#yeah I’m a grown ass adult but I think it’d be fun

[zootopiathingz]

Low key wanna have a Mario themed party for my birthday this year

[jungshookz]

skate a little piece of my heart; jjk

➺ pairing; jeon jungkook x reader

➺ genre; rollerskatinginstructor!jungkook!! sfw!! fluff!! honk honk humour!! jungkook is a very handsome instructor and y/n can’t tell if that’s a bad thing or a good thing

➺ wordcount; 6.3k

➺ summary; your two left feet and complete lack of balance isn’t the only thing that’s making you weak in the knees this valentine’s day. 

➺ what to expect; “rollerskating is already hard enough as it is, and now i have to do it in front of him?!” 

➺ currently spinning on the record player; how deep is your love; bee gees

                                     »»————-　💫  ————-««

“this is so dumb.”

“safety is never dumb, y/n!” taehyung raps his knuckles against the top of your helmet and you scowl before swatting his hand away, “now, where are your kneepads?”

you let out a groan before tilting your head back slowly, your eyes widening in slight panic at the surprisingly hefty weight of the helmet

your arms flail for a second and you immediately reach up to grip both sides of the helmet before forcing your head back up

jesus

you nearly snapped your own neck there

of course, snapping your own neck would mean not being able to skate because you’d technically be dead… so maybe that’s not such a bad idea after all…

(by the way, it’s concerning how many times you’ve considered literal death just to get out of doing something.)

“are you going to lift your leg for me or do i have to do everything for you?”

you look down to see taehyung down on the ground in front of you holding one of the knee pads and you frown lightly before lifting your leg and placing your sock-clad foot on his knee

“please tell me this is the last of the safety gear…” you whine, “tae, i literally look so dorky right now- no one else is wearing helmets or knee and elbow pads!” you gesture to seokjin and namjoon who are busy putting on their skates over on the other bench before scoffing lightly and crossing your arms 

if namjoon (arguably the klutziest one out of this group of people) isn’t even wearing a helmet, then what does that say about you??

you’ve seen him trip over nothing and scrape both his knees so why are you the only one wearing all of this junk?!

“i took you ice-skating over christmas and you fell flat on your ass more times than i could count, and you insisted that you didn’t need any safety equipment even though it was alarmingly clear that you did. i basically spent two hours making sure you didn’t die-” taehyung looks up at you with a raised brow, “do you want to fall and split your skull open in front of everyone?”

“if it means not having to gear up in all this dorkware- then, yes. i would love to have my brains splat across the rink in front of everyone. in fact, that would probably be less embarrassing-” you grumble, flinching slightly as taehyung suddenly yanks hard to tighten up your laces, “i’m an adult, taehyung! grown-ups don’t need to wear all of this!” 

“grown-ups don’t throw tantrums either, but here you are…” taehyung mutters under his breath, putting your foot down before giving your knee a slap, “perfect! we’re good to go!”

“yeah, yeah…” you reach under to scratch at your elbow only to feel your nails scrape against the smooth surface of the plastic protection shell and you resist the urge to rip it off out of frustration

taehyung decided that it’d be a great idea to bring everyone to a rollerskating rink for valentine’s day this year instead of… letting people go out to intimate dinners and celebrate on their own… because, quote, ‘i just want all of us to spend more time together, and what better day to do that then on valentine’s day?? …ooh, we should call it pal-entine’s day. ha! get it?? because we’re all pals-’

(he was dumped recently, so everyone’s kind of letting him run the ship for now. …basically, no one can say no to taehyung unless they want to see him burst into tears. he’s still in a very delicate state.)

but, honestly… a rollerskating rink!

out of all the places to go to!

you already have two left feet, so forcing said left feet into shoes with wheels is a horrible idea

“i think it’d be best if i just sat back and watched you guys!” you try for the umpteenth time to get taehyung to let you off the hook, “plus, they sell chilli dogs here and they actually smell really good and i kind of want to order one for myself even though it might end in me having to get my stomach pumped-” you gesture back towards the refreshments counter and taehyung shakes his head before sticking his hand out for you

“there’s plenty of time for you to scarf down a rubbery hotdog later- now, c’mon-”

“i don’t even know how to skate!”

“that’s fine, you’ll learn! it’ll be like riding a bicycle except you are the bicycle-”

“you know, i’m just going to be complaining the whole time, and it’s going to ruin your time here. honestly, tae, why am i here??”

“because i’m not emotionally stable enough to spend valentine’s day alone yet and i need to surround myself with as many people as possible otherwise i’m going to be alone with my thoughts and i’m going to spiral!” taehyung’s voice cracks as he snaps at you and you immediately press your lips together and avert your gaze, trying to ignore the weird glances the two of you are getting from the strangers around you

…

“okay, well-” you push yourself up off the bench before wobbling slightly and reaching over to grab onto taehyung’s arm for stability, “i don’t know about you, but i’m most certainly ready to tear up that rink!”

“perfect!” taehyung chirps, quickly reverting back to his ‘everything is fine and i’m definitely not dying on the inside’ state, “and don’t worry. rollerskating is much easier than ice-skating, so there’s less of a chance of you potentially embarrassing yourself here-” taehyung gives your hand a pat as the two of you shuffle your way towards the entrance gate, “trust me, you’ll get the hang of it as soon as you start!”

“you saw me on ice…” you snort, your knees already wobbling as you take your first step into the rink, “i really don’t think i’m going to be any better on wood-”

“well, lucky for you…” taehyung lets go of you and you immediately cling to the railing in panic, “i went ahead i hired an instructor for you!”

you frown as you pull one hand away and rub your fingers together 

god, why are the railings so sticky-

“you- woah, hold on a second-” you look up and over at taehyung with wide eyes when you finally catch on to what he just said, “i’m sorry, you did what?”

“what? i can’t stay by your side and watch you all night.” he shrugs, placing his hands on his hips as he stands in front of you, “we were moving so slowly on the ice that i was sure it was starting to melt underneath our skates-”

“you just told me you don’t want to be alone and now you’re handing me off to someone else instead of spending time with me??” you frown, manoeuvring your stance so that both your hands are gripping onto the railing behind your bum, “why force me to skate if you’re not doing it with me?”

“i mean, i obviously want to spend time with you, but i also don’t want to be skating, like, one mile an hour-” taehyung snorts, “i’m forcing you to skate so that one day, we can skate together without me having to worry about you slipping and sliding all over the place like a baby giraffe!”

“well, why can’t you teach me instead of paying for someone else to do it?”

a brief moment of silence passes as taehyung rolls over to get you to release your iron grip from the bars

“…because teaching you how to skate instead of actually spending time skating sounded really boring-” he mutters quickly, your eyes widening as you turn to look at him

“wha-”

“also-” he cuts you off, placing his hands on your hips from behind as he starts to roll you forwards slowly (though, you haven’t noticed this yet because you’re still focused on the fact that he didn’t want to teach you - you’re a great student!!), “there was a girl who kept smiling at me when i was strapping you up in all your gear, and i need to find out if i still have game or not-”

“this sounds more like you’re trying to fill the empty void inside of you with meaningless sex, which, by the way, isn’t a very healthy coping mechanism-” 

“i will fill this empty void inside of me in whichever way i want, thank you very much-” taehyung snorts, shaking his head, “plus, it’s too late to back out because the policy states that they don’t take refunds and he’s already here-”

“wait, what??” you immediately look back to the front, the fact that you are being rolled towards someone now sinking into your brain, “who- oh my god, stop rolling me-!”

taehyung’s fingers dig into your hips as he comes to a sudden halt, “what??”

“spin me around.” 

taehyung blinks before slowly turning you around so that you’re facing him and you pray to god that you don’t look like some kind of rotating rotisserie chicken right now  

you open your mouth to speak when you finally see taehyung’s face again but he continues to spin you slowly so that you end up in the same position you were in a second ago

...

“for god’s sake, taehyung- spin me around so i’m looking at you, you moron-”

“ohh, okay, i thought you just wanted to spin you around for fun-”

“why would i want you to spin me around for f- okay, that’s not important right now-” you shake your head, “i just want to say that the only reason why i’m doing this is because you kind of sprung this on me last minute and i don’t want to inconvenience anyone, but just know that you now owe me big time- now, spin me back around and wheel me to whoever i’m going to be stuck with for the next couple of hours.”

“noted!” taehyung chirps as he rolls you back so you’re facing the front, “he’s right over there by the other entrance- the guy in the yellow-” your eyes flit around until they land on the guy in the yellow and you immediately feel your heart starting to beat a little harder in your chest at the sight of the guy in the yellow, “his name’s jungkook, he has a shining five-star rating, he’s a wonderful teacher according to all the parents whose kids he’s taught- i’m pretty sure you’re his oldest student so don’t embarrass yourself-”

you feel your mouth go dry when jungkook reaches down to adjust the bottom of his tied button-up shirt before opening the sides of it a little more to show off his chest

he reaches up to twirl a loose tendril of hair around his finger before gently pushing it back and running his hand through his hair, poking his tongue against the inside of his cheek briefly 

oh no

oh, no

he’s attractive

he’s very, very attractive

“tae.” you keep a polite smile on your face as you slink your right arm behind you to attempt to blindly punch him in the gut, “why didn’t you tell me that the instructor was cute?”

“oh, i’m sorry.” taehyung responds sarcastically, “i didn’t think attractiveness was an important factor when considering an instructor.”

“well, it is when the instructor looks like that-” you feel your cheeks warm when jungkook smiles brightly at the two of you before waving enthusiastically, “rollerskating is already hard enough as it is, and now i have to do it in front of him?!”

“i don’t know what there is to freak out about. the guy’s handsome- so what?” taehyung waves back at jungkook before giving your hips a playful squeeze, “if anything, you should see this as a bonus - you get some eye-candy while you learn!”

“okay, well, don’t make me sound pervy-”

“not to mention, he’s your age! so it’ll be like you’re just hanging out with a friend-”

“a friend?! taehyung, i’m wearing overalls, my hair is in pigtails, and all this protective gear that you shoved me in makes me look like an eight year old-!” you gasp when you feel yourself suddenly bump into something hard and taehyung quickly loops his arm around your waist to keep you from toppling over

it’s a second later that you realize the something hard that you bumped into was jungkook’s obviously broad chest, so obviously this rollerskating lesson is already off to a fantastic start 

“woah, you got it?” jungkook holds both his hands out in case you fall over and you let out a nervous chuckle before reaching up to push your helmet up slightly

“i’m fine!” your voice cracks and you clear your throat quickly, “…hello.”

“hi! it’s nice to meet you- y/n, right?” jungkook sticks his hand out for you to shake and you smile nervously before reaching out to take it, “my name’s jungkook! i’m super excited for today. we’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

you don’t know if it’s just because he’s clearly one of those fun and overly friendly! instructors or if he’s just naturally bubbly but he’s talking to you like you’re a child

(you probably could’ve ditched the pigtails today.) 

“okay, i’m going to go off now so let me just hand y/n over to you-” taehyung arm slips from your waist before he gently rolls you towards jungkook, “you two have fun!”

your hands immediately slap down on the railings right as you feel yourself about you slip and you let out a breath of relief

that was a close call

“we will!” jungkook smiles, waving at taehyung as he skates off, “you enjoy yourself out there!”

you watch helplessly as taehyung skates away, jungkook turning back to look at you with a (very handsome) smile

you feel your heart skip a beat once again and you immediately curse in your head 

…you’re screwed.

                                    »»————-　💫  ————-««

“because of the balance and control required, it’ll take a little bit of getting used to- but once you get the hang out it, rollerskating is super fun!” jungkook reaches out so you can take his hand, “do you wanna let go of the bar for me?”

there are a lot of things you’d like to do for jungkook but letting go of the railing and potentially falling in front of him is most definitely not one of them

“you know, i think i’m good!” you chuckle, your knuckles practically going white at how tightly you’re gripping onto the railing, “why don’t you just keep talking while i… you know, get used to the feeling of just standing while wearing skates?”

“okay, if that’s what you’re comfortable with, that’s what we can do. let’s see… ah!” jungkook perks up, clapping his hands together before gesturing down to his own feet, “so, you’re gonna wanna keep your feet shoulder-width apart. can you do that for me?”

you look down at your feet, not at all surprised to see that they’re practically glued to each other

okay

shoulder-width apart

you can do that, right?

you lift your right foot up slowly before quickly moving it farther away from your left foot, your skate skidding slightly against the floor as you stomp down

goD these skates are clunky

you’ll never understand how people find this activity genuinely enjoyable

“see? not so bad, right? now, i’m really going to need you to let go of the bar for me so that we can move onto the next step- i swear i won’t let you fall if you take my hand.”

your eyes flicker down to his outstretched hand and you twist your lips uncertainly, “you promise?”

jungkook places his hand over his heart, “i promise.”

you lift one hand off the rail and quickly take jungkook’s hand, pausing for a second to make sure that everything feels okay before quickly lifting the other hand off the rail

you practically slap your hand down on jungkook’s other palm and let out a breath of relief as soon as he grips it tightly, and you look back in concern when jungkook starts to pull you away from the railing

“there you go! see?” jungkook smiles brightly, giving your hands a squeeze to get you to focus on him instead of the bars, “not so bad, right?” 

“yeah, i guess so…” you puff out, feeling your heart starting to pound harder not onLY because the safety of the railings have been taken away from you but also because jungkook’s hands are… very soft.,,. and very warm,.,. and very pretty.,., and all-in-all very nice

“okay, step two. so, this next part is going to make you feel a little silly, but we have to walk like ducks because it just makes the process of walking easier. you kind of have to point your toes outwards- yeah, just like that! and don’t forget to squat a little-” jungkook hums, leaning over a little so he can look to see if your stance is okay, “perfect! we’re just going to keep practicing until you get used to walking...”  

“you know, taehyung actually took me ice-skating over the holidays and i fell, like… ten times.” you snort, keeping your eyes on your skates as you take one small step after another, “i thought rollerskating would be easier but i feel like there are more rules to worry about…”

“oh my god, don’t even worry about it-“ jungkook snorts, shaking his head, “i’m an awful ice-skater. you’d think it’d come naturally to me because i can rollerskate- plus, i don’t see the fun in ice-skating! i know it’d never happen but i’m always paranoid that the skates are going to slice-”

“-the ice open and you’re going to fall through and plunge into the icy water?”

“exactly! see, you get it.” jungkook grins, leaning down a little to check your posture again, “you know, you’re a complete natural. i don’t know why you were so nervous to begin with!”

you snort in response and resist the urge to tell him that his face was one of the major things that contributed to your nerves 

“ooh, and you know what else i hate about ice-skating?” jungkook gasps, “that if i fall and get my hands on the ground, someone’s going to skate over them and amputate all of my fingers.”

you immediately burst into giggles and he gawks playfully

“are you laughing at a genuine fear of mine, y/n?? i didn’t take you to be someone who could be so cruel…”

“no, i’m not laughing at you!” you smile softly and you can’t help but note how warm and comforting his presence is, “i’m just- i said that exact same thing to taehyung when we were ice-skating and he said i was being ridiculous, so it’s nice to know that someone shares the same opinions on ice-skating as i do.” you instinctively squeeze jungkook’s hands when you feel the wheels roll out from underneath you a little and you end up jerking forward a little 

“woah-! you’re okay- i’ve got you…” jungkook rubs his thumbs over your knuckles reassuringly as he waits for you to regain your balance and start walking again, “i told you i wouldn’t let you fall, remember?”

“yeah…” you smile shyly, feeling your cheeks heat up a little

you don’t feel as nervous anymore

no wonder jungkook has a five-star rating as an instructor

he’s great!

“also, you do realise we’ve walked, like, an entire round around the rink, right?”

“what? we have?” you pause, looking up from your skates for the first time in ten minutes 

you’re almost at the spot you were at right when you first started

woah

wow!!

you didn’t even realize!!

that’s so cool!!

you walked an entire round without falling (a lot of almost-falling, but you’ll take it)!!!

“i mean, i don’t know about you, but i feel like we can move on to gliding now…” jungkook whistles lowly, “you’re a very fast learner so i’m not worried.”

“gliding is…” you lean over a little when you notice taehyung having a blast at the other side of the rink with his new companion, the two of them skating side by side

she laughs at something he says before playfully swatting at his arm

it’s just good to see him smiling and not crying for once 

one of the things that you love most about taehying is that he’s so in tune with his emotions, but when his ex (he forbade you from saying her name) broke up with him, he cried so much that you were pretty sure he had completely dehydrated himself 

so it’s nice that he seems to be enjoying himself! 

“so, gliding is-” jungkook steps over to get right into your line of vision and you quickly look back at him with an attentive smile, “basically turning your steps into smoooooth strokes. instead of dropping your foot straight down, you’re going to be pushing it forward and out. it’s kind of hard to explain gliding… you kinda just have to let momentum carry you forward and do its thing, you know? it’s literally just a one foot after the other situation.”

“well, if you can glide backwards, i’m sure i can figure out how to do it normally.” you point out, jungkook snorting in response

“trust me, you’ll be able to pick it up quickly. remember that when you’re gliding on one foot to keep your other slightly hovering above ground so it doesn’t interfere-” jungkook stops himself when he notices your brows knitting together (you seem to do this a lot when you’re focusing too hard on something), “ah, you know- i find that it’s easier to glide when you’re not actually focused on the gliding!” he chirps, giving your hands a reassuring squeeze, “if it helps, you can keep your eyes on me instead of staring down at your skates.”

hAh

if anything, staring directly at jungkook is going to throw you off your game compared to keeping your eyes glued on the ground

“okay, i will... try not to focus on the gliding while simultaneously focus on the gliding.” your tongue instinctively pokes out slightly in concentration as you push forward with one foot, being sure to keep your other a little above ground just like jungkook said 

you quickly switch to the other foot when you feel your right foot slowly starting to lose momentum, pushing off with your left instead and lengthening your stride so you can skate a little further 

hey

look at that! 

not bad!! 

“look at you go, superstar!” jungkook cheers encouragingly, grinning from ear to ear as he watches you gliding flawlessly, “you were born for this!” 

“you know, you may have a point- woAh-” your skates roll out a little from under you and you lurch forward, jungkook quickly sliding his grip from your hands to underneath your elbows to keep you from falling, “...yeah, so i spoke too soon.” you huff, blowing a strand of hair away from your face as you glance up at jungkook, still bent over at a ninety degree angle

“it’s my bad, i think i may have blown up your ego with all my compliments-” the sides of his eyes crinkle as he laughs, “all good?” 

you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and feel a piece of your soul float out from your body when you realise you basically look like a little old woman clutching onto one of those rolling walkers

wow

the possibility of jungkook being interested in you was low to begin with, but now it’s probably been squashed entirely

“uh, yes!” you clear your throat as you force yourself to stand up stick-straight, your knees clacking together for a second before you get back into position, “all good! i’m all good. we’re good.” 

oh boy 

if it makes you feel any better… it can’t get any worse than this, right?

“i-” you jolt when the music suddenly clicks off and is replaced by the shrill ringing of microphone feedback

“youch.” jungkook winces, raising his shoulder slightly and tilting his head down towards it so he can try to cover up one of his ears 

your brows furrow in confusion as you look up towards the speakers, unsure of if there’s just a technical difficulty or if something important is happening, “what’s going o-”

“sorry for the interruption, skaters! we just wanted to cut in and wish every single one of you a happy valentine’s day...” 

a large disco ball lowers from the ceiling as the lights begin to dim, the room suddenly engulfed in a warm pink glow as visions of glinting sparkles and hearts reflect from the disco ball onto the wooden floors along with the velvety walls

oh, god

seriously?!

you look up towards the speakers and resist the urge to curse and shake your fist at them like an angry old man

haven’t the people here considered that there might be single people in the rink?! 

…on valentine’s day…??

yeah that doesn’t make much sense

“grab your lover and glide along the floor as we play you some romantic tunes on this romantic evening… also, to the owner of a baby blue mercedes-benz convertible- i repeat, a baby blue mercedez-benz convertible... your car is parked in a tow-away zone. that’s all!”

the bee gees’ how deep is your love starts to play and you quickly pull your hands away from jungkook’s, your face flushing in embarrassment at the sudden change in atmosphere

you wobble slightly as soon as you pull away and immediately stick both your arms out in a poor attempt to keep balanced

okay

all you have to do is glide your way towards the exit so that you’re not just awkwardly standing in the middle of the ring while lovey-dovey couples skate around you

it’s only then that you realise that jungkook is facing away from you and seemingly looking for someone

you tap him on the shoulder and he turns to glance at you, “yes?”

“who... who are you looking for?” you frown, leaning over to peer over him so you can see what he’s seeing

“hm? oh, i was just looking for your boyfriend…” he trails off, continuing to look around the rink, “the two of you probably want to skate together right now and you’ll get to show off your brand new gliding skills, which is exciting-”

“boyfri- are you talking about taehyung?” you snort, quirking a brow in amusement, “he’s… oh my god, he’s definitely not my boyfriend. i’m only here for emotional support because he just got out of a relationship- we don’t have to get into it- the point is, he’s not my boyfriend. i don’t, uh, i’m not in a relationship at the moment. i’m… very single.”

why are you still talking?!

you clear your throat as you look for the nearest exit gate

“oh!” jungkook blinks before turning back around to face you, “in that case-“ your eyes widen in surprise when he sticks his hand out for you to take, “shall we?”

you blink down at his outstretched hand cluelessly before suddenly realizing what it is he’s asking

“oh, i-” you snort, immediately shaking your head, “no, you don’t have to do that…”

“what do you mean?” jungkook frowns, tilting his head curiously, “you don’t want to skate with me? after all we’ve been through?? y/n, you’re breaking my heart here!” he jokes, clutching at his chest before pouting (quite cutely) at you 

“n-no!” you laugh lightly, shaking your head, “i mean, of course i’d love to skate with- i-it’s very nice of you to offer, and i know you’re obviously being paid and stuff but you don’t… ah, you don’t have to force yourself to skate with me if you don’t want to...” you mutter, reaching up to scratch the back of your neck, “like, i’m sure taehyung’s already planning to give you an extra big tip for basically babysitting me all night so you don’t have to force yourself to do anything extra-”

“no, i wanna skate with you!” jungkook interrupts, skating over so that he’s standing next to you instead, “plus, it’ll be good practice, right?”

“well, i-” you don’t get a chance to respond before jungkook’s suddenly slipping an arm around your waist and holding onto one of your hands for extra support, “i don’t know, i suppose i’m just not used to gliding without holding both of your hands so i’m just worried i’m going to make both of us fall somehow which would be mortifying-”

“that’s alright, i can hold both your hands if you feel safer that way,” jungkook chuckles, his arm sliding away from your waist so he can swivel around and stand in front of you again, “after all, it’s better to be safe than to be sorry!” he takes your hands gently as he starts to skate backwards, his thumbs rubbing the tops of your knuckles comfortingly

-‘cause we’re living in a world of fools... breaking us down... when they all should let us be... we belong to you and me...

how deep is your love continues to echo all around you and even though you feel a little awkward skating around with your instructor to a very romantic song, you have to admit that this was a great choice of song for valentine’s day 

it’s a timeless classic! 

“so, you, um…” jungkook clears his throat after a minute or two of comfortable silence, turning back for a second to glance over his shoulder and make sure he’s not about to crash into anyone, “what kind of things do you like doing?”

and it’s me you need to show... how deep is your love?

“rollerskating. is it not obvious?” you joke, looking up at him and reminding yourself that you should make more of an effort to look at him and noT constantly at the ground, “um, i don’t know! that’s kind of a broad question, i guess. i like... i like... i like painting-! i mean, i’m not good at it, but it’s a pretty relaxing hobby...” 

“painting is nice!” jungkook nods slowly in agreement before perking up slightly, “say, have you ever been to a pottery studio?” 

“you know, i actually haven’t!” you shake your head before staring past jungkook’s shoulder in thought, “i should go to one... it sounds like a lot of fun! do you...” you cough quietly and avert your gaze slightly, “do you go there often with your... uh, significant other?” 

“me? oh, i’m not in a relationship.” jungkook chuckles before giving you a shrug, “none of my co-workers wanted to take the valentine’s day shift because they actually have someone to spend valentine’s day with, so... that’s why i’m here!”

“oh! so, you’re…” you trail off before pressing your lips together and giving him a firm nod, “i see.”

so you’re both single?

interesting

very interesting 

you can’t help but wonder if he’s looking to change that  

“i-”

“incoming!”

you don’t even get a chance to turn around to see what’s going on when suddenly someone’s basHING into you from behind and making you lose your balance

and the next thing you know you’re stumbling forwards and poor jungkook’s reflexes aren’t fast enough because-

“oh-!” you land on top of jungkook with your legs on either side of him, your knee pads clacking loudly against the ground, “oh, shit-” 

“sorry! my bad!” taehyung glides past you with a sheepish smile before not-so-subtly gesturing to the girl he’s got on his arm and giving you an obnoxious wink and a thumbs up as a way to let you know he’s definitely getting boned tonight

you want nothing more than to rip your skates off right now so you can chase after him and bash his head in 

you turn to look down at jungkook, immediately raising your hands up off his (broad, broad) chest as your entire face flushes bright red, “i am- i am so sorry- are you okay?? is your head okay?? i can- i can give you my helmet!” you wince, reaching up to unbuckle your helmet before hastily taking it off and tossing it aside

“don’t sweat it, i’m completely fine-” jungkook laughs lightly before shaking his head, propping himself up onto his elbows and blowing a curled strand of hair away from his eyes with a puff, “my head’s fine! luckily i didn’t hit it on the ground or anything like that, but my ass-”

“oh, god. i’m so sorry- here, i’ll-” you attempt to get up off the ground only for the wheels on your skates to roll out from under you and for your knee to smack against the ground again, jungkook grunting as you bounce on him a little harder than intended, “oh, jesus christ-”

great

there’s no way you’re going to be able to get up because of these stupid skates and now your very cute instructor is a hostage in between your thighs!

“this is so humiliating, i am... so, so sorry- i’m definitely forcing taehyung to give you a generous tip after all of this is over-” you laugh uncomfortably, your hands about to place themselves on jungkook’s chest again before you quickly move them so that they’re on either side of his head instead

of course, this position isn’t any better because now you’re just staring down at his face directly 

little white hearts from the disco ball float over his face and though you know this is hardly the right time, your heart can’t help but go badumpbadump at the reminder of how pretty jungkook is 

“okay, wait, what if i-” he suddenly sits straight up and your eyes immediately cross at the close proximity of your faces, “hi.”

you don’t know if it’s even possible but you feel your face get even redder and you find that you’re unable to look away from jungkook 

he has very sweet-looking eyes 

they’re a very nice shade of brown 

“i- uh, hello.” you clear your throat quietly, pressing your hands as close to your own chest as possible so that you’re not touching jungkook, “hi.” 

the last thing you want is for him to accuse you of groping him

but maybe it’d be a good thing to get a lifetime ban from the rollerskating rink

then taehyung will never be able to force you to skate again!

“we should take your skates off so that we’re not stuck like this all night.” you twitch when you feel jungkook’s hand slide down the side of your calf before reaching the top of your skates, “do you think you can undo your other one for me?”

“ah- yes. yes, i can do that.” you turn away so you can look back at your skate, reaching down and ripping the velcro strap before hurrying to undo the laces

you feel jungkook fumble at your skate, yanking the tie loose before trying to help you wiggle your foot out of it, “okay, just pull your foot out-”

“yeah, lemme just-” you have to shuffle forwards in order for jungkook to pull the skate off of you and your nose crinkles when you realize you’ve just gone ahead and fully pressed your chest to jungkook’s 

wonderful

just wonderful 

(for the record, he smells really good... but you’re pretty sure you sound like a creep right now, so maybe you should go ahead and scrap that thought.) 

“what happened to not letting me fall?” you joke lightly as you get up off the ground, hoping to ease the tension a little from whatever all of that was, “are you sure you’re okay? i didn’t break anything?” 

“i promise you i’m totally fine-” jungkook gets back up onto his feet and bends down to pick up your skates before popping up to look at you with a grin, “and it only happened because i was distracted!” he pauses for a brief moment before tilting his head, his smile softening, “can you blame me? you’re very pretty.”

oh

you weren’t expecting him to say that

“oh, that’s- ha… that’s very nice of you.” you reach up to scratch the back of your neck before letting out a nervous chuckle, “you are… also… quite… visually appealing.”

quite visually appealing  

why are you speaking like an alien trying to convince everyone that they aren’t an alien?!

“so, there’s still about half an hour left of your lesson left, but i feel like you’ve had enough of skating for now.” jungkook changes the subject quickly and you can’t help but notice that his ears are starting to get red, “we can just sit on the bench and rest... or do you... uh, do you maybe want to share a chilli dog with me?” he asks quietly, and for the first time since meeting him he’s the one who looks away from you first 

“...you know, i think that might be the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.” you giggle, reaching over to loop your arm through his when he sticks it out for you, “i would love to share a chilli dog with you.” 

“not to flex or anything, but i do get the employee discount…” jungkook clicks his tongue, reaching up to pop open his collar obnoxiously before turning to give you a wide grin, “and if that doesn’t impress you, i don’t know what will.”

🎙️help me help you make your wishes come true (send me a request!)

✨why don’t you explore the rest of the library while you’re here?

💫or perhaps you want something shorter to read?

🌟or something even shorter?

[sapphicmsmarvel]

JJ: Truth Or Drink

This is based on the truth or drink videos on youtube. 

These are just going to be little snippets in the conversation, I thought this was fun

If you haven't seen these videos, here’s a link to the videos: 

Step Parents and step kids play truth or drink 

masterlist

criminal minds masterlist.

Henry was grown up; he was 23 years old living on his own. 

He thought it’d be a good idea to bring you, his stepmom, onto a youtube series for truth or drink. 

This is how it went.

_____________________________________________________________________

“This is my step mom, Y/N.” Henry gestured to you. 

You waved at the camera, the director said, “how long have you been in Henry’s life?” 

“Since he was born, I was his mom’s, my wife’s, best friend and then��.” You gestured to the ring on your finger. “She got divorced and then we fell for each other.” 

“She went from being Auntie Y/N to being Mama.”

“And I wouldn’t change a thing.” 

_____________________________________________________________________

“Has my other parent, so my dad, ever given you any trouble?”

“Oh no.” You shook your head. “He’s actually become one of my closest friends. I was new to the parenting game and he told me that he was there 24/7 to help me if I needed it with you boys.” 

“Was he a handful?” The director asked 

“No, his brother was. What a fucknuckle that kid is.”

“He got it from you.” Henry exclaimed. 

“I know, I had to apologize to my mom during his teen years because I realized how bad I was.” 

_____________________________________________________________________

“Would you want your parents to get back together even if it meant losing me?” You asked. 

“Absolutely not. And I know that Michael feels the same. We just…you and mom are Super Moms. Like, she was away on business a lot and Dads a cop so he also worked a lot. You were there to pick up the pieces.” 

You smiled, “I love you and your brother more than anything.” 

“Wait, do you get along with his dad?” The director asked. 

“Oh yeah man. Co-parenting won’t work if you hate each other.” 

“His dad once got drunk on new years and twerked into my crotch, there’s a video of it somewhere.” You said. 

“Wait what?”

“Yeah you were like 5? It was an adult New Year’s eve party with all your aunts and uncles and their families.”

“Where was I?”

“Grandmas.” 

_____________________________________________________________________

“Christ.” He gagged. “Have you ever performed oral sex on mom?”

“Henry, think about what you’re asking a woman who’s married to a woman.”

“I HAVE TO ASK WHAT'S ON THE CARD.”

“I mean i didn’t today; but like last night yeah.” 

“Fuck, I need a shot after that.” 

You laughed. 

_____________________________________________________________________

“Oh God,” Henry rubbed his face. “When did you lose your virginity?” He set the card down, “please don't say you lost it to mom.” 

You laughed, “Henry! When she and I got together we were in our thirties.”

“Still!” 

“No, I lost it to a girl in the back of a pickup truck during a drive in.” You deadpanned. 

He gagged again. 

“Wait, can I ask a follow up?”

“No.” He declined. 

“Yes.” The director said eagerly. 

“When did you lose yours?”

“Why are you so curious and genuine about it?”

“Your mom, dad and I have a bet. I wanna see who won.”

“I was 20.” 

“I FUCKING LOST.” 

_____________________________________________________________________

“On a scale of 1-10 how heterosexual are you?” He asked, laughing. 

“Zero.” You started laughing. You two were in a laughing fit. “No, when I was younger I was like eh whoever I fall in love with, I fall in love with and that’s that. But I always preferred women and now I'm married to one.” 

“I think that’s why I grew up not scared to come out cause you guys were so open.”

“Plus we were very gay for each other.”

“Yeah that helps.”

The director cut in, “wait, Henry, you have to answer too.”

“Oh! I’m a 5 cause I am bi.” You and Henry high fives. 

_____________________________________________________________________

“Have you ever had a threesome? and would I know this person?”

You immediately went to take a shot, “Mom wouldn’t count as someone I knew.” He said. 

“I’m well aware.” You said as you downed it. 

“You guys have had a threesome with someone else.”

“It wasn’t your dad if that helps.” “I-” He said as he put his head in his hands.

The director and his team were laughing. 

_____________________________________________________________________

“Was I an accident?”

“Yeah but I wasn’t a part of that.” 

_____________________________________________________________________

“Have you ever had sex in my house?” 

“Yeah.”

“I swear to fucking god, was it in our bed?”

“FUCK NO.” 

“I would have beaten your ass.” 

“God, that’s fucking nasty.” 

_____________________________________________________________________

“What’s a fun childhood story you remember from your parents?”

“MamaBear stories.”

“Oh shit.” You laughed, “We were crazy.”

“yeah, no one bullied me because they were scared of you. Even their parents.” 

“What can I say I’m a bad bitch.”

He laughed.

_____________________________________________________________________

“Alright guys we’re wrapping up.” The director said. “Any last words?”

“I had fun.” You laughed.  “I’m a little scarred but I also did.” 

You two high fived, “I love you loser.” He said. 

“I love you too dipshit.” 

[shyficwriter]

Who's Tougher Part 3

Guardians of the Galaxy fanfic | Reader x Guardians (With Yondu and Kraglin!) Guest starring Thor & Loki

Summary: If you were expecting anything the day after the Guardians find out you're a Nephilim, it wasn't for Thor and Loki to decide to "pop-in" for a visit. Too bad Yondu won't let you hide.

Author’s Note: Part 1 here. Part 2 here.

Word Count: 1,873

You were on the lower deck helping Yondu and Kraglin sort out the best course for an upcoming job. They hadn't brought up anything from the night before and you were grateful for that. You could feel the others staring at you all morning, and so you jumped at the chance to join the two men below deck to work.

Like, you got it. You really did. It would be odd to find out one of your friends had been hiding that they had certain powers or extra abilities, but it was nice to be with a couple of people who at least pretended they didn't give a crap about finding out you weren't actually Terran.

And for the most part, it was true. Yondu and Kraglin didn't care if you weren't Terran. They had raised Peter knowing he was half-celestial for 24 years. You being a Nephilim probably wasn't much different, and the fact that you admitted you didn't use your powers because you couldn't control them pretty much put you in the same boat as Peter, far as they were concerned. It also didn't look like you were gonna start wanting special treatment, if anything it was obvious you would abhor anything like that happening, so yeah, they didn't really care as long as you continued pulling your weight. Far as they were concerned, nothing had changed.

