#yeah he hits people and his driving is a little shifty but he’s a hot reverse I promise!

[capquinn]

Daydreaming of being in a car with Quinn and he’s driving and does that hot thing men do when they’re reversing/looking back and put their hand on the head of your seat 😵‍💫

The car hums softly as Quinn steers into the lot, the warm light of the setting sun casting a gentle glow across his face. It’s quiet between you, a comfortable silence filled only by the low murmur of the engine and the familiar rhythm of his hands on the wheel. The air feels easy, settled, with just the two of you in your own little bubble as he scans for a spot, the end of the day stretching out around you.

You watch him shift the car into reverse, his expression sharpening as he gets into parking mode, shoulders squaring up as he leans back. Without thinking, your eyes follow the way he adjusts the wheel. His gaze flickers to the side mirrors, glancing quickly from one to the other. His fingers grip the wheel firmly, knuckles tightening just slightly, revealing a subtle strength that makes something stir in you.

One hand remains steady on the wheel, while the other slides up to brace against the back of your headrest, his fingers curling around it with a casual grip that somehow feels both protective and incredibly self-assured.

His body stretches across the space between you, his chest turning toward you as he leans back, bringing him just close enough that you can catch the faint scent of his cologne. The movement exposes the line of his collarbone beneath his jumper, the fabric stretching just slightly over his shoulders, every subtle shift revealing the quiet strength in his frame. His arm is just inches away, muscles flexed as he steadies himself, fingers pressing into the headrest beside you, a gesture so simple yet easily commanding.

As he glances over his shoulder, his neck arches, his jawline sharp and set, his focus fully absorbed in the task. Your eyes trace the slight furrow of his brows, how his jaw tightens just a bit as he focuses, his concentration giving him an intensity that makes your pulse skip. It’s something you wouldn’t expect to find so appealing, yet here you are, a faint warmth rising to your cheeks as he takes control of even the smallest details with such calm assurance.

There’s something quietly magnetic in the way he owns this moment, a natural ease that feels entirely masculine.

Your gaze lingers, caught on the lines and angles of him, the smooth movement of his hands, the faint tension in his muscles as he guides the car precisely into place. It’s such an ordinary thing, parking the car, but watching him like this, so composed and sure, you feel that familiar flutter, an unsteady warmth that leaves you almost breathless.

The car eases into place, the entire movement so smooth you almost didn’t realise he’d finished. He shifts into park, releases his grip, and sits back, his focus finally drifting back to you as he unbuckles his seatbelt. That’s when he notices it — the look on your face, the way you’re biting your lip, a soft blush dusting your cheeks.

Quinn’s brow furrows, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he catches your expression. “What?” he laughs, eyes crinkling with curiosity, his head tilted just a bit as he studies you. He really has no idea. “What’d I do?”

You let out a small laugh, trying to brush it off, but he catches the lingering look in your eyes, and realisation flickers across his face. His grin spreads wider as he leans back, clearly entertained.

“Wait… that’s doing it for you?” he teases, his voice warm with both amusement and a touch of surprise, as if he’s just uncovered something new about you he didn’t see coming.

You laugh, trying to keep it light, but there’s no denying it. “Maybe,” you say, shrugging, though the warmth blooming across your cheeks completely gives you away.

Quinn sits up a little straighter, clearly pleased with this new revelation, a glint of amusement brightening his eyes as he watches you. A faint blush creeps up his own cheeks, a bit of color rising as he realizes just how much effect he has on you. The corners of his mouth tug into a grin, as if he’s letting the knowledge settle, enjoying the quiet thrill that even the smallest things he does, things he never thought twice about, can pull such a reaction from you.

His gaze holds you captive, his eyes steady on you, a knowing look swimming in the depths as he draws out the moment, savouring every second.

“Good to know,” he murmurs, his voice dropping low, smooth and teasing, as if daring you to keep looking.

There’s an unmistakable satisfaction on his face as he registers the effect he’s having on you, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, like he’s more than a little pleased to know he can stir something in you without even trying.

You feel your body warm under his gaze, a flush spreading down your neck as you try to ignore the heat pooling in your stomach. It’s ridiculous how much he affects you with something as simple as looking back at you like that, the air between you charged with unspoken tension, playful yet heavy with attraction.

He’s just sitting there, hands in his lap now, his relaxed confidence somehow amplifying the pull you feel, leaving you momentarily breathless.

You let out a laugh, rolling your eyes to brush it off, but you’re acutely aware of the way your pulse is still quickening, heart pounding a little harder in your chest.

“Stop looking at me like that,” you manage, your voice laced with amusement, though there’s no real conviction behind it.

In fact, you don’t mind at all if he keeps staring at you like that a little longer, and he seems to know it. Your gaze lingers on him just a beat too long, your mind wandering, betraying how much you’re enjoying this attention. You catch yourself, finally reaching for the door handle and stepping out, hoping the cool air might clear your head.

Quinn laughs, unbuckling his seatbelt and following you outside, tossing your own words back at you with a grin. “No, you stop looking at me like that.”

But then he stretches his arms high above his head, his muscles flexing under the soft fabric of his sweater. As his arms reach up, the hem lifts just enough to reveal a hint of skin — the faint trail of hair on his stomach disappearing into the waistband of his jeans. You can't help but stare, completely captivated by the display.

But then, with a low, exaggerated groan that edges into a playful, teasing moan, he stretches again, arching his back a little as he leans into the stretch. The sound is intentional, and he glances sideways to catch your reaction, his lips curling into a smirk as he watches you, clearly pleased with the effect his little show is having. His eyes glint with mischief, a faint blush dusting his cheeks as he sees you're not even trying to hide the way you're admiring him.

You swallow, trying to act unaffected, but the way his muscles ripple beneath his sweater, the effortless confidence in his stance, and that flash of bare skin leave you feeling warmer. His antics are working, and he knows it.

Quinn lowers his arms slowly, his smirk deepening as he takes a step forward to meet you by the hood of the car, his voice still carrying that playful, low murmur.

"You okay over there?" he asks, feigning innocence.

You nod slowly, eyes trailing over him, taking in every line and angle. As you meet his gaze, you bite your lip, feeling a wave of attraction so intense it leaves you momentarily at a loss for words. The air between you feels charged, and all you manage is a soft, “mhm,” the sound coming out an octave higher than usual, betraying just how not okay you are.

Quinn chuckles, clearly enjoying the effect he’s having on you, and his hand reaches up to lightly brush against the back of his neck, an unassuming move, but one that only adds to his appeal.

He then reaches down, his fingers slipping into yours, warm and sure, as he steps toward the sidewalk, guiding you beside him.

“Let’s go before you really start getting ideas,” he says with a playful grin, his voice light, laced with a hint of charm that makes it impossible not to smile back.

You fall into step, slipping your free hand around his bicep, leaning into him, drawn to the warmth and strength radiating from him, your body practically buzzing with the need to be close. In a soft murmur, you breathe, “too late.”

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

requests are open - let’s daydream!

[nerdforestgirl]

Note: This might be the last year that I do this, but for now I have a tradition to continue.

Amy's birthday was coming up, and it was always among her favorite days of the year. Sheldon always made a fuss. Her friends too. It felt good to be celebrated for just existing. Sure, Amy was a Nobel winning scientist, but to her husband and friends, she was so much more than that. To them, she was Amy Farrah Fowler. That was the long and short of it. She was her, and that was all she needed to be to them.

Amy had never been one of those birthday week or month people. The single day or maybe an extra weekend day if that fit everyone's schedule better was all she needed, but it felt good to be unabashedly loved by her friends. Especially when she grew up with so many birthdays where all she did was spend the day with her parents. If she even got that. Her 15th birthday had involved spending the whole day completely forgotten about and stuck in the rain.

“I was thinking that this year for my birthday, I'd love it if we all dressed up and went out to dinner. My and Sheldon's treat of course. I love an excuse to dress up, and Sheldon looks hot in a suit,” Amy told Bernadette while they sat in Bernadette's kitchen one afternoon.

“Aren't you a little old for all of this?” Bernadette snapped. It was a hassle to fit both Amy's birthday in on the same day as Halley's. Halley was a little kid, so obviously her birthday could be a big deal. Amy was in her 40s. She was an adult, and Bernadette didn't really have time to hear about Amy's plan to have everyone out for a nice dinner.

“Uh. Yeah. I guess I am,” Amy said. She didn't think she was, but she was taken aback by both Bernadette's tone and words. “I just forgot that Sheldon wanted a ride to the train store. I'll see you later,” Amy added before a couple tears could start making their way down her face. Then she got up and left Bernadette's house.

Amy cried for the whole drive home. If she was going to cry, she usually tried to do it in her car. No one liked it when she cried, so she tried to spare anyone she could. When it wouldn't stop, Amy stopped at a coffee shop and picked up a hot beverage in the drive thru. The sugar from the hot chocolate and the warmth would help calm her down.

At first, Amy didn't know why she was crying. Her birthday wasn't all that important to her. Neither was the idea of a dinner with her friends. They did that stuff all the time. Sure, she wanted to go out to a restaurant instead of just eating at Leonard and Penny's, but it wasn't all that different. Then it hit Amy. She wanted to matter. She wanted to matter to her six best friends enough that they would take the time to have dinner with her. She wanted to be worth three hours of their time. And suddenly she didn't think she was was worth even that to them.

“I've won a Nobel. I have my own Wikipedia page. I matter,” Amy muttered to herself as she sipped her hot chocolate. It didn't make her feel any better. Sure, asymmetry was groundbreaking. People were already expanding on her work in so many ways. But if the people closest to her didn't have time for her, what did all that matter?

Amy kept crying alone in her car until she got a text from Sheldon.

“My phone says you are here, but you are not home or at Leonard and Penny's. Did I forget about the finals of our hide and seek competition? I thought they were next week.”

“I'm in my car. I'll be up in a minute,” Amy wrote back.

After a few minutes, Amy knew she really needed to get upstairs before Sheldon got too worried about her. Still she didn't. She stayed in her car and finished her hot chocolate.

Amy jumped when there were suddenly three knocks on her car window followed by her name. Amy rolled down the window and looked at her husband.

“Why are you still in your car? And why are you crying?” Sheldon asked Amy. Then he opened the door and climbed in next to her.

“Could you do me a favor and tell me that you love me?” Amy asked Sheldon.

“I love you,” Sheldon said without any hesitation. He didn't even ask why Amy would ask for such a thing. She knew he loved her, and it wasn't like he neglected to tell her that on a regular basis. He usually told her at least once a day, but often more than that.

“And I'm not a burden?” Amy tried.

“You are not a burden,” Sheldon repeated. He was the annoying burden out the of the two of them. They both knew that too. Of course she was annoying sometimes, but so was everyone. “Why do I need to say it?”

“Bernadette said that she didn't have time to celebrate my birthday this year. She said that I was too old to still care about my birthday,” Amy explained.

Sheldon knew that Amy hadn't had fun birthdays growing up. He didn't mind celebrating with her. She was his favorite person, so even if she wasn't making up for lost time, he loved celebrating her existence. He was beyond thrilled that she existed. Just like when he loved celebrating the day she became his wife.

“Fine. Bernadette can't come. Wolowitz either. Just because he's annoying. We'll still have your birthday dinner. Now, come inside. It's getting dark out here,” Sheldon told Amy. There would soon be shifty people and loose dogs about.

“But I'm crying,” Amy explained.

“You may cry inside. It's silly to just sit out here in the car just to cry,” Sheldon told her.

“You don't like it when I cry,” Amy told him.

“Of course I don't like it when you cry. I don't like it when you are hurt either. Well, except when you slipped on the last step last week and fell on your butt. That was hilarious,” Sheldon reminded her. He chuckled at the memory because it really was one of the funniest things he had seen all week and no permanent damage was done. “It doesn't mean you are not allowed to cry.”

“When did you get so smart?” Amy asked as she opened the door to go upstairs with Sheldon. She felt better already. Sheldon wasn't usually great at emotions, but he completely validated her emotions. It wasn't something he was usually great at.

“I've always been smart,” Sheldon said.

The pair went up to their apartment. Amy decided to climb into a nice hot bath and relax for a while. Sheldon was going to just order them a pizza because Amy didn't feel like cooking even though she normally did.

Then when Sheldon was alone, he found Amy's photo album. From there he took pictures of several of the photos in them before sending them to Bernadette.

“Did you know that Amy didn't have a birthday that included a single friend until after she met us?” Sheldon asked Bernadette in a message along with the photos of Amy all alone on her childhood birthdays.

“Was she upset that I said she shouldn't make such a big deal out of her birthdays? I knew I was being a jerk. I should apologize,” Bernadette wrote back immediately. She had had a feeling that Amy was upset when she left. Bernadette didn't think she was wrong exactly, but she could see that she had hurt Amy's feelings. Sometimes Bernie forgot how sensitive Amy could be under the surface.

“She was crying when she got home. She was worried that no one loved her and that she's a burden,” Sheldon wrote back. He wouldn't have known that if she hadn't outright said it, but he did know. He thought he would pass it along since he always could use the help on knowing how people felt.

“I will call and apologize right now,” Bernadette promised.

“She is in the bath and I do not allow electronics so close to the bathtub. I will text you when she is available again,” Sheldon explained.

Amy got out of the bath when the pizza came, and she started to serve herself a couple slices when her phone rang. It was Bernadette. She wasn't sure she wanted to answer it, but Sheldon looked at her expectedly. Amy grabbed the call.

“Hello?” Amy said.

“Hi. You left abruptly. Did you get to the train store?” Bernadette asked, playing dumb.

“Yeah. Sheldon got the new train car he needed,” Amy lied. She mouthed “sorry” to Sheldon because she knew it bothered him to be involved in a lie even if it didn't remotely matter.

“Good. Um. I wanted to say that I'm sorry about earlier. I have been stressed out at work and about Halley's birthday party, but I want you to know that I am happy you are my friend. I really want to go to dinner with you for your birthday. Getting dressed up sounds really nice,” Bernadette told Amy.

“Oh. It's not a big deal,” Amy lied again.

“It is to me. I like having you in my life, Amy. I love you and I want to celebrate you. I'm sorry that I made it sound like it didn't matter when you were over earlier. Howard and I will both be there,” Bernadette explained.

“Thank you, Bernadette,” Amy said earnestly. She was nearly crying again, but this time because she felt loved by her friend.

“What was that about?” Sheldon asked as if he had no idea what had just transpired.

“Bernadette apologized to me for saying I was too old to care about my birthday,” Amy told him. Then she finally took a big bite of the pizza in front of her.

“Good. Though, we can still leave Wolowitz off the guest list if you would like,” Sheldon joked.

“No. I want everyone to be there. They all love me and I them,” Amy told him.

[snarkwriteswrasslin]

FFT: sweet cherry pie, adam page

Notes: 

This was originally a fake fic title ask that I got from @adampage​. I’ve decided to copy/paste it to it’s own post so that I can remove all these from snarkandsarcasmwrites to make it my personal blog. 

Pairing: 

Adam Hangman Page x OFC, Audrey.

Summary: 

Audrey not only has a secret crush on her best friend / co-worker Adam Page, but she’s also a virgin. In this two part series, both her secrets will be revealed. Part 1 of 2.

Warnings: 

none, really.

Adam chuckled almost the second he felt her press against him from behind and Audrey’s hands went over his eyes. The tension he’d been feeling slowly started to disappear, then again it always did whenever he was around her. He turned to face her, smiling.

“There you are, darlin.” Adam found himself doing it again, having to reign himself in so he didn’t push himself on her. If he didn’t reign himself in, he’d constantly be touching her.

… And I wouldn’t be able to stop with just that, either. And then if she doesn’t feel the same, I’ll lose her… his mind chimed in and just the thought of even possibly losing her as a friend or doing something that made her uncomfortable and skittish like she was around pretty much the rest of the males on the roster didn’t sit well with him at all.

“Yeah, I got stuck trying to keep Leva from killing Britt.” Audrey bit her lip, eyes easily getting lost in the baby blue of Adam’s eyes. She must have been staring too hard again, because Adam was chuckling and shaking his head, his hand at her hip. He pulled her closer and her breath caught in her throat at the contact. She had to fight the urge to clench her thighs and that lazy slow burning heat was flowing through her veins all over again.

…If he had any clue what he does to me and just how huge of a deal it truly is… the thought swam lazily through Audrey’s brain, quick to disappear and she was thankful for it. Lately it was getting harder to hide the way she felt about him and that was not a good thing. They had a good and solid friendship. She couldn’t even begin to fathom risking it. Just the thought of losing him in her life altogether was definitely more than enough to keep her from doing any more than she managed on occasion, the lingering touches, the hugs, the way they always seemed to find one another in a crowd and just kind of migrate together.

“How’d that work out for ya?” Adam asked the question playfully, a smile forming at the thought of her, trying to step between the two taller women and stop them from coming to blows a second time this week.

“I gave up. Wanted to come find you before your big match tonight. I… I thought you’d want someone around.”

Adam smiled at her softly, leaning in a little to brush her bangs out of her eyes as he did so. “I appreciate that, darlin.”

… oh god, when he talks like that… Before she could stop herself, Audrey’s imagination was doing it again, that thing where she went overboard, her mind filling in all these little details she longed so desperately for.

Like Adam, pulling her in closer. That large and rough and warm hand resting against her lower back firmly to keep her in place. His lips on her lips. In her mind, he substituted darlin for baby girl or any number of other pet names she longed to have him call her, if he was that kind of man.

Adam eyed her, a brow raised. She seemed to be lost in thought. Whatever she was thinking about had her biting her lip and blushing all over. Not that it wasn’t hot as hell, but it gave him all these thoughts.

