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cordeliawhohung · 3 months

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In Limbo [Chapter 2]

mafia!141 masterlist | In Limbo masterlist | general masterlist | taglist | playlist

mafia!Simon Riley x fem!Reader

[cw: alcohol]

It was always better that way; when you didn’t have someone trying to look out for you.

wc: 6k

It was always blistering hot in that damn restaurant.

Countless patrons packed tight into booths and tables throughout the building on that busy Saturday night, and the heat that radiated off of them was near suffocating. Sweat clung to every inch of your skin, especially in your armpits, and you had never found yourself secretly so grateful to be dressed in black because at least the evidence was invisible.

Despite your discomfort, you performed your job to the best of your ability, per usual. You weaved between tables as you led your guests to their seats, packaged at least twenty to-go orders, and only got yelled at by the waitstaff once for seating a family of five incorrectly. Really it was no different from any other night you worked. Things were always chaotic at a restaurant as successful as Sapori, which made things stressful, but your pay as a hostess was at least manageable. And they turned a blind eye when your hours started hitting over the fifty mark in a week, whereas most other places would be finding ways to get you to cut back in order to not pay you overtime.

It was always better that way; when you didn’t have someone trying to look out for you.

Except someone was always looking out for you, which is why you shouldn’t have been surprised when you saw Row strut through the entrance with an obnoxious pirate hat on her head. Your first instinct was to grab one of the menus and hide your face as if it would disguise you among the backdrop of the crowd behind you. Row was much too perceptive for you to slip away without consequence, so you continued to stand at your station with only a slight grimace on your face as she approached.

“Ahoy, matey,” she exclaimed, though with only half the enthusiasm you knew she could muster.

“I don’t think Jack Sparrow ever said that throughout any of the movies,” you said.

“Captain Jack Sparrow, mind you,” Row corrected.

“Right, of course.”

“I thought you would’ve remembered that better after you oh so ceremoniously dubbed me the name Sparrow after him,” she continued.

The thing was, Row could go on for ages like that, bickering back and forth with you until one of you got sick of it and complained hard enough that the other was forced to stop. Judging by the excitement that pooled in her eyes and the playful way she kept messing with her cheap pirate hat, you knew she could go all night if she needed to. Instead, you sighed as you quickly glanced over your shoulder, ensuring things were still going smoothly behind you before you turned your attention back to Row.

“What are you doing here?” you questioned as you fiddled with the stack of menus in front of you.

“I’m here to pick you up,” Row responded as if you should have already known the answer.

Just as you opened your mouth to question her further, the answer smacked the back of your head. Halloween. No wonder why she wore that stupid foam hat. Earlier in the week you had agreed to go to John’s club to celebrate the stupid holiday, and then completely forgot about it. Which is why you neared hour eleven of your eight hour shift. Usually you didn’t mind the extra hours, however, if you had remembered you would have been finishing your night off in a packed nightclub during a holiday, well… you would’ve been home attempting to recharge a long time ago.

“You’re off soon, aren’t you?” Row then asked when your silence started to stretch.

“Uhm, yeah,” you answered as your eyes flickered to the clock on your left. Five to ten. “Just give me five minutes and I’ll be good to go.”

In reality, no amount of preparation could ever truly ready you for any sort of intense social outing, and you dreaded arriving at the club the entire ride there. You had only been to John’s club one other time previously for Row’s birthday, and that had been more than enough for you. Despite it being years ago, you could still smell the rancid alcohol and feel the bass of the music ripple through your chest as if it would turn your organs into jelly. Everything was too loud, too much, too close.

But this was Row.

So when the two of you stood outside of that hulking building that shook from the inside out, you tried your best not to complain. A deep throb began to gnaw at the soles of your feet from standing for so long, and a tension headache blossomed at your temples, but at least you were offered the solace of entering through the VIP section rather than the main door. Countless people stood outside in line for even the slightest chance of being admitted, which should have made you feel special being allowed through another entrance, but you knew that meant the inside was packed more than work had been.

Except it got worse. Because it always got worse.

You almost didn’t recognize the large figure that stood outside of the VIP entrance, but once those dark eyes landed on you, you knew it couldn’t be anyone other than Simon Riley. That odd, searing feeling that had plagued you the night you went to dinner at the Price’s quickly returned as his gaze meandered back and forth between you and Row. They were soft, inquisitive. As if he couldn’t quite comprehend why you were in a place like that. As if he knew you didn’t belong in a place like that.

“Evenin’ ladies,” he greeted casually.

Even if you hadn’t recognized him visually, his voice would have been more than enough to jog your memory. You could still feel his breath tickle your ear as he leaned over your back to guide your hands into place while playing pool. The sound of him was a delicious baritone you were certain would haunt you in your sleep.

“Stuck on guard duty tonight, Riley?” Row teased.

“Somethin’ like that,” Simon responded.

“Shame. Well, Chip and I-” Row continued as she put too much emphasis on your name while she threw her arm around your shoulder, “-are going to get wasted.”

A slight smirk pulled at Simon’s lips and you couldn’t help but shake your head at Row’s triumphant claim. She could get wasted if she wished. You planned on trying to keep your wits about you best as you could in that foreboding place.

“That so?” Simon asked. He said it as if he attempted to challenge your friend, but he still stepped to the side and gestured to the open door behind him all the same. “Cheers.”

There wasn’t any time to glance over your shoulder before Row pressed onward, making sure to drag you along with her. Walking into John’s club was what you imagined walking into hell felt like. Thick, hot air threatened to singe your hair, and you instantly found it hard to breathe. Countless patrons surrounded the entryway, and it appeared that Row wasn’t the only one who felt festive as many of them wore masks, cheap costumes, or on the not-so-rare-occasion, straight lingerie. The cheering and chatting from the dance floor could almost be confused with the screams of the damned, and you found yourself taking deeper breaths than normal in order to supply your brain with enough oxygen to keep going.

“Come on!” Row shouted. Even with her yelling right into your ear it was nearly impossible to hear her over the mess of music that poured through the speakers around you. “Up top! More room!”

Despite the fact you were in the VIP section, it was still incredibly crowded. Whenever you thought of a section like that, you usually figured it would be a bit more sparse than that. Perhaps it was just that night, wild and full of insane antics, that caused the crowd to grow larger than expected, but there was slight reprieve to be found on the second floor. Though the elevation was higher, the air felt fresh as it had fewer bodies to attempt to weave through.

After you and Row got your drinks, the two of you made yourselves at home at a small table on an overhanging balcony that overlooked the dance floor. Surprisingly, it was quieter there than anywhere else, which you realized must have been thanks to the fact you sat behind the speakers for once rather than in front of them. Still, even with the slight break from the usual bustle, you couldn’t help but mess with the straw of your mostly full drink while your foot tapped on the floor.

“Well?” Row asked you expectantly. She said the word as if she had given you a question to answer, but it was the first thing that had been said between the two of you since you had sat down. “How have you been? Really? I feel like we weren’t able to talk the other night with all the extra distractions.”

“Oh. Well, you know…” you started, but the words died in your throat.

It was never easy answering a question like that. How were you supposed to twist your life into something interesting when you were anything but? All you had done since the dinner at her house was work, and if you weren’t working then you were sleeping with whatever free time you managed to scrounge up. No, the only things worth telling her were the things you couldn’t tell her, but it wasn’t like that was anything new. You had gotten so good at lying, you could almost convince yourself that you were just a very good storyteller.

Almost.

“Just work, mostly,” you excused.

“Oh, come on,” Row groaned. She took a quick sip of her drink (rum, as she made sure to point out) before overdramatically leaning back in her chair. “You always say that. It really is just work with you, huh? Don’t you have any hobbies? Don’t you get out? Try to talk to people?”

You nearly laughed at her questioning. Out of anyone in the world, Row should have known about your inability to really keep friends around. After so many years of knowing one another, those questions almost made it seem like the two of you were strangers. Maybe you were, in some way.

“I think we both know that getting out is more your thing than mine,” you said, attempting a bit of humor.

“It could be your thing too if you didn’t ditch me half the time I invited you somewhere,” Row countered, not as humorous. As if tasting her own venom, she sighed and leaned forward, face softer. “I meant what I said the other night. You are worrying me. More than a little.”

In order to give yourself some time to think, you raised your cup off the table to take a small sip, only to instantly regret it. Your childish, as Row put it, vodka cranberry was about nine parts vodka and one part cranberry juice. For someone who couldn’t afford to drink all that often, it tasted worse than cough medicine on your tongue, and you nearly choked.

“What’s there to worry about?” you asked.

“What isn’t there to worry about?” Row countered. “I mean, you’re working yourself half to death, it seems like you never do anything for you- hell, I don’t even think you’ve managed to score a boyfriend, let alone make it to first-fucking-base.”

“I think I’m doing just fine without a partner,” you interjected.

“My point is,” Row continued, refusing to listen to whatever petty excuses you tried to muster, “I’m terrified you’re still trying to punish yourself.”

It was difficult to believe that a place so full of life could fall so silent, and yet the only sound you could hear was the ringing in your ears. Tinnitus, the doctors said. Normal. Typical. Absolutely plaguing. There was nothing you could say in response. Her words stunned you, because unlike usual, she saw right through you. At least she put you out of your misery and continued talking so that you didn’t have to.

“Look, I… know we’re not really family. It’s not my place to say stuff like this, but it’s… fuck.” Row cut herself off with a chuckle and a slight shake of her head. “I know I didn’t know you before everything happened. Hell, you could have always been like this. But it’s concerning all the same. I just don’t want you to blame yourself for surviving.”

It must have been the alcohol. Surely. Row never talked about the accident, and neither did you. After all those years, a silent rule had settled between the two of you where you would never speak of it. Not when the anniversary of it came around. Not even when the events plagued your sleep. It was easy to pretend you were quiet about it for Row’s sake rather than your own; but really, you didn’t talk about it because you were certain the guilt would choke you on its way out of your throat.

“It’s not your fault, you know. For surviving,” Row continued.

You swallowed.

“I know,” you lied.

Row raised an eyebrow at you incredulously, and you quickly forced a half smile on your face before she could chastise you for your sloppy deception. Usually you were better at lying, but she had caught you off guard in what you could only assume was quite literally a plea to get your shit together.

“I don’t think I’ll ever not feel guilty about it, Row,” you said a bit more truthfully. “That’s the kind of stuff that stays with you. But I know it’s not my fault, and I’m not trying to self-sabotage or anything but I’ll… try harder.”

A bittersweet smile crossed her face and you found your eyes adverting to the cup of bitter liquid in your hands in order to avoid the sight of it. She was much too caring for someone who didn’t deserve it.

“Well, good. I know it’s more complicated than I’ll ever be able to understand, but I just want to make sure that you know you’re not alone in this. You’ll always have me, no matter what,” she finished, but the words rolled off of her tongue awkwardly. As if she had expected more of a fight from you.

An awkward silence fell between the two of you after her strange attempt at a confession, yet everything continued to pulse around you. The music that vibrated the very air, the patrons who jumped and danced below you like a heaving pile of flesh; it all continued. The only thing that had changed was the stale scent in the air.

“Well, what a way to ruin the fun, huh? Alright, enough sappy talk for the night, I promise,” Row chuckled as she adjusted the foam pirate hat on her head. “I’m just about empty. Wanna come with me for a refill?”

Just like Row had claimed, she spent the rest of the evening getting wasted, and it didn’t take her long to get there. In a matter of hours her speech was so slurred her words blended into the mess of noise around you, and she could hardly hold herself steady when she brought you over to the pool table for what she promised was going to be a quick game. Her inebriation got so concerning you had all but forgotten your anxiety and discomfort in favor of paying extra close attention to your friend, lest she pass out while standing up.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that you had something to focus on other than the prying eyes around you. Despite how late into the night it got, the club only seemed to grow more packed by the minute, and you were certain the roof of that place would pop off any moment. Row seemed completely immune to any outside forces as she sloppily leaned over the pool table and attempted to make her shot. Your pool game had gone on for at least forty minutes; half in part due to Row missing a majority of her shots, and half in part due to her not being able to shut up long enough to focus on hitting anything properly.

“This table needs to stop leaning,” Row muttered.

“It’s not leaning, you’re just drunk,” you corrected.

“I know that,” she whined. “Doesn’t change the fact it’s leaning.”

Playfully, you rolled your eyes at her just as she flubbed up another shot. She straightened herself up and attempted to adjust her crooked pirate hat, only to make it worse, though, she didn’t seem to mind all that much as a grin crossed her lips.

“Too bad Riley isn’t here to give us some pointers, huh?” she teased.

There was something in the tone of her voice that sent a jolt through your body, and that familiar, yet confusing, heat coursed through your body again. Your skin recalled the way Simon felt against you, how his hands so carefully guided yours, how his voice rattled your eardrum so deliciously…

“He seems busy with work,” you excused.

Row’s grin quickly melted into something else at your comment. It wasn’t quite malicious, yet there was something off about it. Like she knew something you didn’t.

“Shame,” she quipped. “The two of you seemed awfully comfy the other night.”

Of course she would bring that up. Really, you had tried to forget about that event the entire week, but to no avail. No matter how much you distracted yourself, your mind would always wander back to his words and his warmth. The odd thing was, there wasn’t even anything lustful about it. It had just been the first time a man had touched you and hadn’t made your skin crawl.

“He was just being helpful,” you claimed.

“You know, you should just date him,” Row said, ignoring your comment.

For a moment, all you could do was stand there and blink. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“No, I’m being serious,” she slurred. “He’s a good guy, really. Quiet, too. Bit of an arse but I think you two get on well.”

“Row, I don’t think that’s-”

“And you need someone to look out for you at home, too. Those apartments look like they’re falling apart at the seams, you’re gonna get fucking robbed one of these days.”

“Really, it’s-”

“He also seems to be having a much better time following us around now that you’re here. He never seems this interested when it’s just me.”

Ice formed in your veins at her comment, and you found yourself standing there dumbfounded. Following us around? You couldn’t even bring yourself to attempt to look around for him, you were stunned and in too much disbelief to even process it that far. As for Row, her words seemed to have the exact effect she had hoped for, and she didn’t even attempt to hide her grin from you.

“What? You mean you haven’t noticed your little shadow?” she teased as she gestured to the area behind you.

It was only then that you braved a glance over your shoulder, and you felt your throat grow dry at the sight of Simon. He sat at one of the small round tables in a chair that obviously didn’t fit him right. Long legs stretched out to the side in order to accommodate his height, and he slouched back something fierce as if he attempted to make himself appear smaller. Luckily his attention seemed to be absorbed by his phone, which casted a dull glow on his face. You weren’t sure you could handle it if you looked back at him just to find him already staring.

“John likes to send him as a guard dog whenever I come here, since things can get a little crazy sometimes,” Row explained. “I promise he’s not being a weirdo. Not on purpose, anyway.”

Things only got worse after that. Her teasing, her insisting that you try to talk to him, her drinking. Her words and insinuations made your mind spin more than the small sips of alcohol you allowed in your system, and your only saving grace was that John crawled out of his office half past midnight in order to wrangle her in. It was impossible to talk sense into her, it seemed. You watched awkwardly from the sidelines as John steadied your friend by her hips, trying to keep her from swaying too much. All Row could do was giggle as she pulled at John’s shirt in an attempt to kiss him. It was a miracle that she hadn’t gathered too much attention with the scene she caused, but you still found your eyes flickering around the area as if danger lurked just beyond where the light could reach.

Though you got severe secondhand embarrassment from it all, there was something a little endearing about it all. John’s patience with her was unmatched, and you found him grinning at her more often than he chastised her. They acted as if they were the only two people in the entire building, and you wondered what that must have felt like. To not be so on edge that you felt and saw everything at once. To be so carefree that not even the hellish cheers coming from below could distract them from one another.

“Wanna get some fresh air?”

You hadn’t even realized Simon had approached you until his fingertips rested on the wood of the pool table in front of you. Like a magnet, your eyes were drawn to him, but you tried not to stare too long, lest he read every thought hiding in your mind.

“Huh?” you asked; not because you hadn’t heard him, but because you were somewhat perplexed by his offer.

“Thought we could give the lovebirds over here some alone time,” he chuckled.

Everything in you screamed no. Despite his apparent kindness to you and Rows - inebriated - trust in him, you still didn’t exactly know Simon. All he really was to you was a stranger. A kind one, but something unknown all the same, and following a stranger outside always seemed like a bad idea. Still, the air in that building had suffocated you since the very moment you stepped inside, and maybe you were a little too grateful to have an excuse to leave for a little while.

Toward the back area of the VIP section, there was a heavy door that led out to a terrace that overlooked part of the alleyway and the street below. Plenty of people still mingled about, though they appeared much more laid back than the people inside. Cold autumn air chilled your feverish skin as Simon guided you underneath a canopy of lights that hung above your heads and towards a thick metal railing.

The cold iron felt nice in the palm of your hands, and it was only then that you realized how exhausted you were. Over ten hours of your day had been spent at work, slaving away on your feet, and instead of being able to pass out once you got home, you had been stuck at that cursed club. Of course you adored Row, and you would do anything for her, but going through all that work and effort just to watch her get wasted wasn’t exactly what you’d consider a night well spent.

“You smoke?” Simon asked as he shuffled his hand into the pocket of his jeans.

You watched him carefully as he took out a pack of smokes and started beating the bottom of the carton against the palm of his hand. Little hints of the tattoo’s that covered his arms poked out from underneath the sleeves of his shirt, and you tried your best not to stare.

“No,” you replied while you swallowed the lump in your throat.

“Good,” he hummed. “Don’t start.”

It didn’t take long for him to light the thing and start puffing away. The scent of it surprisingly wasn’t as strong as you expected it to be, and he was kind in the way he ensured to blow the smoke well out of your way.

“So, what’re you dressed up as?” he asked.

You chuckled at his question and stared down at your work uniform. It wasn’t anything special. Just a plain black dress shirt along with matching pants. Black was always the color of choice in the serving industry. It was easier to hide stains that way, be it from food or sweat.

“Oh uh, a Sapori hostess,” you replied humorously. “Didn’t really have time to change before getting dragged out here.”

He hummed again. “Sapori. Heard that place is pretty fancy.”

“It’s up there, yeah,” you concurred.

“They pay well?”

“Sixteen.”

“Not great.”

You shrugged. “Pays the bills.”

A sharp breath of air sounded from Simon as he inhaled another long draw from his cigarette, and it was only then that you realized that was probably the longest conversation that you had with someone that wasn’t either Row or someone from work. Not even Marco could force a conversation out of you for that long. It was odd. Foreign. Yet you didn’t want it to end. It was difficult to explain, but talking to Simon came natural, even with the insane heat he sparked inside of you.

“What about you?” you asked. “I know you work for John, but what do you do for him?”

“Security, mostly. And whatever odd jobs he assigns,” Simon answered. “Usually end up workin’ nights. Same as you, I imagine.”

“Yeah, though I usually am off by midnight most nights.” You laughed as you answered his question, and you weren’t quite sure why. “I’d be in bed by now if it wasn’t for Row.”

“Row?” Simon repeated. “What’d she do to earn a nickname like that?”

“I could tell you, but I think I’d have to kill you afterwards,” you laughed.

“Ah, one of those stories,” Simon chuckled. There was another pause in the conversation as Simon finished off the rest of his cigarette before tossing it onto the cement at his feet and stomping out the embers. “Alright, what about your name then, Chip?”

You opened your mouth to answer him, only for your lips to instantly seal shut. Really, the story of your nickname was probably more embarrassing than Row’s, or maybe it only felt that way because it was tied to you. Like every little thing about you was pathetic and something to be hidden.

“A while back, Row’s grandma invited us over for tea. The cup she gave me was broken just a little bit on the rim. I was too… I don’t know, nervous I guess, to ask for another cup so I drank out of the broken one the entire time. When Row found out she laughed so hard and said it was like that little teacup from Beauty and the Beast, Chip. She’s called me that ever since.”

A quiet hum escaped Simon as he fully turned to face you. Without the cigarette between his fingers to distract him, he was able to give you his complete and undivided attention. The way he looked at you was strange, and you weren’t sure what to make of the odd churning in your stomach. It wasn’t sickening, nor skin crawling, but it made your insides feel as if they were on fire.

“Cute,” he commented.

“Riley!”

Both you and Simon turned at the calling of his name, and it didn’t take long for either of you to find the source. John marched out onto the terrace with Row stumbling behind him. She had somehow managed to lose her hat since you last saw her, though she didn’t seem too heartbroken about it as she threw her arms around you the moment you were within reach.

“I missed you,” she slurred, rum heavy on her breath.

“I was only gone for a few minutes,” you laughed.

“Too long.”

“Riley,” John repeated again, ignoring his wife’s antics, “would you take the girls home for me? Don’t want them trying to head home alone when she’s this drunk. Take the car, since I’m sure you probably took your bike here, yeah?”

The man fished a set of keys out of his pocket before handing them to Simon, who shook them around a bit as if he liked the sound of the jingle. “I’ll take care of ‘em.”

Getting Row into her car proved to be a difficult task, though it wasn’t nearly as entertaining as watching Simon struggle into his seat. The poor man proved to be significantly taller than Row was, and he managed to bash the side of his head on the roof of the car. After some quiet cursing from him, and merciless giggles from Row, he managed to move the seat back far enough that he wasn’t completely scrunched over, and he took off once he ensured both you and Row were buckled in the back seat.

“This is what you get for being so tall,” Row teased. “I mean, really. There is no reason for anyone to be that tall.”

“You know, your husband is only a bit shorter than me,” Simon retorted.

“Yeah, but he puts his inches somewhere more important than height,” she muttered, just low enough for only you to hear.

By the time you had pulled into the driveway, Row had managed to sober up, but only slightly. Still, Simon made sure to step out of the driver's seat and walk around to the back side of the car in order to help her out. Once she was steady on her own feet, Row turned around to look at you, where she pointed her finger at you as if in warning.

“Stay,” she ordered.

Confused, you glanced at Simon awkwardly before looking back at her. “Aye, aye, captain.”

Once you gave your confirmation, she slammed the door shut behind her and allowed Simon to lead her inside of the house. It only took her about three failed attempts to get the keys in the lock so that they could enter the dark and quiet house. Simon was going to leave then, as she had gotten into the house plenty fine. He knew that Row was more than capable of taking care of herself for the night, despite her state, but before he could even turn around, she turned to face him with her hands on her hips.