You had opened your mouth to ask Yondu a question when you heard an all-too-familiar voice booming out a happy greeting from the floor above you, followed by Mantis's bubbly excited cry of "Peter! Thor came to visit! And he brought a friend!"

You eyes went wide and you paled, dropping your pen and whatever else you were doing in an instant. "Oh no- Oh fuck-"

"What?" Yondu asked, looking at you strangely. He of course had heard it too, but he wasn't really expecting the look of fear that was in your eyes. Yeah, you had looked awful nervous when Rocket had called the "Thunder Man," but now that almost looked like genuine horror in your eyes. He wondered if he should be worried or amused, and from the look on Kraglin's face, he did too.

"I've got to get out of here." you say, starting to back away while still looking at the ceiling.

"No ya don't," said Kraglin, grabbing your arm and pulling you back. He realized this was likely the perfect time to find out why you were so nervous when Rocket called Thor last night. "Not until you at least tell us what's got ya so scared of Thor and his brother."

You looked at Yondu pleadingly, but he only nodded in agreement with Kraglin.

"Can we maybe do this later?" you plead, your urgency to hide becoming ever more apparent when a voice, softer than Thor's, could be heard asking one of the others upstairs if you were around.

Yondu almost laughed. He hadn't seen you like this before, but whatever had gotten your pants in a twist was clearly the fault of whoever was upstairs. "Nah, I wanna hear what's got you all riled up. This fella an ex-boyfriend of yers or somethin'?"

You make a face at him. "No!"

"Then what? Spill it, otherwise I might just be tempted to call them down here myself." Yondu chuckled.

You glare back at him. "You wouldn't dare."

"He really would, trust me." Kraglin warned, grinning.

"Ugh, fine!" you relented. "When we were younger, there was this prank that sorta went wrong..."

"Go on," Yondu prodded, intrigued.

"And well, you see, I didn't mean for it to happen, but I might have sorta accidentally made Loki lose his hair. Like all of it. Not just on his his head, everywhere. Eyebrows, everything. I heard it took months to start growing back in fully..." you nervously fidgeted, "and I imagine he's probably still real sore about that."

Yondu laughed. "That's all? If that happened when ya'll were kids I doubt he even remembers. I don't see what yer worried about." Sure, maybe it was because Yondu never had much hair himself save for his beard, but he didn't really see what the big deal was.

"You clearly don't know him then," you say, "so if you'll excuse me I'm going to go hide."

Yondu scoffed. "Last I checked we don't hide from our problems like scared babies. How can ya expect to call yerself a guardian of the galaxy if you're gonna run and hide like a scared little orloni? Ya gotta face up to yer fears, not run from them."

You tried to reason with him. "No- you don't understand-"

"I understand plenty enough. Yer gonna march up there and face yer fears like an adult."

"You really don't understand," you pleaded, "I'd have a better chance with the airlock. I can't!"

Yondu rolled his eyes, "Yes ya can. Come on." he then collared you and began to march you towards the stairs. Kraglin followed, fighting not to giggle at the sight.

"No- wait- Yondu- please! Come on!" Your pleas fell on deaf ears the entire way up the stairs until you reached the landing and Yondu turned you to face him.

"Look here. Either ya can straighten up and face this fella, or you can embarrass yourself by continuing to act like a scared little kid, what's it gonna be?"

You look at him pitifully and say, "I really hate you right now."

He only grinned and said, "I know it," before ushering you forward towards the sounds of the voices, keeping his hand on your shoulder.

When you neared the doorway of the room the others were in Yondu felt you start to resist again, but he just pushed you on without a word, chuckling to himself and throwing an amused look at Kraglin, who was grinning wide. All too soon the three of you were standing in the doorway, staring at the rest of the team as they caught up with Thor.

You forced a small smile when Mantis looked over and happily announced your arrival, prompting Thor to turn towards you with a big smile and begin to approach you, calling your name and opening his arms for a hug.

Yondu gave you a not-completely-gentle push when Thor got close enough and you collided the the tall man as he embraced you. You returned the hug, tentatively at first, but then fully. If you were honest with yourself, you had missed him too, and it was nice to be hugged by your old friend.

After a moment or two he pulled away so he could look at you. "It's been so long! No wonder I didn't recognize you!" He chuckled, adding, "I guess 800 years will do that though, I'm sure I also look very different, so it's no wonder you didn't recognize me as well."

Well, that saved your ass in one regard, at least he wouldn't be hurt by (rightfully) thinking you'd been avoiding him and Loki.

"I'm sorry, did you just say 800 years?" Peter interjected.

You gave a sheepish look to your team, who all had wide, surprised eyes. There were several open mouths about the bunch. You were sure if you turned around to look Yondu and Kraglin might have matched their expressions.

Thor looked between you and the rest of the gang before looking back at you with a chuckle, "Didn't tell them?"

You shrugged, still looking sheepish. "Do you think they'd have believed me?" you say with a slight chuckle, throwing a nervous look at Peter and Gamora who still looked like they were processing this new information.

Thor grinned. "I guess not." He then stepped aside, beckoning Loki to say hi to his old friend, cooing about how much you had changed since they'd seen you last.

It wasn't until then that you had gotten a good look at Loki, as Thor's larger frame had obscured him before. He didn't approach to crush you in a hug like Thor, instead staying where he was and offering a little wave as he grinned. You grin nervously and offer a wave in return. You could feel a heat rising in your cheeks.

Dammit.

Of course he would have grown up pretty. His hair certainly came back nicely.

You try to shake the thought from your mind as you turn to Thor and ask, "So, um, what brings you guys here?"

To your surprise, Thor put his arm around your shoulder and walked you closer to where everyone else was at. "Well, Rabbit's call lost signal before I could find Loki," He released you and you turned back to the doorway to see that while Yondu and Kraglin had also stepped further into the room, they remained close to the door, grinning. They were blocking the door so you couldn't run away, the bastards. Thor continued, "so Loki suggested we just pop-by for a visit instead." Thor answered with a grin.

Your head snapped back toward the group. So it was Loki's idea? Oh no.

Loki's grin seemed to get wider. "Yes, I thought it'd be fun to catch up with an old friend. I can't for the life of me remember why we lost touch. Do you?" His eyes seemed to sparkle with glee, and you were certain you weren't imagining it.

You swallowed, forcing a smile. He absolutely remembered. Crap. "Um, no. I have no idea either..." you lied, praying that no one else noticed the blush in your cheeks. "I guess things just... happen."

"Would you guys like to stay for supper?" Gamora offered, and Peter gave her a look. Peter and Thor had only just barely gotten past their dick-measuring contest the last time he was here, and his ego was still a little bruised. Gamora caught his look and clarified, "That way everyone can catch up more? Drax will be making stew."

Stay for supper? Oh no. It was only just after lunch, they'd be here for hours if they stayed for supper. Gamora, why?? Well, it was just an offer, they may decline...

Thor and Loki exchanged looks each meant to ask if the other cared before shrugging and Thor answering that they'd love to stay for supper.

Damn.

Yondu spoke up. "Hell, why not stay a couple days!" Peter shot him a look as well before he caught Yondu's wink. "After all, you three must have a lot of catchin' up to do if it's been 800 years since ya'll seen each other last."

You throw a pleading glare at the Centaurian and Thor speaks up, "Oh, we could never impose like that-"

You quietly sighed. Thank goodness.

"Nonsense, boy!" Yondu says, approaching to put his arms around you and Thor's shoulders. "We're happy to have the company. Right, Quill?"

Aw, hell, Yondu! Seriously!? You wanted to kill him.

To your dismay Peter had read the room and now sported a smile. "Yeah. Stay a couple days, I insist."

Your nostrils flared. These fuckers were working against you. However, your blood ran cold when you heard Loki's smooth voice say, "Well, brother, they did insist," and then heard Thor finally agree to staying.

Loki met your eyes, grinning wide.

You were so dead.

[blueeyedgeorgie]

Scandalous(1)

An infamous Influencer that is known for getting into drama befriends ImAllexx, George doesn’t trust them one bit. 

Gif cred. @sdmngifs

Pairing: George Memeulous x Reader

WC: 2.2k+

Pronouns: They/Them

____________

For the entire day, Alex seemed to constantly be on his feet. At first, George really didn't pay much attention to it, after all, sometimes people just have busy days. Usually for George, his days weren't anything special. He'd just wake up and lay around the house. He'd make sure to film a video every couple of days and could be found playing a bit of FIFA or COD. 

George didn't have much of a reason to leave his shared flat. He'd usually go over to one of his friend's places to hang out or film a collab, every now and then he'd go out shopping to get a couple of things for a video or just the flat. Still, George wasn't the type of person to find reasons to rush around or try and get as many tasks done as possible, it was one of the many perks that came with being a YouTuber.

It was normal to see Alex running around once in a while. He'd like to go out and do things like playing football with a few of his mates or just going out and being around people. But today seemed different, as though he was planning for something important to happen. 

At first, George didn't feel the need to ask his flatmate about what was going on. But while the day rolled on and Alex seemed to only go back and forth from making phone calls to typing away on his computer, George's curiosity had begun to eat himself up from inside.

As the afternoon rolled around, George found himself seated on the couch. He had been wasting a good portion of his day watching whatever he could find on the TV that was actually interesting. Earlier he had filmed a few videos for his second channel, he looked at the Reddit page for usual funny content and then proceeded to go on a Twitter page and look at nostalgic videos and photos for a second video.

Usually with some luck, George would be able to find something good to put on TV, but today just seemed like one of those days where you couldn't find anything good to watch. So as a final resort, he had turned on some Spongebob cartoons, it seemed like he only had enough luck to have the old cartoons from the early 2000's play. 

While watching the yellow sponge on TV, George had checked a few of his social medias, wondering if there was anything else that was going on that could possibly hold his attention for longer than ten minutes.

Maybe he just needed a new hobby, something to keep attention for more than five minutes. FIFA was fun, but you could only play it so many times.

"Hey George?"

The sound of his flatmate's voice had pulled him out of his thoughts. Standing behind the couch, Alex was typing away on his iPhone. He had taken a quick look to make eye contact with George before returning to his text messages. Turning around, the brunette man gave his attention to his flatmate, "What's up?"

"I don't know if you remembered, but I'm having someone come out to the UK to spend a couple of days with me to film some collabs and just get to know each other," sliding his phone in his back pocket, Alex shoved his hands into his pockets. "Hopefully this turns out all good."

How did this slip his mind? Alex had been mentioning he was planning to do this with someone for the past couple of weeks. As the days rolled on, when he became busier and busier, it all made sense. Alex was only making sure everything was going to go smoothly when whoever was going to come to the UK.

"Shit, that totally slipped my mind, sorry," George brushed a hand through his hair with a short sigh. "Are they gonna stay with us or are they staying at a hotel? Maybe they're doing something completely different."

"Hotel," as he responded, Alex began to rock back and forth on the heels of his feet. "They're gonna get here in two days and when they show up me and a couple of our friends are gonna go out and get some drinks, just to get more comfortable with one another. You coming with us?"

"I don't see why not," giving a shrug, George leaned his head against the palm of his hand, supporting his head to sit at a certain angle. "Are you interested in this influencer or something, you keep saying you wanna get comfortable with them."

"Well, they aren't really my type. Also, they're gonna be hanging around us for a few days, so of course I wanna be comfortable around them."

"Who even is 'they'? Does this influencer have a name?" George let out another sigh as he looked up at his flatmate. 

"They're Y/n L/n."

Y/n L/n, George had heard that name a few times in the influencer world. One thing he knew for sure, Y/n was much bigger than both Alex and George's channels combined. So why was Y/n planning to come and hang around them for a while?

That wasn't the only question rushing through George's mind, from what he had heard about Y/n (which was very little) he knew they were a very scandalous person. Having them around didn't seem like too bright of an idea, maybe Alex just wanted to collab with them to gain a bit more in subscribers... George knew it'd be smart to keep Y/n at arm's length while they'd be in the UK. After all, they'd only be here for a couple of days, so how hard could it be?

"Oh."

"Just 'oh'?" Alex raised a brow at his flatmate, "What is it?"

"Nothing, I just took me a moment to realize who they were," George turned back to face the TV, implying the conversation had come to an end.   

"Alright, I'm gonna get back to making sure the flat isn't a typical mess," Alex sighed, taking a step back from the couch.

"Cool," George mumbled as he watching the yellow sponge on TV run beside a pink star. 

If Y/n got Alex caught up in anymore drama, he'd have a fit. He had seen his flatmate come so far since the last time drama was in his life. There'd be a chance that would grow bigger and bigger everytime they hung out that Alex could get caught up in a scandal. 

Even though Alex's a grown adult, sometimes he could make really stupid decisions. But that was the thing, Alex is a human being, he's allowed to make mistakes. All George wanted for this whole collab to into come back around and bite Alex in the ass. But it was too late, Y/n was going to be here soon and whatever happens, just happens. There wasn't much George could do besides distancing himself away from Y/n.

"Alright, I think I have enough shirts, I better go double-check to see if I have my toiletries all packed up," Y/n had mumbled under their breath in the midst of packing. Even though they were a big YouTuber and could simply pay someone to pack for them, Y/n had decided to pack for this one trip. 

"Y/n, where the fuck are you?" 

The sound of someone's voice had become louder, Y/n could tell their friend was entering their bedroom.

"I'm just in the bathroom, Bret!" They had responded while looking underneath their bathroom sink for a few more toiletries. 

"Are you seriously leaving?" The one and only Bretman Rock stood in the doorway of the bathroom, looking down at his friend. 

"Well yeah, I've been planning this trip for the past couple of weeks," Y/n looked up at the makeup influencer. Bretman and Y/n had been friends since forever, they had gone through so much together. 

"You're gonna miss James's party next Saturday," he moved aside, letting the other influencer in the room past by. 

"It's just one party," they had let out a short scoff while working on packaging their bathroom items properly. "James always throws parties, I'll go to the next one."

"Fine bitch," Bretman had tossed himself onto Y/n's bed, making their suitcase jump a little with everything else that had been laid out on Y/n's bed. "Why are you even going to London?"

"Well, I'm planning to meet up with a friend to make some videos together and just hang out," Y/n shrugged as they tucked away a few more items into their suitcase.

"Who?"

"He goes by ImAllexx on YouTube."

Bretman shook his head as he watched his friend, "I have absolutely never heard of them... ever."

"Yeah, his channel is smaller than either of ours."

"Lemme tell you now, if you're secretly doing some long-distance relationship with him and haven't bothered to tell me any tea yet, I will literally kill you," the raven-haired man laid on his back, beginning to fidget with the rings that sat on his fingers.

"I'm telling you now, Bret. Alex is only a friend, he's like a brother," they tsked at their friend as they zipped up their suitcase, finally finishing packing. 

"Fine, but if I find out you end up hooking up with some British boys over there and don't tell me... like I said, you'll be  dead bitch."

"Calm down, you know I can't keep secrets from you," Y/n flashed a cheeky grin at their friend while sliding the suitcase off of the bed. "I had two hours before I head to the airport, what do you wanna do?" For the past couple of weeks, Y/n had been counting down the days until they would leave for London. No doubt about it, they were excited. It wasn't often for them to make friends with other Influencers or people in general. So when they got the chance to make friends with a small commentary YouTuber that went by the name of ImAllexx, they had made sure to be as kind as possible.

At this point it was truly hard for Y/n to make friends, most people didn't like them based on the rumors that had spread about Y/n. Others that usually tried to be Y/n's friends were merely using them for money and fame. It became hard for Y/n to trust people and get close to them. So how did Alex pull off gaining Y/n's trust?

Y/n one day had been scrolling through YouTube, looking for something to watch. At this point, they had seen almost everything, vlogs, challenges, makeup, drama, and more. But one video had popped up into Y/n's recommended videos that had caught their eye.

'We Need to Stop Y/n L/n.'

It was normal for Y/n to see these types of videos, usually they'd come from Drama channels trying to cancel them. But this one had come from a YouTuber with the name, 'ImAllexx'. It was normal for Y/n to scroll when they came across these types of videos, but the video seemed a bit intriguing considering the thumbnail was only a simple picture of themself against a blue background.  So of course, Y/n clicked on the video only to hear; "Hello everyone, I'm Alex..."

Y/n found the video quite funny, when they'd watch videos made on them, the videos were typically quite harsh and mean. With Alex, he seemed like the type of person to be able to take a joke. His whole video was on an Instagram post Y/n had made a week or two before Alex had posted his video, he had just been taking the piss out of the photo as a joke. 

And after finishing that video and having a laugh, Y/n continued to watch more of Alex's videos, just to see if he was seemingly a decent guy. And somehow, they got hooked on Alex's videos. And by the end of the day, they had binged a good amount of his content. 

A few days after discovering Alex and his content, Y/n had decided to check out a few of his social medias. That's when Y/n had found out he was already following them on both Instagram and Twitter.

When Alex checked Instagram a while later, he was surprised to find that @y/nl/n was now following him. Y/n was almost four times(if not more) the popularity size of Alex, so how had they noticed him? He was a bit nervous at first, why would someone like Y/n follow him?

Instead of anxiety getting the best of Alex, he had decided to do something to try and figure out why of all people, @y/nl/n had decided to follow him. So he had been careful with sliding into Y/n's DMS, only to ask why they had followed him. ANd moments later, Y/n responded to him. 

'I've just been binge-watching your content lately and I thought that you were funny so I followed you. :)'

At first, Alex felt like it could possibly be a trap, but he continued to message back and forth with Y/n. After a while, Alex had realized that maybe Y/n wasn't as scandalous and dramatic as people made them out to be. As the days rolled on and they continued to talk, they had ended up developing a friendship.

After a couple of months of talking and coming closer and closer, Alex had asked if Y/n would want to fly out to the UK from LA to film a couple of collabs and hang out in person. Y/n had easily accepted his invitation, and just like that, A date was set for Y/n to fly out to London.

Taglist: @ivory-raptor @breakfast-cereal @snowcones404​ @golden-hoax​ 

[here4theheartbreak]

AO3 Link Here

Relationships: Lee Taemin x Park Jimin, Choi Minho x Kim Taehyung, Choi Minho x Kim Taehyung x Lee Taemin x Park Jimin (V3Min) Rating: Explicit

Genres: angst, smut Tags: smut, angst, fake dating, jealousy, pining, friends with benefits, getting together, bottom Taemin, switch Jimin, top Taehyung, top Minho

Summary: Minho has been in love with his best friend since forever. But Taemin was determined to be unattached... Until suddenly he wasn't. Taehyung spent his entire life pining after happiness with his best friend, only to have it ripped away when Jimin finds someone else. The rational response? Hatch a plan to make their respective crushes jealous. The part where they fell in love with each other, however, wasn't part of the plan. 

Chapter Word Count: ~5.1k

“My father is literally trying to murder me.”

Minho didn’t bother to bite back his grin as soon as he entered the salon. He crossed the room as the handsome hairstylist whined and stomped one foot.

“You know, they say that a haircut is similar to going to a bar,” Minho commented as he took a seat.

“What?”

He lifted his chin to allow the cape to nestle against his throat. “The patrons dump their worries onto the stylist the same as they would a bartender. It’s cheap therapy. The bartender – and stylist – aren’t supposed to do things the other way around.”

Minho met Taemin’s gaze in the mirror, smirking at his pout.

“I’m having a crisis, hyung,” Taemin whined. Minho sighed patiently.

“Fine. Your father is metaphorically trying to murder you – I strongly doubt he’s intending to physically kill his youngest. Why do you think he’s out to get you?”

Taemin’s pout increased, making him look years younger than he actually was.

“He wants to arrange a marriage. Who even does that anymore?”

“Well, I mean quite a few families? It’s not like you have to marry the person he introduces you to.”

Taemin snorted, picking up his comb and spraying Minho’s hair lightly. “He all but threatened to cut me off and kick me out if I didn’t. Which is why I say, he’s out to get me.”

“Who’s the person, do you know?”

“Her name is Park Jisoo.”

“Oh, I know of that family. They’re pretty wealthy.”

“So my father said. I don’t care though. I don’t want to marry anyone, I’m happy how I am and I don’t wanna be tied down. If he’s so keen on me getting hitched, I might as well marry you.”

Minho snorted. “That’s never gonna happen.”

Taemin pouted again. “Why are you laughing?”

“Look, you and I might have fun in bed, but you said it yourself. You don’t want to be tied down. If you married me I’d drive you nuts. And either way, your dad is trying to set you up with a girl because he hates that you’re interested in men at all. Marrying me would set both of our fathers off.”

“It’d be fun to watch their heads explode though, wouldn’t it? Remember the first time your dad caught us kissing in the pool?”

“I thought mine was going to drown us both. I’ve never seen his face get so red. But to be fair… We were kids.”

“We were teenagers. All of our straight friends were already making out with their girlfriends in the broom closets.”

Minho chuckled. “Point made. Maybe she won’t be so bad. Everyone knows you’re a natural charmer, you’ll win her over in no time. You just have to make it clear you have boundaries and the marriage is a professional thing only.”

“That’s not fair to her.”

Minho smiled patiently. He watched Taemin through the mirror as he shaped the cut he knew Minho preferred, his brows furrowed in concentration. He’d known the man since Taemin was born, nearly – they’d grown up side by side in their apartment complex otherwise filled with teens and adults. Though there was an age gap, Minho adored Taemin, more than his same age friends most of the time. When Taemin realized at puberty that he might not be entirely into girls, it was natural for him to come to Minho… And to subsequently experiment with him.

Minho knew he was Taemin’s safety and friend… But not more.

Taemin had a reputation around their city as a bit of a player. People always came and went from his bed, and they had since he was barely legal. Minho was a constant, but the idea of being something more… It was a fantasy. Minho knew that, and resigned himself to what he was given. He loved Taemin in every way possible, and his happiness was what mattered. Minho honestly didn’t believe Taemin would ever find someone to settle down with – he was just too… Lee Taemin. Bouncing from person to person, content with a few nights of fun before moving on. It worked for them. Taemin never tired of Minho.

“So, when do you start shooting for your new role?” Taemin asked, breaking Minho’s inner dialogue.

“Hm? Oh, next week.”

“Do you need to leave Seoul for it?”

Minho grunted an affirmative. “Yeah, a month in Andong.”

“Ooh, it’s pretty there,” Taemin commented. He leaned down, resting his chin on Minho’s shoulder. “Pack me in your suitcase and take me with you.”

Minho beamed, pushing Taemin’s head playfully. “I wish. I don’t know any of the actors. There’s some rookie too, heard he thinks he’s hot shit.”

Taemin wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

“I mean, he might be. I got that reputation too when I was new because I was good. I’ll give him a shot, but…” He shrugged the shoulder Taemin wasn’t perched on. “I’ll miss you.”

“Wanna hang out tonight?” Taemin smirked, tucking his bottom lip between his teeth. “Have a little fun?”

Minho chuckled. “Where’s Sehyoon?”

“Ah,” Taemin straightened up, angling his comb back to Minho’s hair. “You know how it is, easy come, easy go.”

“Dumped him, didn’t you?”

“Mutual separation. He wanted more, you know me.”

“He was cute.”

“He’s single.”

Minho snorted. “Not a chance. I’m not even dating you and I’ve got my hands full.”

Taemin smacked the back of Minho’s head with the comb. “I have scissors.”

Minho winced, rubbing the spot. “Such a brat.”

Taemin beamed at that, his entire face lighting up as he did. Minho couldn’t help but smile, his heart doing an all too familiar two step beat against his ribs. He knew he’d never end up with Taemin… But it didn’t stop him from secretly wanting to.

***

Minho bowed politely to Taemin’s father when he opened the door, not bothering to hide his smirk. “Good evening, Sir. Is Taemin in?”

“Not for the likes of you.”

Though Taemin’s father tolerated Minho to some degree, he was no fool about what went on between the two.

“I heard you intend to arrange a meeting for Taemin with the Park girl. She is quite beautiful.”

Taemin’s father straightened a little, scowling. “Her family is powerful. And she has the firm hand the boy needs.”

“Well, he does like a firm hand,” Minho bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at the subtle widening of Taemin’s father’s eyes. “I mean… He certainly needs it to keep in line, correct?”

“Hm.”

“He discussed it with me today. He’s quite nervous. Wondered if I could come over before my trip and relax him, get him energized to meet his potential bride to be. That’s why I’m here.’ Minho planted his most sweet smile, letting his head tilt just a bit. “Nothing scandalous.”

Taemin’s father’s eyes narrowed. “Hm… He’s in his room, playing that damned music too loud.” He stepped aside, allowing Minho in. “For a boy his age, he certainly acts like a child. You’re older than him, shouldn’t you be a better influence?”

Minho smiled and bowed as he stepped out of his sneakers. “Ah, you know your son better than anyone, Mr. Lee. He’s as stubborn as a mule. It’s an admirable trait, even if it drives us all a bit insane. It’ll come in handy in business.”

“I suppose you’re right. Go. Go, leave the door open a crack. I know how your kind is.”

Minho nodded and jogged up the stairs, rapping on Taemin’s door before opening it and slipping through. He shut it firmly, kicking Taemin’s makeshift doorstop under it to effectively lock it.

Taemin was stretched out on his bed in a pair of shredded jeans, showing more skin than they were covering. He was flipping through a magazine, and glanced up when Minho entered.

“You came.”

“Not yet, but I intend to.”

Taemin smirked, sitting up and tossing the magazine aside. “Well come on then.” He leaned back on his hands, shifting to show off the curve of his body. Minho sighed deeply, letting his gaze roam over Taemin. He stripped off his hoodie and t-shirt, crawling up Taemin’s legs.

“You’re a tease,” he scolded without venom when their noses brushed. Taemin smirked.

“It’s only teasing if I don’t come through with it.” He slid his palm down Minho’s chest, cupping his crotch and giving a playful squeeze that had Minho’s eyelids fluttering. “And you know I always come through.”

“Oh, I do.” Minho brushed his lips over Taemin’s neck. “How are you feeling it today?”

Taemin laid back, looking up at Minho. “Hm. Not too rough… But don’t go easy on me either.”

“Deal… Do you still have my bag?”

Taemin nodded, then jutted his chin toward his closet. “Floor, left side… What do you need from it?” His lips curved up into a smirk.

“Guess you’ll have to find out.” Minho winked and wiggled off the bed, heading over to the closet. He dug around a bit before rising, turning back to the bed.

Taemin’s grin was irrationally bright given the handful of items Minho had. He held a heavy black rope and a bottle of lube, as well as a thin strip of flat wood like an unmarked ruler, and a sturdy rubber ring. He crawled back onto the bed, placing all the items but the rope onto the stand.

“Arms up.”

Taemin obeyed, his eyes wide and pupils dilated. He wet his lips, glancing up as Minho tied his arms together with the rope, then wound it through the rungs of the bedframe.

“I love when you’re like this,” Taemin whispered, nudging Minho’s arm with his cheek.

“Like what?”

“Bossy. Firm.”

“You need it,” Minho said, tugging the rope firmly. He grabbed Taemin’s jaw in a firm grip, squeezing just enough to pinch. “You’re a little shit. Always talking back and mouthing off to your elders. You’re lucky I do this instead of beating your ass.”

Taemin smirked. “I suck your cock too good for you to really be mad at any of that.”

Minho leaned forward, brushing his mouth against Taemin’s. “Says you.” He shoved his head back hard enough that Taemin bumped it against the wood frame, grimacing. He grinned broadly when Minho scooted down, tugging his belt off. He twisted his hips, helping Minho as much as he could to pull of his jeans. Minho swore.

“You know, if these weren’t so skintight…”

“Everyone would be disappointed,” Taemin snarked.

“I’d probably already be playing with your dick,” Minho said, finally yanking the denim down his slender legs. He tossed it off the bed and grabbed the base of Taemin’s foot firmly, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

“Don’t—” Taemin warned, his own eyes widening. Minho scraped his nail along the arch of Taemin’s foot, chuckling when he squeaked and began to writhe.

“Don’t,” he whined.

“You gonna be good? Or keep being a little brat?” Minho tickled him again.

“I’ll be good!” Taemin promised. Minho freed his foot, grabbed his boxers instead and yanking them off.

He pushed his legs open, sliding his hands over the smooth skin of his thighs. “You’re so ridiculously beautiful.”

“You don’t need to flirt,” Taemin said with a bright laugh, “I’ve been giving you my ass since we were teenagers.”

Minho smiled, but the words cut more deeply than Taemin would ever realize. It may have been true; they’d taken one another’s virginities, but Minho wished beyond all else that one day his praises and compliments and teasing suggestions would be seen as more… As a viable option for Taemin. But it just wasn’t in the cards. So he hid the hurt behind grins and playful flirtations, opting instead to be everything Taemin wanted.

He pushed his legs open a little further, the glint of something metallic catching his eye.

“Oh—”

“Found my surprise.” Taemin twisted his hips, spreading his legs wide to reveal a sturdy silver anal plug nestled in his ass. “I got myself ready for you.  I know how worked up we get… Thought this could make it… Kinda fun.”

“You… You are perfect,” Minho whispered. He moved up, grabbing the thin wooden paddle. He smacked it on his own hand, ignoring the tickling sting in favor of watching the way Taemin’s eyes dilated, his lips parting. Almost tickle soft, he brushed the edge of the paddle along the curve of Taemin’s muscle, watching it tense and relax. The first time he’d discovered Taemin had this kink it had been an accident. They’d been making out and Taemin, per his usual teasing attitude, had risen to walk off, earning a sharp swat on his bare ass. Their relationship escalated naturally afterward, each learning the other’s secret kinks and preferences. Despite the number of people Taemin slept with, Minho was the only one he relaxed like this with.

The first crack of the wood on his thigh landed on a quiet beat of the music. Taemin’s moan broke into a giggle. “Shh… My Dad’s gonna hear.”

“He can’t get in,” Minho said simply, smacking the other side just as hard. Taemin gasped, moaning softly. Minho alternated his smacks between the inner thighs and outer thighs, pausing every few strikes to massage the welted skin. He let a blow land lightly on Taemin’s stomach, just a few centimeter’s away from his cock, just enough to startle.

Taemin whined, his hips twitching up.

“Ohh… You liked that,” Minho said simply, a teasing lit in his tone. Taemin nodded, his eyes fluttering open.

“Again.”

“You don’t to be the boss,” Minho warned. He swatted Taemin’s exposed forearm with some force, watching the smooth skin redden and welt. “Try that again. Politely.”

Taemin bared his teeth, eyes narrowing. “Hit me again.”

Minho swatted his other forearm, giving it a matching welt.

“Somewhere else,” Taemin growled. Minho dropped the paddle and slapped Taemin across the cheek. He gasped, blinking tears from his eyes. Minho smirked, grabbing his chin again and yanking him forward as much as his bound arms would allow. He crawled up, going almost nose to nose with him.

“Don’t. Be. A. Brat.”

“Why not?” Taemin breathed. “You fucking love it. I can see how hard your cock is already.” He jerked his hips up, emphasizing his point. Minho squeezed harder.

“I’ll only fuck you if you be a good boy for me, Taemin. Can you do that?”

“That’s no fun. Plus… You wanna come too.”

“There are other ways to come.” He slid his thumb over Taemin’s plush bottom lip, pushing it into his mouth and pressing down on his tongue. “I do have the gag.”

Taemin’s eyes fluttered for a moment, and Minho knew he was affecting him.

“Would you like me to get that, baby?” He threatened, his tone measured and even. “Fuck your pretty mouth and not let you come for me?”

Taemin shook his head as well as he could with Minho’s firm grip. “I’ll try to be good.”

“Good boy.” Minho let go of his face and kissed him hard.

He pulled back and grabbed the rubber ring, reaching down to stroke Taemin’s cock a few times. “Remember… You don’t come until I say you can, brat.”

Taemin hissed as Minho slid the ring on, settling it against the base of his cock. He reached lower and grabbed the plug, tugging it. It caught for a moment then slid out, a dribble of lube following.

Minho swore under his breath, sliding two fingers into Taemin. He wiggled.

“Don’t, please, hyung.” He blinked down at him, smiling as politely as he could likely manage. “I’m stretched. I want you just to put it in.”

“You sure? You still seem so tight…”

Taemin snorted. “You know I can take it. Just fuck my ass. Fill me up. I know you want to.” He purred, spreading his legs further. He lifted them with a practiced ease, the muscles in his thighs twitching as he pressed his knees against his chest, his breathing coming in strained pants. The motion gave Minho a perfect view of his ass, wet with lube, the smallest gape when he flexed.

Minho slid his hands up the backs of Taemin’s thighs, feeling the musculature under his palms. Despite his relatively stagnant job as stylist, Taemin had the body of a dancer. He was slender and flexible, head to toe lean muscle and stamina to boot.

“Get my dick wet first,” Minho finally said. He pushed Taemin’s legs back down and rose, stripping out of his jeans and boxers. He stroked his own cock lazily, gaze roaming over Taemin’s bound form.

Taemin peeked through his shaggy bangs, lips parted and wet. He squeezed his thighs together repeatedly, obviously seeking any stimulation he could manage.

“Beg,” Minho growled.

“Please,” Taemin whispered, clearly more eager to please and get his reward than play stubborn. “Come fuck my ass, hyung. You have to go without it for a whole month. Come take what you need, fill me up and make me ache when I sit down. Please, I need it… No one screws me like you do,” he whined, spreading his legs open.

Minho crawled back onto the bed, straddling his chest and fisting his hair.

“Look at me.”

Taemin rolled his eyes up, wetting his lips. “Gonna make me choke on it, sir?”

There was the attitude. Minho smirked. “You know it.” He slid his tip over Taemin’s bottom lip.

“Get it nice and wet for your ass.” He pushed his cock in and slid his hips forward until the tip bumped against the back of Taemin’s throat. His shoulders jerked and Minho groaned, tightening his grip on his hair. Starting off slow but persistent, Minho pumped his hips, driving his cock as deep as it would go. He pulled Taemin forward, grunting softly when his throat began to relax, giving into the intrusion. Taemin gagged around him, coughing up spit and precome as Minho worked his cock into his throat.

“There you go, Tae… Swallow it down, baby. Work on that gag reflex,” Minho praised, holding Taemin’s chin with his free hand. Taemin looked up, tears filling his dark eyes. One slid down his cheek, accompanied with a hard gag, that had Minho’s eyes rolling back as his throat squeezed around his tip.

“Fuck… The way I wanna fill your mouth,” he panted. Taemin began to struggle, his hands in fists. Minho pulled back immediately and loosened his grip, searching his face for distress. Taemin coughed, dragging in much needed air.

“Please, not today,” he rasped. “My ass.”

Minho smirked, wiping spit from his chin. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll come up your ass. That mouth is just a damn big temptation.”

Taemin grinned broadly. “When you come back from filming you can come down my throat, okay?”

“Deal.” He kissed him gently, brushing his hair down from where he’d mussed it pulling. He settled between Taemin’s thighs, pushing his knees up to his chest again. “Relax.”

Taemin nodded, letting his eyes slip shut. Minho added lube to his spit slicked cock and lined up, taking only a moment before pushing past Taemin’s tight rim. They both moaned. Taemin’s head fell back onto the pillow, a small, contented smile crossing his face.

Minho braced himself on either side of Taemin’s chest and began to thrust, slow and steady to begin. Taemin was unbearably tight, his hole clenching and releasing in a pulse-like rhythm as his body adjusted to the intrusion.

Minho grabbed the paddle again, sliding the edge over Taemin’s cock.