Thoughts that lately, he’d been trying to keep control of. But it was getting harder and harder to do that. And he couldn’t stay away from her, either. He’d actually tried a time or two. And failed miserably.

He was drawn to her like a magnet.

Being around her felt good. He felt happier and more comfortable with her than he did anywhere else or with anyone else lately. Nothing else mattered. None of the crap he was dealing with all by himself, none of the frustration he felt almost 80 percent of the time lately.

… maybe frustration of a different kind. A better kind… the thought lingered as he cleared his throat and repeated his question because he’d asked her if she was okay and she’d yet to answer.

Audrey wanted to melt into the hallway floor because once again, she’d done it. She’d stepped closer without realizing it, their bodies almost brushing softly. She was staring up at him and lost in all her thoughts and apparently while she’d been lost in those, Adam had asked her a time or two if she was okay. She gave a soft laugh and nodded -probably a little too quick, god I hope he doesn’t figure out I’m standing here fantasizing about him yet again, answering quickly, “Yeah. I’m fine, I was just… Thinking.”

“Oh you were, huh?”

“Mhm.”

Adam’s music hit and Audrey was about to just let him walk down to the ring, but Adam surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug. His nose buried in the top of her head and he inhaled deeply. “Welp, gonna go do some cowboy shit.”

“You’re gonna do amazing, I know it. Just focus on yourself. Forget about the other three. And be careful out there, please?” Audrey’s hand rested palm down against his bare chest, right over his heart. Adam smiled and swallowed hard, exhaling deeply as he stared down the curtain separating the backstage from the ring and the arena.

Audrey took his face in her hands and repeated herself. “I mean it, Adam. You’re an amazing wrestler. If anyone else can’t see that, just know that you are.”

Before Adam could say anything else -or hug her again like he desperately craved, Audrey was hurrying away down the hall. He stood there watching her catch up to Leva until Kenny cleared his throat from the curtain.

Adam stepped past Kenny wordlessly and made his way down to the ring for their title defense match against the Bucks. Everything she said kept playing over and over in his mind for the duration.

He needed to do something.. At least consider trying to clue her in because this was driving him insane.He couldn’t keep it to himself much longer.

– ( A FEW HOURS LATER )

“You and Adam are awfully cozy lately.” Leva smirked to herself when she saw Audrey tense ever so slightly and glance around before meeting her gaze with a deer in headlights look. Audrey took a deep breath and after a few seconds of Leva staring her down intently as if waiting on an answer, Audrey finally managed to pull herself together enough that maybe it would sound legit when she did answer.

“He’s my best friend, duh.” Audrey’s tone was flat and Leva shook her head, sighing. “You’re in love with him… aren’t you?”

Audrey nearly choked on her bottled water as she glanced around almost as if she expected anyone to step out and hear their conversation. And when she opened her mouth, she honestly meant to deny,deny,deny, but instead, she found herself unable to do it any longer.

“Yeah and it’s driving me insane because every single time I think about trying to tell him somehow I just… I can’t. I freak out and it makes things weird. But if I don’t do something soon I’m gonna..” Audrey trailed off because she thought she heard footsteps.

Leva, however, was not in the mood to let Audrey keep this in any longer. And she knew full well that Adam was standing just out of sight, she’d seen him come out of the backstage exit and into the parking garage.

And if Audrey wasn’t going to say anything on her own… Maybe just doing a little gentle probing.. With Adam in earshot.

Maybe that would help these two finally get on the same page in their little ‘love story’.

Something had to give because everyone backstage was starting to take notice and quite a few were saying that the tension and magnetism between the two of them was so thick that it almost took all the air out of the room.

“You’re gonna go crazy… Right?”

Audrey sighed. She hadn’t seen anyone come past, so she assumed it was safe. She was just venting to her best friend, nothing would ever come of it. Venting to Leva was far better than keeping it all locked inside.

“Oh god yes. I’m going to lose my fucking mind.”

“Language…” Leva cautioned, Audrey poking her tongue out and taking a deep breath. “I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s like… There’s so much I wanna say to him. Every single time I try I guess I get overwhelmed and panic because if I just outright say that I love him and I want him, oh god… Then that leaves an opening for him to hurt me? I know he wouldn’t, he’d probably let me down gently…” Audrey leaned against the side of Leva’s SUV and sighed, gazing up at the concrete above their heads, lightly beating the back of her head against the vehicle.

“But what if you’re wrong?”

“Leva, that man is worlds above me. Galaxies.”

“No, Audrey, he’s not. He’s just a man. And maybe he feels the same way. People are already assuming you two are a thing.”

“I know and the reason I don’t correct anybody when asked is because I really wish it were true.” Audrey took an even deeper breath and pinched the bridge of her nose as she cringed and shook her head.

From the other side of the SUV, Adam nearly choked on his tongue. His heart started to race and he took as quiet a deep breath as possible. It was taking everything in him not to make himself known, not to just come out and tell her.

… Not like this, if I’m gonna say it, I’m gonna say it when it’s just me n’ her… But knowing what I know, maybe… Adam’s mind started to race, filling with the thoughts and possibilities that he didn’t even realize he had. He focused himself, hoping to hear more of the conversation between Audrey and Leva.

“Why don’t you just tell him?”

“ I’m afraid…” Audrey admitted it reluctantly, adding quickly, “You know why. You can’t tell me that the second he figures out I don’t know what the hell I’m doing in bed or in a relationship he’s not gonna just give up.” as she met her friend’s gaze, a convinced and firm look in her eyes.

Adam nearly choked again when he heard her say that. He took a deep breath, shifting his feet just to try and move a little, to keep himself from bursting out there and revealing himself. He got the distinct impression that what she and Leva were talking about was not something she wanted him to be aware of.

Leva gave a soft laugh because she’d seen Adam out of the corner of her eye. If Audrey really looked up and around, whoo boy, Leva thought to herself, careful to keep from appearing smug. She definitely knew what she was doing right now.

Something that apparently, neither one of them were brave enough to do for themselves. Something that had to be done, in her own mind for the name of true love. Because she was 1000000 percent certain that’s what they had.

They’d been through good, bad and not so ugly but still ugly together as friends.

Audrey sighed and took a deep breath. “I either need to find a better way to control myself around him or I need to keep my distance. Earlier tonight, before his match, God… I wanted to just take his face in my hands and kiss him. He looked unhappy. Tense.”

“Do you really think Adam Page is the kind of man who’s going to just ditch you because you happen to be a little… Inexperienced? And why are you putting the cart way before the horse anyway, hm?”

“Because he’s the only man I’d even think about… Giving myself to like that. Since I met him I… I’ve never really clicked with anyone like that? And you know me, Leva, I’ve never really wanted to, either.” Audrey paused and fidgeted with the sleeves of her sweater. “But you are right. I’m putting the cart way before the horse but maybe that’s because I can’t stop thinking about him.. Imagining… you know. And it’s not just that, either. This isn’t just a case of strong physical attraction. Adam is… he’s it for me.”

“And now you turning down all the other guys you’ve met since you signed makes sense. You made up your mind a long time ago, huh?”

Audrey smiled softly and nodded. “I did. Only now, I can’t find the words to tell him I love him, much less… all the other stuff and it’s driving me insane. What the hell do I do? I can’t just stop being his friend. I can’t avoid him, I tried, remember? It drove me crazy and he just found me anyway and called me out on it and I barely kept it together enough to come up with a decent excuse. Fuck… I’m so damn awkward.”

“No, you’re not. You’re just picky as hell. But it’s never been a good thing and I think that maybe you need to go with your gut… At least try to hint how you feel? Could you do that?”

“I am. But I swear, it’s like Adam’s oblivious.”

“I don’t think he is. I think he’s just trying not to force himself on you. We both know what he’s going through right now with his other friends.” Leva’s mouth turned to a frown at the mention of the Bucks and Kenny Omega. Audrey nodded in agreement, scowling and shaking her head. “Yeah, those aren’t friends lately, not with the way they’ve been treating him. They don’t take him into any kind of consideration and it hurts my heart to watch him keep going through it.”

From his spot on the other side of the SUV, Adam was standing there, trying to quietly process everything he was hearing, his mind going a million miles an hour as he tried to come up with some way to bring this all to light.

Because if they both felt this way, it needed to come out.

Leva eyed her friend and nodded. “I still say you’re wrong. If you just tell him how you feel, you might be surprised.”

Audrey sighed and gave a soft laugh as she shrugged. “If only I could. I can’t find the words. And showing him, I… I’ve never done anything more than make out with a guy… I wasn’t even really all that affectionate until I met him, Leva. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m thinking… Maybe you could write it down?”

“Leva…” Audrey trailed off, going silent when she saw Adam walking towards them. For a split second, she panicked and thought that he might well have heard it all.

When he flashed her that grin and nodded to the belt then held out his hand for their usual high five, she felt a wave of relief wash over her and she was able to pull herself together enough to high five him back and pull him into a lingering hug that lasted both longer than it should have just to be a friendly one and yet, didn’t last long enough at all.

“I told you!” Audrey beamed up at Adam and Adam bit his lip, taking a deep breath. Now that he was standing face to face with her, with everything he’d overheard replaying in his brain, he was still trying to let the shock of it wear off.

He found himself almost painfully aware of just how close and tight he was holding her right now. The way the hug lingered on both sides of it. Not just his own like he’d previously thought. Then some of the things she’d confessed to Leva chose that exact second to creep back into his stream of conscious and he felt his cheeks heating up.

She wanted everything he did. She felt the same way he felt.

Maybe that’s the thought that finally spurred Adam to action. He nodded to Leva and smiled and Leva smiled back, winking as if she knew fully well that he’d heard every single thing Audrey admitted to and a second later, she cleared her throat. “Hey, Audrey?”

“Yeah, L?”

“I think I’m gonna catch a ride with Peter.” Leva shoved the keys to the SUV into Audrey’s hands and winked at her friend.

“Are you sure?” Audrey gulped, every single word she’d just confessed to her best friend rushing right back to her and setting her on edge. Leva was known for playing cupid and Leva knew she’d be on edge. And yet, Audrey thought to herself, she’s still going to just ditch me knowing I’m never gonna keep myself together right now.

“Positive. I wanted to talk to him about something anyway. It’s time we cleared the air.” Leva eyed Adam and then gave Audrey a teasing grin. “You two have fun. Go on! I’ll text you later, okay?”

Audrey could only nod. Her heart was beating so loud right now that she heard it. Just before she turned her gaze back to Adam, she caught Leva mouthing to her “At least try to tell him.. Or show him.”

And then Leva vanished, catching up to Peter and getting into his vehicle, taking off for the hotel 2 hours away in the next town.

Audrey gave a sheepish laugh as she made herself hold eye contact with Adam. Her whole body felt like it was on fire right now and she didn’t need a mirror to tell her that she was probably blushing bright red and that was why.

Adam chuckled quietly. She was fidgeting and blushing and twice now she’d tried to say something, her mouth opening only to close again. It was probably the first time since they’d met that he’d seen her have this much trouble saying something.

“Everything okay, darlin?” he stepped just a little closer because the wind picked up and he saw her shiver a little. Audrey swallowed hard and nodded quickly. “Everything is fine. I’m so happy for you. And proud. You were on fire tonight!” she beamed up at him, trying like hell to push all the thoughts and all the things she wanted to say but didn’t dare say out of her mind for the moment.

“So.. Since Leva left you with the SUV and there’s no way in hell I’m ridin with Kenny…” Adam mentioned it mildly as a loose plan started to form in his mind.

He’d start small… But one way or another, everything was going to come out in the open.

And tonight seemed like a good place to start.

… Flirting more… Being more affectionate. That couldn’t hurt either… Adam thought to himself as he took the key from Audrey and unlocked the SUV, opening her door up for her. Audrey went to get in and for a few seconds, they were pressed right against each other, her staring up at him.

Adam’s hand found her lower back and he bit his lip, staring down at her mouth as intently as her own gaze was fixed on his mouth at the moment. He leaned in close, his free hand raising, raking through her hair to push it out of her eyes as he chuckled. “Are you sure everything’s okay, darlin? Because you know you can tell me anything… Right?”

… Except this, unfortunately, because I’ve been trying… Audrey thought to herself as she took a deep breath and nodded, gave the lame excuse that tonight had just been a weird night for her. Adam didn’t press, but somehow, she got the distinct feeling that he didn’t entirely believe that either and she felt herself starting to panic and tense up, going into overthink everything mode on her end.

She finally got settled into the passenger seat after a few seconds stare down that felt like it lasted for years and she leaned her head back against the headrest of her seat as Adam made his way around and got into the driver seat.

For about twenty minutes of the drive, the air was thick and heavy and they were both sort of lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Adam couldn’t take it anymore. The growling of his stomach and hearing her stomach growl as well prompted him to clear his throat just as they were getting to an exit on the interstate.

“You wanna stop and get somethin to eat, darlin?”

“I’m starving, actually.” -and eating would take my mind off of everything I wanna say and do right now because you got me all sorts of wound up tonight… Like always… the thought went unsaid, but it had Audrey squirming a little, shifting around in her seat as her stomach fluttered. “I can look for somewhere to stop.”

“Found somewhere.” Adam gave a teasing wink after putting his phone back down in the console.Audrey smiled and nodded, biting her lip and acting again as if she wanted to say something. When their hands brushed because she put her arm on the arm rest between them, Adam took a deep breath and a big chance, grabbing hold of her hand lightly, his fingers twining with her fingers.

Audrey’s breath caught again and before she could stop herself, she was giving his hand a gentle squeeze. She thought that one little gesture would pacify her, but it didn’t and it lead to her, trailing one of her fingertips lazily over the palm of his hand. Adam bit his lip and glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye.

“You’re awful quiet tonight, darlin.”

“Just a lot on my mind, I guess.” Audrey managed to get the words out after a second or two. She made herself look at him, hoping to God that he couldn’t tell she was actually blushing bright red right now by the dim glow of the dashboard lighting and she took a deep breath.

If she thought it was hard to resist telling him exactly how she felt about him before, it was twice as hard now, because every single time she went to say something or start another conversation, she’d remember the conversation she had with Leva and she’d almost blurt it all out to Adam.

Adam cleared his throat. “Same here.”

All he could think about was her… Confessing everything she had to Leva earlier. And what he hoped to do with everything he knew now.

“Are you alright, Adam?”

Her question caught him off guard and he chuckled, smiling as he gave her hand a squeeze. “Actually, yeah.”

… So, when are you going to mention that this kind of feels like a first date scenario, man?… the thought crept it’s way in and Adam cleared his throat, coughing a little. It caused Audrey to eye him in concern and he quickly muttered something about taking a breath and it going down the wrong way. It was a weak and lame excuse, but it was better than just blurting out what he desperately wanted to.

The diner he’d found came into view and he pulled into the parking lot. Neither of them still really hadn’t said much by the time Adam was putting the car into park. The tension between them was thick and Adam found himself wondering if Audrey noticed it.

He got out, going around to her door and opening it. Audrey hopped out of the passenger seat and Adam slipped his arm around her, pulling her a little closer than he usually would. Audrey glanced at the little brick building and up at Adam, biting her lip, looking as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“What’s the matter, darlin?”

“I figured you’d found like… a Wendy’s or something.”

Adam furrowed his brow and then chuckled, because for the split second he panicked, he actually did happen to look at her and realize that no, she wasn’t disappointed, but she was very surprised.

The place he’d chosen was one of those proper go in and sit down establishments. Like the kind you’d take your special someone on date night. It was also somewhere she’d mentioned wanting to stop at on their way to the hotel to Leva earlier.

“I mean, if you want, we can go find one. I just wanted to go in and sit. Talk to ya.” Adam stopped in front of the door, gazing down at her. If he hadn’t overheard everything back in the parking garage at the arena, he’d be thinking that she wasn’t comfortable right now.

The thought wasn’t entirely wrong, but it was only because she was confused. It hadn’t clicked quite yet.

“Talk to me? About what?” Audrey’s breath caught and she eyed him. Her heart was racing a little because there was just something… Different about tonight.

Different about the way he acted, different about the stopping for actual food in an actual restaurant as opposed to just going the fast food route. Different about the way he looked at her and the little touches that normally before - at least as far as she was aware, never really lingered quite like they had on his part so far tonight.

… Can’t say the same for me because I can’t keep my hands off him… the thought surfaced and Audrey felt her cheeks heating because with that thought came all the  different ways she longed for Adam to touch her. To grab her and pin her against a wall and kiss her until she felt dizzy and wanted to faint.

“Just talk. About anything.” Adam stepped out of the way for a couple to walk in past them and this put him right against her. Normally, he wouldn’t have dared but tonight with everything he’d overheard her saying out of her own mouth… He felt braver. More free to go for it, really step up and at least try to hint at how he felt too. His hand drifted down, gently squeezing her hip as he stared down at her.

Audrey seemed to relax, he felt it the second her body seemed to unclench itself. He smiled and leaned in a little bit closer, brushing some hair out of her eyes again, daring to rest his hand against her cheek. “If you’re okay with that, darlin…”

“Oh yeah, yeah. I’m totally okay with that.” Audrey’s words tumbled out one right on top of the other when she spoke and she found herself migrating closer to Adam, staring up at him. She went to raise her hand, maybe to touch his cheek but she quickly caught herself and lowered it to her side again, hoping he hadn’t seen her about to do it.

But Adam had definitely seen her do it. The hand on her hip lowered, catching hold of the hand she’d just lowered to her side and he twined his fingers through her own. Audrey could feel her heart start to race a little and she stared up at him for a second or two.

