#marco peña imagine

[xoxoavenger]

Wildest Dreams

pairing: Marco Peña x Fem!Reader

summary: Say you'll see me again Even if it's just (pretend, just pretend) in your wildest dreams

word count: 2937

warnings: I made the characters all in college bc high school grosses me out, mentions of sex, cheating

1989 masterlist main masterlist

When Marco came to LACD, it was clear that he was a hot commodity. But it was also clear that he was more interested in the flirting than the actual getting together. To every rule, however, there was an exception.

Y/N liked to think of herself as an exception, but if she was being honest she knows that it barely counts. They're not dating. They're not together.

But waking up next to him in the hotel in San Diego tells her something completely different.

He wanted to get away, to be free from the gawking eyes at school from being new or being, as Elle so graciously announced, a 'snack.' So, he told Y/N to pack clothes and picked her up before class. She should have known then that Marco had planned something, that he never picked her up for class as to ward off rumors that were already running rampant through LACD. So she couldn't exactly say that she was surprised when Marco drove right past the school exit.

"Where are we going?" She asked, looking over to him as he drove. She wished she could say she had gotten used to his jawline, his curls, the way his shirts hugged the muscles of his biceps, but she knew by now that his looks was something she would never get over. Her heart skipped a beat every time he looked at her.

"It's a surprise." He turns to her with his 'heart-break' smile, and she tries not to melt. From his smile before he turns back to he road, it's obvious she was in a puddle on the seat.

"What are you doing, Marco?" She asks, leaning over to put her head on his shoulder. It was uncomfortable over the center console, but when he turned and kissed the top of her head, she knew it was worth it. He reached over and grabbed her hand from her lap, the brush of his fingertips on her thigh making her heart race.

Back in the present, she watched Marco's eyelids flicker before he slowly opened his eyes, then closed them and pulled the arm he had around her tight. She giggled quietly as she slid across the bed and into his arms.

"Marco," She whispers, but he moves his body to be practically covering hers now and kisses the top of her head before snuggling back into the mattress.

"Shhh," He slurs, his body going slack once more. "I didn't get us a nice hotel for you to wake up at dawn." She lets him go back to sleep, running her fingers through his hair and kissing his head.

"What if," She starts, feeling him shuffle against her in annoyance. "We do something much more fun than sleeping." She feels him go stiff against her, and she actually laughs when he puts both arms around her and pulls her up and against his lips. She opens her mouth to remind him that she hasn't brushed her teeth, but he takes this as an invitation.

He puts a hand behind her neck and shifts to move completely on top of her, the arm behind her back holding him up.

This is going to kill her. Marco Peña is going to kill her.

~

"Still coming over tonight?" Y/N asks lowly as Marco opens his locker, right next to hers. It's how they met in the first place.

"Tonight?" He asks, pausing for a second. She shuts her locker and turns to him, where he's partially blocked by his own locker.

"Yes," She checks her watch just to make sure she's not the one who's confused. "It's Wednesday." Every Wednesday her dad was always gone pulling a double shift, so they had the place to themselves. And she hadn't seen Marco after school in awhile, but she also hasn't had time to ask him about it.

"Shit," His head falls, chin dipping into his chest as his curls fall into his face. His lips are in a tight line.

"What?" She asks. She can't see him, but she can tell he's not moving so she slams his locker closed.

"I, uh," He shakes his head and looks over to her, guilt clouding his face. It makes her angry, the fact that he's about to ditch her.

"Marco," She starts, ready to talk him out of whatever he's doing. It has to do with why he's blown her off every day this week. He's always nice about it, but she still feels hurt. He's told her he'll make it up to her, though, so she's holding out hope.

"Listen, I have to help Elle with something." He starts, and she simply blinks at his sorry excuse.

"Elle Evans?" Y/N remembers Elle from the first week of classes, when she broadcasted to the entire school how hot she thought Marco was. Y/N had thought that she was dating Noah, who was a year older than them, but perhaps they had broken up.

"I'll make it up to you I promise." It's exactly what he's been saying for days, which pisses her off to no end.

"Sure." She smiles with thin lips and nods, turning and walking away. It's clear she's not happy with him.

"Y/N, wait!" He yells through the hall, which only makes her walk faster.

"Marco, hey!" Elle is next to him in a second, blocking his path as he tries to catch up with Y/N, who is rapidly disappearing from view.

"Elle, I've gotta go," He pushes past her, feeling bad but not bad enough to stop himself.

"Just real quick," She grabs his arm to stop him, and he's never wanted to hit a girl until this moment.

"I really have to-"

"I think we should pull a double tonight." She's smiling, and Marco knows she's hoping he'll agree since he already agreed to the ridiculous schedule, but he feels no remorse as he shakes his head.

"I actually can't come on Wednesdays." He tells her, and Elle looks shocked.

"What?" She has the audacity to look pissed, and Marco tries not to roll his eyes. "You said you would help, you promised-"

"I need my own time and Wednesdays are important to me." He doesn't allow her to get in his way again, just goes around her and follows where he hoped Y/N went, since she's long gone even with his height advantage.

"Marco!" He hears Elle call, but he doesn't turn, just pushes through students going to class. He turns down corridors and runs through people, but he can't find her. It's almost like she disappeared. So, he takes out his phone and texts her, knowing that there's now way she blocked him that quickly.

see u tonight at 5

It's not long before she texts back.

thought u had plans.

He winces at the use of a period, clearly indicating she was pissed off.

i told u i'd make it up to u, didn't i???

that u did see u at 5

He smiles, glad he's figured it out. Elle is blowing up his phone, but he tucks it away as he heads for class. He'll deal with his partner later.

~

For weeks, Marco keeps his promise to both girls. He practices with Elle, even on weekends which annoys the shit out of Y/N. He doesn't practice at all on Wednesday to be with Y/N, which annoys the shit out of Elle. And he no longer has any free time, which annoys the shit out of Marco. So everyone is annoyed, but everyone is happy.

Except they all get less and less happy the longer this arrangement goes on.

Elle is confused because she starts to have feelings for Marco but she's dating Noah still, but God Marco's hands on her waist and their chests heaving together as they dance and the smiles they share - it's not all in her head, she knows.

Y/N is confused because she's starting to realize that more and more people are asking her about Marco, and she simultaneously figures out that she does like Marco more than just fuck buddies. But she has no idea how Marco feels about it, and she's terrified to ask him, so she pretends it's fine when he kisses her to sleep on Wednesdays.

Marco is confused because he doesn't know what he wants. Elle has a boyfriend, and Y/N doesn't think of him as more than a fuck buddie, so he doesn't know what to do. All he can do is continue his arrangement with both girls and hope for the best.

"You're coming to my competition this Saturday, right?" Marco asks as they lay in her bed. She's cuddled into his side, him running a hand up and down her back as he stares at the ceiling.

"What competition?" She asks, causing him to freeze. "I'm joking. Of course I'm coming. I would never miss it." She mutters eyes closing as she starts to fall asleep.

"Have you heard what people are saying?" Marco speaks softly, and her eyes open wide as she realizes exactly what he's about to say. "About us?" She thinks about lying for a second, but she can't bring herself to. She knows that they need to talk about it, and he brought it up anyway.

"Yeah." She brings her hand up to rub against his chest, causing him to continue his movement against her back. "What do you think?" She whispers, scared to talk too loud.

"I think people have nothing better to do than start rumors." His response makes her deflate a bit, sad that he didn't bring up anything about their relationship.

"I thought we left that to the teenagers." She mutters with a small laugh.

"Yeah." He agrees, and she closes her eyes once more, trying to soothe her racing heart. "What do you think?" He says it so softly she almost doesn't hear it.

"About the rumors?" She's buying time, knowing that she doesn't want to speak. She feels him nod, so she takes a deep breath. "I think most of the time, people start rumors based on what they see." She stops moving her hand and keeps her eyes closed, breathing regulated to not give away the fast beating of her heart.

"I agree." He finally says, which makes her stiffen.

"Okay." She whispers, wide awake now.

"I want to do this the right way." He tells her, and she's not sure what that means, but it sounds good. "So, after my competition, we'll talk more. Is that okay?" She's not sure why he wants to wait until this weekend, but she nods anyway and falls asleep contently against him.

~

Ironically enough, she ends up sitting next to Noah Flynn at the competition. And although she usually doesn't talk to strangers, she's too hopped up on nerves for Marco to keep quiet.

"Are you Elle's boyfriend?" She asks, even though she knows exactly who Noah is. He smiles politely.

"I am. Came to surprise her." She awes and he nods, his smile a little more genuine.

"I'm Y/N." She introduces, and his eyes widen in recognition.

"You're Marco's girlfriend." She opens her mouth to correct him, but she doesn't, because she doesn't want to explain it all now.

And she kinda likes the way it sounds.