Taemin whined, biting his bottom lip. Minho swatted his tip as gently as he could. Taemin bucked upward, nearly forcing Minho’s cock out. He let his legs fall over Minho’s shoulders, a high whimper slipping from his lips. Minho swatted his cock lightly again, this time driving as deeply as he could.

Taemin cried out, his body tensing. “Stop teasing me,” he snarled, his teeth bared.

“What was that?” Minho asked. He pulled his cock free, ignoring Taemin’s strained plea. Instead, he smacked the thin paddle lightly over Taemin’s gaped hole three times before driving two fingers in, thrusting them aggressively.

“I asked you a question, brat.”

Taemin moaned brokenly, his cock twitching against his heaving stomach. “Fuck me, please— Put it back in!”

“Not until you behave. I warned you.” Minho brought the paddle down on the exposed meat of his ass, grunting when Taemin’s ass clamped down on his fingers. “You don’t control this situation, Taemin. Do you?”

Taemin bit his lap, a smirk curving the corners of his mouth up. “Since you’re using my ass... Don’t I?” He asked. Minho cocked a brow.

“If you wanna be that way.” Minho pushed Taemin’s legs off his shoulders, kneeling between them to keep them spread open. He swatted Taemin’s hole and ass four times in quick succession before placing the paddle aside. He poured lube into his hand and made a fist around his cock before beginning to thrust his hips forward, squeezing and relaxing his fist rhythmically as he did. The wet squelch of the lube and Minho’s grunts punctuated the soft points of the music.

“You sure I need your body?” Minho grunted out. Taemin was squirming on the bed, his hole flexing as he tended and relaxed, clearly needing more. He wet his lips, eyes not leaving Minho’s cock.

“Or do you maybe need my cock up your tight ass to come, hm?”

Taemin chewed his bottom lip. His cock twitched at Minho’s words. “It won’t be as good... Your hand is nothing compared to my hole and you know it.”

“Maybe,” Minho grunted, shivering as he squeezed his tip. “But I’ll still be able to come and be satisfied. Will you?”

Taemin squirmed again. He remained silent, watching Minho masturbate in front of him for a few moments.

“I need it,” Taemin finally whispered.

“Oh? What was that?”

Taemin swallowed thickly. “I need your cock to feel good... Please, Hyung.”

“Ah, I thought so.” Minho stopped jerking off, grabbing the paddle and swatting Taemin’s thigh. “I’m waiting for those special words though.”

“Please!” Taemin hissed.

“No, the other ones.”

Taemin rolled his eyes. Minho swatted his thigh hard with his bare hand, smirking when he whimpered. “Aw, and here I thought you wanted my cock.” He leaned back, fisting his cock again.

“I’m sorry!” Taemin cried. “I— I’m sorry, sir. Please— Use my ass.”

Minho nodded. “There we go.” He knew Taemin was far from sorry; this was just the game they played. He had nothing to be sorry for, but it was damn sexy to watch him plead.

Minho rammed his cock back in, moaning when Taemin clenched around him and bucked off the bed. He grabbed a handful of his ass and squeezed before smacking hard three times. Taemin’s ass clenched almost painfully tight, ripping a cry from Minho’s mouth.

He began to fuck into him hard and fast, smacking his ass every few thrusts for that perfect squeeze around his cock.

Taemin writhed under him, his hips twisting to help with the thrusts, head thrown back as soft cries of pleasure-pain fell from his bite swollen lips. He was the most beautiful person Minho had ever seen. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to Taemin’s parted lips.

“Tell me how it feels, baby,” he panted.

“Thick—“ Taemin whined, the muscles in his arms bulging as he struggled against the ropes. “So big, it almost hurts... Fuck me harder, please—“ he broke off in a moan when Minho shifted angles, driving just a bit deeper.

Minho leaned back, slowly pushing Taemin’s hips up as he fucked into him.

Taemin smirked, open mouthed. “Wanna see?” He panted. Minho nodded. He reached forward and fisted Taemin’s hair, dragging his head forward. As he did, he folded Taemin’s flexible body more inward, still thrusting into his ass. He grabbed Taemin’s cock and pulled the ring off, angling it outward and pushing his body until Taemin was able to place the tip of his own cock into his mouth.

His eyes rolled back as he sucked, moan muffled.

Minho swore, his cock throbbing hard at the sight. He continued to fuck Taemin’s ass, each thrust shifting the cock between his lips.

“You wanna come like this?” Minho panted.

Taemin nodded as well as he could.

“Don’t swallow.”

He began to thrust as hard as he could manage, chasing his own orgasm. Taemin’s eyes rolled back, his moans muffled by the twitching cock between his lips. He clenched around Minho, toes curling as his balls began to throb, cock twitching.

Minho groaned, sliding his thumb over the underside of Taemin’s cock as he spilled into his own mouth. When the throbs slowed and stopped, Minho shifted, letting Taemin’s head go. His cock slipped free and he opened his mouth, showing Minho the thick, milky fluid within. Minho groaned. He let Taemin’s legs fall and leaned forward, kissing him hard.

Taemin wrapped his legs around Minho’s hips, moaning as their tongues slid together, sharing his come.

Minho’s stomach clenched, his balls drawing up almost painfully tight. He grunted into Taemin’s mouth, hips losing rhythm as his nerves heightened in sensitivity. Taemin pulled back, his lips glossy with come and spit.

“Fill my ass, hyung... Please,” he whispered, looking up at Minho from half closed eyes.

Minho grunted his name, grabbing Taemin’s hip almost painfully tight as the pressure in his body peaked, a wall of tension that built in his cock and sent shudders through his form. He came, cock throbbing against Taemin’s tight inner walls, his body clenching and releasing each spurt of fluid. He could hear himself grunting and whining, and Taemin speaking softly, though making out the words was an impossible feat.

One final throb and the tension of his body released all at once, the flood of feel good hormones turning every muscle into pudding. He collapsed over Taemin, grinning dumbly.

Taemin shifted, tugging at the ropes binding him. Minho reached up and pulled the release he’d tied into the rope, freeing Taemin before relaxing once more, nuzzling against his soft shoulder.

“Talk to me,” Minho mumbled, pressing kisses to his skin.

“I’m good.”

Minho pulled back, meeting Taemin’s sleepy gaze. “Yeah?”

Taemin nodded. “I promise. No floating.”

Minho nodded. He sat up and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck. This was always the time he hated. For the time they were having sex, the ‘no strings attached’ part of their relationship didn’t matter. He could kiss and cuddle and hold Taemin to his heart’s content. When they went far enough, and Taemin hit that floaty, feel good feeling as he described it, it gave Minho an out. Free reign to take care of Taemin like he wanted to all the time, bring him back to earth slowly. When he didn’t reach that point… Minho was just another quick fuck. The only difference was that Taemin didn’t kick him out of his house when he was done. Minho wasn’t sure that would be worse.

He pulled on his jeans, passing Taemin his jeans and boxers before rising to put away their toys.

“Why is this door shut?!” The door shook in its frame as Taemin’s father rapped on it.

Minho pulled a face, showing his teeth before chuckling. He slid the closet shut and ran fingers through his hair before nudging the stopper out of the way and opening it, smiling sheepishly and bowing.

“Sorry, Sir.”

“I told you to keep that door open,” He snapped. “Why is your shirt off? I swear—"

“It’s just so hot,” Minho whined as well as he could, fanning his hand in front of his face. “We shut the door to try and keep the cool air from the window in the room.” He shifted to show Taemin on the bed, his jeans perfectly in place, shirt missing still. “Could we have permission to turn the AC up a little?”

Taemin’s father’s eyes narrowed. Minho knew he could likely smell the sex from the room. He kept the innocent smile planted on his face nonetheless even as Taemin’s father’s eyes searched the room for any physical sign of their coitus.

“I will turn up the air conditioning. Keep the door open, it allows for better airflow… And put on a damn shirt.”

Minho bowed his head politely, stepping further into the room and grabbing his shirt from the floor. Taemin’s father scanned the room once more, his lips disappearing into an annoyed line before he stalked off.

Minho sat on the bed, pulling his shirt on. “You have got to get a place of your own, Tae.”

“I like living rent free,” Taemin whined. “I can save my money for stuff I want.”

“I know, and I get it – I hated moving out of my parents… But your dad is so pushy.”

Taemin shrugged. He sat up and moved to where Minho was sitting, putting his head on his shoulder.

“I won’t have to worry about it in a few weeks. I’ll be getting hitched.” The sarcasm was obvious in his tone.

“You don’t have to say yes, Tae. You should follow your heart.”

Taemin snorted. “It’s easier. I’ll just do what you said, let her know I’m not gonna be some good husband. I’ll go through the motions, be married, but she has to accept that she won’t be my only person. I don’t do love.”

Minho sighed. “Maybe you will. What if she ends up being perfect for you?”

“I doubt it. You know I’m up for anything but I’ve always leaned toward guys. If I end up with anyone long term I think it’ll be someone male identifying.”

“Never know.” Minho nudged him playfully. “Just go to the date with an open mind, okay?”

“Okay.” Taemin sighed, flopping back onto the bed. “He’s sending me to her next Friday.”

“End of the same week I leave. You’ll have to text me with how it went. Or Facetime me in the evening.”

“I will. I’m sure I’ll need your support,” Taemin said through a laugh. “Wanna play a game? We can order something for food.”

Minho nodded. “Always. You order, I’ll set it up.”

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they played rounds of the game, spending the next few hours with one another. It was always this way, as long as Minho could remember. He loved it, and wouldn’t dare ruin it by asking for more. Even if, sometimes, in his dreams, he wished.

[elizabeethan]

My Hands, Your Hands

Chapter 1 / 2

Part 2

After being cheated on by her boyfriend, Emma Nolan moves in with her older brother David and his two stupid roommates, Will and Killian. After a night of drinking games and plenty of rum, Emma lands on the one rule that she'd rather avoid: "The Iron Curtain- player to your left."

Modern Captain Swan AU based on the New Girl episode where Nick and Jess go behind the Iron Curtain

Read on AO3

Killian got a new leather jacket in the mail and wouldn’t take it off. Like, he would not take it off. He keeps walking around in it saying stupid things like, “it really makes my hips pop,” and “I know it’s black, but it’s, like, a different kind of black. It brings out my eyes.” Emma is seriously about to lose it.  What makes matters worse is the fact that David and Will aren’t trying to stop him from acting as stupid as he is. They’re amping him up because they want to go out tonight, and it’s very un-fun going out with Killian when he’s down in the dumps about Milah. Still.

           Milah broke up with Killian months before Emma moved in. She had been cheated on by her long-term boyfriend Neal and needed a new place, and the only place with a room available happened to be her older brother’s loft, which happened to be filled with three grown men who act like children. Killian apparently took his breakup pretty hard, although she doubts he was as openly and embarrassingly emotional as she was. According to David, Milah was the one who got away. Evidently, she loved Kilian, but had to let him go. Her words, not Emma’s. Also evident was the fact that she very quickly moved into another’s man’s apartment after dumping his ass.

           So, while Emma had managed to get over Neal, she thinks rather successfully, Killian was still nursing that post-breakup hangover and hadn’t been out with the guys in several months. David usually doesn’t go out drinking, Emma assumes because he is in a long-term, committed relationship, so this is apparently momentous. Will is very excited to get out and get laid as he so eloquently put it. And now, with Killian’s new-found confidence thanks to a leather duster, he plans on getting laid as well.

           She has to admit, despite how obnoxious and childish he’s being, the black leather does work very well on him. His fair skin and dark hair compliment it, his muscular shoulders fit inside perfectly, and his ocean blue eyes truly do stand out.

           She immediately shakes that thought out of her head.

           Emma plans to stay home alone tonight; her current fling Walsh is working, and her best friend Ruby has a date. She could try and call Mary Margaret, David’s aforementioned girlfriend, but the two of them are more… daytime friends. Meaning, they get along great when they're doing adult things like having brunch or decorating the loft, but when it comes to Emma’s more childish side (read: drinking in excess) she sometimes feels as though Mary Margaret disapproves. Almost as if she’s the mom friend, but in a way that makes Emma feel like she could actually be her mother. This could be because she’s dating Emma’s older brother, or it could be because Mary Margaret has basically the purest soul of anyone Emma has ever met. Perhaps a combination of both.

           Honestly, Emma would totally go out with the guys tonight. But apparently that wouldn’t work in their favor.

           “I’m so down,” Emma exclaimed when Will announced their plans, jumping off the counter and imagining what outfit she would wear. She hasn’t been out in weeks and it wouldn’t kill her to act like a single lady for a night.

           “No way.” Killian practically jumped out of his own seat and stood directly in front of her, blocking her way to her bedroom. “You can’t come. I actually want to get laid tonight. You’d just get in the way.”

           “Excuse me!”

           “You would! Do you know how difficult it would be to get a woman to come home with me with you present? There’s no way you’re coming,” Killian says, rather rudely.

           “He’s right, Emma. It’d just make it harder for us guys if a lady was there,” Will added, shrugging and making the most insincerely apologetic face.

           “Maybe I can call Mary Margaret and see if she wants to hang out with you tonight?”

           So now she’s stuck at home. Emma spent the rest of the evening glaring at Killian before they left. She could also place equal blame on Will and David, but Killian is easier to glare at. Each time she looks over at him and narrowed her eyes, he shoots her a stupid, cocky grin and waggles his eyebrows.

           “Don’t wait up for us, Swan. Although, it may be difficult to sleep by the time we get home. We are right across the hall from one another, so if you think me and my lady friend are being too loud, well… just try and block it out.” Everything that Killian says to her is a joke, but that doesn’t make her glare any softer.

           “Shut up, Jones. You’d be lucky to get anyone to come home with you. Women will take one look at your stupid jacket and run for the hills,” she scoffs, pinching the fabric at his collar and dismissively flicking it away from her.

           “You said you liked my jacket!” His eyes grow twice their normal size and he feigns hurt, placing his right hand over his heart and gasping.

           “Just tell me you’re not actually going to wear it out tonight. It’s so long and flowy I feel like I could’ve worn it to prom.”

           “I’m sure it would look wonderful on you, love. But I think it will look better on my bedroom floor,” he says, another waggle in his thick brows. Emma glowers and groans.

           “You’re so stupid! Who says that?”

           “Oh, you love my sense of humor, Swan, don’t try and fight it,” he says in a low voice, leaning in closer to her and looking at her through his long lashes.

           “I’ve told you so many times to stop calling me that.” Emma rolls her eyes and turns around towards her bedroom, but his hand catches the crook of her elbow.

           “It’s funny. That’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Why wouldn’t you want me to continuously memorialize it?”

           “It’s not funny! I was attacked!”

           Killian chuckles and let’s go of her arm, a soft smile now decorating his face. “You’ll be alright here tonight, aye Swan? I didn’t mean to make you feel unwelcome.”

           Emma rolls her eyes again as she walks into her bedroom and Killian follows. “Yes, you did. And it’s fine, I get it. Wouldn’t want anyone to get in the way of Killian Jones’s great conquest,” she says sarcastically, waving jazz hands in front of his eyes.

           It was Killian’s turn to roll his eyes now, blue disappearing behind his lids as he scoffs and smirks. He shakes his head leaves his place in her threshold.

~~~

           Emma didn’t always like Killian. Okay, she doesn’t really like him that much now, but when she first moved in, she couldn’t stand him. He was completely cocky, which David explained was a symptom of his difficult breakup. Apparently, it was arduous for him to get over the love of his life without acting like an asshole. Emma’s not sure what Will’s excuse was; the youngest of the three, he seems to get into the most trouble. David’s the oldest of the group, and also the most mature. He takes on a caretaking role rather effortlessly, just as he always has with Emma.

           As she sits at home alone, she becomes so desperately bored that she considers organizing her closet. However, knowing that that would never happen, she chooses to put on a scary movie and make some popcorn.

           When it ends, she decides to call Walsh while she thinks he’s on his break. Lately, even though they’ve only been seeing each other casually for about a month, she’s been feeling as if he expects much more from her than she’s willing to give. It seems as if he wants a committed relationship, although he hasn’t come out and said it, and she’s been feeling pressure to act more like a girlfriend.

Of course, it’s only natural that the hot water pipes should clang loudly in this moment, causing her to scream and throw what’s left of her popcorn right as she finishes up her voicemail.  

           “Swan,” she hears from outside the door. “Swan?” Killian swings the door open with fervor; his brows twisted into a concerned arch. David and Will were behind him, along with one of the most beautiful women Emma has ever seen. She offhandedly wonders who she decided to go home with.

           “Hi,” she replies, reaching down to pick up some of the popcorn that went flying around her. “How was your night?”

           “It was great, Emma. I’d like you to meet Sabine,” Will cuts in and gestures towards the woman with a cheeky grin on his face. “Sabine, this is my totally platonic roommate, Emma.”

           “Nice to meet you,” Sabine says with a small wave and an oddly flirty smile. “This is a great place you guys have.”

           “Yeah, thanks.”

           “Killian tells me you created a great drinking game, and the vibe at the bar was totally off, so we thought we’d check it out. Mind if we play?” Emma finds it interesting that Will seems to think he brought Sabine home, but Sabine appears to be all over Killian. Killian starts towards Emma now, and miraculously takes off his stupid jacket before sitting on the arm of the chair she’s in, smirking. The asshole.

           “Sure, that’s fine. Everyone needs a drink and we need to find the dice and board though,” she turns her attention to Will. If he thinks she’s helping set this up, he’s got another thing coming. “I’ll take a rum and coke.”

           Killian’s looking down at her still, so she looks back at him and glares once again. “Can I help you with something?”

           “Aye,” he says softly, reaching his right hand towards her face. She thinks she almost feels her lashes fluttering at his soft touch, until she feels a slight pull of a few strands of hair at the top of her head.

           “Ow, what the hell?”

           “More popcorn, love. How’d that get there?” She rolls her eyes (yes, again), and takes the kernel from his hand, tempted to throw it at him.

           “I don’t know. Maybe I was saving it for later, and now you’ve just ruined my midnight snack.” Killian laughs- actually throws his head back and laughs, before raising his right arm over her shoulders and sliding himself into the chair she’s in, effectively squishing the both of them.

           “Again, what the hell,” she asks, her tone incredulous and hostile.

           “Not enough seats, love. Ruby’s on her way.”

           “How would you know that? And why wouldn’t I just share a seat with Ruby?”

           “We text from time to time, mostly about you,” he says, his brows switching places as he raises one and lowers the other.

           “Shup up, you idiot,” she says with an eye roll. Pretty soon, they’re going to get stuck up there. At least, she thinks that’s what Mary Margaret would tell her. Killian chuckles deeply in response and she thinks she feels him squeezing his arm tighter around her shoulder. She knows he put it there to annoy her, but she doesn’t particularly mind, what with her irrational scare a few minutes before. “So, what the hell are you doing home this early?”

           “It’s like Sabine said, Swan, the vibe at the bar was totally off,” he says sarcastically, clearly poking fun at Will’s new friend.

           “So off that you couldn’t get anyone to come home with you? With that jacket?” Emma feigns shock, putting her hands to her cheeks and raising her brows, painting herself with a concerned expression. “Sabine seems to think you guys make a great match.”

           “Wasn’t really interested, I suppose. She’s better suited for Will.”

           “Please,” she scoffs, “she’s hot as hell, and earlier you literally said, and I quote, ‘I actually want to get laid tonight.’” Her take on his accent is truly terrible.

           His response is minimal, simply a shrug of his right shoulder as he works his way out of the chair that he wedged the two of them into. “You know you aren’t getting that drink from Will. You want a lime?” She nods, looking at him incredulously. They’ve lived together for nine months and he still acts like he doesn’t know what she drinks. It’s not as if they don’t drink together nearly every weekend.

~~~

           The game started only once everyone finally got their shit together. It’s true, Emma did create an awesome drinking game. A poster board and Mary Margaret’s artistic abilities quickly allowed for the creation of a game somewhere in between Candy Land and Monopoly. Okay, not really, but the concept is similar. Emma’s game states that the player roles a die and moves their game piece the appropriate number of spaces, then completes the task in the square they land on. Many of the tasks are drinking related. The game was created while they were all drunk.

           Emma roles the die and moves five spaces, commanded to drink because she’s from out of state. Killian must drink as well, and so must Sabine. Killian roles next and drinks because he doesn’t have brown eyes. Emma and David drink here too. At some point, Ruby does show up and complains about her date with the doctor named Whale. Emma thinks that anyone named after an animal cannot be trusted. Then she stops herself, remembering the stupid name Killian gave her.

           The game goes on for many rounds, and each of them get drunker with each role of the die. Eventually, Sabine lands on Never Have I Ever, and the loser must finish their drink, while everyone also takes a sip for each finger they put down. Emma, Ruby, and David all have one finger left, and it’s Killian’s turn to call a rule. He stares her dead in the face and smirks, one brow raised higher than she even thought was possible.

           “Alright, never have I ever…” he pauses, moving his right hand up to pinch his bottom lip and jut his jaw forward, his tongue running along his lip. Fuck, Emma thinks. I must be drunk. “Never have I ever been attacked in a park by the local wildlife.”

           Emma freezes and glares in his direction while everyone else laughs. She was holding up her pointer finger, but she drops it and replaces it with her middle. Then, despite the fogginess in her brain, she picks up her glass and takes another swig of her third perfectly made rum and coke.

           Once she finishes what’s in her glass, it’s her turn to role, and she lands on the one square that only one other person has ever landed on: The Iron Curtain- player to your left.

           In her drunken state, Emma’s not sure how well she hid her horror. She does not want to go behind the Iron Curtain. Only once was this rule played out, and it was the night that sparked silence between Ruby and Will for two weeks afterwards.

           Ruby cheers and stands up excitedly, jumping for joy and spilling her wine in the process. David groans and says she doesn’t have to do this. Sabine looks at Will, clearly wondering what the hell is going on.

           Emma has to go behind the giant metal sliding door and kiss someone. Specifically, she has to kiss the person to her left.

           When she looks to her left, all she sees is a sea of blue covered by thick black brows. “No way,” he says.

           “It’s the rules!” Ruby has never looked more excited, and her wolfish grin is very off-putting.

           “No! I’m not kissing Killian!”

           “Well I’m not kissing you!”

           “Oh, come on, we’re all adults here! It’ll literally take a minute,” Ruby tries to reason unsuccessfully.

           “A minute? How long do you think we’re going to be kissing? I’m certainly not kissing my best friend’s sister for a full minute.” He looks over at her and shrugs.

           “That’s a great point, Killian,” David chimes in.

           “Nothing from you, pal,” Will pipes up. “The rules state that she must go behind the Iron Curtain with the person to her left. She should’ve sat next to Ruby and this whole thing could’ve been avoided.” His attempt at lightening the mood is truly upsetting.

           “Okay, fuck this. If it’s gonna get everyone off my back, I’ll go behind the stupid Iron Curtain with stupid Killian Jones. Let’s go, idiot.” She grabs his right hand and yanks, noticing that it isn’t all that difficult to get him to come with her. Behind her, everyone is whooping and chanting kiss kiss kiss! as they shut the sliding door behind them.

           Once they're behind the door, the chants become muffled and she’s finally able to comprehend what the hell she’s doing. She’s quite drunk, mainly because Killian is always very generous with the rum when he makes her drinks. She’s not so sure about him though.

           “We’re not actually doing this, are we Swan?”

           “You know, I made the game, and now I’m really mad at myself. Why did you have to sit on my left?”

           He scoffs, although she thinks she sees a smile in his eyes. “I always sit on your left, Swan. We literally always sit in the same seats when we play this.”

           She rolls her eyes once again. “It’s the rules, we have to just suck it up and do it.”

           “I don’t want to suck it up, Jesus. So crass.”

           “Why are you so against kissing me? Do you really think it’ll be that bad, Jones?” She’s raising her voice slightly, for which she blames the rum. “We’re both drunk, we can just do it and forget it happened tomorrow.”

           “I am not even close to being as drunk as you are right now, Swan. And did you forget that you have a boyfriend? Because I didn’t.”

           “I don’t have a boyfriend, Killian,” she scoffs, backing to the wall and sliding down into a sitting position. He cocks his head and turns his body so that he can copy what she did, sitting on her left side again.

           “Trouble in paradise, love?”

           “No… I don’t know. Walsh is fine, it’s just…” she trails off, not sure how to finish the statement. Things with Walsh are just that, fine. But lately, she can’t help the feeling that things between them just aren’t right.            “Fine doesn’t seem promising to me, Emma. Are you sure that’s enough?” She’s honestly caught off guard by the way he says her name. Not love, not Swan, Emma. As if he means what he says, and cares about her answer.

           “No,” she replies so softly she’s unsure if she even heard herself. “I think we want different things.” He hums in response, nodding his head slowly and bumping his shoulder into hers.

           “I’m not convinced kissing me would make that any better. Maybe we shouldn’t do this. I really don’t want to kiss you like this.” For some reason, Emma suddenly feels herself grappling with a strange sensation. I really don’t want to kiss you like this. A pit has formed in her stomach and it feels as though someone has reached in and grabbed her heart, squeezing as hard as they could. Rejection.

           Why on earth would Emma Nolan be upset that Killian Jones doesn’t want to kiss her? Hell, she doesn’t want to kiss him! So, what is it about these words that threaten to send her over the edge? These words that make her feel so much more sadness than she thought was possible?

           “It’s fine,” she breathes, refusing to lift her head in his direction.

           “Swan,” he says carefully. “Emma… What’s wrong, love?” She’s never heard his voice sound so smooth and velvety and caring. Part of her wants to lean into him and take comfort in his softness, but the other part of her continues to replay his words over in her head. I really don’t want to kiss you like this.

           Rude of him to assume that she’s too drunk and sloppy for a kiss, considering he’s the one who made her this way.