…. no, he couldn’t have heard me back at the arena…

… but you did think that someone came out and nobody ever walked past…

… but if he’d heard me… this wouldn’t be happening… right?…

… what exactly is happening, though?….

… it feels like he’s flirting with me… like I’ve been trying to do with him for a while now, albeit clumsily…

“You wanna go in, darlin?” Adam was holding the door open. Audrey got herself focused and nodded, smiling as she walked into the little diner. Adam stopped behind her in line, pressing against her a little, his hands at her hips. It was enough to make Audrey gulp and suck in a breath. Her eyes fluttered open and shut and she did her level best at not making an ass out of herself, trying to appear calm and chill like always, but… She kept imagining all the places those hands had been in all her wildest dreams.

Adam happened to catch sight of the way her eyes fluttered open and closed at the touch and he smiled to himself, pressing even closer and muttering quietly next to her ear, “You shivered. Everything okay?”

“Mhm.” Audrey managed to squeak the word out quietly and she turned to face him, staring up at him. Everything about tonight felt so much… Different.

Special. Maybe even a little romantic.

“This ain’t where I wanted to take ya on our first date, but it’ll work for now. You were talkin about it earlier with Leva, so I thought maybe I’d surprise ya…” Adam took a huge chance in just letting it slip out so casually like he did. When it registered to Audrey what he’d just said, he chuckled quietly, gazing down at her as they moved forward in the small line waiting to be seated.

…. Did he just… Okay, I must have fallen and hit my head…. This has to be a dream…

Audrey tried to respond but all she could do was open and close her mouth repeatedly as it sank in for her what he was trying to do. She’d actually mentioned this particular diner to Leva earlier.

It hit her then, just how well Adam always seemed to be at remembering these minute details. And it only made her fall even harder. It also made it harder for her not to just pour it all out. The only thing keeping her from that was the fact that she was so afraid that if she did everything might go terribly wrong.

Adam watched her processing what was going on, sort of smiling to himself.

“You definitely did that.” Audrey admitted, giving a soft giggle. Surprise wasn’t exactly the word for it, Audrey found herself thinking, she was actually stunned. In a good way. The shock was starting to wear off a little and she was really starting to wonder just how much of this was Adama being intuitive and charming -and possibly hinting at his own feelings,hopefully; or how much of it was him having overheard her talk with Leva back at the arena.

The hostess led them to a table towards the back and Adam pulled out her chair before taking a seat across the table from her. There was a single rose in the vase between them on the table and Adam glanced around, a jovial grin as he reached out and took the rose, holding it out to her. Audrey took the rose from him and smiled, passing it under her nose.

“Outside… you were saying that this isn’t where you’d have taken me on our first date, Adam…” Audrey paused, taking a deep breath, trying to collect herself. “Does this mean that tonight is a… Nevermind, it’s stupid.” she fell silent, wanting to kick herself for being awkward once again.

Adam chuckled quietly, reaching over the tabletop towards her, lightly cupping her chin and making her look at him and not the tabletop like she was currently. “It’s not stupid. C’mon… Ask whatever it is you were about to ask.”

“I was going to ask if that meant that you think tonight is a date?” Audrey stammered it out after a second or two of just sitting there trying like hell to get it to come out. Adam grinned lazily, shrugging and for a second, Audrey almost retracted her question because she felt skittish.

“Depends.” Adam answered after a second or two, “Do you want it to be a date, darlin? Because this ain’t just up to me. You know that, right?  You do have a say…” and after he went quiet, he waited. Internal panic was just starting to set in when she finally answered.

“I do, actually.” Audrey finally managed to get her brain and her mouth to work at the same time to answer him, reaching for his hand when she saw him look like he was sitting there kind of quietly freaking out. Adam’s fingers laced between her own and Audrey gave him a reassuring smile. “I really do. I mean that.”

Adam grinned and nodded, shifting around in his seat a little, leaning in over the tabletop. “Good. Kinda worried I went overboard… I know I didn’t really ask ya…” he trailed off, shaking his head, laughing about it almost sheepishly.

He’d gotten caught up in the moment if he had to be honest about it.

Audrey gave a quiet laugh, nodding. “For the record, if you had, I would have definitely said yes.”

Adam gazed at her, a smile playing at his lips. “You would’ve, hmm? That’s good to know. Makes me feel better about doin’ this.”

“Good. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t want you to do this, I mean, it’s a really sweet surprise. I was just telling Leva earlier I wanted to stop here on our way back to the hotel.” Audrey trailed her fingertip over the palm of his hand and Adam bit back a quiet groan at the touch, swallowing hard as he smiled at her, relieved that she wasn’t uncomfortable or upset by him taking things into his own hands.

Audrey could feel it all slowly sort of bubbling to the surface. Any second now, she found herself thinking, I’m going to open my mouth and I’m going to wind up telling him everything. “You did, huh?” she smiled at Adam, her eyes darting from his eyes and settling on his lips. A waitress came to their table and after Adam ordered, Audrey scanned the menu, placing her own order, her fingertip ghosting over Adam’s palm when it dawned on her that they were still holding hands, just because it gave her something to focus on other than her overwhelming desire to spill it all to him.

Every.Single.Feeling.

Adam barely restrained a quiet groan at the soft trailing of her fingertips over the surface of his palm. It was kind of this thing she always did, and yet now that he knew what he knew about her feelings, it took on this whole other meaning. It felt totally different.

Better.

He squeezed her hand a little and Audrey looked up at him. The waitress had just left their table to take their order to the back so it was going to be a little while to wait. And normally, Audrey would be able to talk his ears off. But tonight, every single time she thought about opening her mouth, all she wanted to do was tell him everything and she didn’t even know where to begin.

… at least say something… Audrey tried to mentally coax herself to at least initiate conversation.

She sighed quietly and then cleared her throat, preparing to speak up. “Adam?”

Adam had been sort of just sitting there lost in thought when he felt her squeeze his hand. It was weighing on him, knowing what she’d told Leva and knowing that she most likely wasn’t going to bring it up for whatever reason.

“Yeah?” Adam questioned, meeting her gaze.

“ There’s something I… Nevermind, go ahead.” they both said it at the exact same time, giving a quiet laugh after they managed to do it. Adam nodded, taking a few deep breaths.

“Fuck it.” he muttered mostly to himself. He had to do something, say something.

Audrey’s breath caught in her throat and she braced herself. By now she was starting to really wonder if maybe he had overheard her little confession to Leva in the parking garage. “What’s wrong?” she made herself ask the question just to at least buy her a little time to get herself under control.

“Earlier tonight… I walked out into the parking garage to find you after the show… And I…” Adam stopped to take a sip of the drink he’d ordered and then, after searching her eyes and seeing her panicked look, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, he decided to continue.

This had to come out.

He didn’t want to start things off with her by hiding the fact that he’d overheard her earlier tonight, even though it wasn’t really that big of a deal.

He just wasn’t that kind of guy.

“Yeah?” Audrey breathed out the word, her heart really starting to kick into overdrive as she took a long sip of the drink in front of her and tried not to fidget or look away.

“Well, shit.. I.. I overheard what you were talkin’ to Leva about… The way you feel about me. And some other stuff.” Adam took another drink. A quick glance at her revealed that she was probably panicking and he chuckled softly, leaning over the tabletop between them. Audrey sighed and her shoulders dropped slightly, “You… If you don’t feel the..” but the side of Adam’s finger pressed into her lips, stopping the flow of her words midsentence, and he chuckled quietly.

“Let me finish, darlin?”

The soft huskiness in his voice had Audrey biting her lip, managing to nod but that was about it. Adam tilted her chin so that she had to look directly at him and he took a deep breath. “I wish you woulda said somethin’ to me sooner, Audrey. Because it has been torture keepin the fact that I feel the same way you said you felt about me to myself.”

“Wait… huh?” Audrey let out the breath she’d been holding and the words tumbled out as the anxiety started to ease away, replaced with shock at his own admission. “You… feel that way too?”

“It wasn’t obvious, darlin?”

“N-no.. I mean.. I used to catch myself hoping you were flirting and being affectionate but I didn’t know.” Audrey gave a soft laugh.

The waitress made her way over with their food and as soon as it was settled between them, Audrey surprised Adam by standing and moving around the table to the seat right beside him. As she sat, she flashed him this cute little shy grin… and promptly tried to steal about five french fries off of his plate, making him chuckle quietly and lean in a little, press his lips against her forehead. “I see that’s not gonna change.”

“I mean, unless you want it to…” Audrey bit her lip, locking eyes with him when she looked up.

“Not at all, darlin.” Adam grinned at her as he leaned in and muttered quietly, “I think it’s kinda cute, actually. Nothin has to really change, darlin… Unless you want it to?” he swallowed hard, breathing catching in his throat while he waited for her to respond.

Audrey took a deep breath and speared a chunk of beef, popping it into her mouth, trying to decide what to say.

He’d been honest.

It was her turn to be honest now.

And knowing he felt the same way made it a little easier for her to just let it all out.

“I do, actually. I don’t… I don’t wanna be just your best friend, Adam.”

Adam nearly choked on the bite of the burger he’d taken and he gave a bright smile, shocked by what she was saying. Or what he hoped she was saying. “Wait… Are you.. Are you sayin you wanna be my girl? Because that’s exactly what it sounds like right now, Audrey.”

His heart was racing. When she gave a soft laugh and nodded her head yes, leaning against his side just a little, he let out the breath he’d been holding, feeling relieved.

“That’s exactly what I meant.” Audrey muttered quietly, reaching out to take a few more fries from his plate, making him laugh quietly.

“Exactly how much did you hear earlier.” Audrey had to know. Parts of her hoped that he’d heard everything. Parts of her weren’t so sure how she felt about her obvious lack of experience both in relationships overall and in bed were still her little secret.

“Everything.” Adam answered, gazing at her intently, trying to gauge her reaction by the expression on her face. Audrey swallowed hard and took a big sip of the drink in front of her and then sighed. “So you know about… you know.”

Adam nodded, trying to give her a reassuring smile. “I know you’re over there over-thinking right now, Audrey. None of it’s a big deal, darlin.”

“Thank God.” Audrey could still feel her cheeks burning, but she took a deep breath and another bite of the chili she’d ordered. Adam spoke up again. “What? Did you think it was gonna bother me?”

“Well, I figured at the very least, you’d think it was… ya know, weird.”

“Hon, no. There is nothing wrong with waitin.”

Audrey locked eyes with him, nodding as she swallowed hard and thought about her other little confession to Leva… About how Adam was the only man she’d ever really even… Thought about going all the way with.

Knowing he heard that had her curious. She wanted so badly to just ask him about that particular part of it all but she didn’t dare.

Tonight was already one of the best nights of her life, there was no sense or need in making it completely awkward by pushing her wants and desires on him, especially not this soon, even though they’d known each other for months now and they’d gotten extremely close and she knew she could trust him and he’d definitely proven that beyond a doubt just now by not being weirded out by what he’d overheard her telling Leva, in detail.

They finished their meal and after a playful argument over why Adam felt like he should pay and why Audrey felt like they should split the bill, they were on the road again and it was almost midnight by the time they were pulling to a stop at the hotel.

Adam killed the engine and chuckled quietly to himself when he realized that apparently Audrey had fallen asleep during the remainder of the drive, her head resting against his shoulder. He leaned down, brushing his lips against her forehead. “Hey, darlin.. C’mon, wake up. We’re at the hotel.”

“Don’t wanna move. Warm and snuggly.” Audrey yawned out the words, barely opening her eyes as she giggled softly and leaned against Adam even more. Adam chuckled. “I’m gonna come around and get ya out, okay?”

“Mhm.”

Adam got out of the driver’s seat, going around to the passenger side, opening the door and reaching over her to unfasten her seatbelt. Scooping her into his arms, he shut the door with his side and started to walk towards the hotel lobby as she started to wake up, her arms wrapping lazily around his neck.

“I had a nice time tonight. You might not agree, but for me, this was the perfect first date, Adam.” Audrey muttered the words sleepily against his neck as she yawned.

Adam could only smile and respond “I do agree, darlin. You don’t know how happy this is makin me.” softly as he approached  the desk to let them both get checked into their respective rooms….

TO BE CONTINUED.

[besidemethewholedamntime]

and i will always love you - chapter 8

Fic Summary:

“He feels sorry for her. It’s hard not to. Except it doesn’t change the fact that she’s still the child of an eminent politician, using her wealth and status to arm herself in ways that others in her situation couldn’t. Fitz has protected all kinds of people who’ve done the same thing, and every last one has been a complete and utter wanker.”

When an accidental discovery causes nationwide outrage at Dr. Jemma Simmons, Protection Officer Leopold Fitz is the one called upon to be her bodyguard. It starts off as one thing and ends quite another. A bodyguard au.

Chapter Summary:

A chapter which contains: -moping -some tough love -an apology and trying again.

{read from the beginning}

{read chapter eight}

or read chapter eight below!

He can’t go back to his flat when he leaves Jemma’s and, with nowhere else to go, he ends up driving around the streets of London aimlessly. When the tears blur his eyes too much for him to make out the road ahead, he parks in a supermarket carpark and starts walking.

It’s just getting dark and the breeze is sharp but if anything it’s a welcome distraction from the feeling of a hand squeezing his heart and so he doesn’t even register he forgot his jacket. He doesn’t have his phone – Jemma keeps trying to call and so he left it in the car – and there’s nothing else to think about or to do as he trudges over muddy grass and pot-holed paths.

The events of the past hour keep replaying in his head, a loop that he cannot break. The anger resurges, an anger that he hasn’t felt in the longest time. It takes hold of him completely, its fingers around his throat, its pressure pressing his teeth together. He wants to break something, anything, just to release it. His hands curl into fists, nails cutting half-moons into his palm. He kicks at the ground, a pathetic, childish attempt to make himself feel better. It doesn’t do anything, only hurts.

Then just as quickly the anger disappears, steam evaporating away as quickly as the water boiled. It’s just sadness that’s left, an unbearable hurt that cuts so deep that he doesn’t even know what to do. He can’t do anything except keep walking numbly forward.

He doesn’t know what time it is when he makes it back to his car. His eyes sting, his throat is sore, and his chest feels like someone has reached a hand in and scooped his heart out. It aches all over. It’s a miracle he’s able to drive home.

“Fitz!” Hunter stands up as he comes in the door. “Where the hell have you been?”

Wasn’t it only days ago that Hunter said that exact thing only in a completely different voice, with a smile on his face? It seems like another life entirely.

“Around,” Fitz says. “What does it matter? Thought you’d be with Bobbi.”

For once Hunter doesn’t rise to it. “Jemma phoned, said you weren’t right when you left and she wanted to make sure you got home okay.”

He scoffs. “Yeah, I’m sure she did.”

“Mate, I’ve been worried sick! Bob’s out looking for you now; she made me wait at home in case you came back or the police called!” Hunter runs a hand through his hair; from the looks of it it appears it’s not the first time. “Jesus Christ, Fitz. Look at the state of you!”

Fitz looks down and for the first time registers what kind of state he’s in. His boots are caked with mud and grass, and the laces on one foot are undone. His trousers are ripped at the back on one side – he must have snagged them when he walked through the trees. His shirt is sodden – he hadn’t noticed when it had begun to rain. Fitz catches sight of himself in the side mirror and sees what Hunter sees: his tie is askew, his face is red, eyes are swollen and his hair sticks up, going in fifty different directions.

“I’m fine,” he says robotically.

“’Fine’ my arse. You’re not fine. Anyone can tell by looking at you you’re not fine.” Hunter exhales a shaky breath, and Fitz feels a nugget of shame for making him worry. “What’s gotten into you?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.” He peels off his boots, leaving them by the door. One thing at a time to keep himself sane.

“Alright,” Hunter says, surprisingly not pushing anymore. “Another time, then. Just get in the shower, would you? You’ll be freezing, and also you smell.”

Now that it’s been mentioned, the cold hits him with full force. He starts shivering almost automatically and he lets Hunter shove him into the bathroom with a clean towel in his hands. It’s been a long time since Hunter has mothered him like this, and the regression makes bile rise into Fitz’s throat.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hunter tells him. “Whatever it is we can fix it, okay? We’ll figure out something.”

It’s not like that Fitz wants to protest. For the first time in his life he’s crying over a girl. He could laugh at the ridiculousness of it except it’s not ridiculous at all because it’s not just a girl he’s crying over. Betrayal is so much worse.

“Have a hot shower, have a sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning.” Hunter sighs. “I’ll call Bob, let her know you’re alright.” Then he closes the bathroom door behind him.

Fitz turns the water hot, following instructions. The small bathroom fills with steam quickly and fogs up the mirror. Good. He doesn’t want to see the mess he’s become.

He hears Hunter on the phone outside. Hello, it’s Hunter…. Yeah, we’ve got him. He’s gotten himself worked up… I don’t need-… right, yeah, I will do. Try not to worry, Jemma. He’ll be fine.

Jemma. So she was worried about him, was she? Like all those weeks he spent worrying over her… he feels used and dirty. He climbs into the shower with the intent of scrubbing his skin raw only for the hurt to get too much to bear and he cries until his stomach hurts instead.

-x-

“Are you going into work today, Fitz?”

Hunter waits at Fitz’s bedroom door, listening for any sign of life. There’s nothing. He sighs and knocks again.

“Fitz? Mate? You need to at least phone if you’re not going in, you know how this works.”

There’s a rustle of sheets and then a sad voice calls out, “Told them I had a stomach bug. Can’t go back for another 48 hours.” Then a mumble that Fitz thinks Hunter can’t hear. “Not that I want to.”

