd as the rest of the tracks have a chill vibe. All in all, this project gave me a taste of the “crème” but left me with a curious yearning for what this chef will whip up for dessert.

Bright future ahead

The addition of more female artists to the AOMG roster was much needed. Hoody was the first and only female member for about four years. This was the case up until late 2019, where she was then joined by sogumm, who had just won AOMG’s audition program called SignHere. Now funnily enough after DeVita, Lee Hi actually did end up officially signing with AOMG on July 22, last year.

Based on what I’ve heard during Devita’s Kollaboration days, she has improved immensely. This topped with her leaving the impression of someone passionate about their craft, bodes well for what's to come. She seems to be someone who'll constantly evolve.

Following an artist, at the early stages of their career, is something that I always find exciting. With such a lovely debut, I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for DeVita.

To view the content of this article in video format simply play the video embedded below.

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Credits:

The first image in article: Original photo, pre-edit from @jinveun

Gif from the Sugar Puff Daehee MV: @moxiepoints

#devita #krnb #jay park #aomg #h1ghrmusic #8balltown #kpop #review #korea #uglyduck #chloe devita #chloe cho #kirin #evita!#crème #moon sujin #khh #korean hip hop #krap

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muffledcries · 3 years

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Jahmil French (July 29, 1991 – March 1, 2021)