They watch the entire thing, Marco and Elle at the end of their program. They exchange comments, snuffing their laugher behind their hands. It turns out, Noah is actually a cool dude, despite all the rumors from high school.

When Marco and Elle are called out, they cheer, sitting up and getting ready. Marco hadn't let her see the routine before it started, no matter how much she begged, so when the music started, her heart jumped with excitement.

And then it dropped.

The way Elle and Marco looked at each other, the way he held her, their smiles as everyone cheered, it hurt. The whole time she tried to cheer, push it away and replay her and Marco's conversation from Wednesday. But his reluctance to confess then, his insistence that they wait until after the competition came back to haunt her.

She plasters on a smile and cheers, smiling along with Noah as the song comes to a close, the two pressed close. Y/N knows what's happening before it happens, and she tenses as Elle wraps her arms around Marco's neck and kisses him.

She feels sick.

Noah is already up on her left, so she follows him out the door, tears flowing out of her eyes against her will. She feels stupid, stupid for thinking they could work, for thinking he liked her. She's so deep in her thoughts that she runs straight into Noah.

"Do you need a ride?" He's asking, voice rough with hurt. She thinks about how she came here with Marco, him insisting on driving her so she wouldn't be late. She almost regrets coming here, regrets knowing about the kiss. But would not knowing be better? She can't tell.

"Yeah." Her voice isn't much better, but Noah just nods and takes her to his car. They wordlessly get in, Noah starting the car but not driving.

"I can't believe," She starts, shaking her head and not continuing. She's not sure how Noah feels now, but she can't go off on his girlfriend now. Plus, Marco is at fault as well. It takes two...

"What a piece of shit," Noah says, as if Marco had forced Elle into it. "Sorry," He looks over to her, and she shrugs.

"You're not wrong." She looks out the window as Noah reluctantly pulls out, almost as if he had been waiting for Elle to come find him. But she didn't, so he peels out.

"Where do you wanna go?" He asks, and she takes a deep breath.

"Crest Drive." She tells him, feeling the tears fall freely. She tries not to sniffle, but she doesn't want snot running down her face.

"I'm sorry." Noah says, breaking the silence. They're almost to her house, and she just shakes her head.

"We actually," She turns to him, wiping her eyes. "He's not even my boyfriend. We fucked around, and I got feelings, and he told me he would make it official after this competition, but clearly that was a lie." She laughs with no humor, shaking her head.

"Shit," Noah says, and she turns to him as he pulls onto her road.

"It's the one on the corner down there." She tells him, then takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She doesn't know what else to say, and he just nods as he pulls up.

"Take care." He tells her as she opens the door. She nods as she gets out.

"Thanks for the ride." She smiles, waving and unlocking her door. When she's finally alone, she slides down the wall, tears falling as she begins to sob.

She was so stupid. Of course Marco could only be her's in her dreams.

~

She gets seven calls from Marco before he shows up at her door.

"Please, just let me talk!" He begs as he knocks on her door. She acts like she's not there, thankful her dad wasn't home as well. He eventually leaves, and she cries some more.

Marco can't sleep. All his dreams are of her. And yeah, he usually has dreams of her, but these are different. They become less like wet dreams and a lot more like what he wants in life. He wakes up with her in his arms. And the worst part is, they're taken from his memories. They're real things he lived through and they make him regret kissing Elle even more than he already did. He swears that sometimes, right before he wakes up, he can feel her breath on his chest, her hands gripping his biceps, her hair tickling his neck. He can see her face so clearly it's like she's with him, her lips full and kiss-bitten, her eyes hooded but clear in a way that always entranced him, because how could she be clear headed when he felt like his body was about to explode?

He almost chokes on air when she actual answers his millionth call of the day.

"Please stop." She's not begging, but he can hear the hurt in her voice. It makes him sick to his stomach.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did that-"

"Do you remember that fancy dinner you took me to?" She asks, and he's struck dumb for a moment. He remembers the deep blue dress she wore, the immaculate way her hair was styled, her makeup, the way her nails, painted to match the dress, scratched down his back that night. He remembers every single second of that night, because that was their one and only actual date. He remembers the simple necklace, the way it nestled between her boobs, the way he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Yeah," His throat is dry as he imagines her the way she was that night, waiting for him in lobby, looking out the windows so the sun framed her body like a painting. He remembers how conflicted he was, wanting to take her dress off but wanting to keep it on at the same time, enjoying the way it framed her body so perfectly.

"Remember me like that, Marco." It's almost a bittersweet tone she's got, and he can imagine the smile she's sporting while tears fall out her eyes. Before he can answer, the telltale beeping noise that he despises sounds from his phone, and he curses as he looks down to see she's hung up on him.

When he calls again, the line doesn't even ring.

//

tags: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187  @one-sweet-gubler

#marco peña x reader #marco peña #the kissing booth imagine #marco peña imagine

[wheresarizona]

Baby Names

summary: Choosing baby names with Javier is not as easy as you hoped.

rating: G (This is FLUFF. Soft Javier Peña, Dad-to-be Javier Peña, Husband Javier Peña, Javier being in love with his wife, and stoked to be having a kid, domestic fluff, pregnancy, food mention, banter)

pairing: Javier Peña/f!reader

word count: 1.4k of pure fluff

a/n: This can be read as a standalone or as part of the Learning to Live ‘verse. In the LTL ‘verse, this takes place sometime in the future and is actual facts canon. An anon asked what Javier and his wife would name their kids, and here is the answer. All my thanks to my love, @juletheghoul, for looking over this and helping me. I love you.

Thank you for reading! Comments and reblogs are appreciated!

Part 1 - Series Masterlist - Main Masterlist

“How do you feel about Marco?” You asked.

You were sitting in bed, your back propped up with pillows and holding the baby name book. Javi was resting his head on your belly that had really started taking shape—visible evidence that you were, in fact, pregnant. There were the other symptoms, of course. It took you two missed periods and getting sick at the smell of bacon to realize something was up, and your suspicions were confirmed after taking six at-home pregnancy tests. You’d waited to tell Javi until after getting confirmation from a doctor, and the man had been so excited—was still excited, about becoming a father; it was something you both had wanted for some time.

Javi had your shirt pulled up to just under your breasts. His big palm was rubbing against the side of your baby bump, pressing his ear to it like he was trying to hear the sweet potato-sized baby currently fluttering around inside you—a soft look on his face as he gazed at you with a relaxed smile on his lips.

“I have a cousin named Marco,” Javi replied.

“Oh, right. He has that restaurant in Austin we still need to check out.”

“Yeah, the Tex-Mex place. Something we’ll have to do after the baby’s born.”

Your head tilted, looking over the book at him.

“Why after?” You asked.

His eyebrow rose.

“Baby, you get heartburn eating Taco Bell. Imagine eating real food.”

The exceptionally bad heartburn was another symptom of growing a human.

You frowned.

“Taco Bell is real food.”

“Taco Bell is shit.”

“Taco Bell is delicious, and you’re mean,” you pouted.

“I’m not mean. I’m right. If you want Mexican, I’ll get you El Mercadito.”

They had the best tacos in Laredo, and it was your favorite restaurant, as well as Javi’s.

“You know I love El Mercadito, but they aren’t open till midnight like Taco Bell is.”

Javi sighed.

“As I was saying, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy my cousin’s food, so we’ll wait.”

It was your turn to sigh.

“I would’ve second-guessed my addiction to being your little creampuff if I’d known it would result in me not being able to enjoy delicious food.”

Javi’s eyes went round as he frowned.

“I’m sorry, mi Cielito,” and you could tell he genuinely was.

You reached out a hand to cup his cheek.

“It’s okay,” you smiled. “I get to have your cute little baby, and that makes it all worth it.”

Javi smiled, kissing your palm.

“Hopefully, they look more like you,” he said. “You’re the cute one in this relationship.”

You snorted.

“Stop it. You’re literally the hottest man alive. Our kid better have your looks.”

“How about a good mix of us both?” He reasoned.

You thought it over.

“I’m okay with that,” you conceded.

“Good,” he kissed your palm again.

You went back to reading the book.

“Thoughts on Marcus?”

“Knew a guy in high school named Marcus.”

You lowered the book to look at him again.

“So, is it a no then?” You asked.

“It’s a no.”

You nodded, beginning to read again.

“Mario? Actually, I’m saying no to that one—makes me think of an Italian plumber.”

Javi snorted.

“Mason?” You asked.

“No,” he answered right away.

You giggled.

“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling it either.” You turned the page, eyes scanning and moving to the next one. So many names, and nothing was jumping out at you. This was a lot harder than you expected. “What about Oscar?” You asked, laughing when you moved the book and saw him making a face.

“I like our first choice,” Javi said, turning his head to kiss your tummy.

“I do, too, but we haven’t gone through all the boy names. What if there’s something else we like more?”

He sighed.