           “Stop calling me that,” she finally says dismissively, getting up too quickly and stumbling her way towards the door.

~~~

           “Emma?!” She hears the annoying voice before she sees the face it belongs to. Walsh is pounding on the door, and frankly, he’s the last person she wants to see right now.

           “Did you kiss?” Ruby asks her with her grin still plastered on her face, and Emma rolls her eyes. She sees David looking at her from the corner of her eye, then sees him get up and go towards the door.

           “Emma, are you alright? Oh, hey everyone,” Walsh says when the door finally opens and he sees the party of people in the loft. “Emma, I got your voicemail. Are you okay? You were screaming.”

           “Did you call Walsh while you were behind the curtain with Killian? Emma, that’s sneaky! But you can’t get out of this one!” Ruby’s brows waggle in a way that resembles Killian’s, and Emma’s eyes launch themselves into the back of her head with a roll.

           “What does that mean, behind the curtain? Are you okay?”

           “Walsh, I’m fine. We’re just playing a game. The pipes creaked while I was calling you and it startled me.” Emma’s mood is completely shot, and she isn’t even really sure why. Frankly, she’s pissed at herself for being upset right now.

           “Well, where’s Killian? I’d like to know what he was up to during this game.” She can hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice for whatever reason.

           “How should I know where he went,” She snaps. “I’m not his keeper, I don’t track his every move.”

           “Emma, calm down. Jesus. Do you know what it’s like to receive such a horrible message while I’m at work and then have to come over here and see everyone trashed out of their minds? Would it kill you to just chill out for a second rather than jumping down my throat for asking a simple question?”

           “Woah, mate,” she hears from behind Walsh. Killian has made his way out from behind the curtain and is wearing a look of astonishment on his face.

           “No one asked you, Jones.”

           “Shut up, Walsh,” Emma retorts. The room suddenly feels much quieter than it was just a few seconds ago. Will has turned the music down and everyone has stopped shout-talking.

           “Excuse me?”

           “I said shut up. Don’t talk to my friend like that. Don’t talk to me like that. I didn’t ask you to come over here. In fact, if you had given me a heads up, I would’ve told you not to come over here.”

           “Are you serious? You literally left me a voicemail as if you were in grave danger, and now you’re mad at me for checking on you?”

           “You checking on me isn’t the problem here! The problem is that you clearly don’t actually give a shit and you’re just here to keep up appearances!”

           “What does that even mean? That’s absurd.” He’s rolling his eyes this time, still standing close to the still-open door. David and Killian are both behind him, eyeing Emma carefully.

           “If you really cared about me potentially being in danger, you wouldn’t have come over here with a whole stick up your ass. And you certainly wouldn’t have gotten upset when you saw that I was fine!” Killian purses his lips and nods, and David shoots her a discreet grin.

           Walsh scoffs, backing towards the door some more. “You know what, I don’t need this.”

           “Good,” Emma retorts. “Neither do I. Go home, Walsh.”

           “Where do you think I’m going? Christ, I swear. Go have fun with Killian, I guess.”

           “Don’t bother coming back, and don’t call me! I don’t wanna hear from you!” She’s shouting at him, as if he’s too far away to hear her, even though he hasn’t crossed the threshold.

           “Why would I come back? It’s always been obvious that you don’t want me here, Emma! I don’t even know why I ever bothered! A slut like you could never settle down!”

           She feels like she’s been punched. What grounds could Walsh possibly have to call her a slut? In her entire adult life, she can count the number of guys she’s dated on one hand. Her six-year relationship took up a lot of her time, thank you very much.

           Emma may have felt like she was punched, but at least she wasn’t actually punched. At least she didn’t have Killian and David standing behind her, taking in her insult and rearing up to punch her in the face the second she turned towards them. At least she didn’t have David holding her in her place while Killian swung his right fist straight into her jaw.

           If she wasn’t so shocked by what just went down, she would’ve found it impressive to see Killian and David working together to beat up the guy who just insulted her character. Killian likely wouldn’t have been able to grab Walsh and hold him in place with his left hand while his right hand swung into his face, but with David there, he was able to deliver a firm hit that must’ve made Walsh dizzy.

           “Get the fuck out of our apartment,” Killian hisses, practically spitting in Walsh’s face while he holds his collar with his right hand. Then, Killian shoves Walsh to the ground outside the door and David slams it shut.

           “Alright, Swan?” Killian’s blue eyes are on her, along with everyone else’s. She nods and slowly turns around and walks back to the couch.

           “Emma…” Ruby starts, but she’s clearly not sure where to go from here. Neither is Emma. What the hell just happened?

           “I’m fine. I just- I need another drink,” she says pleadingly, eyes on Killian’s. His brows tighten together in concern, but he nods softly, making his way over towards the kitchen.

           Emma sits on the couch and draws her own brows together, trying to comprehend what just happened. Walsh busted in and started accusing her of making stuff up, or, at least, that’s how she interpreted things. She was already heated, so having him come at her like that must have just set her off. Did she really have to scream at him like that?

           Then she remembers what he said to her, what he called her. Emma has been dating a bit more lately, trying to get over Neal, but she certainly wouldn’t classify herself as a slut, and she definitely wouldn’t say she’s been sleeping around. Walsh just said that because he wanted a relationship and she didn’t… right?

           Then she thinks about what happened after he called her a slut. Everything happened so quickly that she’s not even sure if she remembers it correctly. As soon as Walsh said it, he turned around, as if he wanted to insult her and then promptly leave. However, Killian had just walked out from the other room, and David was the one who opened the door when he first arrived, so the two of them were waiting for him when he turned around. The second they saw his face, it seemed like the pounced. It was almost as if the two of them had rehearsed David holding Walsh in place and Killian hitting him square in the jaw. It wasn’t hard enough to knock him unconscious, but it was definitely a hard hit.

Then, Emma’s thinking about Killian’s knuckles and how they must be starting to ache, so she stands abruptly, stumbles a bit, and makes her way into the kitchen. She’s certain that at least David and Ruby are watching her, but she doesn’t care.

“I was on my way back out, love,” Killian says when she reaches the kitchen area. She nods, her eyebrows still screwed up in concern and confusion. “Would you like your drink here?” She nods again.

“Okay?” She’s looking him in the eye and then glancing down at his hand and pointing at it.

He chuckles softly, “are you asking if I’m okay, or are you saying okay to drinking out here?”

“You,” is all she can say back, eyes still fixed on his reddening knuckles. It’s as if she’s completely unable to focus on anything else.

“I’m fine, Swan. You should see the other guy,” he jokes with a cocky smile, but his eyes soften when her expression remains unchanged. She steps forward towards him, stumbles past his body, and heads towards the freezer, pulling out a box of popsicles. She thrusts the box towards him and nods her head. “Swan, really, I’m okay.”

“You need to ice it,” she says, pushing the box towards him again. She thinks this action through and ends up opening the box and taking one out before forcing him to take it from her. “You only have one good hand left, take care of it.”

His face falls slightly at the comment, and she immediately regrets saying it, but he takes the box from her anyway.

“I’m sorry,” she says, suddenly feeling a wave a guilt that’s likely to drown her, tears pricking her eyes. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way, I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head and walks towards her, steadying her wavering body with his arms and drawing her into an embrace. “It’s alright love, I’m not mad. Everything’s alright.”

She feels like crying, she thinks she is crying, in fact, but she can’t hardly focus on that anymore. Not when she’s also focused on the way Killian smells like the ocean and the way that the smell mixes with the scent of leather lingering on his tight black Henley. He’s squeezing her in a way that makes her almost forget the weirdly terrible turn the night took.

“I’m sorry,” she says again, although she’s not sure why.

“Don’t apologize, you didn’t do anything. I’m sorry he was such a dick to you.”

She shakes her head against his chest and continues to breathe deeply, warding off tears without even meaning to.

Suddenly, as they stand there with him holding her so tenderly, her thoughts draw back to where they were only minutes ago, and she feels that familiar sensation in the pit of her stomach. She moves from him, his embrace loosening, and drunkenly looks up at him with sadness stuck in her eyes. “You didn’t want to kiss me,” she states.

He hums lightly, sighing and nodding his head. “Perhaps we can talk about that tomorrow.”

“No,” she says, “I want to talk now. I won’t want to talk tomorrow.” What she means is, she won’t have the balls to talk about it tomorrow, without excessive liquid courage.

“I didn’t want to kiss you,” he confirms. “I didn’t want to make you kiss me because I thought you would feel bad about it afterwards. What with Walsh and everything,” he trails off. He clearly thought that they were in a better place than they were.

“Walsh is gone,” she says without thinking. “He was gonna be gone soon anyway.”

“Aye, love, I know that now. But I also,” he cuts himself off, sighing and pulling on his bottom lip with his right hand in a way that threatens to drive her insane. His left arm is still slung over her shoulders, but they’ve separated a bit. “I didn’t want to kiss you because of some game you were playing while you were drunk.”

“Oh,” she says, considering this. Perhaps her suspicions about her being too drunk to be kissable were accurate.

“What I mean is, if I were to kiss you, I’d want it to be more special than it would have been behind the Iron Curtain.”

“Oh.”

“Emma?” Ruby rounds the corner before Emma can comprehend what Killian said. “Are you okay, honey? Why are you holding a popsicle?”

She looks down at the melty mess within the white packaging. Killian chuckles and tosses it in the trash, then moves to put the box back in the freezer. While he’s in there, searching for room even though it was just pulled out, she leaves the kitchen and heads straight for the bathroom.  

           She feels slightly better now that she’s walking and not being suffocated by Killian’s muscular chest and intoxicating scent. At the same time, however, she also feels cold and alone.

She notes that it’s now completely quiet in the living room, as if the party died the second Walsh walked in. She feels guilty about being the root of the problem tonight, but honestly can’t really spend much time thinking about it.

           Once she makes it to the bathroom, she gets her cleanser and removes her makeup, then puts on her moisturizer. Throughout her adult life, if there was one thing she was good at, it was drunkenly taking off her makeup and completing her skincare routine.

           Once she gets to bed, she finds her thoughts migrating back to Killian. She thinks about the way his face tightened and his arm muscles rippled when he swung and hit Walsh. She thinks about the way his kind eyes stared at her and only her afterwards, as if he needed to make sure she was okay. She thinks about the way he smelled and how his soft warm chest felt against her face while he held her.

           Then, she thinks about what he said. If I were to kiss you, I’d want it to be more special than it would have been behind the Iron Curtain. What the hell does that mean?

           She would genuinely be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t thought about how it would feel to kiss him. His lips are luscious, anyone would have to admit it. And he’s always doing that thing where he pinches them between his fingers or runs his tongue along the bottom one. If it was anyone else, someone she didn’t live with and someone who wasn’t her brother’s best friend, she probably would have jumped on the opportunity to sleep with him months ago.

But thinking that he’s physically attractive and actually having feelings for him are completely different things. And lately, despite her constant annoyance, she also has feelings of longing and happiness whenever she sees him. Him saying that he would want their shared moment to be special is only adding fuel to the fire of him being crush-worthy. Her feeling rejected by him saying he didn’t want to kiss her also made her feel foolish for ever thinking that she didn’t have a crush on him.

The lights are off and she’s under her blankets, but she hears her door creak open and sees light flooding in the crack. She’s sure Ruby went home by now, so she’s not sure who would be breaking into her room. Rather than dealing with it, she pretends to be asleep until the culprit leaves. Once they do and she hears the door close tight, she rolls over and looks to her bedside table to see that whoever it was left some Advil and cold water for her, and grins, knowing it must have been Killian who dropped it off.

She’s fucked.

[msragdoll]

Personal stuff (TW death)

So today I went to a get together for my cousin Nick who was killed in May. I say get together because it wasn't really a funeral or service. More of a 'lets gather at Nick's favorite restaurant and be together for his memory."

And, I've got so many emotions about everything. And so I'm just gonna type it all out here and throw it into the wind so I feel heard...

I'm so mad at myself right now. I feel guilty. The last time I talked to my cousin was in 2019. I walked into the pawn shop that he (basically) owned and asked for advice on how to track down some things that were stolen from @r-ochoa . He told me he'd keep an eye out at his shop and the other one nearby and told me to check out sites like 'Let Go' but in different zip codes and counties nearby. And that was the last time I saw him.

Previous to that, maybe by a year? I saw him at his rehearsal dinner for his wedding. I hadn't even known it was happening until my mom called me and told me I should come and that an old family friend was there that I hadn't seen since I was 11 was there too. I rushed over, moreso happy to see the old friend. While I spent most of my time talking with that friend Nick made a point to hang out with us and talk too. The whole evening was about him and his soon to be bride but he made a point to join in with our catch up, spend time with my daughter and share in our time.

I didn't go to his wedding the next day...I hadn't gotten an invitation (I found out alot of people didn't, it wasn't that formal) and I'm so mad that I didn't ask him that night if I could come...

I'm mad that I never took a moment to tell him that he was the one out of two cousins I had that didn't treat me like garbage. The second cousin got frustated alot with me as a kid though, where Nick was always patient. Growing up I had 5 cousins. 4 boys; the only girl being the oldest so we never really hung out unless she was babysitting, but that rarely happened. I was the youngest. One of the boys (that 2nd cousin) was from a different part of the family so hanging out with him was usually just the two of us.

That left Nick and the two other cousins and those 3 plus me often hung out together. The other 2 cousins teamed up alot and would pick on me. They'd take my favorite stuffed animal that I insisted on treating gently and kindly and throw him up and down the stairs and push me away when Id try to get him back. Or they'd play hide and seek and ditch me. Sometimes they'd put me in dangerous situations that as a 7 year old I didn't realize how dangerous they were. They'd even steal things from me or break my things. And I wanna say I have no hatred towards my cousins for these things, as an adult I understand that kids do fucked up things, especially when they don't know how to process what theyre feeling.

But Nick. Nick never did any of those things. In fact if he was there, he'd intervene. He got my stuffed animal back for me. He'd come find me if he realized I had been ditched or put somewhere dangerous. He never took things from me, and would actually give me random things he thought I'd like from his own stuff.

Maybe it was because both of us had influences in our lives that encouraged kindness, where as the other 2 cousins didn't. Whatever it was, Nick was always there. I remember going to his grandma's house, with his sister (his sister had a different dad so I didn't see her as often as I saw Nick) and the three of us would always have a blast.

In fact, it was Nick who helped me get over my fear of motorcycles. Nick's dad, my uncle, had taken us out on bikes and I was on the back of my uncle's ATV. My leg kept getting sucked into the wheel and it hurt so bad. I kept crying and asking my uncle if we could go home, that I was hurt. But we didn't go home until later. I don't know if Nick had seen what was happening. Later on, at Nick's grandma's house (she had a HUGE property that had a track on the grounds) he asked if his sister and I would like to ride on the back of his quad and take a few laps and jumps. His sister was all for it but I was so scared. I didn't want my leg to get hurt again. I didn't want to fall off the back going off jumps either.

But he told me not to worry, he would take it slow and only go as fast as I told him. So I got on. When we got to the first jump on his track he stopped and asked if I wanted to stay on the ground, go in the air or go really high. I told him just to start out on the ground...and he listened when I asked him to take it slow. Not to go too high in the air. And by the end of it all he had built up so much confidence in me thay I had asked him to take those jumps higher and higher. I wasn't afraid anymore because he didn't throw me into a situation I had no control over....in fact... thinking about it... I think this was the first time in my life where I was allowed control over a situation....that I wasn't just plopped into something because the grown ups wanted to do it and I had to just accept it and deal with no say.

(TW: Menstruation) Nick was also there when I got my first period. He was probably a teenager by then but he didn't get weirded or grossed out. We were all having a campout sleepover at his grandma's house before his sister was moving away and I can remember the girls she had invited being kind of weirded out and me trying to hide it. I remember just kind of sitting away from them feeling gross and Nick being like "yeah, my mom told me what's going on. Mind if I sit with you and just hang out?" And so we did.

There's so many other memories I have him him, all of them good. I can't remember a single time where he was mean to me or frustrated with me. He never told me to leave him alone or to go away. If I was afraid or worried about something he never made fun of me or brushed it off. He took the time to show me how it'd be okay. I remember my mom freaking out that I was going to have this specific teacher she had growing up who was a total hard ass and Nick reassuring me that Mr. Roach was one of the kindest, coolest teachers at our school and was not the same man he was however many years ago. And Nick was right, Mr. Roach was the best teacher I ever had.

And I never told him how much it all meant to me. How his kindness always shown so bright to me, especially after losing my dad. I feel like all the fucked up cousin shit happened as soon as my dad died, especially cause he wasn't there to intervene anymore. (My dad didn't really like that side of the family so when they were around he was pretty vigilant about how they behaved) but Nick was always kind and friendly. I never felt like a burden, or 'just a girl' or annoying or all that general 'youngest one nobody likes' vibes.

And I never told him that it meant so much to me. And now I can't. And I hurt because I can't tell him and I also hurt because I feel like I shouldnt feel as sad as I do because as we grew up and my mom married and moved us away and we grew apart. I saw him less and less. The tight bond we had growing up faded as we aged and wasn't maintained. Sure everytime we saw each other we always fell back into that bond, but those times became so few and far between...and...how can I be so sad when I hadn't seen him for over 2 years? I didn't even know his wife outside of her name.

And I know that feeling that 'undeserving of feeling sad' is super irrational. But I just...I can't seem to turn it off. And it couples with the guilt and anger of never telling him how he was such a beacon of kindness growing up and how as an adult I realize how important that was for me as a child to have.

I have so many emotions about him dying right now and I've kept it all mostly to myself. But it's mostly regret and frustration at myself...I'm hurting for sure right now...

[camomills]

Title: Old Souls Relationships: Sinon/Lisbeth; Sinon & Agil Fandom: Sword Art Online Word Count: 1767 Summary: Sinon realizes she is allowing others to become closer to her, and that scares her. A conversation with an older friend might help assuage her fears. Notes: Made for SAO Pride Week 2020 - Day 1: Small Steps. This is a reworked draft from last year's SAO Pride Week that I turned into some Sinon/Lisbeth, mostly Sinon-centric. I also just really wanted to do something with Agil because I think he's a fun character, and I personally think his wise demeanor makes him a nice character to bounce off the younger cast.Thanks to redbluezero for beta reading!

AO3 Link

-

The smell of coffee has always been one of Shino’s favorites. It reminds her of rainy days spent in the company of a book in her favorite bookshop, staring mindlessly at the steam as she waited until her drink cooled. It’s no wonder Dicey Café became one of her dearest places.

“Here’s your order!”

The company might have something to do with it, too.

“This one’s on the house,” Rika declares as she sets the cup on the counter, then winks.

From behind her, she hears someone clear their throat.

She slowly turns to meet Agil’s gaze, and sure enough, he’s scowling at her. The grip on the glass he’s drying has turned vice-like.

“That one’s on your salary.”

“Agil, c’mon! Let me be cool!”

They bicker for a short minute, Rika being cheeky whereas Agil is composed. The tone of the discussion is more akin to foolish banter between friends than a squabble between a boss and his employee, so Shino allows herself to laugh at it. 

Rika’s shift soon ends and she heads to the ladies’ room to change. As per usual these days, Shino waits for her so they can keep company to one another on the train ride back home. 

*

Yesterday’s commute was much like any other.

The train car shook and rattled against the steel and gravel tracks as the whirls of metal and the passengers’ chatter filled the compartment. The two girls partook in idle chatter, holding onto the same metal pole to keep their balance inside the box car. Shino’s proximity to Rika allowed the girl to filter the blacksmith’s words through the fog of sound.

Shino’s hands scraped against Rika’s on each stop. 

“So, so,” Rika continued telling excitedly, “he destroyed the best sword in my shop! My masterpiece, turned to smithereens.”

Shino let out a horrified gasp in jest.

“Oh, my. I lost my dear Hecate’s scope trying to help him out in BoB. I wonder if we’re liable for some sort of compensation?”

The two nodded in tandem over their two-person class-action lawsuit plans. They broke the comical act when the train stopped at the next station a bit too roughly, bumping them into each other. They couldn’t contain their chuckles at their own silliness.

“Ah, next one’s my stop,” Rika announced.

Shino knew. They’d been sharing this commute for a while. 

“I’ll be seeing you then. Until next time, Rika.”

Shino expected Rika to leave as the train doors opened, but she approached Shino instead. Rika’s arms bundled around Shino’s frame.

It’s a moment that allowed Shino to take note of a small list of Rika Things. Rika is only taller than her by a few inches, but it’s enough that it allowed her chin to rest on Rika’s shoulder slightly. The fake fur on Rika’s coat bristled against Shino’s nose, gentle and irritating— much like Rika herself, she thought. The pressure at the shorter girl’s back where Rika’s slender fingers intertwined was rough, yet fond.

A wave of warmth radiated through Shino’s body. She weakly squeezed Rika back.

“Until next time!” Rika said as she uncoiled her arms from around the other girl. 

She beamed at Shino before hopping through the train doors, waving as she exited at the station. 

That was the first time Rika had ever hugged her. 

Shino’s body wanted to feel elated, but her brain didn’t allow it; the affection in Rika’s gesture got muddled in her spiral of guilty thoughts. Since when did she allow people to get so close? 

Since when did I let myself want that?

The rest of her commute was spent staring out the cart’s window, hoping that the train’s AC would manage to cool down her emotions before long.

**

As the bathroom door slams shut, Agil rests his arms on the counter and leans against it, a hand sitting upon his bald head.

“Can you believe her? I offered her this part-time job because I knew it’d help her with college, but...” He throws his hands out, his fondness for Lis peeking through a smile fighting his scowl. “You know?”

Mm-hmm, Shino nods empathically, as she’s wont to do with Agil. The company that lures her in here, of course, includes both of the bartenders.

She had grown to care for all of her new friends, but she was caught by surprise at how much she related to Agil, of all people. He is the oldest in their merry band of players, by far, and despite that– no, because of that, they got along.

People her age, throughout most of her experience, were uncaring at best and cruel at worst. The adults around her, dry as they could be, served as the closest to good company she had growing up. There’s a bitter taste in her mouth as Shino realizes she’s grown more proficient in talking to adults due to the past cruelty of all the people her age in her life up until very recently. Thankfully, it’s easy enough to wash it down with the sweetness of the cappuccino Rika had mischievously handed her.

Agil, on the other hand, appreciates having a regular other than Asuna with whom he could default to intellectual conversation and wouldn’t call his establishment, ‘a dump’. How did Kirito manage to rope even Silica into it?

As their conversation strays away from Lisbeth’s demeanor, they fall to their more usual topics: Shino asks about how he manages to do latte art so perfectly every time and he asks if she finally reached the fourth chapter of the book he lent to her a couple of days ago. One “final” plea for him to try out Gun Gale, and his unacceptable excuse that he doesn’t have the time.

Mundane topics like that are their speed, but for once,  Shino has something less mundane in her mind. There’s something in that space, with the gentle ambiance music and the calming presence of a wiser friend, that brings her to feel that Agil is the right person, at that time, for those thoughts.

“I think I like Lis,” she professes like a secret she wished wasn’t true. It doesn’t seem to be the meat of what she has to say, judging from the way her jaw clenches.

Agil simply hums. He’d rather talk about latte art.

“Yeah, I figured. I mean, you really started coming here more often once she started working here.” 

He laughs, a wry, good-natured sound, hard to define between his fondness for the girls and his apathy for the topic.

“I mean… yes. But that’s not the point. How do I…”

 Shino gulps. Her gaze turns to the counter in front of her, where her hands lie. She fiddles with her fingers, watching as her thumbs graze each other through their rotations; staring at them without thinking about the words she’s about to say, are the only way she manages to go through it.

“I guess…  I don’t know if I remember how to be around people. Or if it’s... right, for me to be around people?”

She remembers what those hands did; the cold of steel and the heat of gunfire, the maroon of splattered blood and the gray of post office tiles.

Is it okay for a broken person like me…?

Agil would be lying if he said he’s particularly interested in involving himself in the romantic squabbles of teenagers. The other aspect of her plea, though, is something he’s unfortunately familiar with. He ponders, his face a mix of sagely and worried, as the soft thudding of her trembling hands are barely drowned out by the bar’s blues music.

“I was worried, too, back when I had to come back to my life after SAO.”

Shino raises her gaze to Agil’s eyes. 

“I mean, it's not the same thing, but… it’s hard being around people who judge you for what you went through, and trying to make connections when everyone thinks you’re screwed in the head is a pain in the ass. ‘The game where those freaks killed each other.’ ‘The murderer girl’.”

Agil knows what Shino did. Shino told all of them, eventually. 

“But everyone who spent those two years in the flying castle went through a lot of things they shouldn't have had to, and probably did some things they regret. To others. To themselves. I did, Kirito and Asuna did, and so did Rika. We talk about it…” 

His eyes turn to the ladies’ room’s door, where Rika is changing. He decides her past is not his to divulge.

“Uh. I guess all I’m trying to say is that you’re friends with people who get it, because none of us are sure it’ll ever be okay with people. So, we just stick together. I doubt Rika minds… whatever it is you're worried about? I think people like us have little besides each other.”

The last bit sticks with Shino. As she chews on the words once more, she stares at her hands. The weight they carry is impossibly heavy, but if what Agil says is true, then that means others, too, carry the same burden. 

Her trembling ceases.

He pauses. “Or something?” 

He’s not sure how much sense he is making. 

“I’m not sure how much sense I’m making.”

That gets a chuckle out of her, and that’s good enough for him.

*

Rika exits the bathroom, her former bartender-y, formal-ish ponytail from a few minutes ago undone into a mess of brown hair. Her lack of an apron reveals the cute hammer patterns on her graphic shirt.

"Are you two nerds done talking about nerd stuff?" She says, as if not just as much of one.

Agil and Shino roll their eyes.

"Yeah, we’re done with our nerd stuff."

Rika starts sliding her arm into her jacket, then turns to Shino. “Sweet. Are you ready to go then?”

Shino looks at Agil, who simply offers her a friendly wave and a knowing smile.

“Yeah, I think I’m ready.”

*

The two girls walk off together to the train station. The empty night streets give them quiet, with little to focus on other than the sound of boots hitting pavement, the cold breeze, and each other. It’s then when, bashful yet confident, Shino tries to interlock her fingers with Rika’s.

Rika squeezes her hand in return, rough yet fond. 

As Rika wordlessly taps her fingers on Shino’s knuckles, Shino realizes that Agil was right. There’s no way that those hands, fitting so perfectly together, were meant to be apart. Perhaps such heavy hands have no other pairs but each other, and that is fine.

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 15

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 10,487

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

So... last time on The Burning Wreckage That Is My Life (please excuse the working title).

I had a crush on a guy. Well, maybe… I mean, I think I did? But I couldn't let him know that I had a crush on him. And just to make things extra complicated, I now had to act like we were dating when we really weren't. So basically… I like-liked him but had to pretend that I didn't like-like him while at the same time pretending that I did like-like him.

Confused yet? I know I was.

Also, I really needed to stop using the word like-like.

Ugh, what had I been thinking? This was a terrible plan. A disaster just waiting to happen. There was no possible way it could end well. And yet, here I sat in my apartment, watching the clock as I waited for my fake boyfriend to come pick me up. What was the matter with me? What had possessed to ever say yes to this… this insanity?

I had gotten off work not too long ago and had come straight home to prepare for my meetup with Father. This was Lea's day off, so I hadn't had to start this whole farce of a relationship around the mall today, which at least was one small comfort. My fingers as per usual were fidgeting with my freshly washed and plaited hair as I watched the seconds slowly tick by, my stomach twisting into tighter and tighter knots.

Sighing, I forced my hands to stop fussing with the braid and they complied… only to start picking at the flaps of the empty cardboard box Rayne had scrounged up for me to put things from my old place into. With a tiny scowl, I shoved my hands into my lap, demanding they be still. That lasted maybe all of two seconds before they started fiddling and twisting at the buttons that ran all the way down the front my navy corduroy overalls dress. The long sleeved shirt I wore underneath it was off the shoulder and white with blue horizontal stripes. The dress itself fell all the way down to my ankles, with a slit up to the knee on one side, giving a peek of my snowflake-patterned tights.

Yes, I was a full grown adult who still liked cutesy prints on my socks and stockings. So sue me.

Erg, where was he? As much as I was dreading seeing Father again and wished I didn't have to deal with it at all, the wait was killing me. And I couldn't put it off forever so I'd rather just get this awfulness over with already. I-

"Hello, Lea?" I heard Rayne's voice and I whipped my head around to spot her stepping out of her bedroom, smartphone pressed to one ear. She shot me a grin but then it faded as she glanced away with a squint. "Whaddya mean you're down in the parking lot? Get your ass up here and knock on the door like a goddamn gentleman, you-"

In the space of a heartbeat, I'd zoomed across the room to snatch the phone from her. "I'll be right down, see you in a sec!" I said quickly into it and, not waiting for a reply, hung up the call before Rayne could steal her phone back.

"Hey!" she huffed, fumbling to catch the device as I tossed to her. Then she gave a tiny whine, "But sweetpea, that's no way for him to treat a lady! I expected better of him!"

I rolled my eyes as I returned to the table to grab the box by one of its flaps. "I told him to just call up when he got here."

Rayne followed behind me with a tiny pout. "But I wanted to practice my whole 'What are your intentions towards my daughter' speech on him!"

"And that," I smirked, tapping her on the nose with my free hand, "is exactly why I told him to call."

Puffing out her cheeks, she crossed her arms. "You're no fun!"

"Ouch. Your words, they wound me. But somehow, someway… I think I'll live," I deadpanned, making my way over to open the front door.

"Oh! Curfew's at ten! Not one minute later, missy, not one second or you're grounded!"

I paused to turn back and droop my eyelids at her. "...too far, Rayne. Too far." Then I left, slamming the door shut behind me.

That woman, I swear. Loved her to pieces, but the sooner that baby was out of her, the better. Then she could focus all of that crazy on her new bundle of joy instead of me.

As I hurried down the steps, I went over the game plan in my head again. It'd been another sleepless night last night as I'd mentally prepared myself for Operation Boyfriend But Shh Not Really. That's right, I'd named it. Come on, it's me, how could I not? It was the only way I could feel like I had any sort of control over this whole situation. Which I one hundred percent did not. But I needed to try and trick myself into believing that I did if I had any chance of staying sane through all of this.

This being Lea and me. Pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend. And boyfriends and girlfriends did… things. No, not that! Definitely not that, that would be going well above and beyond the call of duty! Yeesh, get your mind out of the gutter! I only meant like, ya know… holding hands, hugging… other various public displays of affection that shall remain nameless because I quite simply could not deal with even the mere thought of such things without my face bursting into flames.

But I was going to have to deal if I had any hope of getting through this. And to deal, I needed to face facts. Lea only saw me as a friend. He was only playing along to help me… as a friend. Whatever I was or wasn't feeling towards him, he did not feel the same way. Doing all those aforementioned boyfriend-girlfriend things? Wasn't going to threaten to make his heart explode like it would mine. So if I was going to survive long enough to make it out the other side of this little fiasco, my heart needed to take a chill pill.

Conceal, don't feel. That was going to be my mantra. It was one I was actually already very familiar with and had put to good practice regularly over the years. Rayne had been right. Growing up in my family, feelings had been a luxury. And as the eldest heir to the Fryse fortune, I'd had an image to maintain, the family name to uphold. I hadn't gotten to enjoy the same freedoms Anna had since she'd been born second. Not that I think I could have ever been such a… shall we say, free spirit like her. I'd always been the bundle of nerves on legs that I am. Conceal, don't feel… that'd been the only way I'd been able to maintain the calm, cool mask in front of high society and not be a walking, talking spazz of an embarrassment to my parents.

And now that little motto was what was going to get me through all this.

At least, I hoped so.

Reaching the bottom floor of my building, I stopped just short of the exit, taking a slow deep breath. Then I smoothed my dress, swept my braid forward over one shoulder and gave myself a reassuring nod.

I got this.

With my box still firmly in hand, I pushed open the door and stepped outside into the parking lot where I immediately spotted Lea. He was looking down at his phone, his thumb swiping across its screen every so often while he leaned against what was presumably his car. A (what looked to be) few decades old yet well taken care of muscle car, black and sleek and one of the types named after an animal like viper or cougar or stingray, you know, just to let you know how cool this vehicle really was. It seemed Lea had decided to color coordinate with his ride, for he was dressed in head-to-toe black himself. Beneath the leather jacket that he wore was a fitted tee that simply read Straight Fire in cracked and faded script. His skinny jeans were ripped at the knees and tucked into a pair of tall, combat boots. If possible, his crimson locks seemed even wilder than usual today and he was also sporting a pair of aviator sunglasses.

...I don't got this.

Also, I was staring.

Also, I'd dropped my box.

Jeez, Elsa, get a grip. So what if the guy was gorgeous? We already knew that. Had established it from day one. It wasn't any sort of definitive proof you'd caught feelings or anything. Anyone, anything, even a corpse, even a frigging lamppost would be susceptible to his, er… his charms.

Giving myself a quick shake, I retrieved my box from the ground and walked towards him. His head lifted at the sound of my footsteps and I could feel his gaze on me. Pocketing his phone as I came to a stop in front of him, he then hunched to my eye level, bringing his face closer to mine as he tipped down his shades, revealing his all but trademark winged eyeliner with a wink and a smirk. "What's cookin', good lookin'?"

...okay. There was a slight chance I'd caught feelings.

But psssh, that little flutter in my rib cage could have been anything. Maybe my last meal was disagreeing with me. Yeah, that had to be it.

Remember. Conceal, don't feel.

Squelching the foreign sensation in my chest, I fixed him with a blank stare. "...wow, that the best you got? You really have been out of the game for a while, haven't you?"

With a snerk, he used a foot to push himself up off the car as he straightened up and opened the passenger side door for me. "Nah, s'not that. I'm just going easy on you. Couldn't have you going all weak in the knees on me right before our big date with your dad."

"I think my knees have nothing to worry about," one corner of my lips turned up as I took a seat.

"You say that now, but trust me," he bent towards me, propping an elbow atop the door window and jerking a thumb towards his face, "if I really turned it on, you wouldn't stand a chance, sweet thang, it'd be straight to Swoon City for you!"

I quirked an eyebrow at him, "Did you really just use the terms 'sweet thang' and 'Swoon City' in the same sentence?"

"...yeah, not my proudest moment. Can we forget that ever happened?"

Biting back a grin, I nodded. "I think that'd be in both our best interests. Mostly yours."

"Smart ass," he shook his head with a chuckle, shutting my door and making his way around to the other side of the car.

Okay. Good. This was going well. He didn't suspect a thing. Elsa, Queen of Evasion. Now I only needed to keep up the act for the duration of the ride. A mere one hour road trip to the city of Arendelle. A measly sixty minutes. And really, what was sixty minutes in the grand scheme of things? Hardly a blip in time. This shouldn't be too hard, right?

...then of course there would be when we actually got there and Lea and I'd have to put on a whole other kind of act for Father. Then the hour long trip back. Then the-

Easy there, girl. Just focus on the immediate task before you. One step at a time.

I heard his door open and glanced over, watching him take a seat and buckle himself in. My lips pursed to one side. "...so Halloween come early this year?"

"Huh?" his hand froze just as he'd been about to turn the key in the ignition, head turning my way, eyebrows shooting high above his aviators. Then he looked down at himself, patting at his shirt and jacket. "You don't like it? Crap, do I look like trash?"

I blinked.

Had I really… just made Lea self-conscious? Lea? The guy who'd dragged me up to do karaoke with him? The guy who'd been dancing around like a doofus atop food court tables while lip-syncing to corny glam metal? That Lea? I wouldn't have even thought the word to exist in his vocabulary.

Oh gosh, I must have taken it too far in the other direction. It's 'Conceal, don't feel,' not 'Demean, be mean.'

Hastily, I said, "No, it's not that. I… you look… good." Like, real good… ahem, down girl. I averted my gaze, hoping my face didn't look as warm as it felt. "I just… wasn't expecting it, is all."

"Oh!" he perked up, a tiny smile pulling at his lips now. "Well, I'm supposed to be your dark, bad boy lover, right? Just wanted to make sure I played up the part. Whaddya think, do I look like your parents' worst nightmare or what?"

"That getup is going to leave an impression, that's for sure."

He started up the engine and it roared to life. "Hell yeah! This is how you pick me out of a crowd. I make myself easy to remember. No way your padre's forgetting me anytime soon."

