#yes it's monday i got impatient lol

[controlofwhatido]

fic: happy accidents (steve/bucky)

Title: Happy Accidents Author: controlofwhatido Artist: @auntiesuze Rating: Explicit Archive Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply Tags: Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Steve Rogers, Omega Bucky Barnes, Mpreg Summary: Bucky sleeps with one superhero one time and now he’s pregnant. Fuck. Good going, James B. Barnes. One unmated omega father, coming right up. Top that off with his metal arm and he’s really going to be an outcast.

Notes: Written for the 2022/23 @stuckybangs​!  Art is embedded in Chapter 5.

FIC IS COMPLETE: READ ON AO3  

(@stuckybingo​ O3: Writing format: Present Tense, N5: Kink: Heat/Rut, G5: Arnie Roth,  | @allcapsbingo​: I1: Captain America Steve Rogers, O1: Pining, B1: Courting, O2: Rebecca Barnes Proctor | @mcukinkbingo​ N5: Coming Untouched )

[icu-now]

hii!! i don’t mean to seem impatient but im really looking forward the dirty dancing au and im just wondering if you have any updates abt it?

hiiiiiii no ur not impatient at all it has been like 6 months 😭😭😭 its finally summer and i am pasting this without reading it for like three months. just to satiate you (and all tagged at the bottom lol).

and i owe it all to you - TEASER

It is the Monday after the fourth of July weekend, and the Mount Vernon Resort and Ski was bustling. It is the only Monday that ever bustles, with July Fourth weekenders leaving and summer residents moving in. Steve packed modestly. His single duffle serving him a good slouching companion the three-and-a-half-hour trip down to Mount Vernon. The Harringtons just pulled into loading zone of the resort, stretching and groaning from the drive.

Steve was helping the bell boy with his mother’s bags as a pudgy man approached his father’s Audi.

“Rich! It’s been a long off-season,” the men shake equally meaty hands and exchange pleasantries. Steve pulled down his ray bans to hide his eyeroll.

Mr. Thomas was the general manager of the resort, and his sticky fingers inspecting the appetizer table was more evident to Steve than it was three years ago. The older man’s belly hung over his belt, and his hair thinned considerably as well.

“We’ve got some craft tables most afternoons, music lessons, golf, dance lessons,” Mr. Thomas continued. “Even shuffleboard for those getting up there in age.” He friendly jabbed at Mr. Harrington, earning a guffaw from Mrs. Harrington.

“We’re here for the summer, Jimmy, I’m sure we’ll find something to do someplace,” Mr. Harrington said.

“Well, enjoy.” Mr. Thomas smiled and started toward Steve, clapping his shoulder. “You’ve been beefing up, boy? It’s been a while since you’ve last come down,”

Steve shrugged the man’s hand off his shoulder, his lips upticking in the slightest for courtesy's sake. “Yeah, been a few years, I guess.”

“Any plans for the future?”

God. It was the word Steve hated out of all the words in the dictionary. “Future.” He was glad he had his blacked-out sunglasses on, so Mr. Thomas would not see the absolute look of scorn Steve was shooting at him. He was also afraid his father might have heard, knowing that he would jump at the first opportunity to humiliate his son.

Steve pursed his lips in his smile, slamming the trunk shut as he piled the last of his parents’ luggage onto the golf cart. “Just figuring stuff out, you know.”

“Ah yes, adolescent indecision, I don’t miss it.” Mr. Thomas saw another family pulling into the drop off area, and he started his farewell to the Harringtons.

Steve felt a dark cloud forming above his head, and his head only, since his father pulled out of the driveway in Hawkins. Now at a mountain at the intersection of Indiana and Illinois, he could feel the downpour bringing a sore throat. (Not literally, but he might as well have the flu, based on how ill his body felt being there.)

Mr. Harrington deposited his keys to the valet, and pulled out a cigar as he mounted passenger seat of the golf cart. Of course, the Harringtons have their own cabin pushed closer to the edge of the resort. The bell boy peeled into the driving lane, and Mr. Harrington took a few puffs. Mrs. Harrington was in the back with Steve, commenting passively on the changes made to the resort since last year.

Mount Vernon Resort and Ski has been the Harringtons go to summer lodging destination since he was ten. A ridiculously overpriced membership and three hours across the state of Indiana later, granted Steve many summers of bottomless Coke slurpees. The resort lost much of its charm to Steve by the time he was thirteen, as the previous summer to London beat the sleepy resort by a longshot. Coke slurpees tasted like they were skimming on the syrup, and Steve could only make so many birdhouses in a summer.

By the time he was fifteen, he discovered the wonderful activity of babe watching by the pool, or lake, or golf course. (Or really, wherever there might be a babe.) That captured his attention and energy for that summer. But by the time he hit high school and social currency meant more to him than anything else, his trips to Mt. Vernon were limited to the odd Tuesday day trip when Tommy H. and Carol were busy. Steve has not been to the resort since the Starcourt fire of 1985. The event that properly traumatized him and brought him closer to the party and conversely, pushed him away from his parents even more. (It’s not like their relationship was any good to start with.)

Steve grew out of, or rather got sick of, all the uppity mandates that are brought with being in the upper class. He absolutely cannot take another fake smile flashed with pearly veneers and he hates that he knows the difference between the forks spread out at dinner. And the excess of everything. The mere fact that he is spending the entire summer with his parents at Mt. Vernon only after the Hawkins earthquake, says a lot about how he sees his future: his BMW crashed into a mountain, with his body laying limp. Dead obviously, and miserable every second until his death.

*

The Harrington cabin was located at the edge of the guest residences, surrounded by thick evergreens. Mr. Harrington has a golf cart to rent for the whole summer just so they can travel to the main hall.

Steve threw his duffel into his room, aiming for nowhere specific. As soon as it flopped to the foot of his bed post, he was calling out to his parents. “I’m going to explore a little, don’t wait up,”

His body was half way out the door, when his father stopped him from the kitchen. “Steve, before you go, I need to tell you something.”

Steve stopped in the doorway, but did not turn to look at his father,

“Son, this is a very important summer for the both of us. You’re now part of the business, and I’ve got a lot of friends vacationing here this summer, so I’d suggest you make some wise decisions.”

That was one of the biggest points to Steve: he was not yet technically part of his father’s company yet. Nor does he want to be.

In the summer of 1987, Richard Harrington gave his son a deal. An ultimatum, really. Join his business firm or get out of the house. (Or the enlist in the military, but it did not take Steve to rule that out.)  Steve became an expert in dodging his father during interrogations like this. For a week straight, the only words he said to his father was, “sorry, running late to work,” then a successful slip out the door. He could swear he said one thime as he was going into his bedroom.

“Yeah, dad, okay,” Steve whined. He needed to escape or else his fuse would explode.

“We just want the best for you son,”

Steve rolled his eyes, taking that as his cue to start walking. He heard his father grumble something before he shut the door, leaving Steve on the paved sidewalk connecting the cabins and amenities. Since his last visit, Mt Vernon has not changed much. The golf course was extended by four holes, and there are smaller cabins lining the opposite side of trees to where the member housing is. Everything is still too 50s, in Steve’s taste.

Steve walked the whole perimeter of the residence housing and started his way toward the main hall for lunch. He regretted taking the route he did, because it led him to the gazebo his father was smoking at the bottom of. He waved his son over, much to Steve’s attempts at avoiding his eyeline. 

“Son, this is Bradley, we usually conference together in Detroit,”

Steve politely smiled, lips tight. “Oh nice,”

“So your pops here is telling me that you’re looking forward to start up at the firm,”

Looking forward to was a gross stretch. “Mhm, the summer is still young though, so, heh, you never know,”

Mr. Harrington shot a pointed look to Steve, trying to maintain composure. “Steve, why don’t you go up there to and find your mother, they’re doing square dancing or whatever,”

Steve accepted the easy out when he could take it. He bids farewell to Bradley, climbing up the gazebo as A Kind of Magic by Queen (provides the bounce in the step of the guests.) He sticks to the railing as his eyes train on the woman dancing at the front, calling out steps as she ruffles her flouncy tulle dress. 

“There ya go, Mrs. Cooper, it's all in the hips!” she grinned.“...three, four, and step back– one!”  

Steve chuckled at her enthusiasm, puffing a laugh of amusement at the stumbling group. He finds his mother close to the front, dosey-doeing with a suited man with curly hair tied at the base of his skull. She trips over her kitten heels, but the man is already holding her, ready to catch her fall. Steve tried to hide his smirk from his mother’s stumble. 

“You know if you laugh without even trying, I would just call you a bully.” the girl bounces in her spot now in front of Steve, stepping with the beat of the changing song. 

Steve pulls his hands from his pocket. “I– She’s my mom, I think I have some right to poke fun.” 

“Still, it’s no fun if someone is laughing on the sidelines.” she points. “Alrighty y’all, everyone split up, we’re gonna do individual line dances!” she yells to the group, and the tulle of her dress brushes against Steve’s calves.

taglist: @claire0531 @gaysludge @hollandweather @stand-tall-pineapple @ssimplyobsessed

I cannot promise when it will be out but i have some time and.....

[liaromancewriter]

I noticed it in your last edits, then my nosy ass went to your masterlist and read that he said it for the first time the day of Dolores’ death anniversary. So honestly, both: the first time she said and he didn’t and evey time until he said it.

Aha! I wondered if someone would pick up on that in the last edits. It was very much on purpose.

The first time Cassie told him was in Waiting for Dr. Ramsey, and she meant it when she said she was okay if he wasn't ready to say the words back. Even by her standards, it was way too quick (she knew during the opera kiss).

Knowing him as she did then, Cassie had zero expectations he would feel that way or say ILY before he was good and ready, if ever. All she wanted, and all she asked for, was a chance to see where things could go.

In some ways, she sold herself short because she was willing to give Ethan all the time he needed. In other ways, a small part of her was impatient to hear those words. But hearing them didn't really give her the feeling of permanence she had hoped for. Maybe in that moment, yes, but months later, not as much.

It seemed so simple to her in the beginning: you say the words and you're committed to each other (that's how it was for her with Jackson). But once she got to learn about Louise and Ethan's childhood, she started to realize that he might have said the words, and meant it then, but he wasn't necessarily comfortable because of his ambivalence towards a love that lasts.

The recent fic builds on something I said in a recent ask: when things are going really well, Ethan starts to subtly pull back. It's a defense mechanism. And that's what we saw in the latest edits.

The timeline for this fic is during the latter part of her residency, after the Boards while she's waiting for the results. It absolutely bothered her that he didn't say it back now. Residency is ending. They have avoided the conversation about what happens next (they have it a couple of weeks later). Is it too much to expect an acknowledgment of her text?

And then when things are settled and she's staying on at Edenbrook, he still holds a part of his life back from her: visiting Alan as we see them discuss in this fic. His life, her life, their life. He keeps everything compartmentalized for the longest time.

Incidentally, when I create any fic or edit, I'm automatically placing it within my masterlist timeline and tying the strings together. This applies to regular edits and my MC Monday posts too. I weave a thread through everything, and when you read things in timeline order, you start to see it's not always sunny and roses.

Hope that answered your ask! I might have rambled a bit. lol

Tags under the cut

Character Asks: @bluebelle08 @crazy-loca-blog @coffeeheartaddict2 @doriopenheart @lucy-268 @jerzwriter @openheartforeverinmyheart @peonierose @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

[purplesurveys]

1717

How do you feel about tomato sauce with chunks of tomato? I mean I don't like tomatoes to begin with, so I feel like I'm just not gonna have a good time with this.

Do people think you look like either of your parents? Does that offend you? I look very much like my mom and no it doesn't offend me at all.

Do you prefer regular bacon or turkey bacon? Regular only because I've never had turkey bacon and it'd be impossible for me to compare.

Are you more of a talker or a listener? Listener.

Do you think it’s weird when people talk to their pets like people? No but for the people who find it weird I kind of feel sad for them.

Where do most of your relatives live? Ooh I don't know what the real answer to this would be. We're scattered across Metro Manila and our provinces, but there are many others who have permanently settled abroad too.

What is the last place, other than home, that you stayed overnight? Our Airbnb in Malaysia. I can't believe it'll be two months since then.

Would you ever buy a motorcycle? No, I don't know how to ride one.

What is the most unusual thing in your reach right now? I still have the deodorant I bought in Thailand and that's pretty unique. I don't know how to explain it...it looks like a crystal? Crystal deodorant, is that a thing? It was the only kind available at the nearby 7-Eleven.

Are you sitting by a window right now? Yes.

Do you have anything other than posters or pictures on your walls? My wall lamp right by my office space.

What is the furthest you have traveled alone? Alone...probably just Muntinlupa, lol. I'm scared to go into the expressways alone.

Have you ever ridden a train? Sure. What's funny though is I rode the train in Thailand more times than I *ever* have in the Philippines in 25 years.

Have you ever done something you told yourself you’d never do? Yeah, I'm not very good at keeping some of the promises I make for myself.

Are you tattooed? Or does it freak you out? You are correct in that getting tattooed does freak me out.

Are you attracted to or put off by people who are heavily pierced or tattooed? It depends. There are definitely some tattoo styles I'm not into. Excessive piercings are also a hit or miss with me.

Have you done anything productive today, anyway? I guess. I had to put in some work today because I needed to settle some decisions and confirmations with clients and it couldn't wait until Monday.

Eaten anything delicious today? My mom's spaghetti.

Have you ever taken in a stray animal? Not a stray, but we got Arlee from PAWS.

Do you have or want children? I don't want them anymore. I get really irritated around noisy children and for me, if I'm already impatient about everyday things like that I really don't think I'm cut out for parenting.

How do you feel about marriage? Ever been close? Marriage used to be the biggest dream I had for my future but my past relationship has entirely hardened me from it. I don't care for love and relationships much anymore.

Are you confident in your appearance? Fairly enough.

Do you enjoying taking pictures? Just of things I want to count as memories, but I'm not one to take photos or videos of every single thing I come across.

Do you take pictures of THINGS, or are you just a camera whore? xD LOL at the whore and the xD. How old is this survey? Anyway, yes I mostly take photos of things I encounter. Food I eat, funny signs, dogs spotted...

Do you believe in “the one” or “soulmates”? Sure, but I also believe that people can be perfectly content without their own.

Have you ever dated someone simply for their looks? No.

What about dating someone simply because you felt too bad to say no? Nope.

Are you eating anything right now? I just had dinner, so no.

Does it drive you INSANE when people chew with their mouth open? I can move past it. There are other more irritating noises for me.

Does any food always make you sick but you love it too much to not eat it? Not sick but it makes my stomach upset -- anything with milk.

How do you feel about alcohol? It's fun to drink but everyone who it does should be responsible with how much they take and know how much they're able to handle.

Have you ever been drunk? Yes. I'm pretty low-tolerance so I am also usually the first one in a group to start feeling giddy.

Do you like orange juice with pulp? I've never had that kind.

Do you scream for ice cream? Nah I'm not really into ice cream; I'm a slow eater, so ice cream always ends up melty and soupy with me.

Which orange came first; the color or the fruit? I wanna say the color? Surely some elements in the universe were already orange long before the fruit came about.

Are you in school? If so, for what? Not in school.

What is your dream job? To never have to work ever again in my life, lol. < This is very real and also very relatable. I'd have to say same.

Have you ever experienced a natural disaster? Yes typhoons are typical here.

Do you feel bad when bad things happen to other people? Or do you not care? If you don’t, do you feel guilty about that? I do feel bad especially when the bad thing was caused by things out of their control. It's definitely a case-to-case basis though. Some also deserve to have their asses handed to them.

Aren’t you a little nervous about posting photos online? Well, no.

Have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness? I haven't.

What was the reason you washed your hands last? I just finished washing the dishes and I didn't want my hand to smell like sponge.

Is there something you should be doing? I should be sleeping earlier than usual but I'll kill some time first.

[missmonsters2]

VAN FKSMFMSKFKSKFLSLF *incoherent noises*

First than anything, hi you! Sharky here! How's everything going? I'm kind of impatient and super excited for mirror mirror's update LOL. Okay, so you see, things have happened.

And..And.. WE CUDDLED.

We cuddled. Ok. We cuddled. Actually, I have already slept there this monday. YES. You're reading right. Her house is near the place I work, and she invited me to go to her house to watch movies together! Of course I said yes. We went to her house and then it was late, and I was gonna go home but she offered me to stay there. And. And listen, she drove me to work. And have I said that I find it strangely attractive that she drives? Because I do bUT HEAR ME OUT.

Everything she does looks so graceful. Like, she could be.. I don't know. Shoveling shit. And she'd still look so, so gorgeous and elegant. And I mean it 😭. She holds herself with such poise and I just.. Idk. She's just so cute and pretty and graceful.

That day we didn't cuddle perse? I mean, we actually kind of cuddled already, you know. A few times actually. While we watch movies or stuff. But I mean cuddling while we sleep. And.. well, that day I was kinda sick, and we slept super close but I was kind of burning up a bit and it was pretty damn hot so I just slept outside the blankets.

Thing is, yesterday I went to her house again after the gym. And we kind of cuddled in the couch while we watched the whole Hunger games saga by her request and she offered me to stay at her place again. And when we went to sleep she cuddled me and held me so close and she was like "this okay?" And I was like about to foam in the mouth lIKE YES LKVE SUPER OKAU KJFKSJDKSKDJ. And we just cuddled the whole night. And I'm so fucking gay

I might just be falling for her already who am I kidding. IT FELT SO GOOD. She was so warm and so so soft and kfkwkfkekfke I loved it.

I mean, I was awkward asf at first because I didn't know where the fuck to look at or how tight should I hug her but at some point I just relaxed and it felt so natural. Today I woke up and sweet sweet Charlie made mE TEA. (Oh yes, yet again it was so awful but the sweetness of the gesture erased away all — if that's how you spell it — uggliness). And guess where am I now, dear dear Van.

Oh yes. At her place. Yet again.

We've been playing just dance together and I don't think I ever laughed this hard KFKAKFKSKD. Such poise and yet she looks so stiff (I tripped and almost fell 2 times but I'll still judge her). Though I have to say that she had some moves KFKSKD. Or maybe I am a crazy simp already.

We sang sooo much in the drive to her house and I had kind of a dejavu of that ✨magnificent✨ moment of mirror mirror where Wanda screams her lungs singing enchanted because at some point all too well started reproducing and MAN. I HAD SOME HARDCORE MEMORIES COMIN' BACK. I almost ask her to play the 10 min version god I'm so pathetic

Well, yeah, that's the update. This weekend we'll have another date. Her surprise date, Van KDKSMDMS. Also.. I should mention that she asked about my family? Thing is, heh, my family is kinda small, only my dad and uncle, and.. Well, my dad's girlfriend put a restraining order on my dad for domestic violence and sexual abuse last year 😃 and I've been ignoring him all this time and my uncle kind of hates me because I'm gay and whenever he used to comment something about it I rubbed in his face that I'm an ugly, despicable lesbian so we haven't talked to eachother in years 😃 and the rest of my family is dead so haha omg I've got no family to present her to KFKSKFKSKD HELP. I don't want her to pity me but I kind of pity myself already so KFKAKDKE LOL. And she has a large, supporting family and this is gonna be so damn awkward if I ever meet her parents like daAMN. My girl's got two dads and a mom and I got none bro JAKDJANDN. I know this is so random but lemme tell you a joke.

An orphan goes to McDonalds. What does he order? A family combo 😂 it's not laugh it's tears. ALRIGHT. Enough drama for today it's enough folks. Thank you for your endless support Van! I'll make sure to come back with more updates after our next date!!!

-🦈

hiiii sharky!! Thanks for waiting for me to replyyy <3

you are truly living your best life. I love watching movies and cuddling LOL were you still sick?? and you had a sleepover?!?! The girls do move quickly and i love this LMFAO

You are so down bad and i know this bc no one looks good shovelling shit. There's just no way. Even if it was lizzie olsen, I love her, but she could not make me think shovelling doo doo is sexy.

I love that you have a new gym buddy from this as well LOL like you are THAT couple that works out together. She really clearly loves your company!!!

So are you gonna tell her that her tea is awful or is it gonna be me LOLL how long can you subject yourself to that???

AhhH you guys are doing such fun activities like just dance and singing!! I love that you're both not afraid to be goofy in front of each other.

So....your whole family sucks....i am ur family now. I am the big sister u can present her to, no worries! I will be on your side for the wedding LOL but real talk ur dad is scary, i hope you are safe!! I love that her family sounds lovely though. You have gained the found family trope!!!! (i am pointedly ignoring ur joke. i love u but no <3)

I hope your date went well. You'll have to let me know what she planned!

[magnoliacharmed]

Hard Candy

(not my gif!)

18+, Shawn Michaels x Fem!Reader one shot 

[Also available on Archive of Our Own!]

Word count: ~1.5k

Tags: teasing, semi-public foreplay, foodplay (just candy), hair pulling, enemies to... hooking up? definitely not lovers lol

Summary: 

You and Shawn hash out the tension between the two of you the best way you know how.

"What are you eating?"

The small hard candy swirled around your mouth idly. It was almost too sweet. Your teeth would thank you later by aching.

"Jolly Rancher."

His eyes fell to your full lips as you continued to suck on the sweet. These things lasted forever, you both thought.

"What flavor?" Shawn was beginning to grow impatient at your cool attitude. Why weren't you falling head over heels for him like the other girls?

You finally decide to look away from the TV screen in front of you, dragging your eyes dramatically to his. He's not that much taller than you. Your jaw moves slightly with every rotation of the candy. Shawn's strong arms reached behind him to readjust the hair band holding his ponytail. It took a superhuman amount of willpower to not watch him.

"Cherry."

"Gross. That's the worst flavor."

"It's a good thing you're not the one eating it then, huh?" Your head cocked to the side, lips moving into a snarl, hip poked out. This playground bullying act from the Heartbreak Kid was wearing very thin. Ever since you joined the Monday Night Raw roster, Shawn started chasing you around just the same way he did with all the new women. You refused to fall for the antics and chose to ignore him best you could. Tales through the grapevine told you that he kept running to Vince for the two of you to have a romance storyline; as far as you were concerned, that was your worst nightmare. No one would take you seriously after it and you'd really start falling for the jerk.

"I can smell it from here." His deep voice was faux disgusted. Yes, he could smell the strong artificial cherry scent just by standing next to you. It was actually driving him insane thinking about the way the candy moved in your mouth. Inappropriate thoughts of your mouth on his... your mouth on him, his on you, lips together-- distracted him from his goal. He wanted to make you crack. He didn't care if you got pissed and started cursing him out, he just needed to see you have some response. Anything was better than nothing.

You couldn't help but to scoff. "Oh please, you cannot. Stop being a baby."

Deep down, you did like knowing that you had this man come undone when he was around you. You pretended like you didn't like the chase and attention, but you loved it. Shawn was very persistent. It could be annoying sometimes when you were trying to make a real name for yourself. Then he'd manage to crack a joke and you'd have to stifle a giggle or hide a smile.

"I can. I wouldn't have thought a girl like you would be such a sugar junkie."

Now your interest was piqued, even though your gaze returned to the screen. "And why is that?"

"You're so… cold. A damn stick in the mud. Candy seems too colorful and fun for you." Shawn had you right where he wanted you. That accent of his definitely got you going, to your annoyance. In another world maybe he'd be a drill sergeant yelling at his cadets everyday.

Your eyes rolled around your head so hard you thought they'd fall out like marbles. Why was this childish taunting making you so upset? You twisted around to face him again, eyes darting from his lips to his eyes. The corners of his mouth seemed to want to curl into a smile, but instead remained straight. Almost got you… he thought.

"You're only saying I'm boring because I haven't fucked you yet." The words came out sufficiently venomous, you thought.

"Yet?"

Got her!

For a second, just one second, your brain short circuited at the words that left your mouth.

Yet.

Yet yet yet yet yet yet--

An unexpected growl rose from deep within you. You wanted it to come out threatening so you looked like a force to be reckoned with. Instead, halfway through it ended up a squeak. You went from sounding like an angry tiger to a bratty teenager who wasn't allowed to go to the mall. Shawn wondered which noises you made more in bed, the high pitched squeaky ones or the deep growly ones. The prospect of hearing either of them or even both began to make him hard.

"Ugh! Fuck you, Shawn."

"Any time." There was that pretty boy smile of his that all the ladies fell for.

The rubberband of mixed up feelings finally snapped inside of you. All of the lust, anger, and tension came to their peak. Your brows furrowed at the thoughts rushing through your mind. Fuck it, what was there to lose?

Acting on autopilot, you braced your hands against Shawn's chest and backed him into the nearest wall. He was pretty sure you were going to knock him out. Staring into each other's eyes for what seemed like a moment too long was just enough time to catch him off guard with a press of your lips to his.

One hand clenched into the fabric of his thin t-shirt, while the other reached down to massage his hardness through his pants. The cherry Jolly Rancher managed to move from your mouth to his and the satisfied part of your brain noted that you weren't hearing any complaints about how gross it was. In fact, he was enjoying it a lot. Shawn's hips bucked into you involuntarily, your hand squeezing around him. His arm wrapped around your waist to press you closer to him. His frustration built at your choice of location for this escapade. It wasn't the right time or place to really give you what he'd wanted to for so long.

The candy got smaller and smaller as the two of you continued to kiss. Your tongues each rolled around the candy and met with each other's, making the kiss sickly sweet. His hands tangled into your hair, then moved down to caress your back before beginning to palm your ass. The fabric of your pants were so thin he could feel the seams of your thong through them.

Shawn pushed off the wall and leaned into you, your head falling back as his lips moved down your neck. Your hand was still rubbing against him, mind telling you to undo the button and zipper to pull it out. The DX strip poker segment gave you an idea of how big he was but you wanted to see just for yourself what was driving the other women crazy. Now wasn't the time, though. Your logical side was unfortunately very much on. The candy was now in his mouth.

His eyes met yours again while your hands played around in his hair to remove the ponytail holder. His lips kissed against your cleavage. It was another thing that drove him crazy about you, the way you wore low cut shirts around him. You always had to readjust your bra or pull down the shirt a little more when he happened to be around. Your teasing was subconscious while his was very much forward. You felt the beginning of a hickey coming on and it drew a moan out of you. Oops.