“I don’t think we will, and there’s still a chance it could be a girl,” he pointed out.

Your ultrasound to find out the gender was in a couple of days.

“Why was figuring out a girl’s name so much easier?” You asked.

“Because it just made sense. I think we should stick with what we liked originally for a boy.”

You chewed on your lip.

“You’re sure you don’t like Javier Junior?” You asked.

He huffed out an amused breath.

“We’re not naming our kid after me—one Javier Peña is all the world needs.”

“I don’t know. We could call him JJ for short.”

He gave you a look before turning his attention to your stomach, speaking against it as if he wanted to make sure the baby could hear.

“Your mother has questionable taste in names—”

“Hey!” You said, making him chuckle when you playfully hit him with the book.

“But don’t worry, amorsito (little love),” Javi continued. “I’ll make sure you get a good one.” He kissed your belly, and you couldn’t help but melt a little.

One of his new favorite pastimes was talking to your tummy, Javi whispering things in Spanish and English. You’d woken up to him quietly talking to the baby many times, never making out what he was saying because you were too sleepy.

“You’re really settled on it?” You asked.

His lips pressed against your skin one more time, and he moved, crawling up to lay next to you on his side, one hand resting on your bump and the other propping up his head.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Already started using them in my head.”

“And here I am referring to them as JJ in my head.”

“Javier isn’t a girl's name,” he said slowly.

“But Javiera is,” you replied.

“We’re not naming our baby after me.”

You set the book down on your chest and pressed a palm against his cheek.

“I know,” you smiled. “When I think of our child, and I picture them, I just imagine those photographs your dad showed me of when you were a kid. I just envision our baby looking like a little copy of you, and it delights me because you were really fucking cute. So, JJ in my head until we’ve decided on a name.”

He was smiling at you adoringly.

“I think we’ve decided,” he said.

Your other hand moved to settle on top of his on your stomach.

“I think we have, too. We’ll have a little Agustín or Marisol Peña, soon.”

“Yes, we will,” he nodded, smiling brightly as he leaned in to kiss you.

Your stomach started growling.

“Javi?” You asked when he pulled back to look at you.

“Yes, Cielito?”

“I know it’s,” you glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “Eleven, but the baby wants Taco Bell,” you gave him big eyes.

He sighed, kissing you quickly before moving to get off the bed.

He was only wearing boxers, pulling open a dresser drawer to grab his sweats and pull them on, getting a t-shirt, too, and putting it on.

“What does the baby want?” He asked fondly once dressed.

You rubbed your tummy.

“They don’t know,” you frowned. “They just want Taco Bell.”

“Okay,” he nodded, walking around the bed to kiss you tenderly. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“You’re the literal best, and I love you.”

He smiled.

“I love you, too,” he kissed you again. “Anything for my wife.” He leaned down to kiss your belly. “Anything for you, too, amorsito,” he murmured against your skin. “Not even born yet, and you’ve got me wrapped around your finger.”

He kissed you one last time, and you watched him leave.

When Javi returned forty-five minutes later, his arms were filled with paper bags, and you could smell the food, your mouth watering as he brought it all into the bedroom and set it on the bed.

“I got one of everything on the menu,” he said as he walked to the bathroom and returned with a towel to make sure you didn’t get anything in the blankets, and your doctor prescribed antacids to keep the heartburn at a minimum. “Figured that was the safest way to make sure you got what you wanted.”

“Javi, this is so much food,” you said, pulling out a soft taco.

He got onto the mattress, sitting next to you.

“Whatever you don’t eat, I'll take to the office tomorrow,” he shrugged.

You looked at him.

“I don’t think you understand the craving, babe. This food is mine,” you said, wrapping your arms around the bags to pull them closer to you. “And I’m literally going to eat it for the next two days.”

“Craving’s that bad?” He asked.

“Oh yeah. I’m glad you don’t like it because I’m not too sure I’d be able to share.”

He chuckled, leaning in to kiss you.

“I love you,” he said against your lips. “I love you both.” He put his hand on your belly.

“We love you, too.”

Part 1 - Series Masterlist - Main Masterlist

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to be tagged in my fics, please fill out the form in my bio, on my masterlist, or just let me know!

Tagging: @theorganasolo @nicolethered @whatfandomnow @lola766 @nessamc @vanemando15 @muffinengineer86 @fiscinthirst @melancholyy-hill @hnt-escape @sherala007 @jadesabre83 @rainbeaubrightchild @blub-senpai @pedrohoe04 @ncsls0515 @theherothesavior @captain-creampuff @javiersjeans @zetasaturno99 @amb11 @lovedbyth3sun @siidereeus @marvelousmermaid @mrszdjarin  @themarcusmoreno @woomen23 @ms-loverman-066 @star-wars-fan-2005 @kissing-stars @chloeinpink @notyourlovemonkey @unofficialavenger90 @fictionismyreality  @absurdthirst @kirsteng42 @littlemisspascal @thevoiceinyourheadx @allfoolsinluv @katareyoudrilling @grimeysociety @iamskyereads @beecastle @enjoyourlattebitch @daddydindjarin @athalien @elegantduckturtle @harriedandharassed

#pedro pascal #javier peña #javier peña x reader #Javier Peña/Reader #javier peña fanfiction #javier pena/reader #wheresarizona writes #learning to live series

[mariamariquinha]

Versos de Placer (Colonel Carrillo x f!reader) - Twelve

Summary: Javier thought, brutally honest: the fuck you think you’re kidding?

Word count: 6.9k

Warnings: Brief allusion to sex, dead bodies (kinda gore), violence, torture, angst, feeling of inadequacy, people smoking, gun mention and... cop work? 🤷‍♀️

Author’s Note: In the middle of a lot of shitty things, I was able to finish editing. Am I happy with this? Maybe. I know that at some point I looked at what I was doing and liked it, so I decided to not change my mind because I’m not that reliable these days - when it comes to accept by achievements. There’s a few political comments, mostly my opinion, so beforehand I warn: I hate captalism. 

Oh, and that gif was a choice because... Yeah. It’s small, discreet, but that interaction will do some good in the future. Keep that in mind!

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!

Join my taglist! Don’t forget to reblog, comment and like! As always, I would love to know what you’re all thinking! ❤

-------------------------------

You were a cynic - that was both a curse and a relief. A relief, yes, because with that lifestyle, the best way of going through most of your shit was being resilient, added to a big dose of an anesthetized sense of reality. A curse, yes, because it was like you became a numb thing, acting by intuition even in moments where you should just be more… normal. 

It wasn't like you could blame your father, but it sure as hell wasn't something that came from your mother's side. She would definitely have a more genuine and less furtive response to whatever happened inside that office, even if you knew exactly what Carrillo’s words meant.

Because Carrillo used to talk once. 

With deliberate honesty.

You wish you could speak to her, rely on her. Suddenly it had been so long since you walked to her house, talked about your day and the plans for the weekend. Suddenly it all felt too much to handle - the violence, the traps, the long nights, the responsibility. In your moments of calm, spaced and almost non-existent, there were figures that hovered in your imagination and that, despite being equally disturbed by what that life had in store, still made you more innocently accommodated.

Running on the beach. Drinking that good coffee from across the street. Repeating the same things to Mrs. Jackson because, again, she thought you were that girl who used to sell her cigarettes during the 40s. 

It was as if all the control that kept you from smoking your cigarettes or the patience for your morning jogs had gone down the drain, just because Carrillo assumed a truth that made you as afraid as if Juan Marcos had put that knife in your jugular. 

Nobody talked about it. You went back to that room as if nothing had happened, lit a cigarette and went back to your papers; Javier and Steve maintained silence for nearly an entire hour, perhaps deciding whether to keep things as they were or whether to be more combative. Your head went back and forth with the sound of Carrillo's voice saying those things, all mixed up with the jumble of useless information that you had to review because you weren’t fucking paying attention. No one wanted to open up a hornet's nest of problems for an unofficial case in that environment so inhospitable for such indulgences.

You looked up at the sound of a glass being placed on your table - Peña poured three fingers of whiskey and that was as close as the three of you came to a resolution. Silence, then it would be. Temporary consent, in other words.

You couldn't be more grateful for the team you had there.

------------------------

“How are you feeling?”

Murphy was always comfortable being in the background as a listener - he knew himself well, he knew he needed to preserve as much stability as he could for Connie, so he avoided getting mixed up with Javier's shit or your shit, unless it had to do with work. Still, that day, a couple of weeks after that happened, Steve waited for the right moment to make his notes known, before Javi could arrive for work or anyone else entered the office.

At that moment, everything was a complete mess. Things were nothing short of heated with all that hunting for the golden eggs, with a lot of people dying and even more dead ends. Your father took your peace. You readily offered not to attend meetings with Carrillo if you could avoid it, and you even got offensive to Messina in one of her bureaucratic inconveniences. 