“Fitz,” Hunter sighs again, wearily resting his head against the doorframe for a moment. “It’s been three days already.”

There’s no reply to that.

It had taken almost 24 hours but eventually Hunter had managed to weasel the truth out of Fitz.  The whole truth in all of its brutal glory, right down to the parting blow that Fitz had delivered as he left. After they’d spoken, Fitz had retreated to his room and that where he’s remained, leaving sporadically for the basic human needs, ever since.

Hunter flops down on the couch, scratching his head in an effort to understand. He gets the betrayal, he understands the hurt, after all he and Bobbi’s first shot at marriage ended for a reason, but what he doesn’t understand is the seclusion. Fitz has never liked falling out with people, at least not as long as Hunter has known him, and to not return any of Jemma’s phone calls or text messages doesn’t make sense.

He’s hurt, Hunter gets that, but he can’t quit. Him and Jemma’s story can’t end like this.

Bobbi has had messages from Daisy and Mack and Elena, all hearing from Jemma that something’s happened but they don’t know what. Last night, when Bobbi had read out the latest one, she had turned to him and told him, “I don’t care what you do, but do something.” It was all Hunter needed. There’s a plan forming in the depths of his mind, half-finished and probably utterly insane but at least it’s something. If he leaves the two idiots to their devices then it’ll never get fixed and for the rest of their lives they’ll be doomed to roaming the earth in circles, alone and unsure of themselves. Probably.

Relationship drama is meant to be Hunter’s thing, and he’s in the middle of wracking his brains to try and think what Fitz would do for him in this situation when there’s a knock at the door. His head snaps up and he frowns. Nobody tends to visit them during the day, or nobody that would knock, and he knows who it is a split second before he answers the door.

“Jemma,” he greets. “What a surprise,” even though it’s not really a surprise at all.

Jemma looks shifty as she stands in the door, dressed for work but clearly not there. She looks like she hasn’t slept in days, with dark circles under her eyes poorly concealed and cheeks hollow.

“Hello, Hunter,” she says, perfectly politely, but her eyes dart to the hallway behind him. “Is, um, is Fitz here? I was hoping if I could speak with him.”

“He’s out at the minute,” Hunter lies, “but come on in.”

Jemma comes in alone as Hunter shuts the door behind him. He ushers her into the living room and closes that door, too. Fitz is probably already back to sleep but he still takes the precautions. His plan has been expedited and he’s not fully prepared but it doesn’t matter. Anything for his best friend.

“Where’s your new protection officer?”

“Mm?” Jemma looks around as if she too is wondering why she’s here alone. “Oh, Officer Davis? He’s still in the car. I can’t be very long, I’ve got to get to work, but I was just wanted to tell Fitz something but if he’s not here then it doesn’t matter, I suppose.”

“It’s alright, love. I know.”

“You do?” Then Jemma smiles tiredly. “Of course you do.”

“Took me a while to get it out of him if that’s any consolation,” Hunter offers.

“A little.” Then a shadow crosses her face. “So, now that you know...”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” he says, trying to smile and put her at ease. “This is between you and Fitz.”

“But you could go to-”

Hunter holds up a hand. “I could, except I won’t. I’ve got too much dirt on the place for them to ever want to send me to jail.”

“Must be nice to have that kind of security,” Jemma muses.

“Eh.” He shrugs. “A pain in the arse, sometimes. Knowing all these things that you can’t share with anyone.”

Jemma tries to laugh, but it comes out more as a bark. “Tell me about it.”

Hunter doesn’t dislike Jemma, not the way Fitz wants him to. He kind of admires her, for the guts it takes to do something so risky yet selfless. Fitz will see it later when the wound stops smarting. Of that, he is sure.

“I get why you did it,” Hunter says at last.

Jemma tilts her head to the side. Something that’s almost relief sweeps across her face. “You do?”

“Yeah. It maybe wasn’t the smartest of choices but I get it. I don’t blame you for it.”

“Thank goodness someone doesn’t,” she says, her eyes drifting to the door.

Hunter could go and wake Fitz up right now, march him in here and demand the two of them talk it out. He’s always liked the straightforward approach. But people, as Bobbi reminds him, as he himself knows, are rarely straightforward and in this case it just won’t work. They need to do this on their own.

“He doesn’t hate you,” he says gently. “I don’t think he ever could. He’s just hurt, and he’s a baby when he’s hurting. He’ll come round eventually, don’t you worry.”

There are tears in her eyes. “No, he was right. I should have thought it through more I just…”

“You got scared,” Hunter finishes. “We all do stupid stuff when we’re scared. And you had good reason to be.”

“I never expected for it to get this far,” she says. “I truly didn’t think it would. I wasn’t trying to rule the world, I didn’t think I could whatever I wanted. It was,” she breaks off, taking a deep breath. “At the time, it was the only option I could see.”

A daughter of a lord or the son of a plumber, but only human when it comes to making mistakes. There’s really no difference, Hunter thinks, none at all.

“I just want to tell him I’m sorry,” Jemma says, swiping away the tear clinging to her eyelashes with her thumb. “And that I didn’t want to hurt him. I just thought he should know the truth.” But she takes a deep breath and Hunter watches as she draws herself up to her full height and becomes what she knows how to be. “But maybe this is for the best, him not being here. I think… I think I would only hurt him more.”

“Fitz’s job is to protect you,” Hunter says quietly. “But it’s my job to protect him. If I thought you’d hurt him then I wouldn’t have let you in. You fit together; you need each other. You need to make everyone else nauseous about how perfect the two of you are for each other. It’ll work out, love. Just you wait and see.”

“I would love to have your confidence,” she admits. She shakes her head. “I really must be going but, well, thank you, Hunter. For everything.”

He walks with her to the door and gives her a grin that Fitz associates with troublemaking. “Anytime.”

Once he’s made sure that she’s alright and gotten downstairs okay, he comes back up and flops down on the couch, grinning stupidly and feeling awfully proud of himself.

-x-

The phone rings once, then twice, then three times.

Fitz almost hangs up. It hadn’t been his own choice to make this call; Hunter had rather pressured him into it. You need to be the bigger man here, Fitz. You need to be an adult, at the very least, and other variations are all that Fitz has been hearing for the last week. He doesn’t want to be an adult in this moment; it’s mentally exhausting. A child seems like the better option.

Though he knows his friend is right, because otherwise he wouldn’t be doing what he says. And also because, well, he misses Jemma. He misses talking to her, laughing with her, working in the same office as her. The possibility of a relationship he mourns, of course he does, but it’s the loss of friendship that has cut him deeper than anything else.

“Hello?”

Her voice, the one he hasn’t heard in what seems like so long, jars him for a moment, rendering him still. The last time he heard it she was begging him not to go… he has to close his eyes.

“Jemma? It’s me, Fitz.”

“Fitz,” she breathes, a seemingly automatic response. His heart clenches at the way she says his name. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Big breath in. Slow breath out. “Hunter, um, wanted me to call you.”

“Did he now?”

“Well no. Well, yeah, actually but not just him. I wanted to call you as well. I wanted…” He takes another deep breath. “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” she says, and he can imagine her face as she does so. “Nothing.”

“I do, actually. The things I said, I shouldn’t have said them. About you being, well, you know…”

The memory comes back to him as he imagines it does to her because they both fall silent at the same moment. There had been so much anger that night that he hadn’t known what to do with it. There’s still a little, he would be lying if he said otherwise, but it’s no longer a mist, doesn’t obscure his vision. Now he’s able to see what it looks like from the other side.

“I get it,” she says quietly. “You had your reasons. I admit it must have seemed that was but I promise you it wasn’t.”

“It hurt.” It still does. “It felt like I was being used. If you could lie to me about that, then what else did you lie to me about?”

His insecurities, when voice aloud, sound pathetic but it has to be said. It’s the only way they’ll move past it and, moving on, is something he really wants to try.

“I didn’t think it would get this far,” Jemma tells him. “I didn’t think you and I would ever be what we ar-were. You were never meant to be permanent but then you became my friend and then you became more and I just- I didn’t know what to do. Telling you seemed like the right thing.”

Now he can appreciate her position. After all, fear does funny things to people. Why else would he be in this job when he could have tried engineering again long ago?

“It was.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “It was the right thing.”

“I’m sorry, Fitz.”

“For what you did or what happened between us?”

It’s out before he can stop himself but he doesn’t regret it. He has to know.

“I’m sorry for how I made you feel, and I’m sorry for what happened last week, I really am.”

“But?”

“But,” she says, “I’m not sorry for what I did. I know wasn’t well-planned, and I know there may have been other ways but I can’t say that I wouldn’t do it again, Fitz. Even with everything that’s happened. I’m sorry.”

Oddly he’s not. “No, it’s okay. Honesty, I like it.”

“Thank you.” Her laugh is a little forced. “I’ve been trying.”

They’re at the edge of something, he can tell. Both of them are waiting to see where it will go. Perhaps they could try again. He’d like that.

“I do wish I hadn’t dragged you into the mess with me, though. I regret that.”

“I’ll figure out something,” Fitz laughs tiredly. “Hunter probably has some tips or something like that.”

“I spoke to him, did he tell you?”

“Yeah, he said he saw you. Didn’t tell me much more than that.”

There’s a pause.

“You can turn me in if you’d like,” she says quietly. “If that’s what you want to do. I wouldn’t blame you.”

He could do it. He could tell his boss and he could tell her boss who the leak came from. The thought has crossed his mind. Except he could never actually do it, he knows that about himself. He could never condemn her like that.

“I can’t do that, Jemma. I just can’t.”

He imagines her tearful look on the other end of the line and coughs quickly to change the subject. “I’ve got to go now but it was nice to speak to you again.”

“It was lovely to hear from you, Fitz. I’ve missed you.”

His heart swells. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“And I’ll see you on Monday.”

He can feel her frown. “Monday? What’s happening on Mon – oh. Are you…?”

“Yeah, I’m coming back.”

Her smile is almost audible. “Well I shall see you then. Goodbye, Fitz.”

“Goodbye, Jemma.”

It’s small but it’s a step, and, as long as they’re going in the right direction, it’s enough.

-x-

When they meet on Monday morning Fitz nods and hands her a cup of tea.

Jemma says thank you and hands him a pastry.

They both smile at each other, tentatively but real, before sitting down behind their desks, both ready and willing to try again.

[floralseokjin]

A series of hook ups with Kim Seokjin, the college’s biggest fuckboy…

↳  the index [ bonus #2 the movie theatre ]

pairing; kim seokjin x reader genre/warnings; smut wordcount; 1,978

“Shush,” Seokjin hissed, sounding for once genuinely annoyed. 

Maybe you’d sighed one too many times for his liking, but you were seriously regretting agreeing to be his plus one to the movie theatre. You’d gone reluctantly at that, only because you were a little dubious, but after he’d promised it was nothing like a date – his friend had cancelled on him so he had a spare ticket – and begged for this one favour, telling you he’d owe you because he didn’t want to look like an idiot watching a movie by himself, you’d agreed. 

His favour in return would be happening very soon, so that had sweetened the deal, if just a tad. (He was going to go down on you twice tonight. Success!) However, it was looking like no amount of sweet, sticky orgasms were going save you from this shit fest. You didn’t even know what movie you were watching, although you recognised some of the actors. 

“This is boring,” you whined, unsure if you had it in you to keep your voice to a whisper. 

Maybe if you were loud and annoying enough you’d get kicked out... Heaven! 

“It’s not,” he insisted, whispering furiously.  “Now shut the fuck up and pay attention.” 

There was only one thing to do: pout. You didn’t want to pay attention, you’d been sat here for near an hour already, bored out of your goddamn mind. 

Seokjin side eyed you, noticing your gaze was cast down towards your lap, arms crossed like petulant child. “Or not, I don’t care. As long as you’re quiet.”  

You rolled your eyes, huffing loudly, and he nudged your knee with his, silently warning you. This was not how you wanted your night to go. When you’d messaged him to see if he was busy you wanted the answer to be no. You wanted to go around his place and fuck, not go out in goddamn public to see a movie you had no clue about. You were positive people were mistaking you for a couple. How repulsive... 

Your gaze shifted to Seokjin again once you realised he wasn’t giving you any more attention, watching him sullenly. He looked so deep into this movie and you couldn’t care less. 

Fuck it. 

Go and get what you want, that was what your parents had always told you – although they probably didn’t mean quite like this… 

“Wh-what are you doing?” Seokjin asked immediately, body stiffening as he felt you palm his dick. 

You always knew what side to go for. Left. He always tucked it to the left, and you squeezed at the soft flesh before rubbing your hand back and forth, desperate to get him hard. It was a fool proof plan, you knew it. Sometimes all you had to do was look at his dick and it got hard… 

“I’m bored,” you pouted, stuck like a broken record. 

He sighed but it was slightly shaky, his resolve crumbling instantly. He still tried though. “Quit it, we’re in a movie theatre.”

Despite his words, he made no attempt to remove your hand, and if you weren’t mistaken you could feel the slight twitch of his hardening cock under your fingernails as you trailed them along his length lightly. No self-control at all, beaten already. He should be embarrassed. 

“We’re in the back,” you whispered against his ear, curling your tongue against the shell, sending him squirming. “No one can see us.” 

It was true. No one was paying you attention, too busy watching the movie, and the volume was so loud they couldn’t even hear you both speaking in hushed whispers. No one cared. There weren’t even many people here to begin with… You could easily jerk him off and get away with it. 

He tried again. 

“I’ve wanted to see this movie for weeks,” he complained, head falling back against the seat, dark hair in his eyes. 

Sometimes it hit you how good looking he was and you hated it. Like right now, in the glow of the theatre screen as he made your stomach feel all flippy and weird. Sometimes you realised that you were the desperate one, you were the one who went wild for every little thing he did, and you hated that more than his looks. You also hated that you had these strange insecurities, like wondering if he thought the same about you… Did he think you were pretty? Did you drive him wild, make him desperate? Would he ever get bored? Plus more unexplainable thoughts and questions that you didn’t want to dwell on. 

Stupid really, because like you said, you could get him hard with just a stare. He loved complimenting you. Although saying that, it was only when his dick was inside you. Not that you admired him out loud anyway… This goddamn movie theatre. It was making you think too much. 

“You can still watch,” you insisted, deciding to ignore yourself because you were being an idiot. “Think of it like this, it’ll make your viewing even more enjoyable!”

He liked the sound of that, you could tell by the way he was fully erect against your hand now, ever so slightly raising his hips into your palm to get some friction going. “Shit,” he muttered. “Why are you like this?” He ended with a smile though. Of course. He loved it. 

You grinned, triumphant that you’d won, and before he could open his eyes again, you were unzipping his jeans and shoving your hands in his underwear, wrapping your hand around his smooth, hard flesh. His breath caught upon impact but he got it together pretty soon after, able to concentrate on the movie again. 

Admittedly you didn’t jerk him off very often, mostly because it was pointless. You didn’t need to get him hard when you were together and it wasn’t your duty to help him whack one out when he was horny and cut short. However, actually, it was pretty fun. You liked watching his reactions as he tried to watch the movie; jaw clenched, breathing loudly from his nose, his back poker straight as he tried to act casual. You could tell he knew you were staring at him, eyes a little wide, but he still continued to stare at the screen, as stubborn as ever, even when you were snapping your wrists like no tomorrow – as much as the confines of his jeans could let you anyway – desperate for him to lose his resolve. 

He finally gave you something in the form of a strangled groan a few minutes later, but it wasn’t what you thought, or at least not what you expected.

“Okay, okay,” he rushed in a strained whisper, his own fist clamping down around yours. “Stop now.” 

“Huh,” you got out, confused. You could feel his dick throbbing against your palm, red hot and sweaty, and you attempted to tug your fist again wanting to finish him off. He couldn’t just stop you mid-flow. What was wrong with him? When had he ever stopped an orgasm unless it was because he wanted to finish inside of you? Never, that’s when! 

“You’re gonna make me cum,” he whined quietly, eyes wide, control lessening a little because he lets you move a couple more times, mouth open as he closed his eyes, reluctantly enjoying himself. 

“That’s the point,” you told him. Why else would you be doing this? Yes, you were evil and wanted to distract him, but you were going to be nice and make him cum too. 

“Yeah but—” he tried again, sitting up straighter. He was thinking really hard, whatever dilemma he had furrowing his brows. What was wrong? In true Seokjin fashion, you couldn’t have predicted it. 

“My mom bought me this underwear. It’s new, I can’t stain it.”

“Oh, my god,” you exclaimed in disbelief. 

“Shut up,” he hissed, needing you to be quiet. Your hand was still down his underwear, if anyone looked behind them they’d see you both acting shifty. 

You let go of his dick, pulling your hand back as you whispered furiously. “You’re such a weirdo. You wash it out after we’re done. Or does your mom do your laundry too?” 

“Of course she doesn’t,” he scoffed. He watched you sit back, attention now on the movie. You guessed it was the only option, but then he was grabbing your hand, tugging it to his crotch again. 

“I’m sorry,” he panicked. He was definitely not paying attention to the screen now. You let him shove your hand inside his boxers, let him open it up and latch it onto his dick. You even let him guide you with a few strokes. “Please carry on,” he asked, eyes round and begging. 

You liked it when he begged, so you hid your smirk, attempting to free your hand so you could hear it again. 

“Noooo. Please.” 

“Fine,” you sighed, pretending to give in. However, you couldn’t just leave it at that… With a smirk his way, you leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Mommy’s boy.” 

He grunted in disgust. “That’s a kink I don’t ever want to try.”