"Oh my god, okay." You both had to stop. Tangling your fingers in his hair, you gripped and moved his head away from your chest. His dick twitched at the sensation of you grabbing at the root. Could he make you do that while he was inside--?

Your fingers snapped in his face as you let go of him. There was a pout present on his face that made your panties get wetter. Did he really want to fuck you that badly? Heat flushed your cheeks.

"Don't. Tell. Anyone. About this! No one!"

The usually cocky playboy demeanor was back in a flash. Shawn cleared his throat and finished off the rest of the Jolly Rancher. "Hey, do I look like the kiss-and-tell type?" He winked at you.

"I'm serious. Just… if you stay quiet maybe we can do it again." You waved your hand away and rushed out the last few words.

Shawn held his hand up to his ear and raised his eyebrows mockingly. "Huh? What was that? You wanna do it again? Of course you do." His laugh was triumphant.

You took the hair band off your wrist and gathered Shawn's hair behind him tightly. His dick twitched again while you twisted the band around his hair.

"You're lucky you're cute 'cause you can be a real asshole sometimes."

You heard your name being called over a nearby walkie-talkie. A production assistant poked their head in the room to tell you you were needed in makeup. With a turn on the heel of your boot, you followed them out. You turned one more time to face Shawn, who left you with a kissy face and him grabbing his dick.

"Ugh." It was your turn now to be fake disgusted, smiling to yourself as you walked away.

Shawn's hands ran over his hair to smooth it down. The ghost of the cherry candy was still in his mouth and on his lips. It was his new favorite now.

[yesmaam3003s]

(Gif not mine)

Im Yours

Maddy Perez x fem reader

Maddy was the top of the relationship,at first she thought that meant she was like the man of the relationship but after you explained it to her she felt better about it,maddy felt better when she was in charge,not only cause of her past relationship but also cause of every every other relationships one night stands and all.

Anyway todays was a Monday and you were in lunch with the rest of the group,when all of a sudden a girl Approached you saying how she enjoyed the night before and how it was really fun,now maddy was smarter then people thought and she knew you would do nothing like that.And you know maddy you could tell someone was gonna get hurt and you knew who it was gonna be.

Which is why you are now walking a annoyed and Irritated Maddy To your car to drive her to your house,because she got suspended.

“That was a little dramatic,don’t you think mad’s” you said calmly “please tell me that you against me on this,did you not hear what she said”maddy said growing angrier by the second.

“I didn’t say I was against you I’m just saying you shouldn’t risk your Education on someone who isn’t worth you time”

You honestly weren’t tryin to annoy her even more you just wanted to show her that you cared and wanted the best for her,but of course maddy took it the wrong way and stayed silent the whole car ride.

Once you got home maddy rushed to your room,knowing she was upset you gave her some time to cool of after about 5 minutes or so you went to your room to see how she was doing.

*smut*

Once you went in your room you were roughly pushed into a wall hands pinned above your head,maddys face was in your neck kissing it roughly leaving marks,”Is this ok”she said still kissing your neck,with a moan you say yes.

She picks you up and places you on the bed going down on you,she licks your folds and licking and sucking the right spots,you were always quick when it came to sex but maddy wanted to take your time with you.

Befor you could cum she stood up making you whine,maddy goes to ur closet and gets her fav strap that she asked you to buy for her while you guys were on a date,she slips it on fast seeing you getting impatient and desperate to be touched.

Once she got it on she walked to you pulling you towards her and bringing your legs up almost to your head,she slowly puts the tip of the strap on the heat of your folds slowly pushing it in,causing you to groan and bite on your lips,with a smirk maddy slowly moves as she continues to kiss your neck and breast.

“Your such a good girl for me,you know that,I bet you’d love for me to tell all our friends how your my bitch and how you liked to be fucked like one,you’d love it huh,wouldn’t you baby”

Maddy wasn’t always used to saying this usually guys would say these things to her but she’d tune them out but with you she wanted to make sure you knew you were hers and that she had no problem showing that to others.

She picked up her pace with the strap causing you to moan louder,maddy could tell you were close and she wasn’t gonna stop you from cumming this time,you moaned maddys name loudly as you came,she let you ride out your high befor she took the strap off,she knew you’d help her release as soon as you recovered but for now all she wanted to do was cuddle you.

“You mean a lot to me you know that y/n,I really mean that.”maddy said holding you as you two faced each other.

With a. Smile you kissed her lips saying “I love you to maddy”and with that you closed your eyes leaning into her as you rested,Wothout even seeing maddy you could tell she had a smile on her face and that made a pretty sucky day so much better,for the both of you.

She was yours,and you were hers,it was simple but meant so much.

The end lol

Ps.writing smut is hard lmao ok bye have a good day or night or evening loves <3

[sunder-soul]

hii what about Tom Riddle being fucking jealous about reader ?

So I got massively carried away with this one lol, apologies if this isn’t what you were expecting, my imagination went wild!

PART II AVAILABLE! 💖

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.  

Jealousy

Summary: Reader has to tutor an insufferable jock and Tom Riddle starts acting very strangely indeed. Wordcount: 1.8k Content warning: none.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

The Great Hall was bright and lively with morning sun and the chatter of students, spoons clinking against bowls and butter spreading on toast.

“What is he doing?” you whisper to Margot sitting next to you at the table.

“I think he’s attempting to show off,” she giggles back.

You were both watching Austin Varrowe, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, obnoxiously demonstrate his Beater swing for a series of very bored looking Ravenclaw girls who weren’t paying him any attention in the slightest.

“Slughorn’s making me tutor that idiot,” you grumble.

“No way,” Margot grins, rounding on you.

“Yup,” you sigh, “can you believe it? Two evenings a week for the rest of the term… I think I’ll brain myself with a cauldron by Friday.”

Margot pats your shoulder sympathetically.

That evening, you reluctantly set off for the dungeons to meet Varrowe with your bag slung over your shoulder, but as you round a corridor you very nearly bowl straight into someone coming the opposite direction.

“Riddle,” you say, surprised, “sorry, didn’t see you there.”

Riddle takes a step back and tidily clasping his hands being his back. “You’re out rather late,” he said smoothly. “And in the dungeons, no less. Are you lost? The library is that way.” He nods back down the corridor.

You resist the urge to roll your eyes. Riddle was such a know-it-all. “I’m meeting someone, actually,” you say dismissively, checking your watch. “In fact, I better get going or he’ll think I’m standing him up.”

Riddle looks very briefly surprised, and then a cool look of disapproval settles on his fine features. “I don’t suppose I have to remind you that curfew is in two hours,” he says stiffly, “you wouldn’t be intending on breaking that, would you?”

You snort a laugh and step past him. “Thanks for the reminder,” you say sarcastically, “see you later, Riddle.”

You manage to get away before he can say anything else.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

“Varrowe,” you call, giving your friends a quick wave as you dash to catch up to him in the throng of students making their way to their next class. “Are you free tonight?”

“Oh – right,” Varrowe says, looking dispirited. “Sure. Seven o’clock?”

You nod and lean closer. “Please make sure you actually bring your textbook this time,” you mutter, managing to keep your exasperation off your face. “You do in fact need to read it at least once to pass the class.”

Varrowe grins and reaches out to ruffle your hair. “You’re smart,” he says loudly, “barely understood a thing you said last time.”

“Right,” you say through gritted teeth, trying to tidy your hair. “Well, see you this evening.”

“Sounds good,” Varrowe shrugs, wandering away.

You sigh. Slughorn better appreciate your sacrifice; tutoring Varrowe was the equivalent of torture. You turn on your heel to catch up with your friends, but once again you come face to face with –

“You have got to stop sneaking up on me,” you say dryly, “seriously, Riddle, it’s creepy.”

Riddle’s eyes slide from Varrowe’s retreating form to your face. “Is Varrowe the one you were meeting last week?” he asks smoothly.

The question surprises you. “Yeah, why?” you frown.

“And you’re meeting him again?”

You arch a brow at his decidedly clipped tone. “Yeah but don’t worry, I promise I won’t break curfew, I know that’s of the utmost importance to you –”

“An odd choice,” Riddle interrupts, something uncharacteristically irate in his voice, “Varrowe.”

You stare at him. “…Is he?” you ask pointedly, unable to think of anyone more in need of tutoring. Only yesterday Varrowe had lost his phial of Flobberworm mucus and had asked Slughorn if he could just use some of his own instead. “I think he’s the perfect choice.”

Riddle’s eyes flash. “I should be going,” he says curtly, “see you in class.” He gives you a single, stiff nod and leaves without another glance.

You blink after him, shaking your head in confusion. Riddle was acting very, very strangely.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

“So if you overboil it, it’ll turns green,” Varrowe said slowly, peering at the notes on Veritaserum on the desk between you, “but if you underboil it, it’ll get those weird lumps?”

“Yes,” you say with great relief.

“Is it better to overboil it or underboil it?”

You immediately regret having felt relieved. “It’s better to do neither,” you say flatly.

Varrowe heave a great sigh and carelessly leans back in his chair. “I’m too tired for this,” he complains. “Did I mention that we had an extra Quidditch practice this morning?”

He had. Six times.

You slide your things into your bag and stand. “You’re right, it’s late,” you mutter, “we can pick this up again on Monday.”

Varrowe gleefully stands too and is out the door of the Potions classroom in a heartbeat. “Are you coming to the game next weekend?” he asks you in the corridor outside, unsubtly flexing his shoulder muscles as he pretends to roll them out.

You very nearly roll your eyes. “Sure, I’ll be there.”

“Excellent,” he grins, “I’ve been working on this tag-team move with Procker that’ll really have Slytherin guessing, I’ll have to show you later –”

“Varrowe.”

The voice is crisp and cool, and it doesn’t take a genius to guess who it is.

“Riddle,” Varrowe says, looking disgruntled. “Why are you here?”

“I’m a prefect, if you recall,” Riddle says in a glacial tone, “patrols are part of my responsibilities.”

“How very fortunate indeed that you were patrolling this exact corridor at this exact time,” you say with a hint of sarcasm. “Merlin, imagine if we’d forgotten about curfew.”

Riddle’s dark eyes flash to you, and you impassively hold his gaze. “You should return to your common rooms,” he says delicately, “or I will be forced to give you both detentions.”

“Steady on Riddle,” Varrowe grins, “we’ve got half an hour yet, give us a second to say goodbye.”

Riddle wrenches his eyes off you and fixes Varrowe with a very cold look. “You will go at once,” he says in a dangerously soft tone, “do you understand?”

Varrowe bristles, standing taller and pushing his chest out in a way he clearly thinks is intimidating. Riddle looks utterly unfazed.

Sensing trouble on the horizon, you grab Varrowe’s sleeve and tug him back. “Come on, Varrowe,” you say quickly, “let’s go. You’ve got practice in the morning, right?”

Varrowe glares at Riddle who was yet to move an inch, his expression still cool and blank. “Right,” Varrowe growls, “yeah, let’s go.”

Varrowe turns and stalks off, not noticing that you don’t follow. Instead, you round on Riddle.

“Will you explain what the hell is going on?” you whisper angrily.

“Watch your tongue,” Riddle says sharply.

You glower at him. “So sorry – I mean, will you please explain what the hell is going on?”

His eyes narrow. “It would not be wise to antagonise me,” he says icily.

“Would it not?” you breathe, stepping closer. “What are you going to do, dock me points? Give me detention?”

Riddle’s eyes are dark and hostile, and something works in his jaw as he glares back at you.

“Back off, Riddle,” you snap, “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but seriously, drop it.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he breathes.

“Oh? You always threaten people with detention when they’ve done nothing wrong? I’m sure Slughorn will be overjoyed to hear that his favourite prefect is abusing his power like that,” you hiss, leaning closer.

Riddle visibly grits his teeth with fury on his face. A tense silence falls, and you suddenly realise that the two of you are standing far, far too closely together.

You step back at once, trying to ignore the strange feeling that swells in your stomach. “Goodnight, Riddle,” you mutter, turning to hurry away.

“Why Varrowe?” he says sharply, stopping you in your tracks.

You look over your shoulder at him. Riddle’s hair looks even blacker in the dark corridor, his burning eyes on yours, the flickering light from the torch on the wall beside him throwing shadows down his cheekbones. “What?” you frown. Now was definitely not the time to get distracted by Riddle’s good looks.

“Why Varrowe?” Riddle repeats stiffly. “He’s a simpleton.”

You blink. “Exactly,” you say slowly.

Something hostile flickers on Riddle’s face before he quickly tempers his expression back into composure. “I appear to have misjudged you,” he says coldly, looking away.

“What are you talking about?” you exclaim in exasperation. “Do you not understand how tutoring works? If he wasn’t absolutely thick I wouldn’t have to waste my evenings explaining to him that Cough Potions are for curing coughs and not inducing them.”

Riddle stares at you. The silence drags on.

You sigh impatiently. “I’m going to bed,” you grumble, turning away again.

“Wait,” he says sharply.

You wheel around, annoyed. “What?”

But your frustration is wiped away in an instant because Riddle is once again much too close. So close, in fact, that you can see the shadows his eyelashes are casting down his cheeks and the heat in his eyes as he looks down at you.

“You’re tutoring him?” he asks quietly.

You nod silently, your throat suddenly thick with nerves.

“That’s why you were meeting him.”

You nod again, unable to look away from him.

Riddle hums contemplatively, his expression smooth as his dark eyes roam your face. “Good,” he murmurs.

“Good?” you whisper.

Riddle’s lips curve into a small smirk, his head tilting slightly, and you absolutely do not blush at the sight. “Weren’t you going to bed?” he asks silkily.

“Worried about me breaking curfew, are you?” you say with a flicker of a taunt, trying to ignore your heart pounding quickly in your chest.

Riddle’s smirk grows. “I told you not to antagonise me,” he says smoothly as he steps in even closer, so close that his robes graze against your arms and you can feel warmth radiating from him as he looms over you.

“I don’t know,” you whisper, “seems to be going pretty well for me so far.”

Riddle’s eyes flick between yours, and for a single burning moment the tension is so thick that you can hear your pulse thrumming in your ears, your gaze dropping to his full lips and seeing his do the same to yours – and then just like that, Riddle steps away.

“Goodnight,” he says evenly, “I trust you can get back to your common room without supervision.”

You nod blankly but Riddle is already turning away and disappearing down the dark corridor, melting into the darkness. You stand there a moment frozen in place, your cheeks burning and your heart still racing as the cold air rushes in where his warmth had been brushing up against your skin.

Riddle was acting very, very strangely indeed.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

PART II AVAILABLE! 💖

[meltwonu]

77. “There’s people here.”

            “I know.”

78. “I don’t care what you do just fuck me.”

notes; puppy!hybrid!(switch)vernon, kitty!hybrid!(switch)reader, human!joshua(lol), dont fuck your therapist, threesome, dirty talk, degradation, name-calling, i wouldnt say sub!joshua necessarily but uh lol just very shy ‘shua, blowjob 🤣💕 a part two to the vernon drabble that went up last Monday! I have attempted to link it right here if tumb1r doesn’t hate me ☠️ I have 2 more hybrid fics for this cycle of drabbles and I also forgot to post my new schedule after talking abt all that drama so I will do that tomorrow! 😭😭💕 As always, thank you for requesting! Enjoy! 💕

Joshua was late. 

“Sorry, you two. Joshua’s running a little late. Traffic ‘n all. Just wait in his office, okay? He’ll get here as soon as possible.”

Seungcheol, the other therapist on duty, had said. Flashing you a smile before he’d closed the door and left you and Vernon alone in Joshua’s office. 

It’d already been a week since the two of you had gone in for your individual sessions and Joshua had already penned you back in for a joint session before you’d even made it back to the hybrid center.

“Now what?” Vernon groaned; shooting you a side glance as you sit quietly next to him on the plush leather.

You were just glad there wasn’t a cum stain on it from last time.

“Can’t you just be patient and wait like he said? We literally sat down a second ago.” You rolled your eyes as Vernon’d scoffed - eyes darting over to the puppy hybrid and taking in the bright yellow bandaid on his cheek that had a smiley face smack dab in the center.

“Sorry about your face, by the way.”

“Are you, though?”

Huffing, you’d leaned in closer to the male; tail rattling behind yourself as you chuckled and ghosted your lips against the shell of his ear. “You kinda deserved it for being such a bad ‘lil puppy, if I’m being honest~ Cumming so much inside of me to the point that I almost messed up Mr. Joshua’s sofa… Ah, what would he have done if he saw your cum dripping down my thighs? Do you think he would’ve thought I was a bad ‘lil kitty?”

Vernon shivered as your words went straight to his cock - hands balling up into fists in his lap. “B-but I-I ate you out, didn’t I? When you got back…” He murmured.

“You also came in your sweats while I sat on your face like the easy pup you are.”

“Ah, kitten, come here, please~”

Jeonghan flashes you a smile - patting the spot next to himself on the picnic mat.

“Joshua called me earlier and told me your session with Vernon went well? Why don’t you tell me a little bit, I’m curious about how it went.”

You start to purr when he massages your kitten ears; leaning into his touch as your eyes flutter shut.

“Mr. Hong was a little late and Vernon was being so impatient…” You murmur.

“Oh? You didn’t fight, did you?”

“I don’t care what you do just fuck me.”

Vernon thrusts up against your hand palming him over his jeans; head thrown back against the armrest as you tease him. “And hurry, ‘cause he might show up soon…”

Giggling, you start to undo the button and zipper of his jeans as you lick your lips.

“I wanna ride you right here, pup… Wanna feel you filling up my pussy with every inch of your cock… Fucking me so gooood and cumming inside of me... Don’t you want that?” The puppy hybrid nods frantically as he gulps.

“Y-yes, I want t-that...”

You wrap a hand around his hard cock; smearing the precum down his shaft before squeezing him around the base as he cries out.

“Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn’t be so loud if I were you~ Wouldn’t want them to hear you being a noisy ‘lil pup in here, would you?”

“Mmh, n-no…”

“Good. Then shut up and behave.”

“Ah, I know. Vernon can’t sit still sometimes… But other than that, he was good, right?”

You nod gently - nuzzling against Jeonghan’s palm. “Mmhmm… Mr. Hong showed up pretty soon after anyway so we didn’t wait too long.”

“Anything interesting? A friend recommended me to Joshua. Said he was really good with hybrids so I put my trust in him, y’know? And he seems to have helped the two of you, so I’m really glad.”

“Me too.”

Joshua never runs late - or, rather, tries to avoid running late at all costs.

He leaves his briefcase in his car and all but sprints into the office building; a sheen of sweat on his brow when he all but tears the double doors open.

“God, I’m so sorry I’m late!”

Seungcheol greets him with a soft chuckle, nodding towards the long corridor towards Joshua’s office.

“Your 11AM has been waiting for the last 45 minutes. They’re probably asleep in there from how long you took, ‘Shua. Might wanna check in on them.” Joshua nods, shooting Seungcheol a sheepish smile before taking off towards his secluded office.

“Can you phone my 1PM and tell them it’s moved to 2PM instead? Thanks!”

He doesn’t listen for Seungcheol’s confirmation before he’s completely out of earshot - sighing and readying his words of apology when he places his hand on the doorknob of his office.

“Oh my gosh, I am so---”

“Fuh--fuck, faster!”

Vernon’s eyes meet Joshua’s panicked stare - hands on your hips as you swivel atop his lap.

“I--T-there’s people here… W-wait--”

The puppy hybrid gulps, trying to get you to stop as Joshua stands in the doorway in shock.

You smirk down at Vernon before you’re turning your head slightly in Joshua’s direction.

“I know. But I don’t see Mr. Joshua telling us to stop~”

“Did Joshua give you any good pieces of advice? Maybe some stuff we can use around here when the others get unruly.”

Jeonghan laughs, smoothing down your hair before you decide to lay your head down in his lap.

You really were Jeonghan’s favorite and you appreciated that he took care of you so well.

“Mm… I guess the biggest piece of advice he gave us was to see each other from different points of view… Which is fair, I think.”

“Ah, yeah, it’s really important to put yourself in each other’s shoes. It helps you understand each other better when you take turns, y’know?”

“This--ngh, this is severely--severely a violation of p-patient and d-doctor, um, ah, b-boundaries! The mis--misconduct---”

Joshua’s hands tangle in your hair as you sink your mouth down onto him and Vernon is quick to smirk at the older male as he fucks you from behind on the sofa.

“Yeah, so why did you get hard while you were standing there watching us then, huh?” He laughs at the blush blooming on Joshua’s cheeks; eyes flitting towards where you have your lips wrapped around Joshua’s cock.

“Such a good ‘lil kitty for us… Usually she’s misbehaving and I have to punish her… Fucking her in all sorts of places and cumming inside her tight ‘lil cunt. But that’s okay, she’s a needy ‘lil cumslut anyway. She wants its down her throat, in her pretty ‘lil cunt and her cute ‘lil ass too.”

Joshua’s eyes bulge out of his head at the way Vernon talks about you, but he only replies with a shaky moan when you hollow out your cheeks around him instead.

“Mm, and she just got tighter around my cock too… She loves it when I talk about her needy ‘lil holes being filled up.”

“You--you shouldn’t, a-ah, fuck…” Joshua finds himself thrusting into your mouth; giving into the pleasure as your body rocks between the two males.

“Didn’t she tell you how she came to her session with you last time with a load of my cum inside her? Soaking into her panties… Bet she wanted to just finger herself right on this sofa, legs spread wide while she fucked my cum deeper into her filthy ‘lil hole for you to see what a good cockslut she is.”

You moan around Joshua’s cock, sending goosebumps rising on his skin at the vibrations that only intensify the pleasure.

“I--I noticed…” He whispers, gulping slightly when you sink your mouth down further until the head of his cock taps the back of your throat and makes you gag around him.

“Oh, so you did?”

“Y-yeah… d-didn’t say, ngh, a-anything since it--it wasn’t my p-place…”

Vernon smirks, leaning over your body and tangling a hand through your hair as he pushes your head towards Joshua to make you take more of his cock down your throat.

“Hear that, slut? Now you have to make it up to our ‘doc here, okay?”

“Joshua said you had another appointment next week, though, right? Is there any reason? Everything seems to be fine now so I don’t really get why he’d need to see you both again?”

You stare up at Jeonghan as you lay in his lap; the two loads of cum sitting inside your cunt starting to soak your panties a little too much when you shift onto your side.

“Ah… yeah. Mr. Hong said he wanted to check in on us, that’s all. Said that he wanted to observe us a little longer to make sure we’re not fighting anymore.”

“Wow… He really is great at his job, huh?” Jeonghan shakes his head in amazement; already planning on calling up Joshua to thank him for a job well done.

Grinning, you turn your head to the side to avoid Jeonghan seeing the mischievous glint in your eyes.

“Mmhmm, he’s very thorough.”

[elianamarie-blog]

could you maybe do an eric forman x reader where they go to a halloween party and the reader dresses up as Leia from star wars and eric absolutely m e l t s it can be spicy or fluffy or both lol i’m deprived of eric content

 I’ll be so happy to do that for you! :)

Eric x Reader

October 24, 1977

Point Place, Wisconsin

Eric Forman’s Basement

“What’s everybody doing for Halloween?” Donna asked as she sat down next to Eric and Kelso.

“Oh, probably going to eat a lot of candy and cry myself to sleep,” Eric commented. “Being alone on this holiday isn’t fun.”

Y/n was sitting in the lawn chair adjacent from him and set down the magazine she was reading on her lap. “What do you mean? It’s not like it’s Christmas,” she laughed.

“Yeah, but with Halloween, girls can dress up as slu-aaaa--” Eric stammered while staring at an amused y/n.

“Like what, Eric?” Y/n asked, a smile playing on her lips.

“Uh,” Eric stuttered once more and cleared his throat. “Like, uh, slugs. Girls can dress up like slugs.”

“Nice save,” Hyde chuckled. 

“Yeah, but Halloween is better,” Fez piped up. “You get all kinds of free candy.”

“Well, Fez, people get candy on Christmas too,” Jackie mentioned and sat on Kelso’s lap.

“Yeah, but my host parents don’t allow me to eat as much candy on Christmas and since they don’t celebrate Halloween, I have to hide it from them,” Fez replied sourly. 

“Well, that’s sad,” Y/n said. 

“You know what’s sad?” Hyde asked, sitting from his usual spot with his feet up on the table and arms crossed. “Halloween is on a Monday this year, so we can’t do anything.”

“Well, we can still have it the weekend of,” Donna suggested. “Like, this weekend?”

Everyone looked at each other,

“Yeah, that sounds good,” they all agreed.

“Saturday night, here in the basement?” Eric asked, looking at everyone for approval.

“Yeah, yeah that sounds good,” everyone agreed, except for y/n.

“Y/n?” Eric asked, causing y/n’s heart to jump in her chest. “You coming?”

Y/n’s brain jumbled for a minute with Eric’s doe eyes staring at her. “Y-yeah,” she stuttered. “I’ll be there.”

“Great!” he exclaimed. “Saturday night it is!”

“Yayyyy,” Y/n mumbled under her breath as she turned her attention back to the magazine.

                                              --Time Skip--

Later that week at the Halloween store, y/n, Jackie, and Donna were shopping around for their costumes.

“What are you guys wanting to go as?” Jackie asked as she picked up a French maid costume. “I think I’m going to go as this and Michael will be my lord.”

Y/n and Donna snickered. 

“What?” Jackie asked innocently. 

“I think Kelso might expecting a little bit more than a house cleaning,” Y/n giggled and laughed when she saw Jackie’s face blush a deep crimson.

“What are you going as, Donna?” Jackie asked, quickly changing the subject. 

“I don’t know,” she answered absent-mindedly. “Casey is going to be there, so I have to look foxy.”

“You’re still going out with him?” Y/n asked, not hiding her judgment. “I thought you wanted nothing to do with him.”

“I know, but he’s so dreamy,” Donna responded with a smile and pulled a sexy devil costume out. 