"I doubt anyone's forgetting you anytime soon. Don't think they could even if they wanted to," I snorted, resting my elbow on the window sill and propping my head against my knuckles.

"Never really could just blend and fade into the background. Side effect of being so majestic," his tongue clicked twice and pretty sure there was a wink behind those shades. Then he nodded to the box in my lap as he reversed the car out of its space, "You can just toss that in the back with the others."

"Others?" I looked over my shoulder to the backseat to discover a few just like mine packed in there. "You brought more?"

He shrugged, exiting the lot and turning us out onto the main road. "Well yeah! Just wanted to help in whatever small way I could."

Small way? The guy was already throwing his whole friggin' life out of whack just to basically be my rent-a-boyfriend, for Pete's sake! I hadn't thought it possible for him to help me even more than he already was. And yet, he'd found a way. To be fair, I hadn't planned to take much back from my old condo, so really, the extra boxes weren't totally necessary. But still…

"Thanks, Lea," I gave him a tiny smile as I put mine with the rest of the herd, "you're very thoughtful."

His fingers ruffled his hair as he gave a sheepish laugh. "Nah, it's nothing."

Alright. Two minutes down. Only fifty-eight more to go.

Lord help me.

Remember when I was more hermity? Yeah, those were the days. I wonder whatever happened to those?

Oh, that's right. My sister and my roommate happened.

Brats.

"So…" I began, racking my brain for the next thing to talk about. Ah, small talk. Bane of my existence. "...nice ride. Please tell me you didn't get it just to complete this whole look you're going for."

"Shit, should I have not?" I just stared at him and he snerked, breaking out into a grin, "Nah, I'm just messing with ya. It was my old man's car. Only thing he left me when he kicked the bucket. Well, that and massive debt. Thankfully, the state took that second one off my hands."

That's right. Lea'd been brought up in the foster system. So this now explained why one of his parents had been out of the picture. I frowned, tucking in my bottom lip. "...I'm sorry."

"Why? Got no reason to be," he chuckled, shaking his head. "It was ages ago, I've long since made my peace with it. I'm not broken up about it, trust me."

My eyes drifted from the buildings blurring past us over to him. "What was he like?"

His head shifted slightly towards me for a second before pointing straight ahead again. "Well… he wasn't ever gonna be winning father of the year, that's for sure. Not even runner up or one of those cruddy lil participation ribbons. The guy ODed out when I was six, so take from that what you will." He paused, tapping an index finger to the steering wheel a few times. "...but he did care. Did his best to do right by me. Saïx too, even though he wasn't his kid. The man wasn't a bad guy… he just didn't have his shit together and never really was meant to be a father."

The downward tug at my lips deepened as I lowered my gaze to my hands, folded neatly in my lap. "...can I ask, ah… your mother..."

"Where she fits into all this?" he ventured and I gave a slow nod. "Oh, she makes Pops look like he was a goddamn saint. She's a leech. Just hopping from one sugar daddy to the next, popping out kids she never wanted. Same day we buried our old man, she took Saïx and me out for ice cream after. Handed us some munny and told us to go order and pay while she snagged us a table to sit at. When we turned around a few minutes later, she'd split. Haven't seen her since."

My heart squeezed as I regarded him with wide eyes. "Wow, that… that's just awful. You have no idea where she is at all?"

"Didn't say that now. We actually did some digging into it a few years ago. Turns out she's just a couple states over, shacked up with some new sucker. An orthodontist or something. They're living up the suburbia life with the white picket fence, two-point-five kids, the whole shebang. Guess Saïx and I were just her practice run rejects before she went off and started her real family." He shrugged, "Though maybe she'll eventually skip out on this one too, who knows?"

I tipped my head to one side. "How do you know all that if you haven't seen her?"

"I haven't. Saïx has." He stopped at a red light, flicking on his turn signal. Then his hand was rubbing at the nape of his neck. "...she did try to reach out to me once. Last year. Left a voicemail saying something about wanting to reconnect or some bullshit. I deleted it. Couldn't of been all that serious 'bout it, seeing as how she hasn't tried again since. Probably just a halfhearted attempt to ease her pathetic excuse for a conscience before washing her hands of it and calling it a day."

My eyebrows met in a peak before I looked away again, fingers absently toying with my braid. He was talking so calmly about it all, so casually. As if he were discussing nothing more interesting than the weather. It made it harder for me to figure out an appropriate response in a situation that I was already so completely socially ill-equipped to deal with in the first place. Should I be just as laid back about it as he was? No, that felt insensitive. Should I express pity? Absolutely not, he'd probably hate that…

Seriously, what do?

How do you people?

"Alright," his voice broke through my thoughts, "you're up for sharing time." The light changed green and he pressed down on the gas pedal, turning us onto the highway entrance. "Why'd you do it? Go all Runaway Bride on your big day?"

I was relieved that he (whether knowingly or not) had saved me from having to come up with something to say to his tragic backstory. Even if this did mean I had to now talk about myself, which usually would have been just as anxiety-inducing of an experience. But somehow, right here, right now, talking to Lea... the idea didn't seem as uncomfortable as I normally would've expected it to be.

Twisting the tip of my braid around one finger, I mulled over it for a few silent seconds. Finally, I said, "It… he and I… we just weren't… right. I thought we were. He thought we were. My parents and his parents certainly thought we were. And I didn't want to disappoint them, so I just kept telling myself that everything was as it should be. That he and I made sense. But we didn't. Not really, not… in my heart. We just…"

"You didn't love him," he said simply, and I winced. As if I'd done something wrong. Then I nodded. "And it took you getting within a stone's throw of saying 'I do' to realize that?"

"Well," I frowned up at the ceiling, "...I'd always heard that love takes time. So I think a part of me was just waiting for it to happen. Waiting for… I don't know… that moment where it'd just hit me, that moment of just… 'oh wow! So that's what this is supposed to feel like' or something. I thought maybe… maybe our first kiss. Or maybe by our first anniversary. Or maybe when he proposed to me. Or maybe when I was trying on gowns or looking at venues with him. But then, suddenly, it was our wedding day and it struck me that still… nothing. And if it I wasn't feeling it after being together for five years, that I probably was never going to. That's when the panic set in and… well…"

"Let me guess. That's when the legendary Phonebook Heist occurred," one corner of his lips twitched up.

I breathed a soft laugh. "Yeah. Had to ditch the big poofy dress. And I used the phonebook to track Rayne down, since she wasn't listed under her full name in it."

A snort escaped him. "Ever thought of this crazy lil thing all the kids are doing nowadays called writing things down on a post-it? I know, wild right? It's new, maybe ya haven't heard of it."

"I was a bit stressed and not exactly thinking clearly in that moment," I bit back a grin, giving his arm a gentle shove.

"Gee, I wonder why," he said wryly as he shifted lanes. "Still curious as to why you felt like you had to run away. Couldn't you have just called the wedding off?"

"You make it sound so easy," my lips twisted sourly. "If it were, do you think I would have let Rayne rope us into going along with this crazy plan of Anna's and hers? You don't know my parents. They… have a way of getting what they want. No one says no to them. In their world, things are done a certain way. Always have been, always will be, end of discussion."

"Their world?" one of his eyebrows arched. Then something clicked. "That's right, you're loaded."

I shook my head, "My parents are, not me. Not anymore, anyway. Not unless you think I'm scooping mall ice cream at minimum wage just for kicks."

"What, you don't have a trust fund or something?"

"No, I do. Or rather… I did. I'm not sure anymore, really, not after everything I've done. Mother and Father control it and can make sure I never see a cent of it now. Not that I think I even want it anymore," I sighed, eyes downcast as I rubbed my elbow. "I really… have no idea what to expect at this point. How this whole meeting with Father will go. What he'll say or do or… I'm just… terrified."

I felt an unexpected warmth on my shoulder and I glanced over to find Lea's hand resting there. He gave it a small squeeze and smiled, "It'll be okay, El. Everything'll work out, you'll see. You'll get through this. And I'll be there to help any way I can, capisce? Now buck up," he lightly nicked my chin with his knuckle before gripping the steering wheel again. "Gonna need you to bring your A-game here if we're gonna fool your old man. Do a real good job and there's an ice cream with your name on it when we get back to Twilight Town."

One side of my mouth tugged up. "Don't you still owe me ice cream for helping you study?"

"And I still plan to make good on that once I've finally nailed down your fave. Speaking of," he paused with a low hum. "...Aloha Ohana?" My lips parted but he was already shaking his head, "Nope, too chunky. You like your desserts like you like your men," he waggled his eyebrows, "smooth."

My grin twitched wider. "Oh, really? And how would you know?"

"Isn't it obvious? Cuz I'm yo man," he jabbed a thumb into his chest.

"...and you think you're smooth?"

"As silk, baby!"

I hid my growing smile behind my fingers. "You're a dork is what you are… but a sweet dork."

He chuckled. "Maybe. But don't tell anyone. I got my bad boy reputation to maintain."

"Your secret is safe with me."

Somehow I was now getting the feeling that this little road trip of ours?

Maybe wasn't going to be as bad as I'd originally thought.

"Whatcha think? Too much?"

I glanced over at Lea. Sunglasses now perched atop his head, he returned my gaze, looking away from using his rear view mirror to help him up his guyliner game. The makeup pencil in his hand lifted from his cheek where he'd been applying what looked to be an upside down teardrop mark just beneath his right eye.

I snerked and wrinkled my nose slightly.

Lea huffed out a tiny laugh. "Say no more," he reached over, pulling some tissue from the glove compartment and wiping off his cheek.

We'd arrived just a moment ago and had parked on Fjord Boulevard, right in front of my old condominium building. I'd been using that minute to gather myself and work up the nerve to actually get out of the car. If it hadn't already been made abundantly clear, Lea had been using that same minute just as wisely himself.

Inhaling and exhaling slowly one last time, I finally unbuckled my seatbelt, opened my door and stepped onto the sidewalk.

The building before me was tall, imposing, and screamed munny and decadence. I'd never really noticed the sheer air of grandeur about it before, but now it all but smacked me in the face. Gosh, had it really only been about a month since I'd last been here? It felt like eons ago. A whole other lifetime. That girl who'd lived here once upon a time… she hadn't been me. Not really. It almost felt wrong coming back here now. Like I was an imposter. Some sort of usurper. It made my insides shrivel up and it took everything I had not to just jump back into the car and speed away without so much as a backwards glance.

Spotting movement out of the corner of my eye, I turned my head to find Lea standing next to me now, a couple of the smaller cardboard boxes wedged between his arm and side. My hands went to take one from him but he pivoted back a step, shifting them out of my reach as he wagged a finger in my face, "Ah ah! Don't worry about it, I got 'em. Makes me feel all buff and manly." He flexed his free arm.

I gave him a dull look. "...they're empty."

"Shush, let me have this."

My eyelids drooped. "Fine. You're the manliest man to ever man."

"Thank you." Then he gave a tiny mock bow, sweeping one hand out wide towards the building before us, "Lady's first."

Shaking my head, I walked towards the doorman standing in wait beneath the long awning leading to the entrance.

That's right. Doorman. As if this place weren't fancy enough already.

"Welcome back, Miss Fryse," he greeted, pulling the door open for me. "Or, if I may be so bold, Mrs W-"

"No!" I blurted out quickly, eyes wide, palms blurring up in a stop gesture.

Oh gosh, he had no idea I'd ran out on the wedding.

...well of course he didn't! Why would he?

...awkwaaaaard.

"Th-thank you, Cliff," I shakily lowered my hands to clasp in front of me, averting my gaze. "Ah… Fryse, please… if you would."

The man seemed unperturbed. In fact, his face brightened, "Oh, how modern! My missus will be thrilled to hear it. I trust you had a lovely honeymoon?"

And the awkward just kept on coming.

"It… er… " I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm actually in a small bit of a hurry. I have plans to meet with Father here shortly."

"Ah yes, so he said as well," he nodded before looking past me with a delicate frown. "And would this be the, uh… guest he mentioned would be accompanying you?"

I followed his gaze, glancing over my shoulder to where Lea stood behind me, hooligan incarnate. He clicked his tongue, shooting a finger gun at the doorman. I said, "Yes, I suppose he would b-" the words caught in my throat and I quickly looked back at Cliff. "Wait, so he said?" I echoed. "...is my father here already?"

"Why yes, ma'am, I let him in but a few moments ago."

My heart plummeted into my stomach.

I hadn't expected him to be here before us. I'd thought we would still have a little more time.

But he was here now.

This was happening now.

Like... now now.

And I was so very…

...very…

...NOT ready!

Somehow, I kept it together enough to manage a thanks to Cliff before stepping inside, feeling my knees start to go numb. And somehow, I kept it together while crossing the gilded, marble foyer to the elevators, ignoring the clamminess of my palms. I even somehow kept it together long enough to exchange pleasantries with the lobby attendant there who called the lift down for us before Lea and I stepped onto it and I, with only a slight tremor to my limbs, pushed the button for the top floor.

But the nanosecond those mechanized, mirrored doors slid shut…

"I can't!" My hands shot up, fingers digging into my scalp as I started hyperventilating and pacing, feeling the elevator begin to rise. "I can't go through with this! I can't, I just can't do it! This is crazy, this, this is nuts! How the heck did I ever let them talk me into this?! How?! There's just… just no way! It's not possible, I can't! I can't, I can't, I-"

Lea was suddenly in front of me, gently grabbing my arms and bringing me to an abrupt stop. "Woah now, slow down, El, breathe," he bent down to look me in the eye with concern. "It'll be okay. Trust me on this, you can do this. We can. You just gotta take it one step at a time and breathe, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"But how?! How will it be okay? I have to lie to him! I can't lie, I don't know how! I have no chill! You hear me? None! Zip! Absolutely zero chill! I couldn't even lie to Anna about the Easter Bunny when she was only four years old! Four, Lea. Four!"

"Okay, alright, then just don't think about it as lying. Think about it as…" his lips pursed to the left as his eyes shifted about. Then his face lit up, "...as one of those musicals you like so much!"

"Ah! We should break out into song and dance!" I said excitedly if somewhat desperately.

This is my brain. This is my brain on panic attack.

"...let's call that plan B. But no, I meant more like we're… between numbers right now and that we're acting. You like acting, right? Told me you used to do it all the time at camp, remember?"

"Acting…" I repeated slowly, turning the word over in my mind as some of the tension started to ease from my body.

Yes, acting. Acting technically, technically wasn't lying. Acting I could do.

...maybe.

I frowned at him. "I need a script."

"A script," he blinked. Then he straightened up, tapping a knuckle to his chin. "What about instead… guidelines?"

"Guidelines?" I echoed flatly.

"Yeah, for… ya know…" he pointed back and forth between him and me, "...this. Us. When we're in front of your folks and around the mall. Stuff like, uh..." he cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head, "...PDAs? Do's and don'ts. What's okay and what isn't. Boundaries and whatnot."

...oh.

Oh fudge.

"...you're kidding me… this is only coming up now?!" Recommencing pacing forthwith, now with added braid yanking action. "What's wrong with me, what was I thinking?! We had that whole friggin' car ride here, no, the whole last twenty-four hours and somehow we didn't discuss this already?! Not even once?!"

"El, El, it's okay, we can figure all that stuff out now."

His hand tried to close around my arm again, but I jerked it free. "How? There's no time! Any second, the elevator with chime and those doors will part and we'll have to face him and I'll crack and he'll know and, and, and that's it! Done! Finito! Curtains! It'll all be over before it's even begun and-"

This time he did manage to grab hold of my arm, pulling me to him and wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug. "Shh," he murmured, lightly stroking my hair and resting his chin on my head. He felt so warm as I took shallow, rapid breaths against his chest, inhaling that cinnamon scent of his combined with the oddly soothing smell of leather from his jacket that I was tightly gripping onto. My eyes slowly fluttered shut, my muscles starting to relax again, my panicked heart rate beginning to calm.

This was actually somewhat… kind of nice...

And then it happened.

The elevator chimed. Those doors parted. My eyes snapped open to discover standing there waiting for us on the other side was-

"F-Father!" I gasped, shoving Lea away. "Hi! I mean," I stood up straighter, stepped out onto the new floor, folded one hand over the other just below my waist, and ducked my head slightly, "H-Hello."

...wait.

Did I just…?

Instant mental replay.

-shoving Lea away-

Crud.

Not five seconds in and I was already acting in a most ungirlfriendlike fashion towards my alleged boyfriend.

What'd I tell you? Zero chill. Zilch.

"Elsa," I heard my father say, drawing my attention back to him. He was a tall man with hair the same auburn as Anna's. He looked stiff and rigid in the expensive dark blue suit he was wearing, lips set into a stoic line beneath his thin mustache and green eyes stern as he regarded me. The air felt heavy around us, the long stretch of silence deafening. I was convinced there was no possible way he couldn't hear the jackhammering of my heart against my ribcage while I tried to maintain a cool exterior under his scrutiny. Then finally after what felt like an eternity, he said evenly, "You look well."

I bit down on my lip as I lowered my gaze once more, eyes darting about. "...as do you."

Insert uncomfortably drawn-out pause. Then, "And I presume this would be…?"

He was looking at Lea, standing beside me now with boxes once more lazily propped on his jutted hip. My heart jolted and I started wringing my hands. "Ah… yes… this… this is…"

Just spit it out already!

"...this is boy. He is friend."

I word good.

Alright, take two.

Suppressing my wince, I tried again, "Er, that is to say, this is…" I clenched and unclenched my hands at my sides. "...this is my… my-"

"Lea," he rescued me, introducing himself and offering his hand.

My father just stared at it, expression unreadable, and there was a second - one very long second - where I thought he might not take it. But at last he did, if a touch gingerly, and gave it a curt shake. "A... pleasure, I'm sure."

"Likewise, Pops." He grinned now, "It's fine to call you Pops, right? Might as well get all friendly cuz we're gonna be seeing a lot of each other, no doubt."

Father didn't so much as yank his hand back as retrieve it as quickly as was politely and socially acceptable, his lips tight. "...Mr Fryse will suffice."

Lea just shrugged and grinned wider, taking his own hand back.

And slid it into mine, interlacing our fingers together.

Heart.

Flatlined.

Okay, sure, this really shouldn't have been all that big of a deal. After all, Lea had held my hand before. But that had just been when he'd needed to drag me somewhere. It'd been incidental. This? This was hand holding with purpose. This hand holding was a declaration. This hand holding was up on the metaphorical soapbox with a megaphone and would not be ignored. This hand holding was making a goddamn statement.

This hand holding was causing me to burn bright red.

Conceal, don't feel, conceal, don't feel, conceal, don't feel!

Luckily, Father's narrowed gaze was too focused on said hand holding to notice my face trying to give the plush, deep crimson carpet beneath our feet a run for its munny. After another excruciatingly long second (of which I was beginning to suspect this little visit would be in no short supply of), he whipped around and strode off down the hallway, back ramrod straight and voice taut as he said, "Let's step into your condo now."

"Let's," Lea chirped, following after him.

Still holding my hand.

I stumbled into awkward step beside him, glancing out of the corner of my eye down at where my tingling fingers were intertwined with his. This was no longer necessary… right? I mean, Father wasn't looking at us anymore. So I should just let go, shouldn't I? Yes… yes, I absolutely should. Okay, here we go… letting go now… in three… two… one...

...I wasn't letting go.

I shot my hand a tiny scowl. Fine, you win. Five more seconds, bucko, but that's it.

It remained stubbornly fastened to his. Fifteen seconds.

I rolled my eyes. Ten seconds, but that's as high as I'm willing to go.

...was I seriously haggling with my hand just now?

I'm in desperate need of having my head examined.

It wasn't long before we came to a stop where the hall turned at a corner, Father using a key already in hand to open the door located there. My door. Or rather… what was now formerly my door, I suppose. He walked in first with Lea not too far behind him and me in tow, my hand still in his.

To say the condo we'd stepped into was spacious would be an understatement. The living room alone probably could have fit Rayne's and Riku's apartment in it twice over. It was a corner unit with massive floor-to-ceiling windows leading out onto an expansive balcony overlooking the city and the distant white-capped mountains that surrounded it. With its crystal tables, art deco furniture, and extravagant paintings hanging on the walls, the sitting room was quite picturesque. So pretty, so pristine, so... sterile. Like one of those staged pictures that would be on a website trying to catch the eye of potential buyers. My mother had done the decorating, not I, which was probably why it looked so unlived in. This was more space than I had ever really needed anyway. I'd rarely left my own bedroom when I'd called this place home.

A low whistle blew from Lea's lips as his eyes drifted around the room. "Wow, you really were a princess up in a tower, huh?" He slipped his hand out of mine and I had to ignore how cold and lonely my fingers now felt. Stupid, clingy fingers. "Why don't you two take a minute to catch up while I," he held up the boxes, giving them a tiny shake, "go get started in your room. Which door is it? Bah, nevermind, I'll figure it out."

I blinked. Wait, my room? I didn't know if I was all that comfortable with the idea of someone being in there without me and going through my stuff.

I turned to look at him, opening my mouth to voice my objection. Before I could utter a sound however, his hand cradled the back of my neck, drawing me closer to him and planting a tender kiss to my forehead, sending waves of icy heat rippling all the way down to my toes.

I-

Wha-

Conc-

Don-

Fe-

Con- Co- C-C-Congeal, tone eel!

...wait, what?

Please stand by, Elsa is currently experiencing some minor technical difficulties.

He pulled back, smiling down at me and murmuring, "Have fun, babe." Yup. Those were words alright. Did I understand them? Nope! In fact, I wasn't comprehending much of anything in that second. "Pops," Lea shot my father a two-fingered salute before wandering off down an archway on the far side of the room leading to the rest of the condo.

Father lifted his nose with a sniff, lips pinching almost imperceptibly. "Your… friend is quite the... character."

"Ah… yes. He is," I heard myself replying, surprised that I was able to string more than two words together, bonus points for being in the correct order to boot. Wouldn't have thought it possible, what with my brains having been melted to mush inside the blazing sauna that was currently my face. There was no way Father could miss it this time. Hopefully he just thought I was embarrassed over the impropriety of Lea's forwardness. Not wanting to give him a chance to read too much into it, I hastily asked, "How is Mother?"

"As well as can be expected," he said flatly, folding his arms behind him and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "...better… since we've had news of you."

I winced, looking down at my feet.

And there it was again. That stifling silence.

There were so many things unsaid hanging in the air between us. A big whopping elephant wearing a friggin' diamond-studded wedding gown in the room that neither one of us wanted to be the first one to bring up, it seemed. At least, I know I certainly didn't. I knew I couldn't avoid the unpleasant topic forever, but at the same time there was a silly little part of me that was hoping if I put it off long enough, that... I don't know... the statute of limitations for discussing it would expire or something.

If only.

Well, someone had to be the one to start. Might as well get this over with. Screwing my eyes shut, I took a deep breath and-

"Snowbunny? Could you come in here for a sec please?" Lea's voice rang out from down the hall.

Great. And just when my face had finally managed to cool down too. At the rate this was going, I was beginning to suspect my cheeks might get stuck in this lovely shade of tomato rouge.

Plastering on a smile, I told Father, "I'll be right back."

"Of course," he gave a simple nod. However, the tiny scowl he was directing towards where Lea's words had come from was not lost on me.

I primly and with as much dignity as I could muster walked over to the archway. As soon as I was out of his line of sight however, I broke into a sprint down the hall, skidding to a stop in the doorway to my bedroom and scrunching up my face. "Snowbunny?" I spat out like it left a bad taste in my mouth.

He looked up from where he was neatly folding one of my dresses into a box atop my bed, flashing me a grin. "Was trying out a pet name to use around the folks. Thoughts?"

"I think there's a razor thin line between you trying to not look or sound like a pushover in front of them and you just straight up pissing them off."

"Huh," he tipped his head to one side. "...keep workingshopping it then?"

I rolled my eyes with a soft snort, moving further into the room to stand in front of him, "Yes, I'd say so."

"Noted." He closed the flaps to the box shut before crossing his arms and shifting over to lean back against my vanity, frowning at me. "Hey, we're okay right?" At my quirked eyebrow, he elaborated, "Ya know, with the this," he raised one of his hands with a waggle, then pointed at my own hand, "holding that, and these," now he gestured to his lips before gently poking my brow, "planting one right there."

"Oh." I resisted the urge to reach up to where my forehead still felt warm and had the ghost of a tickle from the brush of his lips earlier. Doing my best to suppress the umpteenth blush of the day, I looked away, "No, no, that was nice… er, I mean fine. Acceptable."

Elsa, Queen of Keeping Her Cool.

He grinned in relief. "Good. Was just winging it since we didn't really get a chance to discuss anything, but wouldn't have wanted to do something that made you uncomfortable."

"Nope! Totally a-okay here." I gave him a thumbs up. Then immediately felt lame for giving him a thumbs up and instead put my hands to better use running them down my braid. "So… I'm assuming there's an actual reason you called me in here."

"Right!" He flicked a hand at the two cardboard crates sitting side by side atop my mattress. "We're gonna need more boxes from the car."

I furrowed my brow, approaching them. "But I thought I'd only need one. How'd you fill them both up already?"

Lea shrugged, one side of his mouth turning up. "Just grabbed stuff out of your closet. Anything that'd look cute on you."

I pulled the flaps back on one to peek inside, my eyes widening before hastily opening the other one as well and puffing out a sigh, "You've packed everything that was hanging in there."

"Well, yeah! Cuz everything looks cute on you, El!"

It should be illegal for him to say things like that.

My broiling cheeks seconded that notion.

Slapping the boxes shut again, I huffed, "Fine, we'll run back down to grab more after my father leaves. But you! You're no longer involved in the decision making of what I do or don't bring back, got it? I don't have room for all this junk at my new place," I jabbed a warning finger in his direction, to which he just held up his hands in surrender, smirking and giving me another tiny shrug.

That was the face of zero remorse.

And I couldn't even really get mad about it since he'd only been being his big dumb sweet self again.

Ugh, I didn't even really want all these things. All these clothes that'd been bought and paid for with my parents' munny. This was my new life, my own life free from their control and I wanted to manage it with absolutely zero help from them, nothing, not even so much as a stitch of clothing. The only real reason I'd even come here today was to see Father and set Operation Boyfriend But Shh Not Really in motion. I'd probably just end up giving most if not all of these dresses to charity anyway.

Shaking my head, I glanced about the room. "Now where…? Ah!" I'd spotted what I was looking for - my phone resting on the vanity next to Lea's hand. Probably left there by Anna weeks ago, since she'd been the one holding onto it for me on The Wedding Day That Never Was.

Lea sidestepped out of my way as I moved to pick it up. He gave me a curious look, "The parental units still gonna be paying for your data plan?"

"Doubt it. I wouldn't accept it, even if they offered. Rayne said she can put me on her and Riku's family plan until I've gotten a few more checks from work and can start paying for my own. It'll be nice not having to borrow hers all the time anymore."

...okay, I know I'd just had that little mental spiel about not wanting to accept anything from my parents. But come on now, in this day and age, phones are all but a necessity, not to mention expensive. Besides, it's not like I was just going to take it. I planned to reimburse my parents for it… discuss and figure out some sort of payment plan with them that would work with my budget.

"Well in that case," he pulled a black Sharpie from the pen holder on my vanity, biting down on the cap and pulling it off before taking one of my hands in his and turning my palm up so he could write a phone number on it, punctuated with a tiny heart.

I stared blankly at my hand. "Um…?"

He winked at me. "My digits."

Now I stared at him blankly. "I figured, but why?"

"What, you don't think you should have yo man's number on speed dial in your phone?"

"No, that I get, but why," I shoved my palm into his face, "on my hand?"

A tiny snerk through his nose. "How else were you gonna get it? By psychically plucking it outta the air from my mind?"

"No, by having Rayne enter it into my phone after recharging it when I got home," I said flatly.

He blinked, eyes darting to the left. "...alright, point there." Then he chuckled, scratching a spot behind his ear. "I've just always wanted to write my number on a girl's hand. Seemed like a real slick move."

I drooped my eyelids at him. "Was it everything you dreamed it would be, stud?"

"And more!" he beamed.

"You're weird."

"Careful now or all that sweet talk of yours will go straight to my head."

Fighting a begrudging grin, I snatched up the charger from where it lay on the vanity as well and stepped back over to the boxes, slipping it and the mobile in with the folded clothes. Then both my eyebrows shot up my forehead and I glanced back at him. "Wait, you've never written your number on a girl's hand before?"

He blinked back at me, "...no?"

"But Rayne told me what a ladykiller you used to be, and that right there seems like Ladykillers 101."

"Gah, Raindrop," he grumbled under his breath, facepalming. "...those were… you don't really need to exchange numbers when you're just… looking to hookup for a night."

"...oh." I looked away, seriously regretting pulling at this thread.

His hand went to the nape of his neck, tugging at the hairs there. "...I've changed a lot in the last year."

"It sounds like it," I smiled gently at him. Then I exhaled heavily, "Okay… guess I better get back out there then."

"Wait," his hand closed around my wrist as I turned to go, stopping me in my tracks. I gave him a questioning look and he released me, squinting at me and tapping a knuckle to his lips in thought. Then he snapped his fingers and was shrugging out of his leather jacket, holding it out towards me. "Put this on."

My head rocked back slightly, gaze shifting back and forth between him and it a few times. "...but I'm not cold. And we're inside. Why would I go back out to Father wearing your jacket?"

"That's the point," his eyes crinkled as he moved closer to me, slipping my arms into it and tugging it on, flipping the collar up. "Make him wonder. It'll drive him batshit. Now scoot," his fingertip booped my nose before he spun me around and gave me a light shove out of my room. I staggered out into the hall, glancing back at Lea as he leaned a shoulder against my door frame. "Go get 'im, tiger."

I shot him a hard stare. "Also not an acceptable pet name in front of my parents."

"Duly noted." His arms folded beneath his chest as he tossed his head towards the living room, "Now go on already, get."

Pressing my lips together into a thin line, I looked straight ahead down the hall, squared my shoulders and started a slow march forward.

Why was I doing all of this again? Oh, right. To get my parents to leave me alone and stop trying to interfere with my life. And wearing Lea's jacket was going to help with that. Somehow. Was still kind of fuzzy on the how. The jacket itself smelled strongly of boy - really nice smelling, cinnamon-spiced boy. It was actually kind of comforting and was easing my nerves somewhat. So in a way, I guess that was helping. I glanced down at the sleeves as I walked. They were too long, stretching past my hands and hiding the number written in fresh ink on my palm. I suppose that helped a bit too. It would have been awkward explaining it to Father if he had seen it. So in that regard, the jacket was also practical.

So there you have it.

A helpful, comforting, and practical jacket.

...ugh, what was I even doing anymore? Really? Could somebody tell me please? At this point, I was just grasping at straws here.

I stepped back out into the living room to find Father with his back to me as he faced the large windows, staring out onto the balcony and beyond. I gave a polite little cough into my hand to catch his attention, saying, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Not at all, I-" he cut himself off as he turned, spotting me. Or, more precisely, me in the jacket. He then proceeded to give the thing the darkest look I'd ever seen him give any poor, unsuspecting garment.

Welp. Mission accomplished there I guess.

Whatever the mission had been exactly.

I gnawed on my bottom lip, absently fiddling with the zipper dangling from the left leather sleeve. Then I broke the long stretch of silence with a delicate clearing of my throat. "S-so… about the, uh… about the wedd-"

His hand shot up, stopping my words dead. His face had regained its aloof, impassive mask once more. "Regrettably, we don't have time to properly discuss that matter this visit. I have business elsewhere that I must attend to shortly. I merely came to allow you access to your old condo."

"Oh," I breathed, frowning and quickly looking down at my feet.

"...and to see for myself how you were doing," he added, his voice softening somewhat. Maybe I'd only imagined it however. "Your mother… she's expressed wishes to see you as well."

My gaze lifted once more as I sucked in a tiny breath, feeling hope prickle inside my chest. "Ah… yes, of… of course! I could come visit in a few days or-"

"We're actually having a small family get-together in roughly two weeks' time. A bit of a weekend affair, if you will. I think it would be for the best if you came by then. We could set aside time to discuss your actions between the festivities. Of course, your… your friend," he tried, really did try, to restrain the curl of distaste to his lips here, but wasn't quite fully successful, "is extended the invitation as well."

"You're too kind, Pops!" Lea's chipper voice sounded from behind me even as I'd been opening my mouth to respond. Before I could turn to look at him, I felt his grip on my arm tugging me and I stumbled backwards into his chest where he proceeded to hug my shoulders from behind and nuzzle his cheek against mine. "We wouldn't miss it for the world!"

How I had yet to suffer a heart attack during this entire little excursion was beyond me.

Once again, the words 'Conceal, don't feel,' chanted like a desperate prayer through my mind as I grasped his arm, hiding my flushed face in the crook of his elbow. Those three little words were starting to blur together into gibberish and lose all meaning, I'd recited them so much at this point.

Father fixed us with a long, unblinking stare and he'd gone so still, I could have sworn he'd turned to solid stone for a second there. But at last, he managed a, "Wonderful." I seriously doubt he meant that. "We look forward to seeing you both there." That either. "Well then... I'll just leave this here," he deposited the key onto the dining table, "should you decide you need to come back at a later date for more of your belongings. If and when we decide to sell the unit, we'll be sure to let you know. I'll be in touch shortly with further details of the upcoming gathering, otherwise I'm sure your sister will be only too happy to pass along the information as well."

"Thank you… Father," I muffled into Lea's arm.

He bowed his head slightly. "Right then, well… I must be off."

"T'was lovely to make your acquaintance," I could all but hear the smirk in Lea's voice as Father turned to go.

He froze, posture reaching new magnitudes of stiffness previously thought impossible. "...likewise," was all he said after a beat, not even looking back before striding out the front door, clicking it shut behind him.

And just like that, he was gone.

"I think that went rather well," Lea said brightly, not yet removing his arms.

I sighed, unconsciously relaxing a bit back into his chest. "I guess. Though I was kind of hoping we'd be able to air everything out today so it'd be all over and done with... I suppose I should be glad he didn't just disown me on the spot, for whatever that's worth. This thing he's invited us to though… it makes me uneasy."

His hair tickled as he turned his head to look at me. "What makes you say that?"

A small frown marred my face. "I don't know… it's probably nothing, just me being paranoid. I guess… all we can do is go, continue to put on this little performance and see what happens." My eyelids drooped, "Speaking of which, we really need to get on setting those ground rules for PDAs."

He swiftly released me now, taking a step back and holding his arms up like a criminal caught red-handed, "Sorry, did I cross a line with that one?"

I turned to face him but didn't quite meet his gaze. I knew that if I did in this precise second, I might be setting a new world record for number of blushes per minute, or BPM if you will. Feeling I'd done enough of that for one day, I looked everywhere but directly into his eyes, fingers plucking at my braid. "Not… exactly. I just… need to be forewarned on these things… know what I'm getting into, so they don't, ah… catch me off guard in the future."

"Oh, so that's why you were such an awkward walnut the whole time," he laughed, moving over to one of the couches and flopping down unceremoniously onto it, kicking his boots up on the immaculate, glossy finish of the coffee table. "Thought that was a little weird. You acted like a guy's never given you snuggles and affection before."

My lips twisted to one side and I said nothing.

His eyes widened and he sat up straighter. "You gotta be pulling my leg here. You were dating the guy, your fiancé, for what... five years was it? What were you two even doing that whole time?"

Grimacing, I made my way over to sit on the opposite end of the sofa from him. "The thing is, my ex… he was never really a fan of romantic gestures, big or small. Especially not in front of other people."

"Seriously?" he looked positively offended at the very idea. "He had to at least hug you in public, right?" I hesitantly shook my head. "Brush your hair back behind your ear?" A pause, then a second small shake. "Shit, for the love of- hold your hand?" Annnnd a third. "Please, please tell me he at least kissed you."

So much for not making it into the Guinness book for the most BPM. With a tiny scowl, I said, "Well, of course he did. Though… mostly only behind closed doors. But he'd take me on dates to fancy restaurants, art galas, the opera... oh, and he'd occasionally tuck my hand into the crook of his elbow when we were out." It almost sounded like I was trying to defend him now. "And he'd… uh…" Huh. Guess that about covered it. "...well, he just thought such things to be garish, empty gestures that were unnecessary," I finished lamely.

Lea gaped at me. "...and you were gonna marry this guy? Dude sounds like a fucking idiot."

I looked at him sharply. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, it's just…" he frowned now, leaning forward in his seat and planting his elbows on his knees, rubbing his arm. "El, you deserve better than that. Someone who'll worship the ground you walk on. Ya know… rose petals, white doves, the whole cornball, cheesy works."

"Oh." Would you look at that? Not two seconds and I'd already shattered the new BPM record I'd just set. I was really going to need to get this whole face heating situation under control, this quite simply would not fly anymore. "...th-thank you?"

He cleared his throat and propped his cheek in his palm, looking at me sideways. "No wonder you were weird about all that stuff I did. You've never really been all that touchy-feely with a guy before, huh?" He grinned, "Good news is we got two weeks to practice."

I cocked my head slightly. "Practice?"

"Yup!" He scooched over closer to me, nudging my shoulder with his. "We threw ya into the deep end before you were ready. Now we gotta rewind and actually teach you how to swim. And you know a good place to start? Learning by example."

"Which means…?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Observing some of the local wildlife perform their ritualistic mating displays in their natural habitat. That's right, you guessed it: couple-watching in the food court!"