We worked together on Soundtrack, and every single time you entered the room we all felt it get brighter. You were shiny, magnetic and so so kind. RIP and fly with the angels Jah. – JENNA DEWAN Really hate that this is real. @JahmilFrench you will be missed my friend. Thank you for your talents that pushed me, your energy that kept our little family on @soundtracknetflix glued together. I’m happy I was able to get to know you. Our work together def made an impact on me & You and your Mom felt like family back home. Today and everyday we will remember you and continue to be inspired to live and be great for you. Rest In Peace Jah. – CHRISTINA MILLIAN Honestly been at a loss for words since I heard the news. This doesn’t feel real. Jahmil, was one of the most talented actors I’ve ever worked with. One of the funniest kindest people I ever met. The life of the party, every room he would walk into he would always be dancing and making people laugh and smile. Too many good memories. Thank you Jahmil. Rest In Peace King. – AJ SAUDIN Heartbroken over the loss of our friend Jahmil French. We started on Degrassi the same year and I’ll never forget the day I met him. Jahmil was so full of energy and absolute joy to be around. The video on the last slide is how I always think of him, always dancing. He was such a special person and I’m so grateful for the memories we made. I still can’t believe it. Gone way too soon. He will be so missed by us all. – ANNIE CLARK My heart is so heavy.. Truly one of a kind. Rest In Peace. – CRISTINE PROSPERI I’m sick with the news of Jahmil’s passing. He performed Dave with such sensitivity and thoughtfulness and could make me laugh so easily. It was a pleasure to work with him and he will be missed. This is a real loss. Rest In Peace. – STEFAN BROGREN Jahmil had such talent and charisma that it would have been intimidating were he not also a real gentleman. He would show up to my house-parties with a crew of dancers and they would elevate the mood immediately. When life got messy he would handle himself with grace and levity. He was precocious. And his love for music (and dance) was contagious. He showed me Section 80 by Kendrick Lamar, made me appreciate Drake’s Houston sound… Wish I’d gotten the chance to catch up with him one more time, hear where his mind/dreams were at. – SAM EARLE Jahmil, your talents and energy will never be forgotten. One of the best smiles with the most beautiful soul. Jahmil, you will always be such a bright light in this world. – SARAH FISHER This one really hurts. Jahmil French was a truly kind soul and one of the most talented actors around. He inspired me with his confidence and support from the first day we met and will continue to do so forever. Thank you for everything you gave to this world through both your art and your humanity. Rest In Peace my friend. – CRAIG ARNOLD Much love to the entire Degrassi family on this difficult day. It was a complete honour to write for and work with Jahmil, an incredible actor and talent gone way too soon. – RAMONA BARCKERT An extraordinary talent and a bright light on and off screen. Rest in peace, Jahmil. – MICHAEL GRASSI So sad to hear about the passing of Degrassi cast-member Jahmil French. An endlessly talented & charming performer who was always fun to write for. Last time I saw him, he was nominated for a CSA for his work in the movie Boost and I was certain he was only getting started. RIP. – MATT HUETHER Jahmil was always such a kind person. My heart is heavy for him and his family. Thanks for all the good memories Jahmil, you really had an impact. I’ll cherish all the fun we had dancing at basement parties all those years ago. Still in shock. Jahmil will be missed. He was an integral part of the Degrassi family and certainly a huge part of my degrassi days. He always wanted to make people laugh and smile, a true joy to be around. Rest in Peace. – CHLOE ROSE Rest easy, my friend. Your talent, kindness and shining bright light will never be forgotten. – JESSICA TYLER Wanted to pay my respects to an incredibly kind, funny, and talented individual; Jahmil French. One of the first people I met on Degrassi, he immediately made me feel welcome. He disarmed you with a smile and his confidence and energy was infectious. You’ll be missed, brother. – DYLAN EVERETT Jahmil was one of the most gifted and effortless performers I’ve ever met. His vibrant personality lit up the room. Rest easy my friend. – MUNRO CHAMBERS I am heartbroken to hear about the loss of Jahmil. Jahmil was an extraordinary talent and a bright light on and off the screen. He was a joy to work with on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He brought an authenticity and burst of life to every scene he was in and infused his character ‘Dave’ with an airy lightness. Off screen Jahmil would always make me smile. He will be deeply missed. – LINDA SCHUYLER My heart goes out to the entire Degrassi community., but particularly of course to those who were closest with Jahmil. We have lost one of our own. Jahmil was kind, intelligent, extremely talented, and just a wonderful person. He was also of course an incredible dancer, and since I am the exact opposite we had a running joke that I had taught him all his dance moves. When I would completely ineptly do the Moonwalk, Jahmil would cheer me on, while everyone else would beg me to stop! RIP Jahmil French, your soul and presence are sorely missed. – STEPHEN STOHN A sad day for the Degrassi family. With a heavy heart I thank you for all the times you made me laugh, taught me dance moves, and gave me confidence as Adam. Thinking of all the memories we shared on and off of set. - JORDAN TODOSEY Thinking of Jahmil French & the entire Degrassi family today click here for the full post - LYLE LETTAU This one hurts me deeply. When I found out yesterday I refused to believe it! I wouldn’t except it and to be honest I still don’t quite believe it’s real. I love you and the energy between us was always genuine. Working with you was always a blast and you were always the coolest man in the room. Till we meet again my friend. – CORY LEE Terribly sad to hear about Jahmil’s passing. Whether I was his scene partner, or just a viewer, I was in awe of his sheer talent. A room was brighter because he was in it. A true performer, a great guy and a huge loss. #RestInPeace – JUSTIN KELLY I’m so shocked and saddened to hear this news about Jahmil. Jahmil was and is such a kind, fun loving, hilarious, full of life, hard working and professional person. He was my first real scene partner on a series I got to be a series regular on. I remember the day my agent sent me the casting for Degrassi. It said I would be playing Dave Turners love interest. So the first thing I did was pull up the good ol IMDB machine and find out who Jahmil French was. The same day as my audition a few mere hours later I got the call that the role was mine (pretty rare in this industry) I went in to do my fitting and thats when I met Jahmil, Spencer and AJ for the first time as they played an iconic trio on the show. They were all super friendly and nice to me and made me feel very welcomed to be joining the cast. I was nervous and 15 at the time. Jahmil was the integral glue that held the circle together and its would lead to an amazing friendship that I got to have with Spencer. I had only been slated to do 3 episodes on the show but I believe it was the on screen chemistry Jahmil and I had that lead me to stick around for longer. Jahmil always had a smile on his face. I would come in at 5am for our call to do prep and be so tired, but there he was hanging out in the green room dancing so full of energy and life. Jahmil LOVED dancing and he was really good at it too. And I’d ask him “How do you even have this much energy this early LOL” and he’d just laugh and smile. Any time we went down to block he’d be word perfect on his lines, hit every mark and bring such an amazing professionalism to the set it was mesmerizing to watch. He played every scene with a new beat that always kept it interesting and fresh. Jahmil was and still is such a kind hearted dedicated person who eventually really went on to flourish in his career and he will be deeply missed. Heaven really gained a new angel today, Rest In Peace and say hey to all the other pals up there. Spencer and I will pour one out for you - ALEXX BENOIT Rest in peace my guy. An amazingly talented actor who had such a presence on and off screen. – DEMETRIUS JOYETTE Jahmil was such a wonderful person to be around. so funny, so charismatic, so talented. and my god he loved his work. I’m devasted. Sending my love to his friends and family. In a year full of grief, it’s hard to comprehend how there can be room for more. And yet. Jahmil French was an incredible person, so full of talent and passion for his work. He lit up a room with his energy and dance moves. An easy smile and a natural charisma. He will be so missed. My heart is broken. I feel strange, announcing these things I wish I had told him more often. Reached out more often. The regret is acute. He deserved his flowers when he was here. I hope he knew how much love & admiration there was for him in this world. – AISLINN PAUL One of the most talented, kind hearted, funny spirits I’ve had the pleasure of building a friendship with. Jahmil is an icon. My love for him runs deep. Jahmil you will always hold such a special place in my heart. Thank you for being one of the most talented, compassionate, kindest, funniest friends I have. You were so loved. I’ll miss our dance offs. #Bhandurner forever. Jah literally won the title of most competitive goofball. What joy he brought to my life and to so many. So grateful for memories and deep convos with you, beautiful angel. Blessed that we got to be part of a big dysfunctional family together. Thank you for sharing your gift with the world. I just hope you knew how loved you were. I learnt so much working with this talented dedicated soul. Please send a prayer for his soul to go directly toward the light. – MELINDA SHANKAR Such a beautiful soul & a light to everyone around him. Rest in Paradise Jahmil. – JOELLE FARROW This moment will live in my mind forever. A beautiful soul, thank you for the years of memories and laughter. You’re a light my brother and I’m so happy we got to experience this crazy life together. I’ll always remember you dancing down the halls of the green room. Rest In Peace. – LUKE BILYK I’m devasted. My man, I swear I was just thinking about you not even a few days ago when I was making my new demo reel, watching all the old Degrassi episodes. So talented. So unbelievably wise beyond your years. You made one of the best times of my life even better. I’m so crushed. I should have called you. I dont deserve to miss you as much as I do now. I would always say my favourite actor on the show was Mr. Jahmil French. I would always watch his parts when going thru Degrassi material to either study my tech or to cut demos or whatever else. Not 4 days ago was I daydreaming about making some kind of new production with all of those talented people. My hearts broken. – DANIEL KELLY Jahmil was always the brightest light in the room. Smiling, dancing and making all of us laugh till we cried. Rest In Peace you beautiful soul. You will be missed… - ALICIA JOSIPOVIC This is absolutely heartbreaking. While I never worked directly with Jahmil on Degrassi, our paths did cross a few times. All you needed was 5 minutes with him to realize what a beautiful, talented, bright soul he was. My sincerest condolences to his family and loved onces. Rest In Peace Jahmil French. – ANA GOLJA Shocked & saddened to hear of Jahmil’s passing. Loss of such a talented and bright soul. Rest in Power cuz, I’ll pour one out for you, am so wishing this was a dream. – JAJUBE MANDIELA I join thousands of people around the world thinking about Jahmil today. A beautiful, joyful person to be on set with, truly intimidating on the dance floor, an all-around wonderful person to have known, gone just way, way too soon. Sending love to everyone who loved him. Jahmil, I hope you feel it too. – CHARLOTTE ARNOLD I didn’t know Jahmil very well, but in the few times we met, he was so explosively kind, charismatic and truly interested and invested in every interaction. I immediately felt accepted and got a sense of the deep compassion that so many others had expressed was within him. The impression I had always stuck with me and from all I have heard he was such a beautiful and loving person, the special kind that makes everything a little lighter. Thank you to everyone who has been sharing stories of their time with him. Sending love to Jahmil and all of you. – ERIC OSBORNE Jahmil was such a special human. A long-time acting student of mine, & my mentee. He was fearless and brilliant in his pursuit, and I’m so sad we won’t get to see more of his gift. I’m so grateful to have crossed paths with him, and I wish him eternal peace. – SALVATORE ANTONIO So sad to hear of Jahmil’s passing. He was so kind and so funny. I’m glad I had the chance to know him. You will be missed. Rest in Power Jahmil. Gone too soon. Will never be forgotten. – TAYSHA FULLER Even though I only worked with Jahmil for a little while he made a truly lasting impression. I remember when I first came back to set as Tori and I was incredibly nervous those first few weeks, but Jahmil was so welcoming and treated me and the other new cast members like we’d been a part of the cast the whole time. If he gave you a compliment or even said something as simple as “it’s so good to see you” you knew he genuinely meant it. It seems like a small thing but it’s hard to find that kind of authentic honesty in most people. He was an incredibly talented actor and always such a positive energy on set, and I’ll remember him for all those vibrant moments. Rest In Peace. – ALEXA STEELE This smile. This spark. This spirit. Jah I am missing you from this earthly plane we all love you. – MEGAN FERGUSON there never seems to be enough time… I don’t know if words can describe someone like Jah. He really was too special for this world. A true artist to his soul. I was lucky to call him my friend. Rest in Peace and Power Angel. you will be so dearly missed. – PAUL JAMES I guess I thought if I refrained from making a post, it would ease some of the pain.. but the more hours that pass, the more it sets in heavier. JAH. Mi familia. My brother. I am crushed. I have believed in you since the moment we met, and it makes me smile to know the feeling was 100% reciprocated. The purest soul. Always himself no matter WHERE he went. It takes courage to be that way you know? To have that strength. From Antigone to degrassi, to LA to NY you had EVERYTHING in you to shine. All the power, all the talent, all the intelligence the drive, the fearlessness. Your smile made me smile. Sweeterman jah, I miss you so much already. – SHANICE BANTON Dance on, old friend -through the clouds. I will see you on the other side. click here for the full post – SHANNON KOOK

#jahmil french #this took me forever but i wanted to make it pretty #he will be forever missed #:(#edit*#degrassi #idk why the scroll box isn’t showing up sigh I apologize for it being so long #dave turner

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slashscowboyboots · 4 years

Text

The Stars Are a Part Of Us: The Brains Of This Outfit

This my “Almost Famous” inspired groupie fic, with appearances by @awrestlinggirlwholoves80sbands (Celestia/Alessia), @sexcoffeeandrockandroll (Absinthe/Amy) and @no-stone-no-bone (Velvet), plus yours truly as Karen. This is a pretty dark fic, with VERY mature themes and smut. Cross-posted on AO3

Tag list @izzysdenimjacket @no-stone-no-bone @sexcoffeeandrockandroll @awrestlinggirlwholoves80sbands @smokeandmirrorz @sodalitefully @roger-taylors-car @lost-in-the-80s @whisperess33 @shawolat @80snikki @rumoured-whispers

Warnings: Underage sex, drug use, drinking, implied violence. 18+ ONLY

1987

This must be her.