“That would look good on you,” Y/n commented. 

“Thanks, I might go as this,” she said off handedly and looked at y/n. “What about you? What’re you going as?”

“I don’t know,” she responded and pulled out a sexy nurse costume. “I don’t see anything that sticks out to me.”

“Maybe you should get that one costume we talked about,” Jackie said with a suggestive smile.

“No,” Y/n said quickly with wide eyes and shook her head. “That’s not gonna happen.”

“What? What isn’t going to happen?” Donna asked excitedly.

“Nothing,” Y/n said and walked away.

“Oh, c’mon, y/n. We’re best friends. You can tell me anything,” Donna badgered. 

“No, really, it’s nothing.”

“I think we should tell her,” Jackie agreed. “She was bound to find out sooner or later.”

“No, I’d rather not do this right now,” Y/n begged. “Please, please drop it.”

“Okay, now I need to know!” Donna said with a wide smile.

“C’mon, y/n, just tell her. It’s not like it’s a big deal anymore,” Jackie said.

“It kind of is,” Y/n said quietly. 

“What is?!” Donna almost shouted, causing some people to turn to look at them.

Y/n looked around her for a minute, contemplating saying anything before finally throwing in the towel. “Okay, fine. But, before I do, please promise me you won’t get mad at me.”

Donna knitted her eyebrows together. “Why would I be mad at you?”

A nervous noise came out of y/n as she wrung her hands together before nervously looking at Jackie who signaled for her to continue. “Well, um...okay, it’s uh--” she looked over to Donna who was staring at her with wide and curious eyes, “Okay, here’s the thing--”

“Oh, for the love of God just spit it out!” Donna said impatiently. 

“Okay,” Y/n said, starting to sway a little. “It’s, uh, Princess Leia.”

Donna giggled. “You were nervous about telling me you’re going to go as Princess Leia?”

“Well...yeah.”

This time Donna laughed. “That’s funny because Eric would really love--” she gasped. “Oh my God. You like Eric?!”

Y/n made a face as she just stepped on a bug and heard a nasty crunch. “Yeah.”

“For how long?” Donna asked, all humor gone.

Y/n sighed and rubbed her forehead. She wanted to run out as fast as the flash out the door. “Not very long,” she admitted. 

“When you mean not long, do you mean after me and Eric broke up?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, sort of.”

“What do you mean sort of?”

“Sort of as in yes,” Y/n answered quickly and nervously. 

“What--? How--?” 

“Well, after you two broke up, Eric really needed someone to talk to and I was the only one that would listen without getting annoyed,” Y/m defended. “And during that time, he was vulnerable and just really sweet and it made me look at him in a whole new light.”

Donna was quiet for a moment making both Jackie and y/n nervous. 

“I’m really sorry, Donna,” Y/n said. “I didn’t mean it for it to happen. It’s just that--”

Donna giggled making y/n to stop talking and stare at her in confusion. “Y/n, it’s okay.”

“Wait, really?” Y/n and Jackie asked in unison.

“Yeah,” Donna answered. “We broke up months ago and I’m dating Casey now. And the fact that you hesitated to do anything really means a lot to me. You’re a great friend.”

“Oh, thank you,” Y/n said, sighing in relief.

“And if you want to pursue anything with him, you have my blessing,” Donna said.

“Wow, Donna. Thank you,” she replied and gave her a hug. “You’re the best.”

“It’s no problem. Besides, now you’re the one has to deal with all the Star Wars references,” Donna sang-song as she walked passed y/n to go buy her costume.

                                      --Time Skip--

The party’s music was blaring from the Forman’s basement that night. Kitty and Red had gone over to the Pinciotti’s house for their Halloween--much against Red’s will. A lot of people showed up, making the basement loud. Donna went as a sexy devil, Jackie went as a sexy French maid, Kelso was dressed up in robe playing lord of the manor, Fez as Frank N. Furter from Rocky Horror Picture Show...again, and Hyde didn’t dress up, because, well it’s Hyde. Casey surprised everyone by actually showing up and could barley keep his hands off of Donna. And Eric, of course, dressed up as Luke Skywalker. 

Donna and Casey sat in the lawn chair, her in his lap while he whispered sweet nothings. Jackie and Kelso hung around the washer and dryer machine with Hyde, drinking beers and talking. Eric was hanging around with Fez, a Darth Vader, and a Tinker Bell. Eric was trying not to look at Fez’s pale legs while geeking out with Darth Vader and Tinker Bell. The only person missing was y/n.

“So, when Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star--” he continued his story, but stopped when Hyde clapped a hand on Eric’s shoulder.

“Hey, man, you’re girlfriend is here,” he joked.

“What? I don’t have a girlfriend,” Eric said confused.

Hyde pointed to the door. Eric’s gaze followed to where he was pointing and could feel his heart stop for a moment. Y/n was standing at the door dressed as Princess Leia. If he was being honest with himself, she looked stunning. He never knew someone could look more beautiful than she did right now. He had always thought she was attractive, but he was always in love with Donna, but ever since they broke up, he found himself liking her more than just a friend. Even though y/n wasn’t as big of a fan of Star Wars herself, he still loved that he was able to be himself and geek out with her and not feel judged by it.

She made eye contact with him and made her way over to him.

“Hey!” she greeted cheerfully. “We match!”

“Uhhhh...y-yeah,” he stuttered. “You, uh, you-you look great.”

Y/n curtsied making Eric chuckle. “Thank you, Mr. Skywalker. You look great yourself.”

Tinker Bell had gotten bored and walked off while Fez and Darth Vader stayed to ogle at y/n.

“Hey, so what cha doing later?” Darth Vader asked.

Y/n looked around the party with a mild confused look. “Uh, this?”

Darth Vader chuckled. “I meant after the party.”

“Going home,” she stated.

Darth Vader nodded his head. “Got it.”

“Thanks,” she said, grateful that he wasn’t going to push her. He walked off, leaving the three of them.

“And I’m going to go find a drunk girl,” Fez said and sauntered off.

Eric and y/n stood alone; Y/n’s heart beating out of her chest. “So, nice party. A lot more people showed up than I thought.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Eric replied, a smile growing on his cute face. “Thanks for coming.”

“Oh, you know I wouldn’t miss it.”

Eric couldn’t stop himself for staring at y/n from head to toe. “You really do look great tonight though.”

She smiled shyly at him. “Thank you.”

“Hey, Forman!” Hyde called from nearby the washer and dryer. “Keg is here. Help me do a keg stand.”

Eric pointed his thumbs over his shoulder. “Duty calls.”

“Yeah,” Y/n replied nodding her head. “I’m going to get a drink.”

“Hey, I’ll catch you later?”

Y/n nodded. “Okay.”

She watched him walk off and hold Hyde by the ankles as he drank straight from the tap. Y/n chuckled to herself as she turned to the shower and grabbed a beer. She popped it open and went over to Donna and Jackie to talk to them.

“Wow, look at you,” Jackie gushed. “Looking sexy.”

“Awe, thanks Jackie,” she said, blushing.

“I saw that you caught the attention of someone,” Donna said seductively and subtly glanced over at Eric who was too into making sure Hyde didn’t fall on his face to notice y/n sitting on the couch. She had purposely had her dress hiked up to expose her right thigh, but still covering to be decent.

Eric wanted to look but he couldn’t take the chance of being distracted. 

“Okay, Forman, your turn,” Hyde slurred as he was lowered down.

“Wait! I have something better,” Kelso called out and brought out a funnel and a tube. “Gotta do this right.”

“Hell yeah!” Hyde whooped and connected the tube to the funnel.

Eric got down on one knee and put the tube to his mouth as Hyde started quickly filling up the funnel with cans of beer.

“Chug! Chug! Chug!” everyone at the party chanted as Eric successfully drained four cans of beer. 

Eric stumbled back up and burped as he swayed a little. “I’m going to feel that buzz here in a minute.”

Y/n laughed as she watched the guy she liked come over and sit beside her. “What cha talkin’ about good lookin’?”

Y/n squinted her eyes at him while chuckling. “How drunk are you right now?”

“It’s more of a buzz going on,” he confessed. “But this confidence is real.” He clicked his tongue and pointed at himself.

“Hey, y/n, you wanna give this a go?” Hyde asked.

“Yes, do a keg stand!” Kelso shouted.

“No,” Y/n said quickly and firmly. “I’m not giving you another reason to look up my dress.”

“Kill joy!” Kelso shouted, now in a drunken stupor. 

“I will drink from the tube though,” she said to Hyde who nodded in approval.

As she walked over to Hyde, grabbed the tube, and got on her knees, Hyde nodded approvingly. “Oh, yeah. Get on them knees.”

“Shut up, you idiot and just start,” Y/n said.

“That’s what she said too!” Hyde threw his head back laughing.

“Just give me the beer!” she shouted, laughing at her friend’s stupidity.

“Alright, alright, alright, calm down,” he responded and started pouring the beer down the funnel.

The fizz of the beer burned as it quickly went down her throat. The fizz was going into her nose causing her eyes to water, but she refused to stop. As everyone chanted around her to keep going, she forced herself to focus on ingesting the beer instead of Eric, who was watching her intently. 

Hyde ended up pouring three beers in the funnel before she brought the tube up, careful not to spill. Everyone cheered and she got off the floor, her knees cracking from sitting on the concrete floor. 

“Damn, color me impressed,” Hyde said. “I thought you’d only be able to do one.”

“Please, I’ve been drinking with you morons for the past year and a half. I have a higher tolerance now.”

Hyde grinned, “You’re welcome.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” y/n said and suddenly felt her skin heat up. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked out the basement and up the stairs, feeling that autumn breeze cool down her burning skin. She breathed in the cool evening air and sat on the porch. She leaned her head back and listened to the wind rattling the trees and crunchy leaves fly their way down the driveway.

She sat there like that for a minute or two before a voice caused her to snap her eyes open.

“Hey, you alright?”

Eric sat down next to her as she lazily turned her head to look at him. She could feel the alcohol starting to slush around her head, but it was a good buzz. “Yeah, ‘m fine,” she responded and looked back up at the night’s sky. “Just getting a breather. Started getting hot in there.”

“Yeah, when you’ve had a few beers and have a lot people around you, the air tends to heat up quick,” he commented.

Y/n hummed in response and looked back at him. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Oh, well, I saw you leave and wanted to make sure you were enjoying the party.”

“Oh, me? I’m having a marvelous time.”

“Why did that sound sarcastic?” he deadpanned.

Y/n giggled. “It’s not. I really am having a great time.”

Eric gave her a single nod. “Good.” His wrung his hands as he struggled to find the right words. Y/n had her eyes closed again, so she didn’t notice his nervousness. “You really do look good tonight.”

Y/n opened her eyes once more and looked at him. “Thank you, Eric. You look good too.”

“No, I mean, you look really beautiful.”

Y/n blushed at his words and stood up, pretending to stretch. In reality, it was a way to cover up her nerves. “Thank you, Eric. That’s really sweet.” She smiled at him as he stood up to stand in front of her. “Shall we go back in?”

“Uh, yeah, but before we do,” he began and grabbed her arm, stopping her from turning around. “Um, if you’d like to grab a burger with me--o-or, you know, catch a movie, that would be cool.”

“Oh,” Y/n asked in surprise. “Just you and me?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, his nerves shining through. “If you want to of course.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” she smiled at him.

“Okay, good. I was afraid that you were going to say no. Because I really li--”

He was cut off by her lips quickly meeting his. She wasn’t sure if it was the newfound confidence or the alcohol, or maybe even both, but she felt like the time was right.

“And you kissed me?” Eric asked, confused.

“Oh my God,” Y/n said, embarrassed. “Did I read the signs wrong? I’m so sorry. I’m so dumb. I thought you were asking me out--”

Now she was interrupted by Eric’s hand wrapping around her neck and pulling her in for a passionate kiss. She didn’t need to wait for her to completely melt into the kiss and placed her hands on either side of his face. She felt the universe line up and butterflies erupt in her stomach.

As he pulled away, he looked into her eyes. “I was.”

“Okay, so I’m not dumb,” she said lowly and chuckled to herself.

“No, not at all,” he said and captured her lips once more. “Tomorrow night, I’ll pick you up at seven.”

She nodded and brought him in for another kiss, completely forgetting where she was for a moment until, “Alright! Get it, Eric!”

Eric and y/n broke their amorous kiss and looked to see Kelso, Hyde, Donna, Jackie, Fez, and Casey watching them.

“Hey, would you look at that. Foreplay has some moves,” Casey commented, making Donna lightly smack him in the chest.

“Bout damn time too,” Hyde said. “I was getting tired of hearing about his feelings towards y/n.”

Y/n flushed in embarrassment and hid her face in Eric’s chest.

“Uh, guys? Can we get a little privacy here?” Eric deadpanned.

“Sure, sure,” Fez said. “Hey, Eric. If you see her boobs, please describe them to me.”

Y/n and Eric looked at him with the most annoyed expression.

“Shut up, Fez!”

[foodbytesback]

I Tried (And Maybe Perfected?) Food52's Roasted Spaghetti

Someone in a Discord server I’m in (not even a foodie one, just a “hey look at this cursed bullshit” one) recently posted a link to a recipe on Food52 claiming that the best way to make spaghetti is to roast it first.  At first, I thought, “Beautiful, just my brand of terrible food crimes, I could kiss you on the mouth.”

But we here at Food Bytes Back are dedicated to saying, “hey, but what if it was more fucked up, but in the most logical way possible?”  (Mostly because I can’t just point at a 4-year-old recipe and say “lol.”)

You see, Food52 says that this is the logical next step for those who like the roasty-toasty flavors of roasted vegetables, but to me there’s one thing missing.  Roasted vegetables aren’t just thrown in the oven dry, you gotta put some olive oil, salt, and pepper on those bad boys!  So I’ve decided to do a little experiment: I’ll do a pan of dry-roasted spaghetti as a control, and a pan of oiled and seasoned spaghetti just to see what happens.  

It may also be worth pointing out that I’m using “Thin Spaghetti” here, because that’s what I had.  As such, I will still be roasting at Food52’s suggested 350F, but for much less than their suggested 10-15 minutes.

Attempt #1

Ah, shit. I was playing with the cat and got distracted. 

Attempt #2

Wow, this stuff really does turn fast, huh.  This time around, I did it for 5 minutes, then checked  every minute for what would end up being 2 more minutes, and it still went a little darker than I would have liked.  But because my impatience (and/or hesitance to just bake off all of my mom’s spaghetti) was getting the better of me, I decided that this would have to be good enough.  

If you can’t tell from the picture, the oiled pasta definitely took on more of a fried-looking texture, which is more-or-less what I was looking for.

Alright, now it’s time for a step that Food52 says is optional: Rehydrating the freshly baked pasta.  They say you can actually boil it as is, but that it will take longer to cook and just won’t get more cooked than al dente (which sounds like a good thing tbh).  But if I’m going full gremlin with this, then I wanna put the spaghets in plastic bags and fill them with water, and let them hang out for a bit (The original recipe says 2 ½ hours, but again, this is thin spaghetti, so I did like 2).

“Gee, Riley,” you say. “The counter’s looking a little wet there, did you not seal the bag all the way?” Listen here, jackass.  Don’t fuck with me.  I will cry.

Ok, so post-soak there’s still a noticeable difference.  The most-roasted of the oiled ones didn’t seem to rehydrate as much as the most-roasted of the plain ones, and the oiled ones in general seem much less flexible than the plain ones. It's almost as if oil and water don't mix or something.  Also, the bag water on both is noticeably brown, which makes me think that some of my roasty goodness may have seeped out of the pasta.

The original recipe said that this would cook about the same as “regular pasta,” which I assumed meant dry pasta, but, as it turns out, they meant fresh.  Who would have guessed that rehydrated pasta would cook so quickly.

I gotta say, eaten plain, it’s a little disappointing.  Only my most burnt noods have any toasty flavor on them at all.  Was I supposed to boil it in that bag water? That would have probably helped keep some of that toastiness intact.  That being said, even plain, it is a step up from eating regular plain pasta; I wouldn’t call it “toasty” but the flavor is… more concentrated?  When paired with one of their serving suggestions, a “no-cook ricotta, parsley and olive oil sauce”  (read: ricotta, parsley and olive oil mixed together) it works a little better.  The herabciousness of the parsley actually helped bring out some of the nuttiness.  (Holy shit… I never thought I would say that parsley actually added something to a dish…)

I don’t know if it’s placebo effect or maybe it’s just because this tray got a little more burnt, but I feel like the toastiness is more present here.  And, when eaten plain, there’s a little bit of fruitiness from the olive oil, too.  The salt and pepper seem to more or less wash off in the bag water, however.  It may also be worth noting that that fried-looking texture I mentioned earlier has translated into a very strange, irregular texture post-boil.  It’s possible that the main reason why the original didn’t say to use oil was for the sake of having a more Instagram-able final dish.  Said textural deformities are essentially completely covered up by the sauce, however, so it’s basically like they were never really there.

Attempt #3

More than anything else, I was curious how well this would keep in dry storage if roasted ahead of time.  After all, I’m not going to be reaching for the sheet trays every time I want to make spaghetti, I’d much rather be able to roast off a whole box, then put it back in the box and have it ready to go whenever I want.  And the original recipe suspiciously doesn’t say anything about being able to do so. So I set aside some from my initial experiment (Friday) to cook off today (Monday).  

Surprise surprise, nothing happened to the pasta over the course of 3 days.  It was so underwhelming I forgot to take a picture of it before putting water in the bag.  Speaking of which, I think I’m gonna adjust the soak time to about 45 minutes to account for the thin spaghets.

Hmm… even at 45 minutes there still seems to be a noticeable amount of brownness leaching out into the water (in hindsight you can’t really tell up against a wood counter, but take my word for it). It's also not nearly as flexible, not that that really matters since we're just gonna boil it anyways.

Ok, bringing the soak time down to 45 minutes didn’t really help protect the roasted flavor, it pretty much tastes just like that first batch.  If anything, the reduced soak time may have hindered them, because some of the noodles seemed to be only partly rehydrated, resulting in a mushy outer layer with an extremely al dente core, which was an interesting mouthfeel to experience.  However, I feel like I can officially call this part of the experiment a success, since none of these oddities have anything to do with my main goal here: Can the pasta be roasted ahead of time? Yes. 

Final Verdict

If you don’t care about the strange appearance, a healthy dose of olive oil on your spaghetti pre-roasting is the way to go.  But is the roasting worth it in the first place?  Overall, I think it’s a fun party trick, but I don’t think it’s something I can say makes a ton of difference if you’re just cooking for yourself.  Unless you, you know, actually follow their recipe and use a spaghetti of regular thickness.  Maybe that was the secret to unlocking its full potential all along.  

[Hey, do yall think this would have been better as a video? I’d like to get into video production some time in the near future, especially for things with actual cooking in them or longer, rambley essays]

[silverlightqueen]

Tia and Tamera... and Nicole

fratboy and best friend!namjoon x reader, university!au, comedy, fluff, angst (and making out, if that counts as something idk lol) ft. twice nayeon, got7 jackson & skz hyunjin

For btswriterscollective’s 1 year anniversary contest!

Summary: y/n decides to make a big fashion change and, all of a sudden, is the object of attraction of every male within a hundred metre radius of her. Namjoon, her best friend, isn’t too impressed about it.

Rating: 15 (mature themes, explicit discussion of sex, strong language)

Word Count: 9.9k+

Warnings: lots of sexism/misogyny, the typical she-has-a-makeover-and-suddenly-every-boy-wants-to-date-her-trope, lots of gross frat boys, strong language, explicit discussion of sex, alcohol and drug consumption, making out, Namjoon is trash and doesn’t know how to text. I think that’s it but lmk if you noticed that I missed something!

a/n: hey guys ! it’s silverlightqueen back with another university au lmao i’m sorry :( thank you to the loml @silverlightprincess​ for proofreading, you’re the best and I love youuu !! I hope you guys enjoy this bc it was really fun to write !!

silverlightqueen masterlist

I got the divider off google (it has no relevance to the story but it kinda matches the colour scheme so we move lmao) so credit to whoever made it lol

joon: u up

y/n: don’t fuckboy text me

joon: so thats a yes

y/n: what do you want ?

joon: u free tmrw

y/n: it’s Monday tomorrow

joon: what about it

y/n: I got a lecture in the morning, but I’m free after 11

joon: ill pick u up nd take u 4 food

y/n: look at you, any excuse to drop in that you can drive now

joon: do u want food yes or no

y/n: what food ?

joon: mexican indian chinese whateva u want

y/n: yeah, sounds good

joon: rnt u gonna tell me what food u want

y/n: I’ll sleep on it

y/n: anyway go to bed, idiot, why are you even awake at 2.30 on a Sunday night ?

joon: y r u

y/n: questioning my existence

y/n: duh

y/n: now tell me why you are

joon: i just left jens lol

y/n: nvm forget I asked

joon: sure u dont want the deets

y/n: positive

y/n: goodnight you demon

joon: gn angel

‘Took you long enough,’ Namjoon exclaims as I open the front door of his car and climb into the passenger seat. ‘Wait, whoa. Hold on. What is this?’ Namjoon demands as I shut the door behind me, and I quickly turn to look at him. ‘What?’ I ask worriedly, and he shakes his hand in my general direction. ‘This. Your outfit. I’m confused,’ he says, and I relax, rolling my eyes, trying to ignore the way my cheeks are heating up and hoping he doesn’t notice it. ‘Why are you confused, Namjoon?’ I ask as though I’m speaking to a child, and he laughs, starting up the car.

‘I’m confused because I’ve never seen you wear anything other than clothes that are way too big for you,’ he says, and I make an indignant noise as he speeds down the road like the devil driver he is. ‘Don’t even deny it, you know it’s true. I started to wonder if you had something you were trying to hide. A growth on your stomach. A hunchback. A pregnancy. Or worse; no boobs!’ he says, gasping dramatically, and I hit his shoulder, holding back a laugh. ‘I wasn’t hiding anything,’ I say, and he glances over at me, eyeing my chest, before his tongue darts out to wet his lip. ‘You were. I always assumed you had small tits – a B cup, max – but obviously not. I can’t believe you hid them so well. They’ve gotta be at least a D,’ he says, and I roll my eyes, not bothering to disclose that I’m actually an E. He’d probably pop a boner. ‘And your legs,’ he says, and I look down at them self-consciously. ‘What about them?’ I ask, and he blinks before looking down at my freshly shaved limbs. ‘I’ve never seen them before. They’re nice. Smooth. And curved, with some fat on them. I’m glad you don’t have stick legs,’ he jokes, and I sigh. ‘Stop body-shaming,’ I say, and he lets out a little chuckle. ‘Am I not allowed to have preferences?’ he smirks, eyes on the road as he overtakes cars left, right and centre. ‘No,’ I reply, and he bursts out laughing.

‘So what’s with the new look? What prompted this reinvention? Because, I’m either still tripping from last night, or you’re actually wearing makeup too,’ he says, and I shift embarrassedly in the seat. ‘I just felt like it was time for a change. I wanted to experiment, try something new,’ I say, and he nods, face blank. ‘Okay. Now, do you wanna tell me the real reason?’ he asks, and I laugh, annoyed that he knows me so well. ‘I was getting changed in my room-’ ‘Okay, hang on, let me picture it,’ Namjoon says, and I hit him again, ignoring his chuckles. ‘So, I was getting changed, and Nayeon barged in and had a meltdown over… my body. She said that she was really annoyed with me for hiding my body so much, because if she had my body, she’d walk around naked. Or whatever. Something like that. I’d never really… looked at my body like that, but once she said it, I realised that maybe I could start branching out, fashion-wise. So she took me shopping, and this is the trial of new outfit number one,’ I say, and he listens intently, nodding in all the right places.

‘So how have people reacted today?’ he asks, and I get a little embarrassed thinking about it. ‘Some of the girls in my class started screaming when they saw me, and Taehyung asked if I was new here, and if he could get my number. Oh, and our lecturer asked me to stay behind to ask if I was okay, because I didn’t seem to be myself today,’ I explain, and Namjoon bursts out laughing. ‘You’re kidding.’ ‘Not at all.’ ‘Wow. All I’ll say is to ignore Taehyung. I think all that weed has caused permanent damage to his brain,’ he says, and I can’t help but agree, wondering how that boy can even breathe right anymore. ‘Well, anyway. Why did you used to cover up so much?’ he asks, and I laugh. ‘Are you just gonna keep quizzing me?’ I ask, and he nods instantly, grinning. ‘I’m intrigued, y/n. You have to understand that this is a lot for me to process. My best friend has transformed into someone else since I last saw her. My mind’s going into meltdown mode,’ he says dramatically, and I roll my eyes at him. ‘Drama queen.’ ‘I learn from the best. You. Now, anyway. Can you answer my question?’

‘I don’t know.’ ‘You don’t know if you can answer my question?’ ‘No, moron, I don’t know why I used to cover up so much,’ I say exasperatedly, and he raises an eyebrow. ‘I find that slightly hard to believe.’ ‘Fine. I wasn’t the most confident in my body. It’s hard, seeing all these super slim tiktok girls, petite and slight, and seeing them dress the way I wanted to. It’s like… I felt stupid wearing the same clothes they wear because they look so different to me. The way the media glorifies slim women… it’s hard for not-so-slim women like me. So I just hid my body in loose clothes for so long that it was what I was comfortable in,’ I explain, Namjoon still listening attentively. That’s one of the best things about him; he may be an idiot, but he always listens to what I have to say.

‘That’s… kinda sad, actually. Because – don’t get me wrong, your old look did suit you – but this new look? It’s great. You look really good, y/n, regardless of the fact that you’re not a super slim tiktok girl,’ he says matter-of-factly, and I smile shyly. ‘Thanks. So it’s a yes to the black and white check mini skirt and blazer set?’ I ask, and he nods instantly with a grin. ‘I can’t wait to see the rest of your outfits,’ he says, turning into the car park at the shopping centre. ‘There’s… quite a few to come. I’m a bit nervous about a couple of them,’ I say as he pulls into a parking space, and he gives me a greasy smirk. ‘I’m even more excited now,’ he says, and I swat at him, the boy chuckling as he ducks away from my hand. ‘I’ve just driven you to buy you food, and this is what I get in return?’ ‘Yes. You’re lucky I’m not beating the shit out of you.’ He sighs, checking his blond hair in the mirror before climbing out of the car, and I reach into the back and grab my bag before getting out too.