Soon enough he was putty under your touch again. His gaze was locked onto the giant screen but he’d long stopped watching. His whole body had gone stiff, his thighs locked, sneakers pushed into the floor as his orgasm approached. 

“Fuck, fuck,” he muttered under his breath, reaching to clutch your fist in his as he began to speed you up, chasing that sweet relief. 

It was hot, and you felt a twinge between your legs, impatiently telling yourself you wouldn’t have to wait long before you were back at his place and he was eating you out –twice! 

“I’m gonna—I’m gonna,” he attempted to warn you, really trying hard to keep his voice down. His ass lifted from the seat, his hand stalling your movements as he came. You squeezed your hand around him, getting every last bit while aiming it away from your skin. 

Annoyingly, you felt a few drops on your forefinger and you made sure to wipe it off against his boxers as you removed your hand. Just to spite him for making you watch the shitty movie. 

He didn’t seem to care though, sated from his orgasm, and you were stunned into silence when he wrapped his arm around you, knocking your head into his shoulder. He always got weirdly tactile after an orgasm and you hated it. However, you told yourself you were in a public place, somewhere you needed be quiet and considerate, so there was no point in kicking up a fuss, disturbing everyone – even though you’d been talking throughout and had just jerked him off in the back row… but whatever… He could have this one moment. You had disturbed his movie enjoyment after all. 

.

.

“You were right,” you said to Seokjin as you left the theatre, on your way to his car. “Going to the movies with you was fun.” 

He nodded his head, smug you’d been proven wrong, but of course you didn’t mean it. You just wanted to see him squirm, see him panic – payback for that move he’d pulled back inside, and for making you sit through that drivel. 

“Thanks for the date,” you smiled on cue, wrapping your hand into his as you sidled up to him. 

His eyes bulged instantly. “Wha—nononono,” he rushed, pushing you away. “That was not a date!” 

You cracked up, holding your sides. His expression was a picture. “Seokjin, shut up,” you shook your head. “I was teasing you.”

He sighed in relief, colour coming back to his face as if he’d just dodged a bullet. 

You didn’t realise he’d grabbed your hand again until you were at his car and he’d let go to get into the driver’s seat… 

Written 2018-20. Reworked/Edited 2020 Please refrain from posting my work elsewhere. No translations allowed. © floralseokjin 2020

[siranghae]

No Escape (m)

Word count: 6,611

Warning: Jungkook smut

Author’s note: This is a reupload of the piece I posted yesterday, since I realised that there were a lot of tense errors and I wasn’t happy about the title as it seemed too joking, though I only slightly altered it in the end. Sorry about the inconvenience!

I wrote this piece to celebrate the one year anniversary of this blog (which was technically yesterday but we don’t talk about that). I wish it could’ve turned out a little longer because it was quite a special scenario but I hope nearly 7k is enough for all of you :) Thanks again to @minyoongiish for proofreading, I don’t know how you do it <3 Enjoy!

Some might say that this was completely out of character for you to do a thing like this. One girl, among a crowd of people twice or thrice your age, with a single backpack that almost ripped at the straps from the weight it carried. Not even the way you dressed fit the way you were usually perceived, in a blouse with a faded flower pattern and khaki shorts. The look was perfected by the brown hiking boots you'd forgotten about as soon as they'd arrived in the mail. They felt unnatural to walk in, given how unworn they were, which is why you were so inclined to wobble like a chair with uneven legs. At least you had a reason to wear them now.

When you finally sat down in the bus, you let out a sigh of relief. Behind the stained window was the highway you'd be driving down in a second, away from the city you associated with too many things to like it anymore. It really was out of character, yet that was exactly what you were going for. Who expected something like this? 

No one, but especially not Jeon Jungkook.

It was humid and hot inside of the vehicle, overwhelmingly so, and without windows it would only get worse. You took a water bottle out of your bag, waiting for the other passengers to sit down, too. Some of them glanced at you when they passed your seat, though never in a contemptuous way. There was even a woman that smiled, and though you didn’t know her, you smiled back. Actually, you didn’t know anyone, which was comforting to say the least. This was what you’d hoped for when you made the arrangements with the travel agency. You’d even picked one on the other side of town, with a name that sounded so shifty that it wouldn’t even cross you mind if it wasn’t for the situation you were in.

“Is this seat taken?”

You averted your eyes from the window, towards a woman who you guessed was in her mid-fifties or early sixties. She had something motherly about her in her muddy orange bodywarmer with a long sleeved shirt underneath it. You remembered seeing her outside the bus, where she’d introduced herself to the bus driver as Eunha.

“It’s free,” you responded, moving the bag that you’d put on the seat so that Eunha could sit down.  She nodded her head politely as a sign of gratitude before sitting down.

“Ah, young people these days~” She mumbled, a comical expression taking shape on her face. “It’s extraordinary to meet someone this considerate when they’re your age.”

You laughed. “I suppose that is true.”

Eunha looked at you for a while, not saying a word. The silence that followed your words was a little awkward, as she observed you with curiosity like a visitor would in a zoo with wild animals: cautious but not cautious enough to stop her from getting closer. Out of the blue, she even asked you a question. “So, why are you on this trip?”

“Oh, I’m here to get over a breakup.” The lie left your lips with such ease that it almost felt wrong, though that didn’t stop you from saying it. The real reason wasn’t something to be admitted to a woman you’d just met, or anyone else for that matter.

She didn’t seem to catch the lie, as her expression turned soft at those words that would’ve held more meaning to someone that was actually in that situation. “Oh dear!” She placed one hand on your lap, squeezing you as though that would make you feel any better. “How terrible. But a man like that really doesn’t deserve a darling like you.”

You gave her a guilty smile. “Well thank you, but I don’t deserve such kind words.”

“Well dear, I think you do, and you can’t change my mind.” She nodded, convinced about her own judgement of the person she’d just met. “Oh, we’re leaving.”

She was right: the bus driver had taken his seat and was busy starting up the large bus. You looked at the passengers in front of you, seeing exclusively grey hair except for a few peculiarly coloured hats that old people tend to wear. Finally, you’d have a week to yourself, a week free of consequences, a week free from everything you were trying to escape.

After what felt like an hour or two, the bus reached a road through the forest that was on the pamphlet you’d seen that one fateful afternoon.  As the leaves brushed against the bus window, you pulled it out of your backpack. Not that you wanted to read it - the picture was what was interesting. It looked almost like a still life on the cheap paper. Every leaf looked unnatural, every cloud looked photoshopped into the picture. But most of all, the people in the distance, pretending to be having fun on their supposed hiking trip. It all felt so fake, now that you looked at it. Outside, everything looked raw, a little rough at the edges - that was real nature. It somehow hadn’t doomed on you until now, but that’s what you’d be seeing this entire week. Most of all, you’d be walking. A lot. Maybe you really should’ve thought this through a little more - though it was too late now to go back home. Not that it seemed like a viable option anyways.

Eunha, who’d been sleeping for most of the ride, woke up as soon as the bus came to a halt. “Oh, are we already there? That was quick!” She stood up from her place and grabbed her bag. With a smile, she looked back at you, still sitting in the same spot as people already got off the bus. “Aren’t you coming, dear?”

“Oh, I’m waiting until everyone’s gone. Might be a better plan.”

She nodded, though she didn’t seem to agree. “Well, I’ll be seeing you in a moment then!” With one last nod and a brief wave of her hand, she squeezed between the people waiting to get off the bus. It was almost a promise, which was quite nice of her. She probably wanted you to feel included, which was nice.

You looked through the pamphlet once more as the crowd moved through the bus slowly. This was an opportunity, not a curse. The walking would definitely help you forget about your everyday life, you just knew it. You could do this, for sure.

“You waiting for someone?”

“Hm?” You said, not listening to the voice that you didn’t realise was talking to you.

“Y/N.”

You frowned, looking up. “How do you kno-”

Jeon Jungkook is standing right in front of you.

“Okay, wait,” you say, closing your eyes. “Wait wait wait.”

“What are you doing?”

“Sssssh.”

“Why are you shushing me?!”

“Because you’re not real. Yes, that must be it! I’m just hallucinating you, so when I open my eyes, you should be gone,” you mumbled and repeated the last word plenty of times so that your prayers might be heard by some divine entity. You really must’ve been stressed if you’d imagine him to be there. Must be a chemical reaction in your brain that created this image. “Yeah, I’ll open my eyes now and-”

As soon as you realised that he was still there, you closed your eyes again. “No, no, wait, one more moment.”

“Y/N-”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” you responded, opening your eyes for a second time. He was still there, his dark brown hair falling in front of his eyes that looked at you confusedly. “I don’t understand. Why are you still there?” You extended one hand to touch him, carefully like he was about to attack you like a wild animal. One finger inched towards his bare arm, which you should be able to pass through if he was, in fact, a figment of your imagination. Instead, it bounced off like there was an actual person there, right in front of you. That didn’t stop you from trying again, poking him in his stomach, his arm, his leg, his face - until your finger went numb from the desperate attempts to make him disappear. You didn’t want to stop doing it, feeling like this is the only way to stop him from actually existing so close to you. “Oh please, I don’t deserve this, do I?”

His fingers slipped between yours, making you almost vomit all over him. “God, you’re such a dork,” he said, flashing an evil, Jungkook-esque smile at you that equals a fist in your stomach.

You pulled your hand out of his grip with such force that you hit your own seat with your elbow. “Ow!”

“Oh, sorry, that wasn’t-”

You hissed at his hand that got awfully close to you, as you tried to escape from him by pressing yourself against the wall as much as possible. This is not actually happening, is it? “Oh no… fuck.” Yes, he was really there, in the place where he shouldn’t be. “How the fuck did this… I can’t do this.”

You leapt forward, past the guy from your nightmares, quicker than you thought was humanly possible. Never had you wanted to scream so badly, so loudly that it’ll permanently damage your vocal chords. “How the fuck did he find me?” That’s a question only he knew the answer to, though you already had a feeling that it’ll be as disgusting as everything else he does.

A chill ran down your spine when you felt his hand against your shoulder, his fingers like snakes rubbing your joint light-heartedly. “No one can escape me, right? Wasn’t that what you said?”

“Stay away from me, dirty underage… pervert… kid… oh, fuck it!”

“I’m not underage!” he called after you as you jumped out of the bus to safety.

You nearly jumped into the arms of Eunha when you noticed her. “Oh, Eunha!” you sighed, hugging her so forwardly that it is a tad inappropriate. She gasped when you nearly made her fall backwards.

“What’s wrong?” the older woman frowned worriedly when she regained her balance, sensing that something was off before you got to say another word. People stared at the two of you weirdly, though she didn’t seem to care about that at all. “Sweetie, please tell me what’s wrong so I can help.” Her voice was so soothing that it made you want, even need to tell her what’s wrong, as you breathed heavily into her shoulder that is enough support for you, both physically and mentally.

“M-my friend is…” Those words came out so softly that Eunha didn’t understand what you were saying, and she made you repeat your words. “My… boyfriend, he’s- he’s here.”

The lie rolled of your tongue like it’s the truth, and soon you accepted it as such, or at least make yourself believed it to be true. There was no better way to explain yourself or the hate you feel for him.

“Who? Who is it, dear?”

Jungkook walked down the bus stairs right as her head turned that way, waving at you nonchalantly. “Hey there, Y/N. Didn’t know you were here.”

“Fucking liar,” you mumbled under your breath, before you uttered a louder, more hateful response, with words that weren’t even meant to be hateful.

“Hello, Jungkook.”

One might say that you and Jungkook were once on good terms, though you’d never be able to admit that now. Besides, there was a reason why he was once tolerable, whereas now he is so easy to hate. The first time it hit you was when you were looking him in the eyes with Eunha by your side, seeing him look at you so confidently, without any sign of that sweet boy he had been before. That was it: he’d grown up.

Even you could admit that he was a little handsome now, after he’d lost the babyface he’d once had which had grown into the sharp edges of his jaw and cheeks. The few inches he’d gained since you first met him were also noticeable, something he always pointed out whenever he got the chance to stand close to you and even simply wasn’t represented in his mental development. He still seemed like a dirty minded high schooler, wanting to date a girl simply for the sake of dating someone. You couldn’t even imagine that he’d dated anyone in his short, pitiable life, but for some reason girls always flocked around him like geese around a piece of bread. Was he really that handsome to other people? It didn’t make sense, but what made the least sense of all was that he didn’t care about any of the girls after him. He was only interested in one person, and that was you.

“Come on, Y/N, stop running away from me,” Jungkook said as he tried to catch up to you.

“No way.”

“Look, it’s been an hour. You should’ve had enough time to, I don’t know… Y/N, come on.”

“Never.” You leapt forward every time he got too close, which caused him to grunt out of annoyance every time you did it. The two of you were about half a mile ahead of the other walkers, who couldn’t keep up with the pace you had set that can’t even count as walking since you were basically running to escape the toxic boy. “Jungkook, don’t you know what ‘leave me alone’ means?”

He sighed. “I’m going to pretend not to know what that means until you let me-”

“I’m not going to let you get anywhere near me, okay? Is that so hard to understand?” You stepped over a log in the middle of the road, which you did so slowly that it enabled Jungkook to catch up to you. “Why aren’t you fucking one of the cute girls who were after you last week? What were their names again?”

“I don’t remember their- why are you even bringing this up?”

You ignored his question, and basically sprinted down the hill you guys just climbed up together. “Bye asshole!” It was the last thing you said before you gave in to the gravity that seemed to pull you down the hill so quickly. Closing your eyes, you focused on the feeling of running, the ground beneath you and the wind blowing in your face. It was almost like he wasn’t there anymore.

“Hey, Y/N!”

Jungkook repeated your name when you ignored him, but there was no way you would’ve listened to his screams. Why would you listen to him? He was probably trying to catch up to you by distracting you - that would totally be something he’d do, that filthy cheater.

But you were wrong to judge him that quickly.

“Watch out!”

It happened so quickly that you barely notice it. Something grabbed your leg and pulled your lower body into it and your upper body in the opposite direction. It occurred with so much force that you let out a choked scream amid falling - and one moment later, you felt your face hit the hard ground.

“Fuck!”

“Y/N? Y/N!” You’d barely groaned once before his hands grabbed your shoulder, shaking it frantically. He said something else after that, yet you couldn’t get yourself to understand what he was trying to say. Everything became blurry, the face looking down with genuine worry, the sounds coming from every direction, the feeling in your ankle. Perhaps that explains why it didn’t even hit you that he picked you up.

“Can you hear me?” He said, in a way that indicated that he’d said it several times before and it now rolled of the tongue more easily. “Y/N?”

“Y-yes…” you mumbled, pressing a cheek against his shoulder without realising it. It felt so distant, though you could feel his bones and muscles through the soft material of his sleeve. It felt pleasant, though it really shouldn’t be. You couldn’t help but get accustomed to it, feeling it rock back and forth like it was trying to comfort you.

Slowly, your senses came back to you, beginning at your head and spreading throughout your body until it even hit your toes.

Then you finally noticed that Jungkook had his hands on your ass.

A deafening scream filled your own ears that very second, which you didn’t even realise was your own until Jungkook looked down at you, startled. “W-what is it?” he said, seeing that you weren’t in any actual danger - at least, not in his eyes.

“Get. Your. Hands. Away. From. My. ASS!” you yelled, intentionally close to his ear so that he might actually go deaf.

“What are you- oh.” He swallowed. “But where else am I supposed to hold you? Besides, you have quite the nice-”

“Jeon Jungkook, I swear to god I’ll kill you if you dare finish that sentence.”

“Come on, I’m just telling the truth.”

“Shut up- fuck, that was my ankle!”

Jungkook had attempted to hold you in a different way, though he wasn’t particularly good at not twisting your limbs in all possible directions like a drawing doll. He didn’t even stop when he heard your painful whimpering, though that might have been caused by the fact that he was about to drop you because of his clumsiness. He stumbled forward whilst holding you that way, with a deep frown between his eyebrows from the amount of effort it cost him to keep you in his arms.

After a terrible struggle, he finally put you down on a rock by the hill and next to a stream, even placing your ankle on a sloped bit of it carefully so that you could rest. “Are you okay?” he said, still moving your leg around as though he was indecisive about the position it should stay in.

You nodded slowly, until you remembered it was Jungkook that was asking you this. “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s continue walking.” In a brave attempt at distancing yourself from him, you tried to stand up - before you even got the chance to take another step, you fell on your knees again from the pain in your ankle. “Ouch!”

“Jesus, Y/N, you haven’t even rested for a fucking minute. Can you at least wait until your leg doesn’t hurt again?” It wasn’t so much a question as it was an order, emphasised by the fact that he pushed your leg down when you tried to raise it again.

Annoyed, you looked around, trying to see where the nearest part of the road was.

“Wait… why is there no road?”

Jungkook looked up from his twentieth attempt at keeping your legs down. “We’re to the left of the hill, so the same goes for the road… wait, didn’t you see where we were going?”

You squinted at him. “Uh, I was busy getting groped? Why would I look where we’re going?”

“Groping? I-I was trying to carry you!” A soft blush spread across his cheeks, his little head caught in the middle of that lie.

You pointed one finger at his face, which made him shrink reflexively. “Bullshit.”

“Y/N…”

“Stop lying to your perverted mind!”

He sighed. “Okay, okay, but I honestly can’t help myself when you have such a-”

“Don’t. Say. It.” You snapped your fingers when you noticed his eyes glide down your outfit, down to the point of interest like a vicious snake. Instinctively, you crossed your legs when you noticed him bite his lip. “Jesus, you’re such a horndog.”