Izzy sat up straighter, watching as a short blonde shuffled toward the back of the bus, a huge bag on her shoulder and carrying a pillow in her arms. She didn’t notice him sitting in the next to the last seat, and she flopped down on the one behind him, setting down her pillow and leaning against it, then rifling through her purse till she found a book.

Bella Donna. The most beautiful one of all. She certainly was pretty, he thought, with her long blonde waves and huge blue eyes. She dressed like Stevie Nicks’ runaway progeny too, all ruffles and lace and faded jeans, although instead of Stevie’s platforms she wore a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots.

I’ve never seen a groupie play hard to get, he chuckled to himself. She must be something else. Watching her turn a page, he noticed her full lips pursing as she read the text. He couldn’t make out what the title was, but he could see a long-haired bare-chested hunk and a bosomy babe spilling out of her bodice in a passionate clinch on the cover.

Oh, shit, she’s reading romance novels. Probably wants me to seduce her.

Izzy didn’t think he was quite up to that.

87 had been rough on him so far. Getting busted on a possessions charge (thankfully, it hadn’t included a “with an intent to sell,” although that had been exactly his intention), sentenced to rehab and now on probation, with orders he continue to be piss tested on the road.

It was a miracle he was allowed to leave the country, but his lawyer (who was far too good to be in his pay scale, Izzy noted) argued that his client’s ability to earn a living shouldn’t be hampered by his arrest. (The fact that his paying profession had led to his arrest wasn’t lost on him either.) To his amazement, the judge had agreed, and Geffen, desperate to recoup their investment and make a little scratch before the band killed themselves, sent them with The Cult on a tour of Canadian hockey rinks. Woo hoo.

Just before the tour started, he and Niv were approached in a shitty dive by a curvy brunette introducing herself as Absinthe and claiming she was one of the Road Wives.

“Heard of us?” she asked, coyly batting her eyelashes.

Izzy took a sip from his Coke and nodded. Yes, he’d heard of all of them. The Flying Garter Girls, the GTO’s, the Road Wives. All conglomerates of groupies who traveled with bands and made life on the road even more colorful and chaotic.

“Of course you have. It’s an honor to travel with the Wives.”

Izzy rolled his eyes and lit a cigarette, blowing the smoke from his nose. “And you’ve selected us, I suppose.”

Absinthe smiled, the contrast of her crimson pout with her white teeth and skin visible even in the dim light. “We have. Our leader Velvet has chosen Axl as her traveling companion.”

Niven smirked, and Izzy raised his eyebrows. “Has this already been decided?” he said quietly.

Those red lips formed a tight line. “No. Axl said to take this up with you. ‘Izzy has the final word,’ he said.”

He took another drag, and she leaped at the opportunity to speak. “There’s uhh, four of us, and Celestia has picked Slash, and I,” she smiled, and Izzy swore he saw devil horns poke out of her dark hair, “I settle down with no man, but I’ve spent time with your drummer and won’t mind repeating that experience.”

He flicked his ash from his cigarette, bored disinterest on his unsmiling face. “And Duff is married.”

She swallowed, then nodded. “Yes, Duff is engaged, and has cordially informed us he will not require our services. Shame, there’s a tree I’d like to climb again and again.”

Izzy lit a new cigarette with the end of the first one and ground the butt out, then leaned forward on the table and said, “Shame, because I say no to the whole shooting match.”

The whites of her black-lined eyes became enormous. “Wait, you haven’t heard who’s with you.”

“I don’t care who’s with me,” he said, in a quiet but firm voice. “I’m on fucking probation and I don’t need any more headaches. And I damn sure don’t need four chicks we have to babysit.”

“Hear her out,” Niven snickered. “I gotta hear about the whore that wants you.”

Absinthe licked the front of her teeth. “Bella Donna. The most beautiful one of all,” she said softly.

Izzy shook his head. “Nope. I’m not traveling with anyone fucked up or underage.”

“She’s 21. And she blows a gasket over drugs.”

Niven elbowed Izzy. “She sounds right up your alley, mate.”

Izzy shifted in his seat, rolling the end of his cigarette in the ashtray as he chewed the inside of his cheek.

“She and I went to school together, and we’re older than the other girls. We keep them in line. They will not cause you any problems on the road. You have my word.”

Izzy slid his eyes to Alan, who shrugged. “Canada’s cold, Izz.”

Absinthe smiled.

He still wasn’t convinced. “She doesn’t use? Cause I’ve never heard of a groupie who didn’t.”

She shook her head. “Reads us the riot act if we do. She smokes weed every now and then, but I don’t even think she’s done that in the last six months.” She batted her eyes, sensing his interest. “Drinks the occasional beer, but she’s normally our DD.”

Izzy sighed, then downed the last of his Coke. “All right. One fuckup, and I don’t care what it is, if one of you broads even breaks a nail, your asses are heading home. Put that in the tour budget Niv, four bus tickets back to LA if any of them get the hiccups.” He stood up. “I’m not joking.”

No, a seduction was not something he was up to. Maybe a quick fuck when the bus got dark, if she loosened up a little. Normally, groupies sucked you off as a way of saying hello, but this one had tromped on past him and buried her nose in a book.

Honey, is that any way to welcome your man?

He leaned over the bus seat, carefully studying her. She wore a moonstone ring on one hand, a crystal ball set in a pair of hands ring on the other one, and gigantic sparkly hoop earrings. He didn’t especially understand this Stevie Nicks fixation, but if memory served, she’d fucked her way through Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles, so as long as Rhiannon here didn’t wear a chastity belt, it was fine by him.

He tilted his head and asked, “Aren’t you going to say hi?”

Her eyes darted up from her page, then back down. “Hi.”

He had another great view of the top of her head. “Is this any way to act?”

She turned a page, her eyes not leaving her book. “I wasn’t aware I was a bother.”

Since Izzy’s arrest, patience was not something he had large reserves of. “Are you really going to do this?” he snapped.

Her eyes met his then, and he had a second to register how long her eyelashes were before he realized how irritated she was. “Do WHAT, may I ask?” she growled, her voice hard.

Izzy was thrown, but he shrugged it off. Maybe this is foreplay to her. “Why aren’t you in my lap right now? Daddy’s had a rough day.”

She went completely, utterly still, then asked, “What?”

A little voice in his head (something he heard much more frequently now that he was sober) told him something was off, but he blurted, “You’re my whore and I shouldn’t have to beg you to blow me.”

He watched her cheeks flush, then the sides of her neck, and he belatedly realized that this was someone you didn’t piss off. To his relief, she didn’t reach into her purse, but instead slammed her book shut and gritted, “Who told you I was your whore?”

“Well, I see you two have met,” Absinthe said, smiling as she sat down next to her.

“She did,” Izzy said, tipping his chin up, not taking his eyes off the blonde.

“Amy Louise, do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on?” She glanced up at Izzy. “Are you telling people I’m ‘Bella Donna the wonder groupie’ again?” Closing her eyes, she muttered, “Because you know how much I hate that.”

“Ahh,” Absinthe answered, “well, possibly. But you really should get to know Izzy.”

Her eyes darted back to him. “I’m good,” she snapped. “I think I know all I need to know.”

“What’s the hell’s that supposed to mean?” he growled.

“It means what you think it means.” She turned to Absinthe. “You are going to stop calling me ‘Bella Donna’ or I am going to make you stop. You got that?”

“Yes.” Shoulders slumping, Absinthe stood up and walked back to the front of the bus.

Izzy watched as the blonde laid her forehead on her palm, then reached into her bag and lit a cigarette with trembling hands. She looked up at him. “Did you get that, Hoss?” she said in a tired voice. “I’m not ‘Bella Donna,’ and I’m definitely not your whore.”

He nodded, then a small voice said, “Sissy? Is that my Sissy?” A younger girl with brown hair sat down next to her, and she immediately hugged her, then laid her head on her shoulder.