‘Oh, my God,’ he says, sounding shocked, and I instantly panic. ‘What?’ ‘What are those?’ he shouts, throwing his hands down to point at my feet, and everyone within a hundred metre radius turns to look at us. ‘Joon!’ I exclaim, embarrassed at him grabbing so much attention. ‘Sorry. But seriously? What are those?’ he asks, and I look down at my shoes. ‘They’re sock boots. What’s wrong with them?’ I ask, and he stares at them before taking a step back and looking me up and down. ‘Nothing. They look great. I’m just shocked to see you in shoes other than trainers. And is that a handbag I see instead of the usual backpacks?’ he teases, and I roll my eyes. We walk towards the entrance, and I struggle to keep up with him (I always struggle when walking next to him, but even more so in these boots). ‘Wait,’ I say, hooking my arm through his so I can slow him down, and he laughs. ‘Aww, struggling in your boots?’ he teases, and I huff. ‘Shut up,’ I pout, and he laughs again, looking at me with an affectionate gaze and an amused smile.

But the affection and amusement soon disappears. ‘y/n. You’re literally killing me here. Hurry up,’ he says impatiently. ‘Sorry, Joon. It’s my first time wearing heels though, cut me some slack. At least I haven’t fallen over,’ I say brightly, trying to put a positive spin on it, and he scowls. He’s been trying his best to walk slow but he’s now struggling not to walk at his normal pace – his legs are so much longer than mine. ‘Yet,’ he says venomously, and I gasp. ‘Was that a threat?’ I demand, feigning indignance, and he side-eyes me. ‘Maybe it was. I could stick my foot out right now and no one would ever know,’ he says in a wistful tone, and I shoot him a dirty look. ‘I’ll step on your foot if you try it. Then who’ll be laughing when my boots ruin your Balenciagas?’ ‘Me, because you’ll be buying me new ones.’ ‘With what money? I ain’t got money like that.’ ‘Oh, but you got money for clothes?’ ‘I always got money for clothes.’ ‘Get a sugar daddy.’ ‘You are my sugar daddy.’ ‘Huh?’ ‘Who takes me out for food at least twice a week? And buys me things out of the blue?’ ‘Damn. I really am your sugar daddy. This isn’t a good deal for me at all. You’re getting the daddy, but I’m not getting any sugar.’ ‘I’m not sure that that means exactly what you intended it to mean.’ ‘You know what I meant. I want my sugar, bitch.’ ‘Jen can give you sugar instead.’ ‘Okay, but Jen isn’t getting the daddy. You are.’ ‘She was getting the daddy last night.’ ‘Did you really just refer to my dick as ‘the daddy’?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Never do that again.’

‘Where are we eating?’ I ask, and he grins. ‘Wang and Nayeon are waiting for us at Red Velvet,’ he says, and I gasp. ‘Yes! It’s been so long since we’ve been to Red Velvet!’ I exclaim, and he laughs amusedly. ‘I know. I was worried you might start getting withdrawal symptoms.’ ‘I thought we’d never go back. Does Seulgi still work there?’ I ask, raising an eyebrow, and he pulls a face. ‘Yep,’ he says, and I feel my eyes widen. ‘And we’re still gonna go?’ ‘Yes, because I’m a great person and make sacrifices for you even though all you do is abuse me and threaten to ruin my Balenciagas,’ he says, and I pout. ‘Sorry, Joonie,’ I say, putting on a baby voice as I give him puppy dog eyes, and he refuses to look at me, fighting a smile off his face. ‘Apology accepted. Now stop being the real-life version of that emoji.’ ‘Which one?’ ‘Don’t play dumb, you know exactly which one I mean.’

We round the corner to where Red Velvet is, tucked away from the rest of the shopping centre, and Nayeon and Jackson are sat in the window booth, watching a video on Nayeon’s phone together. When Namjoon and I enter, the little bell above the door rings, and both of them look up at us. Nayeon grins so wide I’m worried her face is going to split, and Jackson does a double take, eyes wider than an anime girl’s. ‘y/n?’ he exclaims, loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the restaurant, and I shoot him a look, shushing him. ‘Oh, my God. What’s happened to you? Who’s this sexy thing?’ Jackson says as I slide into the booth opposite him and Nayeon, shuddering at the thought of my bare legs on the worn (and most likely, germ-carrying) leather of the seat as Namjoon slides in beside me. ‘Don’t refer to me as a ‘thing’, I’m not an object,’ I mutter, but my comment is ignored when Namjoon says, ‘literally my exact reaction.’ ‘No, it wasn’t. You did not call me sexy,’ I frown, and he blinks at me, looking surprised. ‘Did I not?’ he asks, and I shake my head. ‘Well, I thought you would’ve gathered that I thought that anyway. Based on the way I had to pick my tongue up from the floor when I saw you,’ he says, Jackson and Nayeon laughing as I roll my eyes.

‘You look good. Really good, y/n. I didn’t know you had boobs,’ Jackson says, inspecting me, and I try not to squirm under his scrutinising gaze. ‘Neither did I! Until I walked in on her naked!’ Nayeon says, Jackson’s eyes nearly falling out of his head. ‘I was in my underwear,’ I say defensively, and Nayeon rolls her eyes. ‘Details. But, yeah, after I saw her hot bod, I told her to stop wearing Billie Eilish’s hand-me-downs.’ ‘And gave her your hand-me-downs instead?’ ‘Excuse me, these are brand new,’ I point out, and Nayeon nods. ‘Yeah. You should know me better. I could never pull off an outfit like that.’ ‘I could pull it off you,’ Jackson jokes, Namjoon fist-bumping him as they laugh, Nayeon and I exchanging an exasperated glance. ‘I could pull it off you too, y/n,’ Jackson says with a little quirk of his eyebrow, and I roll my eyes, willing myself not to blush. ‘Jackson! y/n’s our baby, and we’ve gotta protect her from fuckboys, so stop being one,’ Nayeon says with a slap to his shoulder. ‘There won’t be any… fuckboys,’ I say, and all three of them raise their eyebrows at me. ‘You’re delusional if you think that. Just wait ‘til a frat boy sees you,’ Jackson says, and I frown. ‘Okay. That sounds fake, but, okay,’ I say, just as Seulgi appears to take our order.

‘Hi, and welcome to Red Velvet. What can I get for you?’ she says in the most bored tone I’ve ever heard. She must really hate her job. Even more with this moron sat beside me in here. ‘Can I get the Ice Cream Cake freakshake please?’ Nayeon asks, Seulgi gracing her with a rare smile as she writes down her order. ‘Can I get the Power Up brownie with Red Flavour ice cream please? And just water?’ Jackson asks, also getting a smile. ‘Can I get the Cookie Jar freakshake? And she’ll have Mojito cheesecake with Blue Lemonade. Thanks,’ Namjoon says, ordering for me too, but, unsurprisingly, he doesn’t get a smile. ‘Will you all be paying together?’ ‘I’m paying for mine and his,’ Nayeon says, pointing at herself and Jackson (she lost a bet with him a couple weeks ago, and owes him a meal). ‘And I’m paying for mine and hers,’ Namjoon says, Seulgi fixing him with a dirty look. ‘So this is who you’ve moved on to now?’ she demands, Nayeon and Jackson wincing. ‘Sis, you can have him,’ I say, unable to resist, and Namjoon shoots me evils as Seulgi looks bewildered. ‘Pardon?’ ‘I’m good, luv. Enjoy,’ I say, but she’s still staring at me, her mouth suddenly falling open. ‘y/n?’ she asks, and I nod, slightly confused. ‘OMG, I didn’t even recognise you. Girl, you look so good! I didn’t know you had boobs!’ she exclaims, and I have to stop myself from facepalming. ‘Thanks, Seulgi,’ I force out between gritted teeth, embarrassed as hell, but she doesn’t seem to notice, grinning away obliviously. ‘No problem. I’ll just get your orders put through and then I’ll come back for payments,’ she says, visibly perkier (nothing like seeing one of your friends unrecognisable after a makeover to cure a bad mood – apparently), before disappearing.

‘That was awkward,’ Namjoon says nonchalantly, all three of us fixing him with hard stares. ‘It wouldn’t have been so awkward if you weren’t such a dick,’ I say blithely, and he gasps dramatically. ‘Excuse me?’ ‘Don’t play innocent, dumbass. If you hadn’t had slept with Joy and Seulgi on the same day, we wouldn’t be in this situation. We’d actually have avoided a lot of situations if you weren’t such a dog,’ Nayeon says, brutally honest as ever. ‘Hey, I never made any kind of commitment to either of them!’ Namjoon defends himself, both Nayeon and I shaking our heads at him. ‘It’s common courtesy, douchebag,’ I reply, Namjoon sticking his tongue out at me. ‘I’d like to know what situations you’re referring to. I don’t get us into awkward situations,’ he says, all three of us giving him a ‘really?’ look.

‘Remember when we went out to that bar – what was it called again? Oh, yeah, Playing With Fire – and Jisoo threw that drink at you for blocking her on socials after you slept together?’ Jackson reminds us, Namjoon nodding slightly embarrassedly. ‘Oh, and when we went to Breakthrough, that club, and Sana got us kicked out by pretending we smuggled drugs in because you ghosted her after telling her you felt ‘something real’ for her?’ Nayeon brings up, all of us looking pointedly at Namjoon who nods sheepishly. ‘And that fight you got into with Daniel after you went ‘round telling people that Jihyo’s your sloppy seconds?’ I say, and he gasps indignantly. ‘I didn’t say that once!’ ‘Still. If you hadn’t had slept with her, that fake rumour wouldn’t have gone around,’ I say, and he pouts. ‘We could name several girls you’ve gotten us into awkward situations with. Chaeyoung, Hyejin, Wendy, Dahyun-’ ‘Okay, okay, damn. I get the picture,’ he says, the three of us exchanging looks.

‘Anyway, I need to go toilet. Come with me, y/n?’ Nayeon asks, and I nod. Namjoon sighs, reluctantly getting out of the booth to let me out. ‘Whoa, hold on,’ Jackson says, and I turn around to face him. ‘y/n… what you doing out here with all this ass?’ he asks, voice far too loud for my liking, and the few people in the restaurant turn to look at us disapprovingly. ‘Double cheeked up on a Thursday afternoon!’ Namjoon exclaims, before they chorus, ‘Hella ass!’ They burst into laughter, and my face is on fire, everybody in the restaurant staring at us (or, more specifically, my ass). ‘y/n, you dumb thicc, sis,’ Jackson says, and I take a deep breath before saying, ‘I’m going to go to the toilet now.’ ‘Take some ass pics while you’re there!’

joon: hey sexc

y/n: hey, what’s up ?

joon: wang wants 2 know if u nd nayeon r up 4 wing wednesday @ KPN

y/n: what time ?

joon: weneva imma get there 6.30

y/n: are there gonna be any other girls there?

joon: idk prolly the boys gfs

joon: y u asking so many qs u dnt have 2 come if u dnt wanna

y/n: I just don’t wanna be one of the only girls at a frat house with loads of stupid frat boys

joon: ill protect u bby

joon: me nd wang got u

y/n: much appreciated

y/n: we’ll come, but I’ll text you when we get there and you need to meet us at the door

y/n: I’ll feel awkward just walking in

joon: ok but call dnt text

y/n: you never answer your phone

joon: ill take it off silent 4 u angel ;)

y/n: thank youuu

joon: ofc see u tmrw

y/n: see youuu, goodnight joonie

joon: gn stupid

‘Wrong number,’ he says when he answers the phone, and I roll my eyes. ‘We’re at the door, come get us,’ I say, and he lets out a loud sigh. ‘I’m gonna lose my seat,’ he complains, and I huff. ‘Joon, please come get us. Do you know what it’s like being a girl around dozens of frat boys? You need to look after us,’ I plead, and he sighs again. ‘Give me a minute,’ he replies before the line clicks off. ‘Is he coming?’ Nayeon asks, and I nod. ‘Good, because it’s freezing,’ she says, clutching at her bare arms. ‘That’s what you get for wearing a t-shirt,’ I say, and she rolls her eyes. ‘It’s not like you’re dressed warmly either,’ she says pointedly, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘I’m not complaining about the cold.’ ‘Yeah, which I’m surprised about, because that top is thin as hell.’ ‘It’s not that thin.’ ‘Sis, I borrowed that top yesterday – it’s thin.’

I’m dressed in a black long-sleeve top tucked into a pair of greyish-whiteish joggers, with white trainers on my feet, a simple gold necklace around my neck with an initial pendant, a couple gold bracelets on my wrist and gold rings on my fingers. Nayeon’s in a pair of blue mom jeans and a black t-shirt, a cross body bag with both of our things inside it on her shoulder. Neither of us have bothered with full faces or pretty hairstyles – we’ve both got on basic makeup with our hair out and natural. It isn’t really that cold; it’s 8, and the air is starting to get crisp and cool, but the sun’s only just beginning to set, so there’s still a little warmth. Nayeon’s just a drama queen.

The door opens after a few seconds, Namjoon glowering at us, before he looks me up and down, his frown being replaced with a smirk. ‘Have I told you I love this new y/n? Like… this is a look,’ he says, and I grin at him, feeling a little more confident now. ‘I’m stood right here,’ Nayeon says with a half-hearted scowl, and Namjoon grins, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a side hug. ‘Nayeon, me complimenting you is like complimenting Mona Lisa. She already knew she was sexy as hell so what’s the point?’ he says easily, Nayeon preening as I roll my eyes. ‘You think Mona Lisa’s sexy?’ ‘Not as sexy as you.’ ‘Can we go inside? I’m cold,’ Nayeon says, not waiting for either of us to reply before she slips past Namjoon into the house. ‘Come on,’ Namjoon says, grabbing my hand and pulling me along behind him.

The second we step into the living room, the smell of strong cologne, alcohol and weed hits me and all eyes flit from Nayeon – who’s hugging Jinyoung and squealing – to me and Joon. Well, more me than Joon. ‘Woah. Who’s this? Surely not y/n,’ I hear Hoseok say, and I shoot him a dirty look, the boy grinning in return. ‘Shut it, stupid,’ I say, Namjoon continuing to walk towards the kitchen, dragging me along behind him. When we step into the kitchen, the smell of spicy wings hits me, and my eyes are instantly drawn to the takeout bags covering the countertop. But when I realise none of the bags are unopened, meaning frat boys have already been at them, it puts me off a little – I’d rather not eat food that might have been tampered with.

‘Look. My seat’s taken,’ Namjoon says pointedly, motioning to where Kai sits on a stool, beside Taemin and Seokwoo, the three of them laughing at whatever story Jaehyun’s telling them. ‘You’ll survive. What’s the point of having such long legs if you don’t stand on them?’ ‘There’s no logic in that. Go get my seat back,’ he says, and I side-eye him, wondering if he’s being serious or not. ‘How am I supposed to get your seat back?’ ‘Go flirt with him.’ ‘No! Him and Krystal have got a thing,’ I say, and Namjoon rolls his eyes. ‘That won’t stop him from flirting back,’ he says, and I glare at him. ‘I cannot stress this enough. Men are trash,’ I say before turning away from him, heading towards where there’s a couple dozen drink bottles and cups covering the countertop. I carefully pour myself a lemonade, making sure the cup’s clean and the bottle hasn’t been tampered with (I know Wing Wednesday is ‘for the boys’ so it’s unlikely it’s spiked, but it never hurts to take precautions).

‘y/n!’ I hear Mina exclaim, and I turn to see her stood there, smiling widely. ‘Mina!’ I squeal, pulling the girl into a hug. Mina’s one of Nayeon’s friends (they’re on the same course) but because Nayeon and I are inseparable, Nayeon’s friends are my friends too. Mina’s here because she’s dating Bambam, a KPN frat boy, and it makes me realise my privilege; Nayeon and I are only here because of our connections. If we weren’t best friends with Jackson and Namjoon, we’d have missed out on so many amazing memories. ‘How have you been? I haven’t seen you for ages!’ she says as we break apart, and I grin widely. ‘I’ve been good. Really good.’ ‘You look it. This style is, like, amazing! Is this new style permanent?’ she asks, and I smile shyly. ‘I think so. I actually… really like my new style,’ I say, and before Mina can speak, I hear Baekhyun say, ‘I like it too.’ Mina and I both turn to look at him, his stupid grin making me roll my eyes amusedly. ‘Hey, Baek,’ I say, the boy opening his arms for a hug, which I give (reluctantly). Baekhyun is Nayeon’s ex. They’re still friends – they’re actually on really good terms – but I’m still… cautious around him. He’s funny, and we get along, but I can never see him the same after hearing all the drama from Nayeon.

I clear myself a space on the countertop and boost myself up, sitting on the hard wood surface and Mina joins me, Baekhyun standing in front of us. ‘Have you had any wings?’ Baekhyun asks, and Mina and I exchange a glance, obviously thinking the same thing. ‘No, I’m… not really feeling wings,’ I say, Mina nodding in agreement, letting out little giggles behind her hand. ‘Aren’t you hungry?’ he asks, and, to be honest, I’m starving. But I am not about to eat those… frat boy wings, and neither is Mina. ‘Yeah, I could eat.’ ‘Let’s order some pizza then,’ he grins, and I gasp. ‘Pizza? On Wings Wednesday? Isn’t that against frat laws?’ I tease, and he rolls his eyes, pulling out his phone. ‘What toppings do you have?’ ‘Just get margherita.’ ‘Shall I get two larges?’ ‘Yeah, Nayeon will want some too,’ I say, and he rolls his eyes again, an amused smile on his face. ‘I’m not ordering pizza for Nayeon – I’m ordering it for us.’ ‘I’ll transfer you the money.’ ‘y/n… it’s pizza. You don’t need to transfer me money for it.’ ‘Why not? I don’t mind paying.’ ‘Yeah, but what kind of gentleman would I be if I made you pay’ ‘You’re not a gentleman,’ I reply amusedly, and he clutches his heart, pretending to be hurt. ‘I am.’ ‘You’re not. And you’ve made me pay for food before. Remember the Chinese we ordered after the LSG party, and you made me answer the door, so I had to pay?’ I say, and he winces. ‘Well… the pizza makes up for it,’ he says, and I just raise an eyebrow, amused.

It’s so… wrong that he’s only willing to pay for food for me now that he finds me attractive, but I won’t complain aloud; it’s free food after all. And then it gets me thinking. Maybe I should… take advantage of the effect my new look’s having. I mean, frat boys aren’t the… smartest, are they? Namjoon may be an exception when it comes to his education, but his common sense? He has next to none, demonstrated by the stupid situations his whore behaviour has gotten us into. And the rest of them are even stupider than him. I’ve always been a master of manipulation, and it’ll be even easier now they think I’m hot.

It isn’t long until the pizzas arrive and the second Baekhyun leaves to collect them at the door, Mina turns to me with a grin. ‘Girl, if you don’t take advantage of all these boys thirsting over you, I swear, I’ll be so disappointed,’ she says, making me burst into laughter. ‘I was literally just thinking about doing it!’ I exclaim, both of us laughing. ‘No, but for real. You should, like, make the most of it while it lasts. Not to sound nasty, but you know it won’t be long until there’s another girl they’re all into. You should exploit this opportunity whilst you’re still the… object of the affections,’ she says, making me laugh. ‘Exploit this opportunity?’ I repeat, and she nods with a grin. ‘Their generosity will only go to a certain extent,’ I say, and she raises an eyebrow. ‘Wanna test that?’ she asks, a challenging glint in her eye, and I grin, nodding. ‘Go look in the fridge, and when you’re asked what you’re looking for, say… Vanilla Coke.’ ‘Vanilla Coke?’ ‘Mmhmm.’ ‘Okay.’

I head over to the drinks fridge (they keep their food in the mini fridge and their drinks in the big fridge – their priorities are so fucked up) and open the door. I scan the bottles, seeing mainly lemonade and coke with a couple alcoholic bottles, but no Vanilla Coke. ‘y/n!’ I hear from behind me, and I turn to see Donghyuck stood there, a big grin on his face. ‘Hyuck! Hey!’ I exclaim, throwing my arms around him. Donghyuck and I did extra credit classes together last year, and I’ve barely seen him since. ‘You look so different!’ he says, holding me away to inspect me, hands light on my shoulders, and I grin, bending one leg at the knee and striking a pose, making him laugh. ‘It’s weird to see you in clothes that fit,’ he teases, and I roll my eyes. ‘Don’t even. Everyone’s making such a big deal of it.’ ‘Yeah, because you look hot.’ ‘Whatever.’

I turn back to the fridge, and he comes to stand beside me. ‘Whatcha looking for?’ ‘Vanilla Coke. I’m, like craving it,’ I lie, and he raises an eyebrow. ‘You’re lucky we’ve got lemonade and coke. KPN stick to basics,’ he says, and I roll my eyes. ‘Well, maybe you shouldn’t. Vanilla Coke is amazing.’ ‘Well, the corner shop down the road might have some. Shall we go get some?’ he suggests, and I’m shocked. Mina was right. He’s willing the leave Wings Wednesday with his frat brothers to go get Vanilla Coke from the shop with me. ‘You sure?’ I ask, and he nods. ‘It’s only a two-minute walk.’ ‘Okay. Let’s g-’ ‘y/n!’ I hear Mina call before materialising next to me. ‘Hey, Mina,’ I say, Donghyuck greeting the girl too. ‘Hey, Hyuck. I’m need to steal y/n. Emergency,’ she says, and my eyes widen. I’ve literally left her alone for a minute. What emergency does she have? ‘You okay?’ ‘Yeah, it’s just… I started. Do you have a pad?’ she whispers, loud enough for Donghyuck to hear, the boy wrinkling his nose in disgust, making me roll my eyes. Why boys are so grossed out about periods, I don’t know. It took two entire years of friendship with Namjoon to get him to buy me some pads. ‘Yeah, I do.’ ‘Will you come to the toilet with me?’ she asks, and I nod, apologising to Donghyuck before Mina drags me out of the kitchen, through the living room and upstairs.

‘Oh, shit! My pads are in Nayeon’s bag,’ I say when we reach the top of the stairs, and Mina lets out an annoyed noise. ‘I don’t actually need a pad, stupid! I was just getting you away from him,’ she whispers before pulling me into the bathroom. ‘What? Why?’ ‘Because now he’ll go get your Vanilla Coke from the shop and you won’t have to go with him,’ she says, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘Are you kidding? He’s not gonna go.’ ‘Yes, he will,’ she says, before letting out an exasperated sigh. ‘Remember when I stayed home for a few months, because I wasn’t well?’ she asks, and I nod – Nayeon was heartbroken that she didn’t have Mina to gossip with in her lectures. ‘When I came back, all the boys were fussing over me. Trust me; he will go and get that coke.’

We spend a couple minutes in the bathroom, reapplying our lipgloss and fixing our hair, before we head back downstairs, quickly grabbing two of the empty stools in the kitchen, Bambam sat next to Mina and Namjoon sat next to me, chatting with Minho about football strategy for their next match. ‘y/n!’ I hear Donghyuck’s voice after a few minutes, making me stop mid-conversation with Yugyeom about dessert on Monday at Red Velvet (it was so good, I can’t stop thinking about it – I might have to drag Namjoon back there this weekend). I turn to see him stood at the door, holding up a bottle of Vanilla Coke, and I have to stifle a laugh, pushing down guilt. ‘Oh, my God, thank you, Hyuck! You’re the best!’ I exclaim, giving the boy a hug before he disappears to find me a clean cup. ‘I was right,’ Mina says with a grin. ‘I feel bad.’ ‘Don’t. You didn’t make him get it.’ ‘Yeah, but I’m not even gonna drink it. I don’t like Vanilla Coke.’ ‘Well, it’s a good thing I do.’

joon: u got a lecture tmrw

y/n: it’s Friday tomorrow right ?

joon: um ye how do u not know

joon: r u still drunk from last night

y/n: I wasn’t drunk! I didn’t even touch any alcohol !

joon; then y were u letting johnny touch u up

y/n: I wasn’t! there was fluff on my boob and he took it off for me !

joon: ur so naive

joon: n e ways, do u have a lecture tmrw

y/n: yeah, 1-3

joon: wanna go 4 coffee after ill pick u up

y/n: sounds good

y/n: I’ll pay

joon: no

y/n: you paid for dessert !

joon: idc, ill pay 4 coffee

joon: u save ur money 4 clothes ;)

y/n: ew

joon: bitch do u want coffee or no

y/n: yes :)))

joon: ill b there @ 3, dnt b late like monday

y/n: okayyy see you at three joonie

joon: yep, night sexc

y/n: ew

joon: fine u can walk 2 starbucks

y/n: NO I’M SORRY

y/n: joon pls answer

y/n: stop leaving me on read !

y/n: fine, you can go to starbucks by yourself

joon: sorry

joon: y/n

joon: r u there

joon: bitch answer me

joon: ignore me if u wanna fuck

y/n: you’re such an idiot

joon: gn y/nie

y/n: night stupid, ilyyyy

joon: luv u 2 dummy

‘Hi, welcome to Starbucks! What can I get you?’ the barista asks, smiling widely. He’s handsome, with dirty blond hair pulled back into a ponytail and sparkling brown eyes, and I can’t help but smile back. ‘Hi, can I get two large iced vanilla lattes please?’ I ask, the boy nodding as he clicks away at the register. My eyes flit to his little name tag. His name is Hyunjin. Cute. ‘What name shall I put on the cups?’ he asks, eyes sparkling when he looks back up at me, and I smile shyly when I say, ‘y/n.’ ‘Pretty name for a pretty girl,’ he replies, not giving me a moment to process the compliment before he says, ‘that’ll be £7.40. Cash or card?’ ‘Card,’ a voice behind me says, and I turn to see Jaemin stood there, smiling. ‘Can I add a large iced americano to that too?’ he says, holding up his card, and Hyunjin nods, tapping at the register. ‘Jaemin, don’t. I’ll pay,’ I say, though it’s Namjoon’s money in my hand, not my own. ‘It’s fine, y/n. I don’t mind,’ he says with a grin, and I smile back, touched.