“Well, if you’re so worried about it, you should ask him. I’m not inside his head.”

And you remembered how Javier and Steve hid the urge to laugh, even though they were equally worried about the consequences of that comment. Fortunately, nothing happened, and afterwards it became a reason for relaxation between you. 

Which wasn't the same with Horacio.

He lived up to his word and wouldn't make your presence more than a mere inconvenience to his routine. At cluster meetings, he gave direct comments about the work and it was strange not to have any bickering sessions between you two - even if that didn't lessen the discomfort. Sometimes he would flex his fists when he heard you talk and stand back while watching you show him something on the satellite maps. Javier would look at you from the corner, Steve would watch Carrillo; sometimes they switched.

You didn't think any of that was fair. In the letters, you mentioned this to your mother and she said that it was up to you to make that decision: about how you were going to take it all forward and whether you could keep the man in his own torture. She knew, however, that it was also torture for you. That you missed the nights you spent together, the escapades at work, the way he touched you. It was too soon and too pathetic to mention feelings like 'love' or 'infatuation' or… whatever. You two were too skeptical for that. The company made everything more bearable, just as Javier had the girls and Steve had Connie. You and Carrillo didn't have anyone; or at least you didn’t. Juliana was still there for him. Always have, as it seemed. 

Maybe, deep down, that was what bothered you the most - knowing that he had a past connection and that it was easy, in a way, to take the initiative to go for the easier, more comfortable side. You couldn’t provide him that. None of it, to be honest. 

“... It happens, right? With the best and the worst of us. In the end, this is all kind of fucked up.”

You knew that in other circumstances (maybe in another life) Steve would be more reticent about this, more traditionalist. He was the type. So you didn't show much more than muttering under your breath and taking another drag on your cigarette as you continued to sit on that cheap leather couch, the morning sun scorching your back a little.

It took you a moment to answer something - when you did, you saw that he looked uneasy, as if he wanted to say something else.

“I’m fine.” 

“You just make it sound like it's a sacrifice.”

And it wasn't really a sacrifice - in that kind of profession, there was a fine line between just choosing the best and giving things up. Addictions went hand in hand with lucidity, just as the withdrawal from a normal life distanced you from the fact that not having a gun in your belt was like walking naked. You knew yourself; like any human being, you clung to the smallest moments of comfort, stability, joy and pleasure that arose. You were weak for the good life, tired of the constant resilience and warning signs that went off in your head every single day.

Again, you almost left him unanswered. Steve noticed your uncertainty, though. It scared the shit out of you.

“... It’s complicated.”

“Not that I want to be a bitch or something-”

“I know.”

“-But it’s a surprise. 

If he still had the innocence to believe in the system that governed their lives, Steve would be indignant, be the church boy he always was. But no, that wasn’t the case - at least he didn’t show it. He had seen the real world too brutally to fill it with more moralism; otherwise he would ignore it, be rational, move on. Then he blew the smoke that was stuck inside his mouth, shook his head and smiled, all the while staring at the ashtray on his table.

“You two used to hate each other.”

“Yeah.”

“Is it some kind of kink? Love-hate stuff?”

You scoffed a laugh, shaking your head and mirroring the smirk he threw in your direction. 

“At least it wasn't on my table,” Steve teased, as if coming to the realization just seconds before. “Isn’t that fucking considerate?”

As usual, you both laughed with an almost hopeless acceptance surrounding what little humor you shared. Not that it was fun, or worthy of such genuine laughs, just… That. Rational complicity. And you didn't want to ruin the moment, but inside there was another reason for your amusement - when you and Carrillo were making out in the building back in the day, maybe you bumped into something or other on Steve's desk, and you almost broke his desk lamp.

Rational complicity then, you decided, averting your gaze from Javier, who entered the office with nothing more than a grumbled ‘good morning’. 

-------------------------

The landscape became more arid, spaced out - at the very least, isolated. You stared at the bodies splayed out on that cave, trying to somehow decipher what could not be deciphered. There was a morbid but equally cold atmosphere surrounding this discovery; you watched five Carrillo men taking one by one out of that hole, placing them side by side for further identification. The youngest of them was nothing more than 20 years old; at some point, you just turned your head to the side because the ones with more time there were already smelling. 

You stomped to a distant spot and, making sure no one was looking, you threw up. Years of experience or all the circumstances of that job didn't always make you have such a strong stomach. Later that day, you found yourself in your apartment just to brush your teeth - that led to a few minutes of a shower you thought would clean all of those images inside your head. 

Again, you sat alone in the office with more than enough whiskey inside a cup and a third cigarette ready to be lit between your lips. Steve rushed home to Connie; Javier had a puzzled expression on his face when he noticed that you would stay, but you assured him that it was okay, that nothing would happen. For the first time in days, you felt sure of something. 

“Stechner will follow Juan Marcos' lead.”

You turned your eyes from the mountain of papers in front of you, brows raised at the sudden intrusion - out of politeness or not, your father didn’t ask what you were doing there. At worst, he took the cigarette out of your mouth and made you tsk.

“He can be more persuasive than the rest of us, I suppose,” You said nonchalantly. “Or just more than me.”

Again, if he noticed the way you eyed him up and down, probably too full of bitterness, your father decided to keep it to himself, both hands behind his back.

“You agree, then?”

“That's not a question you associate with someone like Stechner.” It sounded almost like a warning, a subtle message of how your ‘soft spot’ used to lead your conceptions and moral judgements to a place way more complicated for that line of work. 

He hummed. Nodded his head. You thought that the conversation was over, of course, but you always should know better than to believe your father could be less than suffocating.

“I figured we could have dinner. I know a place nearby, still discreet enough.” 

“Trying to make me feel better?”

“We're past the stage of understanding that this is your mother's job.” 

The blunt honesty with which he said it made you consider the possibility more; it would be more than enough, spending some time with your father, to understand that there were people in life who knew how to make moments more bitter - or bitter enough to distract your mind from the worst. 

So you accepted. 

Frijoles Rancheros, he said with the best accent he had. 

“Didn't you stop with that?” He said, again, this time without the flirty smile to the waitress or the good Spanish of his.

“Tried to,” You shrugged, cigarette finally being lit and the smoke flowing through the air. 

“Not tryin’ anymore?”

“I needed to keep my list of disappointments with you,” With a smirk, you leaned more comfortably against the chair you sat at, legs crossed and eyes with that devilish spark he hated so much. “What brings you here? Stechner missed you licking his balls or something?”

“... We talked.” He said in a low, stern tone. “Apparently even the CIA knows how to recognize your work around here.”

“So you talked about me.”

“About your achievements, that is. Too emotional-”

“Of course,” You scoffed, dragging more of your cigarette with sarcasm dripping from your tone.

“-But efficient. The one raising your voice to the stubborn Colonel Horacio Carrillo.”

The mention made your stance falter, but just for a moment. You gave him a side-eye, then got back to look at anything but his face - not wanting to fail in your attempt to not show how affected you felt. It sounded like a sin, the fact that your father would use such an indifferent manner to talk about Horacio. How it was so easy for him, a man with so many flaws, to talk about Carrillo as if he was just as insignificant as… Anything. You grew defensive. The guy could still have that way of his, but you didn’t act (even before) like he was nothing. 

“Is it supposed to be a bad thing?” You decided to ask instead, watching him sip his beer faster so he could answer. 

“Have I already told the story of Cúcuta?” 

Probably, but you didn’t pay enough attention back then and wouldn’t pay there. Still, he kept talking. 

“We had discovered that some communist groups were regrouping and we took the National Police guys there. You know, for fact-finding.”

Or killing. Whatever he called it to make him lay his head on the pillow every night. 

“We stayed there for two weeks. Maybe Carrillo was involved, I can't be sure,” But then he got quiet, as if it was the end of the story. After a few beats of silence, you made a face.

“And…?”

“Ah, well, I didn’t know he had that in him to become what he is now. Not the most remarkable cop, but committed to the cause. Very Catholic, however, he called his mother every day. It amazes me that he has come as far as being on the front lines to catch Escobar. It takes a certain obscurity to be good at this job.” 

You considered it silently, watching your dad's grimaces as he just talked about the situation like it was a normal thing. Maybe it was after all. Reality was lighter if you took it as a routine, using conformism as a shield. You wondered if he knew about what happened with you that afternoon - if Carrillo, once, was the type of guy who would throw up because of it. You even wondered, with the space your father gave while simply not paying attention to you, what it would be like to meet that version of Horacio and whether he would make the same decisions, or think that this would be his future.

“I'm sure he has his own demons just like anyone else,” You said out of nowhere, taking in the way the man just watched your motions. “No one gets away with this kind of shit.”

“This shit is catching a communist pig like Escobar.”