Author's Note: Our couple is off to a rocky start! But it's to be expected with what an awkward penguin Elsa is. She was not built for this! But she'll get there… maybe xD They got 2 weeks to figure it out anyway… 2 whole weeks of fluff, mwahaha! Yeah, we're gonna take a lil detour off the Plot Highway here to make a stop in the good ol' town of Fluffsville for the next several chapters xD Also, Elsa's dress this chapter is loosely based on her Let It Go ice dress - the silhouette of it is at least (I think I used that fashion term correctly…). Lea's outfit is based on nothing, I just wanted to make him... smokin' hawt ;D ALSO, Elsa's dad isn't as nice a guy in this as he seems to be in the Frozen movies, but you all probably figured that was coming with the way he's been talked about the whole story thus far. To be fair, Elsa's parents in the movie could be considered a bit controlly with how they made Elsa suppress her powers, so just consider how he is in this story a twist on that from the movies xD Yet another also: Cliff (the doorman) is apparently the name of one of the rock trolls in the movie, so I figured, SURE, why not, let's name the doorman that! And one more also (last one, I swear!) - I'd run out of KH:BBS official ice cream flavors by this chapter. The one named in this chapter (based on Lilo and Stitch if it weren't obvious) was one my friend (who I'm borrowing Rayne from) came up with! I imagine it's description up on the Ice Palace menu would read something like "It's got all the punch of Hawaii's tangy fruit flavors and a little bit of Elvis for kicks! Naturally it's blue as the sea with bits of Hawaiian fruit in the center!" In any case, by the next time I needed to come up with an ice cream flavor name later on in this story, I'd figured out a new source list to pull from, as you'll all discover very soon!

Next chapter, will our leading man and lady get the hang of this whole relationship dealio? What couple(s) did Lea have in mind for them to watch? Will it actually help? Or will it only muddle matters further? Just what IS the world record for most blushes per minute and is Elsa really in the running for that highly coveted title? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

[xsixxx]

Bad Influence - Chapter 10

Word Count - 5.5K

Authors Note - It's what ya'll have been waiting 10 chapters for, fingers crossed it doesn't disappoint 😂

Warnings - Filthy dirty sleazy smutty smut, language as always, angst, Nikki not giving a fuck about anyone but Nikki

Tags - Tags: @triplehaitches @freddiessmallnipples @queen-crue @scarecrowmax @lovesick-heart0 @littlesunnymoon @80sheart-strings @cranberribread @inthebackofmycarlaytheirbodies @versnatasha @zoenicoles @crazysaladchopshop @ggorehorror @lunamadhatter99 @justtryingtoovercome @chaoticvybe @you-know-im-a-dreamer @eightiesrockbaby @valentines-in-london @xrosegoldwolfx @fupatroopaa @lilypetite88 @this-blog-must-be-the-place @ashleecrue @lauravic @dark-princess99 @unknownoblivion @mgkobsessed @antheasnow

(Nikki attitude this whole goddamn chapter)

"Beth, you can't hide in your bed any longer, get up." Came Sophias stern voice as she tore the covers off of me. I groaned out loud, grabbing ahold of them, pulling them back over me, tucking it right under my chin for extra comfort.

"Leave me alone Soph, I'm sick." I mumbled pathetically.

"Girl, you can pull that shit with Paul to get outta work but I'm not buying it. You're fine, you're just feeling sorry for yourself & you need to get over it." Sophia snapped, always one for the gentle approach. She sighed as she sat down on the edge of my bed. "You can't avoid Nikki forever."

"Why would I be avoiding Nikki, I haven't done anything wrong?" I muttered, fidgiting a little & purposely avoiding eye contact.

"No, exactly, you haven't, so why are you pulling a sicky?!"

"I'm not!" I replied, a little sharper this time. "Soph look, I just don't feel well, ok? Most friends would offer to bring me soup or something, not give me the goddamn third degree."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say." Sophia resigned, putting her hands up in defeat as she rose from my bed. "To be fair to you, you must be ill because you look like shit." She laughed as I threw a pillow that narrowly missed her face. "But don't pretend like you're not avoiding Nikki, that boy has left 3 voicemails in the last week asking if you're ok. At least phone him back & let him know that the 'fever' hasn't taken you just yet." She winked as she used air quotes to emphasise her shit eating sarcasm.

"Whatever," I groaned, pulling the covers over my head, "I'll do it after my nap now can you please go get ready for work, you're gonna be late & you're getting on my nerves."

I heard Sophia scoff as she left the room, closing the door behind her as she went.

Ok, maybe she was right, maybe I had been avoiding Nikki. But not on purpose, I was actually sick. Sort of. Mentally drained counted as sick in my book.

I yanked the covers back from over my head as I let out an over dramatic & exasperated sigh. It'd been a week since I'd practically ran from the Mötley house like a scared, overwhelmed teen who'd realised that maybe they weren't cut out for hanging around with the popular kids.

I don't really know what happened & that's probably the thing that scares me most.

One minute I'm in Nikki's room, listening to his music &, I think, kissing him?

Then I was back with Tommy, snorting more lines & drinking so much I'd be surprised if there's any booze left anywhere on the Sunset Strip, because I'm pretty sure I drank it all.

Next thing I knew, there was a guy getting a little too handsy, feeling me up & trying to guide me into the bathroom with him. And what scares me most is knowing that I was definitely too fucked up to have stood my ground if push had come to shove. If Nikki hadn't have overheard & come out his room when he did, that guy could've easily snuck me away from the party & no-one would've been any the wiser.

Fuck.

I'm supposed to be the sensible one.

How had I let myself get so wrapped up in this lifestyle that is, in reality, a million miles away from my own?

I'm not a rockstar. I'm not a groupie. I'm not a party girl.

I'm a psychology student with deadlines to meet, debt to pay.

I didn't want a bad boy who'd drop me as soon as he's had his fill, I wanted a steady boyfriend that'd take me on dates, had a stable job & that my father wouldn't despise.

I had always had a plan. I was going to get my degree, have a career & a marriage & a family, maybe a dog, & be happy.

So what was I doing down this path to depravity?

I rolled over & buried my face in my pillow as I let out a exasperated groan into the soft void.

I just didn't belong in Mötley Crüe's world.

*Later*

A sudden, sharp rasp on my bedroom door jolted me awake.

"Beth, stop pretending you're sick, you got a visitor." Soph yelled through the wood before throwing the door open & shoving a slightly pissed off looking Nikki into my room.

"Sorry, late for work, gotta run!" Sophia voice rang smugly in a sing-song voice as she rushed away from my room & down the hall. I listened to the patter of her heels along the flooring, then the sound of her unlock the front door & before slamming it with purpose to announce her departure. I scowled at the space she had stood in just seconds before, mentally cursing her out.

I glanced at Nikki who had lifted a judgemental brow, eyeing up the sight of me in my pyjamas, unbrushed hair & no make up, napping at 4pm.

"Oh you because you've never woke up in worse states." I shot at him defensively, scrambling to sit up, pulling my knees into my chest under the covers. "What do you want Sixx?" I mumbled awkwardly, scowling at the wall whilst I refused to make eye contact.

"Beth, I've left you messages. What, you couldn't be arsed to pick up the phone & let me know you're ok?!" He asked sharply, his expression clearly annoyed. "I was wo-" he checked himself, cutting off the statement, but it was too late.

I smirked a little. "Nikki Sixx, were you worried about me?"

"No, I wasn't worried, I just-"

"Turns out the bad boy has a soft side." I teased.

Nikki's face grew red as he brow furrowed in frustration & embarrassment. "Oh yanno what, just fuck it, I shouldn't have bothered.." he murmured to himself, turning on his heels & walking back out of the bedroom door.

"No wait Nikki, c'mon I'm sorry, I was only joking, I'm sorry!" I called after him, causing him to stop & cautiously turn back around. "Please just come back in here." I pouted at him. Nikki's face softened & he came & stood at the foot of my bed, his fingers absentmindedly tracing the ornate bed frame.

"I'm sorry if I freaked you out the other night." I heard him mumbled quietly, almost as if he was hoping I wouldn't quite catch it.

"You didn't freak me out, it was that guy.." I trailed off, letting my eyes follow Nikki's hands that was still dancing along the footboard. "Thank you, for stepping in, god knows what could've happened if you didn't." I said quietly, finally lifting my eyes to his just in time to catch his dart across in my direction. Our eyes met & Nikki acknowledged my thanks with a little awkward nod.

"You're welcome." He replied with a little cough, trying to hide his discomfort at the whole situation. “So, um, why have you been avoiding me? Yanno, if its not because I scared you?” He stumbled.

I hung my head slightly, unsure of how much truth to share. I couldn’t tell him it was because being a groupie didn’t exactly fit into my life plan. Christ, I hadn’t even slept with the guy & I’m already getting ready to run away because he’s not marriage material. I let out a soft, unamused chuckle at my own ridiculous reasonings. “Nikki, I just..” I decided to share a little bit of truth. “I just don’t fit in.” I blurted out.

Nikki let out a short, almost relieved laugh. “What?” He asked, bemused now.

I shook my head, hearing how must’ve sounded. “I mean, I just don’t fit into your world. I got swept up in having fun with you guys, but I’m just not that girl. I don’t know, I guess I got carried away with it all.”

Nikki looked at me intently, pondering what I'd said before carefully responding. “But, you had fun right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, of course I did. But that’s not the point.”

“Of course that’s the point!” Nikki cut in quickly. “Beth, you were the one that told me you lived wrapped up in goddamn bubble wrap, not able to do what you wanted or enjoy yourself.”

“Yeah, but only because Daddy wanted to protect us!” I said defensively.

“And now you’re a grown ass adult Lizzy.” Nikki’s expression softened a little & he hesitantly reached for my hand. “Look, I know your dad wanted to look after you and all that, but you can’t let what happened to your mom stop you from living your own life.”

“I’m not, I just..” I let the sentence trail off. “The other night just made me realise how reckless I’m being. This isn’t who I am. The drugs, the partying, ever since I met you guys I’ve just been someone that I’m not & just think need to distance myself, ok?”

Nikki shrugged, withdrawing his hand from mine a little sharply. “I get that sometimes were a little much & we can take things a bit too far, but don’t put your twisted daddy guilt on me & my band. You chose to come to our parties, no-one forced coke up your nose or pushed you into bed with Vince, you did all that shit because you wanted to & because you enjoyed it. Look, I’m not gonna beg you to stick around if that’s what you’re waiting for because that just isn’t me. If you wanna stay away, that's cool, we'll leave you be. But for what my opinion is worth, which probably ain’t shit, I think you’re being hard on yourself. You’re not a bad person for enjoying the darker side of life.” Nikki’s voice was blunt & hard, but I could hear the sincerity in it too. “Beth, you’re punishing yourself for having fun.” He finished.

Fuck, he was right.

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, Nikki’s words lingering in the air as I absorbed what he’d said, trying to figure out where my head was at. I knew that what he was saying was true, but that didn't give me an excuse to go out & do whatever I pleased. I had to take responsibility for my life, be sensible, make the right choices.

Right?

Eventually Nikki rose from the bed, rocking on his heels as he tried to find words to try & clear the awkward atmosphere.

“Ok, well I think maybe that’s my queue to go.” He announced, leaning in to me & giving me a light peck on the forehead. “I hope you figure all of this shit out Beth. Don’t let your dads fears stop you from enjoying your own life. Do what you gotta do, but don’t forget to do what you wanna do sometimes.” He said as he walked towards the the open door. He paused in the doorway, turning his head slightly to look at me & gave me that infamous smirk one last time. My stomach flipped at the sight. “I’ll miss ya, Lizzy." He winked before walking away, down the hallway & out of sight. I let out a breathe I hadn’t realised I'd been holding in as I heard the door open & shut, the click of the latch catching sending a feeling of regret run cold though my body.

Fuck.

I threw the bed covers off of me & ran down the hallway, my bare feet slapping loudly on the laminate flooring. I reached the front door & took a deep breathe, my mind made up as I wrenched open the door & flew down the first set of stairs, not putting another thought into what I was about to do. I ran down the second flight, almost crashing into Nikki on the landing between staircases. I didn’t give him chance to react as he spun round, about to curse out whoever had nearly sent him flying. I grabbed a hold of his face, kissing him roughly & deeply. Nikki’s body went from rigid & angry to relaxed & smug in an instant, his hands snaking around my waist, pulling me in closer as I could feel his smirk beneath my lips. He finally broke the kiss, leaning away from me fractionally to give me a bemused, sly look. “What are you doing?”

“I’m doing what I wanna do.” I quoted him as he chuckled darkly.

“Good girl.” He mumbled against my lips, those two words, mixed with the taste of his kiss making me weak. I took his hand & lead him back up the stairs, feeling his eyes trailing along every inch of my body with every step I took.

We reached the front door & I went to reach for the handle, but Nikki grabbed my wrist, spinning me back around & pushing me up against the wall. He pinned both of my hands above my head with one hand as his other trailed along my lips, down my neck and lightly across my chest. His eyes didn’t leave mine the whole time, his hungry gaze enough to undo me right there & then. He pressed his lips roughly against mine as his fingers carried on their journey down my stomach & along the waistband of the little pyjama shorts I was wearing. He let them dance teasingly along my exposed skin before he slid his hand under the fabric, stroking me on the outside of my panties.

I tried to wriggle my hands free to grab his hand, conscious of the fact that anyone could walk past us, but Nikki only tightened his grip in response.

I pulled away from his kiss, trying to ignore how good his fingers were making me feel. “Nikki, I have neighbours!” I hissed. “What if someone walks past us?”

Nikki smirked once again. “That’s the point Angel. Best keep quiet.” He winked as his fingers expertly moved my panties to the side before sliding inside me, making me gasp with pleasure.

“Nikki, c’mon, I mean it!” I tried to protest as his fingers began to rhythmically pump against my wetness, his thumb finding its way to my clit & rubbing in small circles, making me moan out loud against my better judgement.

“Nikki..” I trailed off, forgetting what I was complaining about as he picked up speed, letting my eyes close. I stopped caring. I couldn’t focus on being mad, I could only focus on him. I rocked my hips against his hand, our rhythms syncing perfectly causing new waves of pleasure that I couldn’t hide. I desperately tried to stifle my moans, but Nikki wouldn’t let me. His fingers worked faster & harder, driving me closer & closer to the edge.

I opened my eyes to see his fixed on me, his lustful gaze soaking up the sight of me coming undone in front of him like he’d wanted for so long.

Nikki smiled darkly & leaned in to me, letting his lips brush my ear lobe as he whispered “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to see you give me that look.”

“What look?” I managed to gasp between my soft moans.

“The look you give when your wet, begging for my touch.” He chuckled. “Now cum for me, Angel. Right here, right now.”

His commanding words almost pushed me over the edge & I closed my eyes once again, letting my head tilt back as I got ready to indulge in my release.

But my eyes snapped open at the sound of the door to the building opening 2 floors below. I heard footsteps begin to ascend the stairs & I wriggled against Nikki’s grip once again, but his smirk only grew wider. “Nuh-uh Princess, not until you cum.”

“Nikki, this isn’t funny!” I shot at him quickly, but his fingers didn’t stop. His thumb carried on trailing delectable circles on my clit as his fingers moved quicker inside me, pushing deeper. I listened to the footsteps grow closer as my orgasm did the same, until I couldn’t stop it. Nikki’s lips crashed against mine to silence the moans of ecstasy that wanted to escape my mouth as I came around Nikki fingers, the urgency & danger only adding to the intensity.

Nikki swiftly removed his hand from my panties, licking his fingers & winking at me as I straightened up just in time for Mrs Salvador, our upstairs neighbour, to appear in view as she made her way up the staircase with grocery bags in either hand, smiling when she spotted me.

“Good afternoon, dear!” She beamed as I smiled politely.

“Good afternoon Mrs Salvador.” I managed, still flustered.

“And who do we have here?” She nodded in Nikki’s direction.

“I’m Nikki!” He responded all chipper & pleased with himself.

“Well nice to meet you Nikki, I’d shake your hand but I best get these bags upstairs.” Mrs Salvador smiled as she carried on her way.

Nikki shot me a sly look, smirking a usual. “Probably for the best.” He chuckled back to her, shrugging as a took a swipe at him when Mrs Salvador’s back was turned.

He grabbed my waist & pulled me towards him as he reached for the door at the same time. “Now, I’m not done with you.” He growled, nipping at my neck before opening the door & pulling me through.

Now safely on the other side of the door, I felt more confident as I kissed Nikki roughly, trailing kisses along his jawline & down his neck, softly biting as I went.

“My turn.” I mumbled against his skin, before dropping to my knees without hesitation.

I unlaced his tight leather trousers, lifting my eyes up to meet Nikki’s, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth as I watched him appreciate the sight of me on my knees in front of him. I flashed him a smirk of my own & placed light kisses along the waistband of his trousers before reaching into them & pulling out his swollen member.

*Nikki’s POV*

Beth lifted her eyes to mine once again as she slowly licked the tip, teasing me, waiting to see my reaction. I let out a low groan watching her smirk & circle her tongue around the head of my cock before taking it into her mouth.

“Fuck” I hissed through my teeth a I felt Beths hot, wet lips wrap around my dick & watched her delicate hands wrap around the base, working it slowly to begin with. I felt myself grow harder in her mouth, my eyes fixated on the sight of her with my cock between her perfect, plump lips.

She picked up speed, running her tongue up & down the length of me, applying just enough pressure to make me curse again. I threw back my head & let a low moan escape me. I grabbed a fistful of Beth’s hair, bucking my hips against her as she pumped faster, using her hands to work what her mouth couldn’t reach.

“Christ, you have no idea how many times I’ve thought about fucking your pretty little mouth.” I grinned between my moans of desire. Beth looked back up at me, eyes so innocent I could’ve cum just from the look she gave me. She groaned around my cock, sucking me deeper into her mouth, her one hand finding its way to me balls, fondling them & causing me to groan louder as the pleasure increased.

I thrust my hips against her, helping her take all of me into her throat. I felt the sensation overwhelm me, pushing me closer to cumming, but I wasn’t gonna cum like this.

I put my fingers gently under Beths chin, lifting her face to look at me, her lips still wrapped around my dick. I groaned at the sight once more, fighting the urge to let her just carry on until I came in that perfect mouth.

Instead, I took her hand & helped her to her feet, running my hands through her blonde hair & kissing her before leading her towards her own room. I shut the door behind us & pulled off my tshirt before pushing Beth on to the bed. I pulled off her top, revealing her lack of bra & climbed on top of her, placing kisses lazily across he chest until my lips brushed against her nipple. I nipped it gently, causing a sharp inhale of breath from Beth, before taking it into my mouth & sucking as I used my thumb & finger to caress the other one. Beth let out a delicious whimper & I continued my trail of nipping & sucking down her stomach to the waistband of her shorts.

I slowly pulled them off along with her panties, revealing Beth’s perfect little pink pussy, glistening with her wetness. I bit my lip at the sight, desperate to taste her.

I placed kisses along Beths thighs, sucking lightly as I made my way inwards until my lips brushed against the ones between her legs. I felt her abs tense & heard her draw in a sharp breathe as her hand came down & rested on the back of my head, her fingers getting lost in my hair. I continued kissing around her pussy, making Beth squirm until she couldn’t take it anymore. I let my tongue drift towards her clit, lightly brushing over it before applying a little more pressure & swirling my tongue against her. Fuck, she tasted like heaven.

“Fuck, Nikki!” Beth called out, whimpering & moaning as I smirked against her clit. I had waited too damn long to hear her call out my name, it sounded so fucking sweet on her angel lips.

I carried on circling my tongue as I eased my finger inside her, gently thrusting it in & out until I heard her breath quicken. I let it get faster & faster, listening to her orgasm build up until her fingers started to tighten in my hair & then I simply stopped.

“Sixx, what the fuck!” Beth panted, lifting her head up to look at me. I gave her my best smug smile as I pulled off my leather pants & climbed back on top of her. I let the head of my cock rub against her clit, causing an involuntary moan to escape her mouth into mine as I kissed her.

“You can cum when I do, Princess” I smiled wickedly, climbing off of her to find a condom. I always kept one handy in my trouser pocket. I ripped open the packet & rolled it on, moving back over to Beth & flipping her over, so she was on all fours, knees on the edge of the bed, ass in the air & that cute little pussy on full display for me. I let my cock glide up & down the length of her, spreading her wetness around as she whimpered for me.

“Tell me what you want, Angel.” I teased.

“You.” I heard her whimper as her ass wiggled in the air as she tried to back herself up onto my throbbing cock.

“Uh-uh Princess. Tell me what you want.” I demanded, giving her wet pussy a sharp little tap with my hand, causing a gasp, followed by a moan to emanate from Beth.

“I want you to fuck me, Nikki!” She choked out between moans as my fingers brushed lazily against her clit.

“Ask nicely, Angel.” I warned.

“Please Nikki, please fuck me!” Beth cried out desperately “Fuck, I want you inside me.”

I teased her entrance with the tip of my cock, prolonging her desperation for just a second longer as I appreciated what it was like to finally have her at my mercy before I eased myself inside of her. Her warmth was enticing & her wetness made it easy to push my whole length deep inside her. Beths moans were fucking music to my ears as she called out my name, signalling me to pick up the pace.

I grabbed a hold of her hips, digging my fingers into her delicate skin, instantly colouring her pale skin a nice shade of purple underneath my fingertips. I grinned at the sight; a reminder for her later.

I started thrusting, finding my rhythm as our moans synced along with our hips. I started out slow, thrusting deep as Beth cried out.

“Fuck Sixx, you’re so big!” She moaned as she inevitably pulled away from me. I slapped her ass & pulled her back to me, burying my dick back inside her. I grabbed her hair as I picked up the pace, thrusting harder & faster as Beth got more comfortable, pushing her ass back against me, matching my rhythm.

I brought down a sharp slap on her ass once again as she called out my name. “I’m gonna cum Nikki!” She yelled out.

I chuckled harshly. “I told you, you cum when I do, doll.”

I slowly pulled back, almost all the way, before pushing my cock back in, hard, making her take all of me. Beth let out yell of pleasure & pain, pulling away from me once again, causing me to pull out.

I released my fingers from her hair & I lay down on the bed, motioning for Beth to get on top. She didn’t need telling twice.

She eagerly straddled me, placing her knees either side of my hips before she reached for hungrily for my cock, positioning it beneath her, sliding herself down on to me with a deliciously slow pace that nearly made me cum.

“Fuck Beth!” I called out, grabbing her hair & pulling her lips to me, tasting her sweet kiss as she slowly rode my cock.

Beth sat back up, placing her hands on my chest to steady herself as she thrust up & down on my dick. I reached my hand up past her bouncing tits to her pretty neck, wrapping my fingers around it & squeezing, gently at first, trying to gage her reaction. Beth drew her bottom lip between her teeth & gave me a pleading look that told me to carry on, so I tightened my grip, causing her pace to quicken. I groaned at the sight of her perfect, wet pussy sliding up & down my cock, bringing me closer to my release.

Keeping my grip on her throat, I rolled over so Beth was beneath me, softening my grip momentarily for her to take a sudden gasp of air. I grinned at her as she let a moan escape before my grip tightened once again.

“I’ve wanted you beneath me for so fucking long, Angel. Now, you have my permission to cum.” I smirked as I began thrusting hard & fast, bouncing my hips against hers as Beth wrapped her legs around my waist & dragged her nails down my back. I let out a low growl at the pain, squeezing tighter on her neck, leaving more purple bruises as evidence that she was mine.

I watched as her beautiful, innocent face got twisted up with sin & I let go of her just in time to hear the sound of her orgasm come crashing out of her glossy, angelic lips. Her forehead was glistening with a light film of sweat as her eyebrows furrowed & her lips parted ever so slightly. Her eyes stayed fixed on mine as I felt her cum around my cock.

I smirked as I watched her, knowing I’d caused that sinful look in her eyes, just like I’d always wanted.

I felt my own release build up as I watched Beth squirm & writhe from her own, not breaking pace or easing for a second, dragging out her orgasm.

“Tell me who you belong to.” I demanded, edging closer, groaning as the sight of Beth cumming beneath me.

“You. I-I belong to you.” She choked out between gasps & moans. “Cum for me Nikki, please.” She begged desperately.

Beths words tipped me over the edge & I buried my face in her neck as came, slowing down my pace before collapsing in a pile on the bed next to her.

“Fuck.” I whispered, letting out a low, sultry laugh.

*Beths POV*

“Yep.” I agreed, giggling. Fuck was the only word that seemed appropriate right now. My whole body felt like it was vibrating, still throbbing from my orgasm. I wriggled up next to Nikki, resting my head on his shoulder, resigning myself to the knowledge that my legs were basically useless at this point & I’d just have to call in sick again for my evening shift.

Nikki whole body stiffened at my touch before relaxing fractionally, long enough to wrap his arm around my waist, but I could sense his discomfort.

“You.. ok, Sixx?” I asked, dragging the question out a little as I propped myself up to look at him.

“Yeah, yeah, fine.” He shifted, his eyes refusing to meet mine.

I felt a knot form in my stomach as the awkwardness grew in the air. “I wasn’t that bad, was I?” I joked, half-serious.

“No, it not that doll. That was, uh, well, that was fucking phenomenal.” He laughed nervously, running his hands through his hair.

“So.. What is it?” I questioned, feeling suddenly self-conscious as I pulled the bed cover over me to hide my body.

His eyes drifted down to his arm around my waist. “I’m just, um, I’m don’t really do the whole cuddling thing after, yanno?”

I scoffed at him, shaking my head. “Christ Nikki.”

“I’m sorry!” He said, immediately jumping to his own defensive. “You know I’m not that kinda guy!”

“Nik, I put my goddamn head on your shoulder, I wasn’t asking you to commit!”

“Look, the whole thing just makes me, I don’t know, uncomfortable I guess!” He blurted out sheepishly.

I let out a short, unamused laugh. “And kicking someone out of my bed before they’ve had chance to catch their breath makes me uncomfortable, so looks like we’re both fucked here.” I snapped.

“Lizzy, c’mon, you knew what this was, you’ve always known!” Nikki looked exasperated. “You’ve seen it happen with plenty of other girls, nothing has changed.” He said sharply, climbing out of my bed & pulling on his pants.

They shouldn’t have, but his words stung.

Fuck.

“Christ Sixx. I didn’t think I was special, but I thought after everything that maybe you cared about me a little more than all your other groupies.” I spat, tears involuntarily springing to my eyes. I furiously tried to blink them away.

“I - I care about you Beth, but no. This was what it was, you should’ve known.” He shook his head, still refusing to catch my eye as he gathered up his clothes & got dressed.

I shook my head, letting an ironic laugh escape me. “Who’d have thought Vince would’ve treated me better than you. And to think I fucking hurt him for this.” I gestured towards Nikki & the bed, shaking my head pitifully. “Thanks a lot Nikki.”

His head spun to face me, his eyes finally meeting mine. “Don’t fucking blame me for what happened with you two. No-one forced you to go off with me! You made that decision on your own Princess.”

“I went off with you because I thought I was going off with more than just one mediocre fuck!” I yelled bitterly. “What happened to wanting to be the only one that has me? What happened to ‘tell me who you belong to’ just 10 fucking minutes ago?!”

“Shit Lizzy, I say shit when I’m fucking horny. What did you expect? I was just gonna settle down with you because I’ve been chasing you? That’s the whole goddamn point, its the thrill of the chase &, well..”

Tears pricked in my eyes once again & I didn’t bother to hide them this time.

“Just get out Sixx.” I ordered, bluntly.

“Princess, look, I like you, I do, but I don’t want anything more than this, I figured you knew that. I’m sorry if I confused you, I like what we had gong before, can we just go back to that?” Nikki asked softly, reaching for my hand.

“Get out of here Nikki, now!” I yelled, hot, humilIted years spilling down my cheeks as I climbed out of bed & strode towards Nikki, pushing him out of the door & slamming it shut behind him. I sunk to the floor, my bare back against the cold wood of the door as I listened to Nikki sigh heavily on the other side, before walking down the hallway, opening the front door & closing it behind him.

I listened as the latch caught once again. I sure as hell wasn’t gonna chase him this time.

[sad-sweet-cowboah]

Pretty Little Black Dress

So this is a combined piece, from the nonny who wanted reader wearing a dress that Arthur appreciates too much, and @r0xy-w0lf who asked me to make one where reader takes Arthur to a club!

Warnings: Alcohol mention/use, cursing, suggestive themes and smut

Payday.

Your favorite word.

After being told you were given a bonus with today’s deposit, you were giddy with excitement, your mind immediately launching into a multitude of plans that you and Arthur could do to celebrate. You’d gone out to dinner last weekend, and already it seemed as if the steakhouse was getting a little stale. No good movies were out either.

And then it hit you: the bar. The one place you hadn’t taken him to yet, not knowing how far he’d go with the drinking. During the weekends it turned into a hot spot for the young adults of the town. Not a bad place to have fun and get cheap drinks. You knew Arthur wouldn’t say no.

You got home after stopping by the mall to purchase something for the both of you, walking in the door, arms laden with shopping bags.

“Arthur!” you called out in a sing-song voice.

His dirty blonde head poked out from the kitchen. “Hey Y/N, welcome home!”

You smiled at him, trotting up to place a kiss on his lips. “You wanna do something tonight?”

He blinked in slight surprise, and then noticed the bags in your arms. “Sure…what did you have in mind?”

“Remember that bar you wandered into a few weeks back?” when he nodded, you continued. “I think it’s about time you and I go to it.”

His face lit up, a grin spreading across his lips. “Great, I could definitely use a drink or two.”

“As long as you don’t go overboard,” you warned. “Remember that night in Valentine with Lenny?”

His grin turned sheepish as he held up his hands in mock surrender. “I ain’t goin’ overboard, I promise.”

“Good,” You said, and pressed one of the bags into his arms. “Now go get washed up and change into this.”

“Uh…” he fumbled with the bag to open it, glancing at the fabric folded neatly within it. “Alright, I guess.”

You smiled at him once again, heading to the bedroom to change yourself.

Fifteen minutes later, after carefully applying makeup, fixing your hair and making sure your new outfit fit just right. It was a little black dress, the fabric clung to your curves and stopped more than halfway up your thighs. The plunging neckline not shy about exposing a decent amount of cleavage. The sides had a sheer mesh pattern that ran up your hips and waist. You completed the look with a pair of stilettos that had been sitting in your closet for at least a year. You had a jean jacket on, adequately covering your upper torso for now.

You found Arthur waiting in the living room, leaning up against the wall with his arms folded, his head tilted down as if deep in thought. As you made your presence, he stood straight.

Accustomed to seeing him in just flannels and jeans or the outfit he’d come in, seeing him in such a refined appearance caused your heart to skip a beat.

He had on a nearly skin tight black t-shirt that hugged his muscles in every right way, the v-neckline dipping to expose a gratuitous amount of chest hair. He also had a jacket of his own, black with the sleeves partly rolled up. His black jeans were somewhat tight as well; showing off the curvature of his cute ass. He customized the look with his own belt and cowboy boots, which still gave it a country touch that didn’t seem too out of place. He’d done his hair as well. It’d grown a couple of inches from the swept fade he’d originally come with, but he was able to style it in a way that looked nice enough, parting it to the side in a neatly combed sweep.

He was admiring the view before him as well, his gaze slowly taking every inch of you from bottom to top. “Damn…” he murmured, a hunger reflecting in his eyes.

You smiled, cocking one hip. And he couldn’t even see the full extent of your outfit. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Mr. Morgan.”

“They ‘sposed to be this tight?” he asked, tugging at the fabrics. “Feels…kinda awkward.”

“If you drink enough, that’s not gonna bother you.” you pointed out.

He gave a half shrug, tilting his head in a way that told you he probably agreed. “So, you all ready?”

“Hell yeah,” you grinned. “Let’s go.”

Twenty minutes later, you pulled up to the familiar bar that already had multiple cars parked around it. It took you a few more moments to find a spot, parking just a block away. As the two of you walked, Arthur offered his arm and you took it, smiling at his gentlemanly action.

You were just yards away when you could hear the music blaring from within its walls, the door constantly opening and closing as people walked in and out. You passed by a couple of others standing outside for a smoke and chatter, heading into the bar.

It was certainly packed; the bar having a large crowd surrounding it with others on the dance floor, moving their bodies rhythmically to a fast paced rap song. The lights were dim, casting a golden glow across the walls.

“Huh, this ain’t much different than a saloon,” Arthur observed, having to speak up over the music. “Only the outfits and music’s different.”

You giggled a little, moving toward an empty bar table off to the side. He followed close behind, smoothly ducking between others. You shrugged off your jacket, slowly, revealing the rest of your outfit. It was priceless to see Arthur’s eyes go wide.

“What?” you feigned an innocent tone.

“That…don’t leave much to the imagination,” he responded, rubbing his scruffy chin. “Back in my time, the skirts would be floor length…”

“Ah don’t sound like an old man, Arthur!” you giggled, lightly smacking his shoulder.

He gave you look a confusion. “I didn’t realize that made me sound old, but-”

“Never mind,” you sighed, glancing back toward the bar. “I’m gonna get us drinks. What do you want?”

“Shot o’ whiskey,” he responded automatically. “Better be good.”

You nodded, stalking over slowly, making sure to put on a show for him as you walked. You could feel his eyes on you as you crossed the dance floor to the bar, squeezing through to get the attention of one of the bartenders. You ordered his shot as well as an Amaretto sour for yourself.

Moments later, you made your way back to him, drinks in hand. He only had his focus on you, not that you minded. Sliding him a full shot glass, he took it with a smile and downed it within seconds, practically licking the glass clean as he slammed it back onto the table.

“Damn, that’s good,” he rumbled. “Missed a good whiskey.”

You began to sip your drink, your hips idly swaying to a nostalgic hip-hop song that played over the speakers. You weren’t sure if Arthur could dance, let alone somehow figure out the rhythm to this music to even attempt. It didn’t stop you from moving, though. And it didn’t stop him from staring.

You wandered closer to the dance floor, keenly aware that he was right behind you. It wasn’t long until his hands found your waist, his fingers twitching as if testing the fabric itself. The image of him ripping your little piece to shreds to get to you ignited a fire deep in your core.

Ignoring it, you stepped away and continued to dance, turning to face him. He didn’t move, only watching you with the same look of hunger he gave you before. This was going to be fun; teasing him the way you did. He leaned back on the table, his attention never leaving you. The expression on his face said it all; if he could have you right now, he would.

But you wanted to have fun, get a good buzz going and dance until you were tired. And may, just maybe, let Arthur have his way with you when you got home.

You finished your drink, and took a break from dancing to buy another round. As you skirted the outside of the dance floor, you felt the sharp sting of a smack on your backside.

Jumping in surprise, you turned, half expecting to see Arthur, instead it was some random guy, sporting a toothy grin as he nearly shouted at you, “That’s some fine ass you got!”

You could smell the alcohol on his breath. He was definitely drunk, and despite the annoyance that rose within you, you were going to let it slide.

“C-care to join me and my…my buddies?” the drunk guy slurred, reaching for your arm. “We can-”

Arthur was quick, but you were quicker.

Cutting the drunken fool off, you grabbed his hand, twisting it in a way to lock his wrist in an uncomfortable position. He doubled over immediately just as Arthur stormed up, the anger on the cowboy’s face replaced by confusion and surprise to see what you’d done.

“Touch me again, and I’ll shove my foot up your ass.” You growled, keeping your grip firm.

“Ow-ow!” the drunk cried out, failing to escape your hold. “O-okay! I’m s-sorry!”

You released him, watching him stumble on his feet for a moment, grumbling profanities under his breath. Arthur shot a dirty glare at him, and you saw the fear form in those drunken eyes before he scampered off.

“Moron,” Arthur growled, shaking his head before looking at you. “You okay, darlin’?”

“Just fine.” you said evenly, letting the annoyance and slight panic you felt earlier die down.

“I didn’t know you could do that…whatever that was.” He sounded impressed.

You gave him a small smile. “I’m capable of handling myself, Arthur. Don’t think I’m a damsel in distress now.”

“Didn’t say you were,” he replied, wrapping his arms around you. “Hell, I can appreciate a lady that knows how.”

Your smile turned into a smirk, placing your arms on his shoulders as you pressed to him, giving him a tender kiss. He groaned softly, his hold on you tightening as he deepened the kiss slightly.

And just as soon as you started, you backed away, amused by the disappointment in his face. You held up one finger, turning toward the bar again.

An hour passed, you were a few drinks in while Arthur had at least four shots and a bottle of beer. The both of you were past the point of tipsy. Arthur began to dance on his own, though very out of rhythm. You laughed at his attempt, watching as he took a swig of beer, awkwardly stepping along the floor. You joined him, allowing him to grip your hips again. You were aware of some others watching you, though you didn’t care. His movement stopped as you danced against him, feeling his torso pressed against yours.

As the night wore on, both of you had another drink before stopping and sporting a decent buzz. You wandered between dancing by yourself and subtly grinding against Arthur, which you knew he more than loved. He wasn’t shy about his feelings in his inebriated state. He was getting a little more handsy with you, his fingers subtly brushing up your thighs, ghosting across your ass. You loved it as well, although the alcohol making you become a tease, you’d step away before anything else happened. Ooh, it was going to be a fun night.

Eventually the ache in your feet became too much, and you tiredly took a seat, leaning against the table as Arthur stalked over. He wordlessly kissed you, his hands yet again taking their spot on your waist. He’d stopped drinking at least a half hour ago but the taste still remained on his lips. He was definitely more affectionate in this state as well.

“Well, you’re not shy tonight.” you giggled as he pulled back.

“Just lettin’ everyone else know what’s mine.” he said, his eyes dark.

You blushed, the tone and his expression giving you all sorts of inappropriate thoughts. Arthur being possessive was a new side, unexpected but incredibly sexy.

“Wanna get outta here, princess?” he asked, that smile teasing. His hand ran down your thigh slowly, lightly.

“Absolutely.” You responded, hopping down from your chair and grabbing your jacket.

---

He pinned you against the wall, hardly containing his excitement the moment you entered your home. His lips were hard on yours, holding your face as he trapped you. Your arms were holding him to you, kissing him back with such passion. His rough hand found its way under your dress, taking no time in finding your core. He pulled your panties out of the way, yanking them down before returning to his prize.