Jaemin moves around me to pay for the three drinks, and I feel a little awkward, stood behind him, waiting. ‘How have you been, y/n?’ he asks once he’s paid, and I smile. ‘I’ve been really good, thanks. How about you?’ ‘Yeah, great. You look… different since the last time I saw you,’ he says with a little smirk, and I roll my eyes, an amused smile playing at my lips. ‘I’m assuming that was a compliment.’ ‘Of course. How could it be anything other than a compliment when the ‘different’ I’m talking about is this?’ he says with a flirty grin, motioning to my outfit (a pair of tight black cargo trousers and a long-sleeved black top, big black stomper boots on my feet and silver jewellery).

Jaemin flirts with me for a little while, but his americano is ready before mine and Joon’s lattes and he has a lecture at 3.30, so he leaves with the promise of continuing our conversation at the ASP party tomorrow, which I had no idea about. ‘y/n!’ Hyunjin calls and I go over to grab the lattes. I notice a caramel shortbread on a plate beside the cups, and I look up at him questioningly, the boy grinning back. ‘It’s on the house,’ he says, and I can’t help but let out a giggle, flattered. ‘Thank you.’ ‘No problem… y/n. I’m a student, at the university, and I heard your… friend talking about the party tomorrow. I’ll be there, and it’d be nice to see you,’ he says, smiling as he leans against the counter casually, my heart jumping. He’s hot, he’s confident and he’s sweet – I could definitely see myself getting to know him. ‘Yeah, it’d be nice to see you too,’ I reply shyly, breaking off our eye contact after a few seconds. ‘See you tomorrow then,’ he grins before turning to deal with the next customer.

I carefully take the lattes and the shortbread over to mine and Joon’s table in the corner, the boy instantly biting into the shortbread. ‘That is mine.’ ‘I paid for your coffee, so I can have a bite of your shortbread,’ he says, mouth full of food, and I scrunch my nose up in disgust, sitting down opposite him. ‘No, actually, you didn’t.  Jaemin did,’ I say, dropping Joon’s money on the table in front of him, and he frowns. ‘Who’s Jaemin? The cute barista you were just flirting with?’ he asks drily as he picks up one of the coffees, taking a sip. ‘No, his name’s Hyunjin. And I wasn’t flirting with him,’ I say, embarrassed, and he raises an eyebrow. ‘Then what’s this?’ he asks, holding his cup out to me. I can’t hold back my smile when I see that Hyunjin’s written his number on the label with a smiley face beside it. ‘Exactly what I thought. Anyway… who’s Jaemin?’ ‘KPN Jaemin. He was behind me in the queue and he paid for our drinks. And then Hyunjin gave me the shortbread for free,’ I say, and Joon narrows his eyes at me.

‘I can’t believe you’re making these boys do all these things for you.’ ‘They’re doing it voluntarily – I’m not making them do anything!’ ‘So you didn’t make Donghyuck get your Vanilla Coke on Wednesday?’ ‘No, he choose to go get it!’ ‘Well, you’re putting Tia and Tamera to good use.’ ‘Tia and Tamera?’ I ask, confused, and he points at my chest. ‘Tia… and Tamera,’ he says, naming each boob, ‘don’t you listen to Doja Cat?’ ‘Not religiously – Say So’s the only song of hers on my Spotify.’ ‘Tasteless.’ ‘You’re tasteless for accusing me of using my boobs to manipulate boys,’ I hiss, and he rolls his eyes. ‘Did I lie?’ ‘Yes!’ ‘Okay, maybe I did. It’s not just Tia and Tamera. It’s Tia and Tamera and… Nicole!’ he says, and I blink in confusion. ‘Nicole?’ ‘Use your brain.’ ‘Did you just name my ass Nicole?’ I ask incredulously, and he nods, seemingly proud of himself. ‘People look at it more than they look at your face, so I think it deserves naming,’ he says bitterly, and I gasp. ‘That was low. People look at my face. I’m not just my body. My face is pretty too,’ I say coldly, a little hurt, and he looks guilty. ‘Well, of course your face is pretty, I just-’ ‘You just what? Judged me, even though you’ve slept with more girls than I’ve ever been friends with? Just remember that there’s a lot you’ve done that I could judge you on, but I don’t, because we’re best friends.’

The air is tense after I finish speaking, and I feel sick. Joon and I have never argued. Our friendship has always been so laidback, so chill, so easy. I’ve never had any downs in my friendship with him because we get along so well. But I’m surprised at him being so judgmental, and so… douchey about me getting some male attention for the first time in… well, forever. ‘Sorry, y/n. I’m being a dick,’ he says softly, and I can see that he feels guilty. I decide it’s best to end our argument here, because this isn’t a nice feeling. ‘Whatever, it’s fine, Joon. Anyway… you didn’t tell me ASP are having a party tomorrow! Am I not invited?’ I tease, and he grins, the tension between us gone. ‘No, you’re not. I’m tired of you being so dependent on me.’ ‘Shut it. You’d be lost without me.’ ‘Whatever. I was supposed to tell you about it at KPN, but I barely got to speak to you. You were… popular that night,’ he says quietly, not meeting my eyes, and suddenly, I can feel the awkwardness making a reappearance. ‘Ah, well, I guess there’s no point asking you to take me to Red Velvet then,’ I say wistfully, trying to change the subject, and he rolls his eyes. ‘Ask Wang, he’ll take you.’ ‘No, it’s fine. I don’t wanna be bloated at the party. We can reschedule to Sunday – order some for a hangover cure. Can I sleep over?’ I ask, and he nods, smiling to himself. ‘You and Nayeon are always welcome. There’s enough bed space for the three of us.’ ‘You say that, and yet, you end up on the floor with us two in your bed every time.’ ‘I’ll climb in with you while you’re asleep.’ ‘Isn’t that illegal?’ ‘Shut up and eat your shortbread. Or do you not wanna be bloated?’ ‘Matter of fact, you’re right. These cargo trousers are already tight.’ ‘That’s because you’ve got a fat ass.’

y/n: hey, is this hyunjin ? from Starbucks ?

hyunjin: yeah, and is this y/n ? the pretty cargo trousers girl ?

y/n: the one and only ☺️

hyunjin: I was worried you wouldn’t reach out to me after I saw you go and sit with that boy

hyunjin: I felt terrible bc I didn’t even ask if you had a boyfriend

y/n: oh no, he isn’t my boyfriend

y/n: he’s my best friend, namjoon

hyunjin: as in kim namjoon ?

y/n: yep, you’ve probably heard of him lol

hyunjin: I have lmao he has quite a reputation

hyunjin: I didn’t recognise him

hyunjin: I just saw you go and sit with a handsome boy and I felt awful

y/n: well, you don’t have to feel bad

y/n: and he’s not that handsome lmao

y/n: he’s just… namjoon

hyunjin: well, I’ll have to thank him when I see him

hyunjin: if he hadn’t given you my number from his cup, I’d have felt like an idiot

y/n: it’s a good thing he pointed it out to me lol

hyunjin: yeah, I’m relieved

hyunjin: I know it’s forward of me and I hope you don’t think I’m out of line

hyunjin; but I just thought you were really cute and I didn’t want to waste the opportunity

hyunjin: especially after jaemin paid for your drinks and flirted with you

hyunjin: I know it sounds silly but I was debating whether or not it was worth competing with him

y/n: jaemin’s not really interested, he flirts with anything that has a pulse

y/n: but I’m glad you didn’t waste the opportunity

y/n: I thought you were cute too, and I love your hair

hyunjin: ah thank you! I was a little nervous about growing it out

y/n: it’s unique, and it really suits you

hyunjin: thanks y/n :)

hyunjin: it’s late so I’m gonna head to bed but I’m glad you texted me, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow !

y/n: okay, hyunjin, goodnight ! see you tomorrow :)

hyunjin: goodnight ! :)

joon: do u need a lift tmrw

y/n: no, jackson said he’s gonna pick us up

y/n: but thank you for offering anywayyy

joon: ok

joon: why did it take you 30 mins 2 reply its lit rally 2am, what else r u busy with

y/n: I was texting

joon: who

y/n: oh, just the, um, the girls groupchat, to talk about what we’re gonna wear tomorrow

joon: ok

y/n: I’m gonna go to bed, I’ll speak to you tomorrow

joon: aight gn dum dum

y/n: night joonie, sweet dreamsss

joon: ill dream of u in ur crop tops

y/n: pervert

joon: luv u ;)

y/n: love you more dumbass

‘y/n! y/n! y/n!’ ‘Oh, my God, Nayeon, you’re like a child! I’m mid-conversation!’ ‘I know, but this is important!’ she says, tugging on the strap of my top, her force nearly making me spill my drink down my outfit. I thought I’d dress simple, in just a black strappy lowcut crop top and a pair of ripped blue jeans, fluffy black slides on my feet and simple gold jewellery to accessorise. ‘Sorry, Dahyun,’ I sigh with a roll of my eyes, the girl grinning back. ‘It’s fine – go deal with your important business,’ she laughs, and Nayeon takes this as a signal to drag me into the kitchen, leaving Dahyun alone in the back garden. ‘What is it?’ I ask, and she grins. ‘I found your cute barista boy! Well, I think so, anyway. Not many boys have dirty blond ponytails.’ ‘Oh… okay.’ ‘Aren’t you excited?’ ‘I think you’re excited enough for both of us.’ ‘I’m serious, y/n! I saw him, and he’s really hot! You’ve been texting all day, and you said he’s really sweet. He could be your first boyfriend!’ ‘Nayeon, you’re getting ahead of yourself – I’ve literally known him for… 32 hours. And I don’t even know him, really. All I know is his name and that he works at Starbucks.’ ‘Well… this is your chance to get to know him. He’s with his friends in the living room – go,’ she says, not giving me a chance to reply before she pushes me through the open door.

He spots me instantly, calling my name, and I scan the room until my eyes meet his, smiles breaking across our faces as he waves me over. I head around the edges of the room, not wanting to get caught in the group of people dancing, until I reach him and his friends in the corner. ‘Hey, y/n! You look nice!’ he exclaims, smiling widely, and I feel butterflies; he really is so handsome. ‘Thanks, Hyunjin. You do, too,’ I say honestly, looking him up and down; his black jeans, loose blue and white striped shirt only buttoned halfway with a black t-shirt beneath are a chic and stylish contrast to the Starbucks apron he was wearing yesterday. Half of his hair is up in a ponytail with a few loose strands framing his face and his ears are adorned with earrings, sparkling in the low light. He introduces me to his friends, who all seem nice (I think I’ve seen a few of them before – I’m sure a couple of them are KPN frat brothers). As soon as the introductions are done, he asks if I’ll go with him to get a drink. He takes my hand gently – a shock running up my arm at the contact – and leads me into the kitchen, getting himself a bottle of Soju from the fridge. ‘Do you want one?’ he asks, and I scrunch up my nose – I find Soju absolutely disgusting. ‘Thanks, but I’ll stick to my vodka coke for now,’ I say, holding up my cup, the boy laughing as he nods, shutting the fridge after him.

We stand in one corner of the kitchen, chatting, and our conversation flows so easily. He’s an architecture and design major, but he does dance on the side too, with some of his friends. I ask him to tell me the basic things about him and I find out that he has a dog called Kkami, he loves autumn, he’s allergic to cat fur, his favourite food is sushi and his least favourite foods are onion, carrot and eggplant. Even though he’s so handsome (like intimidatingly handsome), he’s so modest, down-to-earth, and just so sweet. He’s like a breath of fresh air in comparison to the boys I spend time with on a daily basis (no shade to Jackson and Joon, but they’re nowhere near as gentlemanly as Hyunjin – he gets me two refills before I even realise that my cup is empty, and he gets me two slices of pizza as soon as it arrives because I mentioned I hadn’t eaten). I can already feel myself crushing on him; every time he compliments me, I get so flustered and all I can do is giggle – two weeks ago me would have hated now me.

After what could be hours (I’m having the time of my life chatting away to him), he asks me to dance with him, and I’m filled with an inexplicable fear. Actually, no. It’s explicable; I have never danced at a party before. Ever. ‘It’s okay… I won’t bite,’ he teases, and I take a deep breath, smiling as I nod. He takes my hand again, his touch so light and gentle, and instead of pulling me along behind him, he lets me go first, standing just a few inches behind me as we head into the living room. We mould into the group of our peers dancing, and I feel a little awkward at first, but I soon loosen up into the rhythm of the Rihanna and Bryson Tiller song pulsing out into the room. He’s really the perfect gentleman; he doesn’t lay a hand on me other than to move me out of the way when someone drunk stumbles past. It’s a nice change from the boys that don’t hesitate to just come up behind a girl and grab onto her waist, forcing himself onto her.

But after a while, I can feel the several vodka cokes starting to take effect, my mind a little hazy, and a tipsy y/n mixed with the RnB baselines floating out from the speakers isn’t a good combination. Hyunjin’s tan skin glows in the low light, his eyes sparkling, and he looks so fucking handsome, his plump lips stretching up into a flawless grin when I hook my arms around his neck loosely, moving closer. We dance a little more… intimately, our bodies pressed together after a few minutes, and his hands rest on my lower back, not venturing any lower, and his eyes stay on my face, even though my cleavage is right there. His gentlemanliness just makes him even sexier to me.

I look up at him, and notice that some of his hair in his face, and so I reach to brush it back behind his ear. His hair is so soft, the locks just gliding between my fingers, and I can’t help but run my fingers through the loose hair that he hasn’t pulled up into a ponytail, my nails gently scraping against the back of his neck. He shivers a little, his neck obviously sensitive, and it makes me look him in the eyes, practically getting lost in them. And before my brain can even register it, he leans towards me and my eyes flutter shut, his lips softly brushing against mine a few moments later. My first kiss.

He moves away, almost to check if I’m okay with it, and I just lean towards him, pressing our lips together again, making him let out a chuckle against my mouth. My mind numbs a little when he parts my lips with his, his tongue sliding into my mouth, and I really didn’t know that kissing was this good. His hands press into my back, holding me against him, and I grip onto his strong shoulders, his scent of lemony shampoo and expensive aftershave flooding my senses as our lips move against each other. ‘y/n, get a room!’ I hear Jin, one of Joon’s stupid friends, shout, followed by laughter, making me break away from Hyunjin, blinking as though I’ve just woken up, Hyunjin just smiling back at me. I turn to Jin, shooting him a dirty look and telling him to fuck off before turning back to Hyunjin. I feel braver than usual due to the alcohol and the fact that I’ve just kissed a boy I met yesterday in the middle of a frat party, and so I ask, ‘do you… want to get a room?’ ‘Um… what?’ he asks, blinking, and I feel the humiliation setting in already. ‘I mean, we don’t have to… but I thought you might want t-’ ‘Yes. I do want to.’

We’re both laughing drunkenly as we head up the stairs (it seems the several bottles of Soju he’s had have made him a little tipsy), our hands clasped together. ‘Whose room are we using?’ ‘Um, we can use Namjoon’s. I’m sure he won’t mind – he’ll be proud I’ve finally kissed a boy,’ I say, leading him into Joon’s room. The second we enter, he shuts the door, pushing me up against it and pressing our lips together again, his body against mine and our hands still intertwined against the door. I tangle my free hand into his soft locks, his free hand gently roaming up and down my side, and it’s bliss, the way he touches me. He’s such a good kisser – though it’s not like I have much experience anyway. ‘Did you say I’m your first kiss?’ he asks, lips moving against mine, and I let out a little noise of affirmation, the boy grinning. ‘Good,’ he murmurs, the word making my stomach turn with butterflies.

But it’s like I’m not allowed good things. There’s a loud hammering against the other side of the door, making both of us jump, and I manage to move out of the way just before it flies open, Namjoon storming in, anger all over his face. ‘y/n,’ he says, voice shaking, and I look at him in concern, wondering what’s happened. ‘Joon, are you okay?’ ‘No, I’m not,’ he says, teeth gritted, and it’s then that I realise; he’s angry at me. ‘Oh, did you… should I have asked you if I could use your room? I didn’t think you’d mind, I’m so-’ ‘God, you’re so fucking dense!’ he shouts, making me flinch, and Hyunjin looks between us before saying, ‘y/n, I’m gonna go, you guys speak in private. I’ll… be downstairs.’ I nod, too shocked to speak, and even more shocked at the way Namjoon stares daggers at Hyunjin as he slips past him.

‘What’s your problem? There’s no need to be such a dick to me, or to Hyunjin.’ ‘Oh, so you do know his name? I’m surprised, since you only met him yesterday.’ ‘Stop being so fucking judgy! You’re allowed to fuck anything with a vagina, but I kiss a boy I met yesterday and the world’s ending!’ ‘I’m not judgy, y/n, I’m jealous! Can’t you fucking tell?’ he practically screams, and the words don’t register with me for a moment. ‘Jealous?’ I echo, and he lets out a humourless laugh, sinking down onto his bed. ‘Yes, y/n, jealous. I’ve only been in love with you for two fucking years,’ he mutters, the words hitting me like a ton of bricks. He’s in love with me. My best friend is in love with me. ‘Joon, I-’ ‘You what, y/n?’ he asks angrily, and I’m filled with such rage, I want to slap him.

‘I didn’t know! If you’d told me, I’d understand why you’re so angry! But you didn’t, so stop fucking shouting at me, and being such a dick, and making me feel guilty when I shouldn’t!’ ‘There was no point telling you, because you don’t love me back!’ he shouts, and now I feel even more guilty. ‘I love you, Joon, but as my best frie-’ ‘And that’s why I didn’t tell you! I could deal before, when I was still getting to spend time with you every day, but now that you’re getting all this attention from all these boys, it’s so… difficult.’ ‘You still should have told me,’ I say quietly, and he scoffs. ‘There was no point! It doesn’t change anything! You still don’t like me!’ ‘No, I don’t, but you shouldn’t be angry at me about it.’ ‘I think I have a right to be angry!’ he shouts, and my eyes fill with tears. ‘Well, you don’t! Forgive me, Namjoon, but you’re not exactly a gentleman. Why would I fall for a boy that has a different girl in his bed every day, who plays girls like it’s his job, who’s misogynistic and vulgar and a dog? You don’t get to be such a dick to women and have your best friend fall in love with you, because it doesn’t work that way!’

‘Oh, and Hyunjin isn’t a dick?’ ‘No! He’s sweet, and he’s kind, an-’ ‘You’ve known him for one day, and you’re already rushing upstairs to lose your fucking virginity to him! I thought you’d care more about your first time!’ he shouts, still so judgmental, and I feel myself practically shaking with rage. How dare he behave the way he does and judge me, even though he’s supposedly in love with me? ‘Why do you care who I lose my virginity to?’ ‘Because I’m in love with you! Aren’t you fucking keeping up?’ ‘No, Namjoon, you’re not in love with me. If you were, you’d be happy that I’m happy. Instead you’re possessive and judgemental and douchey!’ We’re shouting at each other now, and anyone outside will be able to hear, but I don’t care. Let them hear how much of a dick he is. ‘I loved who you were, when-’ ‘When what? When boys didn’t talk to me? When you and Jackson were the only boys I spoke to at parties? When I was pure, untouched, innocent? Now, you’re annoyed, because I’m not who you thought I was. I don’t owe you anything, Namjoon, because you can’t expect me to have just known.’

‘Just go, y/n,’ he says, all of the anger in him disappearing, and he sounds so tired, looks so tired. And, as always, I feel guilty. ‘Joon-’ ‘No. Please, just go,’ he says, and when he looks up at me, my heart breaks. His eyes are full of tears, sadness, hurt, but the second they land on mine, they’re filled with love, too. Love that I can’t reciprocate because, he might be my best friend, but he is disgusting to girls. And I can’t love that. I can’t love him. ‘Okay. I’ll go,’ I whisper, turning away and leaving his room before I burst into tears.

[shinonometrash]

Man I am gonna be SOO grumpy on Tuesday rip lmaoooo

I'm probably going to be at work Monday night until 2am and get home around 2:30am

Then Jasper's route will have already been released so I'll binge the entire route

Because of this, I'm going to be grumpy simply from playing his route because no matter what they do to the route I'm still gonna be mad about it lol. Either I'll be mad that they changed it or I'll be mad simply because the goddamn thing exists 💀

Then I'll be sleep deprived from staying up to play the route...and then I have back to back classes from 10am-2:15pm (which isn't the worst, thankfully it's not Thursday otherwise it'd be from 8:30am-2:15pm) but then I've got a Spanish lesson at 3pm-4pm so not really any time to sleep...and then I probably should do homework...then I've got a Japanese lesson at 8:30pm...

But I'm impatient af and have been going on about this stupid route since March so I don't want to wait til Tuesday night to play it

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've really devoted my whole life to otome games at this point...(well I mean technically since I want to become an otome game localizer, yes I absolutely have devoted my life to them...)

[alirhi]

jfc FINALLY

Ugh. I have been fighting with my muse to get this done for two months. And I was actually going to stretch it to line up more or less with the movie's timeline, but honestly... I'm just so burnt 😂 So this is what you get.

Title: Monday Chapter: Oneshot Fandom: Monday Rating: R/NC17 (I mean, have you seenthe movie?) Pairing: Mickey/OC Summary: What if, instead of Chloe, Mickey met a woman that night who was actually good for him and whom he was compatible with? WARNINGS: swearing, sex (not explicit; I rarely if ever write smut, but still) Notes: I hate Chloe. Omfg I hate her so much. So I fixed it XD Yes, I literally rewrote the entire movie with a different love interest. Well... most of it lol. I get bored, okay? Lol. Oh, and the girl is actually a character I yanked from one of my original stories lol. I didn't make her up on the spot for this (I'm too lazy for that XD). Tweaking her to fit the setting was kind of a bitch, as she's from a fantasy series, so if she seems kind of Mary Sue-ish...sorry.

“You have a nose for American cheese!”

Mickey rolled his eyes. “Come on, that girl looks insane!”

“What?” Looking surprised, Argyris turned and looked where his friend was pointing, and then laughed. “Not her, you idiot! The ginger-snap over there!”

The girl in question, a lithe, pretty thing with a wild mass of red hair that she constantly shoved impatiently out of her face was dancing alone a few feet away from the angry-looking blonde Mickey had thought he'd been talking about. She was gorgeous, he had to admit.

“Go and talk to her, man!”

He pointed to the turntables in front of him, impatiently reminding Argyris, “No, I'm working!”

“Come on,” the other man taunted, “I know your playlist inside-out! It's the same R&B shit, and then a little bit of disco!”

“It's not R&B, and it's not disco!”

“This song is twenty fuckin' minutes long! Come on!”

“Hey!” Mickey grimaced, hastily yanking his headphones off and setting them down as he was dragged off toward the redhead. “Fuck!”

All puffed up with pride – and way too much to drink – Argyris pushed Mickey when they drew close to the girl, so that he slammed right into her. Laughing, he patted her shoulder, but his mirth was short-lived. She grabbed his hand and twisted his arm up behind his back.

“Put your hands on a girl you don't know again. I dare you.”

Mickey covered his mouth with one hand to hide his laughter as his friend writhed in the deceptively delicate-looking girl's grip.

“Alright, alright! I'm sorry!” Laughing as he was released, Argyris went to put a hand on each of their shoulders, took one look at the girl, and just hung off of Mickey's shoulder, instead. “You're an American... You're an American! You're a man, you're a woman! There you go!”

“Yeah, crazy kismet,” she snapped, rolling her eyes. “Two Americans out of their natural deep-fried, flag-waving habitat at the same time! Imagine!”

Undaunted, the drunk Greek simply shrugged and flounced off with a flippant, “Whatever. Have fun!”

“Sorry about him,” Mickey said immediately, smiling when she turned and smiled at him. At least she didn't seem to be judging him by the company he kept.

“Friend of yours?”

“Argyris? Yeah.” He grinned. “He's kind of an idiot, but he's a good guy.”

She laughed. “I'll take your word for it. Aren't you the DJ? Should you be over here?”

“No,” he admitted with a laugh, “but I'm fine for a few minutes. You wanna dance?”

“I'd love to.”

She was tall, he realized as he spun her around; in the little barely-there heels she was wearing, they stood eye to eye. Clearly drunk, though, she lost her balance every few seconds and crashed into him with a laugh, occasionally giving up on righting herself and just resting her head on his shoulder.

Mickey grimaced as he heard the song beginning to wind down, but the girl hanging off of him only smiled and patted his chest. “Go on! Get back to work. I'll be here when you're done.”

“Any chance I could convince you to come around the other side?” He gave her his most charming grin, and felt a little warm inside when she laughed.

“Why, so you can stare down my top the whole time?”

With a shrug, he admitted, “I've been doing that anyway, so why not?”

“Honesty!” She grinned and kissed his cheek. “I like it. Alright, you gorgeous lech! Get back up there. We'll see what I can do about your view.”

He only made it another hour or so, with the girl coming up to him every few minutes with another drink, and occasionally flashing him from the spot she'd found in front of him. Queuing up enough songs to play through the end of the party, he hopped down off the podium and ran over to her, tugging her close for the kiss he'd been dying for since Argyris had first pulled him over to her. “You wanna get out of here?”

“You sure? What about-”

Mickey shook his head, smiling. “It'll run til they all pass out. No one'll touch my stuff, not here. Come on!”

“Okay, yeah.” She shrugged and laughed, allowing him to pull her through the throng of dancing people and away from the party. “Fuck it. Let's go!”

The next morning, naked, hungover, and covered in sand, they were nudged awake by a police officer while an angry lady yelled about their indecency. The officer waited for them to scramble back into their clothes and then cuffed them both, ushering them into the back of a cruiser.

Despite the situation, Mickey couldn't keep the silly smile off of his face. At least the cops had been kind enough to cuff their hands in front of them, allowing him to hold his out to the girl beside him. “Hi. I'm Mickey.”