“I love you, Sis,” the younger girl said.

“I love you, too, Celly Belly.”

“Who’s that?”

“That’s Izzy.”

“Hi, Izzy, I’m Celestia.”

“Hi.”

“Izzy, this is my sister, Karen.”

“We’ve met,” Karen said icily.

“Why don’t you like him? He’s cute.”

Karen looked at her sister in horror. “He’s a drug dealer.”

“Former,” Izzy said.

“And a junkie.”

“Also former.”

“He has a girlfriend.”

“Nope, she left me when I went to rehab. For another guitarist with better drugs.”

“He’s cute. You should bang him.”

“Celestia. That’s not why you sleep with people.”

“Yes, it is,” Celestia and Izzy said in unison.

Karen rolled her eyes. “That’s not why I sleep with people.”

“Have you talked to Steve?” Celestia asked.

Karen breathed out a sigh. “No, not since he took up with that model. Catriona.”

“Steve is an idiot,” Celestia said, lighting up a cigarette. “I heard their record is multi platinum.”

“Yeah, they brought Mutt back.” Karen said. “When you sell that many records, that’s when the models show up.”

“Yeah.” Celestia blew out a plume of smoke. “Did you bring your hat?”

Karen crossed her arms and slumped in her seat. “Yeah.”

“Yay!” Celestia squeezed her. “ I know you don’t want to be ‘Bella Donna’ anymore, but I love it when you are.” She looked up at Izzy, who was still watching them. “I bet he could make you forget Steve.”

“I’m good.” Karen tightened her arms and scowled.

“Sissy, please be nice to Izzy.”

“Why?”

“Because I really like Slash. And Izzy will make us go home if we don’t behave.”

Karen looked at Izzy, then Celestia. “You really want to stay?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Celestia?” a voice called. “Baby, where are you?”

Celestia said, “I gotta go. I love you, Sis.”

“Here,” Karen said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a handful of condoms. “Don’t fuck him without one. I don’t want any more doctor’s visits.”

Celestia tucked them inside her waistband of her microshorts, then kissed Karen’s cheek. “I’m not going to get in trouble again, I promise.” As she stood up, she smiled at Izzy, then squealed, “Slashy!”

Izzy lit a cigarette and smirked at Karen. “Well, that was just absolutely fucking touching, but you twats are hitting the pavement the first stop we make.”

“No, we’re not.”

“Oh, yes, you are.”

Karen narrowed her eyes. “That girl is 16. Velvet is 17. And you’re planning to take them into another country to have sex with them, which the last time I looked was a criminal act.”

“Not if we dump your asses out before we hit the border.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Well, you’re not. I’m on probation and I don’t need this bullshit.”

“Yes, let’s talk about that. You do realize any of these girls, myself included, though I wouldn’t, can at any time say, ‘He raped me?’ ‘He hit me?’ Now for anyone else in this band, that would be any given Tuesday, but for you? You have a lot more to lose.”

Izzy’s eyes widened.

“I mean, Absinthe told you I was your whore, and obviously that’s not true. We’re liable to say just anything.”

He shifted in his seat, feeling a chill run down his back.

“Where are we stopping anyway? McDonald’s? There’s always a cop there with nothing to do. Maybe he’ll have time for a damsel in distress.”

Izzy swallowed. “What do you want?” he gritted, knowing she had the upper hand.

“You can show us ‘twats’ a little respect, for starters.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” he spat. “Your ass is chapped because I was a dealer.”

“Hoss, don’t make me play my ace. Cause I have four of them, and I ain’t on probation.”

He ground his molars together. “What else?”

“We stay, and you provide us with basic human necessities. A place to sleep, food, and shelter.”

“And?”

“Take us backstage.”

“That’s a given.”

She shrugged.

“Then what?”

“Then your band runs around with empty balls and everyone is happy happy happy. ‘Cept you, you’re on your own with that.” She crossed her arms. “And I make sure no one is a headache. You’ll never know we’re here.”

“Can I believe you?”

She directly met his gaze. “Yes.”

“How do I know that?”

“I’m not a liar. I’ve been honest about everything so far.”

Why didn’t I meet you first? It would’ve saved a shitload of time. “Why are you here?” he snapped.

“Because your band has a body count, Stradlin.”

“The fuck are you talking about?”

“Todd Crew. Slash shot him up, did he not?”

Izzy took a deep breath. “He says he didn’t.”

“Do you believe that?”

“What I believe is none of your fucking business.”

“I heard he did, and Todd died in his arms.”

Izzy lit a cigarette and looked away. “We, ah, we were all gutted when he died.”

“Well, my baby sister is sleeping with Slash, and I want to make sure that is an isolated incident.”

Izzy took a drag. “It is. None of us are on smack anymore. Slash just drinks now, and I can’t do fucking anything.”

Karen met his eyes. “You’ll forgive me if I’m not entirely swayed by your testimony.”

He shrugged. Even though she was judgmental and unforgiving, he could see where she was coming from. If he had a sister, he’d shit himself if she took up with Slash. Or any of them.

She must be the brains of this outfit. She hates us all.

Karen shot him one final filthy look, then dug a Walkman out of her purse and closed her eyes, resolutely shutting him out.

Izzy sighed, then his eyes landed a few seats ahead of him. Duff had pledged undying fidelity to his fiancee and planned on recreationally drinking instead of fucking, and had already passed out cold, snoring loudly against the window.

I don’t have that option, Izzy bitterly thought. It wasn’t even that he wanted to drink or raise hell anymore. His rehab stint had opened his eyes to how close he’d skated to the edge, and just when he felt like he’d finally made it back to the land of the living, Todd had fallen into the abyss.

There’d also been the unspoken question, Is Slash going to be charged with murder? The band had closed ranks and called all the lawyers, and in the end, no one was indicted. Guns was already on thin ice for Axl and Slash’s separate arrests for statutory rape, and Izzy’s incarceration was the final straw. The brass at Geffen was adamant: One more strike, boys, and your asses are done.

He titled his chin up and blew out a plume of smoke. He hadn’t had many plans for this tour, but he had expected to spend it in the arms of a submissive woman. Sex hadn’t been forbidden by the terms of his probation, not yet anyway, and he’d been, well, enchanted by the idea of a babe who didn’t get fucked up and yet was enthusiastic to do his bidding in the sack. He could slap himself now for believing such a creature even existed.

He stole a glance at Karen, whose head had slumped forward. Even in her sleep, she looked weary, beautiful but worn out. He realized now, if Absinthe’s description was right, she was just a nice girl looking after her sister, and Celestia’s taste in men must be exhausting if Slash was any indication. Izzy felt his ears growing hot as he thought about how aggressively he’d approached her, even though he’d been promised she was a sure thing. Demanding she immediately hop on his dick wasn’t what he considered finesse.

Fuck, how am I going to get laid now? That thought was punctuated by a hushed moan from Slash, and Izzy wanted to pound his head against the seat in front of him. He’d just have to hope that somehow Canadian groupies were very willing yet went to church frequently.

Damn, woman, you’re sure you won’t change your mind about me? I can be romantic if you want me to.

Can’t do much about me being a dealer though. That ship already sailed.

He heard Karen stirring behind him, and turned to watch her stretch out and cover herself with a blanket. Since he expected to be wrapped in her arms, Izzy had packed away his own covers, so he buttoned his denim jacket and crossed his arms, sleep mercifully arriving quickly.