“Chip,” she spoke, “I want you to keep an eye on her.”

Dumbfounded, Simon raised a brow as he crossed his arms in the doorway. “Of course.”

“I don’t just mean tonight,” Row corrected. “I mean, even after tonight. Every day or so if you can manage it.”

Now, that request truly did confuse him. He had only met you two times, and you seemed plenty capable of taking care of yourself. You were a grown woman, after all, yet Row attempted to make it seem like you were some helpless creature. Then again, he had only met you two times; there wasn’t a whole lot he knew about you, and Row wasn’t one to be overly dramatic. If there was something about you that worried her, it was worth at least hearing her out.

“She alright?” he questioned.

“No. Yes. I don’t know,” Row sighed. She rubbed at her eyes as if she could remove the drunken haze that clogged her vision. “It’s difficult to tell with her. She’s really good at keeping things hidden, but I just know something’s wrong. I’d just… feel a lot better if you were able to look out for her.”

Keeping an eye on what was essentially his boss’s wife’s sister wasn’t exactly how Simon imagined spending his time, but you seemed like a nice enough girl. Nodding his head, he shoved his hands in his pockets as he glanced behind his shoulder at the car you sat in. After all, there were only two things Simon Riley was good at doing; fighting, and protecting.

“Consider it done.”

Once Simon was done dropping Row off, his next objective was ensuring you got home. The drive to your apartment was much quieter than you had expected, but with it nearing two in the morning you were too tired to say anything coherent. Simon seemed to read this, and instead turned up the volume on whatever radio station Row had been listening to when she picked you up from work.

You must have nodded off during the drive, because the next thing you knew, your door opened up and Simon stood with his hand stretched out for you to take. Blinking the sleep from your eyes, you took his hand and allowed him to help you out of your seat before you started digging through your uniform for your keys.

“Thank you for the ride, Simon,” you said once you had them in hand.

“No problem,” he replied, though he didn’t look like he was getting ready to leave. It wasn’t until he glanced at the old, somewhat dilapidating, building that you realized he intended to walk you to your door, just like he had done with Row. “Which floor do you live on?”

Each step that you took up to the third floor was grueling, and you would have taken the lift had it not been out of order for the last two months. Your feet throbbed with every movement, and by the time you made it to your door you were ready to pass out. Your keys slid into the lock with ease, and with a simple turn of the knob the door swung open to reveal your studio apartment. A few dim lamps were the only light source for the area, but it was more than enough for you to function in to get ready for bed.

As you turned to face Simon, ready to dismiss him so you could get some well earned sleep, you noticed his attention had been drawn to your door. Everything in that building was near ancient, but your door and windows were probably the worst. Peeling paint, and rusting brass plagued the door, but he seemed more interested in the plating on the frame.

“Find something interesting?” you questioned.

“More concernin’ than anythin’ else,” he muttered in response. His fingers brushed against the old metal plating, and his nails scraped at the screws holding it in place. “How long ago were these replaced?”

You shrugged. “I’ve no idea.”

“I’ll get you new hardware,” he said as he straightened himself up. “Someone could sneeze on the damn thing and it would fall over.”

There were a million words that flooded into your mind on why he didn’t need to do that, and you were certain they would have left your mouth had you not been so exhausted. Instead of trying to deny his words, all you could do was yawn as you glanced towards your bed, which had been shoved into the far corner of the room. You were about ready to pass out in the spot you stood in.

“Get some rest, yeah?” he prompted as he placed his hand on the doorknob.

You turned to face him with a smile, and for a moment you were at a loss for words. The light of the hallway casted a dark shadow on his face, and yet his look of quiet concern still appeared so soft. A small smile graced your lips before you were able to stop it, and you gave him a curt nod.

“I will. Goodnight, Simon,” you said, voice nearly at a whisper.

Even though he was a tall and intimidating man, you did not feel the least bit of fear as you watched him stand in your doorway. Any other time, you most likely would have felt trapped if a large man blocked you from exiting your home, yet there was nothing insidious about Simon. Especially not the small smile that managed to tug at his lips as he began to shut the door.

“Sweet dreams, love.”

#simon riley x reader #ghost x reader #mafia!simon #mafia!ghost #mafia!141 #f!reader

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finn-m-corvex · 6 months

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Whumptober Day 20: Found Family

Day 20! This one was very fun to write, and is a continuation of Day 16 because I can <3 Bruise angst my beloved and I really dug into it in this batch. You guys will see the fruits of that labor in a couple hours.

Taglist: @splinnters @abigailxoxo @tornoleander @mondothebombo @ghostwalloper @toastingpencils37 @lightning-chicken

Words: 2.3k

“Are we brothers?”

The question caught Cole a bit off-guard, and the training dummy plowed straight into his arm when he stopped paying attention to it. He rubbed at his arm, glancing over to Jay as the other boy stood on the steps with his hands on his hips. Jay looked troubled, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth and hands clenching and unclenching. They had been together long enough for Cole to recognize the signs of Jay’s anxiety.

It was a weird question. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Jay looked down at the ground, “say my parents just called me and I called you my brother, would you be mad at me?”

Cole raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn’t think that they would’ve been close enough or spent enough time together to call each other brothers. Although, now that he thought about it, they fought at least once a day over the stupidest of things that could be solved in an instant; he would put Jay in a headlock and give him noogies all the time; every time there would be a chore that Wu would give them they would start fighting over it like screeching cats until one of them eventually had to do it, but at the end of the day they would still sit on the couch and play video games until Jay was knocked out with his head on Cole’s shoulder and the earth ninja would have to carry him to bed.

He never had a brother, and he knew Jay didn’t have one either. So how could either of them know what brothers were supposed to be?

“No,” he said honestly, “I wouldn’t be mad. Why?”

“I, uh, may have just done that.”

Figures. Jay wouldn’t have been asking him otherwise. “Do you think we’re brothers?”

Jay rocked on his heels. “I mean, I don’t have any. But I think that if I did have a brother, I would want it to be you.” He looked panicked for a second, probably worried about Cole’s reaction. “Is that weird? Oh that’s probably really weird I’m sorry-”

“Woah!” Cole said, stepping forward and taking his friend (brother) by the shoulders. “Hey, now. Calm down, Jay, I already said that I wasn’t mad. I-I’m really flattered actually.”

“Really?”

“Really. And hey, I’m happy to call you my brother any day of the week.”

Cole cringed in his waiting room chair as the memory finished playing in his head, the plastic seat hard and uncomfortable. It wasn’t the first time he had been here, and it wouldn’t be the last, but you would think that after all the trips they’ve had to make to the emergency room they would’ve started to bring seat cushions for the long waits in-between. However, it was the first time that he had been alone in the waiting room since he was a small child and his mom was sick. He couldn’t say that it brought back good memories to be back here.

His mind kept flashing back to just a few minutes ago, watching as his brother convulsed on the gurney in terror, fighting against the nurses trying to hold him down. Cole was angry, insisting to the nurse that he needed to get to Jay, and eventually he stormed past her despite her saying that only family was allowed behind the scenes.

Jay was his brother; it didn’t matter whether there was a stupid piece of paper to prove it or not.

His little brother had been so scared, terrified of the strangers’ voices connected to faces that he couldn’t see with their hands all over him, but especially the oxygen mask that they had strapped to his face. Cole pushed down the anger that threatened to bubble over, choosing instead to focus on getting his brother to calm down so they could treat his stab wound.

Kissing his forehead well after Jay had gone back to sleep, Cole watched as his brother was wheeled back to somewhere that he couldn’t follow just quite yet, trying to channel the natural patience that came with his element.

“Excuse me?” a nurse called from the door, and Cole picked his head up to look at her. “Are you here for Jay Walker?”

“Yes, I am.” Cole said, getting up from his chair and feeling his back pop as he did so.

“Are you family—”

“He is my brother,” Cole said shortly; part of him felt bad, but the other part didn’t care, “and if you try and keep me from going to see him just because it’s not on record, I will have to ask you to step aside.”

The nurse looked terrified. “O-Of course, you may go see him now. He’s in the third room on the right.”

Cole thanked her, and she stepped aside to let him pass through the door. Walking down the hallway brought back memories from years ago, and Cole could feel himself continuing to shut down with every step he took, and this wasn’t even the hospital where she passed. He couldn’t imagine how strong the memories would be if he ever went back; all it had taken was one trip and a meltdown before the team unanimously agreed to never visit unless they absolutely had to, and if they did then Cole would stay home.

But what happened to his mom wasn’t going to happen to Jay.

The door opened easily, making no sound as he stepped into the room, and Cole sucked in a breath when he saw his brother lying on the bed.

Jay was pale, making his auburn hair stand out against the stark white of the pillow. There was a cannula on his face instead of a full mask, and Cole was grateful that there wouldn’t be another meltdown. Beeping unsteadily, the heart monitor stood alone in the corner, opposite of the IV line hooked into Jay’s arm. The room was as blank as any other room that they had ever been in, and Cole was grateful for the bare walls. Her room hadn’t been barren because of how much time they spent in it.

Standing next to the bed, Cole brought the room’s one chair with him, its legs scraping against the floor with a sound that made him cringe. Making sure that Jay stayed asleep, Cole sat, taking his brother’s hand in his own and starting to play with the blue ninja’s fingers.

“Would it kill you to go on one mission without giving me a heart attack?” Cole asked, getting no answer other than a soft wheeze. The others were still chasing down the bad guys, Cole having been designated as the one to take Jay to the hospital after taking the knife to the gut.

It was almost too common at this point. Jay never used to act so recklessly, throwing himself in front of every possible danger as if he couldn’t die. Recently, there were too many missions ending with someone taking him to the hospital, or bringing him to the medical bay on the Bounty to get treatment well into the wee hours of the night. He knew that the others were starting to notice, trying to intervene before Jay could throw himself to the wolves so he would stay safe.

He and Nya had spent too many lengthy conversations about it. Cole knew something was wrong, but he didn’t even know where to start pushing to find out what it was.

Groaning, Jay cracked open his eyes. “Cole?”

“Yeah, bud,” Cole answered, standing back up and making sure that Jay could see him.

Jay squinted, his freckles standing out against his pale skin. “What happened?”

“You got stabbed. I took you to the hospital and you’ve got to stay here for the next couple days to make sure your stitches and whatnot don’t get infected.”

“Oh,” Jay closed his eyes, leaning into Cole’s hand when it cupped his cheek, “where are the others?”

Cole bit his lip, and he really hoped that the rest of the team wouldn’t make a liar out of him. “They’re on the way, they should be here soon. Do you need anything?”

Licking his lips, Jay brought his hand up to his face, and Cole saw how he relaxed when he shot a small bolt of lightning between his fingers. Did he really think that Cole would’ve let the hospital staff put the vengestone back on? “Is there any water?”

There was a small pitcher and some cups on the other table. “Yeah, I’ll get you some.”

Picking it up was a bit of a hassle with his new hands; he kept forgetting that it really hadn’t been that long since he was revived. You would think that would be something you would remember, but it was just another day in Ninjago when Cole was concerned. Filling the cup to about halfway, Cole brought it back to Jay, helping him to hold it when the blue ninja’s hand couldn’t stop shaking.

Actually, Jay couldn’t stop shaking. “Are you cold? Do you need another blanket?”

“It’s probably the blood loss,” Jay said, and he wasn’t entirely wrong, “don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

“Jay, you’re my brother. If you need a blanket then I can get you a blanket—”

“I said I’m fine, Cole,” Jay said quickly, and Cole was surprised to hear his brother’s voice crack mid-sentence. “Stop worrying about it, please.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Cole helped his brother sit up enough to bury his face into Cole’s shoulder, resting a hand on the blue ninja’s back while Jay’s fist latched onto his uniform. Kissing the top of his head, Cole sighed, remembering that Jay was probably a little loopy from the pain meds and that he would need to be gentle. “Bluebell, it’s fine. I wouldn’t be offering if I didn’t want to do it. What’s got you so worked up?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

He sniffled, and Cole could feel tears start to soak into his gi. “For getting hurt and making you take me to the hospital and I know I’ve had to go here a lot recently and I know it’s probably super expensive but I can get a second job if I need to since it’s not fair that it has to come out of everyone’s paychecks—”

And Jay kept rambling, words flying so fast that Cole could only catch every fifth word, but he didn’t interrupt his brother. Clearly, Jay had been bottling this up for a long time, and Cole knew that if he wanted to get a rational explanation from Jay then he would have to listen to the panicked word vomit version first. It was just how Jay worked.

Rubbing his back, Cole stayed quiet and nodded when he was supposed to and hummed whenever Jay “wanted” a response. It took almost ten minutes for Jay’s words to finally run out, and he slumped against the black ninja, exhausted. Cole kissed the back of his head, tucking Jay closer to his chest and laying his chin on Jay’s crown. “Thank you,” Jay said softly, shivering.

“You’re welcome,” Cole said, “now I’m going to get you that blanket, and you’re going to repeat everything you just told me but at a quarter of the speed. Or you’re going to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Helping Jay to lay back down against the pillows, Cole ruffled his hair and gave him a small smile before leaving the room to try and find a nurse. There was one right outside of their room who looked friendly enough. He could’ve just used the call button, but he knew Jay, and he knew that the younger male would appreciate a couple minutes to himself after having a breakdown.

“Excuse me?” Cole said, and the nurse turned around. “Are there any of the warmed blankets left?”

She led him to the heater and grabbed one, folding it up neatly and handing it over. Thanking her, Cole made his way back to Jay’s hospital room, but not before pulling his phone out and dialing Nya’s number to update them on the situation.

“Hello? Cole?”

Shifting the blanket in his hands, Cole smushed the phone between his cheek and his shoulder. “Hey Nya. Are you guys on your way?”

“Yeah, we’re in the car right now. We had to make a quick pitstop to patch Kai up but we should be there soon. How’s Jay?”

“Fine,” Cole sighed, “you might have a little trouble getting back here. They wouldn’t let me go through until Jay started having a meltdown.”

“What? Why was he having a meltdown?”

He reached Jay’s hospital room, so Cole lowered his voice. “They put an oxygen mask on him and then slapped on some vengestone. He started panicking pretty bad but I got him to calm down. No one got hurt.” Too badly, anyway.

Nya growled on the other end. “I don’t care if they were hurt or not, I’ll maim them myself.”

“There’s no need for that,” Cole said, “you guys are gonna have enough trouble getting to his room since they’re only letting family in. Don’t cause any more.”

“I’ll cause as much as I want to,” Nya paused, and Cole knew that she was thinking, “but fine. We’ll be there shortly.”

She hung up, and Cole stuffed the phone back in his pocket. Opening the door to Jay’s room, Cole noticed that the blue ninja had found the remote and turned on the tv to some cartoon channel, and now the blue ninja was fixated on watching the goofy events unfold on screen.

“Jay?” Cole asked, not wanting to startle him. Jay shushed him, still watching, and Cole chuckled at the rare focused expression on his brother’s face.

Silently, Cole made his way to the bed and climbed into it next to Jay, spreading the still-warm blanket out over the both of them. Jay leaned into his big brother’s side, yawning, and Cole wrapped an arm around Jay’s waist while being careful of his stitches.

If Jay wanted to watch cartoons for the rest of the day, then Cole could wait for their conversation.

#ninjago #ninjago jay #finn's writing #ninjago cole #whumptober day 20 #whumptober 2023

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parkerslatte · 1 year

Text

Songbird || TWENTY-TWO

Eddie Roundtree x Fem!Reader

Warnings: none

Word Count: 2.6k

Part Summary: The beginning of the infamous Chicago show and Y/N and Eddie go through a rough patch.

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•••

TRACK TWENTY-TWO;

THE THINGS YOU LOVE YOU LOSE

***

On October 4th, 1977

Daisy Jones & The Six performed

To a sold out crowd at Soldier Field

In Chicago, Illinois.

…

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” The announcer says, “Daisy Jones and The Six!”

Cheers erupted around the arena as the band made their way onto the stage. Each member of the band’s behaviour was different to normal. Y/N picked up her guitar as Eddie looked at her from across the stage, silently begging her to look at him but she didn’t spare him a single glance.

…

It would be their final performance.

…

The band started with ‘Regret Me’ and Y/N didn’t even fake her emotions. Typically she would move around in her small area on the stage, really get into the music, but she remained still, unmoving. She played on autopilot, she didn’t want to be on the stage at all.

…

GRAHAM DUNNE: If you had told me that morning that it would be our last show… I mean, I would’ve laughed.

…

From across the stage, Eddie’s gaze was fixated on Y/N, his left eye surrounded by bruising. He desperately needed Y/N to look at him. For once, Eddie wasn’t focused on performing, he didn’t care about that, he didn’t care about the band or Billy. The only thing he cared about was Y/N.

…

EDDIE ROUNDTREE: [looks down with regret]

WARREN ROJAS: I was just having such a good time, man. I-I didn’t want to see it.

KAREN SIRKO: [tears up]

Y/N L/N: I wanted to walk away from everything.

…

The band finished the song and Y/N remained still, she didn’t take in the applause, she didn’t even look at the audience. All she did was stand and stare at the ground in front of her.

Eddie’s gaze fixated on Y/N once again. As she finally looked up, there was no emotion on her face, there was nothing, it was like she was a shell of the person she was.

…

BILLY DUNNE: There’s still a lot you don’t know.

…

11:54am

10 Hours Earlier

“I saw your fucking grandma, dude, she was having a great time, all right?” Warren exclaimed.

Eddie took his and Y/N’s room key and Warren took his as the three walked off. Y/N and Warren had continuously heard Eddie complain about what Billy did at the show at Pittsburgh. Knowing how he felt, Y/N could sympathise with him, although it was all he talked about and it was beginning to get on Y/N's nerves, it was as if he forgot she went through the exact same things months ago.

The three walked to their rooms in silence, Warren immediately went into his, leaving Eddie and Y/N alone. With Warren gone, Y/N thought that Eddie would talk but he didn’t, he just opened the room and walked in with Y/N following. Sighing, Y/N sat on the bed. She was slowly regretting her plan to leave the band at the end of the week, she wanted to leave now.

Eddie sat on the sofa in the room as he stared forward, “I still can’t believe he pulled that shit.” He muttered.

Y/N sat up from the bed, “What?”

“That shit that Billy pulled-”

“Right, I’m going to stop you there,” Y/N interrupted, “You need to stop.”

“What?” Eddie questioned.

“All this with Billy,” Y/N says, “Look, I know what he did to you was shitty. I get you don’t like Billy, neither do I. He took your one moment at your hometown show, I get that you are upset about it but you keep replying it in your mind, it’s not going to change anything Eddie.”

“You don’t get it, Y/N.” Eddie remarked.

“I don’t get it?” Y/N questioned, “Eddie I went though the same fucking thing, even though I reminded you of that last night, you still seem to keep fucking forgetting.”

“Y/N-”

“No, Eddie, let me talk,” Y/N says, “He did a shitty thing but talking shit and thinking about it isn’t going to change anything. You have plenty of other opportunities to perform on a huge stage in your hometown for your family,” Y/N paused, taking a breath, “I don’t have that opportunity, Eddie. My mother is dead and I know now that she was proud of me. But I will never get that opportunity to see that, you do,” Y/N sighed, “So please stop sitting there and acting like it’s the end of the world for you because it isn’t.”

Slowly Eddie stands from the sofa and walks over to Y/N and pulls her into a hug, “I’m sorry, Y/N,” He whispered into her hair.

Y/N hugged back but she didn’t melt into the hug like she usually did. They stood there for a while, Eddie holding onto her tight but Y/N wanting to slip away.

***

Present time

On Stage

“How you feeling, Chicago?” Billy says into the microphone, “I’d tell you how I was feeling, but I always end up saying the wrong thing. This is ‘No Words’.”

Y/N wasn’t needed for this song so she watched from the side of the stage. Her arms were folded across her chest. Rod stood next to her, nodding his head slowly along to the music.

“I’m leaving the band.” Y/N says.

Rod’s head snapped in her direction, “What?”

“I’m leaving the band.” Y/N repeated, “At the end of the week.”

Rod chuckled, “You’re pulling my leg.”

Y/N shook her head, “I’m not. Billy can easily play my part. I’m done with the band Rod.”

Before Rod could respond, Y/N walked out onto the stage, taking a seat next to Karen. While watching the performance, Y/N had seen her mood gradually decline the longer she played. She continuously made glances to Graham and Y/N could tell that Karen told Graham what had happened.

Pressing a kiss to Karen’s cheek, Y/N rested her head on her shoulder as Karen continued to play.

“I love you.” Y/N says as Daisy sits on the other side of Karen.

As the song ends, Karen wraps both Y/N and Daisy in a hug as the crowd cheers. None of the trio cared as they blocked it out, both Y/N and Daisy focused on making Karen feel a little better.

***

1:48pm

8 Hours Earlier

Y/N and Eddie lay in the bed, her head resting on his chest as he strokes her hair. Y/N’s eyes were closed as she enjoyed the feeling. The two remained silent, neither of them having much to say. However, they both had a lot to say.

Everything that had happened over the past day had made Y/N want to leave the band as soon as possible. She didn’t even want to do the show in the evening, she even thought of an intricate lie to get out of doing it and getting on a plane to god knows where.

Eddie’s hand stilled in Y/N’s hair and she looked up at him, “Why did you stop?”

“I need to tell him.” Eddie says.

“What?”

“Tell Billy that I’m leaving the band.” Eddie says, manoeuvring out from under Y/N.

Y/N sighed, “Is that really necessary, you don’t plan to leave for months.”

“I need to do this, Y/N,” Eddie says, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, “Then I’ll promise I’ll shut up about it.”

Y/N only nodded and watched Eddie leave the room.

Staring up at the ceiling, Y/N sighed before looking at her bag across the room. She slid off the bed and walked over to it. It was filled with her everyday clothes and a couple of other things but there was one important thing at the top. A plane ticket for that night.

Y/N looked at it before putting it back in the envelope. She bought it without the intention to use it, it was completely on impulse. But the more she looked at it, the more tempting it got. Sliding the ticket back into the envelope, Y/N sighed.

The door of the room opened and Y/N diverted her attention. Eddie walks in with a black eye forming.

Rushing over to him, Y/N gently grabbed his face and tilted it towards her, “What happened?”