She laughed, the realization that they'd never introduced themselves clearly dawning in her bright green eyes. “Beck.”

“Nice to meet you.” He shook her hand, but couldn't hide his slight confusion. “That a first name or a last name?”

“It's short for my first name.” She was still smiling, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes as she added, “Call me 'Becky' once and I'll be facing real prison time at the end of this ride, and you'll be missing body parts.”

With a slightly nervous laugh, he nodded. “Alright, noted. Beck it is!”

“And, nice to meet you, too.”

There was the briefest of conversations at the police station, the sandy couple signed themselves out, and then Mickey persuaded one of the officers to give them a lift back to the beach.

“You want a ride?”

Beck grinned, one ruddy eyebrow arching up. “I still need to clean up from the 'ride' last night.”

Laughing, Mickey shook his head. “I'll never say 'no' to more of that, but that's not what I meant.”

“I know.” She shrugged, snarky grin turning into an almost bashful smile. “And yeah, I'd love a ride. Thanks.”

He loaned her his helmet and, after getting directions from her, drove her to her hotel. It seemed like that would be the end of it... and he hated that thought. “So, what're you doing tonight?”

“Packing and sleeping,” she told him with a laugh, leaning against the building. “I gotta be on a plane Monday morning, and I hate leaving things to the last minute.”

“You're leaving?”

With a grin and a snarky air kiss, she teased, “Missing me already, lover boy?”

Mickey shrugged, grinning. “Maybe I am. I like you, is that so bad?” He beckoned, and was somewhat surprised when she walked right over to him. Still smiling like a fool, he grabbed her by the waistband of her shorts and pulled her close for a kiss. “Come with me tonight, for a proper sendoff.”

“Come with you where?”

“I'm DJing on an island.” Thumb sliding under her clothes to slide over her hip, he wheedled, “Come on. Come with me.”

“I need to shower. I'm all sandy and sticky from last night.” Beck gave him just long enough to deflate, and then she smirked and nipped his jaw. “Care to join me?”

“Fuck yes!” He was off his moped in a flash, following the laughing redhead as she took his hand and tugged him into the hotel. Giggling like hyenas, the pair made their way up to Beck's room, stopping every few steps for one to yank the other close for another kiss. Mickey was on cloud nine. This girl was fun, she was sassy and wild, and he couldn't get enough.

It seemed she couldn't get enough, either. They'd barely stepped into the shower before Beck was on her knees in front of him, her hand on his ass and his hand tangled in her hair as she sucked him off. He leaned back against the wall, tugging lightly on her hair and shuddering as he felt her moan around him.

“Fuck... oh, fuck, you're good at that! Holy shit... Stop. Stopstopstop!” With a little half-smile at her look of confusion, he tugged her back to her feet and kissed her. “You're fucking amazing. God damn, you are good with that mouth! But that's not what I want.”

Beck grinned, a playful glint in her bright green eyes that made him weak in the knees. “That's not a good idea.”

“Oh, no?” He backed her up against the wall, nuzzling her neck as his hand drifted down between her legs. “Funny... You don't seem to really believe that.”

“I definitely want you to fuck me til I can't move,” she assured him, shaking as she tried desperately not to laugh. “But it's not a good idea-” Her words turned into a startled whimper as Mickey hoisted her up by her thighs and slid into her to the hilt.

“I think it's a great idea,” he purred, biting her shoulder. Then he almost dropped her, and they both cracked up.

“The wall's slippery! This isn't smart.”

“No, it's definitely not smart,” he agreed, turning so that he was holding her up in mid-air instead of bracing her against the wall. “But that doesn't make it not a good idea.”

Beck laughed, clinging to him for dear life. “You're just gonna hold me up?”

“Yep.”

“The whole time?”

“You don't think I can do it?” Mickey grinned, bouncing her a few times just to prove her wrong. “You weight nothing, baby girl. I got this.” She was surprisingly light... but she was also a grown woman almost the same height as him. His pride would never let him admit it aloud, but there was no way he was going to be able to fuck her like this for long.

Just as he was wracking his somewhat foggy brain for a solution, he saw light dawning in Beck's eyes and waited. “Counter!” She nodded toward the sink, and only then did he realize they hadn't even closed the shower curtain, and the bathroom floor was getting soaked. “Put me on the counter.”

“I thought we were supposed to be getting cleaned up.” Even as he teased her, he was carefully stepping out of the tub, blessing her foresight when she grabbed a towel and threw it down just before he set his foot down, and carrying her across the bathroom.

Beck snickered and kissed him. “No point getting clean until we're done getting dirty. Shut up and fuck me.”

“Yes, ma'am!”

A little while later, they stumbled across another logistical issue Mickey hadn't considered.

“You are not putting dirty clothes on a clean body!” Beck insisted, prying his – pretty nasty at this point, he had to admit – clothes from his hands. “That's disgusting!”

“Well, what the fuck else am I supposed to wear? Clearly, I can't just run around naked. We got arrested for that this morning!”

“Pity,” she teased, eyeing him in a way that made him wonder if they were ever actually going to leave her hotel room. “You're the best view in Athens.”

“Maybe they arrested us out of jealousy, then.” Mickey shook his head, though he couldn't help chuckling a little, despite his frustration. “Either way, I'm kinda stuck. It's either be gross, or don't go anywhere.”

“As much as the thought of keeping you trapped here as my sex slave appeals to me...” With another mocking grin, Beck turned and started going through her dresser drawers. “I think I can help you out.”

“I'm not wearing your clothes.”

“They're less flamboyant than what you do wear.”

“They won't fit!”

She tossed him a tee shirt and a pair of cargo shorts that proved him very wrong. They were huge. At his questioning stare, she shrugged.

“I always pack a couple of cute outfits when I travel, and the rest is super baggy; at least three sizes too big. I like to be comfortable.”

“Convenient.” He stared at the shorts in his hands, and then at the belt she handed him a few seconds later. “Am I supposed to wear your underwear, too?”

Beck snorted and walked away, patting his shoulder as she passed him. “I don't wear underwear.”

“Then I guess I kind of am wearing yours.” Even as the joke was tumbling out of his mouth, he knew it was lame, but they still both laughed. Then he glanced at his watch and winced. “Shit, we gotta go.”

“What?”

He waited for the dress she was pulling on to settle into place and then wrapped his arms around her, tugging her back against his chest. “We gotta go. If we don't catch the next ferry, we're gonna be late.”

She flinched. “Okay, two seconds.” The girl moved like lightning. Mystified, Mickey watched as she yanked on a pair of canvas sneakers, grabbed her wallet and cell phone – which she then stuffed in the pockets of the shorts he was wearing – grabbed a hair tie, and ran for the door. In no time, she'd strangled her wild red curls into submission in a low ponytail. They hadn't even reached the elevator yet.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

Handing her his helmet, Mickey shook his head. “I think you got dressed faster than I did! I thought girls always take forever to get ready.”

Laughing, Beck rolled her eyes. As she settled on the back of the moped and tucked her skirt around her legs for decency, she told him, “I spent two years in the jungle with nothing but what I could fit in a backpack. Low maintenance is kinda my thing. The fewer steps to getting ready, the less time it takes.”

“That explains so much.” He stared at her for a moment, and then shook his head and grumbled as he slid into place in front of her and started the moped, “And raises so many more questions!”

“Full disclosure: I will probably answer none of them, as I'm very likely never going to see you again after tonight.”

Well, that was a depressing dose of reality he wasn't ready for. Not one to dwell on things, though, Mickey simply decided to have as much fun as he could with this girl while she was around, and treasure the steamy memories.

They made it to the ferry just in time. Making sure there was no one else around, Mickey smirked and tugged Beck into his lap, one hand sliding up her thigh. He moved slowly, giving her plenty of time to push him away if she wanted; she simply arched an eyebrow at his questioning look and grabbed his wrist, tugging his hand closer.

“Why do you think I'm wearing a dress?”

Fuck, he loved this girl!

They were pretty much attached at the hip the whole day – literally, when they could steal a few minutes alone. While he was DJing, she was dancing like a lunatic, front and center. Those piercing green eyes never strayed from him; he knew, because he couldn't look away from her, either. Once he was free, they danced together for a little while, but it didn't take long for Beck to grow bored and yank him down the beach, away from the party. They found a dark, hidden nook to be alone, spent the night hopelessly wrapped up in each other, and then cuddled as they watched the sun come up.

“Gods, this place is so beautiful!”

Mickey chuckled at the plural, but didn't ask about it. He had a more important question for her: “You really gonna leave all this behind?”

“I have to.” She didn't sound any happier about leaving than he was about letting her leave. “I gotta get home.”

“Where's home?”

“Boston. You?”

He grinned and nudged her. “Athens, baby. Been here seven years!”

“Okay, but where before here?” she prodded with a laugh. “You're obviously not Greek; you don't even speak it!”

“Do you?”

Beck sat up a little straighter, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “Nai.”

“Showoff.”

“One word is being a showoff?” Beck laughed, shaking her head. “You've been here seven years, and you don't know a single word of the language?”

Mickey scowled, feeling defensive. “Everybody speaks English!”

“Wow.” She wasn't smiling anymore. She actually looked and sounded pretty pissed off. “That is astoundingly arrogant. And completely American, so clearly your obnoxious friend with no boundaries was right; it's not just a funny accent, you actually are American.”

“You're an American, too!”

“By birth,” she snapped, “not by choice. And I fucking hope not by attitude. I don't go stomping around foreign countries with absolutely no respect for their language or customs, expecting everyone around me to cater to my laziness.”

He rolled his eyes, scooting away from her. “Give me a break! Learning another language is hard!”

“Impossible, if you don't even try.”

“Yeah? How many languages do you speak?”

“Fluently?” She held up her hands, ticking each one off on her fingers as she listed them. “English, obviously. Korean, Irish Gaelic, Italian, and German. Passably? Japanese – I can speak it fluently, but I have trouble reading it; the kanji is a nightmare – Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swedish. I can read Latin and Old Norse, and I'm learning Mandarin, but I admit I'm struggling with that one. Mostly for the same reason I can't read Japanese; the writing system.”

Gaping at her, Mickey couldn't formulate a response for a long moment. When his brain finally started working again, all he could think to say was, “Jesus, what the fuck are you, a robot?!”

“I'm an archaeologist,” she told him flatly, still looking irritated. “And I've been traveling since I was seventeen. Been studying at least one language other than English since I was ten. I definitely had an advantage, starting when I still had a little kid's spongy brain, but it's not impossible to learn at any age, if you actually care enough to try.”

“You sound like my ex.” Hoping to distract her from that comment he hadn't meant to make, he hastily asked, “If you love to travel so much, why're you in such a rush to get home?”

Beck sighed, turning to stare out over the water. “I promised my daughter I'd be home in time for her birthday.”

Huh. They had more in common that he'd thought. “You have a kid?”

She nodded. “Two. Two girls.”

“How old?”

“Alice is five,” she murmured, pulling her knees up to her chest and crossing her arms over them. Head pillowed on her arms, she added, “And Madeline's about to turn fourteen.”

“How the hell old are you?!” He hadn't meant to ask so bluntly, but he was so stunned by her daughters' ages that the question just kind of blurted itself out.

Mercifully, Beck laughed a little. “I'm thirty-three. I'll spare you some math – I was nineteen when I had Maddie.”

Mickey shook his head, not sure how to react. In all honesty, she didn't look much older than that now. There was a shadow behind her eyes that he was dying to ask about, but even as thoughtless as he could be, he knew when to just not go there. Instead, he told her softly, “My son is six.”

“What's his name?”

He smiled. As much as the situation with his ex sucked, he loved his son, and thinking about him always brought a little smile to Mickey's face. “Hector.”

The look on Beck's pretty face as she watched him like a hawk made him blush, though he wasn't sure why. There was just something about that direct green gaze that made him feel like she could read his mind. “He's the real reason you don't want to leave Greece, isn't he?” A spot-on guess like that certainly did nothing to dispel the notion.

He nodded. “Yeah. Yep. His mom hates my guts, but I don't care. There's nothing I wouldn't do to stay in his life. I actually, um... I have a room for him, at my place. If she'll ever let me take him, you know, just for a weekend or whatever... His room is ready and waiting for him.”

“All you can do is keep trying. Put in the work, be the best dad you can be, and hope for the best.”

Unsure what to say to that, Mickey changed the subject with an awkward smile. “So... Alice? She blonde, like Alice in Wonderland?”

Beck snorted, shaking her head. “No, she has black hair, like her dad.” She paused and then shook her head again with a bemused smirk on her face. “Actually, both of my girls look like their dads – dark hair, big blue eyes.” Smirk turning into a grin, she nudged him. “Guess I've got a type.”

“'Dads,' huh?” He grinned, too, and nudged her right back. “Plural?”

“You gonna get all judgy on me, now?” Her tone was light and teasing, but her eyes promised a whole lot of pain if he answered wrong.

Mickey just laughed. “Nope, no judgment. I think you've seen enough of what I'm like this weekend to know I wouldn't have the right.”

“Good answer.”

“I don't want you to leave.” He watched her go rigid and sighed, shaking his head. “I'm not gonna try to stop you. If you were leaving for literally any other reason, I might, but I'd never dream of trying to keep a mom away from her kid. I just... I really like you, and I wish you didn't have to go.”

She shrugged a little, staring out over the water again. “To be honest, I don't wanna go, either. I mean, I'm dying to see my girls again, being away from them is always painful, but... This place is so beautiful. I would love to stay a little longer.”

Not a single word about whether or not she liked him. That stung, but he did his best to ignore it. “Why don't you bring them with you when you travel?”

“I used to,” she admitted. “When it was just Maddie, I brought her everywhere with me and tutored her myself. I tried to keep it going after Alice was born, but it was rough. They got tired of always being on the road and not having kids their age to play with, so now I leave them with my sister when I'm away.”

“Wait, you taught her yourself?” He laughed, shaking his head in dismay. “Are you sure you're not a robot?”

Beck laughed, too, rolling her eyes. “I'm sure. There's more down time than you think in archaeology; plenty of time to keep an already smart girl from falling behind in her schooling.”

“They must take after their mom. I mean, you speak a zillion languages, so you gotta be pretty damn smart.” She was so reckless and carefree, it was hard to picture this woman digging in the dirt for broken clay pots, or wrangling two children to teach them math. From what he'd seen, it felt like Beck was describing a completely different person. He didn't want to offend her, so he refrained from pointing out that she came across less brilliant, multilingual career woman in her thirties and more Girls Gone Wild: Athens.

“Cheapann tú gur leathcheann mé.” He had no idea what the hell she'd just said, but he could tell from the look on her face that he hadn't been as good at keeping his thoughts to himself as he'd hoped. She looked both offended and darkly amused. “Pensi che una ragazza non possa essere intelligente e libera? Eísai vlákas, Mickey.”

He didn't bother asking for a translation; her tone told him he didn't want to know. “How many languages was that?”

Beck grinned. “Three. Gaelic, Italian, and Greek. I sometimes mix a few in the same sentence – I constantly mix Japanese and Korean at home; it makes my girls laugh – but I figured I'd be nice.”

Mickey opened his mouth to say he wouldn't have noticed the difference, and then stopped. He had noticed the difference; the lilt of her voice changed dramatically with each language. That was how he'd realized that she'd been speaking more than one in the first place. “I kinda wanna hear that mix, now. Are the languages that similar?”

“No.” She laughed. “Not at all. They share some slang thanks to pop culture, and both borrowed a lot from China, but they're structured differently, and the way they're spoken is different.”

“Then how do you mix them?”

“I speak them both,” she said with a shrug and another laugh. “If you speak more than one language well enough, they don't have to be similar to still flow. Like...” She smirked, leaning against him and batting her eyes. “Kimi wa baboya, demo... mada jowayo.”

“Showoff.”

“Yes.” Cracking up, she pulled him back to lie on the warm sand with her and cuddled close. “That time, absolutely.”

“Do you think you'll ever come back?” He'd been trying so hard to avoid the subject, but he just couldn't get his mind to budge from the fact that he didn't want her to leave.

With a fond smile, she kissed him before teasing lightly, “You gonna miss me, honey?”

Mickey grinned, hoping she couldn't see that he was feeling more melancholy than amused. “I think mostly I'll miss the sex. It's hard to find a woman who can keep up with me.”

“Oh, is that so?” She laughed and tickled him, making him squirm. Then she stopped, a warm, almost wistful smile on her face. “I'm gonna miss you, too, you know.”

Forced playful grin turning into a soft, genuine smile, he pulled her closer and kissed her. “I was beginning to worry you didn't like me.”

Beck grinned and nuzzled his neck. “The past twenty-four hours wouldn't have happened if I didn't like you.”

Feigning shock, Mickey gasped. “You mean you don't fuck strange men all over Greece indiscriminately?”

“No, that I do all the time,” she joked, hand sliding up one leg of his borrowed shorts. “But I only let the really special ones wear my clothes.”

He laughed, glancing down at himself; he'd forgotten for a second that they were hers. “Right. We should stop at my place so I can change and give these back before I take you back to your hotel.”

Beck sighed, snatching her hand back as if he'd burned her. “Right. Yeah, we should get going.”

Though he still hated that she had to leave, he kept his word and didn't try to stop her. Argyris tried to convince him to make some grand gesture at the airport, but Mickey shut him down with a grumpy, “It's her kid's birthday. I'm not that much of a selfish asshole.”

“I can't believe you're in love with this girl!” Hooting with laughter, Argyris slapped his back. “I'm a fuckin' matchmaker! Who knew?”

“Fuck off, Cupid!” Mickey grinned and shoved him away, hoping the other man couldn't see how shitty he really felt. He moped for a couple of days, barely paying attention to the world around him, just missing the crazy girl with the temper as fiery as her hair.

Then he answered an unexpected knock at his door and was baffled by the sight of a cute, petite brunette with huge blue eyes staring up at him. “Um... Can I help you?”

“Huh.” One dark eyebrow arching up, she called back over her shoulder, “You really do have a type.”

A familiar laugh made Mickey freeze in shock as Beck stepped into view behind the girl, another one in her arms. “I made the mistake of telling Maddie that I met this awesome DJ in Greece-”

“And since I have no friends anyway,” the girl, who he finally realized was Beck's older daughter, Madeline, cut in, “I figured there'd be no problem moving my 'party' somewhere more fun than my aunt's house. For the third year in a row.”

“Jesus, you might look like your dad, but you sound just like your mom!” The words slipped out before he could stop himself. While Madeline rolled her eyes, the little girl in her mother's arms – Alice, he figured – giggled.

“Yeah,” Beck agreed with a grin, moving closer and leaning past her daughters to kiss him. “She's got my snarky attitude. Gods help me. Thankfully, this one's still innocent.” She squeezed Alice tighter against her side, making her giggle again.

“Mommy! You're squishing me!”

“Her? Innocent? Did auntie tell you what she did to my stereo?!”

“It was an accident!”

“My butt it was!”

Wincing, Beck glanced at Mickey and mouthed, 'I'm sorry.' “Girls, enough. What have I told you about bickering in front of strangers?”

“I mean, you also tell us not to spread our legs for strangers, and yet...”

“Madeline Fiona O'Brien!”

“What?!” Eyes wide and looking frustrated, Madeline gestured to Mickey. “I'm kinda right!”

He couldn't hold it in anymore. Leaning on the door frame to stay upright, Mickey burst out laughing. God help this woman, he thought as he struggled to get his breath back. Her daughter's exactly like her!

Face even redder than her hair, Beck grumbled, “I did not tell her we slept together.”

“You couldn't shut up about him and your clothes smelled like dude. Doesn't take a genius.”

“Maddie, couldja stop? I kinda wanna see more of Greece than two buildings. If mom drags us home early cuz you're being a jerk, I will kick your seat the whole way back to Boston!”

“I'll let her.”

Mickey had just about gotten his laughter under control. Still chuckling, he yanked Beck into his arms and gave her a long, slow kiss. “You are dreaming if you think I'm letting you leave again.”

“That doesn't sound kidnappy at all!”

Laughing again, he released the blushing redhead only to trap Madeline in his arms and tickle her until she squeaked. “And you, little miss Queen of Sarcasm!” With a grin, he kissed the top of her head and released her, pleased to see that she was smiling. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.”

As he stepped aside to let them in, it finally dawned on him that he'd never actually worked a child's party before. He was used to crowds of rowdy drunk Greeks, not two innocent little girls. He didn't even know any kids, besides his own! He glanced helplessly at Beck, who snickered and kissed his jaw.

“Just do whatever; I can keep an eye on them. Maddie was more interested in the change of scenery than an actual party.”

“Does she really have no friends?”

She shrugged, turning to watch her daughters awkwardly settle on the couch and begin nudging and poking each other repeatedly. “She's never been the most social kid in the world. Around their own age groups, Liss is the bubbly extrovert and Maddie can't be bothered; she wanted to hang with kids her own age until she realized they annoy the hell out of her.”

“Argyris might know some people with kids...” He rolled his eyes. “He'll think I'm nuts, trying to hunt down teenagers, though.”

Beck laughed and shook her head. “No, really, don't worry about it. We don't even have to actually throw a party-”

Cutting her off with a kiss, Mickey insisted, “Oh, she's getting a party. When is her birthday, anyway?”

“Today, actually.”

He flinched, glancing at the clock, and then relaxed. It was still pretty early. “She's getting a party,” he repeated firmly. “She's fourteen! That... has no special significance in any culture I've heard of, but the kid still deserves some fun on her damn birthday. Especially if the last few have been disappointing.”

“The day after is pretty significant in our culture,” she murmured, so softly he almost didn't catch it.

“Is it?” Wasn't she American? He seemed to recall a whole conversation that almost turned into an argument about it. “Since when?”

Beck blushed again, looking uncomfortable. “Never mind.”

“...Girls, make yourselves at home. I need to talk to your mom for a minute.”

“You're talking now.”

He almost wrote that off as another snarky response, until he realized it had come from Alice. Looking innocently confused, she stared at him with almost comically large blue eyes, and he smiled. “In private,” he clarified as gently as he could as he grabbed Beck's wrist and tugged her down the hall toward his bedroom.

“Door open at all times!”

With a huff, Beck dug her heels in and spun around to glare at Madeline. “Who's the mom, here?”

“Sometimes I wonder.”

“Madeline.” Wrenching free of Mickey's grasp, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared her defiant offspring down. “Who's the mom?”

Glowering right back, Madeline mirrored her pose and grudgingly admitted, “You are.”

“Good. Now that we've got that cleared up, how about you show our host a little respect?”

Madeline's face was red as a tomato, but she still looked more angry and resentful than contrite, until she took a deep breath and turned to Mickey. With a surprising note of sincerity, she grumbled, “Sorry, Mickey.”

“Jet lag gets the best of all of us. Maybe you two should take a nap while your mom and I talk.” He didn't know what the hell else to say. He couldn't say 'it's okay' and undermine her mother, and 'you're forgiven' sounded kind of dickish. With an awkward smile, he waved and resumed dragging Beck down the hall.

As soon as the bedroom door was closed behind them, Beck sighed and leaned against it, looking worn out. “I'm so sorry about her. She's been so bitchy lately; my sister said she was even copping an attitude with her, which she almost never does.”

“She's probably just tired and been missing her mom.” In truth, he thought Madeline's sass was funny as hell, but he wasn't about to step into the middle of a mother-daughter war. Instead, he focused on his own curiosity. “What 'culture' celebrates the day after a birthday?”

She winced. “It's nothing, Mickey. Forget it.”

Weird. “What's the big deal? I'm just curious.”

“Alright, fine.” Looking and sounding resigned, she muttered, “If you're gonna judge or laugh, might as well get it out of the way – I'm a witch.”

Mickey stared at her. Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, it wasn't that. “...A witch?”

“I don't ride a broomstick and I can't turn you into a toad.” Oof. Defensive. Judging by her tone, she'd had this conversation before, and it hadn't gone well. “My sister's a witch, too, and so are my girls. There's an old tradition in the craft; at thirteen we find our deity, if we're meant to serve one, and a year and a day later, we pledge to their service.”

Light dawned. “Oh, that's why you always say 'Gods' instead of 'God'! That makes sense.” Who was he to judge? He wasn't particularly religious, but was any one religion really any weirder than the next? Curiosity abated, he brushed it off and tugged her into his arms. “My very own Sabrina.”

Beck snorted and dropped her head onto his shoulder. “Sometimes I feel more like Sarah Sanderson.”

“You really want me to throw a rager for your fourteen-year-old?” He didn't know what to say about her Hocus Pocus reference – 'horny and ditzy? Sounds about right' was...probably not the right thing – so he decided to just jump back to the original topic.

She shrugged. “I honestly don't know what to do for her. Coming back here was her idea, but I kinda doubt it had much to do with her birthday. She wasn't kidding about wondering which one of us is the parent; that kid's been trying to take care of me since she was little.”

“Why?”

Sighing, she stepped back out of his arms. She looked so sad and broken suddenly that he wished he'd never asked. “I would love to say that it's just who she is – and it is, to a point. Some people are just natural caregivers, and Maddie's definitely one of them. But I was a mess before Liss was born. Maddie's had to deal with a lot of bullshit, and it made her grow up too fast.”

That settled it in Mickey's mind. As he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket with one hand and opened the bedroom door with the other, he told her again, “She's getting a fucking party.”

Three hours and a lot of yelling at Agryris to get him to stop laughing later, he was setting up speakers in front of his apartment building, surrounded by what looked like every kid in Athens between twelve and sixteen, along with their parents. It definitely wasn't his usual crowd, to say the least, but they were friendly enough. Most importantly, Madeline was already smiling and laughing.

Remembering the posters he'd seen around town, he pulled his phone out again and called a number he hadn't used in quite a while. “Well, well. So you're in Athens. What do you know? I have a favor to ask you...”

“OHMYGOD! BASTIAN!”

Mickey grinned. Clearly, he'd made the right call, and it was earning him hugs galore. For the first time all day, Madeline was acting like a teenage girl, bouncing up and down and screeching with joy as Bastian made her way through the party. With a bright smile, she hugged the birthday girl and smoothed her dark curls back off of her face before approaching Mickey and hugging him. The second she moved back, Madeline launched herself at him, squeezing so tightly he thought she might crack a few ribs. And then her laughing mother replaced her, and he'd never felt so popular.