“Can you please stop calling me that?” he said. “You always do that in front of Namjoon, too, and I don’t like it at all.”

“What else am I supposed to call you? JILF?”

“Oh for the love of GOD, no!” he nearly screamed at you, but he couldn’t stop you from bursting out laughing. “Why are you like this with me?”

You leaned back until your back hit the warm stone, which felt great after the intensive walking you’d done. From here you couldn’t see his face, either, which was an added bonus you hadn’t foreseen. “If that’s the only way to keep you away from me, then I’ll keep acting that way.”

“But what about the time you kissed me?”

You froze. “What?”

“You know,” Jungkook said, trying to sound as innocent as he could. God, what a jerk. “Last year? At Namjoon’s place?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you answered abruptly.

“You even said you liked it. Don’t you remember?”

Of course, you remembered. It had been neatly hidden in a corner of your memory that you didn’t ever look at, but that didn’t stop it from coming out sometimes, in the middle of the night, when you felt the safest.

“I’d never say that!” You snapped. “Never, Jungkook, never in a million years, would I call you a good kisser.”

“We’ll see about that,” he said, right before he pressed his lips against yours.

It went so quickly that you didn’t even get to push him away, and as soon as it happened, you were brought back to the last time this had happened. It was almost exactly one year ago, but it was still as good as it had been that time.

Wait, why were you enjoying yourself?

As soon as you could breathe again, you started spouting swear words at him at a high tempo that made him quietly stare at you, scared to speak back. It almost hurt your mouth, that was how much you were talking and screaming at him. You didn’t care, though - he deserved this, all of it. He deserved every word you said, every fist you raised at him. He’d deserved to hear it for a long time, but you’d never been brave enough to tell him. Now that you were, it felt so wonderful, so relieving. Why hadn’t you tried before?

The one second you closed your mouth again, he kissed you again.

You wanted to pull out of the kiss, but you couldn’t. No matter how much your mind told you to stop it, to get yourself away from him, it didn’t do anything. Instead, you felt yourself get pulled into him like he was quicksand waiting for the next victim that was you. It was so magnetic: from the way he kissed, so different from how you usually perceived him and yet so like the way he was a while ago, to the way he barely touched you at all, as though he was trying to be humble when that wasn’t like him at all. It was a slow grind, without too much excitement, but that made it so much more exciting in your mind, trying to reason why he was so different when he kissed you. He didn’t need to do much to make your stomach turn inside out. It was like you were experiencing butterflies for the first time again. Not that it was love, it just felt similar.

His hand cupped your jaw so nicely as he pulled you up into a sitting position that it felt as though he belonged right there, a mould to this outline of yours. His fingers tapped against your cheek as his tongue slipped in, making you gasp. You wanted this to last longer, much longer, until every muscle in your face went numb.

After several minutes, he pulled back, grinning childishly. “That was good, right?”

You couldn’t fully understand him, why he was trying to kiss you so well. Was he out of his mind now, just because he wanted to prove some kind of point? It didn’t make sense to you, that he’d kiss you simply because you’d insulted him. It wasn’t like him to give in to your demeaning comments, especially not after you’d made them so many times in the past. Why did he try so hard to impress you this time? Was there something more, something like an interest in you? Not that you could believe that he’d wanted you, specifically you, like he had said out loud - right on the day you decided you’d had enough of his presence.

Instead of answering his question, you stared back at him. His hand was still pressed against your cheek. It was the wing that enveloped your anger, that stopped you from answering in a way that didn’t even represent your feelings. It felt so safe, so comforting in that moment where you tried to make sense of everything he was doing that you couldn’t do anything but smile helplessly at the feeling. Maybe he really did like you. Maybe all his ridiculous behaviour had been caused by one simple thing, namely a crush on you he’d then tried to make mutual.

You wrapped your hands around his neck, his face going wild with shock at your sudden forwardness. Fuck it, you thought as you inched closer. Sometimes, the things you did didn’t have to make sense. They could be a one-time thing, a try-out of what might come.

The kiss was short, barely long enough to make Jungkook give in to it. When you pulled away from him, he raised an eyebrow at you, showing a bit of his previous cockiness. “So, you do want to do this!”

“What are you talking about?” you said, lying back down again.

Jungkook wasn’t happy with that response. “What am I talking about? You just kissed me!”

“Did I?” you asked, trying to hide a smile. “Aren’t you just imagining some dirty scenario in your head again?”

“God, will you ever leave me alone?” he sighed despairingly. “You know what? I bet you have thought about me that way too.”

Your eyes widened in shock. “Oh, no way in hell I’d think about you like some kind of pervert? Kid, you look twelve in my eyes.”

“Where did that come from!?”

“I could ask you the same, Youngkook.”

“Stop abusing my name!” he whined, looking at you as though you’d insulted him even more than you had so far. Suddenly, he rose from his seat right next to you. “And I’ve seen you look at me, so you can’t pretend.”

You frowned. What the hell was he getting at? “Do you mean the times I’ve looked at you with a death-glare? ‘Cause that’s the only thing I can think of.”

To answer your question, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and slowly started pulling it up. His back was turned toward you, but even from here you could see what he was getting at.

“Have you been working out?!” you exclaimed, seeing his prominent back muscles twitch with every inch he raised the shirt higher. Perhaps he didn’t look like a model you’d see on the cover of a fitness magazine, but he definitely wasn’t his lanky self anymore. Before you stood a man, not a boy as you’d always called him, not a trace of the softness you had expected to see.

He smirked at you. Of course, he knew what you’d expected, and seeing your surprise obviously was the desired result of his little experiment. “You didn’t know? Thought Namjoon would’ve- Wait!”

As he’d turned around to face you - showing his toned arms and chest off like it was nothing - you’d gotten up from your spot and approached him as carefully as you could. You couldn’t even pay attention to the slight pain in your ankle, that’s how focused you were on touching him.

Jungkook tensed up when you touched his stomach, which made him feel even harder against your finger. He didn’t feel like he was made of stone which was sometimes the case with ripped guys in your experience. He was soft, despite his pretty muscles. You approvingly nodded when you slid your hand down him to experience the feeling again. “Hm, I guess that’s a 7 out of 10?”

“Excuse me, I’m a 10 out of 10- or a 9, at the very least.” Jungkook grabbed your hand, guiding it down his stomach and then lower - right unto his crotch.

You thought you’d instinctively pull your hand away, but the only thing you were capable of doing was slowly wrap your hands around the fabric that covered his part. At first you hesitated, yet when curiosity got a hold of you, you did it well.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed, his nails digging into your skin as you rubbed his part, exploring its size and its shape. “Stop that, Y/N.”

You looked up at his tense face. He was even biting his lip at the rubbing motions you made on him. “Are you that sensitive?”

“N-no…” he lied.

Your free hand slipped into his pants before you responded, which made him gasp so loudly that he muffled half of your response. “God, you really are a kid, aren’t you?” You wanted to say more, but the warmth of his cock distracted you. Quickly, you gave it a rough tug as best as you could when it was inside of his pants. This made Jungkook let out a choked swearword as his hand tried to stop you.

“Y/N, w-we’re on a hiking tr-trip…” he whispered, as though an excuse like that would stop you. He grabbed your hand that was inside of his pants and tried to pull it out, which you bravely struggled against.

You shrugged. “So what? They can’t see us here anyways, right?” The little smile that curved your lips so delicately made him swallow uncomfortably. “Besides, wasn’t it your intention to fuck me on this trip?”

“Why- I’d never… it wouldn’t even cross my mind,” he said as seriously as he could with your hand still squeezing him. You could already feel him harden against your touch, which made you quite proud of your own skills.

You raised one eyebrow at him, so unimpressed with that excuse that you couldn’t even laugh. “So, you’re saying that you went on this trip to bond with the old ladies.”

“I… Yes?” he bit his lip when you squeeze him even harder. “Ah~ a little softer, okay?”

Not that you’d listen to that suggestion. “Man, I didn’t know you were into older women.”

“Wh-! I swear, I can’t ever relax around you.” He grumbled some unintelligible complaints after that, probably about your clever insult. “So I guess you like young boys?”

“We’re not that far apart, right?” you asked. “God, this is really…” your fingers reached for the button on his pants so you could give yourself some more space to move.

“Didn’t you say I was, what twelve?” He said, right as you pulled his pants down.

Without saying another word to him or looking at his size, you squeezed him again - even harder this time, so he tensed up from head to toe as his throat produced tortured sounds. “Don’t you dare, chipmunk- Or do you want me to stop?”

“No! I mean- no, please continue,” he begged, his hand reaching down to make your hand move again.

“Woah, woah, woah!” you said, taking your hand off his dick. “Too late now, darling~ If you’re gonna insult me, you better know I’m gonna change my mind.” Slowly, your eyes lowered their gaze to his part, which instantly made you regret your decision. After this little foreplay, he’d already gotten deep pink and rock hard, making you see how big he really was - a lot bigger than you’d expected little conceited Jungkook to be.

“I’m sorry, okay? Let me show you w-what I can do… please.”

You pretended not to hear him for a hot minute, staring at his cock just standing up right there. If you hadn’t imagined fucking him before, you were now - he might not have been the biggest you’d ever seen, that didn’t stop his cock from being really pretty and nicely sized. “Hm… I guess I could give you a try if I really wanted to…”

Before you’d even finished your sentence, Jungkook leapt forward excitedly and started unbuttoning your blouse rapidly. You said his name, a little overwhelmed by how quickly he was trying to undress you, but it had something amusing about it. Around the girls that were always surrounding him, following him around wherever he went, he never acted like this. He always acted as the arrogant boy you’d taken him to be, never serious with any of those girls that were so desperate for him. And now, you’d gotten him desperate for you.

“One quick question…” you said, seeing him unhook your bra like it was something he’d done many times before. “And this is serious: why aren’t you with any of those girls? Y’know, the ones that swarm around you like fangirls.”

“Why would I want to be with them?” Jungkook responded, looking at your breasts as he spoke. “Have you seen yourself? You’re so fucking hot… just look at these!” He grabbed one of your exposed breasts gently and smiled like an idiot. “God, I can’t wait to see you fully naked.”

“This is why you’re a kid to me, Jungkook,” you mumbled, unable to hide how flattered you were, though you wouldn’t’ve been if he’d said it two hours earlier.

He sighed. “Which is why you’re naked. Wanting to fuck me.”

“I didn’t say that!” you responded, but you kind of wanted to admit that he was right.

He smiled sheepishly before he kissed your neck, pulling the last piece of fabric that covered you down at the same time. By doing this, he intentionally touched your ass, after which he chuckled amusedly. “You really do have a nice ass.”

“Shut up and get this started already,” you snapped at him.

“Okay then,” he said, and he grabbed you by your legs to lift you up with one smooth movement, right on top of his cock.

You yelped in surprise, thinking he’d drop you like he’d almost done the last time he’d picked you up - but soon, you were too distracted by him entering you. “Oh my… g-god… You’re so big…” Was all you managed to say for a moment, feeling him fill you up entirely right from the get-go. “H-h… Don’t you have a condom?”

“Aren’t you on… the pill?” he groaned. “You’re so fucking tight, fuck…” Why did he know that? You wanted to ask him, but-

You yelled when you realised he wasn’t fully inside of you yet, pushing into you even further after he’d said that. Reflexively, your walls clenched down on him with all their strength. A moan so loud that it sounded like he was already climaxing came out of his mouth, sending an electric shiver up your spine. You weren’t even that wet yet, but slowly it started to heat up. Not much longer and you’d be dripping on the floor, despite how little foreplay there had been.

“P-plea… not that tight,” he moaned into your ear, grabbing onto your legs more tightly just as you tightened your grip on his back. “I’ll faint if you keep… oh~”

You tried your best to relax in this position, which luckily went well. Jungkook sighed in relief and didn’t move, though he didn’t keep that up for long: he wanted to feel you around him, and you wanted him inside of you, stretching you out as much as he possibly could.

Slowly but surely, he raised your body so that his length wasn’t fully inside. It was very exhausting, judging by his facial expression. He really was in agony, having waited so long to finally do this - but so were you, trying your best not to climax yet. How was it possible that you were already so close? He hadn’t even really done anything yet, but it was still too much to take up for you.

“I’ve waited s-so long… and now I can’t even…” he moaned, lowering you onto him as carefully as he could, as though not to send him over the edge in a split second.

You bit your lip. “This is fast enough, Jungkook.”

“Y-yeah… okay…”

He quickly raised your ass this time, nearly letting go off you when he reached the highest point - and you slammed into him. It was so rough that you moaned against his ear. “Yes… oh fuck yes…”

“Do you like that?” he groaned, lifting you up again.

“Fuck I do, baby… Come on, again…”

This time, your eyes rolled back so far that you went blind, though the feeling that he spread inside of you totally made up for that. You bit your lip, strained from how amazing he felt inside of you. “Oh, yes~”

“Damnit, you sound so hot when you moan,” he mumbled, before doing the same thing over and over again.

It barely took more than three times for everything to become blurry around you and for the feeling inside of your stomach to burn like hellfire - and surely, you came, followed by him after he’d thrust two more times. He released his load inside of you, though you didn’t even notice - everything was purple and red, hot and ice cold at the same time, was numb and extremely sensitive at the same time. You moaned loudly, hearing nothing else but your own voice as you writhed against him. Though the act itself was extremely short, the time it took you to recover was long, even for normal sex.

After a couple of minutes, Jungkook gently put you down on the floor again, completely broken from holding you in the air for so long and having sex with you at the same time. “Fuck, that was good.”

You groaned something that was supposed to be a yes, as you started putting your clothes back on. “God, they’re gonna be miles ahead of us now.”

“Who?” Jungkook asked, before it dawned on him. “Oh… fuck.”

“Yeah.” You swallowed, looking up as you put on the flower blouse. “Do you think they heard us?”

He stared back at you before you both burst out laughing. “I hope not.”

You noticed that your ankle didn’t hurt anymore and quickly started walking, not waiting for Jungkook to finish getting dressed. He’d catch up with you in a second anyways - after all, no one can escape Jeon Jungkook. “I told them you’re my ex, so I hope they’re too gullible to believe that…”

“You told them what?!” he exclaimed. “Wait a minute… that’s why that old lady was looking at me like that! Oh my god, I can’t believe you’d actually do that. I can’t believe it.”

“Shut up and start running,” you giggled, walking slowly despite what you’d said. You didn’t want to catch up to the rest yet after that experience.

Jungkook caught up to you and grabbed your arm. “So… what are we going to tell them? They must’ve noticed.”

“That you fell and I tried to carry you until you could walk again,” you said casually.

“You mean that I carried you!” He shook his head. “Why am I even here?”

You laughed, patting him on the back apologetically. “You’ll have to stand me for one more week, at the very least.”

He sighed despairingly. “No~ that means I’ll have to get you to fall again… and again…”

“And I’ll be glad to help this time,” you said, grinning idiotically because you never thought you’d be saying something like that to Jungkook.

He smiled. “So shall we do it again, right now?”

“Jungkook!” you said, noticing the rest of the people, still far ahead of you.

You didn’t regret this after all, you thought, staring at the boy beside you.

[galaxystiel]

Visions (AO3) (2791 words)

Summary: Five times Dean saw his future in a vision, and one time he didn't need to.

1.

The first time it happens, they’ve just pulled into a gas station outside on to the way to Sioux Falls.

They’d just finished up a hunt. It wasn’t Dean’s first, or his second, but it hadn’t been many more than that. Sam had been left with Bobby, too young to tag along. He’d have slowed them down, distracted both of them.

John cuts the engine, tells Dean he did good and he’ll get him some candy. Dean, still a little shaken from the claws that had been much too close for his liking, just nods. He’s staring out of the window, trying to collect his thoughts. Another car pulls up beside them and Dean watches the guy get out, looking around nervously as he walks into the gas station.

John is fumbling with his wallet, and Dean sees him pull out a wad of cash, and then the most intense pain he’s ever felt wracks through his head. He doesn’t make a sound, just clutches at it with his hands, and his vision shifts.

He can see the guy working in the gas station, hands trembling as he empties the register for the stranger pointing the gun at him. There’s a pretty girl, young and wearing a white sundress crying in the corner. There’s a distant sound of bullets and bodies hit the floor, blood spilling everywhere. John is lying slumped over the register, a bar of Hershey’s slipping from his grasp, eyes wide open.

Dean starts, sweating and panting, his stomach churning. The sudden urge to vomit overwhelms him, but he forces it down. He’s not sure what just happened, but he knows what he saw, can see it clear as day. His hand flies out, catching John’s wrist in a vice-like grip.

“Dad, don’t go,” he pleads, tugging to stop John from getting out of the car. “Wait, please. You can’t go in there yet.”

John stops, confusion turning to concern when he sees the paleness in Dean’s face, the beads of sweat on his forehead. “Dean? You sick, son?”

Dean shakes his head, refusing to relinquish his grasp on his dad’s arm. “He’s got a gun, that man… he’s gonna shoot everyone inside.”

John stills, eyes narrowing. He turns towards the gas station fractionally, but before he can speak, the sound of gunshots ring out, and the screams follow. Without a second thought, John shuts the door and drives away promptly.

“Dad, no, we have to help them!” Dean shouts. He saved his dad’s life, he knows that, but that doesn’t mean he wants to condemn the innocent people in the gas station. John can help, he can save them.

“There’s nothing we can do, Dean,” John says. “They’re as good as dead already.”

Dean can picture all of the bodies, the young girl in the white dress that’s slowly staining red and feels tears well up in his eyes. He blinks them back furiously.