Communist, you almost laughed, but you didn't argue. You couldn't even count the number of Americans involved in the lists of secondary cartels in the States, nor how many white-faced people who signed Republican votes negotiated with these 'communists', which only made you more skeptical of the idea of ​​what you were really doing there or the kind of person you had the pleasure of not being raised by.

Under the circumstances, Carrillo's revulsion was understandable.

“You know, you really look like your mother.”

“Conscious?”

“Naive. Maybe not all the violence in the world will make you realize that we are not always the villains.” 

“... No,” You puffed out more of the smoke, arching an eyebrow. “Sometimes you find a shallow ditch full of bodies and it turns out to be Escobar's fault.”

Because everything, from the bastard son who was hidden in the bowels of that country to the resistant hands of Juan Marcos against your neck, had a finger of the communists. If the pain you felt earlier or the pain you felt in childhood with his absence existed, it was because of the communists.

Damn communists.

-------------------------

You threw the other two packs of cigarettes in the trash that same night, as soon as you got back to the office.

With effort, you would remember to look for nicotine patches or anti-smoking gum in the morning.

-------------------------

Carrillo was familiar with the feeling of self-repression, and for some reason, he too deserved the strict discipline. Never a hair out of place, but that same hair wouldn't be styled any other way than the way he saw fit; short, practical, that was not an interruption but also a form of imposing.

This discipline made him learn that the way we present ourselves says something about us. That's why he really didn't understand why he saw you with a subtlety that definitely didn't exist in that job and, consequently, in you.

That day, you were at one of those reunions. The atmosphere was tense, as always, but Carrillo watched you climb on a small step to gain access to a higher part of the discreet shelf in the corner of the room to reach a cup, all the while laughing at something Peña was saying. It wasn't just the way your thighs flexed in the material of your jeans or the way everything felt tight enough that you had the flexibility to move; your manner changed, your modus operandi. There were no delicate mannerisms in your posture, nor in your approach - the harsh parts made you look like a hedgehog, even with that smile on your face.

If the whole situation had hurt you the way it seemed to him, if… that moment, inside the office, had a similar meaning, he didn't know, but he understood the mystery. There was so much going on and suddenly you had your dad and your issues and your life; Carrillo knew better than anyone that neither he nor you would want to bring up yet another drama. 

He valued that effort, was familiar with it. As at other times when Horacio had to be the rational figure, the loneliness of being dedicated to a discipline was something he knew well how to live with.

Carrillo also knew your frustrations about your father were bubbling to the brim. You tried to cover it up as best you could, always scratching the back of your neck or looking away when a CIA decision interfered with the DEA's. It was obvious that hanging out with guys like him could be like idle work - he, of all people, knew that being here on the ground following more archaic strategies wasn't your style. Or worst: that his presence there meant that he was almost always a flawed tool of a plan he was never fully a part of.

For him, watching you was like watching all the energy that walked beside your manners when you arrived disappearing because, in the end, it sounded as if only he, Horacio, saw the full magnitude of your achievements and efforts. Like an awed spectator of a hungry muse, all teeth and claws for what she believed but cutting off by… the others.

“You know that’s bullshit, right?” You said then, sitting at the edge of the table after serving a good amount of coffee. “I remember seeing you there and I’m pretty sure the night ended really differently.” 

“Well, we didn't say goodbye on my doorstep.”

Carrillo frowned at the suggestion, especially at the way you two seemed to forget he was there too, watching Javier using that natural flirty personality with you. And then you turned to see Steve walking in with Trujillo, away from the commotion, and when Horacio decided that it was his sign to stop staring at you, he saw Peña himself sending him a curious gaze. 

That day, Horacio discovered that Javier had been measuring the situation like a scientific project.

“No tenemos tiempo para esto.” We don't have time for this. 

Was all Carrillo said as soon as the reunion was over and they were walking side by side down the corridor. 

“No se de que estas habl-” I don’t know what you're talking ab-.

“Tu sabes.” You know. 

They both stopped in their tracks, interrupted by the Colonel's gruff voice and the way he jerked him around with a shoulder pull. Javier frowned, tried to understand where that all came from, then raised his eyebrows at the realization. He sighed, looked around and put his hands on his hips.

“¿Alguien te ha dicho alguna vez que no eres la persona más sutil que hay?” Has anyone ever told you that you're not the most subtle person around?

Horacio kept quiet. Caught. 

“Su padre es un gilipollas, quizás uno de los peores con los que me he cruzado. Ha dejado muy claro que quiere la oportunidad adecuada para sacarla de aquí.” Her father is an asshole, maybe one of the worst I've ever come across. He's made it very clear that he wants the right opportunity to get her out of here.

And for a moment, Carrillo almost understood those motivations. If he was a worried parent, he wouldn't sleep easy knowing his only daughter was putting herself in front of bullets or curled up in the arms of a fucking narco, nearly suffocated to death. He himself didn't like to imagine what would have happened if he hadn't gotten there in time. 

“... No estaba coqueteando con ella, si eso es lo que te preocupa. Nunca saldríamos bien, esa mujer es una diabla.” I wasn't flirting with her, if that's what you're worried about. We would never work out, that woman is a devil.

True. So true. 

“Pero es mejor que decidas qué va a ser de eso, porque está bastante claro que te estás engañando a ti mismo.” But you better decide what's going to become of it, because it's pretty clear you're kidding yourself.

Javier didn't elaborate, and despite not being the most sensitive of men, Carrillo knew when he was being put up against something he was avoiding. As Peña walked away with a frustrated posture, he wondered if that was the effect he had on you, of disappointment at being… him.

Of course, he didn't openly mention this to anyone, nor did he feel able to do so; to the fullest, he reinforced his serious expression when he saw you leave the operating room and look for someone. You looked one way, then the other, and saw him standing there. Something must have gone through your mind with the way you swallowed hard and clenched your fists - Carrillo wondered if it was the same memory of that night in your apartment, when you were still fresh from sex and with other perspectives.

For an instant, just one, he felt it. Like a replica of that same night.

When he was the first to look away, smothered by the idea and tempted by the sensation you offered those days, Carrillo knew he was probably letting you down again.

As he should. 

-------------------------

You felt frustrated. You'd been having that feeling for a while before the whole Carrillo situation, but it wasn't like you could deny that that disappointment had lessened dramatically once you'd spent time in his bed.

They began to monitor letters sent by employees exported from the States. Peña always walked around with an even more frown on having the letters he sent to his father being invaded in this way and, as much as Steve didn't complain while having Connie there, he complained about the intrusion just like Javier.

You felt suffocated. 

That’s how you ended up getting fucked inside a restroom stall, legs attached to the sides of the hips of a guy named Carlos and dress hiked up to make it easy for him to access… you. Or your decency, if such a term existed at the moment. There was an effort there, though. Carlos made the time well spent. When you went home that night, maybe you really were more relaxed, your shoulders less rigid and your spine relaxed.

But there was a reason you couldn't sleep a wink that night.

Carlos was Carlos, not Carrillo.

Perhaps, you tried to justify, it was because there was a greater reason than just the attraction with the two of you. There was an almost paranoid fear that the days were uncertain, the daily stress of a job that seemed to be failing and the frustrations - Carlos was Carlos, not Carrillo. The kisses, the touches, the look; two opposites. You would close your eyes if you were Horacio, you would sleep like you haven't slept in days. Surely you wouldn't wash yourself so vehemently after sex either if it was him. 

It wasn’t though. It was Carlos. 

So when the phone rang around two, you got up without difficulty and answered it on the second ring. There was no need to rub your eyes to chase away sleep because it didn't exist, even if physical fatigue made you massage your shoulder while listening to a brief recorded message from a woman saying it was a private and recorded call.

“¿Es usted responsable del caso de Juan Marcos de las Puentes?” Are you responsible for the case of Juan Marcos de las Puentes?

The voice was too Latin to be Javier's and too different to be Carrillo's; even if it were one of them, they wouldn't use Spanish or act like they didn't know you. Your first reaction was frown - and the second, unconsciously, was to look around as if the answer to the as yet unspoken question was in your living room. 

“... Sí. ¿Quien habla?” Yes. Who’s speaking?

“Soy Frances Tenorio, directora encargada del Centro Especial de Detención de Medellín.” I'm Frances Tenorio, director in charge of the Medellín Special Detention Center.

The last time someone called you this late at night, five years ago, was when the family found out that your grandmother had passed away. Your uncles, two other men who lived in the South, asked if it made sense for you to help them with the funeral arrangements - not that there was any intimacy to it, but because she would like to be treated with a delicacy that none of the three had. You took responsibility because you knew your father wouldn't do it out of hurt. He never had a good relationship with his mother.

Still, all that cold commitment to ensuring that the body was well treated and the ceremony well organized, such as the mass that took place seven days later, did not compare to the coldness with which you reacted to Frances' words.