“Hell of a dad move,” Beck teased, grinning at him as she stepped aside and Maddie barreled into him again.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”

Laughing, Mickey lifted her up and kissed the top of her head. “Happy birthday.” She was too light; idly, he made a mental note to ask what the hell Beck and her sister were feeding these kids, or failing to feed them. Then he realized he sort of was acting like Maddie's dad and he blushed, setting her down.

As she ran off to dance with her little sister, he pulled Bastian up onto the platform and picked up the mic. “First of all – let's hear it for the birthday girl!” He pointed, and grinned when the revelers around him cheered, making the brunette blush. “Maddie O'Brien! You said you have no friends back in the States-” Boos echoed around them, and her color deepened. “-So I thought, what could make a better birthday present than a couple hundred Greek friends?”

The crowd cheered again, and a few “YEAH, MADDIE” shouts made the girl in question laugh, covering her face with the hand not holding tight to Alice's little wrist. Mickey noticed that she did that a lot; whenever the younger girl wasn't in her mother's arms, she was in her sister's tight, protective grip.

“What do you guys think?” He shouted into the mic. “This girl's really cool, right? You wanna be Maddie's friends, and show her how much better everything is here in Greece?”

The cheers were deafening. Mickey was grinning like a fool, and was pleased to see that so was Madeline. Big blue eyes shining, she stared up at him like he was her hero, and for a minute, life was pretty damn good. He'd die before admitting it aloud, at least so soon, but he could easily see a bright, happy future where he was stepdad to these two beautiful little girls, and they doted over their step-brother Hector, the way Maddie doted over Alice. He glanced at their mother, and couldn't help getting just a little choked up when he saw an identical look of joy and appreciation on her beautiful face. Man, it was nice to be the hero.

Before he could get too emotional and ruin the party, he pointed to Bastian. “You guys know who this is, right?” Another enthusiastic roar; he was a little jealous this time, but shoved it down and smiled. “Well, she's gonna take over for a little while, so make sure you give her some love, alright?”

Yanking her into one more tight hug, he handed the reins over to Bastian and hopped down. Beck immediately threw her arms around him and kissed him. “You are amazing, you know that? I descend on you unannounced with a grouchy teenager in tow, and you give her the best fucking night of her life!”

“All in a day's work,” he joked, squeezing her. “She seems like a great kid; they both do. I couldn't just do nothing and let her be miserable.”

“Hector is lucky.” She was grinning so wide, her face hurt; Mickey only knew because he was doing the same. “He's got a really great dad. If you'd do something like this for a kid you've never even met before, I can only imagine the lengths you'd go to for your own.”

“Think you can pass that praise on to my ex? Maybe she'll actually let me see him.”

Smile fading, she gripped his head with both hands and pulled him down to press their foreheads together. “If you want me to, I'll help you fight for him. You deserve to see your son, and he deserves to know his dad.”

“How long are you staying this time?” He didn't want to talk about Hector suddenly; not at a party surrounded by strangers and their children.

Seeming to sense his mood, Beck smiled and glanced at her giggling daughters. They were hopping around like lunatics to the music, surrounded by kids Maddie's age. She looked like she was having the time of her life. “From the looks of things now? Forever.” Mickey thought she was joking, but the look on her face stopped him from laughing it off. “I've never seen her so happy. Athens might just become home.”

“I hope so.” He shrugged, forcing a chipper smile to hide the desperately hopeful one he couldn't quite keep in. “It did for me!”

“We'll see.”

Unlike most of the parties he'd worked, this one started winding down fairly early as kids hugged Maddie, wished her a happy birthday, and were ushered home by their tired parents. Alice was asleep in Mickey's arms, her tiny body limp as a rag doll and her silky black curls tickling his nose. As the last of her party guests wished her well and left, Madeline hurried over to him and cuddled up to the side not currently occupied by the dead weight of her sister.

“Thank you, Mickey.”

“Did you have fun?” She nodded, and he smiled softly, stroking her dark hair. “Good. Let's get inside and get the little one into bed, shall we?”

She glanced around, frowning a little. “Where's mom?”

“Already upstairs.” Grinning, he watched her for a reaction and added casually, “With Bastian.”

Bright blue eyes widening, she gaped at him. “She's staying?”

Mickey laughed. “For tonight, at least, yeah. Come on.”

As they trudged through the door of his apartment a few minutes later, Mickey found himself wishing he'd stayed outside.

“No way!” Beck whipped around to gape at him while Bastian laughed. “You didn't tell me you were in a band!”

“Oh lord,” Madeline grumbled under her breath. “Get something pierced and she'll propose to you by midnight, I swear.”

Choking on a startled laugh, he lowered Alice into her sister's waiting arms. “Put her in Hector's bed. You and your mom can take mine tonight.” As she obediently wandered down the hall to tuck the younger girl in, Mickey flopped down on the couch beside Beck and tugged her into his arms. “That was a long time ago. Then she got her big break and got all famous, and she didn't need losers like me anymore.”

“Oh, that is such bullshit!” Laughing, Bastian stretched out to kick him. “We got a break. We got a deal. You were every bit a part of all that!”

“Oh, please!” Mickey rolled his eyes. “You never needed me. It was the Bastian Show, and we were just-”

“No! No, what happened was...”

They bickered for a while, going back and forth over who was to blame for Saint Claude's ultimate demise. After a few minutes, Beck excused herself and left the room, leaving the two old friends to catch up. When the argument showed no signs of ending, Mickey huffed and stood up, muttering something about getting a drink as he walked away. He loved Bastian, but damn she could be stubborn!

“What the fuck are you doing?” A glass in each hand, he stared at her as she laid out lines of cocaine on her phone's screen.

“What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?”

“Oh, god.” He grimaced, glancing toward the bedrooms. All quiet, but he didn't know if Beck and Maddie were asleep, or just hiding from the debate. “Come on, let's go in the bathroom.”

“The Brat Pack's asleep. Don't worry about it!”

“You don't know that,” he hissed. “Come on.”

Bastian rolled her eyes, but she allowed him to usher her into the bathroom. “You're paranoid. You barely even know these people! What do you care what they think?”

“I care,” he snapped, though he didn't refuse when she offered him a line. He'd just finished, was still hunched over the phone, when the door opened and he was faced with, basically, his worst nightmare: Madeline was standing in the doorway, hand on the knob.

They both froze, staring at her like deer in headlights. Face completely expressionless, Maddie looked at each of them, then at the line of cocaine still on the phone, and then straight at Mickey. "I just wanted to thank you again for today." Without another word, she calmly turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Shit." Ignoring Bastian's drug-fueled giggle fit, Mickey was on his feet and chasing after the teen in a flash. "Maddie!"

Though her face was still a stony mask, there were tears in her eyes when she whirled around to face him. "I need to talk to you. Now."

"Okay." He gestured to the couch, but she shook her head.

"Outside. I don't wanna wake up mom or Alice."

Nodding, he followed her without another word. At first he'd thought she meant out in the hall, but she didn't stop until they were outside the building. "Maddie, listen-"

"Let her go." Mickey's heart broke when she turned to face him again. Tears running down her cheeks and lower lip trembling, she stared up at him with those huge blue eyes and he almost started crying with her. "You have to let her go. Mom's loyal even when she shouldn't be. She'll never break it off."

"Maddie, I don't want-"

"I only exist because my dad drugged and raped her!" Wiping furiously at her face while he shrank back in horror, she continued more calmly, "She doesn't know I know that, or that he tried to kidnap me a bunch of times when I was little. Auntie told me. She still stayed with him for almost a year. Will hit her, Owen was a toxic psycho, Alex was a racist jerk... Alice's dad was always really nice to us all when he came around, but he almost never did. And I don't know what he did, but he's in jail for life now." With a bitter grimace, she spat, "And you're a druggie."

Maddie's had to deal with a lot of bullshit, and it made her grow up too fast.

Beck's soft voice, so full of pain and regret, echoed in his head as Mickey sank down to sit on the steps and tugged Madeline into his arms. "I'm not a druggie," he assured her as she clung to him and broke down sobbing. "One time thing, kiddo, I promise."

"Like you'd say anything else!"

The little whimper that escaped her as she scooted up his leg to get closer and dropped her head onto his shoulder very nearly made him start crying with her. For all that she insisted he get the hell out of her life, he could tell that she was desperate for someone decent to stay. This poor kid was fourteen going on forty after watching her mom date a string of losers; no wonder she had no faith in men, or in her mother's ability to make sound decisions. He squeezed her a little tighter, not sure what to do or say.

"Mickey, I'm tired," she croaked, making his heart ache for her even more. He knew she didn't mean sleepy; she was tired of being the mature one, and he couldn't say he blamed her. "I'm so tired..."

"Shhh, it's okay, baby," he whispered, rubbing her back. "You can rest now. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. You're my little girl now, okay? And I won't let anything happen to you, or your sister, or your mom. You don't have to take care of her anymore, honey. I will. You just take a breath and be a kid while you can."

"How can I trust you?"

Well, that hurt, but he got where she was coming from. Pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head, he murmured, "I gotta earn that." He pried her loose and pushed her back a little, just enough to be able to look her in the eye. "Do you think you can give me a chance to?"

After a pause that felt like an eternity, Maddie sniffled and nodded. "Okay. But if you hurt her, I'll kick your nuts back up inside."

Laughing, Mickey nodded and smoothed her hair back. "Noted.” A thought occurred to him and he frowned. “Why did you aunt tell you all that? Putting that weight on a kid... That's cruel.”

“I asked,” she admitted with a shrug. “I asked why mom was such a mess, and why I didn't have a dad. So she told me.”

I'd have made some shit up, damn. Even high, he was smart enough not to say that. He chose not to say anything at all, and just held her for a while as the cool night air soothed their frayed nerves and her breathing slowly returned to normal.

“Mickey?”

“Hm?”

Voice a small, timid whisper, she asked, “Do you really wanna be my dad?”

Smiling softly, he kissed her head again and hugged her just a bit tighter. “I am your dad.” When she tensed and let out a frustrated huff, he explained, “I'm in love with your mom, kiddo. And I already love you and your sister. We're family now, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise.”

“You're weird.” He could hear her teasing smile in her voice, and he smiled, too, relieved. “You don't even know us.”

“I know enough. Come on.” Though all he wanted was to sit there and cuddle with her all night, he gently pushed her off his lap and stood. “It's getting late. You should get to bed.”

Sending her off down the hall to his bedroom when they got back upstairs, he collapsed on the couch and sighed. He'd known when he met her that Beck would make his life more interesting... he just had no idea how interesting.

A laugh beside him reminded him of his other guest and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Judging from the way she was twitching and snickering, Bastian had finished the rest of the coke. “That was intense!”

Mickey closed his eyes again. “If it's not already gone, get that shit out of my house.”

“Oh, come on!” She shoved him, grinning impishly. “Don't try to act all virtuous now! You were right there with me, until that kid walked in.”

“'That kid'?” Annoyed now, he sat up and glared at her. “My kid.”

“Not really, though.” Confused, she twisted to glance down the hall, and then back to stare at him. “...Right? I mean, shit, she does kinda look like you...”

He shook his head. “No. Biologically, no, but I don't care. I'm not gonna add my name to the list of guys who've hurt her.”

Bastian snorted, rolling her eyes. “Mickey, you can't just decide to play daddy to this random kid on a whim just because your ex won't let you see your own. She's not yours, and changing your whole life and personality isn't going to change that.”

“I haven't touched that shit in years. I'm not changing on a whim; you just don't know me anymore.”

“Enough,” she challenged, settling back in her seat and staring down her nose at him. “I know you well enough to know this is never gonna work.”

“What isn't?”

“This!” Bastian gestured vaguely around them. “This whole self-domestication shit. You're not some house husband and stepdad – you're a musician. You belong on the road, Mickey! Not shut up in some old lady's apartment playing House with some crazy chick and her walking, talking reminders of past mistakes.”

“Beck,” he snapped, glaring at her. “'That chick's' name is Beck, and her gorgeous daughters are Maddie and Alice. They're not mistakes. Alice is adorable and so smart, and Maddie is fucking awesome and she's been through Hell. I haven't seen you in years and you think you're gonna sit here in my house and tell me who I am and what I want? I don't fucking think so, Bastian.”

“Alright, alright!” She held up her hands in surrender, eyes wide. “Chill. I just miss you, okay? I want you to come on tour with me, like the old days, not sit here and rot away in some mediocre domestic life. You could have so much more!”

Mickey sighed, staring off into space for a moment. Some part of him was drawn to her offer, but that wasn't him anymore. He didn't actually want to tour with her, he just hated feeling settled; at some point in his wild youth, stability had begun to feel like stagnation, and now he found himself often desperate to avoid it, even if it came with everything he truly wanted.

He thought about Beck, and her bright smile and her two beautiful, lonely daughters, and he thought about Hector. Beck had been spot-on; as much as he did love Greece, Mickey had really only stayed this long because of his son. He wanted to be in Hector's life. Now he wanted to be in Maddie and Alice's lives, too. He wanted a family.

And for the first time, he was willing to fight for that family.

“You're right,” he admitted slowly. “You're right, I've been hiding here, just floating around aimlessly.” Before she could get all triumphant, he stood and growled, “But that's not what I'm doing now. Now, I'm finally seeing a life that I want, and I'll be damned if I'll let anyone take it away from me.”

That said, he walked away without giving Bastian a chance to argue. He peeked into his son's room to check on Alice, smiled when he saw the way she was sprawled, half hanging off the bed, and he quietly closed the door and headed to his own room. Hopefully Maddie wouldn't mind; he'd originally intended to crash on the couch, but he couldn't stand to be in the same room as Bastian, and couldn't quite bring himself to kick her out, either. Moving slowly, so as to avoid waking either of the bed's other two occupants, he slid in next to Beck.

She immediately rolled over and cuddled close to him. At first he thought she was just fidgeting in her sleep, but then she whispered, “Don't let anyone change you or tell you who you are. Not even me.”

“I won't.” He tried to smile, couldn't quite manage it, and kissed her, instead. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

It wasn't quite a seamless transition. Mickey's place was too small for a family of four, and he didn't exactly love the idea of moving a bunch of heavy audio equipment down those winding stairs. Though he wanted to jump right into living together, he didn't put up much of a fight when Beck started looking for her own place.

It helped that she didn't spend a lot of time at home. Once the girls were enrolled in school, their mother started dropping them off and then going straight to Mickey's place. She helped Argyris translate for Mickey and his clients, which both men had thought was a terrible idea... until they saw her in action. The short fuse he'd become so familiar with in their first couple of days together was nowhere to be found. Around even his most difficult clients, Beck was the embodiment of charm and professional courtesy. Mickey quickly found that while Argyris was better for direct translation, he was no match for Beck when it came to diplomacy and deescalating a heated argument.

“You haven't seen 'difficult',” she teased, “until you've been a woman in a male-dominated field arguing for funding. This is nothing.”

Mickey laughed, yanking her into his arms. “Where have you been all my life?”

She flinched, closing her eyes and pressing her fingertips to her mouth for a second. It was the briefest of moments, and then she was smiling again and joking, “On my knees in the dirt, mostly,” but he refused to ignore it.

“You okay?”

With a little shrug and a nod, she admitted, “Been a little queasy and lightheaded lately, but I'm fine. It never lasts long.”

“You are so American.” She glared at him and he grinned, pleased that he knew how to get her attention. “You're not in Dystopia anymore – go to a doctor.”

“Did you not hear me? I'm fi-”

“I heard 'lately,'” he countered, poking her side and immediately regretting it when she cringed. Right; queasy. Maybe don't mess with her stomach, Mickey. “'Lately' means this is not normal. It means you're sick, so go to a doctor.”

She shook her head, winced, and dropped it onto his shoulder. “I don't need a doctor.”

“You can't even move without turning green.”

“I'm fine. I don't need a doctor.”

“Why are you being so stubborn? You're supposed to help me with stubborn people, not be the Queen of them!”

“Am I your girlfriend or your lawyer?”

“That's not what I meant and you know it. Don't change the subject.” Rubbing her back, he insisted as gently as he could, “Please just go get checked out.”

“I don't need to. I'm fine.”

“Look, even if it's minor, do you wanna suffer or find out what's wrong and get better?”

“I don't need a doctor to tell me what I already know!”

What she already knew? He frowned, more confused than ever. “Is it some kind of chronic-”

“Mickey, I'm not sick – I'm pregnant!”

He froze, gaping at her in shock. She started to pull away, but he tightened his grip on her waist before she could stand up. “You're what?”

Looking nervous and uncomfortable, she mumbled, “I was trying to find the right time to tell you; we've just been so busy with that 'make it more Greek' asshat...”

“You're really pregnant?” When she slowly and carefully nodded, Mickey grinned and hugged her as tight as he dared. “That's fantastic!” He finally let her up, only to stand with her and frame her face with both hands. Between frantic kisses all over her face, he gushed, “That's incredible! Have you told the girls yet? Oh, Alice is gonna be so excited to be a big sister! And Hector! I can't wait for Hector to meet his little brother or sister!”

“Mickey...”

He glanced around, smile dimming just a bit. “Damn, we gotta get a bigger place.”

“Mickey.”

“I wonder if Agryris' grandmother had-”

“Mickey!” Shoving his hands away, Beck got a tight grip on his hair and forced him to turn back to face her. “Do you really think we can do this?”

He blinked, taken aback by that. “Don't you?”

“Three kids, and fighting for joint custody of a fourth?” She shook her head, looking at him like he was an idiot. “The thought that we might be in over our heads crossed my mind, yeah. I was struggling with just two!”

“Well, now you have me.” His cheeky grin didn't seem to comfort her as much as he'd hoped it would. “You were struggling 'cause you were alone; now you're not.”

“A single mom with two kids really isn't all that different from two parents with four,” she pointed out, releasing his hair and crossing her arms over her chest. Seeing the hurt he tried to mask, she sighed. “Look, I'm glad you're excited, I am. And whether we're ready or not, the kid's on the way, I just... I just wish I shared your optimism. I'm not excited, Mickey; I'm scared to death.”

“Well, get excited,” he jokingly commanded, pulling her close for another hug. “We'll be fine. Besides, it's not like Aspa's ever gonna give me full custody, so it's not really two to four. Maddie's old enough that she doesn't need constant hyper-vigilance from us, so it's really just two to two-and-a-half.”

Finally, finally, Beck laughed. It was quiet and weak, but a laugh nonetheless. “Jesus, you're like sunshine in human form. Does anything ever get you down?”

He shrugged. “Sure, but I try not to let it for long. And I see a new baby as something to celebrate, not freak the hell out over.”

“See, you get to see it that way because you don't have to push it out,” she teased. “It's not so perfectly sunny from where I'm standing.”

“No one said life is perfect.” Still smiling like a fool, he kissed her. “Whatever you need, I'm here. You're not doing everything alone anymore. We got this.”

“I love you.”

It didn't seem possible, but somehow his smile got even wider. “I love you, too.”

“Speaking of Aspa, though...”

“Oh, god, what?”

With a laugh and an apologetic smile, Beck ventured, “I don't think you should come today.”

“What?”

Her smile immediately faded; apparently, he was really bad at hiding it when he was confused and offended. “Baby, you're chaos incarnate. It's one of the things I love about you, but it's not exactly conducive to a civilized conversation with a woman who probably kind of hates you.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“I just think I might have better luck getting through to her, single mom to single mom.” She looked like she was waiting for him to hit her, which only made him feel worse. “I know how hard it is, and how, whether we mean to or not, we tend to villainize our exes-”

He snorted, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, well, with the stellar guys you've dated, it makes sense. It's not really villainizing if he's already a villain.”

“Exactly how much did Madeline tell you?”

Uh-oh. She was mad. Knowing he was in trouble no matter what and refusing to drag his stepdaughter down with him, Mickey hastily changed the subject. “Do you really think I'll fuck things up that badly if I go?” Why was he even asking? Offended or not, he knew she was right; Aspa hated his guts.

Thankfully, Beck let the dig about her exes drop and her steely expression melted back into one of gentle sympathy. “I just want you to have the best chance possible of getting to be an active part of Hector's life. I want him to know you, to sleep in that bed you bought him before he outgrows it, to meet his new sisters. And I think your feelings towards Aspa, and hers toward you, are probably too raw and volatile right now for a face-to-face meeting to be a good idea.”

“Alright.” Forcing a faint smile, he nodded. “Alright, go. You've got a point.”

“I'll tell you all about it when I get back, okay?” She promised with an equally strained smile, kissing his cheek.

“Can't wait.”

When she came back a little while later, she was laughing. Mickey's hopes that it meant things had gone better than expected were dashed, though, when she managed to gasp out, “She really hates you!”

“Yeah, thanks.” He shook his head. “I knew that much.”

“I'm sorry.” Still giggling, Beck wound her arms around his waist. “She was just such a bitch. I kinda respect the hell out of her.”

“What did she say?”

“That you're a baby,” she dutifully recited, “and you're irresponsible, unreliable...”

“Why is this funny?!”

“Because, Mickey... Mickey, honey...” Framing his face like he had to her earlier, she told him, “It's nothing I didn't already know. You're flighty and you're a big kid; this isn't news. She was floored that I love you anyway, and my god, the look on her face when I went off about how that childishness is what makes you such a good dad, and you're great with the girls... I haven't been able to stop laughing since! Pretty sure she hates me now, too.”

“Great!” Failing to see the humor, Mickey jerked free of her light grasp and moved away, beginning to pace the room. “So instead of helping, you just alienated her from us both!”

“We're going to see him on Saturday.”

“What?” He spun to stare at her; she wasn't laughing anymore. “Are you serious?”

Looking rather proud of herself, she nodded. “Supervised by Aspa, of course, but yep. You get to spend time with your son, and I finally get to meet him. It doesn't matter what she thinks of either of us, as long as she can see that you give a shit; that we're safe to be around Hector, and can be trusted to think of him first. Show her how much you love him, that even childish and flaky you can be reliable, that you want to be reliable, and a supervised visit might turn into father-son weekends, without your ex underfoot.”

“I... wha... how...?”

She shrugged, smiling faintly. “Mother to mother. We came to an understanding.”

Overwhelmed by emotions he couldn't even identify, Mickey closed the distance between them and lifted her up. “I fucking love you, you know that?”

Beaming as he set her down, Beck leaned in for a kiss. “I love you, too, baby.”

“That's not cute anymore.” Despite his protests, he was grinning as he backed her toward the bedroom. “Now I just feel like you're calling me a baby. That sucks. Don't do that.”

“I'll call you what I want,” she teased, pulling him down for another kiss. “And you can't stop me!”

With a hand on her belly, he joked, “How about you call me 'daddy'?”

“No.” She laughed and shook her head. “I physically cannot do that. I'll puke.”

“Well, morning sickness is pretty common.”

“No, this is pure disgust.”

They were both laughing now as they reached the bed; he almost playfully shoved her back, but then remembered the baby and thought better of it. Instead, he flopped across it himself and beckoned for her to join him. “We're gonna be okay, you know.”

Beck winced as she settled gingerly on the edge of the bed. “It's just such bad timing. I don't...”

“Hey.” He tugged at her arm until she stretched out beside him, and wound his arms around her. “It's all gonna be okay. No matter what life throws at us, we'll deal with it together, okay? I want this baby. I know you want this baby. The rest is just details.”

“Pretty big fucking details. I was supposed to go to Mongolia next month.”

“Then go.” God, he didn't want her to, but he was determined to show her that they could be together, be a family, without completely derailing her life. When she looked at him like he'd lost it, he gave her a bland 'are you kidding' look right back. “You're not really gonna try to convince me that you weren't still going on digs when you were pregnant with Alice, are you?”

She blushed. “My team didn't know...”

“So don't tell them this time, either.”

“Mickey...” Pushing his arms away, she sat up. “You really have no idea how physically demanding my work is, do you? I almost lost Alice.”

For a second, he floundered, wondering what the hell to do or say. Then he brightened and sat up, as well. “You speak a million languages; just work as a translator until you're safe to go back out into the field.”

“...I do love it,” she conceded, making him perk up. “And maybe I can finally teach you some Greek so you can talk to your son more easily.”

Mickey chuckled. “I'm not getting out of that, am I?”

“Nope.” She grinned and settled back against his chest as he leaned against the headboard. “Not until we're both fluent.”

“Alright, I'm in.” He smiled, kissing her jaw and lacing their fingers together. “New home for us, new job for you, learning a new language...”

“New baby on the way.”

“New baby on the way,” he parroted, pressing their linked hands to her belly. “New chapter.”

“Here's to a new life.”

Mickey nodded and leaned down for a proper kiss, murmuring against her lips, “Together.”

[chilling-seavey]

Family beach day blurb with the pics of Daniel on the paddle board as inspo!!

Bro…my literal favourite kind of ask yesss 🧡

For those living under a rock, or have yet to follow me for my daily Seavey updates, these are the pictures used for inspo:

Thursday, July 22, 2032

I’ll be working on another ask about more details of this little vacation (now that I kind of have my inspo for a vacation I can answer that one that’s been in my mailbox for ever lol) but basically what you need to know is Daniel often was sent on weekend/three-day business trips to LA once in a while – maybe once or sometimes twice a year - just to work with the main office down there and some other clients. So when another trip lined up with summer break, Florence and Daniel took that opportunity to pay extra to stay an extra week and bring the whole family of five down to LA.

Daniel had to work for the first bit of their trip – they arrived on the Sunday morning and he worked Monday-Wednesday – and then the rest of the week they all had free. LA heat was no joke compared to Toronto summers and the family hit the beach all together as soon as they could.

Clementine was thirteen and was more than ready to show off her brand-new bikini to the California guys. Daniel would have stapled a cover up on her if he could have. Penelope and Lucy were just excited to go swimming in the ocean. They set up their stuff in an empty space of sand on the beach, laying out towels and their bags and passed around the sunscreen.