#izzy stradlin x oc #izzy stradlin fanfiction #guns n roses x oc #guns n roses fanfic

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seriouslyhooked · 4 years

Text

The Best Bad Idea

Three-part CS AU where Emma and Killian are doctors working at the same hospital (world without pandemic). They’ve yet to meet, but Emma has definitely seen the sexy Dr. Jones in her travels at Mist Haven Medical. It’s generally a bad idea to get involved with a colleague, but a little fantasizing never hurt… right? Inspired by the song ‘Bad Idea’ by Ariana Grande and a TV couple who set the bar for true love stories.

Available on FF Here and AO3 Here.

A/N: Hey all! Here is a little something I made instead of being a responsible writer and finishing my other projects. I’ll be back to my other WIPs soon (God willing), but in the meantime here’s my 1000th attempt at writing a Captain Swan meet cute. I needed to get some words on the page, and this is the result. Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, Thump. Steady, sure, and even. A solid pulsing sound with no inconsistencies and no delays or false starts.

In this particular patient, that fourth set of beats was the most important. Prior to his recent operation, Earl MacDonald’s heart had been weak and skipping needed pulses, then constricting far too harshly on every fourth measure. That type of arrhythmia had potentially disastrous consequences, but those worrying beats were seemingly behind them. The rhythm Emma heard through the stethoscope was a regularly circulating drumline, the tell-tale song of a heart that was working, and working well. Her surgical intervention had been successful.

She gently released the breath she was holding, a sign of the stress that she carried while waiting for patients to recuperate. Emma never let the patients see her sweat, but she had been worried on multiple levels in this case. Earl was going on 80, and not a logical contender for intensive cardiac mediation, but Emma’s gut had told her he could handle it, and she was rarely ever wrong. Earl forged through the surgery like a much younger man, and his outputs post-operation had all been extremely encouraging. It was shaping up to be another win, another life saved thanks to the power of medicine, and that filled Emma with real joy. She always did her absolute best to create good outcomes, and this time there was so much more on the line than one life. This was a man who was loved and cherished by the people closest to him, and who would be sorely missed if something were to happen.

“Anything you want me to note for the chart, Doctor Swan?”

Emma bit back a witty retort at the pointed use of the word ‘Doctor.’ She was one of the few surgeons in this hospital who didn’t care what people called her, as long as they called on her early enough to actually save the patient’s life. But with Belle, a person Emma considered a dear and true friend, there was an added lilt of sass when using her title. Her friend was one of the nurse practitioners that Emma had been working with for years, since the day she landed here as a medical intern, but despite their differences in degrees, Belle was easily the most well-read and brilliant resource when it came to medical literature in this hospital.

“Just that Mr. MacDonald is healing nicely.”

“Did you hear that Lorraine?” Earl asked, with a Cheshire cat smile on his face, and the glint of true pride in his eyes. “Doctor Emma says I’m healing nicely.”

“Hard not to hear, seeing as I’m right beside you,” Loraine quipped, but she squeezed his hand affectionately, and offered a warm smile to her husband all the same.

“You know, usually being dubbed ‘nice’ is the kiss of death for a man.”

“Earl!” Loraine chastised, clearly not liking his word choice. Earl smiled wider, looking almost boyish in his delight.

“Well, so to speak. But I was going to say that I think we can make an exception this time. I’ve never been so happy to be referred to as ‘nice’ in my life.”

“Technically Doctor Swan was referring to your vital signs, Earl,” Belle taunted from across the room, holding back a smile Emma knew she was bound to let loose soon enough.

“Aw come on, you both know I am your favorite patient. I mean I’m not exactly pressed for competition. Have you seen the people on this floor? Good grief.”

“Ignore him, ladies. He’s all talk. He hasn’t left this room since we got here,” Loraine said, rolling her eyes, as if these antics were a constant occurrence. Based on her small window of experience with Earl, Emma would believe it. “Every meal, every visit, every moment has been within these four walls. Even his PT has been in here.”

“His PT has been here?” Emma asked, surprised that Mary Margaret, their head Occupational Therapist, had allowed for that. She was normally a by-the-book professional, and Emma never knew her friend to provide rehab consults outside of her studio.

“Yup. I told Miss Mary Margaret that I had a wife to keep an eye on and she relented.”

“No, actually what you said was, ‘Excuse me, Ms. Blanchard? You probably heard I just had heart surgery. Well, the thing is, my heart is sitting in this room. I’d like to be with her. Doesn’t seem right to be separated so soon, given what we’ve been through.’ Then you pointed at me, and used your puppy dog eyes on her. Next thing I knew, she had lugged enough equipment to fill the room here. No questions, just action.”

“I bet she ate that right up,” Belle said with a wink. “Mary Margaret loves nothing more than love itself.”

Belle and Mrs. MacDonald discussed Mary Margaret’s love of love, and Earl’s improved mobility, for a few more minutes while Emma continued checking his stats, but ultimately Earl’s patience was wearing thin. He really only had one thing on his mind, and he was now determined to ask about it. Emma was honestly shocked that he managed to wait this long. She knew it was only a matter of time and she was ready for the showdown.

“So, what do you think, Doc? Am I making it home in time for the party?”

“The one for your grandson on Sunday?” she asked, noting the three-day window between now and then. She had heard about this party non-stop, since the moment Earl woke up from the procedure. It was a central fixation for the old man, a celebration that would host his entire family, and a goal he had been carrying for over a week. Earl nodded and Emma hesitated for a few seconds, before smiling and giving the good news away. “Yes, I am confident that Jayden’s ‘Pop Pops’ will be in attendance when he turns four. But you know the rules…”

“I know, I know: no good food, no strenuous exercise, no having fun.”

“Earl.” Just the utterance of the old man’s name from his wife was enough to have him looking like a kid with his hand caught in the candy jar. Emma and Belle both chuckled at that child-like expression. It was hard not to; the old married couple was just too sweet.

“I’m sorry. I know this is serious, but what is life if you can’t have a little fun?”

“Fun comes in all shapes and sizes, Mr. MacDonald, and despite what you may think about your prescribed lifestyle changes, you’re forgetting two things. First, most of these less-alluring prescriptions will be temporary, and second, you’re a man who clearly loves a challenge.”

“Oh yeah? And how do you know that, Doc?”

“Well for one thing, you somehow landed a lady as remarkable as Loraine. There’s no way she came easy with these corny jokes of yours. You must have worked harder than you ever worked in your life to persuade her to give you a chance.”

The laughter from the older couple was boisterous and heartwarming, and Emma knew she was right on the money. At this point, she had the ability to sniff out true affection, and these two had it in spades. Many couples she saw facing emergency room disasters together didn’t have the same good luck.

“You got that right, Doc. You know the first time we met was at the -,”

Earl’s story was unceremoniously interrupted by the crackling of the PA system specific to this room. It buzzed for a few moments before a message was delivered in a saccharine sweet voice that sounded nothing like the announcer’s normal tone.

“Paging Doctor Swan to the Nurse’s station. Doctor Swan to the Nurse’s station, code 741.”

Emma waited for the feed to cut off and began to tell Earl to please go on with the story, but the call came out again.

“Paging Doctor Swan to the Nurse’s station. Doctor Swan, code 741.”

“You know she’s just going to keep doing that until she gets her way,” Belle murmured. Emma nodded. It was no use. What Ruby Lucas wanted, Ruby Lucas got. That just seemed to be the way of the world.

“Belle, would you mind telling Ruby I’m with a patient at the moment? I will be there when I can. She can always proceed without me.”

Belle snorted out a laugh, knowing that last part would never happen, but gave a swift affirmation that she would relay the message before waving goodbye to the MacDonald’s and promising to see them soon. As her friend headed out, Emma sighed, knowing there was no way Ruby was going to give things up that easily. She had a matter of moments before some new tactic would be deployed.

“I’m sorry about that. You were saying?”

“Eh it’s kind of a long story, and you’ve got places to be, Doc. Just know, true love won out in the end with me and my Loraine. It always does.”