There was no clarification and you didn't ask; just requests you weren’t so used to having, but obliged anyway. You listened to the instructions, hung up, got dressed - gun in the holster, badge on your belt. When you left, you locked the apartment door as usual, walked down the hall, got in the car and realized that the radio was still on a specific station, at that time of night repeating romantic songs. You didn’t turn it off. 

Your mind hesitated to do the call - you didn’t want to. Circumstances did not have an exact logic in the chronology of the facts that you knew. Juan Marcos wasn’t supposed to be there, least in Medellín. Whatever the fuck Stechner tried to do wouldn’t be placed there for obvious reasons. There were at least five people who received that kind of information before you, and suddenly the director of a place you didn't even know was part of Juan Marcos' punishment had your phone number. It was statistical to know that no one died like that at a time like this - the guy was a bull, healthy from head to toe, with at most a late tetanus vaccine.

Then, all of the sudden-

“As I said, dead.” 

Frances didn't have the best of English, but the heavily accented words made a lot of sense in your ears, even if they didn't make sense on their own. His office was poorly lit, and generally speaking, you had a lot of questions, but you just stared at that death certificate with nothing but open confusion on your face. Perhaps it was the way you lagged to say something, because Frances kept talking.

“The National Police was already warned about-”

“The National Police?” You abruptly raised your head. 

“It's the norm. Rules. I couldn't let another gringo into my jail alone.”

Before you could ask what he meant or process the information, you noticed someone entering the door and, of course, it needed to be Carrillo. The National Police. He looked at you with a big frown, then at the officers behind and Frances - mad. 

“¿Desde cuándo es este un protocolo aceptable?” Since when is this an acceptable protocol? Horacio asked in a harsh tone, standing right beside you. Looking at the door again, you spotted Trujillo, confused and a little taken aback by the sudden situation. 

“Llegaron los gringos y tenían orden de interrogatorio. Eso es protocolo, tú lo sabes mejor que nadie.” The gringos showed up and had an interrogation warrant. That's protocol, you know that better than anyone.

“Que gringos?” 

The silence that followed, short but helpful, was like an obvious answer to an even more obvious question. You faced the early death certificate, then Carrillo, who didn't express any reaction. You, by yourself, couldn’t express any reaction.

“I want to see the body.” 

“Qué?” What?

“Do you think that’s a good id-”

“Quiero ver el cuerpo. ¿Ahora me entiendes?” I want to see the body. Do you understand me now?

Carrillo wasn’t combative with your interruption, nor with the way you were snappy with Frances; otherwise, he nodded in approval of your request, as if none of that hadn't already been the same as everyone in that jail dropping their pants for the CIA's threats, as if they needed just Carrillo’s approval. 

At some point in your education, you learned about the special rooms for political prisoners during the communist uprising and the government's quiet work of putting down Sierra Maestra-influenced guerrillas. 64, the formative year of half the men inside those halls and, arguably, the golden memories of that Frances Tenorio. With the 'peace sealed' by right-wing groups, you knew that many of these rooms became normal interrogation spaces or, as in the case of that institution, an improvised mortuary that looked more like a shallow spawning pit.

Fractured skull from a fall, the obituary said. They were opening an internal investigation into a possible gang rebellion.

Juan Marcos was a man nearly six feet tall, with truly thick arms, long legs, and robust from head to toe. You knew his weight, strength and physical skills like no one else. The hands, you noticed, did not bear a single mark of retaliation or defense. You would know if he had; moreover, healed from the clash with you months earlier. Looking from there, with nothing but a pale, lifeless face, motionless, you noticed that Juan Marcos looked no less frightening or dangerous or… Well, the face of a criminal. 

You wondered how many guys came to do the job. Two to tie, one to intimidate - maybe one more to watch. They used to had this one.

“Is your father in Medellín?” Carrillo asked in a low tone, not daring to disturb the intense staring you’re giving the guy right in front of you two. 

“Nn-nn,” You shook your head slightly, then turned to Frances. “Stechner.”

“Protocol.” Was all he said, already turning to leave the room but probably standing still on the other side of the door. 

Three fingernails had been torn out and there were electric shock marks on his nipples, groin and mouth. The face was disfigured and torn by what looked like blows; if you turned him on his side, you probably would see the marks on the backs of the knees just as you saw them on the wrists and heels. The corpus delicti examination, still unsigned as well as the obituary, only recorded the head injury that didn't really exist - done with a typewriter that probably came from the office you had come not so shortly before.

When you raised your head, Carrillo was watching you carefully, measuring every reaction that could come out of your neutral expression. He knew how it was. He did it himself. You could see that, probably, he was just mad that he wasn't responsible for it. Maybe you were too, just a little - deep down, better saying. 

“I need a cig.”

The conversation must have lasted ten, fifteen minutes? You only managed to finish the first one, leaning against the hood of the car and alone in the side parking lot of the prison. The nicotine patch must have been lost somewhere in those hallways and his arm was still marked by the glue. When you went to take the second cigarette in your mouth, you saw Horacio approach and also the way your hands were shaking. He chose not to be at your side, but in front of you; as soon as you lit the cigarette, you kept both elbows resting on the car hood behind you.

No one said anything for a good minute. When you dared to give him a look, just once, Carrillo was lighting a cigarette for him - something way stronger than yours, as always. 

“What was it?” You broke the silence with a single question, one he just shrugged at first. “I’ll give it an hemorrhagic shock.”

“I’ll give it a fractured skull from a fall.”

“Please,” You scoffed, raising the cigarette to your lips again. 

“The CIA put in their report that the last operation didn’t suffer any casualties. I had to sign two letters of removal and I almost signed one of death. So yes, a fractured skull from a fall. ” 

It was difficult. You knew it was. When you started to get close to him and understand a little more of what was there, under the skin, you could see that his biggest frustrations were in the fact that the potential of his work was limited. There would always be a Stechner, a CIA, a DEA, a bunch of outsiders with funny accents and shitty Spanish. That he, as a man and as a professional, always had the cards in his hand but would only play them if someone from above said so; that when he started to overcome this hierarchy, he was banished to Madrid and then back with a freedom tied in very loose halters, under conditions that you didn't know, out of sheer whim.

Carrillo knew those marks and those consequences - many had his name transcribed. And he could say it was hemorrhagic shock or whatever the fuck fucked up Juan Marcos' life, but you both knew that outcome held particular satisfaction for him. At least enough to accept it unchallenged.

“... He was my suspect,” You said in a defeated tone, blowing smoke in the air. “It's pretty stupid of me to think they'd at least consult me ​​first, right? To say they would come here to destroy the guy?” 

“Yeah. But you’re smart all the same.” 

“Not enough to not do the math on why my dad pretended he wanted to have dinner with me.” 

“He wanted?”

“He did it.” You responded vehemently, tapping your thumb on the end of your cigarette to knock out more of the ash. “I should have known better when I saw him there in the office so late at night. Talking about Stechner taking the lead as if he wasn’t already planning on killing the motherfucker.”

“And do you think it would have made a difference if you had known?”

“... No.”

You didn't say it was because you were witnessing what your father could do for the first time and that it scared the shit out of you; they were childish thoughts. After years of paddling against the tide, seeing him miss his own mother's wake and even all the disappointments he could’ve caused you, everything was more tolerable when his stories were just that: stories. You also had your share of lives under your belt: one guy in Compton, one in South Beach, one more in a warehouse during a drug traffic operation. Still, you learned to live with them because it was your job. Yours only. And sometimes you could forget that someone who was supposed to give you a little more petting reduced you to one more small obstacle to doing his.

Again. And again. And again. 

You felt stupid. Naive. Again.

“It’s like fucking Hotel California,” You muttered, eyes closed and fingers massaging your temple. 

“Like what?” He asked in sincere curiosity, making you look at him in time to spot his own cigarette mid air. 

“Like the song. On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair…? Nothing?” Your hands gesticulated. 

“Too gringo for me,” Carrillo inhaled on his cigarette and pretended (pretended) he was keeping a straight face. You rolled your eyes.  

“Your friend Frances must agree with that.”

“By your time here, you should know that not everyone trusts you.” 

“There’s a few exceptions.” You defended. 

“Yeah, some people might lose certain opinions for one person or another.”

With another drag on your cigarette, you let out a low 'huh' and shook your head, but when you glanced back at Carrillo, you saw that he was watching you with a very wide gaze. Again, measuring your reactions, as if trying to send a message with his silence. You did the same. 

It's been a while since you've been like this, with time to observe each other and capture details that captivated your encounters. He was more tired, visibly fresh out of his static spot in the office on the upper floors, probably with a couple of glasses of whiskey in his system. Damn pretty, you could add. Prettier than Carlos - poor Carlos. 

He broke eye contact first. 

“You’ll talk with your father?”

“Well, at least to know if it was hemorrhagic shock.”

“I don't know if this will make you sleep better.”