Penelope hated sunscreen and she had the hugest cringe on her face as Daniel slathered her up, making sure to get her shoulders and nose until she was squirming away, “Okay, okay, okay, that’s fine!”

“I wanna lick it.” Lucy giggled, sticking her tongue out and trying to squirt a bit of sunscreen out from the bottle.

“Oh my gosh, do not do that.” Daniel laughed, snatching the bottle from her. “Hair up.”

Lucy scrunched her hair up off her shoulders to let him apply her sunscreen, nearly bouncing on her toes with excitement. At freshly eight-years-old, she felt like a whole grownup and the idea of swimming in the ocean without direct parental supervision was revolutionary to her.

Clementine had put her own sunscreen on and dropped her cover up incredibly dramatically, making her parents glance at each other as they held back their laughter at their barely-a-teenager.

“Turn.” Daniel said, the youngest doing a little spin to face him and she scrunched her eyes closed to let him apply sunscreen to her face. With a poke to her nose she was done and Daniel tossed the bottle of sunscreen onto the towel, wiping the excess cream from his hands onto himself.

“Can we go now?” Penelope asked, trying to rub off the sticky sunscreen from her skin.

“We have something planned first.” Florence said.

“What?” Clementine frowned, having already secured her spot on the towel to ‘tan’.

“You and your underage self are going to do some paddle board yoga with us.” Daniel said with a smirk at her glare.

“What’s that?” Lucy asked as they made their way down the beach.

“It’s like a class where they teach you yoga on the water!” Florence explained, taking her hand as they walked.

“So…like…something for old people.” Penelope mumbled.

“Not really.” Daniel snorted. “I have not seen a single old person doing this.”

“Your dad did it once.” Florence said.

“A while ago but, yeah, I guess you’re right.” Daniel laughed. “So, yes, I have seen an old person do this.”

They got checked in at the booth, the parents signing a few forms first before they got their boards and the girls waited impatiently with them. Florence slipped her arm around Daniel’s back and rested her chin on his shoulder to whisper a little, “Why do you always have to look so hot?”

His little smirk made her smile and he passed the clipboard back to the lady at the stand and then looked to his wife, pulling her close by her waist with a soft, “Wondering the same thing about you, baby.”

“Can we get a move on?” Lucy grabbed Daniel’s other hand before he could even lean down to kiss his wife and pulled him off towards the water.

They all got their boards and paddles and the instructor led them out into the water. The main goal was to not fall off the board which honestly was easier said than done and as Florence already had fallen off twice just trying to paddle out to deeper water. Honestly Penelope was no better and she could barely get standing without wiping out.

Daniel was doing just fine and Clementine managed to get standing beside him on her board with reasonable ease, Lucy standing on wobbly legs with her arms outstretched and bum stuck out to try not to fall.

“With your arms raised, we’re going to balance on one foot, like so.” The instructor imitated the pose from the centre of their little circle.

“Yeah, no, that’s not going to happen.” Florence snorted to herself, making Daniel laugh from her left as he adjusted the board with the paddle.

“Gotta try, Flora.” he said, raising his palms together above his head. “Trying new things today.”

“Come on, Mommy!” Lucy grinned, shaking like hell on her board with her terrible form, looking more like an excited puppy wagging its tail than a calm yoga student.

“Lucy-” Clementine laughed just as the youngest sister completely wiped out with a huge splash and the board nearly went flying.

“Oh my God, I’m gonna pee my pants!” Penelope shrieked with laughter, barely able to catch herself before she was stumbling into the water too, making Daniel wobble a little through his own laughter before steadying himself.

“What is with you guys?” Clementine whispered through her concentration, her hands above her head as she slowly raised her right foot to her opposite knee.

“Geez, Clem, look at you.” Florence said with a small applause.

“Why are you making it look so easy?” Lucy grumbled, climbing back onto her board, her blonde hair plastered over her face and shoulders with sea water.

“Because it is easy.” Daniel whispered through his perfect pose.

The group held it for a moment before the instructor moved onto the next pose, “Now carefully get on your knees.”

Daniel glanced over at Florence with a cheeky smirk as he sunk down, “Come on, baby. I know you’re good at this.”

“Daniel James.” Florence gaped, throwing a wave of water at him.

The instructor continued, “And you’re going to anchor your hands on the side of the board, spread your weight between your arms and your head and push into a handstand.”

Daniel took a second to watch the girls try first; Lucy getting too excited and doing a complete back flop right off the board and into the water, Penelope being too nervous to even push herself up with enough power to make a solid handstand. Clementine managed a little but her legs were off and she ended up falling sideways into the water, pulling herself back out with heavy coughs.

“I inhaled sea water! Bleh!” she pushed her hair out of her face as she climbed back on the board.

Daniel could only laugh at his sweet girls trying their hardest.

“Your turn, Daddy.” Penelope said.

“It’s not easy, thank you very much!” Lucy added.

He could only smile to himself as he set his hands tightly on the side of the board and leaned forward, carefully and slowly raising his legs up to keep his weight centred before finishing in a perfect handstand on the board.

The four girls simply gaped at him.

“It’s perfectly easy, Luce.” Daniel chuckled, his form earning a round of applause from the rest of the group as well as the instructor.

“Show off.” Clementine nudged his board with her paddle enough to get him to topple over into the water. His impact splashed Florence completely and nearly took her down with him, the whole family erupting in laughter as he surfaced again with his hair plastered over his forehead.

“You look like an egg, Daddy!” Lucy shrieked, laughing so hard she fell off her own board again.

Even the rest of the group laughed at the eight-year-old’s comment and Daniel ruffled a hand through his hair to try and give it some sort of volume.

“Not gonna work, baby.” Florence teased. “Not until it dries a little.”

“Come here.” Daniel swam a few paces over to her board where she sat with one leg on either side. He grabbed her arm and puckered out his lips for a kiss.

“Go away!” Florence laughed as he tried to pull her down to him.

“Pull her in the water!” Clementine said.

“No! Don’t you dare! Daniel!” Florence shrieked as he pushed himself out of the water just enough to wrap an arm around her waist and yanked her right off the board. She tried to stay on by linking her thighs tighter around the board, pushing her hand against his chest to try and keep him away from her. “Daniel James-!”

He cut her scream off by just flipping the board with her on it, taking himself down with her, submerging them both under water. Daniel pulled her to the surface, arms tucked around her waist to keep her from getting away, pressing a strong kiss to her lips as she pushed her hair out of her face.

“Oh my gosh, baby.” Florence flushed with embarrassment as the rest of the class looked on, her arms around his shoulders and their bodies pressed up tightly together in the water, but he just hid his proud smirk into her neck, leaving kisses over her wet skin.

“Oh my gosh is right.” Clementine rolled her eyes. “Get a room.”

[catchlalune]

Cold Nights and Coffee

authors note: The feeling is warmth on a cold night with a nice cup of feelings and a shot of trouble. or alternatively; Moon Taeil is whipped

Reader x Barista/Bartender Taeil, best friends Ten and Johnny and cutie Mark

Originally posted: sometime in December of 2018 woops, it’s also posted on my ao3 

word count: 4,480

warnings: alcohol, some dirty dancing, a little jealousy~, slightly suggestive, reader flat out falls on her ass and Ten’s annoying af lol

You regretted taking the chance on taking the last train back home. You were cold, sore, and really really tired. You had an exam in sociology soon and decided that studying with your friends who already took the course would be a great idea. Of course, you didn’t account for the fact that they were several train stops away from your campus and there really wasn’t much studying that got done (but there was a lot of eating, and laughing, and just about everything but studying.) You had just slipped on some ice a few minutes ago and honestly just wanted to crawl into bed and cry a little after a warm meal.

You were at least another twenty minutes from home on foot and the sign for Nouveau Café was looking very inviting. It was one of your favorite places on campus, they had great coffee, decently reliable wifi, some of the most handsome guys you’d ever seen worked there, oh and they were open twenty-four hours. Not that you were into appearances like that but they were all undeniably attractive in a way that was extremely befitting for internet cafe workers. Everyone on campus knew about NCT, Nouveau Cafe Team members were notorious for being attractive, intelligent, and great at customer service. Some things you were greatly craving right about now.

The tinkling of the bells over the door signals your arrival inside and the smell of coffee and the feel of warm air instantly makes you relax. In the back of your mind you know it looks strange to be standing right in front of the threshold with eyes closed but you can’t bring yourself to care too much. Until he says something to you of course.

“Long night?” The man behind the counter smiles at you, he always does and you can hear it in his voice as you hum.

“The longest, please give me something to make it worth it.” You finally open your eyes to give him a response and he chuckles at you.

“Wrong job for that right now, but I’ll see what I can do.” He says it with a smirk on his face and you raise a brow at him as if asking for him to elaborate but he turns from you to start on your order.

“Hey, you don’t usually work so late. What happened to Ten?” You tilt your head at his back and he stops briefly to look back at you then continues as if you hadn’t said anything. Fair enough, that question was probably pretty rude anyway.

You slip into a stool at the countertop and groan at the dull ache on your left side. You weren’t going to be able to walk well tomorrow.

“I’m disappointed, you don’t want to see me?” He asks jokingly but you can see the earnestness in his eyes as he sets down a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and a warm muffin in front of you.

“Maybe I just wanted to bother my friend, don’t be too jealous.” You stick your tongue out at him before reaching for your muffin. You look around the establishment as you take a bite and note that it’s just as dead as you thought it’d be at 1am on a Wednesday. “Doesn’t it get boring being here all alone?”

“Not really, I’ve got you to keep me company for the time being.” He laughs as you wrinkle your nose up at his corniness. “I’m joking, mostly. I’ve been doing that Soc study guide that’s due on Monday.”

“Shit Taeil, it’s due Monday?!” You nearly choke on the cocoa you were trying to gulp down in order to question him. You hope he’s joking but he just nods and you groan with frustration. You knew you were forgetting something.

“Aw cheer up, how about I make you another hot chocolate and you can give me your email so I can send you what I have so far. We can even study together if you want to.” You thank the heavens for Moon Taeil, he wasn’t really a friend but he sat a few seats away from you in Sociology and always made your coffee just like you liked it so he was always in your good books. This just earned him a thousand more points.

“Seriously?! You’re a lifesaver! Thank you!” You beam at him and take another large gulp of your drink the warmth of it finally seeping into your fingertips.

“No problem! I’ll make the hot cocoa to go for you so you can stay awake on the drive back.” You tilt your head at his statement.

“I didn’t drive here, I walked. Part of the reason I look like hell probably.” You grumble the last part to yourself and roll your shoulder wincing slightly at the deep tug in your muscles.

“You walked...in the cold...at 1 am...when there’s snow outside?” He seemed completely mystified at the idea, it even sounded idiotic to you when he said it like that.

“Actually it’s all ice now, had to learn that the hard way.” You pout and take another bite from your muffin that was starting to get cold. His eyes widen a fraction and he leans closer to you.

“Are you hurt?! I can’t believe you fell on ice!” He sounds so concerned it makes you stop munching and swallow dryly.

“Just my pride mostly, it’s nothing I can’t handle. Don’t worry about it, really.” The fact he was so worried even though he barely knew you were extremely endearing to you.

“Well, I can’t let you walk back, at least not alone. My shift ends in like twenty minutes, I’ll take you back.”

This was now a little less endearing, extremely kind and suspiciously so. You weren’t very inclined to trusting strangers with taking you home. Granted, Taeil wasn’t exactly a complete stranger you couldn’t really say you knew him very well either. He could very well be a serial killer and you wouldn’t know it. Peeking another look at him over the edge of your mug you weigh the pros and cons of your situation. On one hand, he was offering a free ride or at least free company on the walk back, he was trustworthy enough to go off of what Ten’s said about him, he was extremely attractive, and he was going to make you a free drink. On the other hand, as good looking as he was you didn’t know him too well, Ten doesn’t really have the soundest of judgment, and he could very well be trying to kill you.

“You don’t need to feel pressured, honestly. But think about it okay?” He gives you a small smile that makes your heartbeat quicken and then goes back to scribbling in a notebook, probably doing the rest of the study guide you think.

No one else pops in for twenty minutes save for the next employee and you don’t go anywhere. Taeil places your cup of cocoa down on the counter and when you reach for your wallet to pay he shakes his head at you.

“No need, I already paid for it. Besides you really needed it.” His smile looks so genuine and you could already feel the sleep set in fifteen minutes ago, at least that’s what you tell yourself to feel better about what you say next.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ll let you take me home but just to let you know if you try to kill me I have very strong lungs and can scream very loud.” Your comment makes him (and his coworker) giggle but he nods anyway.

“Okay, I’ll see you later Taeyong.” He waves at the man that takes his place behind the counter and then turns to you. “Ready?”

When you nod he smiles softly and leads you out into the cold, tinkling of the bells above the door signaling your departure.

***

“So you’re coming out with us yeah?” It had currently been a whole week since the last time you set foot in Nouveau Café and you were really about to punch Ten in the throat if he didn’t stop talking to you before you got a cup of your nightly coffee.

Ten was for some reason over the moon about the fact that Taeil drove you home that night and that the two of you essentially studied the entire weekend together when the two if you weren’t working. He had said something about it being fate that he called out from work to practice for his dance midterm but the thought of something like fate made your stomach turn.

“Oh come on! How can you say no to this handsome face?” Ten pouts at you and it takes everything for you not to actually kick him in the shins.

“Why do you even want me to go out so bad? It’s not like you don’t see me every day.” You move your head to try to see the front of the line wondering why the hell it was taking so long. The cafe was never so busy at 8:45 on a Wednesday night before and you were starting to get impatient.

“First of all, this is the first time I’m seeing you face to face in two weeks.” He frowns at you and you look at him in shock. Had it really been so long since you’d seen him? “And second, it’s not just me. Mark and Johnny miss you too! Maybe even Jaehyun.”

“Jaehyun wouldn’t miss me if I was the last person on Earth and he hadn’t spoken to anyone in two years.” You groan and move up in the line, finally, it was moving. You weren’t usually so agitated but you were pretty sure you were going through some sort of coffee withdrawal.

“Touché, speaking of which I would really like to know what’s up with that.” He stops for a second to think about it then shakes his head as if coming back to the task at hand; annoying the hell out of you until you caved. “Anyway, Mark and Johnny miss you too and you definitely need a drink.”

“Yes, I need a drink of this coffee and- oh hi Taeil.” As soon as you see him all the tension leaves your body and you even offer him a small smile. Ten gawfs at you and folds his arms, clearly a little offended your attitude changed so tremendously.

“Hey, the usual right? My shift ends in a few minutes but I’ll make it for you. Jungwoo can you take the next customer?” Taeil gestures for you to move to the side and Ten lets out a sound.

“Hey lovebirds, I’m here too you know. What if I wanted a coffee?” He says it with a mocking pout so you pinch his cheeks with a roll of your eyes. The scene makes Taeil laugh.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you the usual too. Thai tea right?” When Ten flashes him a smile and nods Taeil turns around to quickly start on the order.

“Ten you don’t even like coffee.” You give him a side-eye and he pouts again but this time for real.

“I like coffee! I just hate fruits.” He takes a straw from out of the dispenser and boops you on the nose with it.

“Literally how could I possibly forget how much you hate fruits? You’re always telling us! Also, how do you hate fruits but like fruit-flavored things? It makes literally no sense. You probably taste like-”

“Honey!” You have to blink twice at his outburst.

“You do not taste like honey and this is not a conversation we should be having in public.” You look around at the people in line and Taeil’s coworker but it doesn’t seem like anyone has heard anything.

“Here you go.” Before Ten can even point out that you were the one to bring it up Taeil sets your drinks down.

“How much is it?” Ten takes the words right out of your mouth and hands his card to Taeil.

“Ten why are you-”

“Now you have to come out.” He smirks at you taking back his card and grabbing your drinks. With a wink, he turns on his heel and you swear you could strangle him.

“Thanks, Taeil, now if you excuse me I have a friend to go beat up.” He shakes his head at you giving you another laugh.

“You better hurry, I hear his bones are made of liquid.”

****

“Literally why did I let you drag me here?” You were not here for it, not the tight clothes Ten made you wear, not the loud music, or the sweat of all the people around you. You really hated clubs.

“We’ve been here for all of five minutes. Besides Johnny and I are gonna by your drinks all night.” He had a good point, as much as you hated the overall ambiance you weren’t really giving the club much a chance. Plus free drinks were always a good thing, you’d been getting lucky lately in that department.

When you see the top of Johnny’s head Ten all but drags you in that direction, politely but forcefully pushing people out of the way with his body. Did there have to be so many people? It just turned 12 am for God Sake.

“Hey, cutie! Haven’t seen you in like a month.” Johnny leans down to give you a hug and you can’t do anything but smile. Of all your guy friends he was probably the one that made you feel the most comfortable.

“I haven’t seen them in like two. Move over.” Mark pushes Johnny away from you playfully and it makes you laugh so you give him an extra squeeze.

“That’s because she’s been too busy ogling over her new-” You elbow Ten in the arm before he can finish his sentence and smile at his wince. Payback for him cutting you off twice earlier.

“He’s talking out of his ass. I’ve just been busy and Sociology has been kicking my ass. If it weren’t for Taeil I’d probably be crying into a glass of cheap wine right now.” Johnny thinks this is funny and grabs a jello shot off of the table to hand to you.

“Ten said you needed some destressing. So, let's destress.” You lift the shot to your lips at his words and finally let loose a little.

Or maybe after five more jello shots, you had let loose a lot. You're sure it’s been at least two hours since you got to the club and all the dancing you’ve been doing with the guys has made the alcohol start to wear off. You tug on Johnny’s shirt and he follows you to the bar helping you to sit in the stool.

“Hey Taeil, whatever she wants just put it on my tab.” The mention of his name has you perking up in your seat and looking up to find him staring down at you with a bemused look. He looked damn good in his bartender outfit almost better than his barista uniform and it made your palms a little sweaty.

“Are you following me?” The alcohol had surely muddled your brain. You didn’t just say that out loud right? The laugh from Johnny assures you that you had just said that out loud and you groan.

“Wait let me try that again. You work here too?” Johnny mutters a smooth under his breath and if you were a little more alert you probably would’ve hit him.

“Yeah, I work here too.” Is Taeil’s reply and he’s laughing again and you really wish you would stop giving him a reason to laugh. “So what will it be gorgeous? Or should I just surprise you?”

“That was the corniest shit you’ve ever said to me ever.” He’s laughing again and Johnny just shakes his head at you. He knew you were bad at flirting but he thought he taught you a little better than this.

“Surprise it is then. I’ve got something I think you’ll like.” Taeil winks at you and you're sure your heart stops beating for a second.

“Okay, you’ve gotta get better at this. Do you need some help?” Johnny yell-whispers at you when Taeil turns his back to make your drink. Had he always had such nice back muscles?

“Help? How?” You tear your gaze away from Taeil for a second to look at Johnny who’s giving you the same smirk Ten did earlier in the café.

“Make him jealous, how else?” Johnny says it like it should be as plain as day to you and maybe it should but you weren’t exactly sure that Taeil was attracted to you. Guys flirt for fun all the time, right?

Johnny notices your apprehension and gives you a reassuring smile. “He’ll be jealous, I promise.” Then he’s on his phone texting someone so you go decide to concentrate on counting how many colored glasses there are on the wall. Six blue, five purple-

“Hey! Getting drinks without us?” Ten slides an arm around your waist and that's when Taeil turns around to set down your drink. It's pretty and looks good but you’re a little wary of trying out new alcohol.

“It’s called Golden Roots. Figured you might want something a bit fruity.” You trust him, the bartender probably knows best. So you raise the glass and take a sip.

“Holy shit that's good.” You close your eyes at the taste of pineapples and lemons. When you open them the boys are watching you so you hold the straw up to Johnny’s mouth. “You try, it's really good.”

He dips his head down to take a sip and lets out a sound of approval. Johnny turns his head to you and licks his lips but you think nothing of it and turn your attention back to Taeil. There's a flicker in Taeil’s eyes you notice and he shifts on his feet.

“How did you make it? Can you teach me?” You ask him but his eyes seem to be more trained on the arm around your waist you’re sure Ten seems to forget about because he’s having some conversation with Mark about how to say things in Thai.

“He can teach you later, I like this song. Let’s go dance?” Johnny takes the drink out your hand and places it down in front of Ten who stops for a second to give him a look. When Johnny nods at him he takes his arm from around your waist and goes back to talking to Mark.

“Okay, if you really want to.” You give in to his request with a simple shrug and he whisks you away. It’s not too far from the bar you have the perfect view of Taeil as he serves some other patrons actually but your more focused on the heat of Johnny’s body behind you.

Johnny’s hands and touches are a little more aggressive than they were at the beginning of the night and he’s grinding more on you then he ever has but you just chalk it up to the alcohol. It’s not like the two of you haven’t gotten drunk and done this before, it just feels a little different this time. But Johnny is a really good dancer and he easily pulls you into his world. The beat of the music is fast and it thrums through your veins just as hot as you feel. Your clothes are sticking to your body again and when you open your eyes you make direct eye contact with Taeil.

His jaw is set and it looks like Ten is saying something to him but he doesn't answer. Just watches you even as you give him a small wave. It confuses you a little but then Johnny is tugging on your chin to look at him and you have to look away.

“I told you I could make him jealous cutie.” Johnny has to lean down to say it in your ear and it takes you a second to process it.

“He doesn’t look jealous to me John, just tired and maybe a little annoyed because of Ten.” Johnny rolls his eyes at you then spins you around so your ass is pressed against his groin. It’s much closer than you’re used to with him and it makes your body feel just a little bit hotter.

“I bet after this you’ll definitely see it.” As if in time with his words the music changes to something much more sensual and it has your body melding to Johnny’s in a way that must look positively sinful.

It feels like an eternity that you and Johnny are out on the dance floor dirty dancing so when you sit back up on the bar you’re more than thankful for the ice that somehow still remains in your drink from earlier. Taeil has disappeared somewhere and the crowd is starting to thin as the early morning hours approach much quicker. You grab at Mark’s phone to take a look at the time and note that it’s nearing 5 am and you’re thankful you don’t have class later.

“Hey, guys I’m getting kind of tired. I think I’m gonna call it a night.” You’re a little disappointed that Taeil left before you could say goodbye but it’s been ten minutes and the only person tending the bar is some guy named Yuta who gave you a glass of cold water when Johnny asked him to. He’s nice and certainly attractive but he’s no Taeil.

“Let me take you home then?” Taeil’s voice makes you whip around startling you at how unhappy it sounds.

“Yeah, okay.”

***

It’s just as cold as it was last week when you fell on ice and your body is feeling just as sore too. Taeil deposited his jacket on your shoulders as the two of you walked to his car and he turned the heat all the way up but it didn’t retract at all to the coldness you felt. You weren’t really sure why but you felt like you’d done something wrong.

Taeil wasn’t talking much save for asking if you need more or less heat and if you were hungry or not. Even though you said no your stomach still growls so he pulled into a drive-through to get you some warm food to eat. His actions are warm but you still feel uncomfortable.

“Hey, are you okay? You’re probably really tired right? I can't believe you work at the bar too.” Taeil doesn't answer you for a second and then he sighs.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired, that’s all.” You were hoping his words would make you feel a little less tense but they seem to do the opposite.

“Did I do something wrong?” You take a peek at him from your side in the passenger seat and you confirm he looks just as tired as he says he does. But he’s still just as pretty and looking at him makes your heart flutter.

“No, it’s not you at all. It’s just me being stupid.” He speaks with a somber tone that makes you pout.

“Moon Taeil you are not stupid.” You huff at him and he pulls up to your apartment with a grunt.

“Listen, can I talk to you before you go inside?” He seems a little nervous but less tired so you turn to him with a smile his jacket falling off your shoulders a little. His gaze wanders down for half a second before he chews on his lip.

“You can say whatever you want to me Taeil. You could probably curse me out and I’d probably tell you you were right.” You try to lighten the moon with a laugh but he runs a hand through his hair and sighs.

“Can you just be quiet for a second?” He glares at you and it makes you frown but you nod anyway. This causes him to groan again and then he’s leaning on the console that's dividing the two of you.

“No that came out wrong, I don’t want you to stop talking I just...I like you. A lot.” He reaches out towards you then draws his hand back as if he had touched something hot. “I had no idea you and Johnny were a thing before I started flirting with you. I wouldn’t have if I had known that.”

“I-what?” He wasn’t making any sense at all. “Johnny and I aren’t dating? Wait you were flirting with me?!”

Taeil takes a second to look at you before he starts laughing. He’s laughing so hard that his eyes crinkle and a tear rolls down his cheek. You aren’t sure what’s so funny but seeing him so mirthful makes you smile wide too.

“Ten told me you were oblivious but I had no idea it was this bad! I’m sorry it’s just, I’ve been flirting with you since the beginning of the semester.” He’s shaking his head at you again looking at you as if you have stars dancing around your head.

This time when he reaches for you he tugs his jacket back over your shoulders and smiles.

“Let me show you what I mean.” And then he’s kissing you. It’s soft and warm and he tastes like mint. There’s something so casual and comfortable about the way he kisses you but it still manages to take your breath with him when he pulls away. “Do you get it now?”

“I-no not really. I mean I knew you were flirting but I didn’t know you were serious and why did you even think I was dating Johnny? I mean I know we’re close but-” He’s kissing you again this time a bit more firm and it shuts you up or it leaves you gasping like a fish rather.

“Remember when I said I was just being stupid? To be fair though, you were dancing pretty close.” He leans forward more to nuzzle his face into your neck before whispering in your ear. “But if you say yes to being my girlfriend he can’t touch you anymore.”

“But what if I want to give him a hug?” His whispers leave you breathless but the kisses on your neck leave you wanting just a tad more.

“A hug is fine, no dancing.” He runs a hand up the other side of your neck and traces along your bottom lip with his thumb.

“But what if-”

“Shhhh, what did I say about talking?”

“Actually you said you didn’t mean it.” He groans at you and pulls away completely.

“Okay okay! I’ll be quiet,” He turns to look at you then. “But only if you make me.”

“That can be arranged.”