His fingers formed rough circles against your clit, earning a loud moan into his mouth. You gripped at his jacket, peeling it smoothly from his shoulders as he tossed it off elsewhere. His other hand pushed aside the fabric, squeezing your now bare breast. His mouth moved from your lips to your jawbone, nibbling along, placing hasty kisses down the crook of your neck.

You sighed his name, running your fingers through his hair. You gasped as a finger entered you, working across your walls easily.

“This wet already?” he murmured against your skin, peering up at you.

“You surprised?” you chuckled with a sly grin.

He only smirked in response, dragging his finger across your delicate spot. Your hips bucked into his grip, another gasp passing through your lips. You reached down, pressing against the hard line in his jeans. He moaned quietly, pressing against your grip as if begging for release. You granted it, unbuckling his belt with ease, allowing his cock to spring free.

You held him in your palm, beginning to pump your hand along his length. His body shuddered from your touch, his deep voice growing louder as he thrust up into your grip. He certainly was impatient, and you were too.

He growled your name, prompting you to want him even more. You hitched your leg up, resting it against his hip. You were exposed to him now. He gripped your thigh, removing his finger to briefly line himself just before shoving himself deep within you.

Your head lifted up, swearing out loud as he wasted no time in pounding into you. He was relentless, the first time he’d gone this hard. And man, did you love it.

His face buried against your shoulder, biting against your tender skin. You hissed, the sting of his teeth only adding to your pleasure. You tilted your head back, crying out his name. Somehow this drove him much faster. Uttering a gasp, your hands clawing at the fabric of his shirt.

“You feel so good, Y/N,” he grunted against you, gripping you tightly. “Fuck!”

Your only answer was a whine, gripping at the fabric hard. He paused to remove the shirt, yanking it off easy to expose his broad, scarred torso. His skin was hot against yours, sweat forming as he continued his pursuit.

Strong, fast, burying deep in your core. You squealed as he hit your sweet spot, feeling a rush of pleasure course through your veins. His teeth abused your flesh, the pain hardly a bother as your body tingled with absolute ecstasy. You left marks of your own on him, his hiss bringing satisfaction to you.

You felt your peak growing quickly, your voice raising an octave as you cascaded over the edge. Your legs trembled as he refused to cease his movement, a small chuckle rumbling in pride. You praised him, your voice wavering as you came down from your high, his high-caliber thrusts rendering you breathless.

His head raised, staring directly at you as he reached down in between to play. While slightly overstimulated, your entire body shuddered. He held you trapped as you almost squirmed from his touch.

“H-hold on, I’m almost there,” he breathlessly groaned. “Can you do that, princess?”

You couldn’t muster a voice to answer, only giving a short whine and a small nod. Your arms were vice-like around him, your claws continuously scoring marks. His lips found their way back to your body, driving himself as if he had limitless stamina. You could feel his breath hitching, his voice cracking in his groans.

Sinful utterances graced your ears as his hips became flush with yours, letting himself spill completely within you. His muscles trembled as he held himself in, completely spent yet still holding you. With one weak thrust, he pulled out slowly, taking short, jagged breaths.

“Shit…” he murmured, resting his forehead on your shoulder as he released you. “I’m spent.”

You giggled a little, cradling his head as your fingers threaded through his hair. It took him a moment to catch his breath, finally standing straight slowly. His gaze on you was sharp, apparent that most of the alcohol had worn off at this point.

“I been…holding that in all night,” he said, a silly grin on his face. “That dress is somethin’ else.”

“Why do you think I wore it?” you answered, smirking at him. “Gotta say, I like it when you’re drunk.”

He hummed in response, rubbing his forehead a little. “Don’t let me get drunk too often, though. Can’t promise what else would happen.”

[hollandroos]

The Price We Pay | Chapter 1

Summary: A one night stand was all it took for your entire life to change. You're shoved into unknown territory, agreeing to fake date the prince long enough for his parents and the media to get off of his back only there are a few issues... one of them being that you really can’t stand each other.

Series Masterlist | Wattpad

Words: 4.2k

Warnings: Mentions of a one night stand & semi-sexual content

A/N: The prologue is really important to the plot so uhh maybe go read that first!!! I’m so excited for this, please remember to send asks and comments because they keep me motivated! 

The sheets beside you were anything but empty, in fact, an entire body lay there– just as naked as you were.

His brown curls were tousled over his forehead brown eyes stuck in a daze. He looked amazing post sex and you were sure you looked a wreck but still– you both wore matching smiles, giggles spilling from your lips whether it was from the alcohol that still lingered in your system or the fact that you felt as if you were floating on cloud nine. But it was a very sweaty cloud nine at that.

“That was…” You trail off, staring at the ceiling of your bedroom. 

“Amazing?” He replies for you with a thick British accent. His voice was raspier then you remembered, and you only just noticed the lipstick marks that trailed down his neck. Tom felt free, he felt euphoric and he wasn’t sure he wanted things to change.

Laughs erupt from your lips that were now bare, lipstick smudged on either side but you didn't realise until much later when you popped away to the bathroom. A warm shower was exactly what you craved. 

“Spectacular.”

Spectacular was surely the right word and it was only confirmed when you rolled over, groaning at the slight ache that settled.

Tom felt no sense of remorse for sneaking out of the castle as of yet, not when it had as good of an outcome as this. Besides, he doubted that anyone realised he was gone– and if they did, what were they going to do about it? But he did have to admit that his mind was slightly plagued, because while he laid with the girl from the bar– he had to wonder about someone else. About another girl that was playing in his head like a hive of bees who he’d only forgotten about for a set period of time. And if this… if laying with you had really been the best thing to do.

He finds himself rolling over, chest pressed against the sheets and plants his lips on yours, one arm curled behind your spine and your alcohol scented lips mixing with his own. “You were fantastic.”

The sheets were definitely not as expensive as his own and the shoebox bedroom wasn’t even one-quarter of what his was but he didn’t care one bit, showing no ounce of remorse or distaste.

If you only knew what you’d just gotten yourself into.

-

“You’re an absolute dick, you know that?”

The blinds were torn open with a forceful grip, an angry Harrison marched around the room tugging them open one by one, already dressed and alert despite it only being six in the morning. Tom only groaned, rolling into his pillow to cover himself from the blinding light and Tessa growled, though Tom willed her to be quiet considering she wasn’t supposed to be sleeping on the bed in the first place.

“You’ve told me plenty of times before, but what did I do this time?” He mutters, words slightly muffled thanks to the pillow.

“This.”

A paper gets chucked onto the Californian king sized bed, pieces falling out and mixing with the sheets and the duvet that was a plush white mixed with gold, and Tom struggles to comprehend what he was supposed to be looking at, still attempting to wake himself up.  He didn’t even attempt to hide the few scratch marks that laced his back, too tired to care. Because that’s all he seemed to do lately– care.

“What is this?” He runs a hand over his face, glaring at the cover page. “What do you– oh.”

Then Tom finds it. He finds the reason for his best friends glares and the harsh tone he carried and he swore he felt his stomach drop dramatically. It made his eyes widen in absolute shock and memories from that night to flood back. He thought that he’d moved on from it, carrying out his duties as the prince but the media never let him rest.

“Yeah, now explain.” Harrison demands, snatching the paper out of the royals hand. Harrison was the only person that would treat Tom that way– everyone else was too afraid of the prince. Not including his parents, of course. “Please tell me that isn’t you, for fuck sake.”

“That’s me, that’s definitely me.”

Harrison groans loudly, once more having to watch his best mate fuck things up for himself– but something this stupid? It almost made him laugh and only two years ago the blond would have laughed. Because then they were practically kids, finding humour in things that back then they didn’t realise had an impact on their image.

“You know how bad this looks, Tom, your parents will be furious when they see this.” He points out the obvious, ripping the sheets off of Tom who was still trying to process the situation. “I woke you up before your dad can read the paper so you can fix this somehow. Do you even know this girls name?”

“Of course I know her fucking name! I’m not that bad.” He tries to defend himself– key word tries. “God, what am I meant to do?” Tom pulls the sheets back, shivering as the cold air hits him. “How did the paps even find me there?” 

Harrison sighs, gazing over the papers once more. He hadn’t even noticed that Tom had snuck out that night like he so often did… he didn’t think anybody did.

“They do keep bugging you about getting a girlfriend...” He mutters.

“I don’t want one.” Tom hisses, quick to reply. He smacks his hand against the duvet like a child. But his glare was that of a full grown adult.

“I’m not saying that! I’m just trying to say that your parents will be very unhappy when they see this and hear that you were out drinking– no scratch that, sleeping with a damn stranger!” Harrison sighs, seeing the rather confused and overwhelmed look on his friends face. 

Tom glares at his friend, finally feeling the winter breeze hit. He willed himself to get up and fix this but he also wanted to crawl back under those covers and hope it’d all go away on its own.

“What? so I’m not allowed to have at least a little fun?” He complains. “We were safe and she didn’t even recognise me. Can you relax now?”

Seeing the look on Toms' face, Harrison releases his crushing grip on the papers. 

“I’m sorry for bringing up the girlfriend part, I know what happened with April and I just… I’m scared for you, for what these photos will do to your image. It’s not like you’re just innocently kissing, Tom.”

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, Tom gets out of the bed and his feet land on the floorboards with a gentle thud just enough to make Tessa look up from her spot on the bed, tilting her head to the side as her owner makes his way over to his closet, searching through masses of clothing.

“I know. Look, it was just a one-time thing, but surely my parents won’t listen to that.” He sighs, pulling a shirt over his tousled curls. “Her name is Y/N. She lives in the town.”

Harrison cocks his head, leaning against the bed and watches with a confused gaze as Tom digs through his many drawers. Ultimately landing on the one with his sports gear in it. “So she’s a towns girl?”

Tom throws items of clothing onto the floor, some scattering across the bed and landing on the bedside table. For a prince, he truly wasn’t that clean. But he was kind-hearted– even if sometimes he came across as an ass, arrogant and cocky.

He shrugs, finding the things he was looking for. “Yeah, I think she mentioned that she works at one of those little restaurant things but we were pretty drunk.”

Harrison was confused but his anger had somehow vanished and with very little faith that the boy in front of him could fix this, he raises a single brow. At that moment Harrison Osterfield looked neater then the royal and he would gladly flaunt it– even with the current situation chewing away at them by the moment.

But it was Harrison's duty to keep Tom out of these messes– to keep him grounded and he felt like he failed. It was the anger of the King he’d be facing later that he feared.

“Do you know what you have to do?” He questions.

“I think I know what to do but I don’t know if it will dig me further into my grave or get me out of this mess, at least with my family.” Tom looks at himself in the mirror, seeing that the last thing he looked like was a prince in his unwashed horse riding gear. There were mud stains on the front from where he’d simply fallen off and patches on the knees of the pants. He looked more like a beggar than a prince. “Do you think you could cover for me for an hour or so?”

-

Work, eat, sleep, repeat.

That was your routine. Sometimes, if you had a little extra time on your hands and got out of work early then you were able to go out and have a little fun, or even run a warm bath at your shared apartment and soak in a pool of bubbles and pretty smelling salts. Those were the best days, where you were just able to let go whether that meant dancing everything out and getting drunk off of your face or treating yourself to a spa night.

The spa night included bath bombs and a glass of wine and maybe a hair mask or painting your nails a fresh colour, scraping off the chipped paint from the weeks before. But the other nights were more hectic, filled with booming music and bodies on bodies.

Your last night out had been two days ago with Tom, the curly-haired boy from the bar. Though you remember him better for the lips that trailed down your abdomen and right to the hem of your underwear, from the hands that gripped your hips and left gentle, blue and purple marks there and the way his demeanour quickly changed from gentle, slightly flirty to confident and dominating. 

You did, however, briefly remember the glint of mischief in his eyes as he bid you goodbye.

Okay, calm down.

What was even better? You hadn’t got his number, nor his address and all you knew was that he went to the same, grungy and rather run down bar as you and lived somewhere near the edge of the town. The only pieces of him that you had left were the marks down your neck, fingerprints on your hips and the fact that you woke up with his jacket sitting on your bedroom floor, a tube of chapstick on the inside and a necklace– a simple chain with a key dangling from the bottom. Not a proper key, simply a decoration.

The memories were still perfectly inked into your brain and you may or may not have only zoned out at work once or twice the next day, brain still fuzzy from the alcohol you consumed when you arrived back at your place and the feeling of being on cloud nine. It only made your expectations higher.

You slept with him.

But that was two days ago, and this was now.

You race around the house, a cup of now cold coffee resting in the centre of the coffee table, mug stained with your lipstick. Shoes pad against the carpet, leaving ugly prints that as a child, your mother would have scolded you for. But now as a grown up you were more focused on the clock that ticked away on the corner wall, every second indicating one more until you were late for your job that you were barely hanging onto by a thread. You were opening today– the biggest job of all right next to closing up.

If you pushed the thought of the shoes to the back of your mind, then you also tended to ignore the blisters swelling on the heels of your feet and the splotches of blood that stained your pantihose by midday. Because as much as you wished you could simply run around in leggings all day, you weren’t allowed.

Being a mostly mature adult with a lot of time on your hands, (because work was boring) you could write an essay about the things that you liked and didn’t like, an entire scripture on your interests because you were simply very adamant. And grumpy bosses was at the very bottom of that list. The thought of him scolding you again, coffee-stained teeth and warm saliva spilling past his lips and landing directly on your cheek was enough to make you grimace.

He was a gross old man, recently celebrating his sixty-fifth birthday and had recently lost his very last standing patch of hair and now relied on glasses to get him through day to day life. You wondered if he slept from the bags under his eyes or if they were just natural by now or if his wife was just overwhelming– and if he had always had nose hair that long or if it was a development within the last few years.

You were so distracted that you nearly tripped on the rug and you would’ve ended up flying forward– papers and work gear spilling onto the floor. That perfectly explained your level of focus right now. But life was boring, a cycle of the same events over and over and it wasn’t that you were just waiting for something interesting to happen, but you were just waiting for something interesting to happen.

The house was messy, things scattered around but what could one expect when you put two young girls together? Absolute chaos. You nearly miss the sound of footsteps that weren’t your own, hurried yet cautious as they step down the hall.

You grip the keys in one hand, stuffing your phone in your pocket with the other, your bag was slung over one arm and you were sure that you looked a wreck but what had changed? You mentally checked things off, not wanting to forget your keys again or sanity for that matter.

Taking a sip from your second coffee– yes second, this one was in a flask, you open the front door, nearly walking into a stranger. At least you thought he was a stranger with his hood pulled up and over his features, dirty clothes and a slight hunch.

That was until he looked up.

“What the fu–”

He puts a finger out, using the hood to hide most of his face. But you’d never forget those dirty brown curls. “Shh, I need you to let me in.” He instructs, voice shaking as the words slipped a little faster then they should have.

Your mouth opens and closes like a fish, the coffee burning the palm of your hand as you hold it. “You’re at my house at six o’clock in the morning.” You were beyond confused to see Tom, especially this early and so soon.

Tom glanced around, watching one of your neighbour's eyes. Her name was Mallery and she nearly had a heart attack seeing the royal, being as big of a fan of them as she was. Only you didn’t realise that was the cause of her widening eyes and other star stricken features. Glancing back, Tom wanted to smirk seeing the purple and blue marks ‘hidden’ by a thin scarf but was in too much of a hurry to. He only had around forty-five minutes until his father woke up and saw the paper and while that was inevitable, a good story that’d please the man wasn’t.

“Something bad has happened and by your reaction to me being here I assume you don’t know and that makes me feel worse about this entire thing.”

You were still in slight shock, what felt like a hive of honey bees buzzing around your brain as he waited for a reply. You get yourself together, deciding questions were better to come later.

“I really have to get to work, Tom, I can’t be late again or I’ll get fired and I can’t lose my job. Can we talk about this later?” You practically beg, tapping a foot against the floor. He shakes his head wearily, knowing that if you left that house you’d be noticed as the girl from the pictures in moments. It was clear as day, your face was in it. “Fuck… okay, come in.”

He steps into the familiar apartment only this time he wasn’t as drunk and was able to point out just how small the room really was. He recognised the woollen blanket that was slung over the couch and the multiple cups that were scattered around the room, and the ugly grey that the walls were painted as well as the pastel blue backdrop in the kitchen.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen and now that it’s out there, there’s really nothing we can do and I don’t know how to tell you this…” He trails on, fumbling with his fingers.

You tilt your head, glancing down at your wristwatch as the minute's tick by. 

“What are you even talking about?”

“I didn’t tell you who I am the night we… you know.” Tom grimaces, running a hand through his curls as he throws the hood off. “I’m not a mechanic, I don’t even really know what they do. I’m the son of Anne and Derek, the King and Queen–”

You want to laugh at his statement, and maybe you did because it was absolutely wild, so bizarre that you shook your head, not believing it for a second. But he stood there straight-faced in your living room while you stood in disbelief.

“I’m not falling for that shit, if you came here to try and fool me then you should just leave before I lose my job and my patience.” You shake your head, frustration beginning to course through your veins.

“I’m not trying to trick you!” He says, a little louder then he originally meant to. “I’m being dead serious right now because what I’m about to show you is even worse.”

You saw the sincerity on his face, even if you didn’t know him at all yet and slump your shoulders. Toms gaze wasn’t faltering at all and you were still confused. Not that the situation was weird enough, but you couldn’t exactly imagine the boy in front of you in a crown and fancy clothes. Not when he looked like he’d just fallen off of a horse and rolled into a puddle of mud.

“What are you talking about?” You question, placing your coffee onto the entryway table.

“These.”

He hands you a folded up piece of paper and you take it, unfolding what you now realised was today's version of the newspaper and gape at it.

To say you were humiliated was easily an understatement. The photos on the cover were clearly of you and him from your night at the bar– that one night that ended up at your place. There were photos from every angle, from close up and further back. It was an absolute invasion of privacy, that much was for sure and you felt sick to your stomach.

There were pictures of Toms lips on yours as you locked in a heated kiss, his hands beneath your shirt and running up your thigh. Blood ran to your already flustered cheeks at the photo of you hiked up on the wall right outside the bar. Of course the two of you had been impatient and of course, Tom couldn’t have taken more care. Suddenly, you hated the previously charming boy.

“This is insane– they can’t do this, can they? Oh my god, my parents are going to kill me– I’ll lose my job and my life. This is humiliating.” You gasp, not knowing exactly what to say so you ramble, a hundred and one questions and statements running through your mind as you stare at all of the photos on the print. You felt embarrassed, blood running straight to your cheeks.

The title was even worse reading ‘Prince Holland out for some fun with a mystery girl.’ You swore you felt bile in the back of your throat. It was a wicked, wild and cruel dream, it simply had to be.

“They can do this and they’ll continue to do it.”

You swallowed thickly, growing angry and concerned and anxious all at the same time because god knows how many people would see these photos and god knows how many people would judge you for it. In a world where people were judgmental and parents were strict, where saving yourself for marriage was a strong belief held by many you could count yourself as good as screwed.

“Why didn’t you tell me about how you were and the consequences before we slept together?” You growl, passing the paper back to him. Staring at the photos made you feel nauseous and suddenly turned a great experience that you had previously basked in, into a scary one. Suddenly you were even afraid to step outside, seriously debating calling off on work.

“I didn’t want you to think any differently of me and can you blame me? I just wanted to be normal for once and I had no idea they followed me, nor how they found me.” Tom replies with wild hand movements. Maybe you should have been working together instead of tearing each other apart but with such frustrated and panicked minds, you were practically running on adrenaline.

You sigh and kick at the ground with your clothed feet, trying to snap yourself out of this in case it was a wild dream, which it sadly was not. “What do we do now?” You ask quietly, staring at the ground.

“I have an idea but you’re going to hate it, just hear me out, okay?” Tom waits for you to nod and you do so hesitantly. “We fake date.” He watches your mouth open nearly immediately and puts a finger up to silence you. “Just long enough to get the people to back off and to make my rep look… the slightest bit better.”

“What’s in it for me? It sounds like this is just a way for you to make yourself look better.” You cross your arms across your chest, glaring at the man. You couldn’t believe the insane offer– it sounded like something he’d come up with while drunk.

He sighs and grips the roots of his hair, looking at the clock to see he had to leave as soon as possible to get back to the castle on time. Harrison could only keep him covered for so long.

“You won’t have to work as long as we’re together, you’ll get to see the castle and–”

“I have no interest in seeing the castle.” Maybe you were being a little harsher then need be.

Tom stops and grits his teeth before continuing. “You won’t have to work, you’ll get to see parts of the country you haven’t seen… maybe even parts of the world. Think hairstylists and makeup artists, designer clothes. Plus, what would your family think of you dating a royal?” Tom stops, taking a deep breath as you stand and tap your foot, playing with the ends of your shirt. “We screwed up and now we have to deal with the consequences.” He says. Tom was just as angry as you, biting the inside of his lip to prevent himself from losing his temper at the girl he’d only know for a little over a day. He’d barely count a one night stand as ‘getting to know someone’.

“No way, I don’t want this.” Your arms flew over your head, anger and frustration coursing through your veins but you were hiding it over layers of what still had to be confusion or the fact that you were overwhelmed. This wasn’t real, none of it was, it had to be a dream. “This is all fucking crazy.” 

“I’d watch that mouth of yours, princesses don’t swear.” Tom tutts. He was just as frustrated as you. He found himself circling your apartment, the small stains that decorated the carpet and ornaments that sat above the fireplace were nothing you’d see at the castle. Blankets were strewn across the couch covered in wrinkles and empty coffee mugs lined the bench. The apartment was nothing more then a shoebox and the boy didn’t remember it being this messy the last time he’d shown up. “C’mon, just for a while then things will go back to normal. Your family won’t be able to hate you and I can sort everything else out, I’m Tom Holland.”

“I’m not a princess.” You cross your arms over your chest like a child throwing a tantrum, the sweater hugging close to your chest. It was a simple grey one from target. You bet princesses didn’t buy their clothes from target. “And this doesn’t mean that I have to like you, does it? Because quite frankly I’m not as nice when I’m sober.”

It was easily the beginning of something big– something totally out of your comfort levels and maybe you were ready for something new, and maybe you just wanted to stay right where you were but the offer was intriguing.

“Look, you just have to pretend that we get along until this all blows over.” Tom shakes his head, brown curls brushing against his forehead. “We fucked up– I fucked up, but this was a two-sided thing. This is the price we pay.”

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[phantomwarrior12]

Finally Home (End)

Summary: Sometimes the journey home is the hardest part, but it’s a journey well worth it.

Word Count: 3,444

Warnings: Canon-style swearing, angst, fluff, the works

A/N: Hey folks!

This is it, the final chapter of Saudade. It’s been a journey, for lack of a better word. I began this series a little under a year ago and I don’t think I’ve had this much fun exploring a character’s psyche as I did with Felix. :)

Thank you to all of y’all who stuck around and took an interest in this story, despite my...unreliable posting schedule. Y’all are fabulous and I love you!

Enjoy this final chapter! :)

~ Phantom

------------

"You're nightmares are getting worse."

Isaac allows the heels of his hands to fall away from his eyes, stars and spots fading with ever blink.

"What?"

"You spent the night tossing and turning...and screaming." Sam doesn't look up from his sniper rifle, running a cloth over the scope for what seems like the hundredth time.

"They're not that bad," Isaac waves him off, pushing himself upwards from the bed and shuffling across the floor to wash his face.

"Really?" Skeptical inquiry.

"Yes. Now let it go," Isaac snaps, splashing cool water over sweat-slicked skin.

"Felix--"

"Let. It. Go." Isaac retorts, turning a meaningful glower on his partner.

Sam arches an eyebrow but turns back to the weapon in his hand, "Mason reached out."

The towel drops away from his face as he wheels about to face Sam, "What'd he say?"

"He was checking in, wanted to see if we had reconciled."

"And what'd you tell him?" Isaac arches an eyebrow, folding his arms across his chest.

Sam levels grey on the lean mercenary, gauging the expression etched into his partner's features, "That it's a work in progress."

Isaac tilts his head, amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth, "How very Locus of you."

"What does that even mean?"

Isaac offers a shrug and turns back to the dated mirror, "You've always been a cautious guy, Ortez. You don't rush into things or jump to conclusions. You like to take things slow."

"Experience has dictated--"

"--you rely a little too much on past experiences, Sam. People change and you gotta adapt."

Sam rolls his eyes and returns to reassembling his weapon, "sometimes caution is the best adaptation."

Isaac waves him off as he shuffles back over to his cot, collapsing onto the sheets with a sigh, "Cautious is no way to live, Sam."

"No, but it's a good way to stay alive." Sam returns, deliberately avoiding Isaac's eyes.

"Fair enough," Isaac concedes, rolling onto his side to watch his partner give the rifle one final inspection.

"Ortez?"

He receives a grunt of acknowledgement.

"You ever think about leaving?"

Sam pauses, hesitant as he lays the weapon back on the table and turns to face Isaac, "Sometimes. Why?"

"Well, we've been here for a little over a year and half, and while the Reds and Blues and their petty bickering are amusing, shouldn't we be doing something more? I mean, don't get me wrong, the guys are great and all, but, it doesn't feel right, you know?"

Sam nods slowly, "I know what you mean. Does this mean you want to leave?"

"Maybe. I don't know." Isaac scrubs at his face, rubbing at weary bags beneath his eyes. "I want to see Mason again, see the girls. I'm tired of this life, and while these guys have given us somewhere to live, it doesn't feel like home, Sam."

Sam hesitates, something so characteristic of his brother, Isaac almost laughs at the irony of it all so soon after their initial conversation starter.

"I miss them, too," the stoic mercenary admits at last, meeting Isaac's eyes across the room, "the last time we saw them, they were--"

"--just kids. Mel'll practically be an adult. And Miki? She's nearly out of high school." There's a shadow of a smile that Sam hasn't seen in years, "It'd be nice to see them again."

"Then we're going home."

Isaac sits up abruptly, a reaction, he believes Sam wasn't anticipating given the way his frame stiffens, "Just like that?"

"It's what you want, isn't it?"

Isaac starts to answer, but now, it's his turn to hesitate. For so long, they've done what Isaac wanted, and he doesn't like where it's gotten them. So, he swings his feet onto the floor and levels a solemn gaze on the larger mercenary, "Is it what you want, Sam?"

There's a heavy silence in the room, one that Isaac dearly wishes Sam would break. He's tired of making the decisions, it's why they ended up in this mess the first time around. He won't make the same mistake twice. This time--this time Sam's taking the wheel.

"Yes."

"Then let's go home."

----------------

Every nerve screams, every tendons pleads. It's a rush of sensations, it's nothing but shredding cartilage and shattering bones.

It's all he can remember, all he can feel, and yet, he's still free falling.

"Sam!"

He grapples for something, anything to slow his descent, but it's too late. The rocks are close and there's no saving him now.

He's gone.

----------------

Isaac awakes in a panic to Sam shaking his sweat-coated frame with something closely resembling terror in his eyes.

"Isaac!"

It takes a moment, but when he regains his bearings, slowly realizing how tightly he's gripped Sam's forearms, he recoils.

"What happened?" He croaks, eyes drifting to his trembling hands, throat dry from the screams.

"You had a nightmare." Sam loosens his vice grip on Isaac's shoulders, steadying his shaking form.

"God, it was so real." He murmurs, flexing his hands to try and regain some semblance of control.

"You're all right," Sam tries to assure him, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, struggling to calm his own racing pulse.

Both sets of eyes snap to the door when Carolina and Washington stumble in, mirroring looks of concern and terror.

"Are you guys okay?" Carolina steps into the room, emerald darting in search of potential threats.

"We're fine, Isaac--"

"--had a nightmare. Sorry I woke you, guys." Isaac mumbles out an apology, eyes dropping back to the blankets tangled around his legs.

The siblings exchange a look, before Wash takes a cautious step closer, "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Felix--"

"--Wash." Isaac cuts him short, lifting pained brown from the blankets to settle on the the younger Freelancer, "I'm okay. You guys can go back to bed. Sorry I woke you."

His voice is gentle, drained of the fire they've grown so accustomed to hearing. He shifts, straightening his blankets before sliding back down under the covers, rolling on his side away from his partner and the Freelancers.

Sam gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze and stands, ushering the others out, closing the door behind him.

They're talking. It's hushed and garbled through the door, but it's just clear enough for the lean mercenary to make out the end of their conversation.

"You sure he's gonna be okay?"

Wash. Always so considerate, always so worried about everyone else more so than himself.

"It won't be easy, but he'll get through this."

"We'll help where we can." Carolina's voice drifts beneath the door, and for a moment, she almost sounds like Vanessa. He rolls onto his back, zeroing in on her voice, eyes glued on the ceiling.

For a moment, he's back on Chorus, standing beside her and going over reports. For a moment, he isn't lying, for a moment, he isn't planning to betray her, for a fleeting moment, all is right.

"Dammit," Isaac mumbles, struggling, with everything he has, to brush the memory aside. He rubs at his eyes, tears pricking, soul screaming, guilt gnawing.

He slams the side of his fist against the metal wall beside him, as if pounding the wall will silence the memories. It almost works, but the collision startles the group outside the door.

Sam steps inside, Freelancers stealing a glimpse over his shoulder at the tense mess on the cot.

"Isaac?" Sam approaches, kneeling beside his brother, "Isaac, what's wrong?"

It's almost a whisper and Isaac can't find the strength or the words to answer him. Carolina gently nudges Sam back, allowing her to take a seat at Isaac's side.

"It's all right." She lays a hand on his forearm, her voice low and calming.

"It's not." He pushes her hand aside, pushing himself to sit up, roughly wiping away the tear stains on his cheeks.

"What's going on, man?" Washington ventures closer, kneeling beside Sam, quietly searching Isaac's defeated eyes for a single spark of life.

"Don't worry about it."

He jolts slightly when Carolina's hand rests on his shoulder, dragging his eyes up to meet emerald. There's a gentle smile etched into her features, something he never imagined he'd receive from the usually intimidating Freelancer.

"It's okay to be vulnerable, Felix. Nightmares are nothing to be ashamed of, it's just an unfortunate part of being soldiers."

"It's not the nightmares, those I can handle."

Sam lets out a disbelieving snort, earning him a jab from Wash's elbow. The mercenary levels an annoyed look on the youngest Church, one that Washington promptly ignores in favor of asking the inevitable question. 

"Then what is it?"

 "It's stupid." he grumbles in response, winding his fingers into the blanket and clenching his fist.

"Gates," a chiding tone from Sam, "we talked about this."

"I know, I know. I need to open to the others more."

"This would be a good start."

Isaac's shoulders sag, "Fine." He lifts his gaze, hazel settling on Carolina's curious expression.

"Before you guys showed up on Chorus, Sam and I had already been there for a couple years. In that time, we got to know some of those people pretty well--at least I did." He swallows the lump in his throat, every ounce of his being screaming for him to stop there, but he pushes through. He needs to get past this, he needs some semblance of closure.

So, he squares his shoulders, gathering what remains of his dignity and looks to Carolina, "You sound a lot like Kimball. Same attitude, same tone, and, I guess--I guess I got some flashbacks. Not everything I said to Kimball was a lie, and it's the things I didn't say that bite me in the ass now."

"Oh my God." Wash stares, "you were in love with her."

"I wasn't in love with her! It was a mutual respect." Isaac protests, turning a scowl towards the blonde Freelancer.

"No, I think Wash is right in this case." There's a hint of amusement tugging at the corner of Carolina's lips.

"I'm not with in love with her!" The lean mercenary bites back bitterly.

"They're right, Felix." Sam contributes coolly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Oh, don't you start too!"

"Have you talked to her?" Carolina interjects.

"No. I doubt she even knows I'm alive."

"Oh, she knows." Wash rubs the back of his neck, avoiding Isaac's gaze.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Caboose might've let it slip a couple weeks ago."

"I'm actually quite surprised that he made it this long." Carolina snorts, shaking her head.

"Then why the hell am I still alive? I would've thought their entire military would be knocking at our door."

"Kimball is still trying to sort out the whole freedom thing with the UNSC. They don't really want to let go of Chorus now that they know they had it at one point." Wash supplies, "so, she quite literally has been too busy to kill you."

"Thanks, Wash. That's very reassuring," Isaac retorts with a deadpan expression.

"I think what Wash is trying to say is that she, like you, has been too busy to cope with the full spectrum of emotion your survival no doubt brought back. You should talk to her."

"I'd be dead before I made the lobby."

"Not if we came with you." Wash jumps in, "Locus already got a full presidential pardon from Kimball for saving my life."

"It's not gonna be that simple, Wash."

"Isaac," Sam captures his attention, "it's something that needs to happen. We'll be there beside you, no matter what."

The lean mercenary glances between the Freelancers and his partner, shoulders sagging, "Alright. I guess we're making a stop at Chorus."

----------------

"I don't like this idea." Isaac stares down the door and his feet are rooted in place.

"We made it all the way here, you can do this." Carolina lays a hand on his shoulder.

"Does she know I'm coming?"

"No. We thought it best to...surprise her?" Washington offers with a shrug.

"Right, because surprising the leader of a planet who no doubt has a gun nearby is a great plan."

"She's not going to kill you." Sam retorts evenly.

"Easy for you to say, you have the presidential pardon."

Carolina rolls her eyes and opens the door, stepping inside with Sam and Wash close behind.

"Kimball?"

"Agent Carolina, this is a surprise." The president of Chorus stands, offering a warm smile to the three visitors.

"Oh, the surprises don't stop here," Wash scratches the back of his head.

"What does that--?"

She never gets to finish. Sam steps aside and Isaac slowly shuffles inside the room, hands shoved in his pockets, frame tense and eyes bleeding warmth.

"Felix--you--I thought--"

"Hey, Vanessa." He tries a slight smile, eyes drifting across her face.

"You're alive. When Caboose said--I didn't think he was serious."

"Surprise."

The disbelief ebbs away, and Isaac wants nothing more than to shy away from the glare that grips her features.

"Why are you here?"

Isaac remains silent, looking anywhere other than the woman behind the desk. It isn't until Carolina elbows him and nudges him forward that he can find his courage.

"I came to see you."

"Why?" It's sharp, detached.

"Because," a quiet fuck slips out under his breath and he unburies his hands, striding closer with more confidence than he has, "because I've spent too long running from my past. What I did here, what I did to you, was wrong. No amount of apologizing will change that fact. But what I do hope to change is where I go from here."

Kimball eases herself to her feet, meeting the lean mercenary's gaze evenly, "Why?"

"Because you're important to me."

Kimball's expression softens, lips parted in something resembling shock.

"Not a day goes by that I don't think about you and wish that I could go back and change all of it." He leans on the desk, "I wanted to tell you, god, so many times what you meant to me. Every lie, every choice I made was hell because I didn't want to betray you."

"Then why did you?" her voice softens, violet darting across hazel, searching for an answer just out of reach.

"Because fighting in your war was a job. I wasn't supposed to get attached, I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you, but I did. And when it came down to you or the job, I chose the latter because I wasn't ready to sort through all the emotions. By the time I realized it, it was too late."

His voice falters for a moment, "I realize that what I've done is unforgivable, but I'm asking nonetheless because I need to know." His hand slides to rest on top of hers, hazel locking on violet with a desperation Kimball's never seen before.

"I'm sorry, Vanessa. Will you forgive me?"

She hesitates, indecision gripping her frame and Isaac's almost certain she's going to tell him to go to hell. He's surprised when she leans forward, lips brushing against his in a moment he'll cling to for the rest of his life.

It's brief, a whisper of skin and Isaac's not even sure it happened, but when she pulls back, hand sliding out from underneath his and she stands with her hands clasped behind her back, he tenses.

"You're forgiven, Felix. I don't know what you've gone through, what hell you've walked to come to terms with what you are, but it's enough. I can't promise you a home here on Chorus, it's not even safe for Locus. There's too much residual hatred for you two, but I can promise you that your reconciliation with your humanity will be noted and that might, one day, grant you a place here."

She's distant, but he can read the signs. It's a goodbye, a promise and a hope all at once.

"Thank you."

She offers a solemn nod, "Goodbye, Felix."

The corner of his mouth tugs upward, "See you around, Kimball."

He doesn't speak until they're nearly to the landing pad, lost in his own thoughts.

"So, you showed some emotion. Didn't know you could do that," Wash teases, nudging his shoulder with his elbow.

Isaac gives him a light shove, "Ha ha, very funny."

"Cut the man some slack, Wash, he just got rejected." Carolina interjects with a smile.

"I did not! It was more like closure. I'm fine."

"Right, which is why your face is redder than Sarge's armor."