Emma couldn’t deny that their love appeared true even after their fifty plus years together. She personally had never experienced a love like that, but she was wondering more and more if maybe it was out there, somewhere in the later chapters of her story. For years she thought herself above that kind of need. She found validation in herself and in her work. She dedicated herself to helping others, and that had always been enough. But the loneliness that became a constant when she was growing up in foster care still lingered, and she wondered if someone might ever come along who could inspire her to take a chance and risk her heart.

“You know, I actually worked as a nurse before my kids were born,” Loraine commented easily. Emma nodded and smiled as she checked the last of Mr. MacDonald’s IV drips. Emma was aware of the older woman’s solid medical understanding. Loraine had continued to demonstrate it the entire time her husband was admitted in this ward. “I’m trying to remember if I ever ran into a code 741.”

“Oh, uh, I think – well, erm, I mean you probably didn’t,” Emma said, hoping she didn’t turn beet red at the passing comment from the older woman. She was already stuttering, which was completely out of character and eighty shades of embarrassing. Loraine’s words feigned ignorance, but her eyes told a different story. Still Emma tried to play it off. “It’s really not a big deal. Just a non-emergent protocol.”

Another alert sounded, but this time it came through the ceiling unit reserved for announcements to the wider reaches of the hospital. “Attention to all surgical ward personnel. We are paging Doctor Swan to the nurse’s station. Doctor Swan, you are needed at the nurse’s station immediately for a code 741.” The talking stopped, but the air crackled signaling that the line was still live. “Immediately.”

“Sounds pretty urgent to me,” Loraine replied. The curiosity in her gaze told Emma that the older woman was onto them, but it was Earl’s comment that cut too close for comfort.

“When I was in the war, all of our numeric codes corresponded to letters. So 7 was H, 4 was D, 1 was A. H – D – A. HDA, now what could that be….?” Uh oh. Now Emma really had to get out of here before she accidentally admitted Ruby’s code’s meaning – Hot Doctor Alert. That would be the cherry on top of a full-blown mortification sundae.

“All righty, well like I told Belle, all your scans look good. Doctor Whale is on shift this evening during the next series of rounds, so I’ll make sure your file is ready for him.”

“Of course, dear, and good luck with your doctor, er – I mean – code.”

Emma stammered out something like an ‘okay thanks,’ while leaving. She tried to get her bearings once she was out of sight of the room, but she had nowhere to go. Everyone on this floor had just heard her page, and there were bound to be at least a few who understood the meaning. She was so embarrassed, and more than a little ticked at Ruby. She was supposed to be her best friend, but she was always pulling these crazy stunts. They were mostly harmless, but for Emma, who hated being the subject of hospital gossip, it was anxiety inducing to say the least.

“Please tell me that you did not just broadcast that to the entire hospital,” Emma said, arriving at the nurse’s station with a sense of urgency, and watching some of the other nurses scurry off to avoid the confrontation. Ruby, however, was unfazed. Actually, the nurse manager just rolled her eyes, grabbing her bag and phone from her cubby, as if Emma was the one who was annoying and not the other way around.

“And here I was thinking we were the best of friends. Soul sisters, kindred spirits, friends for life. But no, ye of little faith, you actually believe I would broadcast the hot doc alert to all of Mist Haven? What kind of friend would do that?”

“But if you didn’t… then how did you…?” Emma’s questions trailed off, but her arms flailed towards the ceiling and the look on her face spoke for itself – how had Ruby used the hospital wide PA system without actually broadcasting to the entire hospital?

“You know Tink up in nuero?” Emma nodded, well acquainted with the nurse manager who had Ruby’s job on the fifth floor but with a specialization of the brain and nervous system. She was a tiny woman, but she ruled that ward with more than capable hands. “She and I bribed the IT guys to make the nurse managers an override. Now we can circumvent the PA software whenever we want. Bring some of you more stubborn Doctors to heal when it comes to answering our pages.”

“That’s… well, actually that’s genius,” Emma admitted.

“I like to think so,” Ruby teased, offering a genuine smile. The two friends laughed at all of this, and Emma felt so much better knowing that their secret was still relatively secure. The last thing she wanted was everyone knowing how she was spending her lunch breaks these days.

“Gus, you’re holding down the fort while I’m gone, right?” Ruby asked, her smile turning slightly wicked with the purposeful jest aimed at the new nursing aid sitting behind the desk.

“Me?” The new hire replied, suddenly white as a sheet. Emma had never seen the man so stricken, and as a new nurse he had plenty of high-stress moments to look alarmed during. “I – uh – well – I -,”

“It’s called comedic relief, Gus. Commonly referred to as joking. Do me a favor, learn about it by the end of shift, kay?” Ruby pivoted to the person she actually trusted to man the fort. “Thirty minutes work for you, Belle?”

“I’ve got it handled.”

“Excellent. We’ll return with a full report,” Ruby said, grabbing Emma’s arm and moving them down the hallway before Emma could even say goodbye. “Newbies – can’t live with them, can’t pawn off scut work without them.”

“You are terrible. And yet… the look on his face just now…? Priceless,” Emma acquiesced. “But seriously, Ruby, can we PLEASE find another way to page me for this? My patients are not stupid, and the code isn’t exactly original. It’s kind of…” Ruby’s grin was so big that it stopped Emma in her tracks. She was currently trying to hold her friend to account, but Ruby looked like she’d won the lottery. “What?”

“You are so totally into him! I mean listen to you right now.”

“I didn’t say anything!” Emma said, feeling her cheeks flush against her will.

“Exactly,” Ruby said. “You’re telling me to be more discreet when I send the bat signal, but you still want me to send it. Do you realize how unlike you that is?”

“Despite what you may think, Ruby. I’m a doctor, I’m not dead. I can appreciate a hot guy now and again.”

“Doubtful. Remember last month when all those pro hockey players were here after Ocheski collapsed on the ice? You had a room full of crazy sexy men. Like virile, hot, muscled men who get paid big money to beat each other up on the ice. Most women would die for that chance, and to make it even better, most of them were hitting on you. And what did you do? Nothing. You didn’t even blink.”

“They were not hitting on me,” Emma affirmed, but the words were hollow. They had been trying to flirt with her. A few had even attempted to get her number.

“They were hitting on you,” Ruby said adamantly.

“He was a patient, and the rest of them were essentially his family. You know I’d never cross that line. Doesn’t count.”

“Fine, then what about Dr. King? When he came for that conjoined twins case last year, you had no interest. Zero. Zilch.”

“King was an asshole, you know that,” Emma said, belatedly catching her use of profanity and checking that no patients were around. Luckily the coast was clear.

“So? You didn’t have to marry the guy. Hot is hot, honey. That’s just how things are.”

Emma barked out a laugh at even the thought of marrying someone like that. Arthur King was just about the worst person she could fathom to spend a life with. He was narcissistic and carrying around one of the biggest god-complexes she’d ever seen, and she was a surgeon, so she was an expert on god-complexes.

“Your face really says it all, Emma. I mean honestly, poker would be a terrible game for you to take up. Your contempt for King is obvious, but, meanwhile, as soon as I mention Doctor Jones… aha! See, totally shifted.”

Emma didn’t know what to say to that. She could try and protest, but her friend knew her too well for that. The best thing to do was say nothing, and she was saved by their arrival at their destination. The coffee cart in the center of the action, near the entrance of Mist Haven. Here was where the wards crossed paths. Her surgical wing met up with the specialties departments, the ER, the community clinic, and more. It was also swarmed with both hospital workers and visitors. Typically, this was the last place she wanted to be, but recently it had become a highlight of her day.

“Emma? Ruby? What’s brought you out here?” a voice asked. It was Mary Margaret, and given her street clothes and jacket, Emma would guess she was just starting her shift.