“I thought we were supposed to help people. That’s why you fight the monsters. You just let all those people die. What makes you any better than what you hunt?”

John loses his temper. “That’s enough, Dean. You’re not old enough to understand. We can’t save everyone. Sometimes you have to pick your battles. What if I’d gone in there and gotten shot too? Where would you go then?”

Uncle Bobby’s, Dean thinks to himself. He’d go and stay with uncle Bobby, the way Sam does when he’s too young to go on a hunt. Uncle Bobby would have saved those people, Dean knows that without a doubt.

Dean stares ahead in stony silence, realisation slowly dawning. John doesn’t care about helping people. All he cares about is getting revenge for Mary.

It’s a long time before the silence breaks, and it’s John who breaks it.

“Dean? How did you know that guy had a gun?”

For a moment, Dean considers telling his dad the truth, about the vision he had. That he could see and hear everything that happened in the gas station, watched almost half a dozen people bleed out. His dad included, while he waited in the car helplessly. He thinks about how his dad had left them there to die.

He’d never understand. They hunted things John didn’t understand.

Dean looks right at John and lies. “He was hugging his right side, trying to hide it. He looked pretty shifty.”

Satisfied with the explanation, John nods curtly and focuses on his driving.

Dean sits back in his seat and closes his eyes, wondering what the hell was happening to him.

2.

The visions continue, albeit few and far between. He can’t control when or why they appear. Dean decides to just accept them as the gift they are.

The pain is still unbearable, feels like his head is splitting open and his brain his being stabbed by a thousand needles. But the visions, whatever they are, have been nothing but helpful so he doesn’t mind too much. The pain only last a few moments if he doesn’t fight it, a residual headache the only side effect of whatever it is that allows him to see a possible future. Sometimes, the visions have appeared at an inconvenient time, in the middle of a wendigo hunt, or during a test. It took a while for Dean to find out that he could repress them, to block out the vision, although the pain gets worse before it fades away.

The visions aren’t always of life or death situations. Sometimes, they show Dean finding something he lost, a grade he’ll get on a test in school, playing ball with uncle Bobby. Sometimes, they’re not all that useful. Dean remembers each one vividly, doesn’t dare keep a written log of them anywhere in case John finds it.

He stirs the spaghetti making sure the sauce evenly coats the pasta. John is away, hunting something that he considered too dangerous for them, so Dean was left making dinner for Sam. Recently, Sam has become surly at mealtimes, twisting his face at whatever Dean makes for him. Tonight, Dean hopes that a traditional mac and cheese will tempt him.

When the vision comes, it strikes out of nowhere.

Blinded by the headache, Dean’s arms flail and he knocks the pan from the stove, spilling what was supposed to be their dinner all over the floor. Grasping the counter, he closes his eyes and focuses on his own face, talking to a strange woman.

“My Dad was always working, so I came up with about 101 ways to make macaroni and cheese.”

“Serious?”

“Oh, yeah. Now add ketchup sauce for spice, hmm? Uh, tuna, hot dogs, fluff marshmallow mix.”

“Ugh, that sounds disgusting!”

“Yeah, well, my brother thought it was exotic.”

Dean blinks, to find Sam shaking his arm, concern in his gaze. He looks down as the pain fades away, looking at the spaghetti, growing cold on the floor.

“Fuck. It’s cool, Sammy, I got it.” He waves off Sam’s concern and begins to clear up the mess, throwing away the remains of dinner and washing out the pan. “What do you say to mac and cheese tonight?”

Sam wrinkles his nose, but it’s a lot better than his usual sulking. “It’s kinda boring, Dean.”

Dean grins. “Nah. See, I know 101 different ways to make mac and cheese so it tastes completely different each time.”

Disbelievingly, Sam folds his arms. “101 different ways? No way.”

Pulling down the macaroni, Dean hides his inner triumph. “Wait and see. Numero uno, ketchup for spice.”

3.

Robin is a nice girl. Dean likes her a lot.

As first kisses go, Dean could have done a lot worse. He plans to take her to the dance, but can’t quite put his finger on the something that makes this seem off.

Maybe it’s because Sammy and Dad didn’t come for him yet. He knows they will sooner or later.

It’s almost a relief when they do turn up. He can’t explain the visions to Sonny, even know they’ve happened once or twice in his presence. Sooner or later, questions are going to be asked and he’s not going to be able to answer them.

He locks himself in the bathroom to dry his eyes, sitting on the toilet and burying his face in his hands. It’s mostly relief, he knows that. That he hadn’t been left behind, that he wasn’t dispensable to John. That Sam missed him. But it’s also regret. Because he had a life here that he had always wanted, but to keep it he would have to leave Sam.

That isn’t an option. He has no guarantee that Sonny will keep him around if he ever finds out about Dean’s visions, either.

The pain strikes out of nowhere, leaving Dean doubled over as gasps fall from his lips. This might be the most painful one yet, his knuckles turning white as he grasps the sink to keep himself upright. The vision flickers for a moment, as if it’s not set in stone, but then it clears.

A strong hand brushes against his cheek. Dean closes his eyes and leans into the touch.

“Cas,” he whispers, lips parting as a thumb sweeps across his lower lip. “Cas.”

It’s almost like he doesn’t know what to say. The strongest emotion Dean has ever felt builds up in his chest and then it all comes crashing out.

Dean feels his fingers knot into hair, short but soft, and almost whimpers. “You can’t leave me, Cas. You don’t get to do that again. I need you.”

He opens his eyes and sees a brilliant blue, before everything comes into focus.

“I will never leave you, Dean.”

Dean closes the gap between them and their lips meet in the middle.

With a shout, Dean comes back to himself in the bathroom. He’s pale, can feel all the blood draining from his face. What the hell was that? He wasn’t into guys, why would Dean ever be kissing a dude? Shocked to his very core, Dean just manages to make it off the toilet so he can turn around and vomit. The pain behind his eyes is still lingering, and he presses his cheek to the cool porcelain, ignoring how gross that is.

His legs are shaky when he stands up. Everything he knows about himself seems wrong. How could that be true? How could whatever future that was, result in him feeling so strongly for a man?

Dean thinks back to the gas station, and how he’d saved his dad’s life. Not all futures were set in stone. He could change this, have a future where he got out of hunting and met a nice girl, married and had kids. Whoever this guy was, Dean would never meet him, would never give him the time of day.

Washing his hands and splashing some water on his face, Dean left the bathroom with a grim expression.

Those visions were nothing but trouble. He would never have another one again.

4.

Dean makes it almost fourteen years before he has another vision.

There’s something suspicious about the blonde chick. Ruby, he reminds himself. She claims to want to help him, but there’s something in her gaze when she looks at him. Sympathy. Like she’s endured Hell, and she knows exactly what is waiting for Dean.

When he looks at her, he doesn’t see the slightest shred of hope for his situation.

It’s a rare moment of vulnerability when the familiar pain tightens behind his eyes. It’s been over a decade since Dean last let himself have a vision, but the weight of his decision to sell his soul is heavy tonight.

He closes his eyes.

Fire. Burning. Chains.

The choking scent of sulphur, down his throat, engulfing him.

Screams. Pain.

“Sammy!”

He gasps and rubs his fists into his eyes. Sam is in the bathroom, so Dean takes the time to escape, to step out of the room. There’s a bar on the corner, and after what he’s just seen, he needs more than just a couple of miniatures from the minibar.

The lights flicker, and he stops. Ruby is standing there, staring at him.

He can’t stop the attitude towards her, ever distrustful of her demon status. She gives as good as she gets, but Dean is grateful for it. He doesn’t need to be coddled. Ruby is honest and he’s grateful for that.

“There’s no way of saving me from the pit, is there?”

“No.”

When Ruby leaves, Dean sinks to the floor beside the Impala and buries his head in his hands. He will never regret his choice to save Sam, but in this moment, he allows himself to mourn for the future he will never have.

5.

Dean doesn’t connect the name ‘Castiel’ with the man from his vision.

How could he? All he knows is some inhuman thing was powerful enough to fight through hell and carry him out. The thought of falling for whatever that was doesn’t even cross his mind.

He knows, of course, the first time he sees Castiel walking into the barn. Between the shattering lightbulbs and flashes of lightning, recognition tugs at the back of his mind.

It’s not until he sees the blue eyes up close that he realises and he immediately gets defensive. This guy had shattered Dean’s world when he was sixteen and now thinks he can just waltz in and command Dean’s love? Was that why he’d saved him from Hell?

“Why’d you do it?”

“Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you.”

Dean stares at him. “Work?”

He stops at the familiar pain and he struggles to fight it. He’s weak, though, from digging himself out of his own grave, and he can’t repress it completely. He sees flickers of his life, of Castiel becoming family, and he falls to his knees.

The pain vanishes as quickly as it appeared, and Dean glances up to see Castiel’s fingers barely an inch from his forehead, concern evident in the lines around his eyes. Dean doesn’t even need to ask. He knows from the sympathy in Castiel’s eyes that he will never be troubled by the visions again.

“Thanks. Cas.”

The name from his vision slips out before Dean thinks about it, and he clenches his fists tightly. He saw enough in the flickers to know that whatever his future holds, Castiel will be part of it. The capacity of that would be up to Dean.

“You wanna use some of that mojo on Bobby?” He asks, looking down at his body on the floor. “Wake him up? You come in peace, E.T., I get it. But I’ve had a long freaking day, and whatever work ‘God’ has planned for me can wait till tomorrow.”

Castiel does as he’s asked, but leaves immediately afterwards, leaving Dean to deal with a groggy Bobby who demands to know what the hell happened.

Dean just shakes his head. Cas can be a problem for another day.

+1.

A strong hand brushes against his cheek. Dean closes his eyes and leans into the touch.

“Cas,” he whispers, lips parting as a thumb sweeps across his lower lip. “Cas.”

It’s almost like he doesn’t know what to say. The strongest emotion Dean has ever felt builds up in his chest and then it all comes crashing out.

Dean feels his fingers knot into hair, short but soft, and almost whimpers. “You can’t leave me, Cas. You don’t get to do that again. I need you.”

He opens his eyes and sees a brilliant blue, before everything comes into focus.

“I will never leave you, Dean.”

Dean closes the gap between them and their lips meet in the middle. The kiss only lasts for a few seconds before Dean pulls away, surprised.

“Dean?”

He looks up to find Castiel staring at him, concerned, hand resting on his knee. “I’m fine,” he promises, reaching out to cover Castiel’s hand with his own. “It’s just… I remember this. I saw it happen, when I was a kid. I didn’t know who you were or why you were so important to me. I promised myself I would never let this be real. That my future would never bring me here. I hated you for making me doubt what I knew about myself.”

Castiel smiles at him, sure enough of his place in Dean’s life that the words don’t shake him. “We don’t always know what will make us happy in the future.”

Dean makes sure Castiel meets his eyes when he says, “Sometimes we do.”

He closes the gap between them once more and revels in the knowledge that, while he no longer knows what the future holds, he know that Castiel will always be by his side.

Masterpost

[promptistrashqueen]

Off To the Races (SWCDB2)

part 1

Prompto is pretty sure that his apartment has never been so clean, and not just since he moved in. The couch has been vacuumed and shampooed (and he didn't even know you could do that to a couch) along with his carpets, the curtains have been replaced with freshly laundered ones, his kitchen is literally gleaming despite the old appliances, and his bedroom looks like a home decorating show breezed through. He is at a bit of a loss now though, seated in the middle of aforementioned couch, staring at the steam-cleaned walls.

After all, Tuesday used to be his cleaning day.

His phone pings and he jumps a little, running a hand through his hair, noting it's getting a little long. The message from Noctis makes a smile curl over his features as warmth settles in his stomach and he hurries to answer.

"Hey dancer, you wanna catch a hot cocoa with me?"

 "Sure thing O' Lord of the Streets. You swinging by or we meeting up?"

 "3...2....1"

Promto frowns at the answer and goes to respond when a knock on his door draws his attention instead and he laughs. Of course Noctis knew he would say yes, and, of course, he was practically already there when he asked. Tugging at the sleeve of his soft red sweater he rises and answers the door, grinning at Noctis on the other side.

The dark-haired man is wearing another suit, the jacket slung over his shoulder with the sort of casual grace Prompto had once ached to have, his smile at the blonde his a bit cocky but Prompto knows better than to believe it. He reaches out and pretends to adjust Noctis' ties, waiting for the other to look down and...flick.

"Gotcha Noct! C'mon that's the oldest trick in the book!"

He steps back to let his scowling...boyfriend? in. The thought reminding him that they really should establish what they're doing, it's not like they don't know what the marks on their palms mean but, still. Prompto wants to know if he should mentally refer to Noctis as his "dude-who-stays-the-night-naked" or something more serious, more true. The word fiancee floats idly past him and he feels himself flush.

"Nope", he mouths, closing the door behind Noctis who turns to look at him expectantly.

"So, uh, where d'you like to go for cocoa?"

Prompto rolls his eyes, leave it to Noctis to ask him on a date and not have a clue where to actually go. He pokes the other's cheek and ignores the question in favor of tugging on his boots. As soon as he stands he looks at Noctis who is looking around the living/kitchen area awkwardly, his brows raised.

"You know, the cleaners you sent over might have taken your instructions to, ah, "remove any chance of germs from the premises" a little too literally Noct. They cleaned my freakin' walls, dude."

Noctis shoves a hand in his pocket and shrugs, offering a slanted sort of smile.

"Yeah, well...you said you hated cleaning."

Giving up the attempt as just another thing Noctis doesn't get about normal peoples lives, Prompto fingers his sweater, wondering if he should change to match Noctis' suit. The other must gather some of his thoughts because he brushes his hand over Prompto's arm, rubbing at the fabric there.

"I like this...you look..cute."

Prompto grins, even as he feels his cheeks warm, and he nudges Noctis with a shoulder in thanks.

"Alright," he claps his hands, "so, the best cocoa in the world is down at Milagro's and it's a bit too far to walk, so unless you drove, your fancy self will just have to take the train with this pleb."

Noctis smiles and Prompto looks at him with narrowed eyes, because, there's definitely an edge to the expression that screams "I've got a secret!". Noctis either doesn't notice or chooses to ignore it and shrugs, turning to the door and holding it open for Prompto who sighs, assuming he'll just have to follow the lead. Noctis is silent as they head out to the street but, he takes Prompto's hand in his and leads him to a parking garage across the street.

There is a surprisingly inconspicuous black car that Noctis stops beside. Prompto raises an eyebrow at the shifty way the other man is acting before a thought crosses his mind and he blurts it out without thinking.

"Are we seriously stealing a car? Dude, the train is not that expensive."

Noctis glares at him an huffs.

"Don't be stupid. Besides, if I was going to steal a car, it wouldn't be this one. It looks like an everyday one but I've had some stuff done to it. It's safer and harder to steal than any other car in here..."

"Oh. That makes sense, I guess you gotta be careful, even when it's just us, huh?"

Noctis' jaw clenches like he's trying to find words for something and Prompto moves to get in the passenger seat when Noctis catches his wrist.

"Prom...I-It's not my car."

He holds out a keyring with one car key and a small camera charm.

"It's, well, it's yours. You said you wished you could drive out of the city to take photos, so, now you can."

Prompto stares at the keys with wide eyes. The cleaners, the wardrobe appointment he has in the morning, hell, even Noctis' insistence on paying his rent for the next month, he can deal with all of that, but a car? He swallows hard.

"Noct...how much did this cost you?"

Noctis looks confused, hand falling though he still keeps a tight hold on Prompto's wrist with the other.

"I don't...it's not important, you said you wanted a car, I had some time, so you have a car. Did you want it in another color? cause I gotta tell you, this model looks pretty bad in yellow and red'll make the insurance go up, but if you want-"

"No! Normal people don't just by cars because they have some time! It's a really nice gesture Noct, but I can't accept it, I mean...fuck. I have my bike already, and yeah I can't fit all my equipment in the saddle bags and it's not great for both of us to ride, but, I don't need a car... I'm already trying to figure out how I'm gonna pay you back for all that other stuff so I-"

Noctis' expression stops him. He had seen a variety of expressions cross his soulmates face, joy to what he'd thought was anger, but the look Noctis sports at that moment was so black Prompto seriously considered running for it.

"You think you have to pay. me. back?"

Prompto blinks, confused.

"Well, yeah, I mean...I know you've got money and you think you need to dump gifts on me since I'm your soulmate or...whatever." His voice shakes a little and he glances away from Noctis, twisting his arm to free it, "I don't need that stuff though, I don't expect it. It's nice to see you and that's....that's all I want. I don't care about the money."

He tugs again and Noctis finally releases him. Prompto's head jerks up when he hears a low, sad sigh. The anger is gone and instead Noctis just looks frustrated, but not at Prompto. He's biting his lip and if Prompto didn't know better he'd swear Noctis is worrying the edge of his shirt, his suit jacket tossed on the hood of the car.

"I don't give you things because I think you expect it Prompto. I give them to you because....damn, because I give a fuck, alright? You're my-my boyfriend and so I..."

Prompto doesn't need to hear anymore and he can see how Noctis struggles with vocalizing things so he steps into the others space and kisses him softly, running his tongue over Noctis' bottom lip and stepping back with a smile.

"Alright...give me the keys, and if one of the things you changed about the car wasn't its top speed I'm seriously going to have to re-evaluate our relationship."

Noctis smirks at him, relief in his eyes as he tosses the keys to Prompto, grabbing his suit jacket and getting in the passenger side. As soon as Prompto slides into the leather, and definitely not standard, seat Noctis taps the odometer.

"If you don't think that 110 is just for looks...you're dead wrong. You can hit 150 in this thing, easy."