“Nah,” You shrugged, tilting your head to the side. “Just looks like I forgot the guy can be sadistic as fuck.” 

“Habit.”

“Personality.”

Again, silence. This time though, you were the first one to break eye contact, mostly because that thing got into a place you wouldn’t like to go. You didn’t tell Carrillo, probably wouldn’t, but your mind was building scenarios and creating perspectives about something you really preferred to forget. 

Your mom always knew better - you wished you weren't so curious as to choose the same career as your father to know what kind of shit he did.

“You’re going back to the office?” 

“Yes.”

“Mm,” He walked in your direction, but went straight to the door to open it. Before he could do it, though, Carrillo turned to you. “I would do the same.”

You nodded. 

“I know.”

“And you too.”

“Not with the same motivation,” You looked at him nonchalantly. “I have personal reasons. The type I could understand.”

“He don’t?”

“Well, we’re not the same,” Another shrug, this time dragging more of the cigarette before blowing the smoke out the side. “Perhaps I’m more different for not being adept at this, but is it really that different? I don't feel guilt, but I do feel angry that he disappeared with a guy who could give me information. Screw his life, right?”

“... Sometimes this type of life makes us forget that we are humans. You're not Gandhi or any shit like that, you're you. Flesh, bone and a gun in hand, ready to fire at the right time. I would do it, because I know what he's done to other people, but I've also seen what he's done to you.” 

He took a step closer - just one. And when you instinctively backed away with your eyes closed and a hurt murmur coming from your throat, Carrillo froze in place. 

“We don’t need to talk-”

“I know.”

“But stop playing with me, Horacio. Stop.” For a moment, he looked confused, then noticed something that perhaps even you didn’t and nodded in defeat. “Don’t be like him. Not now.”

Don't be opportunistic like him, don't be selfish like him, don't be capricious like him, don't use you like he always did. That's what you meant. That he shouldn’t pretend he didn’t say no twice and approached you later with some kind of warm conversation because it seemed convenient. You didn't need it - what you wanted and what you accepted he denied too quickly.

“... I’ll be back in the office.” You said after a time, eyes on the floor right where the cigarette landed and hand brushing your left eyebrow. “Body identified, death certificates and stuff like that. It's just, isn't it? Do you proceed from here?” 

Carrillo gulped, considered your face like a brave man and said a simple ‘yes’ before insisting on opening the goddamn door for you. And you let him, even when he stood there, the door now closed, staring at you through the open window. 

“Good night, Colonel.” 

“... Good night.”

He tapped the opening twice, took three long steps back and inhaled on the cigarette which, as you had barely noticed, was still lit in his hand. You watched him through the rearview mirror, just for a moment longer, and after that split opportunity you also stared at your own eyes - coming to a conclusive revelation. One you already knew, in fact. 

Carlos was Carlos. Carrillo was Carrillo. 

And damn you for always choosing the complicated ones. 

--------------------------

No pressure tags:

@cheesybadgers

@thesandbeneathmytoes

@616wilsons ​

@nessamc

@thoroughlymodernminutia

@padbrookcottage

@mysoulisasunflower​ 

#colonel carrillo x reader #colonel carrillo #colonel carrillo fic #horacio carrillo x reader #horacio carrillo #narcos fanfiction #narcos fic #narcos #maurice compte #female reader

[nomtterwhere]

come back to me || marco peña x reader

a/n: now that we have an official announcement for kissing booth 3, i figured i’d finish this little fic that has been sitting in my drafts. i combined two requests because they were kind of similar and i had an idea that would work the both of them in. hope you guys like it!

request: @dystopianchic13 requested: “Going on a date and finding someone better after Elle!” and @mansaaay requested: “marco befriended a girl before the elle thirsting over marco incident, and the kissing booth, marco and the girl sorta start talking again?”

summary: when marco starts at your school, the two of you quickly become friends. but when elle gets involved, your relationship takes a turn for the worse...

word count: 4.4k

marco valentin peña.

newest school heartthrob, with good reason, and very quickly set to possibly be the most popular guy in school. and yet, here he was sitting and eating lunch with you and your friends.

it’s not that you weren’t well liked or anything, but you and your friend group were nowhere near the status of the omgs. and considering the way everyone talked about him from the moment he stepped into the building, you had assumed that would be the direction he would flock.

but alas, on his first day at this school, he ended up standing at your table, tray of food in hand. your friend nudged you until you looked up from your lunch and saw him standing there. up until this point you had only heard of marco. you hadn’t shared any classes with him earlier in the day but throughout all of them you could hear bits and pieces of conversation about how attractive this guy was. and now that he was standing in front of you, those comments didn’t do him enough justice.

he was wearing the same uniform everyone else was, but he had rolled his sleeves up so they just passed his elbows, drawing your attention almost immediately to his forearms. trailing your eyes up his body, your eyes followed along his broad shoulders and up the length of his neck, glancing at his strong jawline.

you made eye contact with him, your breath quite literally leaving your body. his brown eyes were kind and inviting, friendly even, as if you hadn’t just been shamelessly checking him out.

“um, hi.” you say.

he smiles at you, nods to the empty seat across from you. “hey, i was wondering if that seat was taken.”

oh god, his voice.

you try and ignore the pinch that quinn delivers to your thigh underneath the table and shake your head. “no. um, it’s all yours.”

he gives you a full smile now, his perfect teeth on full display and you can’t help but smile back. he takes a seat, setting his bag down beside him.

your friend grant sits at his right side and places a hand on his shoulder. “you’re marco, right?”

marco nods.

grant squints his eyes at him and shakes his head, looking across the table at you and quinn. “unbelievable.”

he turns back to marco. “do me a favor and stay away from my girlfriend.”

“grant!” the girlfriend in question, jen, exclaims and gives him a look before turning to marco. “excuse him, he’s an idiot.”

grant releases marco with a laugh and takes a bite of his sandwich. “i was kidding! mostly.” he mumbles the last word through a full mouth.

marco laughs, waving it off. “it’s okay. trust me, i’m not here to steal anyone’s girlfriend.”

you take a drink from your water bottle, laughing at your friends. “yeah, this may have not been the prime table for you to choose to sit at.”

marco shrugs, giving you a half smile. “i like it. you guys seem very...”

“loud?” quinn finishes as one of the boys down the table shrieks as someone else pours water down his shirt. “disruptive? unfiltered?” she aims that last word at grant, who’s too infatuated with his sandwich to notice.

marco laughs again and you smile. he seems very open, you note. willing to go with anything.

“i was gonna say entertaining.” he shrugs. “but those work too.”

you and your friends quickly introduce yourselves and the rest of the lunch period resumes like it always would have.

marco quickly slips into the natural system of you and your friends, not even a little bit fazed when the entire cafeteria turned to see the commotion that you had caused when someone flipped their entire lunch tray off the table. he simply laughed along with you guys, giving himself into the moment. too soon, lunch is over and you and your friends are cleaning up your table and throwing out the trash. faintly, you hear quinn arguing with the boys, telling them you were the ones to make the mess so of course you have to clean it up! as you came back to your table from returning your tray.

marco looks at you when you return and stands. “hey, could you tell me where mr. peterson’s room is? i would have asked one of them but...” the both of you turn your heads to where quinn is supervising the boys picking up after themselves and the girls sneak off as best as they can before quinn gets to them as well. “...they seem a bit busy.”

you laugh, picking up your backpack. “just another day with this bunch, trust me. but lucky for you, i also have ap physics next.”

the bell rings and you turn to quinn, but she hasn’t let up on the boys so you just let her be. being late on the first day isn’t that big of a deal anyway.

you lead marco to the physics room, all eyes on the two of you as soon as you step into the room. you almost forgot that you had spent the entirety of lunch with the school’s newest crush up until this very moment. you could feel the glares directed at you radiating throughout the room and watched as heads of those who hadn’t seen him yet perk up as he entered.

“is it just me, or is everyone looking at us?” marco had bent down and was whispering in your ear.

you decide not to inflate his ego anymore and shake your head. “it’s just you.”

you take a seat at one of the lab tables, marco sitting beside you. you zone out as the teacher speaks, it was the first day so it was mainly rules and the expectations for the year.

so you don’t pay much attention until one sentence catches your ear:

“the person you’re sitting with will be your lab partner for the rest of the year.”

you and marco turn to look at each other and he grins.

“hi, partner.” he says, quietly since mr. peterson is still speaking.

“you should know, i have been yelled at in every lab class i’ve ever taken because i always forget the directions.” you warn him.

“well this should be fun. so have i.” he winks and you both laugh quietly.

the period passes slowly as most do on the first day. the bell rings but everyone stays in their seats since lab was next anyway.

you go over lab rules and discuss the first lab you will be doing next time and you raise your brows as he hands out the instruction sheet.

“yikes, this looks like a lot of steps.” you say to marco and he shakes his head.