“Haven’t you heard? There’s fresh meat from the ER. Two showings a day, but we favor the afternoon delight.”

“Oh right,” Mary Margaret said, nodding, like Ruby’s words were totally normal, and for Ruby they were. “I heard about the new ER Chief. Doctor Nolan? I meant to get down there and bring him something to welcome him, but I’ve been so swamped this week. My caseload is crazy at the moment. I hope he won’t think too badly of me for being a bit late.”

“Mary Margaret, literally no one in a hospital brings people cupcakes as a welcome gift, especially not new guys in other departments.” Ruby was not wrong. Hospitals were hardly the most happy-go-lucky of places. At least not usually. “Believe me, the man will be grateful whenever they come. If he even eats them. He’s fit – like fit, fit. Keto diet and a personal trainer fit. The kind of fit that makes you -,”

“Careful, Ruby,” Emma teased. “What if Graham heard you saying that?”

“God, I wish. You know how worked up he gets, and how he works out his frustrations.” Ruby’s tone was dripping in suggestion. “It’s one of the many reasons I live to drive him crazy.”

Emma and Mary Margaret laughed at Ruby’s apt assessment of her relationship with her boyfriend. Ruby had been dating the fireman for almost a year now, since he came in on one of the ambulance bays with a victim he’d rescued from a fire, but Ruby was hardly the predictable type, and Graham seemed to love that about her. They were still going strong despite her willful, wild child nature, and Emma suspected they may be built to last.

“Doctor Nolan must really be something to get you out here, Emma,” Mary Margaret said, moving forward in the line, inching ever closer to the mediocre coffee the cart promised.

“Ha! Hardly. Emma’s not here for Nolan. She’s here for Jones.”

“Jones?” Mary Margaret asked.

“Girl, where have you been? Doctor Killian Jones, trauma surgeon extraordinaire. Chief Mills brought him here for a ‘collaboration’ with the ER, but she’s totally trying to recruit him for head of his own department. Turns out he and David Nolan are old friends. Same medical school maybe? I don’t know, no one’s gotten me those details yet. Anyway, Regina hardly leaves him alone. She only misses this little window because she’s hooking up with Doctor Locksley in the supply room on the 2nd floor.”

“She’s WHAT?!” Emma and Mary Margaret yelled at the same time and Ruby looked aghast for the first time today. Some other hospital staff in the area glanced over, but no one paid much mind beyond a head nod. Everyone was absorbed in their own need for caffeine, and no one was the wiser of the bombshell Ruby had just dropped.

“Oh shoot, I wasn’t supposed to say that. I promised Ella, damn it!”

“Ella, her assistant? I thought she quit,” Mary Margaret stage whispered.

“Oh she did. Made it a whole two months, which, you know, makes sense given the fact that Regina is a nightmare. But the last week she was here, she learned a crucial secret regarding her Majesty. She spilled last week at The White Rabbit, but I promised her I wouldn’t tell until she’s settled at her new job at GMH. So you did not hear this from me, and I did not hear this from her, capische?”

“I can’t believe the Evil Queen is dating someone,” Mary Margaret said, deeply disturbed by the idea. She shuddered at the thought, and this was someone who loved love. But love and Regina Mills didn’t really feel like concepts that belonged in the same sentence. Scratch that, they didn’t really even belong in the same book. “She’s just so…”

“Evil?” Emma responded. The nickname worked for a reason, after all. The hospital Chief was downright tyrannical.

“Exactly.”

“Well dating is a stretch. She’s screwing someone. But then again, who knows. Ella said she actually saw her smiling in those final days. And not that evil one she’s famous for. Like a real, genuine, I have a heart, smile.”

“No way,” Emma said at the same time Mary Margaret murmured, “Well would you look at that.”

“Don’t worry. I’m on the case. The temp is a totally easy mark – Sydney something. I’m buying him lunch tomorrow. I’ll have the whole story before you know it.”

“Won’t Graham be proud,” Emma chuckled, but her joke fell on deaf ears as something caught Ruby’s attention across the way. Her friend’s countenance changed immediately, putting Emma on alert.

“Ooh, they’re coming! Act normal.”

Normally, Emma would have laughed at that command, but she was too busy feeling the spike of adrenaline at the impending arrival of one Doctor Killian Jones. He really was a world-renowned trauma surgeon, who was working on a number of cutting-edge techniques that saved lives and gave critical care patients better chances to recover. She had actually heard of him a few years ago when reading about a new procedure to treat arrhythmia in patients with traumatic injury. He engineered it in the field, while serving in the British naval forces, and his paper had been circulating in cardiac wings around the country, but she never saw the man before last week when he arrived in Boston. Suffice it to say she could not have imagined that this marvel of modern medicine would also be so roguishly handsome.

Spotting him today across the great hall, Emma was struck again by just how attractive this man was. She couldn’t even comprehend it really. All she knew was that she had yet to find a fault in him. Every day she’d stolen secret glances, and every time he proved better than her memory. It was crazy, and very reminiscent of schoolgirl crushes and teenage day dreams, but she couldn’t help the way she felt. It was intoxicating, and despite her best efforts, she was powerless to turn Ruby’s invites to the show down when she could witness this each and every day.

The first thing that she’d noticed about him was his general presence. His posture was strong and straight and assured. He looked ready for anything, but somehow laid back, like he was totally in control. People naturally parted when he walked by, as if he silently willed the flow of the hospital traffic. Ruby called it swagger. Emma called it… well something not quite safe for work. Couple that general aura of authority with the classically gorgeous features of his face, and Emma was lost. On that first day (and okay, maybe on the others as well), she actually felt her knees get weak. She always thought that was a bogus cliché, but nope, it was real, and she was the proof of it. From there she was hooked, and over time she’d chronicled more and more things to like about him.

Yesterday it had been his hair. As she watched him across the atrium, she noticed that the shade shone bright in the sun, but that it was nearer to midnight than any color brown. It was slightly longer than most of the other male doctors wore theirs, but not so long that it looked unkempt or unprofessional, at least not yet. She knew for a fact that the military never would allow for such a style, and it felt like a bit of rebellion, or maybe a lack of care for what others thought. Both sent a delicious thrill through Emma, even though she had no real confirmation one way or another. Maybe he was just lazy, but that wasn’t how she imagined him…

And oh boy did she imagine him. At first she hadn’t meant to. She just had these flashbacks to seeing him that she carried through the day. These visceral visions always started the same: he would walk by, looking downright delicious and impossible to resist, then he would turn his eyes her way here in the middle of the hospital hustle and bustle. She’d feel caught in his stare, sense the hunger even from the distance, and her heart would quicken to a maddening crescendo as he walked her way. The rest of the world would fade from view, and it would feel like they were the only two people alive. Her gaze would stay transfixed on his almost cocky composure and the hard line of his bearded jaw. The attraction in his blue eyes would light a fire in her, and then, without so much as a word like ‘hello’ or ‘nice to meet you,’ he’d pull her into his embrace and kiss her senseless. She could practically taste him on her tongue, and yet she’d never even heard him speak. People who had, who were later interrogated by Ruby, mentioned that he had an accent. British or Irish, or something along those lines. That tidbit had played oh so sweetly in Emma’s mind this week. God, she’d love to hear him say her name -,

“Emma,” a voice beside her said, but it didn’t pull her out of the fog. “Oh my God, Emma, he’s looking right at you.”

“He’s what?” Emma said, blinking back to reality before finding that Doctor Jones was looking this way. She’d been so busy fantasizing, she stopped paying attention to what was right in front of her.