“What does it look like happened?” Eddie snapped before sighing, “I’m sorry, I just…”

“Eddie, it’s okay.” Y/N says, “Now tell me what happened?”

“He fucking punched me in the face!” Eddie exclaimed.

“All because you said you didn’t want to be in the band?” Y/N questioned.

Eddie opened his mouth to answer but no words came out which caused Y/N to sigh, “What did you say to him, Eddie?”

“I-” Eddie says and he begins avoiding eye contact, “I didn’t say anything to him.”

Y/N scoffs, “You clearly did, if you didn’t say anything to provoke him, why the fuck would be punch you in the face?”

“Y/N I-”

“What did you say, Eddie?” Y/N questioned, lowering her voice.

Sighing Eddie answered, “He told me about not being able to deliver and that I like being slighted, and…”

“And what, Eddie?” Y/N questioned, folding her arms across her chest.

“I said that I was able to deliver,” Eddie paused, “With Camila.”

“Excuse me?” Y/N exclaimed.

Eddie sighed, “I didn’t mean it like that, I meant-”

“So you fucking spoke about Camila to get a one up on Billy, that’s what you fucking did?” Y/N asks, growing angry.

“Y/N, I didn’t mean it like that-”

“Then tell me what you fucking meant Eddie and it better be a good excuse or God help you.” Y/N says.

Eddie stuttered over his words, unable to get any out.

Y/N shook her head, “Am I not enough for you Eddie, that you have to think about that night with Camila?”

“Y/N, no-”

“All those times when you said you loved me, was that just all bullshit and lies?” Y/N says.

“I swear to you, Y/N that I didn’t mean to say that,” Eddie says frantically, “It was the only thing I could think of to prove a point to Billy.”

“This is all you care about isn’t it?” Y/N says, “Getting one up on Billy? Well that’s childish Eddie, you are twenty-seven years old, start fucking acting like it.”

Eddie tried to reach out to Y/N but she harshly pushed him away, “Don’t fucking touch me, Eddie.”

“Y/N, please let me explain.”

“You’ve done your explaining,” She says, “You’ve proven your point that the only thing that matters to you is getting a one up on Billy and you don’t even care about my feelings at all. The fact that you even thought about that night with Camila says a lot.”

Y/N stepped away from Eddie and began walking towards the door.

“Where are you going, Y/N?” Eddie asked, his voice cracking.

“Away from you.” Y/N says and leaves without another word.

As soon as the door shuts, Eddie lets the tears flow, yelling out.

Y/N heard this on the other side of the door as the tears finally slipped down her cheeks. She turned to face the door before walking away completely.

***

3:28pm

6 Hours Earlier

Y/N finished off her third drink and let out a long sigh. Her first instinct when she felt this was would be to turn to Eddie and he would make her feel better, but since the cause of the problem was Eddie, Y/N didn’t know who to turn to. Knowing that everyone was going through problems of their own, Y/N didn’t want to bother anyone.

There was one person Y/N thought of that she could call and it was someone she hadn’t spoken to in years. Finding a payphone quick, Y/N dialled the number she looked up months ago.

The phone rang and rang and rang but finally there was an answer.

“Hello?” The voice on the other end spoke.

Y/N smiled at the voice, “Miss Reyne?”

There was a pause at the other end, “Y/N L/N?”

“Yeah,” Y/N says, smiling, “It’s me.”

“Remember, I told you to call me Alice.”

Y/N chuckled, “I know, it just feels wrong.”

“Now, I’m not saying that this isn’t a nice surprise, you calling, but may I ask why?” Alice asks.

Y/N paused, “I had no one else to call.”

“Are you okay, Y/N?”

That was the moment when Y/N let everything out. Everything she had been feeling, all her thoughts about leaving, all about her mother and the letter, everything about Eddie. All of it came crashing out like a waterfall.

As Y/N spoke, Alice didn’t interrupt her once, only giving her occasional hums to say to her that she was still listening. Y/N finally felt relief to get everything off her chest.

“Now would you like to tell you what I think?” Alice asked.

“Please…”

“Leave,” Alice says, “Y/N ever since you were a child you would be so excited to perform for everyone but now that you are doing it, it’s doing you more harm than good. The best thing you can do for yourself is to leave.”

“But I don't want to let anyone down.” Y/N says.

“You planned to leave at the end of the week anyway,” Alice says, “What’s the difference in leaving a few days earlier?”

Y/N sighs, “Nothing, they’re just my friends and I don’t want to ruin that.”

“From what you described to me about them, they understand.” Alice says, “And another thing I need to tell you is to do this for yourself, not for anyone else. You’ve been through a lot and you need a chance to find yourself again.”

“But I feel like myself with Eddie.” Y/N says.

“Are you saying that because you mean it or are you trying to convince yourself of it?” Alice questions.

Y/N was quiet as she took in the question.

“There’s your answer, Y/N.” Alice says.

“Well I did at first, but lately-”

“You’ve been feeling different,” Alice says, “Y/N, this doesn’t mean that you’re not in love with him because from what you’ve told me, you are. But you need some time for yourself, figure out who you are.”

Y/N sighs, “I hate that you are right.”

“You always did,” Alice says, “Now I need to get going, but remember, you can call me anytime, okay?”

Y/N nodded, even though she couldn’t see, “Thank you, for listening.”

“I told you I’m here anytime.” Alice says before hanging up.

Y/N continued to hold the phone to her ear for a moment longer. The longer she stayed in the phone booth, the longer she could delay the inevitable. Placing the phone down, Y/N stepped out of the phone booth and walked up to the bar, she ordered a shot taking it with ease, before she walked out of the bar.

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#eddie roundtree #eddie roundtree x reader #eddie loving #eddie loving x reader #daisy jones and the six x reader #daisy jones and the six #josh whitehouse

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vanillaxoshi · 3 months

Note

seeing your post about how cahaya was dying in petir’s arms (hit me in the feels btw😭😭😭) made me think of this au where

in one universe, cahaya didn’t survive after the fight with captain vargoba because his body couldn’t handle the pain and exhaustion that he went through which left his family and friends to mourn for his death. but they still forced themselves to live on with their lives like continuing their missions with TAPOPS and is now great with using their 2nd tiers, attending and suffering from school, exploring the greatness of the universe from planet to planet, and all that shit

no one questions when the brothers cling a bit tightly to one another everyday, when they sometimes had an extra plate that’s left untouched at the dining table, when there’s a bed that’s covered with tears and things that they think that cahaya would’ve liked, or how petir would sometimes spend hours glaring at his hands as if he’s blaming himself for letting their youngest die in his arms

or even how yaya doesn’t reprimand when fang accidentally brought the book that cahaya once recommended to him during their study sessions instead of their mathematics one

then just minutes after finishing with their mission, the alert system was triggered in TAPOPS which made them all scatter to search for the intruder before they could do anything—

but all blaze and taufan found was a boy that is the same age as them and looks too similar to their brothers, wearing clothes that made him stick out of the crowd and who the hell wears an orange visor inside the ship? but the white cap he wore is too familiar and he gives off the aura just like cahaya’s 2nd tier form did two years ago and everything just either falls apart or clumsily gets fixed

in short — three months after the gurla’tan arc, a mission got solar to be launched into a universe where he died during the battle against vargoba and is now facing his brothers and friends who didn’t really get to moved on with his death

or something like that?😭

The sword brother plot by enenyy but solar/cahaya version

Y'know i did kept thinking of scenarios on what if cahaya died but never really got a full clear thought to it

So this is definitely good good idea

Let angst/comfort begin

#xoshi answers #xoshi asks #boboiboy

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bluejaysandblackbats · 4 months

Text

The Spin Out

Fandom: Batman, DC Comics

Summary: Jason Todd returns to Gotham after three years for the final time to win enough money to pay off Sheila's debts.

Chapters: 1/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Sheila Haywood, Original Character(s), Bruce Wayne

Relationships: Jason Todd/Original Character

Additional Tags: Street Racing AU, No Capes AU, Jason Todd-centric, Hurt Jason Todd, Bad Parent Sheila Haywood, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Hurt/Comfort, Organized Crime, Jason Todd has PTSD, Jason Todd has Trust Issues, Jason Todd is Not Okay, Good Person Jason Todd, Stalker Bruce Wayne, Family Issues, Secret Identities, Secrets, Angst

Chapter One: Cigs

Jason neatly folded his clothes, watching his mother pace, smoking a cigarette. “Jason, it’s too dangerous. There has to be something-.”

“Nope. I’ll be home before the summer holiday ends,” Jason interrupted. He stood, gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek, snagged her cigarette, and sat on the foot of his bed. “I’ll take the boat out as far as Florida and drive the rest of the way to Jersey. I only need to stay long enough to get a hundred grand. Can you hold out until I get home?”He spoke with the cigarette between his lips, sharply inhaling once he finished his question.

“Jason, you’re only-.”

Lifting his mother off the ground, he set her down a few feet to his left and opened his drawer. “Mom, I’ll be fine. Do you mind if I bum a pack of cigs off you for the trip?” Jason questioned. He started smoking again after he moved in with Sheila. She reached into her back pocket and placed the pack in his palm.“If anything happens, I can always call your brother in Maine. Right?”

“Be careful. These things’ll kill you,” Sheila joked as she reached for him, pulling him into a hug. “I just got you back.” Tensing in her arms, he fought the urge to pull away. It wasn’t the first time they’d had money trouble of that proportion. Her last boyfriend cleared her bank account, and Jason had to sell his car. That stung. It took him three months to bounce back. He wanted a mother more than a peaceful life. So, he swallowed all the trouble that came with knowing her.

"Passport and fake ID… Where is it, Mom?" Jason questioned.

"Jason, why can't you stay here and do all that?" Sheila asked.

"Mom, we talked about this. They know me here. No one's gonna let me race in this town. Nobody knows who I am in Gotham, Mom. I can get in and out with fewer problems there," Jason explained as he rummaged through his drawers. Jason glanced at his mother and the guilty look on her face. “Mom, give me my ID. Please. Please. PLEASE.” He grabbed her hands, holding them to his chest. “Mom, I have three months to make one hundred grand… Or they will kill us. Do you understand that? They’re not kidding. Did you forget that gun he held to your head two weeks ago?”

Sheila pulled away from him. “Let me go with you—.”

“I wish you could, but it’d be more trouble than we can handle right now, Mom. Now, give me my ID and passport. I have an hour to get on the road, or I’ll miss my boat,” Jason replied. She frowned. “Murder, Mom. They’re gonna kill us.”

Sheila frowned, reaching into her purse for Jason’s ID and passport. “I almost named you Michael, you know. I was so sure you’d be blonde. Michael Peter Todd,” Sheila wistfully smiled as she held his hand. “Your father didn’t like that name.”

Jason tensed up and pulled away. “Mom, I have to go,” Jason whispered.

“Call me as much as you can,” Sheila whispered. Jason nodded as he zipped up his backpack. Slinging his bag on his back, Jason headed for the living room and sat next to his suitcase. “Do you have your lunch for the boat?”

“Mom, I’m alright—.”

“Jason, take your lunch. Please,” Sheila interrupted, “You’re a big guy now. You have to keep your belly full.”

“Mom, I’ll—. Yes, ma’am,” Jason whispered as he put his cigarette in the ashtray. “Thank you.” Despite his frustration, he would’ve done anything for her.

“I love you, Jason. I guess—. I’m worried about you,” Sheila whispered as she reached to fix a stray hair in Jason’s face. “You look so tired.”

Jason took his lunch out of the fridge and kissed her forehead. “Love you, Mom. I’ll be back before the end of summer,” Jason whispered, “Okay? And I’ll drive safe to the docks, Mommy. I promise.” Mommy. The word carried the same sugary sweetness he had when they first met. It was genuine. His love for her was real.

As he slipped out the front door with his bags, his breath caught in his throat. He swallowed the lump in his throat, quietly joining his friend from school in the car. “Pô! I can’t believe you’re leaving São Tomé,” his friend shouted, hanging off Jason’s jacket. “I could weep!”

Jason laughed and pushed his friend off. “Efigenia, I’ll only be gone for the summer. Efi—.”

“I want to go with you. Think of all the pretty girls that you’re robbing me of meeting,” Efigenia whined. Jason took her car keys and shook his head.

“It’s not that great. I’m working,” Jason replied.

“Still… It’s amazing that your mom’s letting you go to America by yourself,” Efigenia half-exclaimed, “And in your own apartment. I bet you’ll have all sorts of—.”

Jason’s face reddened as he shook his head. “Oh, yeah… I forgot. You wanna be a man of virtue for the rest of your life,” Efigenia teased.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason asked.

“Come on. Girls here are practically throwing themselves at you. And you, in all your Catholic guilt, shrink away from women like they’ve got the plague,” Efigenia explained, “Unless—.”

“If I was gay, you’d be the first to know,” Jason replied.

Efigenia glanced at him, raising her brow. “So, are you gay?” Efigenia asked.

Jason turned his head and rolled down the window. “I’m gonna have one more smoke before I go,” Jason mumbled as he lit a cigarette. “Efi, can you look after my mom while I’m gone?”

“Uh-huh… Why?” Efi asked. Jason tightened his lips around the cigarette as he blew a smoke ring out the window. Jason managed to keep his friends at arm’s length about his past and current home life. All Efigenia knew about Jason was he liked cars and motorcycles, graduated a year early, and never missed a Sunday at church. Everything else was unnecessary and messy.

He didn’t want to make any waves. Jason and Sheila had only been in São Tomé for three months. Before that, they were in Australia for a year. He went by Michael at that time. Before that, they were in Venezuela for two weeks… And Italy for another year. But Ethiopia came first. They lived and breathed Ethiopia until it nearly killed Jason. He still couldn’t talk about it, even after Sheila begged him to say something. That’s when he started smoking again, but he never spoke one word of blame to her. It wasn’t in his nature to complain about his mother.

“Jason, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ask you if you were gay—.”

“Oh, no. That’s not—. I’m nervous about—. I haven’t been to the States in a year. I don’t—. I don’t like traveling,” Jason replied, “I feel like an open wound, and every time I travel to another country, I feel like I’m bleeding out. I’m losing everything that makes me feel… Human.” Efigenia frowned.

“You never talk about traveling with your mom. I always thought you liked it because of how fast you pick up—. You adjust so fast,” she whispered.

“I love the destinations, but sometimes I feel like there’s no endpoint. Nothing feels like home,” Jason muttered as he took a long drag from his cigarette and blew out the window. He felt nauseous. Traveling always made him feel nauseous.

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razorblade180 · 11 months

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Shiva/Snowflake ramblings

It’s been like 6 months since snowflakes finished. Talked a little bit about certain things but now I’ll blurt out more and probably end up repeating myself a little.

I made a post theorizing the origin of dust a long time ago as well as spoke about the topic briefly in a V6 review post. Nobody seemed to notice that luckily because it had the answer to what Diamond Dust was. I lived in fear for many years….

In the OC Test where everyone wore Halloween costumes, I had Summer dressed as Frisk with a knife because there was soul shenanigans happening with Dust.

In all my posts about Shiva, I never gave her a separate hashtag. They’re all under Summer’s name because all her actions and feelings were Summer’s.

I made a list of all my characters about they would survive Summer’s situation with Diamond Dust. I never eliminated before but their results were based off of how authentic they are to themselves as well as their self love/respect.

This was something I did for myself but I took every opportunity in questions for Shiva among other prompts to write her making ice daggers because I knew I was gonna write Nick getting stabbed with one.

In the first chapter I had Nick hug Shiva with his heated and use a fire glyph under their feet. The final battle outside ends with a bigger version of that and Vee.

The Wolf faunus they fought is obviously inspired by the big bad wolf, but her aesthetic and hair is just me having Roxanne Wolf brain rot after playing fnaf.

I spent a lot of time thinking of ways to get Veronica free falling so causally before her depressing monologue. My favorite one is in that same chapter where she jumps off the balcony to catch Val; because she gets to see what that looks like from an outsiders perspective. It’s also the only time Vee can’t bail, and actually hits the floor.

Originally I was gonna have Summer and Nick finally do their combo summoning to beat Shiva but I thought the discredited Summer’s ability to best Shiva.

Shiva was gonna make a ice “hell hound” of Dolt, their former dog, in the final fight. The chapter was already incredibly long though and my hands were cramping. It also meant dropping all pretense of what Shiva was because she wasn’t actually around when they had the dog.

If i were to make a sequel I’d know what it’d be about and kinda planted seeds with harsh weather and revitalized Dust being linked. It could be real problem if other people found Dust that are similar to Diamond Dust

Originally this story wasn’t this complex. It was a simple case of “you’re simply at odds with yourself” but everyone guessed that in an hour and I took that personally. 💀 which ballooned into me fleshing out the dust theory and adding a fragmented soul to it.

During the tournament fight Summer had with her channeling Shiva, I kept having her reach for her hip in confusion. The soul of who would’ve been known as Shiva was a pirate and her gun was on that side. I wanted to play with the idea of muscle memory or old habits in the same way I did with Oscar and Oz

Not really a fact but I’m happy that I found ways to slip in Penny making that bomb multiple times. As well as Nick getting in between Summer and a threat before the fatal moment.

Ruth was a one off character before I decided to not be a monster and expand upon Ruby wanting a family.

Summer’s white guitar with a black paw print in honor of Dolt was me being a little cheeky because by then I had decided her therapy puppy in the end, Dunce, was a Dalmatian.

Originally I wanted some of Val’s eternal struggle to come from the idea she might be Trans. I didn’t fucking trust myself to write that well enough so I scrapped it. I tried for like a year or two but I didn’t think it was any good,

#rwby #rwby au #rwby twin snowflakes

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linahopeeeee · 2 years

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How he asks you out- BTS REACTION

Notes: i didn't realize how short Jin's and Tae's were, sorry!

Prev Next

Namjoon-

It was a few weeks later and you and Namjoon have gotten quite close, always with each other even if it has nothing to do with the project for class.

Today you and him were lounging in his dorm room, you were sitting on the chair next to his desk while he was laying on his bed. You were facing him while you tell him about a new book you just started a couple of days ago.

He watched in awe as you went into detail about the things you liked in the book, a small smile plastered to your face as you talked about your favorite character.

“do you wanna go on a date with me?” he blurts out mid-sentence and you stop talking, eyes wide. “sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off but you just looked so cute and I knew if I didn’t say anything now I probably wouldn’t have until it was too late” he rushes out and you giggle

“I would love to go on a date with you” you tell him and he lets out a sigh of relief, shoulders visibly relaxing.

“oh thank god, that would’ve been so embarrassing” he says and you laugh, he was just so damn cute.

Seokjin-

You and Jin talk for a few minutes before someone comes over and whispers something in his ear, he nods and tells them to give in a few minutes. when they walk away he turns to you.

“well I have to go now, but I was wondering if maybe you wanted to get dinner with me sometime this week?” he asks and you nod. He smiles widely down at you before pulling his phone out and handing it to you. you quickly put your number in his phone.

You both say goodbye and he walks about ten feet before he turns around and dramatically blows you a flying kiss, turning back around and walking out.

You stand there stunned for a few seconds before laughing loudly.

Yoongi-

A couple of weeks had gone by and you couldn’t get your mind off that cute piano teacher with the adorable gummy smile. You were currently sitting on your sisters couch as she finished getting Ava ready for her piano lesson.

“hey can I take her to her lesson today?” you causally ask, looking down at your hands, avoiding eye contact with your sister who watches with a knowing smirk on her face.

“yeah that’s fine, any particular reason?” she questions, eyebrow raised as she puts Ava’s sweater on. You quickly shake your head, insisting that you had to pick a few things up by the music studio, she just hums.

When you get to the studio Yoongi is standing by the door, talking with a family of a little boy who wants to learn how to play the guitar. You smile at him before heading over towards the piano, taking Ava’s bag and sitting down in the seat next to the guitars.

Yoongi appears a few moments later, apologizing for the delay before sitting down next to Ava and telling her about a few more of the piano keys.

When the lesson ends you stand to leave but a hand on your arm stops you, you turn to find a blushing Yoongi.

“hey um I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go see a movie with me this weekend? If not that’s totally fine” he says, looking down towards the ground.

“oh yeah okay, I would like that” you tell him and you both exchange numbers before you and Ava head out. When you get back to your sisters house, your quick to tell her about your date.

Hoseok-

A few days later you get a text from Hoseok asking if you could teach him how to do one of the dance moves your students did. You quickly send a reply, asking when he was available and telling him to meet you at your dance studio in an hour.

When you get there Hoseok is standing outside waiting, the two of you go in and begin doing a few stretches and warmups.

“so how long have you been dancing?” he asks as you do some leg stretches. You tell him about how when you were younger you saw some street dancers and thought they were really amazing and wanted to learn how to do what they were doing, begging your mom to put you in dance class and how you loved ever second of it.

After teaching Hoseok the move, you guys begin doing some random freestyling and before you know it, a few hours have passed and your both tired and sweaty, ready to fall into bed.

“hey do you want to go grab some food with me tomorrow?” he ask after you lock the door to the studio and begin walking down the street, in the direction of the bus stop at the corner

“yeah that sound cool” you say and he nods

You both wait at the bus stop, realizing that you were going in the same direction, only a few stops away from each other. You say goodbye when the bus pulls up at the stop near your apartment, promising to see each other tomorrow.

Jimin-

Ever since that night at the bar, jimin has been coming to your job every night to see you but you never seem to be there. He thought about not coming tonight but his best friend Taehyung dragged him out to celebrate some photoshoot he just got booked for with a big time magazine.

When he walked inside the bar he was surprised to find you behind the counter, serving a few drinks to a customer. You smiled widely when you saw him approaching you.

“well if it isn’t the guy who sat here for hours but only had one beer” you say and he laughs

“I couldn’t get too drunk, what if I would’ve said something embarrassing?” he questions and you raise one of you eyebrows, before quoting multiple embarrassing things that he said that night as he face turns a deep red color.

His friend stands there, watching as the two of you flirt back in forth for a while, jimin not even remembering that he’s sitting right next to him until you walk away to help another customer and he elbows the older male.

“no wonder you insisted we come to this bar even though its far as fuck from your house” taehyung says to his friend and jimin bites back a smile, telling him that he liked the drinks here. When you walk back Jimin is alone, his friend in the bathroom.

“hey are you free tomorrow?”