If they make it to their cocoa a little faster than the police would've like, Prompto doubts anyone would fault him.

 Two days later

Prompto wants to be salty about Noctis' timing as he packs his photography stuff into the trunk of his car, but he can't quite manage it. After all, his lover had no way of knowing that he would be commissioned for a landscape shoot out in national park territory and that, if not for Noctis' gift, he would've had to rent a car to bring his stuff.

He double checks that his lenses are carefully stored and hoists the last bag into the trunk, grateful also that he doesn't have to spend the extra money for a rental. After their cocoa date, the thought of which still warms Prompto, Noctis had explained he was going to be busy for a few days, kissed him in a way that made Prompto worry he wasn't telling him something important, and swept out the door. Prompto laughed at himself for thinking of the other's exit that way, but if there was ever a man who could sweep places, it was his soulmate.

He pulled out of the garage as the last rays of the sun faded, humming along with the stereo thoughtlessly.

 My old man is a bad man

His client greeted him with a firm handshake and rubbed at the back of his neck with a small smile.

"Name's Jared...I didn't think you'd be getting here in the middle of the night, doesn't seem like a great time for pictures!"

Prompto laughs lightly and shrugs, gesturing to the lightening of the eastern skyline,

"Well, it's nearing dawn and I wanted to get some sunrise shots. I figured I'd stay out here all day and catch some sunset pictures too...just to be clear you want shots from all the overlooks as well as some of the guided tour only areas?"

Jared nodded to him, shifting a bit.

"Yeah, that would be great. You can leave the paths to take any photos, just remember your footsteps can hurt some of the plants and watch for the animals. If you could get some shots with different animals in them it would be nice, but i understand it's not your primary goal today...and, I hate to bring it up but, you need to be aware. There's been some weird stuff going on toward the wilder parts of the preserve, couple of the animals have turned up with bones that I don't think came from anything furry, if you catch my meaning and it'd be a shame, and a weight on me, to not see you come back."

Prompto swallowed and nodded quickly.

"I'll be sure to keep my eyes open. It'll be fine, takes more than mortal peril to keep this photographer home!"

He smiles and Jared just nods, turning to head back into his home/ visitor center, leaving the blonde very much alone. Prompto rubs his hands together and opens the trunk, might as well get some shots of the gently lit center under the stars and then find a spot to camp out for the sunrise.

"Let's get this party started."

 I can't deny the way he holds my hand

He hates this part.

It's the reason he won't bring Prompto home, he doesn't want all of those...people...knowing who his soulmate is, what he looks like, the curve of his throat when he laughs. He knows what so many of them would do to the blonde if Noctis ever fell from grace, knows his father might just let them if he thinks it'll help harden up his son.

Noctis loves his father, but sometimes the man is too much the crime lord and not enough a father. It would be easier if Noctis could be the cold-hearted son his father so craves, someone who could handle their part with shrewd impunity, but Noctis is kind when he can be, too kind for his position. His father has reminded him time and again that mercy rarely serves them and today is another reminder.

The man kneeling before him whimpers as Gladio strikes him again, the bar code printed on his arm giving him away as a spy for their rivals. The Nifs have coveted the Lucis' corner on the drug market for as long as Noctis can remember but this is the first time a spy has gotten so far in their ranks and it's all his fault. Aran had come under fire from Regis some months before but had pleaded his case to Noctis and in turn Noctis had convinced his father to give the man a second chance, something Aran had repaid by nearly killing Ignis.

As it happened no one had been aware of Gladio's late night visits to Ignis' room and if not for the tall guard their key accountant would be dead. Now it was Noctis' punishment to decide Aran's fate. Gladio backhanded the man again, and Ignis leaned into Noctis' space to murmur in his ear.

"I'd decide quickly highness, Gladio might just beat him to death right here."

Noctis drew in a breath, Ignis was right. He raised his hand, signalling Gladiolus to step back as he strode forward, hands in his pockets and an expression he hoped Prompto would never see on his face. He knew he looked capable of murder, his eyes were flat and cold and his lips set in a barely there sneer. Aran looked up at him through a swelling eye and bloodied nose, Noctis expected him to beg after all the whimpering.

"Ah, Prince Noctis. Come to decide my fate...do you know it's your fault, what almost happened? I was gonna make sure you knew. yeah. After specs over there I had my eye on blondie. I bet he'd look good with my co-"

Noctis strikes Aran's temple, his dead expression giving way to anger as he kicks the mans ribs, not stopping until Aran is still.

"Bastard."

He spits on the man, breathing heavily before he turns to his silent and curious companions.

"Take him to the property and put a clip in his fucking brain."

Gladiolus nods and slings the unconscious man over his shoulder, striding away, as Noctis falls into a chair, his hands shaking. How did that asshole know about Prompto? Granted, he's not been exactly careful about being seen with the blonde, but they'd gone places no one would expect him and he'd taken care to hide their soulmark with his own leather gloves whenever he was away from the blonde. He tugs at his hair and leans back, splayed in the chair.

He's forgotten all about Ignis until the man sits opposite him and gives him a hard look.

"Noctis. Is there someone out there we should be protecting?"

Noctis looks at his old friend for a beat, thinking slowly and deciding that he'll just have to be more careful and maybe warn Prompto, sign him up for karate or something.

"No, no I was just done listening to that piece of shit breathe."

 He has me by the heart

Prompto is just getting ready to pack up, his last few photos at the very edge of the preserve, near where Jared warned him to be careful. He is a good distance from his car but the water and the tilt of the rocks here was too good to pass up. It's light enough that he feels safe and has plenty of time to snap some more pictures as he wanders back to the spots he wants to capture at sunset.

The sound of voices makes him pause. He's off the paths, no where near them really, and in a secluded area, not to mention he's not seen very many people given that it's a Friday and most people are still at work. He shrugs it off, probably someone on the other side of the preserves boundary or just some loud hikers yelling. He disassembles his tripod and is about to settle his camera back into its bag when the voices get clearer, just on the other side of some of the rocks.

"You sure about this? We've been out here a lot recently..."

"yeah, orders from him. He said to light the bastard up."

Prompto does know who the voices belong to put he sure as hell knows what bad shit sounds like and despite, or maybe because, Noctis' coming into his life, his sense of self preservation goes out the proverbial window. He is careful as he scoots up the rock in his brown shirt and tan skinny jeans, his dark grey sweater tied around his wait. He carefully peers over the edge of the boulder, his camera poised to capture whatever he sees. Two men stand with a third kneeling, they seem to be waiting for something and he can see a car in the far distance, probably on the service road that runs through the private land behind the preserve. The kneeling man is bleeding and when one of the other men turns Prompto's eyes widen as the light glints off a gun in his hand.

The man on the ground jerks and seems to be trying to say something but Prompto assumes there's something stuffed in his mouth and his heartbeat picks up when he sees the bar code inked onto the mans arm. He raises his camera and clicks a couple of shots, uncertain what he should do, when a phone chimes.

The man on the right reads something and then nods to his partner on the left. Prompto clicks the shutter as both men raise their guns, suppressors visible. Prompto thinks he's going to be sick when both men pull the trigger and the kneeling man falls. They don't stop though, just keep shooting until there's barely anything left of the man's skull.

With shaking hands Prompto lifts his camera for a final photo. He doesn't see the shadow move over him until it's too late and the butt of a gun cracks against his temple, making him go limp.

 He knows me, every inch of my tar black soul

Noctis would not refer to his frantic motions as "panic" but the longer the day stretches and there's nothing from Prompto the more he starts to think that might be the right word. The blonde, his blonde, had told him he would be out on a job and not likely to answer his phone the day before so Noctis had left it alone, but, surely he would've thought to at least text him if his job lasted longer than he expected?

After Aran's words Noctis is restless, fearing the worst, but he forces himself to calm down, turning on his t.v and mindlessly channel surfing. Mindlessly, that is, until he hears Prompto's name.

 "-grapher Prompto Argentum went out on a shoot early yesterday morning and did not return to check in, his vehicle was found near the southern edge of the preserve but there is no sign of the owner. If you have any information please contact local authorities as it is believed he is in mortal peril following evidence of suspicious activities in that area..."

The news caster continues to detail tip-lines and police contacts before another story comes up but Noctis only hears a rushing in his ears as he struggles to draw full breaths. Prompto....

He forces himself to rationalize, he has power to turn the world upside down if he has too. He thinks over the broadcast and suddenly sits straighter, preserve, it said, previous activity. His stomach drops as he realizes what might've happened, after all, only Gladio had ever really seen Prompto before and not for long enough to remember him and with his tendency to carry his camera as though it were a third arm...Noctis practically flies of the couch, sprinting toward the elevator. He mashes the button, yanking his phone out of his pants.

"Hello?"

 "Ignis, when did Gladio get back?"

Noctis knows he sounds frantic, but he couldn't care less as the elevator doors finally open and he jumps inside, pressing the close button.

 "Late last night. He said they had an unexpected element...he went to the dungeon about an hour ago. What's wrong Noctis?"

 "When I said there was no one to protect...I lied. I need you to meet me with the police cruiser. Now. East side."

Noctis hangs up with waiting for a response and very deliberately does not think about the fact that Prompto spent the night in their bunker where people are tortured or that Gladiolus would've been with him for at least an hour by the time Noctis even got to him, or Gladio's policy that no one bring cellphones into the dungeon. When the elevator stops he forces out before the doors are open enough and sprints toward the fastest car he owns, a ridiculous indulgence from his father he's never been so grateful for. The Jag's engine roars to life as Ignis pulls their police cruiser, a modified Jag itself, around. Noctis settles one of the headsets they have wired into their cars on.

 "Iggy, I don't have time. We need to get to the dungeon. I'm going to open her up and I need you to clear a path."

 "There's going to be hell to pay for this Noctis, it's not exactly discreet. Whatever it is you need to tell Gladiolus can surely wait for a slightly more legal speed?"

 "No chance Ignis, Im sorry."

There is a long pause and Noctis feels the urge to scream and then..

 "Alright, but turn that thing off and come strap in. If we're doing this, we might as well not die and we both know, I am the better driver."

Noctis has to concede the point there and he wastes no time in following Ignis' direction. The two of them roaring out of the garage and unto city streets, siren blaring as cars clear the way. When they don't move fast enough Ignis weaves around them, blowing red lights and leaving screeching brakes behind them. Noctis doesn't spare more than a moment's thought to the sight they must make, too focused on getting out of city limits, past Insomnia's wall, and to Prompto. They don't hit top speed until they are past most of the traffic, the wall behind them.

Noctis is forced against the seat as Ignis pushes the Jag to its 180 mile per hour max. They make the twenty minute journey in a terrifyingly small fraction of the time but for Noctis it is still too long and he feels nauseated as he gets out of the vehicle, looking at the seemingly innocent shack that hides the underground holding cells. Ignis tries to ask him what they are possibly doing again as Noctis rushes to the door, pulling it open and tapping his code into the old rotary phone sitting just inside the door. It takes an annoyingly long time as the wheel clicks, but finally the trapdoor under the dirt, cleverly hidden by a displacement system, lifts. Ignis barely makes it as Noctis rushes down the stairs,the door snapping shut behind him.

He opens his mouth to shout for Gladio when his air chokes off.

Prompto is screaming.

"Who. Are. you. With?"

Every word is punctuated with the mans fist. Prompto has been able to taste his own blood since the first round of punches the night before and he knows he is being watched from the mirrored window on the side as the red-head continues to hit him. He just shakes his head weakly when the assault lets up. He's told them over and over that he was just there, that he didn't mean to intrude, but that's not what they want to hear, so now he's quiet.

"Take this up a level."

A voice comes over the speakers with a crackle and Prompto wants to scream as a tray is moved into his sight line where he is tied to the same chair he slept in. He was sore and hurt all over but looking at the objects before him, he knows he will hurt more. The red head lifts a thin, flat, and clearly sharp piece. Prompto tries, so very hard, to pull away as it is lowered to his hand and slowly wedged under his fingernail. It hurts, but not like he expected, just barely at the edge of his nail. He sees though, how it tapers to be larger and swallows in fear.

"Why were you out there?"

Prompto tries, again, to tell them.

"I'm just a photographer. I was taking n-nature pictu-res...please..p-lease."

It's still not what they want though and the metal is pushed forward. Prompto hisses in a breath and then it is shoved forward, removing his fingernail and jamming into the skin underneath as he screams. He pants, looking at the blood running from his hand as the instrument is re positioned at the start of the next nail.

"Who are you with?"

Prompto whimpers briefly but refuses to answer, it's not helping and he won't give up his connection to Noctis, no way. He holds onto hope the other man will find him, he's got shady connections of his own, after all. The red head adjusts his grip and there is suddenly a voice, blessedly familiar, over the speaker.

"STOP! This is Noctis, STOP!"

The man before him freezes, looking confused. The door flies open before Prompto can process anything and he opens his mouth to cry out in relief but Noctis isn't looking at him, he stalks in and without hesitation puts a bullet between the red-heads eyes. Prompto cowers away from his look as Noctis turns to him, Gladiolus visible behind his soulmate. Noctis drops the gun then, his face clearing of anger and filling with guilt and worry instead as he drops to his knees, untying Prompto quickly.

"I'm sorry, so sorry. I'm sorry, Prom-I-I'm sorry."

"S'okay. Knew you'd find me. My lover."

Prompto knows he's slurring but things are getting fuzzy around the edges as he slumps into Noctis' arms and he gives him a sardonic smile, ignoring how his face pulls.

"S'rry I look li'e shit."

Noctis laughs, but it's more of a sound catching in his throat, panicked, as Prompto's head lolls against his shoulder, the blonde slipping in and out. Gladiolus steps forward to help but Noctis' glare puts him off as Ignis hold the door open.

"I've called the medical staff, they're on high alert. Noctis, you need to let Gladiolus help him on the way back and I want some answers about who he is. Give him to Gladio."

Prompto hears the words, but they're liquidy and he pats Noctis' arm in an attempt to reassure him, noting the way his lover looks like he'd rather cut off an arm as he slides him into the large body guards arms. Prompto makes a small sound and then the darkness pulls him in.

 Tell me you own me

Noctis watches Prompto's eyes roll back and his hands sting where he digs his nails into his palms, his soulmates face and torso are bruised, the marks all the more vivid against his pale skin, and Noctis can't bring himself to look at Prompto's hand. Ignis catches his shoulder as Gladiolus hurries back toward the exit with Prompto's limp body in his arms and Noctis growls, pushing his hand away.

"Noct! Just tell me who he is, you're distraught and I gather this person was never meant to end up here. Who is he too you?"

Noctis can't handle the warning tone in Ignis' voice, the underlying "did-you-trust-the-wrong-person-again-ness" of it and he tears off his glove, holding up his soulmark with his teeth barred.

"That's who he is to me Ignis."

Normally the stunned look on his friends face would be worth a good ribbing or at least a laugh, as it is, Noctis barely registers that Ignis is trying to talk to him again as he stalks away, following the thread connected to his heart.

  Three days later

"He's awake"

Noctis rushes to Prompto's side as the doctor steps out of his room, the blue eyes he's come to love blinking blearily. The bruising on his face is not gone but they managed to reduce the swelling a good deal and Noctis knows it will take time for Prompto to be right again. His father handled everything about the blonde's disappearance easily, pointing to the Nifs for the blonde's state and the other human remains found on land that was traced back to one Ardyn Izunia, thanks to Ignis' careful planning months ago. All of their people had been informed that Prompto was off-limits and Noctis had been lectured by just about everyone who had enough authority to lecture him about his negligence and disregard for Prompto's safety.

Telling his father about Prompto hadn't been the only hard conversation though. Gladiolus had pointed out, shortly after he and Noctis went a few rounds that left them both with bruises of their own, that Prompto had a Nif barcode tattoo, previously covered by a wrist band and long sleeves.

Looking at the man he loved now though, Noctis knew so much of that could wait.

"Hey."

"Mmm, if I get to wake up to that face maybe I should get kidnapped by your enemies more."

Noctis would've laughed had he not felt so guilty, of course Prompto would have a quip...

"Prom...you weren't taken by our enemies. I ordered the guy you saw to be killed. Gladiolus was the one who knocked you out,I knocked out one of his teeth for that by the way, and you were held and tortured by my men. I didn't tell anyone about you and you were just wrong place, wrong time. I'm sorry Prompto. I'm so sorry. I promise you can go home as soon as you're healthy again."

Prompto just looked at him for a long moment, absorbing the change in perspective and Noctis waited for anger or accusations, or anything really.

"So you shot one of your own guys, for me?"

Noctis blinked, Prompto was looking at him with some sort of awe and he nodded slowly.

"Yeah...I mean he was the one hurting you and I couldn't forgive that...I'm sorry you had to see...that side of me."

The blonde just offered him a small smile and Noctis frowned at him, waiting for the negative reaction, the "I never wanna see you again."

"Well, not that I'm happy your guys yanked off a fingernail, but at least now I know that I can handle being tortured a bit. I didn't tell him I knew you at all, though that probably would've helped, but ah, well. You know, you should train all your guys to resist like that, bet it would be effective...Also you're not sending me home until I'm good and ready. I think I would like to be treated like a prince for a while and you can be my loyal servant."

Prompto managed a wink, to Noctis' amazement and the dark-haired man had to smile at his lover softly, pressing a light kiss to his lips.

"Alright your Princeliness, hows some ice cream sound?"

They both knew they had a lot to talk about, but for the moment, they were just glad Prompto was safe.

"Perfect, Pistachio you peon! Make haste, for I wish to stare at your butt while I eat it!"