Isaac glowers and drops in behind them, falling in step with Sam. He glances at his partner, "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Now who needs to open up more?"

Sam snorts, "Just thinking about what comes next."

"We go home."

"That simple, huh?"

"Its the logical next step."

"I hope you two aren't planning on leaving without saying goodbye." Carolina glances over her shoulder.

"We wouldn't dream of it."

----------------

"Goodbye, Mr. Felix! Goodbye, Mr. Locus! We will miss you!" Caboose shouts, waving wildly as they board their ship.

Isaac can't help the smile that spreads across his lips and he turns to give Caboose a wave goodbye.

He turns away when the landing ramp closes and climbs into the cockpit beside Sam, "You ready?"

"Always."

Their ship lifts off, roaring into space towards home.

"Should we tell Wu we're coming?" Isaac smirks, already knowing the answer.

"Let's surprise him."

It's not long until they touch down on the landing pad. Every nerve stands on end as Isaac slips his pack over his head and he and Sam descend into the bustling crowd of the spaceport. It's not long until they reach the front porch and Isaac rings the doorbell.

They wait and there's scampering beyond the door before the bolt is released and the door swings open.

"Sam? Isaac?" Mason sets his pistol aside and pulls the door open further. A smile cracks across his lips and he tugs them both into an embrace.

"Hey, Wu. Miss us?" Isaac laughs, returning the embrace.

Sam looks uncomfortable, after all these years, he still isn't capable of handling hugs. So, he awkwardly pats Mason's shoulder and tries to smile.

Mason steps back, "Come inside. Megan! Girls!"

Megan Wu emerges from the living room, freezing in the doorway when her eyes land on the two mercenaries.

"Hey, Meg."

Mason's daughters come tearing down the staircase, Melody skidding just short of her mother and Mikayla nearly collides with her older sister.

"Girls, you remember your Uncles Isaac and Sam?"

They remain where they are and for a moment, Isaac's smile falters. They've no doubt heard about everything that's happened, their fall from grace and the fight with Mason. He almost turns to Mason and offers to leave until Melody steps past her mother, eyes darting between the two men before she gives Sam a hug.

He freezes and his eyes dart to Mason who smirks at the awkward mercenary's position. Slowly, he accepts her embrace while Mikayla darts over to Isaac and practically tackles him to the ground.

Isaac doesn't hesitate, winding his arms around his surrogate niece, "You guys got so big."

"That tends to happen when you're gone for a couple years, Uncle Isaac." Melody returns, stepping back and allowing Mikayla to give Sam a hug.

"You got your dad's wit, I'm so proud." Isaac snorts, giving her a quick embrace.

"They got their mother's smarts, too." Mason steps closer to Megan, who hasn't been able to find the words to speak.

The girls smile almost proudly and squeeze the mercenaries a little tighter.

Sam flinches and looks to Isaac for help. He doesn't know how to handle children and though he tries, he doesn't know how to handle affection either. So, when Mikayla's vice grip loosens, Sam steps back and tries to gather himself.

Melody steps off to the side and all eyes fall to Megan. She hasn't spoken and her grip on Mason's hand has tightened, almost as if she can protect him with the sheer force of her hand around his.

Isaac's the first to speak, "Meg, we owe you, all of you, an apology. The decisions Sam and I made, the fight with Mason, it was wrong--we were wrong. We're sorry."

She nods slowly, releasing her grasp on her husband's hand and venturing closer. Her daughters step back and her gaze flickers between Sam and Isaac.

They wait in silence until a warm smile spreads across her lips, tugging them into a warm embrace.

"Welcome home, boys."

"It's good to be home."

-------------------

Tagging: 

RVB Forevers: @mamma-dragon ​ @loveliestoflunchboxes ​ @heaven-hell-imagines ​

RVB Mercs: @antsyserpentine ​

[minoraugmentation]

Completing a Family (Route 17 Fest Day 6: His Blessings)

“She looks so...tiny.”

“Of course. That’s how babies are, Seventeen.”

“She has no nose either.”

Seventeen and Aki were looking through some of the baby photos Eighteen had sent him of Marron.

To think that they were capable of having children. Raising them. He knew Eighteen had some doubts about whether she would be a good parent. How could either of them be expected to be what children needed? They were designed to destroy, after all.

‘Is that going to be me someday? A parent?’

He wondered about that. The whole concept of a relationship and love was still highly unfamiliar to him. He loved adventure, exploration, the outdoors. He loved his sister in a sense. But love for a child of his own?

Was he actually capable of that?

He knew Aki, despite her doubts, could do it. Hell, she had confessed her love for him, despite learning the truth during a recent poacher’s raid. He had fully expected to be turned away, yet she accepted him. She loved him.

And he knew that he felt the same.

God, Eighteen would embarrass him mightily right now.

Seventeen had wanted to return to MIR immediately after the incident, but the boss insisted on giving him a couple of days off. Something about taking a break away from the island and de-stressing.

“Hey, Seventeen.”

“Yeah?”

“Will you come with me into town today?”

He shrugged. “Sure. Is this a date?”

Aki laughed. “Only if you want it to be, mister. Figured since you have the next couple of days off, you could come with me and see what I do during my time away from the island.”

Seventeen was honestly relieved. He enjoyed Aki’s presence, but he didn’t enjoy stuffy social situations like fancy dinners. He was dearly thankful that Aki was not nearly the sort of ruthless, meticulous shopper that Eighteen was: their trips to stores consisted of knowing what they wanted and leaving, with few frills in between. Just as Seventeen liked it.

This could be nice though, Seventeen mused. He knew Aki very well from a professional sense, having worked with her for over four years to this point. He knew what type of person she was, enough to really like her at least. But in terms of what she did beyond work, he was curious in how she lived.

“As soon as you’re ready, Seventeen, we can head out.”

Grabbing a jacket and his scarf, Seventeen headed for the door. “Then let’s go.”

“So where are we heading, anyway?”

“You’ll see, mister. Patience.”

The walk into town was leisurely. Neither Seventeen nor Aki were in any rush, and Seventeen deduced their destination wasn’t far from the apartment. Nevertheless, he was curious.

“Here we are.”

He stopped and took in the scene before him. A small building with a playground in the front. Some kids were on the swings, others were on the slides. A couple of adults around.

Seventeen noticed a sign near the front of the building. “West Tropics Orphanage”.

“I volunteer here a couple days each week. I’ve been doing it for a few months now.”

Ah. That made sense. Seventeen knew Aki’s father had left when she was younger, and her mother had died while she was getting her degree. So she was mostly alone in this world. Even if she hadn’t grown up an orphan, she could relate to the children on some level.

And besides, Aki was gentle. She loved life of all forms, and she stood for innocent creatures. That naturally included kids. Seventeen thought this fit her well.

“Sorry if this isn’t what you were expecting. I just thought you’d get bored of doing nothing at the apartment, so I wanted you to tag along.”

He shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m interested to see what all you do here.”

Noticing Aki in the distance, one of the workers from the playground made her way over to the couple. “Aki, you’re here!”

“Of course I am, Mai!”

“But you’re not usually here during the week!”

“Work gave me a couple days off, so I decided helping out here would be better than sitting around at home.”

“Well, we always appreciate the help. And the kids will be happy to see you again.”

Suddenly, the woman named Mai took notice of another person.

“And who’s this handsome man?”

Aki started to fidget a bit. Clearly, she was a little embarrassed.

Seventeen smirked. This could be fun.

“Handsome? How flattering.”

Mai gasped. “Is he that ranger you’re always talking about?”

“Mai!”

Seventeen chuckled, while Aki turned and glared at him. “Don’t say a word.”

“Why not? Clearly, you say plenty of words about me here.”

She groaned. “Why, of all times, do you need to be an ass now?”

Mai smiled teasingly. “After seeing him in person, at least I can understand why you’d always mention him.”

Aki sighed. “Fine, fine. Mai, this is Seventeen, who’s a ranger at the island I work at. Seventeen, this is Mai. She runs the orphanage.”

“Oh, the other girls are going to love this.”

Seventeen shrugged. “I didn’t realize I was a hot topic of gossip.”

“Definitely hot and definitely a topic of gossip.”

“MAI!”

Seventeen and Mai burst into laughter. Seventeen couldn’t believe this. He hardly ever saw Aki flustered, only cool and poised on the island.

Mai made her way towards the building. “Come on in, and we’ll show our ranger around.”

Neither Seventeen nor Aki missed the playful wink she gave towards Seventeen’s direction.

He chuckled before turning to Aki. “Care to explain what this is about?”

Sighing, Aki held her face in her hands in embarrassment. “I think everyone here, from the volunteers to the kids, knows just how enamored I am with you, Mr. Ranger.”

“You actually found things about me to talk about?”

She looked up, puzzled. “Seventeen, you’re incredible. You protect MIR just about effortlessly. You carry yourself in a real cool, calm way. And as evidenced by Mai, you’re not hard on the eyes. It’s hard not to talk about you.”

“Then let them talk.”

“But...”

“Just hear me out. They only know what you’ve told them, but you know me beyond that. And if they want to tease about you liking me, then there’s not much to worry about. I’m not embarrassed by the truth, and you shouldn’t be either.”

Seventeen smiled.

“If anything, I’m flattered that you’ve felt this way for a while. But we know how we feel about one another, so what’s the problem?”

Aki sighed. “Fine. As long as you don’t cross the line.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

He smirked.

“All teasing will be within reason.”

“Bringing you was a mistake, damn it.”

Mai and Aki gave Seventeen a quick tour of the place. They explained that currently, there were around 40 children here, some as young as two to as old as seven. Mai said that eventually, kids would go into foster care at a certain point.

“We can’t provide everything for kids once they get older. At some point, they’ll need to enter foster care and be raised in a family environment.”

Seventeen nodded in agreement. Between schooling and general human development, a family setting would be best.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two kids eyeing him warily. Quickly making eye contact with Seventeen, the two scampered away.

“Are the kids generally distant towards adults?”

Mai stopped. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing much. Just passed by two kids, and they just ran off. I thought young kids were pretty curious, but I suppose not.”

“Well, most kids don’t know any different. Some kids aren’t exactly trustful of others, though.”

He and Eighteen definitely fit into the latter category.

“Mai, what activity were you thinking about today?”

“Probably something sporty. It’d be nice to get everyone active, and you’re one of the few who can keep up with everyone’s energy.”

Mai stopped and looked at Seventeen.

“You’ll join in too, won’t you Mr. Ranger?”

“Guess it couldn’t hurt.”

“Then could you two wait in the gym while I go round up everyone?”

With that, Mai left the two of them alone.

“Guess we should head on over, then Seventeen.”

“Lead the way.”

The two of them made their way towards the center of the building, where the gym was.

“You know, this kind of suits you.”

Aki stopped. “In what sense?”

“You working with kids. It makes sense that you’d be good with them, and that they’d like you.”

She smiled. “I guess, but it’s not really about me.”

“Part of being a little kid is that pure joy in every day bringing its own adventure. Kids don’t need to worry about the world’s problems. They don’t need to be involved in the kind of negativity that you or I see on a fairly regular basis.”

Aki faced Seventeen. “I want to at least temporarily light up their days in whatever way I can. Life dealt them bad hands, but I guess I just want kids to be able to live and enjoy this time, even if it’s just a little.”

The cyborg could only smile. He was right. “That expression just now.”

Confused, Aki turned to him. “My expression?”

He took her hand into his. “When you’re talking about something you’re deeply passionate about, you have this expression. It’s hard to describe. But you get it when you’re explaining the habitats and lifestyles of the animals over at MIR. It’s the same expression when you were just talking about bringing those kids happiness.”

She silently nodded.

“Then let’s give these kids a great time.”

Aki beamed. “I’m really glad you came with me today. I think you’ll be great with the kids, Seventeen.”

She stopped in front of a pair of double-doors. “We’re here. Let’s wait inside.”

Slowly, children began to trickle in through the doors. Another volunteer followed suit.

Eventually, the gym was packed.

“Wait, you two! Come here!”

Seventeen recognized the voice as Mai’s.

A young boy yelled in response “No way, lady! Just leave us alone!”

Seventeen and Aki rushed to the gym doors, wondering what the commotion was about.

“We’re going to play a game! It’ll be fun: please join us!”

“Go away! Stop trying to include us in things! You don’t get it, lady!”

Seventeen looked and saw Mai trying to reason with two kids. The same two kids he passed by earlier.

Seeing Seventeen and Aki, the two kids bolted.

Aki quickly went to check on Mai. “Mai, are you alright?”

The older lady sighed. “Those two. The biggest two troublemakers here.”

Seventeen raised his eyes at this. So even places like this had kids who acted out.

“What’s their deal?”

Mai turned to Seventeen. “Don’t bother with them, Mr. Ranger. When they’re like this, they just need to cool off.”

She sighed. “Those two are Fuyuki and Natsumi. They’re twins and came here recently. They were found living in the streets, for Kami knows how long.”

Aki gasped. “In the streets?”

Mai nodded. “Their mother had them young, probably fearing the end of the world during the Cell Games. Those two are part of the mini-baby-boom from that time. But the father left, and the mother wasn’t able to take care of them, so she left them in the streets before walking out.”

Suddenly, Seventeen understood the issue.

“Mai, let me talk to them.”

“Seventeen, what are you doing?”

He turned to Aki.

“Just trust me, Aki. Just get the game activity organized and started, and we’ll join you in a bit.”

As she was beginning to protest, she saw the look in Seventeen’s eyes before backing down.

“We can’t wait long for you.”

“Do what you have to, but I’ll be back.”

“Wait, Seventeen!” Mai pleaded.

“I’m just going to talk to them.”

“You shouldn’t!”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t, but I think it’ll be best if I do.”

Seventeen headed off towards the directions the twins ran off in.

“Aki, is this a good idea?”

“Mai, I trust Seventeen with a lot of things. I’ll trust him with this one too.”

‘I’d better hurry.’

Those two kids were just like he and Eighteen.

Things they couldn’t control conspired against them. It seemed like they would have to fight the whole world. Nobody would support them but one another. Branded as troublemakers.

It made sense.

Looking in various rooms, Seventeen found them each to be empty.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. So, they were nearby. He tried to focus on the sounds in the area. Footsteps, breathing: anything to help locate the kids.

Finding their hiding place, Seventeen made his way over.

“Go away, mister!”

He chuckled, before kneeling to meet the twins at eye level.

“What’s up, you two?”

“Go. Away. Mister.”

The boy was being quite aggressive. Normally, Seventeen would be frustrated with the outbursts, but thinking about how he acted, he let it slide.

“Just wanted to hang out. What’s the problem?”

“Stop pretending, mister. That lady sent you here to get us: we know.”

“Actually, she did no such thing. I came here because I wanted to.”

Seventeen tried to appear friendly. He wasn’t really good at being personable, but he hoped the kids would at least see him as approachable.

“What do you want?” The girl finally spoke.

“I just want to know why you two ran away from me the first time.”

“Because we don’t like any of you, don’t you get it? You grown-ups are all awful.” The boy interjected.

Ah, perfect.

“Why do you two hate grown-ups?”

The boy clammed up.

“Well?”

Still nothing.

Turning to the girl, Seventeen gently asked. “Can you tell me why?”

She looked at the ground. “Mommy left us alone out there because she hated us. Kids would always call us names, and grown-ups would always look at us funny.”

“Natsumi, stop telling this old guy stuff! He’s a bad guy! All grown-ups are bad!”

Seventeen could understand where the boy’s anger was coming from.

“How long were you two on the streets for, Natsumi?”

Timidly, she replied. “I don’t know. It felt like a long time.”

Seventeen sat on the ground. “Look, I’m not here to hurt you or anything. Actually, I just want to talk.”

“We don’t have time for old-man tales, mister!”

Suddenly, Natsumi sneezed. Seventeen noticed she was shivering slightly.

“Oh no, Natsumi. Are you still cold?”

Taking his jacket and scarf, he held it out to the little girl.

She stared at him, unsure of what to do.

“Take it.”

Hesitantly, she took the jacket and draped it over her back. It was clearly much too big for the girl, but it seemed to help. Seventeen stopped to tie the scarf around her neck.

“Is that better?”

Natsumi only nodded.

“Thank you, mister.”

Seventeen wondered if that was the first time either of them had been given anything that wasn’t food from another stranger.

“You know, I grew up in the streets too.”

The twins’ heads snapped up.

“It felt like everyone hated me. I had to fight for everything. All I had in my life was my sister and our best friend.”

Natsumi perked up. “You have a sister, mister?”

He smiled. “Yeah, I do. She’s a twin too, actually. Would you like to see a picture?”

Pulling out his phone, he scrolled to find a picture of Eighteen before showing the two kids.

“She’s really pretty.” Natsumi remarked before handing Seventeen his phone back.

Seventeen turned to Fuyuki.

“You’re looking out for her well, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am! What kind of man would I be if I didn’t?”

‘The problem is that you don’t need to be a man.’

“Then keep it up, Fuyuki. You two need to take care of one another.”

“We know that, already!”

“Do you?”

Seventeen paused.

“A few years ago, I got my sister and best friend into a bad mess. A real bad fight. The three of us ended up being separated. I still don’t know where my friend is, whether he’s still alive or not. All because I wasn’t careful.”

He looked at both of the twins.

“I tried to do everything my way. I really was mad at everybody in the world for ignoring me and making it feel like it was wrong for me to be living. I should have asked for help.”

“I want to ask a question, and I want both of you to be honest with me, okay?”

Both nodded.

“Do you really hate grown-ups?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Seventeen figured this would be the result. Fuyuki seemed betrayed, while Natsumi seemed embarrassed.

“Natsumi, how can you not hate them? They hate us!”

“But Fuyuki, this man doesn’t.”

She stared at Seventeen. “You don’t hate us, do you?”

“Of course not, kiddo.”

“Well, he hates me! I hate him!”

“Fuyuki, I don’t hate you. Even though you hate me, I can’t hate you. I get it.”

“You two have every reason to hate grown-ups. Nobody understands you, right? The adults treat your problems like they aren’t real and are trying to fix everything when they don’t know anything. And that’s why you don’t like them?”

“That’s what Fuyuki says.”

“Natsumi! Stop!”

Seventeen smiled.

“I’m not saying you have to trust every adult, or like them all. But not all adults are bad. Someone can understand. I understand. It takes time. Just give someone a chance. Nobody here is trying to hurt you. Put your trust in just one adult for me, please?”

She nodded. “Mister?”

“Yes, Natsumi?”

“Who did you trust?”

He knelt again to face the little girl. “Did you see the red-haired lady with me?”

Again, Natsumi nodded. “She’s here sometimes. She seems like she’s really nice. The other kids really like her, and she’s even tried to talk to me a couple of times.”

“Well, you could say she saved my life.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah. I disliked everybody and was angry all the time. But I trusted her a little, and things got a little better. She’s really kind. She helped me get a job and everything.”

“If I didn’t trust her, I’d be in a really bad place. But I tried, and it was worth it.”

Seventeen patted her on the head. “So try it. Just trust one person. It’s scary, sure, but it could be worth it. It was for me, and it was for my sister. And the person we trusted changed our lives so much. We’re so much happier now because of it.”

“Just one?”

“Just one.”

She nodded. “Thank you mister.”

He chuckled. “You can call me Mr. Seventeen.”

Beaming, she giggled. “That’s a funny name. Thank you Mr. Seventeen.”

“Alright, you two. Let’s head back.”

Getting up, he started to head towards the gym.

While Natsumi was quick to get up and follow, Fuyuki was hesitant.

“Natsumi, how about you head back first? I want to talk with your brother for a little longer.”

She nodded before jogging away to the gym.

“You can’t keep lying to us. Trusting our mom got us hurt. Why should we trust anybody else?”

It was painful to see Fuyuki like this. Aki was right. Kids didn’t need to worry about the awful world of adults, and seeing Fuyuki live it at such a young age was disheartening.

“Trusting everyone is dangerous, I agree, but...”

“But nothing! This is all we have! Because nobody wants us! Nobody likes us!”

“That’s not true. I like the two of you.”

“You’re only saying that.”

Seventeen shook his head before pulling Fuyuki into a hug.

“I promise you that you can trust me. Promise. A promise is a super strong thing, you know?”

The young boy started to cry. “I just...I just don’t want to be separated from Natsumi. I’m afraid. People don’t want us because we’re bad kids, even though I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong. And I’m afraid that they’ll want to separate us.”

“You two haven’t done anything wrong. You aren’t bad kids at all: I believe that, and others will too. And I won’t let anyone separate the two of you. That’s a promise too.”

He looked into Seventeen’s blue eyes. “Can you really promise that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Can we actually trust you?”

“Of course. I’ll come back often so you know I haven’t left.”

Fuyuki wiped his tears. “You...you better. Natsumi seems to really like you. And I guess you’re not bad for a grown-up.”

Seventeen knelt. “Get on.”

“Get on where?”

“My back. I’ll carry you.”

“I can walk myself!”

“Yeah, but with me, you can fly.”

“Wait--” And before Fuyuki could protest, Seventeen carried the boy and put him on his back before sprinting towards the gym.

He could have sworn he heard Fuyuki laughing on the way.

“Seventeen, you’re back!”

“Yeah: sorry it took a while. But they’re both here!”

He let Fuyuki down on the ground, where Natsumi was waiting. Taking each of their hands, the three walked together towards the rest of the children.

“He really got through to those kids.”

Aki grinned. “He has a knack of making what seems to be impossible a reality.”

Mai stared in amazement, frozen in place.

Aki, sensing that it was time to proceed, clapped her hands. “Alright: we’re going to play some soccer! We’re going to divide into teams! Play ball!”

Seventeen and Aki decided to take up the mantle as their respective captains. The cyborg, unfamiliar with the kids beyond the twins, used his first two picks on Fuyuki and Natsumi before letting them tell him who to pick.

While some of the kids were hesitant to play with Fuyuki and Natsumi, they began to assimilate the twins into the overall group once Seventeen involved them in the game. Similarly, the twins started out interacting only with Seventeen and each other before slowly expanding to the whole team.

By the end, even Fuyuki was laughing along and having fun. At the end of the game, when their team won 13-11, the twins led a mob in engulfing Seventeen in hugs.

“Alright kiddos: you can let go of me now!” He laughed heartily.

Aki only stood by and smiled.

“He’s great, huh?”

She turned to see Mai, who had made the remark.

“I’ve never seen those two so happy.”

Aki closed her eyes, looking peaceful. “That’s just what he does and who he is.”

“I can see why you like him so much. He’s special.”

She only nodded.

Suddenly, Seventeen appeared next to her, with children in tow. “Great game, partner!”

She smirked. “You win this time, Mr. Seventeen. But next time, it won’t be so easy!”

He smirked back. “Wouldn’t be any fun if it were, Miss Aki.”

Mai clapped her hands. “Alright! Let’s clean up!”

The majority of the kids followed Mai inside. However, Fuyuki and Natsumi stayed behind with Seventeen and Aki.

“You two need something?”

Fuyuki looked a little sheepish, so Natsumi chimed in. “Thank you, Mr. Seventeen. We had fun today!”

He knelt down again. “No problem, kiddo. Just remember what I said and give people a chance, okay? You did during the game, and you both seemed to have a lot of fun. It can be like that if you want, got it?”

She nodded. Natsumi began to hand back the jacket before Seventeen shook his head.

“Keep it. So that you know I’ll be with you. It’s getting colder too, so that’ll be nice to have, won’t it?”

Natsumi hid her face in the scarf. “Thank you for the gift.”

Fuyuki came up to Seventeen as well. “You said we should try trusting in grown-ups, right?”

He nodded in response.

Fuyuki took a deep breath before going to Aki.

“Hi there, what’s your name?”

“Fuyuki.”

“Fuyuki, that’s a wonderful name. I’m Aki, and it’s nice to meet you. Did you have fun with Mr. Seventeen today?”

He nodded.

“Then I’m glad you had fun. And I’m glad you’re saying hello.”

Natsumi came up to them as well. “And I’m Natsumi. His twin sister.”

“Nice to meet you too, Natsumi. Please keep trying to trust people and make friends, okay?”

Natsumi nodded before turning around to Seventeen. “Mr. Seventeen, when will you be back?”

“I’ll come every week if you want.”

The little girl smiled. “I think we’d both like that.”

Seventeen smiled back. “Then we’ll both be back soon. You two keep being good.”

After waving goodbye, Seventeen and Aki began their walk back to the apartment.

“I’m really glad you brought me out, Aki.”

“I’m glad you came too. You’re a natural with kids, you know?”

He paused. “You think so?”

“After seeing that, I don’t know if there’s anything you can’t do.”

Seventeen couldn’t hide his happiness. “I can’t wait to come back.”

“Seventeen, you what?”

“Please?”

“You’ve got to repeat yourself....you what?”

“I want to adopt Fuyuki and Natsumi.”

They were both back on MIR, as if it hadn’t just been destroyed along with the planet. As if Majin Buu hadn’t blown up the planet.

“This is quite the first thing to spring on me since coming back to life, you know?”

“Just hear me out. I was thinking when we were in Other World. I love those two kids, and I know you do too. And I want them to grow up with a real family, together.”

He paused.

“I’ve heard Mai say that potential foster parents are scared by the history of the parents, their history in the streets. I know Fuyuki and Natsumi are afraid of being separated. And honestly, I don’t want to see them go to another family and permanently out of our lives.”

She sighed. “You’re set on this, aren’t you?”

“More than anything. I want a family. We already feel like one, so I’d like to make it official.”

Aki shook her head in disbelief. “This is insane, but hell: everything about our lives makes no sense already. What’s one more thing?”

Natsumi squealed in glee. “When?”

“May 26th. You can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Promise!”

“You too, Fuyuki. I’m only telling you two!”

“Yes sir!”

Natsumi was buzzing with energy. “I’m so happy for you, Mr. Seventeen! This is so exciting!”

Finally, the day was here.

Seventeen and Aki made their way to the orphanage.

Was he actually ready for this?

To think, he’d be having a family after this.

Him. A family. Truly unbelievable.

“Where is everyone?”

Huh. Seventeen noticed that the usually bustling orphanage was eerily quiet.

He hoped things weren’t going terribly wrong.

“Mr. Seventeen!”

Turning, the couple found Natsumi and Fuyuki running towards them.

“Hey kiddos! Where is everyone?”

The twins shared a glance, Seventeen recognized it as the same type of look he and Eighteen would give one another when they were silently communicating something.

“They’re all in the gym already!”

Well, that would make this easier. No waiting to gather everybody in one place: everyone was already there.

The four of them proceeded to the gym doors. Seventeen thought this felt right. A family.

And after tonight, that’s what they would eventually be.

Opening the doors, suddenly, he was greeted with a loud “SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTER SEVENTEEN!”

A party. For him.

Turning, he saw Aki, Fuyuki, and Natsumi high-fiving one another.

“You never saw this coming, did you Seventeen?”

He laughed. What else could he do? In a night where he had two surprises planned, even he had been caught off guard.

Seventeen turned to Aki, who mouthed the word ‘later’ while glancing over at the twins.

Later would be a better idea. A party for him. Aki had really gone all-out for this.

As the night went on, Seventeen was growing restless. When would the opportunity arise?

“If I could have your attention, please?”

Seventeen turned to the front of the gym. Aki was there with a microphone.

“If the man of the hour could come up and just give a small speech? I think he has something important to say.”

Applause erupted throughout the gym, with the twins clapping the most vigorously.

She had set him up perfectly.

Taking the mic from his girlfriend, Seventeen cleared his throat.

“Wow. I’m really grateful that you threw this party for me. It must have been a lot to plan, but this has been incredible. Aki, Fuyuki, Natsumi: thank you for a wonderful time tonight.”

He paused, considering how to continue.

“Honestly, I’m so blessed in life. I had a rough life and was pretty aimless for a while. I really disliked people, and I didn’t trust anybody. So when I met Fuyuki and Natsumi, you could say I related with how they acted. Because seeing them was just like seeing a younger version of myself.”

“But everyone here knows that those two are wonderful kids. Maybe they were misunderstood by the world, but they’re great. I love coming here and seeing them. I know Aki does as well. We see those two like they’re our own kids.”

Seventeen motioned to Aki, who opened a folder to take out two signed documents. He then asked for Fuyuki and Natsumi to come on stage, both of whom seemed confused.

“Well, we’d like to not just treat Fuyuki and Natsumi as our own, but actually welcome them as our own. These documents are adoption papers, so I just have one thing to ask.”

Turning to the twins, he could see they were on the verge of tears. Kneeling down to get on eye level, Seventeen asked.

“Fuyuki, Natsumi. Would you two like to be part of my family as my children for real?”

They tackled him, crying with tears of joy.

The room was drowning in applause. Aki was clapping the hardest, proud of how far Seventeen had come.

Eventually, Seventeen broke his embrace from the twins.

“I’m not done, however.”

Now Aki was confused. This wasn’t what she expected.

“I’m so happy that the twins are part of the family, but this family wouldn’t be complete without the person who’s changed my life in every imaginable and unimaginable way. The person who’s the most important to me, and the person I realize I couldn’t live without.”

The trio approached Aki, and Seventeen pulled out a jewelry box before kneeling before his girlfriend.

‘No way.’

“Aki, none of this is possible without you guiding me and completing me. I can’t have a family without you as a part of it. You’ve always told me that life isn’t about the time we spend on this wonderful planet, but how we make the most of those seconds we’re living. And I’ve realized that it’s not worth it to put it off any longer, because you make those seconds meant he most.”

He gazed at her eyes.

“Will you marry me?”

What other answer could there be?

“Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”

Aki was surprised she even gave a clear answer, and Seventeen felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

The applause grew. Seventeen looked around.

This was his family. This was truly perfect. Everything he could have wanted.

A/N: Probably my favorite of the prompts so far. The story of meeting and adopting his two kids has always interested me, and this is one of my favorite headcanons to explore.

I originally was only going to post the first half, without the proposal and adoption request, but then I just got way too into it and came up with the whole thing.

Again, I’d love feedback. Thank you guys so much for reading! Can’t believe this week’s gone by so fast!

[elletromil]

Whatever it is we fell into

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @bouncybrittonie!!!! This is the first of your gift today, at least from me, and it’ll be the first of many more! You are amazing doll and you deserve the absolute best! I hope you’ll have plenty of fun today and that you’ll get to be with all the people you love!

Now for this fic, it is completely self-indulgent. Or well Brittonie-indulgent, but what you love is what I love so yeah :D It’s cliché, it’s fluffy, it’s got to do with misunderstandings and a wedding... All good things!

The idea was first plot-bunnied with @insanereddragon when we discussed the idea of a fic where Tequila and Ginger would have made a pact to get married together if by a certain age they both weren’t in a relationship yet. You know, the usual pact you make with your friend you are totally not falling in love with. Then a couple ago I was talking about the idea with Britt and well, I decided that even if I didn’t think I could write the whole thing, nothing was stopping me from writing the important bit ;D Might even inspire me to write to whole plot bunny at one point

Whatever it is we fell into

Laughter echoes down the corridor as Jason makes his way to the lab, intent on having lunch with Ginger before tradition dictates they cannot see each other until they are standing in church, waiting to be wed.

As always, the thought of finally being married to his best friend, the same woman he’s fallen in love with over the years, gives him a thrill. Sure, if they are getting married tomorrow it’s all because of that pact they made ten years ago so that neither of them would die sad loners, but he knows they’ll have something good nevertheless.

In fact, they already do. He doesn’t need any more than what she’s already giving him to be perfectly happy. And while she might not be in love with him, he’s sure he can treat her right, that he can make her happy.

That certainty is shaken however when he gets to the lab’s threshold and sees her hugging Merlin. Clinging to him really.

He had noticed of course how close the two had grown in the last few weeks, but it takes him seeing them in each other arms to realise that this is not simply friendship.

Another man would be jealous.

He’s just devastated.

Not because Ginger fell in love with someone who isn’t him. He’s accepted long ago he had no claim on her heart.

No, what hurts the most is the thought she’s been too honorable to go back on their promise after they’ve started planning the wedding. That she thinks he would rather be married to her and have her miss out on her chance at true happiness rather than be alone but knowing she was with the man she loves.

As if he wouldn’t have understood her breaking off their engagement now that she has found someone to spent the rest of her life with.

It would have hurt yes. It does hurt.

But Jason is not selfish.

Their arrangement was always meant to be a last resort.

Ginger doesn’t need it anymore.

He leaves before they break off their embrace, before they can notice him.

*

There is an incessant knocking on her bedroom door at HQ and if the butterflies in her stomach hadn’t been keeping her awake, she would be mad about it.

But she’s been turning and tossing for the past couple of hours, incapable of falling asleep knowing that at the same time tomorrow, she would have been married to Jason for a few hours already.

It might only be due to a drunken pact they made a decade ago, but since they’ve started planning for it, since they’ve told all their friends and family to save the date, she can’t deny it’s more than that for her. It’s not just marrying her best friend because they’re both sad loners. No, it’s marrying the man she’s been falling in love with for years and working at their common happiness.

She knows of course that Jason isn’t in love with her, but that’s okay. They can still make it work. If Jason didn’t really want this, he would have called it off already. But he hadn’t and there are worse fates than getting the perfect excuse to spoil and cherish the man who unknowingly holds her heart.

Compared to Merlin, forgotten on the sidelines while the two men he loves are finding their happiness together, her lot is a true blessing.

She finally leaves her bed to go open up her door since ignoring whoever is at her door isn’t discouraging them. With any luck, the distraction will help her find sleep afterwards.

She’s got the door half open when the person on the other side finally talks and she slams it shut again in a panic as soon as she recognizes the voice.

“Jason! What the actual fuck? You know it’s bad luck for us to see each other tonight!”

It’s a ridiculous superstition, she’s perfectly aware of it, especially considering they’re not marrying out of love, but it’s stronger than her. They’ve committed to this now and she’ll be damned if she gives Jason any reason to regret it.

Except, she’s not the one at his door right now.

Jason’sthe one coming to her in the dead of the night. And he’s the one who is usually superstitious just because he’d rather be safe than sorry.

Her heart clenches painfully when she understands what this must be.

He’s finally come to his senses.

He’s backing out of his promise.

She wants to be angry, but she can’t.

If Jason finally figured out he doesn’t want this wedding after all, even if he’s been reassuring her for months that he really wants it, she’s not about to keep him trapped.

It hurts, but it’s better if it happens now rather than a few months down the line.

She can save face now somehow, pretend they called it off together, that they both realised they were better off as just friends.

She’s about to open the door to let him in so they can discuss it like adults when he starts talking again. His voice is muffled by the door between them, but even then, she can hear the difference in his tone, the sad edge to it.

“I- I can’t go through with it Ginger, I’m sorry.” She wants to tell him that it’s okay, but even though she’s figured it out, she isn’t ready for it. The wings of the butterflies in her stomach have turn to sharp steel and it makes it hard to breath. “ I can’t do this to you Ginger. I can’t keep you from the one you love…”

“What?” Her voice breaks on the word but Jason still hears her, a sad chuckle his only answer at first.

“I’m not blind… Well, not anymore. And you might not have realised it yet, but I don’t want to stand in your way when you do… It’d make me a very shitty friend.”

“Jason, I have absolutely no clue what you’re going on about.”

If it was anyone else, she would accuse him of shifting the blame on her, but it’s Jason. He has his flaws like everyone else yes, but he always owns up to his actions, always takes responsibilities for his choices.

“I’ve seen you with Merlin… And seriously, it makes sense, you’re perfect for each other. He’ll- He’ll treat you right. Our pact was only if we hadn’t found anyone by now. I can’t hold you to it now that you obviously did. I- I love you too much for that and I can’t bear the thought of you ending up resenting me. Hating me.”

She’s stunned speechless for a long time.

At first, because she cannot understand how anyone can think that her and Merlin are anything more than friends. That is, until Jason says he- until he says that he loves her and it could be as a friend, but there’s simply too much yearning for it to be anything but romantic.

However, even if she’s certain of what she heard, she still cannot believe it. Like Harry is wont to say, it’s not that kind of movie. At least her life has never been.

It would be ridiculous for it to suddenly change.

“Giner? I- Please, don’t hate me. Nothing has to change, I just want you happy, that’s all. I’m still your friend.”

How she forgets time after time that Jason is insecure when he’s not on a mission, when he’s not hiding behind Agent Tequila’s personality, she doesn’t know. Maybe it’s because it’s been years since Jason has felt anything but comfortable in her presence. She hates that it’s changed now.

Hates that there’s nothing she can do about it tonight.

“Damn you Jason! Why did you have to tell me tonight? Now I can’t get out and kiss you, you stupid shit!”

Insulting him is probably not the wisest way to let him know she reciprocates, but she can’t help it.

Right now, she wants to kiss him, she wants to hug him, to simply be close to him.

But she also very much wants to marry him tomorrow and she isn’t risking their happiness for anything in the world. Not now, not ever again.

“Ginger?”

“I love you too, you dumbass. And you are blind for not figuring out that Merlin is pinning after Harry and Eggsy. I like him fine, but I have too much self-respect to be someone’s third-best. And anyway, I love your stupid ass too much to get with anyone else.” It’s like a dam has been broken now that she knows that Jason loves her back and she cannot stop saying it back.

“You mean that… You really mean that.”

“Of course I do.”

“Can I- can I hold your hand?”

She would have to open the door for that, but she trusts him not to try and sneak a peek.

As soon as the gap is wide enough, Jason slides his hand through and Ginger grabs it and links their fingers together.

With the door between them, it’s awkward and uncomfortable, but the sun is starting to rise when they finally let go, but not before Ginger presses a kiss against his knuckles.

“Meet you down the aisle?”

“I’d like to see anyone try and stop me.”

She pities the poor soul that would dare attempt to ruin their day.

*

“You can now kiss the bride.”

Their lips meet and it’s electric. Jason bends her back like the show off that he is and Ginger laughs into their first kiss, while all their friends and family applaud and cheer.

She cannot remember the last time she’s ever been so happy and it’s made all the sweeter because she’s sharing this with Jason.

They’re both giddy with love and happiness and when she throws her bouquet into the crowd before the dancing starts at the reception, it’s with the wish that whoever catches it gets their happy ending too.

Later on, when she sees Merlin slow dancing with both Harry and Eggsy at the same time, she knows her wish has been granted.

Maybe there’s really something to superstitions after all.