“um yeah I’m pretty sure I am, why?” you asks

“wanna hangout? We can go see a movie, or grab something to eat” he says and you nod, writing you number down on a napkin and sliding it across the bar for him.

Taehyung-

“so y/n, what brings you here if your not a model?” he asks, he has now changed out of the outfit he was wearing and into something a bit more casual.

“oh I’m just here to support my friend” you tell him, pointing at your friend who was looking over the pictures that were just taken, he hums but doesn’t reply.

“so your not a model, what do you do?”

“oh I’m a secretary at a law firm” you tell him and he lets out a small ah. Just then your friend runs over to tell you that she’s not going to be done by the time she told you she would and that she may have to stay for an extra hour and a half, apologizing and telling you that she understands if you want to leave. She returns to where the models are standing.

“since your going to be stuck here for a little longer do you want to go get something to eat? There’s a diner a few blocks away with the best chocolate milkshakes” he tells you and how could you turn that down?

That’s right, you can’t, so you just nod, walking towards the exit.

Jungkook-

For the next couple of weeks you and jungkook meet up a few times a week to play video games together, always saving the other a computer.

Your currently sat at one of the computes in the back, your bag occupying the seat next to you, telling anyone who tries to sit down that the seat was already taken.

You look around for jungkook, noticing that its later than usual and he still hasn’t showed. A few minutes later jungkook is sitting in the seat next to you, apologizing profusely.

He tells you that one of his friends had an emergency and he had to stay and help. You tell him that its okay and he doesn’t have to apologize, you just hope his friend is okay.

You play a few rounds, before clicking onto a new game you heard of and wanted to play. Turns out you sucked at the game, but jungkook was great, he kept giving you lives and helping you when you were close to dying.

You and jungkook leave a few minutes before closing time, walking back to the university campus together. You walk for a few minutes before jungkook suddenly stops walking, you turn to ask him is everything okay but before you can get any words out jungkook is opening his mouth.

“do you want to go on a date with me?”

“uh yeah, I’d like that,” you say and he smiles, relieved, as you continue walking.

Notes: can yall requests some reactions? i have a few ideas but I want to write more. please and thank you😘😘

#bts #bts fanfic #bts reactions #bts x reader #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook

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fantasyloversanonymous · 2 years

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Forevermore, Prince -Twelve

Aelyssan

She had never felt much like a... princess.

Whether it was her right or her blood, she’d never felt it. Her mother had never overtly spoilt her children, or tried to get others to do so. Aelyssan supposed her elder brothers had been the only ones to ever try to spoil her and treat her princess-like, until more siblings came along after her. She enjoyed her big, brazen family. She enjoyed that none of them looked identical and that each went about their life not fretting over their ties to each other. [Around 2000 words, continue below]

That was mostly why Aelyssan didn’t understand Aemond’s relationships to, well, any of his family. As they dressed, she was stuck thinking about it again.

They would be back in Kings Landing within a few hours. They would’ve arrived yesterday, had Aemond deigned to continue to travel. She almost worried he was regretting his choice to bring her back with him, to present her to his family and not look for permission but instead forgiveness. Yet the way he’d ravished her last night had swept those worries eagerly away.

Aemond’s hands came to either of her shoulders, pressing gently into her skin. He set his chin in the crook of her neck and she could feel his breath fan over her jaw. He was oddly cool again, even though the heat in the woods was almost excruciating. A strange storm was building and practically pulsing. They’d be lucky to avoid it.

“Ñuha dārilaros,” she cautioned him, though even she felt a bit playful. He had barely let her have him last night and that had left her particularly needy, even though she was also drained in her own right. “Tie the back?” she asked lightly.

Aemond kissed her neck and she thought he might argue and she wouldn’t particularly care to stop him if he did and yet. Yet. He drew back from her and did as she asked, tying the back of her shirt as she asked. He’d been like that a lot as they travelled, doing things for her. He’d even been helping her salve and set her ankle, which was finally, finally healing completely. She could walk on it without limping or wincing, but Aemond was still cautious.

“Are you prepared for today?” It sounded more like a command than question to Aelyssan. As he asked it, he finished the threads of her shirt. It was a dark grey that he’d remarked offset her eyes well when she’d first worn it about a week ago. She had nothing to wear that was princess-y, and she didn’t feel like wearing it anyway. His family wouldn’t like her so much as they would have to accept her, so she didn’t need to play any particular part.

“Iksan,” she answered in High Valyrian and turned to Aemond.

He kissed her with no hesitation. Just like he had all these weeks traveling, no matter who was near them, who was watching, Aemond didn’t pull back from her. Aelyssan relished it and his taste and the way he’d grip her jaw when he wanted her to let his tongue explore her mouth.

She tugged his lip before he had a chance to do the same to her and pulled back, smiling. Aemond’s own lips twitched upward, like he was about to be a hunter after prey. She loved this game with him, where he wanted to be in charge but he also wanted her to take and do as she pleased. It left them both always wanting plenty more.

It was exhilarating. Aemond. Everything.

“Emi naejot jikagon,” she tried to tell him.

Aemond didn’t care. “Aderī,” he said, a light, half-hearted promise. Aelyssan was against the rough bark of a towering tree before she could open her mouth to argue. One of Aemond’s hands hooked under her, hoisting her up and forcing her to wrap around his waist.

She laughed into his next kiss. She wouldn’t tell him no, she wanted this moment too, probably more than he did. This egregious bit of bliss before the true tests and storm to come.

Every moment was worth it. Earned.

She hoped, stupidly, there were plenty more to come.

—

Aelyssan had a cloak of black feathers on when they passed through the gates of the Red Keep.

Her memories here were fond and not. Part of her wanted to turn her brown mare and leave. The other part that seemed tethered to Aemond and was pulling after him constantly tugged her forward. He rode at the front, alongside his knight and Lord Larys Strong.

Aelyssan, with her feathered hood up, had told him she didn’t want to accompany him so boldly in the city. Not until they’d already beseeched his family. She was far from ashamed of herself and far from a coward, but still. She had been polite to the queen before. She hoped that, and this, would earn her back a few points she was sure to lose.

Aemond had given her the cloak. He’d called it one of his favorites, because the feather’s gleamed so well that they looked more reflective than like feathers themselves. She had wondered at it for awhile before he’d clipped it around her neck. He said she could borrow it, and only keep it if she paid her dues. She was well aware of what that meant, and she was looking forward to it.

So long as she survived the rest.

Aemond waited for her at one of the keeps numerous entrances. She had left her mare in its stable herself. She’d grown quite fond of it, and Aemond had paid the man who rode it to find her handsomely in order to let her have it. It still needed a name but she couldn’t focus on that.

Not as she saw him and she pushed her hood down. She tried to smile, even as she saw Criston Cole at his side. The knight looked perpetually aggressive, probably because Aemond continued to defy and piss him off. Like now, she was sure, as Aemond held his hand toward her.

She took it too eagerly for Ser Criston’s liking. She could tell he barely kept his scoff in as he turned from her and the prince.

Aemond leaned to her ear as they began to walk. “Issi ao paktot nūmāzma bisa?” Criston almost lost a step, but regained composure completely. He hadn’t expected them to speak in another language, apparently.

“Īles aōha kȳvanon,” Aelyssan offered back.

“Iksan sure nūmāzma ziry.”

“Sȳz.”

“Sȳz,” Aemond said the same with a smile. He sounded oddly amused. Why was she nervous and him not? It didn’t make any sense. Maybe because the roles were reversed the last time she’d had an audience with his mother and grandsire. She wondered about it dully as they walked, their hands entwined.

A few servants looked at them and then sharply turned away. None seemed to eager to get Aemond’s attention if they looked on too long. And none of them spoke, either.

Aelyssan felt her mind drift back to the girl she’d met her first day in the Red Keep. The girl who’d followed her into the Riverlands, whose blood had splattered across her face because she had felt some sort of sick sympathy toward Aelyssan. Or at least, that’s how Larys had viewed it. That was the supposed heinous crime he’d murdered her for.

Aelyssan didn’t noticed how harshly she was clinging to Aemond’s hand until he tugged on her. “Vaoreznuni,” she ground out. Aemond shrugged but still stared at her. She had to turn away.

“My Prince,” Criston spoke ahead of them, one hand outstretched to knock on a large door.

Aelyssan held her breath. She didn’t let it loose even as a woman called for them to enter or even as they stepped through. She didn’t breathe until Aemond dropped her hand and walked a bit ahead of her, to embrace his mother.

The queen looked regal and worried, but smiled wondrously as she embraced her son. Then Aelyssan let her breath escape her.

Soft and fast words were expressed between Aemond and Alicent. The queen, for her part, tried to appear cordial, understanding. She didn’t let a single piece of her ruffle at whatever Aemond said, not even when he motioned to Aelyssan, beckoning her forward.

She went even though she didn’t particularly want to. “Your Grace.”

“Please,” Alicent spoke and clasped her hands together. The smile she donned then looked a bit misplaced, more fit for a portrait of a monarch than a monarch themself. “We should be past that, since Aemond seems so inclined to have you around. Call me Alicent.”

“Alicent,” Aelyssan corrected herself. Her name felt entirely gross on her tongue.

“Mother,” Aemond cautioned at the same time.

“I know the Valyrian genes are strong, Aelyssan, but you are as bright as a true-born.” Aelyssan almost winced. She knew Aemond had to get his... prejudices somewhere, and his mother wasn’t apt at hiding her own. Hers were even sharper. “Do you know who your father is?”

Aemond had warned her this would come up. She was prepared. She could be polite. “A long-time friend of my mother. A good man.” Her words were honest enough, for the queen. Long-time friend did sound better than patron after all. And he was a good man.

“And he fathered one of the boys that everyone met at the Great Council, Aemond says?” She asked like she didn’t believe her son.

“Yes.”

“What was his name? Could you remind me. I was so young then.”

“Arrion.”

The queen hummed and looked back to Aemond. “This is what you want. You cannot marry her, Aemond, and you will have to marry eventually.”

She and Aemond had discussed that, too. Still, something pained in her stomach like the very thought would drive her to sickness. She ignored it and studied the wall, the tapestries in the queen’s rooms. Most things were decorative of the Church of Seven.

“Yes,” Aemond answered plainly.

Alicent grabbed his by either arm and sighed. She looked too young and too fragile then, to Aelyssan, to be a mother and a queen. One wrong move and it seemed she’d topple over and become nothing at all. “Protect yourself, Aemond, promise me.”

Aelyssan’s brows drew together. Protect him from what? Her?

“You have my word,” he answered, and Aelyssan could hear his honesty, his determination in those binding words to his mother.

Again, the queen looked at her. Less scathingly, but still harsh enough Aelyssan wanted to turn away. “Even if I support you, there are a many more that will not. Be cautious. Do you understand?”

She sounded oddly like she actually cared, actually worried for Aelyssan. Aelyssan knew it was only because any harm that might come to her Aemond might feel personally. “Of course.” She bowed her head to the queen, even though it felt discomforting.

“Mother,” Aemond said again and leaned forward to kiss either of her cheeks. She looked like she might not let him go, afraid of what could possibly await him even outside her chamber doors. Still, Aemond pulled free and without letting Aelyssan even murmur a goodbye to his mother, pulled her toward and through the door. Some new kings-guard knight was waiting outside, and he must’ve been the one actually assigned to Aemond, because he followed them only a few steps behind as they walked from the queen’s chambers.

Aelyssan watched as Ser Criston Cole disappeared through the queen’s threshold. She wondered if Aemond pretended he couldn’t hear the queen curse and shout something at Criston. He only peered down at her, his face glowing almost triumphantly.

She felt like she was forever falling around and into Aemond.

The prince smiled, arrogant and pleased, and Aelyssan smiled back even as something whispered a warning within her.

Translations:

My prince

I am

We have to go

Soon

Are you sure about this [Are you right about this]

It was your plan

I’m sure about it

#aemond #prince aemond #prince aemond x oc #prince aemond targaryen #aemond x oc #aemond x original character #aemond targaryen #hotd aemond #hotd aemond targaryen #aemond hotd #hotd fic #house of the dragon #aemond one eye #fantasyloversanonymous #flaaemondfic1

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neowinestainedress · 2 years

Text

Everything has changed ; lee haechan

title: everything has changed | part of the “loving him was red” series

pairing: lee haechan x oc | side members: oc best friend!kim jungwoo

genre: coffee shop!au, strangers to friends to lovers, fluff, mutual pining, getting together, (tiny little bit) angst

warnings: none

summary: She would’ve never imagined that the person that would’ve turned her life around was going to show up in that small cafè where she worked every day and hated so much. But sometimes, it only takes a coffee shop, brown eyes and a rain storm for everything to change.

words: 11.937k

taglist: @meowniee @commentgirl @b1kon131 @blossom-rea @kyungsooislifeu @jenosbliss @multistan30 | if you’d like to be added comment on the masterlist of the series

a/n: I should’ve published this one ages ago but I just couldn’t finish it and somehow I’m still not quite satisfied with the result. I feel like something is missing (probably it's the pain so that's a personal problem) but anyway it's here and I still hope you'll like it! Feedback is always appreciated, I’d love to know what you think about it.

All I knew this morning when I woke, is I know something now know something now I didn't before. And all I've seen since 18 hours ago, is green eyes and freckles and your smile, in the back of my mind, making me feel like...

Mondays were always the same for Iseul, a traumatic start for yet another stressful week. It wasn’t like she didn’t enjoy working at the small coffee shop on Jeju Island. People were nice, but seeing the same old faces made her feel stuck. Being born and raised on a small island can make you feel trapped, and that was exactly how she felt. Trapped.

Grandma Park’s sweet smile wasn’t enough to make her feel better. Just like the curious questions of the three-year-old Sooyoung, or the stray dog that always ran on the back to get some leftovers and let her cuddle him.

But she had to bring money home and take care of her family. Her grandmother had always been there for her, and she surely couldn’t leave her behind right now when she needed her the most. So, shaking the sleep off her face, she got up, ready – more or less – to face another day.

The strong scent of coffee filled her nostrils as she greeted the nth customer of the day, bidding goodbye. It was almost five in the afternoon, and she felt exhausted.

“God, I hate full-day shifts,” she whined, sitting on the stool in front of the cash register, resting her elbow on the desk and placing her cheek on her fist to stare at Jungwoo that was washing the cups and plates of the last customers that just left.

“At least people here are nice,” he commented, putting the pottery in its place. “And they aren’t always in a rush, pressing you to get their coffee done in two seconds.”

“But it gets so boring here,” she complained, twirling on the chair.

“It’s because you make it boring,” Jungwoo replied, shrugging. “Look at me, I enjoy the little things of life and live amazingly.”

She glared at her friends and shook her head. She also enjoyed the little things of life, but sometimes, they just weren’t enough. Most of the time they weren’t enough. The idea of spending her whole life like this wasn’t appealing at all, especially when it wasn’t what she had studied for and craved. She saw her dream break right in front of her eyes when her grandmother’s conditions worsened, and she had to give up flying to Seoul to take a degree in psychology to look after her grandmother and her little brother.

“I have to go check the back, look at the customers,” Jungwoo announced before disappearing without giving her time to answer.

She nodded, even though he wasn’t there anymore and stood up to stretch her back, not hearing the doorbell ring.

“Though it was a bar, not a gym,” a voice said playfully and she stilled before recomposing herself again and turning around to meet what appeared to her like the most handsome boy she had ever seen.

She coughed, shaking her head and trying not to get lost in his golden-brown eyes, or his tan skin, or his plump pink lips and his silky brown hair… “Oh, yes, sorry,” she apologized, bowing politely.

The boy chuckled, passing his tongue on his lips, “Oh, no, there’s really no need for all this formality, I get it, really.”

She smiled shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and said, “It was a really long day.”

“No worries,” he reassured, resting his elbow on the counter and peeking his head to see what sweets were left behind the window. “It was a long day also for me, waking up early to prepare the last things and fly here from Seoul. I’m starving,” he confessed, letting out a huff and rolling his head back.

“Wow, you’re from Seoul? What brings you here?”

“I used to live here, then moved to Seoul and now I came back because my grandpa needs help.”

“Shit,” she mumbled under her breath, “I’m sorry for being inconsiderate.”

He shook his head, “You’re not being inconsiderate for asking me a question I decided to answer, but for not proposing anything to eat,” he chuckled, dragging a stool closer to him, and sitting on it.

She snapped out of her trance, cursing herself for being so dumb and grabbed tongs and opened the small glass window where they kept the food, “Sorry. So, what’d you like?”

“That sandwich will be fine,” he answered, pointing at the one closest to her.

“Can I serve you anything else?” She asked while placing the bread on a clean plate and handing it to him.

“No, I’m fine for now. Can I pay when I’m done?”

“Sure,” she smiled, and right when she was about to ask him something else, Jungwoo came back from the storage room.

She turned around, not even trying to hide the big smile on her face and that made Jungwoo furrow.

“Are you okay?” He asked, tilting his head before walking close to her.

She nodded, “Yeah, why?”

He shrugged and started to walk around the desk, ready to serve a new customer who sat down at a table, “Nothing. You’ll tell me soon, anyway.”

She rolled her eyes and then turned around, making eye contact with the boy from before, he was staring at the scene with curiosity while eating – more like devouring – his sandwich.

She lowered her head, smoothing the creases on her apron and grabbed a cloth before walking out of the counter to go clean some tables. In reality, they were already clean, but she needed to keep herself busy and don’t stand near that handsome stranger.

But as she moved around the small coffee shop, she could feel his gaze burn on her skin as he kept ordering other things; first a glass of water, then coffee and then a sweet. And there weren’t other tables anymore, so giving up, she came back behind the cash, throwing the cloth in the bin.

“I feared I had to buy the whole cafe to have you here again,” he teased, chin resting on his intertwined hands.

She raised a brow and cocked her head, looking at him, “And why?”

“You started to serve me, I wanted you to finish,” he explained before standing up from the chair and fixing the leather jacket that wrapped his upper body perfectly. “It seemed fair since I let you know why I’m here.”

She nodded, “Okay, here I am,” she smiled, hand pointing at herself, focusing on what he had ordered to give him the bill instead of getting lost in him. “It’ll be 9.325 won.”

When he paid and walked out of the door, she felt her world go still once again. It was the middle of May, so it wasn’t cold at all, yet she felt cold wrap all around her body.

But his eyes, his smile and his nose didn’t leave her mind. His face was on every same old customer that came in to grab something to eat or drink. His face was in the back of her mind while she cleaned the dishes and fixed some boxes of food in the fridges in the back. His face tormented her all the driveway back home, when she greeted her brother and her grandma and even when she went to sleep.

Something about him made her heart lit up, finding a flame she thought she had lost long ago. She knew nothing about him, he was just a complete stranger, and he easily could’ve just been added to the mass of people that crossed her path only once in her life. And that night, that thought made her heart break a little as the fear of never seeing him again crept into her bones.

I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now. I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now. I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now. I just wanna know you, know you, know you...

Maybe it was luck, maybe it was destiny that for once reserved her something good, but that mysterious boy started to show up every morning at the coffee shop.

And every time that his head popped from the front door, her day lighted up. Just seeing his face, hearing his voice and seeing his beautiful smile, was enough to turn her day around.

He never stayed a lot, just grabbed his over caloric pumpkin spice latte and a chocolate muffin and then sprung out of the door. It killed her; she wanted to know him more, at least know his name, but he was always out of reach.

“What’s with that sad face?” Jungwoo asked her, sitting next to her since the bar was empty. “It’s because Pumpkin didn’t show up?”

“Pumpkin?” She laughed, trying to play it cool and avoiding his interrogating gaze. “And who’s that?”

Jungwoo rolled his eyes and grabbed her knees to make her turn around to face her. “Don’t play dumb, you know who I’m talking about.”

She huffed, crossing her arms on her chest. “Fine, I’m just worried. Maybe something happened.”

Her friend raised a brow, “Sure, whatever. It’s not that you miss him and are dying to know him better, right?”

“Why do you care? I care for him just like I care for any other regular customer,” she defended, standing up from the stool to start to set up the dishwasher that had just ringed, letting them know it had finished cleaning.

“Yeah, you’re super worried when Mr. Kim doesn’t show up for a day, I saw you crying in the bathroom the other day, terrified something terrible happened to him,” he ironized, helping her with the dishes.

She stopped for a second, fist resting against her waist, “Maybe I care for him a little bit more.” It felt so humiliating to admit that she cared for someone she barely even knew, but it was the truth. And Jungwoo already knew it, they grew up together, and she always acted the same when she had a crush... if she could call him that. Jungwoo was just waiting for her to admit it out loud.

“I knew that!” her friend chanted, throwing up a fist. “So, it’s a crush. Finally, you have eyes for somebody that is not Oh Sehun?”

“Oh, shut up! You make me sound delusional if you say that.”

“You were the one saying to me that no men on this island come close to him.”

“And, in fact, Pumpkin is not from this island.”

“Who’s not from this island?” His voice resonated in the room and Jungwoo winked at her before leaving her all alone, disappearing in the back again. She damnded her best friend and then took a deep breath before turning around.

“We were discussing the drinks we sell here, and how small is the Korean offers,” she lied, heart skipping a beat when he smiled at her.

Jungwoo peeked from the back door and stared at the scene while pretending to be busy doing something.

“And Pumpkin spice latte with an extra whip is surely not typical,” he joked, running a hand through his hair, it seemed damp as if he had run there.

“No, definitely not, but I guess that’s what you’ll take, right?”

He nodded with a big smile on his face, and all the worries of the day left her mind. It didn’t matter he didn’t show up this morning, he was there now, and even if he seemed tired – even stressed – he looked beautiful as always and somehow found the strength to be positive and joyful.

Once she was done preparing the drink and handing it to him, she gathered the courage to ask his name, but before she could open her mouth, he was already out of the door.

And somehow it always happened like this, some morning she couldn’t even take him because she was already busy with other people and – as much as he loved her – Jungwoo couldn’t make him wait forever solely for her to talk to him.

It felt like a stupid game; life wanted to give her a reason to wake up in the morning and carry through every day, no matter how terrible it was, but without never letting her get to the prize. It was tiring, and she had no idea what else to do to get closer to him.

'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello". And your eyes look like comin' home. All I know is a simple name, and everything has changed. All I know is you held the door You'll be mine and I'll be yours. All I know since yesterday, is everything has changed

Iseul yawned as she finished fixing the chair around on of the tables. She was alone since Jungwoo had to leave early, but anyway they were closed, and she was just trying to keep herself busy waiting for the storm to calm down before heading home.