In the middle of the room, the man who had intrigued her for over a week was standing totally still, disregarding the swarm of people on all sides. His entire attention had shifted from the task ahead of him, and he was looking at her, staring with a blend of intrigue and something Emma couldn’t describe. Doctor Nolan had stopped as well, but he was clearly confused as to the delay. He seemed to ask his friend what was wrong, and Emma watched spell bound, as the lips she’d envisioned kissing her moved in some kind of unheard reply. She couldn’t make out his words, but she shivered at the passion and determination etched across his being. David then looked their way, and Emma knew that Doctor Jones – Killian - had asked about them. No, forget that, he had asked about her. He was looking right at her, and that spark of heat and desire she’d always imagined was nowhere near as tantalizing as the real thing. He was looking at her with the same hunger she’d reserved for her wildest imaginings. Holy crap, what was she going to do?

“Ruby?” she asked, her voice squeaked out in alarm. She tore her gaze from the approaching object of her desire and looked to her best friend with overt confusion and mild panic.

“Took him long enough to spot you. It’s been almost a week. I thought I was going to have to hire a marching band or one of those giant arrow guys they have at outlet malls.”

Emma didn’t understand, and then it dawned on her – her friend had planned this. Emma looked at Mary Margaret, but she was still staring in the distance. Only when Emma followed her gaze did she realize that Mary Margaret wasn’t looking at Killian. She was looking at David.

“Hey, ladies, you looking to order, or what? I ain’t got all day!”

The three of them jumped at the barista’s interruption and Mary Margaret surged ahead to the line. She rattled off an order, giving way too much money to the attendant while grabbing her cup with shaky hands. Then she looked at David and back to Emma with an expression that said Mary Margaret may just bolt. Ok, what the actual hell was going on?

Before she could begin to answer that internal question, Doctor Jones and Doctor Nolan were within ear shot. Emma wracked her brain for something to say when they finally got here, but was spared when David broke the ice.

“Doctor Swan,” he said with a head nod and a polite smile. They knew each other peripherally at this point. Emma had consulted on numerous ER cases since Doctor Nolan started his new position. But she wouldn’t call them friends. They were very much acquaintances. “I heard Earl MacDonald is recovering nicely. He most definitely has you to thank for that.”

“And you too,” she said, offering credit where it was due. “A quick diagnosis makes all the difference. I’ve noticed the ER is filled with them since you started.”

“That’s kind of you. I don’t believe you’ve met my friend, Doctor Jones.”

“Killian,” Doctor Jones said immediately, before offering a heart stopping smile of his own. Emma had yet to see the man smile, and her heart skipped a beat, the rhythm of her pulse skittering in an almost blissful way. “A pleasure to meet you, Swan.”

He offered his hand to her, and Emma took it, shaking in greeting even though it was uncommon for doctors or nursing staff to do so. Chief Mills stressed that germ management was a top priority at Mist Haven, and she’d come as close to banning the practice as was legal in the state of Massachusetts. Usually Emma didn’t mind, but germs were the farthest thing from her radar when their fingers touched. Instead, Emma was filled with the zapping sense of promise and a thrill of warmth that made her head swim.

“Emma,” she whispered. A beat passed between them, and Emma lost herself for too long. Only the clearing of a throat beside them brought her back to the moment. She let go of his hand, but tracked the slight disappointment on his face when she did. It filled her with a rush of something long forgotten. A sense of peace and elation she hadn’t tasted in years. “Um these are my friends, Ruby Lucas and Mary Margaret Blanchard. Ruby’s the head nurse in the cardiac unit. And Mary Margaret runs OT for the surgical division.”

Emma tore her gaze from Killian, watching her friends make their greetings. Ruby handled her own completely, and Mary Margaret seemed to have gathered her courage, but now it was David who looked shocked and spell bound. Everyone appeared to be thrown off kilter, and it was only Ruby in control of herself. To say her friend was positively delighted with these new developments would be an understatement. That glee rang out clear as day in her invite to both the attending doctors.

“So… Doctor Nolan, Doctor Jones, any way we could convince you to join us? The coffee’s just all right, but the company’s not half bad.”

Both men agreed immediately, and Emma fought her hardest not to blush. It was hard though, and her pulse was racing in the face of this development. Killian came to stand by her, the space between them so small but still too much to bear. She tried to get her bearings as the cranky barista handed her a latte. She struggled to think of something – anything – to say, but she was tongue tied. Instead, she looked at Killian, finding an openness in his expression that said he felt the same exact way. That gave her comfort and removed some of the tension from the moment.

“The hospital’s been buzzing since you got here,” Emma offered, waiting with him while he ordered a no nonsense coffee of his own. “A lot of people are hoping you’ll stay on past the month.”

“And you, love? Have you such hopes?” his words were earnest but laced with an almost cocky easiness that sent Emma’s mind humming in delight. Still, she played it cool. At least she hoped she did.

“Jury’s still out,” she replied, smiling when he looked a little crestfallen. “Well can you blame me? I hardly even know you. Still haven’t seen what you’re capable of.”

“Only a matter of time, Swan. You can trust in that.”

His words may seem benign, but they were loaded with hidden meaning, and Emma knew he meant each one. She swallowed harshly, thinking of the things he might be capable of. Damn, was it hot in here? Or was it just the devil on her shoulder spinning another one of those dirty dreams of hers?

When they’d all gotten a coffee, the five of them moved off to the patio just outside, reserved for hospital staff. The grounds were manicured beautifully, maintaining an oasis that seemed totally disconnected from the hectic nature of the hospital. This was one of Emma’s favorite places here, and she was surprised to hear that neither David nor Killian had been here yet. They all spent a few minutes making non-threatening small talk, with mostly Ruby moving the conversations along. But despite the fluttering feeling she was grappling with, Emma couldn’t say she hated this building anticipation. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed herself so much. She was seated next to Killian, fully aware that all of his attention was devoted to her, and she reveled in it. At one point, while the others were talking about something with the OT department, Killian whispered to her and her alone.

“This might be presumptuous of me, love, but I find I’m helpless to resist. I was wondering – that is, I was hoping that perhaps, you and I, we could…” His eyes looked from hers down to her lips, and Emma wet them absentmindedly. She heard a low growl, and realized it was coming from him. She shifted in her seat, turned on in a way she had never been before. Instinctively she moved closer, sensing the sinfully sweet current between them, like lightning just before it cracked across the summer sky.

“We could…” she continued, hoping he would elaborate and put into words what she herself was wishing for.

“That we could -,”

“Paging all staff to the ER. All staff to the ER for an incoming trauma, category 4.”

This time the PA was most definitely broadcasting a hospital wide announcement, and the irony wasn’t lost on Emma. Ruby looked positively forlorn at the interruption, but it was somewhat poetic after how they’d gotten here.

“Category four,” David repeated, standing immediately, prompting all of them to do the same. “We haven’t had a four since I started. We’re gonna need all hands on deck. Killian?”

“Aye, mate. I’m with you.” He looked back to Emma, and only had time for the swiftest goodbye. “Until next time, love.”

Emma and her friends watched them go, running towards the ER. Belatedly, they realized that if a trauma of that magnitude was coming into the hospital, there were bound to be surgical cases flooding their ward soon enough. They hustled back to their wing, focused once more on their jobs and the lives on the line that they were sworn to help heal and make better. But Emma still carried that moment with her for the rest of the day, and when the shift was over and done, and she’d done all she could to help the people in her care, she was left wondering what exactly Doctor Jones was hoping to ask, and when, oh when, he may try to do so again.

Post-Note: So there we have it. This was originally going to be a oneshot for my CS mixtape series, but alas, the muse wants what she wants, and this time that’s a three part mini-story for all of us to share. Hope that you guys have enjoyed so far and I would love to hear what you think! As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope you are all staying well in this crazy time! xE

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