“Sorry, we’re closed, I’ve forgotten to lock,” she turned around and gasped when she saw him. “Oh, hi.”

“I can leave if that’s a problem.”

“No, no,” she said immediately. “I might do some company.”

“Why are you still here?”

“Jungwoo had to go. So I was just finishing things up to don’t leave a mess in the morning,” she explained and then looked at him. “What are you doing standing there? Come here.”

He smiled at her, “I don’t want to make a mess, I’m a little… wet,” he chuckled, head lowering to point at his wet clothes.

“It’s fine, come sit here. I’ll get you a cloth,” she said, before turning on her heels and going on the back to grab something dry to help him warm up a little.

“Do you want something to drink? I can’t give you your usual sugary favourite drink but maybe… some tea? I don’t know.”

“I don’t want to be more of a pain in the ass,” he laughed, wrapping the cloth around his body.

She giggled, trying to hide how fast her heart was beating right at the moment. “You’re not. Actually, I rather don’t be lonely. Nothing ever happens here, but you may never know.”

“Aren’t I just a stranger?”

“I guess, you never told me your name,” she dared to say, subtly trying to let him take the hint she wanted to know it. “But we see each other every morning, so we’re not so strangers to each other.”

“I’m Haechan,” he replied, reaching his hand out.

“I’m Iseul,” she replied, trying to don’t blush when their hands touched. “So, what were you doing around here? You’re here in the morning usually.”

“I was coming back from work, actually. But I lost the last bus and since it’s raining, I guessed you were still open, but you aren’t.”

“I didn’t kick you out, though,” she chuckled.

“With all the money I give to this bar every morning, it’s the bare minimum,” Haechan joked, leaning his back against the table, scrolling the towel in his hair to shake out more water. And it was a miracle her mouth didn’t gape at the sight.

Shaking her head and giving him a small smile, she said, “Not my fault I make the best pumpkin latte.”

“I don’t come here for a drink,” he replied, wetting his lips and staring at her straight in the eyes.

“No?”

He shook his head. “There’s somebody I really like that comes here too.”

She felt her heart drop. Did he like somebody else? Who was she? He never stayed there for long, how could he even see somebody and fall for them?

“Oh, who is… do I know her?”

“It’s you, dummy.”

Her brown eyes widened in shock as she felt her whole body heat up, “Me?”

“You’re the reason that drink is so good, if I went to any other bar, it wouldn’t be so good.”

Oh, he meant it like that.

“Oh,” she whispered, looking down on the floor. What a fool. Of course, he couldn’t like her in any other way.

“You never told me why you work here, you don’t seem really excited to be here,” he said, “Wait, let me explain, you smile a lot and you’re super polite with people, but it had happened I just stopped and stared at you, and when no customer is in front of you your face changes.”

She stammered silently, attempting to find the right words but she had no idea what to say. Should she lie? Or tell the truth? What did he even care?

“I like working here,” she said, forcing a smile on her face. “But it’s not what I really had in mind when I imagined what my life was going to be.”

“Things gone wrong?”

She shrugged and crossed her arms to her chest; she didn’t like talking about that. There was nothing she could do to change that, and she already dwelt on it by herself.

“What about you? What do you do back in Seoul?”

“I work for a company, kind of boring, to be honest, but it’s all experience and then if everything goes well when I’ll get back I’ll have the chance to work as a script supervisor in another agency.”

“Wow, that’s cool,” she said, smiling at him. “So you plan on going back?”

“Yeah, with all respect, here is not really where I want to be.”

She nodded. “And are you going soon?” She knew this was going to happen, she was the first one that wanted to leave, but she hoped that the only person that made her look forward to the new day wouldn’t leave already.

“No, it’s not happening soon,” he said, before stretching and yawning.

“Tired?” She chuckled, leaning onward to rest her arms on her knees.

“A little bit,” he replied, “What about coffee? I don’t think the rain is going to calm down soon, maybe we could avoid falling asleep here.”

She nodded, she was tired too after the long day, so she could use some coffee. “But I only have instant coffee, sorry but I don’t want to clean the machines again,” she said, standing up and heading behind the counter, followed by him.

“That’s fine,” he replied, before taking off the cloth and folding it, leaving it on the desk in front of him.

“Do you work tomorrow?” He asked, watching her grab two cups and the other things she needed to make coffee.

“I’m always here,” she reminded him. “I don’t think you look at me very much,” she joked, adding two spoons in the cup.

“I do,” he replied, “I look at you attentively,” he added, voice low, almost provocative.

She gulped and tried to hide the excitement with a nervous laugh.

“Like right now, for example, you’re blushing.”

She almost choked on air and then laughed awkwardly, “You’re just making things up.”

“Whatever,” Haechan shrugged, before grabbing the cup from her hand and bringing it to his lips. “You’re really pretty by the way,” he added, smiling smugly as he watched her blush brightly and almost choke on the sip of the drink.

The rain calmed down just when the clock hit eight, and they talked and talked, so much that they almost didn’t realize they were finally free to go home and enjoy a warm shower and a hot dish after a long day out.

“So, this is it,” Iseul said, locking the door of the cafe and then pulling down the shutters before turning around to face Haechan that was waiting behind her with his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans.

“Yep. Thank you for letting me stay,” he repeated for the nth time, making her roll her eyes.

“How many times do I have to tell you it was no problem? I would’ve died from boredom all alone,” she reassured him, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ears and then hugging her black purse tighter so it wouldn’t have slipped from her shoulder.

Haechan beamed and then scratched his neck, looking around.

“Wait, you don’t have a car…” she realized, tilting her head. “Come on, let’s go,” she ordered, before opening the umbrella and waiting for him to get underneath. He smiled and she felt her heart jump in her chest when he intertwined their arms and started walking to her car.

“By the way, you could’ve asked, I would’ve dropped you home anyway,” she said, chuckling lightly, when they finally arrived at the car.

The drive home was spent with the radio keeping them company while they kept talking about this and that, mostly about stories they shared of growing up there, finding it weird how they’d never crossed paths before that moment.

“We don’t live that far from each other,” she noted as she pulled up in the driveway and parked in front of his place, well, his grandfather’s place.

“Really?”

“Yep, I’m just a street away, actually.”

“Well, then, maybe next time I could take you home,” he smirked.

“Without a car?”

“I can drive, I just don’t have it here.”

“Oh, and what are you going to do? Use my car to drop me home and then you drive here? And what will I do in the morning?”

“I could pick you up,” he winked.

She chuckled, shaking her head. God, he was really making her go crazy.

“Goodnight, Haechan,” she greeted, watching him open the door.

“Goodnight, Iseul,” he replied before handing her a small paper and rushing to the door before she could ask him what it was.

She froze on the spot when she opened the paper and read his number.

What had just happened that night? When did she get so lucky?

And all my walls stood tall painted blue. But I'll take 'em down, take 'em down, and open up the door for you.

There was a reason if Haechan didn’t let people in. He had no time for that. He had one thing very clear in mind, and that was his future. He just wanted to get there; to the finish line, and finally, do the job he so long worked hard for.

And well, there was also another reason. He wasn’t exactly lucky with relationships. He had to admit that half of the time – all the time – it was his fault for running away when things went well – too well for his liking. He didn’t picture himself settled with somebody at his side for the rest of his life, not yet at least.

So he couldn’t understand what was the feeling he got with Iseul. He couldn’t understand how she slipped past his walls so easily. He couldn’t understand how he looked forward to meeting her in the morning at the bar, smiling behind the counter with no need to even ask him the drink he wanted. He couldn’t understand why the only thing that made him look forward to the end of the day was knowing that she was there, ready to pick him up to go back home. And he couldn’t understand why he hated the bus so much when they had different shifts and she couldn’t do that. He couldn’t even understand why every time he looked at her, he pictured himself settled in a house with somebody at his side, her.

“I shouldn’t be doing this and if my boss sees me, she will kill me. But we were going to throw them away anyway,” she said, lifting a little box full of sweets as she rushed out of the workplace, Jungwoo was going to close tonight. “You know, dumb rules about not selling food after a day.”

Haechan smiled and then grabbed the box from her hand. “And are they for me?”

“Yeah, I know you always eye them but can’t eat them because you’re in a rush in the morning so you can enjoy them tonight."

“Maybe we could eat out?” He asked hesitantly, eyes not finding the courage to look at her. What happened to his openly flirty personality?

“Us?"

“Well, we did that once, right? Two weeks ago, for lunch.”

“Maybe not tonight.”

He almost felt his heart break in his chest at those words. He was doing too much, and he had just crossed a line, scaring her forever, right? “You don’t want to?”

“I do. But let’s go on a date, a proper one,” she proposed, no idea where the confidence came from. But she felt like she just couldn’t wait any longer. The lunch they had together wasn’t a date, but she wanted to seriously go out with him and get to know him better. “Saturday night? I’ll come pick you up at 7:30.”

“Oh, fine by me,” he replied with a shrug, but he had to lower his head to hide the happy grin that curled his lips as they walked to her car.

He had no idea what was happening, but she was making his walls fall down, and for some reason, he wasn’t scared at all.

And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies, the beautiful kind, makin' up for lost time, takin' flight, makin' me feel like...

Iseul had no idea when it was the last time she felt like that. Electrified. On edge for something that was about to happen. Probably it was because she didn’t have a date in ages, and also because she never asked someone out. Or more easily because she never liked someone as much as she liked Haechan.

Calling it love was a big word, but she was now more than sure that she felt something for him, and whatever it was, was big.

So now she was rocking on her tiptoes as she waited for the clock to hit seven in front of her mirror, trying to fix the last details. He had seen her worn out after work, like a mess in the morning during those days when she couldn’t even find the strength to fix the eye bag under her eyes, yet, she wanted to be perfect for that night.

The place they were going wasn’t even expensive but she still wanted to be beautiful and wanted the night to be flawless.

She took a deep breath, fixed her hair one last time, and then rushed to the front door after bidding goodbye to her grandmother and brother.

She had been driving down that street for weeks now but she had never felt like that before. And maybe these butterflies in her stomach were rather stupid, maybe for Haechan it meant absolutely nothing. They were good friends and that was it, but she still couldn’t control the way her lips stayed curled for the whole drive to his house, or the way her palms were sweating, making it hard for her to grip the wheel and how her thighs were bouncing nervously against the leather seat as she waited for him to come out of the door.

And there he was, jumping down the few stairs that lead into the small garden, his black boots at the feet, the black tight jeans highlighting his beautiful long legs, the white shirt and the leather jacket wrapped around his torso.

“Hi,” he greeted cheerfully, entering the car and smiling at her.

She blinked twice, drifting her eyes from his handsome face and the way his hair fell around it, and greeted back before coughing and starting the car again.

“The restaurant is quite close,” she said, trying to fill the silence even if they had been together for less than a minute. Why was this so awkward? Why did it feel so different? They used to do this every single day basically. But this was different, they weren’t driving to work, they were going out on a date, a real one, and it felt so surreal.

But Haechan wasn’t listening, too caught up to stare at her. His eyes ran over her figure over and over, wondering how she could be real, now more than ever as she didn’t carry the tiredness of a whole day of work.

“You look amazing,” he said with no hesitation, not even realizing those words slipped past his lips and didn’t stay in his brain until she turned around, almost swerving with the car.

“Wow, wow, I didn’t want to scare you,” he joked, hoping that in the dim light of the evening she couldn’t see the way his face blushed.

“I just, I wasn’t expecting that,” she reassured him with a small smile, hands gripping the wheel tighter and then her eyes focused on the street again.

“Pink looks good on you,” he complimented again and this time she didn’t shake but she simply mumbled ‘thanks’ and smiled.

The rest of the drive went smoothly as they chatted about stupid gossip they read on Twitter and sang along to the songs passing on the radio. It wasn’t much different from their usual drives, but the atmosphere between them was different.

“Do you come here often?” He asked when the food arrived and they started eating. They had arrived at the small restaurant for around fifteen minutes, but the talks between them were still centred around what they talked about in the car.

“I don’t really go out, I prefer my grandma’s homemade cook,” she admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes curling up in a smile.

“I need to try it someday, then,” he said, winking at her. A sneaky, subtle remark, for her to invite him home.

“I’m sure she’d love you. She’s very picky with people I bring home, that’s why I have like two friends allowed,” she joked.

“Jungwoo included, I hope.”

She chuckled, “Yes, he is for now, but I’m not sure how long it will last. She’s very protective of her porcelain collection and last time he almost made one piece fall to the ground.”

“Okay, if you’ll ever invite me I’ll make sure to don’t go near them. I can be quite clumsy if I want to.”

“Another thing in common, I guess. When I was younger I broke so many things because I couldn’t stay still.”

“And not only when you were young,” he teased, referring to the cups she made fall the day before at work.

“Listen, that was a mistake, they were still full of soap because the dishwasher broke,” she defended herself, rolling her eyes. Out of all the times it could’ve happened, they slipped out of her hands right in front of her boss. And Haechan sitting a few tables away from the crime scene, laughing under his teeth didn’t help her keep a straight face.

“’Kay, ’kay, I believe you, but just because I love you,” he said, a small smile on his face as he looked at her.

“You love me?”

He froze, suddenly realizing what he had said and then laughed it off, “As friends, of course.”

“Oh,” she mumbled, trying to pretend that the absolutely heartbroken gasp was a breath of relief. “You scared me for a second,” she kidded, head lowered, trying to focus on the food in front of her, her fingers struggling to hold the chopsticks as her hands started shaking.

“Were you single back in Seoul?” She asked, trying to change the topic, trying to hurt herself more by reminding herself that it was better like that. He was going to go back there without her, falling for him was just so stupid. But maybe it was far too late...

“Yep, almost never dated in my life,” he said, not really understanding why she asked that.

“You? Single your entire life?” She asked incredulously.

“No,” he chuckled, “I had a fling or two, mostly very superficial things. Love’s just not for me. I’ve always prioritized my studies and my career,” he added. “And you?”

“Single, and not because as Jungwoo says, Sehun doesn’t know about my existence.”

“You’ve never, never, dated?” His voice was full of surprise, not only she was gorgeous and he couldn’t believe people wouldn’t find her attractive, but she also seemed to be extremely romantic, at least, that was what he could guess about her in the last weeks they got to know each other.

She shrugged, averting his gaze, “Just had a… had a life that didn’t give me much time to focus on relationships, let’s say,” she then forced herself to look up and force a smile at him. She never talked about what her life had been, too painful, a weight that still felt too heavy to carry around and she didn’t want to ruin this date with sad things. A talk about her parent’s death was the last thing she needed that night. “But let’s not talk about it,” she cheered, clapping her hands and then leaning to grab the bottle of Soju. “We should cheer.”

Haechan nodded, smiling shyly at her, deciding to let the topic drop. “Cheer to what?”

“To our future, for it to be as bright as possible and to be full of all the things we want.” And probably the thing, the person, she wanted the most wasn’t going to be in her future, surely, it was going to be like that, but she wanted to hope anyway. She deserved a miracle.

And maybe that cheer had been useful, brightening up the date once again. Probably Haechan got that their last conversation made her sad and he did everything he could to make her smile again. Staying around him was so easy that she forgot about everything else. He was such an easygoing person and she was surprised how far under her skin he had gotten in such little time.

And when at the end of the night, she dropped him home, she wondered if it was a good thing that they got so along with each other.

“I had fun,” he confessed, leaning against the passenger seat, staring at her before he would’ve had to go back inside and put an end to a night he just wanted to last forever. “We should do it again,” he proposed, hoping she was in just as much as him, and when her lips turned up in her usual warm smile, his heart warmed up.

“I loved spending the night with you, we should definitely do it again.”

Haechan nodded, turning his head to look at the door, feeling his heart sink in his chest at the thought of leaving. “Well, I should go, now. Don’t want to make you go home too late.”

“Yeah,” she hummed, waiting for him to open the door. “Goodnight, Haechan.”

“Goodnight,” he replied, waving at her one last time, and then getting inside.

She sighed, standing there in the driveway for some minutes, trying to take in what had just happened and calm the beat of her heart.

The butterflies were taking flight, but they were flying so high that she feared their wings were going to get burned by the sun.

Days went over and so did the dates together. It was ‘just one more’ until going out on Saturday became a little tradition between them, whether it was going out to eat dinner together, a walk in a park, or an afternoon spent at the arcade while she cursed because she couldn’t win a single game against him – a big thank you to Jungwoo for often switching their shifts so she could go out even in the evening.

Being around Haechan made her feel good. He just had a personality and a way of being that made her heart feel light, light enough to fly. And his mischievous grins and jokes were a plus that made him so intriguing and exciting. The more she knew about him, the more she wanted to know. And he surprised her every time, he always had a story to tell her, an adventure, anything. And the way he was so free, made her realize even more how many occasions she had lost in her life. And that was the hanging reminder of how this little patch of paradise was meant to be over soon. He needed to fly, and he could do that, and as much as she needed to do it too, she couldn’t just take everything and leave.

It was that stinging pain that hit her every time she took time to look at him more than usual, and when her heart would let itself go more, her brain was always there to put her back on the ground.

“You still didn’t take me home,” Haechan whined while they were walking around the Spirited Garden. They decided to prolong their usual Saturday trip and drive all the way to the other side of the island to visit it and some other parks near to it. Just them and three days immersed in nature.

“You really want to eat my grandma’s food, I get it,” she joked.

“Yeah, and I want to hear embarrassing stories about your childhood.”

“I was good as a kid, a little clumsy, but good,” she told him with a pout on her face.

Haechan sighed, clicking his tongue and shaking his head, not believing her, “I need to hear it from who knows you better.”

A small smile crept on her face while her brain tried to come up with something fast, “She’s a little bit tired, now, that’s why.” Lie. She didn’t bring him home because she knew her grandmother would’ve read right through her and never let her breathe again. She already sensed something just from the way she acted without him around, there was no need to make it worst. ‘It’s either a raise on the check or someone that makes you smile so much,’ her grandma had told her one day and she just laughed it off before running out of the door to go to work.

“Don’t worry, I can understand that. We need to take care of them, right?” He smiled and she nodded.

“We should take some pictures here,” Haechan proposed, pointing ahead of them where a small bridge stood, letting go of the topic of their conversation. “We still don’t have a pic together, that’s a scandal after so many months,” he exclaimed, dragging her by the hand and running on the bricks.

“Oh God, at least warn me when you decide to sprint like this,” she laughed, holding her chest as she tried to regain her breath. “I’m not athletic as you can see.”

Haechan laughed, rolling his head back, shaking his hair out of his forehead.

“You can fully feel the breeze if you do these things randomly.”

“You follow your heart a little bit too much,” she replied, trying to adjust her hair for the picture.

“And you take things a little bit too seriously,”

She sighed and then fixed her skirt and top, hands tight around the bag as she walked closer to him. “Let’s take our first picture then,” she said, ignoring his comment because it was true but she didn’t want to think about it.

“Say ‘cheese’,” he exclaimed.

“Nobody does that anymore,” she huffed, side-eyeing him.

“Okay then just come here, close to me,” he said, wrapping a hand around her waist.

“Here.”

“Closer,” he whined, pressing his cheek flat against hers before lifting the phone again and snapping the photo. She smiled, feeling her skin burn up against his and starting to giggle when he started leaving kisses all over her face.

“Stop! You’re embarrassing,” she screamed through the laughs, trying to squirm away from him, trying hard to pretend that those kisses weren’t the highlight of her day so far.

“You love kisses,” he replied, letting her go, but still close enough that if just one of them leaned in, the kiss would’ve landed on a portion of skin they never dared to graze. And their eyes fell right there, on top of their lips, staring intensely, throats gulping and hands reaching to touch each other. And she was about to give in, she could feel the voice in her brain, the one she never listened to, scream to just let go and kiss him, and for once she wanted to listen, she was going to listen to her impulses and close her eyes and lean in.

But Haechan didn’t want to listen to the voice inside his brain. No matter how much he wanted to give in and finally get a taste of her cherry-like lips. He took a step back and turned around, coughing lightly.

“Should we keep going?” He asked and only his voice brought her back to reality and made her feel so stupid for how vulnerable she showed herself to him.

“Yes, sure. We still have a lot to see,” she replied, trying to hide the shame she felt with a giggle. But that wasn’t enough to stop herself from repeating the memory over and over again and damn herself.

The remaining two days there passed quickly as they tried to brush off the awkward feeling of knowing they were so close to kissing each other, but the embarrassment was only getting bigger thanks to other countless flirty words and other almost given kisses.

And it was their last night there, Iseul stood by the small balcony of their hotel, letting the breeze caress her skin and blow in her hair as her brain flew far away from there, far away, where she wanted to be the most.

“A little pensive tonight?” Haechan’s voice made her snap up, head turning around to look at the man leaning against the frame of the window.

“You should be in your room,” she said, surprised he was there, even mad, maybe, because right now he looked just so… so real, he looked as if he could be hers. He didn’t look like her friend, but her boyfriend, just casually standing there, staring at her with his shiny brown hair and his deep eyes that felt like something she couldn’t define, but oh, if it felt so good and right. And he was just wearing his boxers and a long white shirt, he had nothing to hide as if she knew his body by heart, but she didn’t. She knew so much about him, and yet she knew nothing. He was like a dream, he also looked like one.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he replied, voice lower than usual, full of unspoken words that he had no idea why he couldn’t say. He was straightforward usually, and even if he knew exactly what he wanted even right now, he wasn’t so sure he could risk it all.

Her lips curled in a small smile, closer to a smirk, while she turned her head to the side, just enough to see him rest against the rails too, perfect profile cutting the view of the city around them, showing her the small moles on his cheek and neck, the ones she loved so much because they reminded her of the Ursa Minor constellation. And she loved the stars, they shine so bright in the pitch-black sky and are so far from there, she wished to be like them. And she loved to think that Haechan was a little star sent from above to light up her darkest night because that was what he felt to her.

“Maybe you are the one that thinks too much,” she whispered, eyes drifting in front of her back again.

A snicker left his mouth, “Staying around you turned me into this,” he joked, this time he turned around to stare at her, windblown at the way she looked and heart jumping in his chest for the way all of this felt. He had no idea what it was, or probably he did, and just didn’t want to put a name on it because it was scary and because it was a feeling he knew he never wanted or cared to feel, but it still felt comfortable. With no names or labels, the way they just existed around each other felt good.

And he would’ve paid to stay there just a little longer, lost in their small bubble. He would’ve even given up Seoul for her.

“You’re beautiful,” he said straight from his heart when he felt that he couldn’t take the silence any longer, it wasn’t awkward, but he needed to fill it with words. Words he needed her to hear. He needed her to know that he loved the way her nose scrunched up when she laughed, and he loved the small scar on her left cheek, close to her ear, and he loved the small acne scars on the right side of her forehead that she hid behind her bangs.

She didn’t answer, not right away, but her eyes moved on him to study his expression, and, scared from the way they were so real and honest, she looked away again. “You always say it,” she replied, awkwardness concealed behind a light chuckle. She would’ve sat there and listened to him call her beautiful for hours, but knowing he had no real intentions, those pretty words just fuelled her delusional thoughts and after the glow of the moment just brought the rain with them.

“Because it’s true, you are. Inside out.”

She nodded, lips pressed together, and teeth nervously chewing the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“And… are you just going to stare at me?”

“Why not? Are you shy? Do I make you shy?”

She stammered under her breath, and shook her head, “I just…” Come on, think fast. “I just thought you were here to, I don’t know, talk. You said you couldn’t sleep.” Here. Another lie. Piling up with all the others she had told me to hide her true feelings.

“I did,” he replied, rubbing his chin as his eyes never left her body, attentively watching how she would fidget at every word. “I couldn’t sleep because something was keeping me up.”

“Oh, and what’s that? Your grandpa’s fine, right?”

“Yeah, he’s doing better,” he replied. And that surely was a good thing, but him getting better also meant something else… “Anyway, I wasn’t thinking about him.”

“Is it your job? Are you afraid of that?”

“I was thinking about how some people come into our lives in the most unexpected ways,” he replied, cutting her off from guessing other stuff that didn’t even cross his mind for a split second.

“Well, that’s the beauty of life, isn’t it?”

“I was thinking about you,” he confessed, and her eyes moved up, straight into his, wide open in shock. “I was thinking about us.”

“I…”

“When my mom told me to come here, I felt lost and as much as I love my grandpa, I truly had no other reason to stay, and I was terrified that everything I had worked so hard was going to be taken away from me. But then I met you. I could’ve gone to any other cafè, or simply just headed home, or convinced myself that the coffee from the machines is good just the same and we wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t have met the only person that gave me a reason to stay and hold on.”

She swallowed hard, feeling her heart beating so fast she was silently praying he couldn’t hear it. And she had no idea if she should’ve confessed that she felt the same, that since that day, he had been her only reason. And then the voice in her brain showed up again, and she did.

“You were the same for me,” she admitted, direct, no stammering, no hesitation. “I felt stuck, well, I feel stuck, but you, well, you are the new exciting thing I needed to give my life a shake.”

After hearing her words, Haechan let out a small breath of relief, relieved she felt the same, he could let himself believe that maybe, they were on the same track, they wanted the same thing. “If it didn’t rain so hard that day we wouldn’t have talked so much and got to know each other, you wouldn’t have carried me home. And guess what, I always hated the rain.”

She smiled, “I like it, you know. Okay, only when I have nothing to do in the comfort of home but it’s nice.”

His lips twitched into a small smile, before he whispered, “I like it now because it brought me to you.”

She felt her throat dry, gulping hard while she tried to find the right words to answer him, but nothing that made sense crossed her mind. And just when she thought she had found the right words, something silly to mumble out to don’t look like a complete idiot, she raised her gaze to find Haechan way closer to her. His hand was looking for hers, and his chest was almost pressing against hers.

“You are the best thing that happened to me here, and I know that usually, I would never go this far but, now that I have you here,” he whispered, hand raising up to caress her soft cheek, fingers brushing her face and then moving a strand of hair behind her ear, “I need to let you know how deeply I care for you.”

“I-I,” she stammered, eyes moving on his face, trying to understand if he was real or if this was one of her thousand’s hopeless dreams at night.

“You don’t have to like me back, I mean, I know this won’t work out but –” At these words, she shut him up, an unknown force pushed her forward, maybe it was the same voice she never listened to that pushed her to lean in and kiss him, hands cupping his face before one crept to the back of his head and tangled with his hair. And Haechan was caught by surprise, never expecting her to make the first move, but well, it wasn’t the first time she did. And he couldn’t care about who gathered the courage, he had her right there, and that was all he ever wanted.

So, he closed his eyes and deepened the kiss, letting his hand wrap around her waist and pull her flat against his body.

And probably they were making up for lost time because none of the two seemed to have the intention to pull away and let go of the other. So, they kissed, again and again, hands getting braver each minute that passed until they felt their lungs burn and had to pull apart.

“I like you, Haechan,” she whispered, eye to eye, nose bumping against each other, “I like you a lot.”

He smiled dearly, deeply looking into her eyes, and felt at peace with the world. After all the wandering around, he felt his place in the world, and it was her. “I like you, too, Iseul.”

Come back and tell me why, I'm feelin' like I've missed you all this time. And meet me there tonight, and let me know that it's not all in my mind.

Jungwoo huffed, moving the chairs of the coffee shop around with more frustration, trying to gain her attention, but not even the loudest alarm in the world would’ve made her turn around.

“Iseul,” he called her, walking behind the desk and turning her around. “You can’t spend the rest of your life sulking on him.”

She rolled her eyes, and swung in the chair again, attention back on her TikTok for you page – there were no customers anyway, and she needed to fill her mind with something.

“Ugh,” he almost hissed, raising a brow at her attitude. “Really? He’s not worth it,” he tried to open her eyes, for the nth time by now, he had honestly lost count of how many times he had that talk with her in the last two months. “You let summer fly by, not even enjoying a little bit of it, well, since he went back.”

She sighed, blocking her phone and standing up. Went back. He didn’t go back. He disappeared. Left without saying a word around two months ago and she still had no idea why.

“I... I’m sorry I’m not in the mood to go out with you and dance all night, okay?” She replied, trying to leave him out of the conversation. She already felt played enough, she didn’t like to mull on it, but the problem wasn’t Jungwoo. He just wanted to lift her up, he was trying his best to don’t make her fall into the oblivion once again. The problem was herself because for how much she knew she shouldn’t have focused on Haechan, she still did. She loved to hurt herself by going back on the memory train and replaying each moment together in her mind.

“Just know that I’m here for you,” he reminded her, caressing her black hair gently and then going back to work.

“I know,” she found the strength to reply. “Thank you, for everything.”

At least she had him, he was the only one that knew about Haechan and what had been between them. Jungwoo was there when they walked into the shop together, he was there when Haechan would wait outside to go home, he was there when Haechan loved to distract her while he sat at a table and she had to focus on other people. Jungwoo was the only comfort she had, because unfortunately the silent one of her grandmother that understood that the same light that brightened up her sky for these past months wasn’t there anymore, wasn’t enough.

She felt incredibly stupid, she was sure she had missed something along the way, that she misunderstood him and his words. And that was the main reason why she kept playing their story in her brain, she needed to find where they went wrong, she needed to find the exact moment when she scared him away, or when he told her he didn’t like her the same.

She wondered how it could’ve been all in her head, though, when no wrong step bloomed in her mind. He had confessed to her, he had kissed her back. They kept kissing and going out when they came back to town, they never called each other boyfriend and girlfriend but they acted like a couple, so why, why did he disappear like a ghost all of a sudden? Why did he have to make her worry for him?

Not that she feared he wasn’t doing good, she was sure he was doing great, back in Seoul, with his dream job, in his dream house, all by himself. But she still missed him, and she wanted him to come back.

She at least needed to hear from him that all of this wasn’t in her mind, that there had been something between them, that he felt the same, even if it was already over.

But he wasn’t coming back, and she knew that if he ever would’ve had the need to go back there, he would’ve done everything to avoid her.

He didn’t mean his words. He didn’t love her. He just let himself get carried away, it was so typical of him. She could at least say that she got to know him a little bit and this should’ve been less surprising considering he was the one that always ran away in relationships and didn’t make them last. And yet, she kept waiting. Dreaming of his eyes, his hugs, his jokes. Missing going to the arcade with him and losing, she even missed hearing him bragging about it. Just like she missed hearing him talk shit about half of his office. Or laugh loudly about a joke he had made that wasn’t that funny.

She just missed him. Or maybe she missed the way he made her feel. He was such a dreamer that, for a moment, also her, the most rational and practical person she knew, believed that dreams can come true.

“Are you sure I can leave? Can you deal with this alone?” Jungwoo asked Iseul as he started packing his stuff, about to leave her alone to clean the shop as outside rain came pouring down, he had a last-minute emergency and couldn’t close with her.

“Yes, I told you it’s fine, you don’t need to worry,” she reassured him as she put away the last cups, watching him come back again to leave a peck on her cheek.

“I love you, you’re my saviour. I owe you one!”

She shook her head, waving at him with a smile on her face before she watched him disappear.

She felt the tiredness fall on her when she was halfway done with the tables, and couldn’t help but yawn, just waiting to be done soon and hoping that the storm would chase soon and she could finally go home and sleep, she wasn’t even hungry, she just wanted to collapse on the bed and forget about everything.

Just when she was done with the last table, she heard the bell ring and rolled her eyes. Once again, Jungwoo had forgotten to turn the sign that showed they weren’t open. “Sorry, we’re closed,” she warned before turning around and almost passing out on the floor. She gasped when she saw him. This was just like the first time they seriously talked to each other. They were standing in the same position, she was still wearing her apron and he was wearing his drenched clothes, hair sticking to his forehead and chest panting for the run.

But everything was different between them.

She didn’t feel that need of wanting to know more about him anymore, because now, she had him down in the palm of her hands, or well, at least she thought. Now she knew his name, she knew his favourite song, she knew his favourite colour, she knew that his nickname was fullsun and she could totally understand why. If only he didn’t always come into her life with the rain.

But at the same time, there were still so many things she didn’t know about him. For example, the reason why he left, why he left her all alone, making her feel empty and stupid for getting it all wrong.

“We’re closed,” she repeated, not sure she could take an answer to the questions that tormented her at night. Not sure she could take him coming back with some made-up excuse because just the way he was just standing there was enough to bring her feet to move toward him mindlessly. But she didn’t, she fought it back.

“I know,” Haechan replied, his eyes never left hers, and in these few minutes he could see all the pain he had caused her. “I’m sorry,” he confessed, starting to walk closer to her but she took a step back.

“I don’t want to listen,” she stopped him, hands raised in the air to maintain the distance between them and he stopped, mortified eyes looking at hers. “You’re dirtying the floor, I had just cleaned everything and I need to go home. Please, leave.”

“But I need to -”

“I said, leave,” she stopped him, diverting her gaze, looking down on the floor to hide the way her eyes were fogging up. “Please, leave.”

Haechan swallowed the bitterness in his mouth, pressed his lips in a thin line and then sighed. And if she lifted her gaze she would’ve seen his shoulders drop and his eyes beg for forgiveness, but she never did. And so he turned around, message loud and clear.

And just when she heard the sound of the doorbell again she raised her head and tried to go on with the things she needed to do. But this time she didn’t wait for the storm to calm down, she wanted to go home as soon as possible, and when she stepped outside the raindrops were still hitting the ground violently as the wind blew, loud and strong.

“I know you don’t want to listen but I need to talk to you,” between the loud whistles of the wind and the rain, she heard his voice, making her stop in her tracks, stilling to stay under the tent to stay safe from the water. “I had to leave, I had no other choice. My grandpa was getting worst and we had to fly him to Seoul and I didn’t want to put you under the pressure of another bad news. I didn’t want to fill you with also my problems-

“Great, I hope he’s doing well,” she replied about to make her way to the car.

“No, Iseul, please,” he called, hand reaching for her even if they were too distant for him to catch her.

“Please what?” She asked, turning around to face him and make eye contact. “Listen, I’m deeply sorry for him and your family but… what did I mean to you? I guess I meant nothing to you, right? You could’ve at least let me know. I knew damn well that you weren’t going to stay, I knew that we weren’t meant to go anywhere but I deserved respect.”

“I know, I’m so sorry but we never, we never called it love. I never called anything love, I was terrified, of playing with you, of promising something I wasn’t going to be able to give, I -”

“But you did it, you played me. You told me you liked me, you kissed me, you, ugh,” she groaned, throwing her head back and stomping her feet to the ground. “We did all those things I’ve never done before, you stopped making me feel like a loser, I was so happy and then you just brought me to the ground again.”

“I didn’t mean to,” he whispered again, voice shaking.

“Fine, and what do you want? Do you think that popping here out of nowhere and standing under the rain is going to change something?” She yelled. And even if she said that, she had to admit that she found that kind of romantic. Nobody ever went that far for her, nobody would’ve let the rain pour on their skin in the middle of the street, not caring about the few people passing by. But, still, he had left her, and she couldn’t pass over it… not so easily.

“But I’m back right now, I’m back because I know what I want, now I’m sure, 100% sure that I want you, that I love you. It’s you, it has always been you. I was just too dumb to see that this was real, that I wasn’t going crazy.”

She sniffled, tears started to run down her face, and she just wanted to step forward and kiss him. Why did he make her so weak? Why did she want him so badly?

“Do you know how much I missed you? How many nights I had spent up thinking about you? Your face the only thing I knew in these past months, the only thing that haunted me, hurt me, and at the same time kept me going. I missed you so so much, I couldn’t believe we were already over, I just… I needed you. I needed you so badly and you… you, God, you weren’t there,” she wanted to appear strong but the more she spoke the more she broke down, feeling like she just wanted to fall on her knees and let the rain soak her too, maybe it would've washed away the pain, maybe it would’ve felt like she wasn’t crying all alone.

“I can only imagine all the pain I put you through, but I’m sorry,” Hachan replied, he was now in front of her, a few centimetres keeping them apart. “But I’m here to show you I only have the best intentions with you. I’m here to show you I want you, and if I have to get on my knees and beg to show you how much I love you, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything for you. I’ll take you to Seoul, I’ll take you to the end of the world, anything and anywhere you want to be, I’ll be. I just want to be with you.”

“Stand up!” She screamed, feeling her face burn up from embarrassment when he seriously got on his knees, head low, beneath her. “Stand up, dumbass,” she repeated, lifting his head up by his chin, finally feeling his bronze skin once again. “I hate you much,” she said, face serious before a smile crept on it, twisting her lips in the grin he loved so much, “I think you proved it enough and people are already staring.”

He looked up, eyes shining with a newfound hope. “So, you forgive me? You want to give us a chance?”

She nodded, lower lips trapped between her teeth before she let go of it to answer. “Yes, but you’ll have to work extra hard to make up for the lost time.”

And Haechan hopped up on his feet, he didn’t give her time to add anything else that his arms wrapped around her waist, he lifted her up, and made her spin around while their lips met, rain now wetting them both.

And she couldn’t even complain about the wet hair and clothes, because finally she got to taste him again, finally she was in his arms, and she felt the happiest. Her heart started beating for living again, and not just for surviving like she was always used to doing. She was alive, in a way only Haechan made her feel.

“I told you,” he whispered, against her lips, still holding her up, “I’d do anything to prove to you how much I love you.”

All I know is we said, "Hello". So dust off your highest hopes All I know is pouring rain, and everything has changed. All I know is a newfound grace. All my days, I'll know your face All I know since yesterday, is everything has changed

“Maybe Jungwoo was right when he told me that people here in Seoul are insufferable,” Iseul huffed, throwing her bag on the cabinet next to the door as soon as she entered the house, shoes already discarded on the rug.

Haechan chuckled, getting up from the couch to meet her halfway, “Just hold on, soon enough you’ll be done with college and you’ll get your dream job,” he reminded her before leaning in and kissing her softly. She hummed against his lips, raising her hand to lock her fingers in his silky hair and he took advantage of it to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer.

She had moved to Seoul with him since her grandmother had gotten better, and wanted Iseul to have a nice thing in her life, the only thing she had asked for was for them to come back during the holidays or anytime they could. And finally, in Seoul, she could study psychology just like she always wanted, while she worked in a little coffee shop to pay the bills.

But the most exciting thing was that they got a small apartment together. Living together at such a young age wasn’t something Haechan ever imagined, or better, he had never imagined he would’ve lived with a partner ever, but here they were. In their little place, setting their own rules, finding out together the good things about relationships. It was new for the both of them, she wasn’t used to relationships at all, and he wasn’t used to the serious ones, but they worked, because they wanted it to work. And no matter how reckless it all felt when he proposed it to her under the pouring rain of that passed September, they now knew they couldn’t have done anything better.

“I missed you so much,” she said when they pulled away.

“See, it was better when I used to come to your coffee shop every time I had a break,” he joked while they walked to get to their bedroom and then he leaned against the doorframe, watching her get out of her clothes to change into the ones she used in the house. They didn’t want to cook that night, and he had already called her before to pick what to order, so they just needed to wait for the food to arrive.

“Yeah, it can get boring without your annoying face around,” she replied, making a face from the mirror.

“Have I ever told you that you’re beautiful?” He said, hugging her from behind, chin resting against her shoulder and nose snuggling in her neck.

She rolled her eyes, and then said, “Yeah, you always do.”

“Good, because I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”

She smiled, turning around to kiss him again, and again, until they got lost in each other. And when the food arrived, Haechan had to rush to the door, putting on the first clothes he had found while she laughed at the unpresentable state he was in, before coming back into the room.

“We’re not eating in the bedroom,” she said, stealing his t-shirt and pushing him out of the room.

“Oh, come on,” he whined. “Just for once, you could relax.”

“I am. I changed a lot over the past year,” she said. They both did, to be honest, Haechan had learned to have more sense of responsibility, while Iseul tried to be less hard on herself and loosen up, and together they had found a perfect balance.

Haechan hummed, shrugging before running to the couch, “But we’re eating on the couch. I chose tonight.”

She sighed, shaking her head before following him. “Will you ever grow up?” She asked, sitting next to him, stealing the chicken wing that he wanted to grab.

“Hey! That was mine,” he complained, trying to grab it but she only moved her hand away and laughed.

“And the answer is no.”

Haechan rolled his eyes, “As if you don’t love this side of me.”

“Oh, I do, but it’s not just a side,” she replied, chortling.

“Still, you love me, and you should be grateful that rain brought me to you,” he bragged, biting his wing.

“Never said I wasn’t.”

“Great, because I’m very, very grateful that we met and now I can have you all to myself,” he said, kissing her cheek with his dirty lips and making her push him away while he laughed evilly.

“You were sent from hell to make my life unbearable,” she joked, cleaning her face with a napkin.

“Shh, don’t reveal the plan,” he replied, before grabbing the remote control to turn the TV on.

Iseul stopped for a moment to look at him as he eat happily and then started proposing what to watch on Netflix, and she smiled, agreeing with him but not really paying attention. She still felt incredulous that he was there, that he was hers, somehow Haechan still looked like a dream, no matter how much she had kissed him, touched him, told him she loved him and vice versa.

But he was a daydream, because he was there, right next to her, chatting lively with a hand on her thighs to caress her. It wasn’t like more than a year ago when he was just a handsome stranger’s face, he wasn’t a ray of sun lighting up her clouded sky just for some minutes anymore, he wasn’t just in her dreams, being the only reason she wanted to wake up in the morning to see him.

She had never imagined she was going to be where she was right now, she never imagined that she would've finally found a way to make that handsome stranger hers. But here they were, sharing their dreams and plans for the future, sharing kisses, hugs, texts, midnight talks and breakfasts in the morning. Their future was there, in the intimacy they never imagined they could have with someone.

“Have I told you that I love you?” Haechan asked, cuddled up against her on the couch, as her fingers played with his hair and their legs were tangled together.

“Mhh, I don’t know,” she joked. “Why don’t you tell me again? I’d love to hear it again.”

Haechan chuckled, turning around, and kissing her. “I love you and I want you to know you still give me butterflies, just like the first day I saw you standing behind the counter.”

“I hope those butterflies will last forever, then,” she replied, kissing him again.

She knew nothing about what was about to come, and she knew that life could always take weird and unexpected turns, but of one thing she was sure, everything had changed and for once, she was glad that nothing went as planned.

#nct 127 fanfic #haechan fanfic #haechan fluff #haechan angst #lee haechan fluff #lee haechan angst #haechan scenarios #haechan oneshot #donghyuck fluff #donghyuck angst #donghyuck scenarios #lee donghyuck fluff #nct 127 fluff #nct 127 angst #loving him was red

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maximoffcarter · 2 years

Text

Wonder.

Pairings: Wanda x reader

Summary: “Do you ever wonder…what your life would’ve been like if you had done something different? Do you regret any of it?”

A/n: First story of the year...first actual writing of the year haha. Dunno where this came from, dunno how I ended up writing this but...here it is. Enjoy! And...requests might be open soon...

“Do you ever wonder…what your life would’ve been like if you had done something different? Do you regret any of it?”

The question that Wanda had heard a few nights ago, before y/n had to leave for a mission.

Natasha and y/n had been talking on the living room, and it so happened to be the moment that Wanda had walked in to say goodbye that she heard y/n asking Natasha. For a moment it stuck in her head, but after hearing what y/n had said, she knew she wasn’t meant to be there. She had gone back to her room and had hoped for y/n to show up after finishing her conversation with Natasha. She knew how both of them were close, she had learned how they both have met and enjoyed hearing their adventures together.

It was until a few weeks after that she learned how Natasha had saved y/n, and they both had been a family to each other, which made Wanda happy. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a knock on the door, looking up and smiling as she found y/n opening the door.

“Ms. Maximoff.” Y/n smirked.

Wanda smiled. “Ms. Y/l/n.” She raised her brow. “I thought you had gone to sleep.”

“Oh no-“ she closed the door behind her. “I was talking to Natasha but- I thought I’d come and say goodbye before I leave in the morning.” She then furrowed her brows and looked down at her watch. “Well- in a few hours, actually.” She chuckled.

Wanda chuckled as she nodded. “Thank you for thinking about me.” She teased.

“Well, of course I wasn’t going to leave without saying goodbye to you, silly.”

Wanda smiled. “You better have not, or I’d have made Steve come back.”

“Why would you want to get the fossil mad?” Y/n grinned as she walked to Wanda’s bed.

“It’s funny.” Wanda raised her brow. “Will you stay?”

Y/n tilted her head. “You know I will.” She smiled as she laid down and opened her arms for Wanda to lay down. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I know.” Wanda wrapped her arms around y/n and exhaled softly as she closed her eyes.

The next morning, Wanda woke up to an empty bed, but a note sitting on her night stand. She lazily moved to grab it and smiled as she read it. Y/n always left post-its when she went away, just like Wanda, it was their thing now. She decided to start her day, keeping the routine she always had when y/n left. The question was still stuck in her mind as she went on with her day; she still thought about Natasha’s answer, but most importantly, y/n’s answer. It had surprised her somehow, but also had touched her heart.

But then again…what would’ve been her life if she had done something different? She knew that HYDRA would be the very first thing she would have changed, but then again…if they hadn’t volunteered for that…she wouldn’t be here. This had it’s cons and pros; Pietro would still be here. Maybe not exactly at the beginning of HYDRA, maybe what they did after. What if they had chosen to not help the avengers? She didn’t blame Clint, she knew her brother, he had done that for a reason, even if he didn’t think the consequences of it. What if after that she had ran away? Not exactly staying with them…

Her mind then went back to the past before that. What would have happen if she had decided to sit with her parents? What would have happened if bot of them had decided to sit with them? They would also be gone. The smallest thing you do, the smallest decision you take, can change your whole life. She heard y/n saying those words, and she wasn’t entirely wrong. Every decision she had taken, had changed her life, for bad and good. She hadn’t decided yet if it had been a good idea to join the avengers, but she definitely knew if she hadn’t…she wouldn’t have met y/n.

She knew for sure that was the one thing she had never regretted in her short life, she knew she would never regret that. Because in y/n, she had found what she thought she had lost; happiness. She was mostly apart from everyone, but since day one, she had always felt safe when y/n was around. She still didn’t understand how y/n decided it was a good idea to become close to her, but she was thankful.

The question had a big meaning to her now. Yes. She did think about it, maybe until now- unconsciously she had done it before, right after Pietro had died, but she had never thought about it so deeply. Not until now. She smiled as she figured out that after all…her life wasn’t as bad as she thought it was; not after she had found y/n.

____________________

“Do you ever wonder…what your life would’ve been like if you had done something different?”

Natasha sighed. “I think I have thought about it before. But I know that most of the decisions…I was too young to take them.” She shrugged. “But I do wonder after it.” She smiled. “You?”

Y/n nodded. “I have.” She licked her lips. “I mostly wonder what would have happened…if you hadn’t found me.” She looked up at Natasha and smiled. “Do you remember…before Wanda got here…that I told you I was going through a bad time?”

Natasha nodded. “I do.”

Y/n licked her lips. “That night- the night Wanda came back with us…I was going to leave.” She confessed quietly. “I didn’t want to do any of this anymore. I felt lost. I felt- I didn’t want to be here anymore. I didn’t want anyone to tell me things would be alright because my head was just…a mess.” She sighed as a faint smile appeared. “But that night…I heard Wanda crying. Something called me to go with her. That’s when I knew…I had to be there.”

Natasha furrowed her brows. “So being there for her…that was your reason to keep going?”

“Eventually.” Y/n smiled. “I mostly wanted to be there for her. And then-“ she smiled widely. “-she became my reason to stay.”

Natasha nodded. “Thanks.” She grinned teasingly.

Y/n rolled her eyes. “C’mon, Romanoff. You know I also owe you my life.”

“You know you don’t.” Natasha smiled. “You’re my family. That’s what family does.” She chuckled. “But I’m glad you found her. And that she found you.” She raised her brow. “So…you haven’t wondered ever since that day?”

Y/n shrugged. “I have- just…I do not regret it.” She smiled. “The smallest thing you do, the smallest decision you take, can change your whole life” She looked at Natasha as she sighed. “I’m just afraid to lose her.”

“You know you won’t, silly.” Natasha grinned. “You two are made for each other.”

Y/n rolled her eyes. “Speaking of which- therapy session has ended. I gotta go say goodbye.”

“Go to her. Leave me here…by myself.”

Y/n squinted her eyes. “Jealous?”

“Hurt!” Natasha fell back on the couch and touched her chest.

“Idiot.” Y/n slapped her leg. “I love you, idiot.” She said before she left.

“I love you more!” Natasha chuckled.

____________________

“We’re back bitches!” Sam yelled as he walked into the living room.

“You don’t actually have to yell, Wilson.” Y/n chuckled.

“Where’s the fun then?”

Natasha raised her brow. “Took you longer than expected.”

Steve nodded. “Complications.”

“More like- we actually planned on escaping and living far away.” Y/n teased as she passed both of them.

“Her room!” Natasha yelled as she noticed y/n walking away from them.

Y/n knocked the door softly and opened it as she heard Wanda. She smiled softly as she noticed Wanda curled up in her bed. “Sleepyhead, it’s already 8 am.”

“The exact reason why I’m in bed.” Wanda chuckled.

Y/n laughed as she threw her bag on the floor before closing the door and walking to Wanda’s bed to lay down. She groaned as she took her shoes off and got under the covers with Wanda. “I promise I showered.” She mumbled as she closed her eyes.

“You sure? Because you stink.”

“Hey!” Y/n’s eyes snapped open as she looked at Wanda, who was now laughing. “A ��I missed you’ would be better.”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “I did miss you.”

Y/n smiled. “Of course you did.”

Wanda bit her lips as she took y/n’s hand on hers. “Hey…can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

Wanda looked into her eyes as her face became serious. “Did you mean it? What you said about me- stopping you?”

Y/n furrowed her brows. “You heard that?”

Wanda nodded. “I didn’t mean to. I was looking for you…and you were talking to Nat.”

“Well-“ y/n sighed as she smiled softly. “I did. I meant what I said.”

Wanda smiled. “You really don’t regret it?” Y/n shook her head. “I’ve wondered too.”

“Yeah?” Y/n smiled.

Wanda nodded. “About everything really…but…then I stopped and thought- how all of this put me here.”

Y/n nodded. “It’s okay to also wish things had gone different. I know you do wish things could’ve gone different.”

“I do.” Wanda nodded. “And I gave it a thought but…I still ended up here.” She looked into her eyes as she smiled lovingly. “And it brought me to you.”

“You’re getting cheesy on me, Maximoff?”

“Is it bad?” Wanda raised her brow.

Y/n swallowed nervously. “I guess not.”

Wanda smiled. “What I mean to say is…I have wondered, but even then…I know things cannot change. And…I do not regret meeting you and being here.” She placed her hand on y/n’s cheek as she smiled.

Y/n smiled. “I do not regret staying that night with you.” She whispered softly. “I do not regret staying for you.”

“So…what does this means for us?”

Y/n bit her lip. “We would both be idiots if we don’t try it.”

Wanda chuckled. “How forward.”

“I mean- if that’s…something you want.”

Wanda smiled as she moved closer to y/n until their faces were inches apart. “I do.” She whispered softly.

Y/n’s breath hitched as she felt Wanda’s breath against her lips. But smiled afterwards as she pulled Wanda impossibly closer, so their bodies were touching. “Then we shouldn’t waste more time.” She smiled before she closed the gap between them and kissed Wanda’s lips softly.

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff/reader #wanda maximoff/you #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff fanfiction #wanda maximoff fic #wanda marvel #wanda x you #wanda x reader #scarlet witch x reader #scarlet witch #marvel #marvel fic

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xoxo-teddybear · 3 years

Text

Cheater? - Bakugou Katsuki

Bakugou x f!reader

Warnings: fake cheating, cursing, angst, fluff, crack

Summary: PRANK WARS!! After coming to the conclusion that his own girlfriend pulls better pranks than him and has been one up-ing a lot recently, Katsuki decided to break their unspoken rule and pull a cheating prank

A/N: I recommend reading this fic as a continuation of this fic. It’s about Y/N’s revenge.

BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST

“I don’t know who the fuck is listening right now, but I, Katsuki fucking Bakugou, am begging whatever heavenly body, god, spiritual being, whatever the fuck it could be, to ensure that my girlfriend does not leave my dumbass for pulling this prank. Thank you, bless.”

Bakugou kept his eyes shut with his palms pressed together in a praying motion for the longest time while he spoke to something to protect his relationship. When he was done, he took a breather and got up from the shared bed. He took out the camera and set it up behind Y/N’s makeup stuff to hide it and began to put his prank into action.

A few hours ago he had Kirishima pretend to be a girl and had his best friend flirt with him through text. This went on for some time to make sure that if you were to scroll through his conversation, you’d find a lot of messages. At the end of the texts, Bakugou had Kirishima find a random pic online of some random girl’s ass and had the red head sent it. Bakugou answered it with a very flirtatious text, which had Kirishima send a very cutesy, appreciated reply in a very girly matter, which ended the conversation. Bakugou changed his friend’s name to some random name, Kiyoko, and finished the job. Yes, the two friends were very uncomfortable doing this whole thing.

With the camera now recording, all Bakugou needed to begin his prank was his prized possession. You.

—

Bakugou and you were cuddling on the king sized bed. You both were just talking about whatever while Katsuki remained on his phone. You didn’t see it yet, but Katsuki was “texting” his friend. In reality, he was just waiting for you to look up at his screen to notice the scandalous texts he and this “Kiyoko” were having.

“Baby?” You asked while looking at your pretty acrylics.

“Yes baby?” Bakugou said while still looking at his phone. He had his arm wrapped around you while you layed on him with your cheek on his chest.

“Ion know...I love you baby,” you said in the cutest voice. Bakugou could only make a face of extreme awe to appreciate his precious girlfriend.

“I love you too Teddy Bear,” he said. You lifted your head to smile at him but you took notice of how he was still staring at his phone.

You pouted before smirking and climbing up to come face to face with him. You got in between him and his phone and grabbed his face with both hands. He smiled at you before you leaned down to peck his lips multiple times. Once you were done you tucked your head under his chin and looked to the side, just enjoying the moment. He kissed the crown of your head before going back to “texting.”

At the sound of him pressing random things on the keyboard, your pout returned. “Baby~ Pay attention to me!!” You whined.

You removed your head out from under his chin and layed your head next to his. You looked at his phone and saw a ‘thank you’ with a kissy face emoji from a “Kiyoko” before Katsuki switched the screen to some random game. “Who’s Kiyoko?”

“Hm?” Katsuki asked, pretending to be oblivious.

“Who’s Kiyoko? You were just on a text chat with her, why is she sending you a kissy face?” You asked with a little more attitude. You tried to take the phone out of his hand but he pulled it away.

“She’s just a friend, babe.” Bakugou said.

“Okay, well if she’s just a friend then why can’t I see?” You questioned.

“Because there’s nothing to see.”

“She sent you a kissy face. That’s something I’d like to see.” You said while easily taking his phone out of his hand.

“Babe, no.” He said and took the phone back. “Shes just a friend.” You took the phone back and he tried to grab it again before you held the phone away at a distance to make sure he couldn’t grab it. “Babe. Noo, stooppp.”

“If she’s just a friend then why’re you trying to hide it?” You asked with the phone still far away and him attempting to reach for it.

“Cuz we’re about to go out and-“

“What the fuck?!” You said as you looked to the texts. You froze in your position as you brought the phone closed and scrolled through the texts, stumbling upon the picture. Bakugou tried to take the phone away from you but failed (on purpose.)

“She just wanted an opinion,” he tried explaining.

“An opinion?!” You asked while sitting up and pushing him off of you. “She sent you a booty pic with you complimenting her and shit. And you’re over here calling her babe!”

“It’s not like that-“

“Then what the fuck is it like Katsuki?!” You asked. You went back to the text and reread some of the messages out loud. “‘Bet you enjoyed it when I wrecked you last night, Relax Princess Y/N’s never gonna find out, I love you Kiyoko-‘ Are you fucking serious?!” You said with a cracked voice as you looked at him.

He put on a small smile for the act but on the inside it hurt him to see you like this, but the prank would prevail. “Baby, calm down.”

“I’m not gonna calm down Katsuki, you’re cheating on me!” You continued to go on and on about how pissed you were and Katsuki was struggling to hold back his laughs. He eventually got up to run to the downstairs bathroom so he could let out his chuckles. “Where the fuck are you going?! We’re not done with this conversation!”

Bakugou said nothing as he ran to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. He bursted out in laughter as he crouched over due to all the excitement. He looked in the mirror and ruffled his hair a bit as he remembered the way you looked. The sad you would’ve made his heart ached but the angry you just made him laugh and kind of turned him on in a way.

After getting all his giggles out, he calmed down and got back into character. He opened the door to the bathroom only to see you walking down the stairs with your jacket and shoes on, carrying a small bag. “Baby?”

At the sound of his voice you only looked his way with a mean glare as you continued your walk to the front door. Bakugou ran to you as fast as he could as worry spilled through his body. “Baby, stop. Where are you going?”

“Get the fuck away from me. I’m done, we’re done. I’m going.” You said with a cold voice. Bakugou ran in front of you and held onto your arms as he pushed you back further into the house but you fought against his hold.

“Y/N, stop. It was just a prank.” Bakugou whined.

“Like I fucking believe that.” You said while trying to pry his hands off of you. Bakugou whimpered as he grew worried and felt himself getting choked up. He could feel the tears approaching but held them back. He could still save himself.

“Baby please. Come back upstairs, I’ll show you the camera!” He begged but you finally got his hands off of you as you ran to the door. You ran out the door and Bakugou grew frantic as he ran to the room to get the camera. When he came back down and ran out to the front to show you, you had already backed out of the driveway and were driving down the street. “Y/N!”

Bakugou ran back upstairs and into the bedroom to find his phone on the bed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

He was quick to find your number and call you but you declined it. He called again a few more times and like before, you declined them. He called you so much that eventually, you stopped declining them and just began to straight up ignore them. This led to Bakugou leaving voicemails.

“Baby? Please pick up it was just a prank.”

“Y/N, I’m so sorry, I swear it was a prank! Please come back home!”

“Please come back Y/N! It was just a joke, none of it was real! Please answer me.”

“Baby, please come back. I love you.”

When he realized you weren’t going to answer, he opened up the messages with Kirishima and changed his name back before calling him.

“Hello?”

“Kirishima!” Bakugou said and his friend could practically hear the tears. “Prank went wrong! Went so wrong! Y/N fucking left! She didn’t even give me a chance to explain!”

Bakugou began hyperventilating as he tugged at his hair and looked around. He didn’t even focus on what Kirishima was saying as he looked around the once shared bedroom. He went through the closet and saw some of your clothes and shoes missing. Some of your makeup was off the vanity and when Bakugou looked to the nightstand to see the smashed picture frame that held the image of you both on your third year anniversary, he began sobbing.

“Please! Just fucking call her to explain! That’s all!”

“Alright, I’ll do it. Don’t worry, okay?” His friend replied to which Bakugou only hung up. He had every right to worry. His dumbass was about to lose you. Bakugou sat back down on the bed as he cried into his hands some more. He looked at himself in the large mirror hanging on the wall before scrunching his face and screaming.

“FUCK!” He shouted and threw something at the wall. He didn’t know what he grabbed, he just knew it broke. Bakugou flopped onto the large bed and cried some more as he waited for something, anything, to happen. But that night, nothing did.

—

3 days had passed and for 3 days Bakugou had constantly been calling you, your friends, your family, anybody he could do that he could reach you. He had constantly been crying and regretting pulling that stupid, stupid prank. It wasn’t worth losing you.

For the past few days, Kirishima had been checking up on Katsuki. He had been coming over a few times a day by using the hidden house key you both left under a rock on at the house entrance. On the third day, Bakugou told him to stop coming by and that he wanted to be by himself.

—

Bakugou had been hallowing in sadness on the bed until he heard the door open. He sighed again and walked to this bedroom door. On his way there he took notice of his appearance in the mirror and even though he was in the dark, he still saw his red, puffy eyes and tired face. He finally opened the door and walked to the living room so he could ward off his pesky friend.

“Shitty Hair, I told you that I didn’t wa-“ his eyes popped open at the sight he saw in the living room. He froze on the spot but felt immediate relief. “Y/N!”

“...Hi Katsuki,” you said in a soft voice. Bakugou smiled and instantly ran to you to pull you in for a tight hug. He squeezed you tight and grew joyous when he felt you softly hug him back.

“I missed you so much! I’m so fucking sorry, it was just a prank I swe-“

“Katsuki! I know, okay? Kirishima told Mina and she told me everything.” You explained and pushed him off slightly so you could face him. He nodded in understanding and you took note of his red eyes and nose. You sighed before speaking. “This is why we don’t pull pranks like this Katsuki!”

He sadly chuckled at you reprimanding him but nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah...I’m so sorry, Baby.”

“You should be! I almost actually left you!” You said with a little pout. Bakugou sadly laughed with relieved tears in his eyes as he held you.

“I know. I swear I won’t do anything like this again.” He promised.

“You better not.” You said, squished against his chest. You leaned up and kissed his cheek before you dragged him to the couch. You and Bakugou spent the rest of the day making up and cuddling. Everything felt so right again and Bakugou definitely learned his lesson.

A/N: not spell checked, sorry! Ummm…THIS KINDA SUCKED😭🤣

Tag list : @sxcker4you @aomi04 @tessabrown101 @ebiharachan @is-this-ash @iris-shihabi @sxturn-stars @isolight

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shingia · 3 years

Text

accidentally seeing you in your wedding dress before the wedding

↳ timeskip!suna, semi, akaashi

↳ wedding brainrot is competing with the baby fever rn :o

— SUNA

• even though you had facetimed her many many times to ask for her opinion on every single dress, suna’s sister still ordered told you to come over to the family house to show her which one you had chosen

• since suna was living with you now, nothing and no one would interrupt you, except maybe his mom who was supposed to get off from work earlier than usual today

• which is why you weren’t surprised to hear the front door open around 5pm. suna’s sister even shouted that you guys were in the living room...

• except it wasn’t her mom...

“get out” suna breathed out when he entered the living room, obviously addressing his sister yet still staring at you, “now”.

you had spent enough time with the two siblings to know that this question would’ve led to a fight if the situation hadn’t been so special. but suna’s tone was too categorical for her to even try to protest...

“look at you...” he smiled with wonder as he walked up to you, “so goddamn beautiful”.

“but rin, the surprise is ruined” you looked down, still trying your best to cover any fabric detail he might not have seen yet.

he clicked his tongue in disapproval, grabbing your hands to take them off of the dress and finally get to fully admire you. “nothing is ruined as long as i get to officially call you mine in exactly ten days and...” he looked at his watch, “...three hours”

a soft smile spread on your lips, matching his, as you leaned in for a kiss that you didn’t think would last so long... “you’re right” you chuckled when you parted, bringing your hand to his cheek, “besides, we still don’t know each other’s vows”.

eyebrows raised, he nervously scratched the back of his neck with a guilty chuckle, “oh, yeah... the vows...”.

your next words almost got stuck in your throat : “you didn’t write your vows yet?! rin! are you fucking kidding me?!”.

a lighthearted laugh bubbled out of his lips right before they met yours again for a shorter kiss : “you’re so naive, angel. i finished writing them a year ago” he assured you, pulling you a bit closer to him until you were just a few inches apart.

“‘finished’? when did you start?” you curiously asked, one hand resting on his chest. but the way he captured your lips a third time let you know that he didn’t feel like answering that...

after all, he couldn’t let you know that he came up with his very first vow right after your third date.

✗ SEMI

• why did you suddenly feel the urge to try your dress on? it was a mystery

• but there you were - standing in front of your bedroom mirror while semi was playing in the basement

• the only problem is that you were so busy admiring the way the fabric fell perfectly on your body that you didn’t even notice he had stopped playing and was now walking up the stairs

• it’s hard to say which of you let out the loudest gasp when he entered the bedroom

you let out a shriek, both because you got startled by the way the door suddenly opened (even though you were sure to have locked it) and because you realized what was happening.

“C-CLOSE YOUR EYES!” you exclaimed about five seconds too late. but he didn’t even move. “eita, close. your. eyes!”

he reluctantly put his hands over his eyes... but the gap between his fingers was more than obvious.

“baby come on, you can’t ask me to close my eyes when you’re standing there looking like this!” he protested, and eagerly walked up to you to put both hands on your cheeks “i know i said i’d marry you in sweatpants and a t-shirt, but... i think i changed my mind”.

his words made you chuckle as your hand quickly found its way to his - where one of his rings fit perfectly against yours. “i’m glad you like it” you smiled and kissed his slightly cold lips.

but your grin only grew bigger when you noticed the tip of his ears turning red. yet his voice was still confident when he told you : “like it? baby i’ve tried to imagine what you’d look like in your dress about a hundred times... and you didn’t even look that good in my wildest dreams. i love it”. tilting your chin up with the tip of his fingers, it was now his turn to kiss you as slowly as his heart desired to: “almost as much as i love you”.

✗ AKAASHI

• the wedding date was getting closer, and you thought it’d be a good idea to check if the dress that you had bought five months ago still fit you

• akaashi wasn’t home so you didn’t risk anything,... but you got a bit too cocky and decided to use the living room’s mirror to take a few pictures

• little did you know that he had just come back from work and was currently in the kitchen, which gave onto the living room

• you froze, and so did he

“i’m so sorry!” he apologized and forced himself to look away, « i should have told you i was home! »

it was tempting to go back upstairs and pretend like nothing had happened... but for some reason, you didn’t really feel that bothered by the idea of him seeing your dress before the ceremony.

“it’s okay keiji. actually... would you mind giving me your opinion?” you asked and spun around to let him see the dress from every angle.

allowing himself to look, his lips stayed parted for a few seconds - just enough for him to process the dreamy sight in front of him. but the hand he stretched towards your waist stopped before it could meet the silky fabric. “can i touch it? » he asked, knowing that it was a stupid question.

your only answer was to grab his hand and lay it on your waist yourself. he looked fascinated. “you’re... breathtaking. and i can’t believe that of all the people on earth, i'm the one who’s lucky enough to marry you”.

a few tears were already prickling the corner of your eyes - he was always the best at making you emotional. and what he said next didn’t make it better : “my suit’s in the trunk of my car. do you want to see it? you know... to make things fair”. you laughed as the first tear rolled down your cheek, before wrapping your arms around his neck.

“let’s keep this a surprise” you responded, voice muffled by your mouth against his shoulders, “but i’m sure you look incredibly handsome in it”. just imagining him with these clothes was enough to make you tighten your embrace. but not as much as picturing him on the altar did.

breaking the hug, you noticed that his face was now bright red. your soon-to-be husband could do many things, but handling compliments wasn’t one of them...

“i love you so much” he still managed to articulate, giving another glance at your dress « and i wouldn't want to give my last name to anyone but you » he finished with one last kiss on your golden ring.

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#REBLOGS ARE REALLY APPRECIATED <33 #haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #suna rintarou x reader #akaashi keiji x reader #semi eita x reader #suna fluff #semi fluff #akaashi fluff #haikyuu wedding

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collecting-stories · 3 years

Text

Saving Grace - JJ Maybank

A/N: A You Are Ok drabble set ten years in the future

You Are Ok Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

The Maybank house had sat empty on the cut for almost five years until JJ’s dad was released from prison. You and JJ had been down in Florida at the time, moved out of his cousin’s trailer and living in an apartment in the everglades. Talking about going home but unsure what the OBX had to offer at that point. It was barely two weeks after that when you both flew home, Luke Maybank had overdosed and the house was empty once again.

It stayed empty while the two of you gutted the entire place and refurbished it. While JJ and you stayed at the Chateau or Kiara’s place, while you found a job and found out you were pregnant, while JJ got a job for himself in the area and went back down to the everglades to empty out the apartment.

JJ laid the tile in the bathroom himself and fixed the plumbing. You painted the inside and outside of the house, planted a garden, bought a chicken coop. You and JJ moved in to the house and just like that you were back in the OBX.

You sat outside on the porch, drinking a cup of coffee despite the hour nearing eight o’clock at night. The baby monitor was sitting beside you, a soft gurgling coming from the receiver. You were waiting for the familiar sight of JJ’s truck pulling down the long driveway in the dusk. The headlights were already on, flashing on you for a moment as he parked and then cut off, the engine dying.

“Hey, what’re you doing out here?” He asked, climbing out of the front seat of the car and bringing a bag of chinese food with him.

“Waiting for you to bring me egg rolls?” You joke, before turning serious, “I saw my dad this morning, at the grocery store.”

“Did he see you?”

“Yeah...it was, really weird?” You suggested, reaching for the bag. JJ shook his head and held the bag away from you, a silent ‘I’ve got it’ as he leaned in and gave you a kiss. You wrinkled your nose at the familiar smell of fish as you pulled away, “how was work?”

“Alright...” he shrugged, “what did your dad say?”

“That he wants me to come to church on Sunday.” You replied, following him inside.

“You wanna go?” It was a question but the way he asked you knew that he already knew the answer.

“I mean...I’m not gonna like, start going to church with them every week and ya know, go back to how I was but...it might be nice. I do miss my family and, I want to have boundaries but maybe they don’t have to be like, huge ten-year silence boundaries where we never speak. I do want Willow to know her cousins; I think. What do you wanna do?” You asked, passing plates across the counter to him.

A tinny half cry sounded from the monitor on the table and you both turned to look over at it, waiting for a crescendo of cries that you’d grown used to in the last four months. When silence settled back in, you both seemed to exhale in relief. You wanted to eat and finish this conversation before JJ ultimately showered and fell asleep until Willow’s usual one a.m. wake up.

“Whatever you want.” He replied, never submitting to making the decision for you when you wanted him to. “Not exactly like your family’s a big of me.”

“Can’t imagine why,” you bumped his hip with your own, kissing his cheek. “Not like you totally corrupted their youngest daughter or anything.”

“Oh no, do not blame that on me.”

“I didn’t run away to marry myself.”

“If you go...” JJ posed, turning to follow you to the table, “do you want to go alone?”

You stood frozen in place, holding a box of cereal in your hand as you stared across the small expanse of Heyward’s shop, your dad there by the fresh produce, comparing two different apples with each other. The Outer Banks was a small island but you ran in very different circles and, in the three years that you’d been home, had avoided seeing your parents. Or anyone in your family.

You’d driven passed the baptist church, a sign boasting a new assistant pastor, one of your brothers, when you’d first moved back but hadn’t actually seen anyone. The possibility of seeing them again had been a long debate between you and JJ when you’d finally decided to leave Florida for North Carolina. It had been hard in the very beginning, missing birthdays and anniversaries and new babies, but over time the ache had dulled and you had shifted your attention away from what you were missing and focused on working through the things you could heal in yourself.

Now you were frozen. If you left your basket of groceries now you could make a beeline for the door and be out before he saw you. But then the bell above the door rattled as a customer came in and the baby swaddled against your chest started to fuss. Before you could attempt to placate her, your dad was looking over. For a moment you were certain he didn’t recognize you. Ten years was a long time. But then his mouth quirked into a frown and he set down the apples he was holding.

“Ace?” He questioned, the old nickname feeling foreign to you. It’d probably been ten years since anyone called you that.

“Hey, dad.” You nodded your head at him across the small store. You felt like tacking on a ‘surprise’ for good measure. ‘Surprise, I’m in the OBX, surprise, I got a kid...’

“When did you uh, when did you come home?” He moved across the store to be near you though he refrained from reaching out for a hug. You wondered if a decade had been just as hard on him as it had on you. Cathartic and healthy and freeing but hard. He seemed more mellow, you thought that before he might’ve pulled out a bible and started admonishing you.

“JJ and I moved back three years ago,” you admitted, slipping his name into the conversation as if to prove a point. “He got a job on a fishing rig.”

“Will you...would you come to church? We could have lunch afterward. Or you could just be there?” He offered. Ten years hadn’t changed his beliefs at all but it had made him miss you. Not knowing where you were or what you were doing felt like an ache in his chest that never went away. The anger had subsided to sadness and guilt.

Seeing your dad had been startling enough and you had almost wished, while you were standing there in Heyward’s, that JJ could’ve been with you. Though, you weren’t entirely sure that would’ve helped anything in the long run.

“I think my mom would probably be nicer to me if I brought Wills but maybe, I mean, my dad already saw her. He didn’t ask about her but maybe...” you groaned, burying your face in your hands for a moment as you tried to gather your thoughts. “Why didn’t we stay in Florida?”

“Cause we both spent seven years talking about how much we wanted to come back to the OBX...and my dad-”

“Jay.”

“Look. My dad was an asshole okay, he was a fucking nightmare but you know better than anyone that not getting to see him at the end...that was the worst call I’ve ever gotten in my life. Knowing Ricky was the only one up here and that he was alone. You should do whatever you want to do and I’ll be there, right next to you, just like I’ve been for ten years, but I don’t want you to have any regrets.” JJ replied, honestly.

You nodded, looking down at the plate of food and pushing your fried rice around. You knew that JJ was still hurting, that gutting a house didn’t take away all the memories that were trapped inside. “God I hate when you’re right.” You sighed.

“Don’t let your dad hear you talk like that.” He teased just as the monitor went off again, this time for real. You leaned against the back of the chair and groaned as JJ stood up. “I got it.”

“No, it’s okay, I’ll get her.” You stood too. “You need a shower, and sleep.”

“I haven’t seen her all day,” JJ pointed out, following you down the short hallway to the bedroom that used to be his. It was painted in yellows and oranges now, with a crib and a rocking chair and baby books. A sunset mural painted on the wall from Kiara’s girlfriend and a chandelier of stars from Sarah.

“What are you gonna do, take her in the shower with you?” You joked, lifting the fussing baby up out of her crib, “hey bubba, what’s the matter?”

“You have to feed her right? So feed her in the bathroom.”

“Oh sure, Jay, that’s super comfortable for me. I would love to feed her while I sit on the toilet.” You grumbled, already knowing that you would probably, definitely end up caving to him and doing exactly that.

“I’ll put dinner away and do the dishes.” He promised, “and I’ll punch you’ll dad if he says anything to piss you off.”

#jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank fanfic #jj maybank x fanfiction #jj maybank fic #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x you #outer banks imagine #outer banks fanfiction #outer banks fanfic #outer banks fic #obx fanfic #obx fanfiction #obx fic #obx imagine #collecting stories imagine #you are ok series

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amazingmaeve · 3 years

Text

Possessive ↠ John Shelby

━ “gonna show you who you belong too.”

request ━ Could it be where the reader has been john’s girlfriend for forever and when michael joins the family he gets flirty with her and it really bothers john. He gets possessive one day he fucks her in his office and michael comes into the betting shop and sees them in john’s office and he and john make eye contact and john keeps going with a cocky look on his face

summary ━ john sees how comfortable michael is getting around y/n who is oblivious to his flirting. john makes sure michael knows who she’s with.

warnings ━ smut, fluff, jealousy, john being possessive, fingering, oral (f receiving), public sex (kinda)

a/n ━ love writing for john

word count ━ 3k

tags ━ @peakascum

John Shelby let out an angry sigh as he watched his girlfriend of 3 years talk to his cousin Michael. Michael just came back to the family a few weeks ago and he was already cozying up to Y/N.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her with other guys, it was the guys he didn’t trust. Now that didn’t mean he thought Michael was going to kill his girlfriend just might try to have sex with her. It usually happens when any guy talks to Y/N but this isn’t any guy. It’s his cousin.

John watched as Y/N giggled at something Michael said. Seeing her laughing would’ve brought a smile to his face if it were him doing it. He knows he should be happy that she’s having a good time. But John can’t help how possessive he feels when it comes to her.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist Johnny boy,” Arthur chuckled as he clasped his shoulder coming to sit on the bar stool next to his.

“Michael isn’t going to try anything he knows she’s your girlfriend,” Tommy said coldly, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He pulled it between his lips and let out a puff of smoke.

“He better not,” John snaps, taking a drink of the gin on the table. John doesn’t want to admit it but he’s jealous. Y/N should be laughing with him, not Micheal. He should be making the smile that graced her lips.

John continues to stare at Y/N and Michael as she says something that makes him let a smile come to his lips. John rolls his eyes grinding his teeth together, ignoring every bone in his body to go and beat the shit out of Michael.

“John,” Tommy snapped at the younger Shelby. John looked at Thomas who was sitting on the other side of his stool. “Stop staring, you're lookin’ like a stalker,” He advised.

“Pretty sure that’s the look he always gives Y/N,” Arthur teases with a smirk.

“No, only when she’s talking to another man,” Tommy corrected a tiny smirk gracing his lips as well.

“Fuck off,” John grumbled rolling his eyes at his older brothers.

“You don't have to worry about anything John, that girl is in love with you,” Tommy explains in a sharp tone. Tommy knew that John got jealous easily and he has to keep reminding him that Y/N is in love with him.

Before John could say anything else, Y/N walked up to them with her coat on looking at John. She gave him a smile and placed the palm of her hand in Johns. She gave him a comforting squeeze.

“You ready to go,” Y/N asks, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“You say goodbye to Michael,” John asked with a venomous tone in his voice which Y/N missed.

“Yes,” She answered with a smile.

“Let’s go love,” John sighed, getting up, finishing his drink before getting his coat on while Y/N bid her goodbyes to Arthur and Tommy.

On the way home Y/N and John didn’t talk which made Y/N slightly worried. John usually is pretty chatty when they walk home but that’s not the case here.

She tried grabbing his hand, and holding trying to comfort him. But that didn’t do anything as he snatched his hand away from her.

Y/N sighed as a frown graced her lips. She was confused and saddened by John's movements and silence.

Once they got home John went to the bathroom to get ready for bed not even mumbling a word to Y/N. She got ready for bed in the bedroom getting in her nightgown. She got a drink of water from the kitchen giving John some space before going back up stairs.

When she returned to the room she saw John sitting on the bed smoking a cigarette.

“Those are gonna kill you someday,” Y/N comments as she gets into bed. She slips under the cover leaning her arm on her pillow looking at John.

“M’not dead yet,” John smirks as he brings Y/N closer. She leans her head on his bare chest, drawing shapes on his upper chest.

“Don’t wanna lose you,” She whispers as John butts out the cigarette leaning down to give Y/N a kiss on the lips.

“Can’t get rid of me that easy love,” John smirked, brushing some of her hair behind her ear.

“Shame,” Y/N teases her lips brushing against his as she brings him in for another kiss.

Y/N gets up to straddle him while kissing him. His hands go to her hips and he massages them as they continue to make out.

They part, needing to breathe and once she’s caught her breath, Y/N leans in to kiss John's neck leaving hickeys in her trail. She begins to suck on his sweet spot.

She grabs his hand and leads it up the nightgown and to the inside of her thigh.

“I don’t want you hanging out with Michael anymore,” John blurts out as she continues to kiss his neck.

She pulls back and looks at him in disbelief. “Can’t this wait,” She says rubbing her hands up and down his chest.

“I don’t like the way he looks at you,” John interrupts her affections as he grabs her hands and puts them around his neck.

“Don’t you trust me,” Y/N asks, moving on his lap so she could stare at him.

“Of course I do,” John reassures. He doesn’t want her to think that he doesn’t trust her but he can’t help the way he feels.

“Then what’s the problem,” Y/N snaps as John rolls his eyes, Y/N was always stubborn and that’s one of the many qualities that he loved about her.

“Love,” He begins to say but she rolls off his body and turns away from. “Come on sweetheart talk to me,” He tried to pull her to his chest wanting to comfort her.

“I don’t know what the problem is,” Y/N whispers, turning around to look.

“I just want you all to myself,” John teases, trying to make her laugh or at least crack a smile. But she didn’t.

“Just because you don’t like the stuff I do doesn't mean I can’t talk to Michael about it,” She snaps turning around.

“Love-,” John whispers but is interrupted by her. He was trying to pull her into a hug to comfort her but she pulled away.

“No obviously you don’t trust me so why would I want to cuddle with you,” She explains closing her eyes trying to go to sleep. John sighs before turning on his other side.

The two lie in silence as they’re both pulled into sleep.

The next morning when John woke up he turned around to see that Y/N was gone from the bed. He sighed, running his hand through his hair frustrations running through his blood.

John got up to go to the bathroom before getting changed to go to work. Y/N must be there since she works there as his secretary.

Once John got to work he saw Y/N sitting at her desk working on something. He walked over to her and thought that she would look up when she heard him walking, but she didn’t.

“Love?” John questions, eyebrow furrowing.

“What,” Y/N snapped, not looking up from her desk.

“You weren’t in bed this morning I got worried,” John firmly says leaning his hands on the desks as she finally looks up at him.

“I wanted to get to work early,” Y/N flatly says shrugging her shoulders. “I’m sorry I should’ve told you,” She says crossing her arms over her chest.

John rolls her eyes at the attitude radiating from Y/N moving to his office where he sits down in the chair.

He runs his hand over his face and pinches the bridge of his nose. In reality John feels bad for trying to control her life he just feels so protective of her.

To get his mind off of her John starts to work for the day as Y/N worlds outside his office. The office was loud but John and Y/N were quiet to engorged in the work.

When dinner rolls around everyone goes to the Garrison for some drinks just leaving Y/N and John all alone.

For the past hours, Y/N has been sneaking looks at John to see what he’s doing. Whenever she got up she looked to see what he was doing. He either was working or joking around with his brothers.

Y/N doesn’t understand why John didn’t want her to be friends with Michael. He was his cousin and she would never do anything with him. Michael just shares the same interest with her.

But that doesn’t mean she is romantically or sexually interested. Sure he’s a good looking guy but he isn’t John.

She walked up to the door and knocked on the side of the wall getting his attention.

“What’s wrong love,” John asks, his eyes full of confusion.

“I just wanted to solve this conflict between us,” Y/N says walking in the office slowly. “I know you mean well, but when you say crap like that it makes me feel like you don’t trust me,” She sits on the edge of the desk in front of him.

“Love this isn’t you this is me,” John states grabbing her hands. “Whenever you’re with him, it makes me feel like you like him better love.”

“I would never think that I don’t like anyone better than you,” Y/N squeezes his hands in reassurance. John smirks and stands up as he slides Y/N over so she’s sitting in front of him.

“Even better than Michael,” John asks in a whisper. She can feel a shiver go down her spine as he asks the question.

“Much better,” She whispers. John finally closes the space between them by kissing her. She wraps her arms around his neck as his hands go to her thighs.

The dress she was wearing was getting rode up from him standing. His hands were moving up and down her thighs giving them a squeeze every once and awhile. Meanwhile his lips traveled to her neck and started kissing and sucking her neck.

John's thumb rubs against her panties which were already damp from the teasing. His thumb sought out her clit and began to rub the nub hard.

“John,” Y/N moans leaning her head back as he bites her neck.

“Who makes you feel this way love,” John smirks and bits her ear. His hands slide her underwear off and throws them across the room. His fingers return to her core and drags his fingers through her folds. “Come on, answer the question,” He probes, wanting an answer.

John slips a finger inside making Y/N whimper as she leans her head on his shoulder. He slowly slides his finger in and out, also curling his finger to hit her g spot.

“You do Johnny,” Y/N whimpers, wanting him to go faster. She tries to meet his slow thrusts but his other hand holds her down.

“Hmmm,” John hummus moving his finger faster and adding a second one. She moans and clenches around his fingers. “I’m glad to hear that love,” He whispers in her ear as he continues to finger her. His thumb returns to her clit and rubs fastly.

His fingers start to go faster as John chases her orgasm. His thumb doing figure eights on her which sends sparks to her core.

“You gonna cum,” John asks, his tone breathy as he whispers in her ears. Y/N whines as he stops his pace but she’s still clenching around him.

“Yes please,” Y/N begs now knowing he won’t start his movements until she answers his questions.

“Good girl,” John whispers as he starts his movements again. His fingers curl to meet her g spot while his thumb returns to her clit. Only this time he’s going faster than he did before.

“John,” Y/N moans loudly as his fingers haven’t slowed down his pace. She could feel it. She could feel her orgasm about to come. Y/N kept clenching around his fingers.

“Cum,” John demands and just one swipe of his thumb against her clit made her spasm around John's fingers.

“John,” She moans loudly as she clenches around his fingers and for a second she could almost see stars. Her breathing calms down after her orgasm dies down and she rests her head on his shoulder.

“That feel good love,” John asks with a smirk after a few seconds.

“Definitely,” Y/N breaths out as she calms down. “Okay your turn now,” She says with a smirk about to get on her two feet before John kept her on the desk.

“No love tonight’s all about you,” John's word goes straight to her core.

“But-,” Y/N tries to say but is interrupted. All she wanted to do was pleasure him like he did to her.

“Come on love I just want to pleasure you,” John digs down on the chair and puts his hands on her thighs. She clenches even though John hasn’t done anything to her again.

She nods and lets him spread her legs as he moves his chair closer to the table. John starts to kiss the inside of her thigh. As he’s peppering kisses on her thigh Y/N lets

“Johnny,” Y/N whines as he keeps biting and kissing her thighs. He smirks and kisses her clutching making her whimper. He starts to lap at her clit as she starts to feel that spark in her stomach again.

“John,” She moans as she tugs on his hair. He brings his tongue to her folds and drags it back to her clit where he gives the nub a harsh suck. “Oh god,” She moans loudly, wrapping legs around his neck.

John continues to suck on her clit leaving only to breath and then starts to lap at the sensitive nub. She can feel it start to come.

“John I’m about to cum,” Y/N warns as she tugs on his hair. John nods and continues to suck on the nub not caring. And only a few seconds she spasms around nothing as she tugs on his hair even harder. The orgasm goes through her.

Y/N lets out a happy sigh as John removes himself from her core loving the way she moaned for him.

“Hope that felt good love,” John says with a smirk as he stands up to kiss her straight after. Y/N lets out a surprised noise before kissing him back. She notes to herself that she can taste herself on his lips as he slips his tongue between her lips.

She brings her hands to his trousers and begins to unbuckle his belt. John chuckles against her lips.

“You sure you can take another darling,” John asks with a smirk. She nods as she pulls down his pants and boxers just enough so she can grab his hard on. “God darling I almost forgot the hard grip you got,” He smiles as she drags her hand down his cock.

John removes her hand from his cock and drags his tip along her wet folds which make her whine and John let out a groan.

“You ready sweetheart,” John asks as he pauses in front of her entrance.

“Yes please,” Y/N pleads, dragging her hands down his chest. John nods before finally entering her with a hard thrust.

Y/N lets out a loud moan as he pulls out and slams in hard hitting her g spot. She moans John's name like a prayer as he continues at a fast rate.

For him it’s hard since he’s been hard ever since she came into his office. With her clenching around him didn’t help either.

“That feel good,” John whispers as he grabs Y/N’s thigh and hoists it to his waist and his other arm goes across her back to keep her from falling on the desk. He keeps his pace at a hard rate. “Answer the question love,” He demands groaning in between when she clenches around him.

“Yes it feels so good,” She moans as his thumb drags along her clit. She brings her arms around his neck as he continues to thrust himself inside her.

“Hey John- oh my god I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Y/N heard Michaels voice come through the doorway. Just great she thinks.

Y/N would think he would stop thrusting and pull his pants up but that’s not what he did at all. He kept thrusting inside her making her let out tiny moans.

“What’s the question,” John demands as he continues to fuck Y/N on the desk while looking in Michaels direction with his cocky look on his face. Michael is visibly uncomfortable.

“Tommy wanted to know when you’d be at the Garrison,” Michael asks, clearing his throat avoiding eye contact and looking around the room

“Soon,” John promises as Y/N can feel herself about to cum and he brings his thumb back to her clit and starts massaging it fastly.

Michael nods and almost runs out as John goes faster filled with confidence.

“John,” Y/N moans loudly as he thrusts harder than before. She leans her neck back as she clenches right around him which makes him groan into her neck.

He continues to fuck her to get his orgasm and when he does he moans loudly into her ear and lets out his load inside her.

“John why’d you do that,” Y/N shoves his shoulder and winces as he pulls out of her sensitive pussy.

“You didn’t seem to mind,” John smirks pulling his boxers and trousers up and doing up his belt. Y/N rolls her eyes as John hands her, her underwear. She gets up putting them on and smoothing her dress out.

“Don’t forget Johnny you’re the only one I want.”

“I think half of Birmingham heard that love.”

#john shelby x you #john shelby blurb #john shelby headcanon #john shelby one shot #john shelby smut #john shelby x oc #john shelby imagine #john shelby x reader #john shelby #peaky blinders x you #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders blurb #peaky blinders smut #peaky blinders #tw smut #tw angst

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