“mm, yeah. next lab class should be fun, don’t you think?” he gives you a knowing look.

you can’t help but laugh at the thought of you in a lab class together, but the laughter is also for the fact that you found marco.

never in your life had you met someone who was so ready to quickly adapt and go with the flow. you had had no doubt that your lunch table would be enough to scare him off but he had already decided he would be coming back tomorrow. and so, that became the beginning of your friendship and many screwed up labs. marco inserted himself nicely into your friend group and the two of you especially started becoming really close. that was, until one fateful day.

“...hot.” is the only thing you hear over the loudspeaker in the middle of your english class and everyone around you looks up in confusion. “he’s just a guy...woah!”

you quickly recognize the voice as elle evans and also realize that she probably doesn’t know she’s being broadcast to the entire school right now.

“the omgs were right, this guy is a snack!” you hear her say and everyone in your classroom laughs, the teacher’s eyebrows raised.

you wince on her behalf. you’re not friends, but still. that’s embarrassing for anyone. everyone gathers pretty quickly that’s she’s talking about marco and you internally roll your eyes. obviously you know marco’s hot, you have eyes. but to have another girl describe just how hot he is over the loudspeaker during class makes you bubble over with annoyance.

and besides, doesn’t she have a boyfriend?

eventually, her tirade stops and your teacher tries to calm the class down so you can get back to work. but even as you leave your class, everyone is still taking about it and elle has been given the new nickname get it girl.

“ah, there he is, our very own full course meal. or was he the dessert?” grant asks as marco sits at the table.

“no, grant. he’s a snack, remember?” quinn joins in.

“how about all of the above?” you say and the table erupts into laughter.

marco shakes his head. “alright, alright. enough jokes.”

you get a deadpanned look on your face. “oh, no. we’re dead serious marco. you’re just that hot.”

grant wraps an arm over his shoulders and starts making kissy faces at marco which he laughs at and shrugs off.

“seriously, though. where does elle get off saying that kind of shit? doesn’t she have a boyfriend?” jen asks.

“she does, indeed.” you point a fry in her direction before popping it into your mouth.

“huh,” marco says as he takes a sip of his water.

“what’s that’s supposed to mean?” you ask him.

“nothing.” he sets down his bottle. “i just didn’t know she had a boyfriend is all.”

you give him a wary look but decide to drop it for now, hoping that elle evans was behind you. and she was, until...

“you what?”

marco sighs, sinking his pool shot before standing up straight.

the two of you were at the arcade, making the most of your last day of the weekend. the arcade was mainly empty except for a mother and her two kids who turned to look at you when you shouted. you gave her an apologetic look before turning your attention back to marco.

“i felt bad. lee can’t do the competition and she really wants to enter. what was i supposed to say, no?” marco says in response.

apparently elle and lee were supposed to enter a dance dance mania competition together, but since lee sprained his ankle, elle needed a replacement partner.

you don’t say anything, simply watching as he misses his next shot.

he looks up at you when he realizes you aren’t going to respond. “why do you even care if i help her?”

you feel your face get warm but you ignore it as best as you could, setting up for your own shot. it was your first shot of the game considering you hadn’t realized he was apparently a pro at pool.

“i don’t! its just that we have a take home lab due in two weeks and i don’t want to be stuck doing it myself cause you’re off dancing with get it girl.”

you call her by her nickname solely to spite him. why did you care so much? who knows, but you enjoyed seeing marco roll his eyes at the mention of the name.

“you won’t. and hey, relax.” he says.

you shoot him a glare. “don’t tell me to relax when you’re abandoning me.”

he chuckles. “no, relax.” he nods to the pool cue in your hand which you have in a death grip.

“oh.” you didn’t realize you had been taking out your anger on the poor stick. you take a deep breath, relaxing your grip and line up your shot.

“here.” marco walks over to you, disappearing from your vision as he stands behind you.

you quietly take a sharp intake of breath as you feel his body behind yours, his hands coming around you to lightly rest on the cue, shifting it slightly.

“what are you doing?” you ask, quietly but make no move to exit his embrace.

“considering i’m three shots away from winning and you haven’t made a single one yet, i figured i could help you out a little.” he says and you can hear the smile in his voice.

“oh, shut up.” you mumble, but you don’t put any power behind your words.

marco adjusts your grip on the pool cue, lightly setting his hands over yours. his chest presses against your back and you can feel the heat radiating from his body to yours. your stomach clenches as his hand grazes yours ever so gently as he settles in. he leans forward a bit as he helps you line up your shot and you try your hardest to focus on the task at hand. but his lips are right by your ear so you feel his breath as he whispers:

“and shoot.”

you tap the ball with your pool cue, watching as your striped 10 ball rolls into the left corner pocket.

marco lifts his arms in victory and you found yourself saddened by the sudden loss of his body against yours.

“there it is!” he exclaims. “alright, next shot is all you.”

you groan playfully, trying to ignore the butterflies that have arisen in your stomach. you spend the rest of your day in the arcade before calling it quits and heading home to finish homework.

when you get home, you mull over what marco dancing with elle in the ddm competition means. you try to remind yourself that marco said things weren’t going to change now that he was helping out elle, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t going to turn out like he hoped.

and you were right.

ever since they started rehearsals, you have seen less and less of marco. he even eats lunch with her, leaving his spot across from you vacant. you saw him during ap physics but that was the only time you talked.

and as for your lab, guess who had spent the past two weeks working on it herself? everytime you called him to get him to work with you, it was always “sorry, elle and i have a practice” or “elle needs me right now.” it was as if your friendship meant nothing to him.

“alright guys, labs are due friday. i want them on my desk by the beginning of the lab period.” mr. peterson says at the end of lab on tuesday.

“oh shit, i totally forgot about that.” marco says, turning to you. “how’s—”

“it’s fine. i’m almost finished.” you cut him off, packing away your stuff without making eye contact.

“okay...” he says this with a twinge of confusion in his voice and you can feel the anger inside of you. “there’s nothing i can do?”

“i don’t know marco, why don’t you ask my dozens of phone calls and text messages i’ve sent you regarding the lab?” you lock eyes with him, angry now. “does i won’t let you do this lab alone ring a bell? or have you forgotten about that too?”

he sighs. “y/n, you know i’ve been busy. and i’m sorry. i really didn’t mean for you to do all of the work.”

your teacher clears his throat. “mr. peña, ms. y/l/n. don’t you have a class to get to?”

you look up with a smile. “yes, mr. peterson, sorry. have a good day.”

you leave the classroom without another look at marco.

and so the continuing weeks followed as such, marco spending all of his time with elle and the two of you only speaking when you had class together. there were times you tried to reach out, to be a peacemaker, but he always responded to your requests to hang out with sorry, i’m busy. next time?

to no one’s surprise, there was never a next time.

and as much as you were mad at marco for essentially ignoring your presence ever since he started dancing with elle, you couldn’t help but tune in to the competition since it was being streamed live.

“give me a second!” you call to your mom as you sit in front of your laptop and watch as elle and marco are called to the stage.

you sit through the performance, unable to help the proud feeling spreading through your body. you and marco may not have been as good of friends anymore, but you were still happy to see him thrive. even if it was a result of ignoring you for so long. your proud smile quickly drops from your face though, as you watch elle kiss marco. your eyebrows raise and you inhale a sharp intake of breath when she wraps and arm around him and pulls him closer.

you shut your laptop quickly, tears pricking at the corners of your eyes. you press your hands against your eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. what would they be falling for? some guy that hadn’t shown interest in you and then abandoned you when you needed help? you were better than that.

so you left it alone. you didn’t know what was going on with elle and marco and it wasn’t any of your business. you had put it past you. you and marco were still friendly, but after the kiss with elle, he seemed even more distant than usual. and you couldn’t figure out why until the night of the fundraiser.

you were walking through the carnival, looking at different booths with jen when elle ran past us, accidentally bumping into you. she turned when she noticed it was you who she had run into and you notice her red rimmed eyes.

“oh my gosh, are you okay?” you may not have been her biggest fan, but you also weren’t a bitch. it was obvious she had been crying.

“i’m really sorry. just talk to him, okay? please.” was all she said before leaving the carnival.

“what was that about?” jen asks me.

“i’m not sure...” you say, looking after her retreating figure.

but it didn’t take long to figure out because as we walked further into the booths, we saw marco walking away from the kissing booth. with his head slightly bowed and his hands in his pockets, it was obvious he was upset about something.

you and liz exchanged a look and she raised her eyebrow at you, nodding over in his direction.

“well? go talk to him!” she shoved you forward a little bit.

you sighed, knowing that you should. you assumed that’s what elle had been talking about. so you approached him slowly, just as he reached the outside of the kissing booth crow.

“hey.”

he looked up when he heard your voice, an almost grateful look on his face, and gave you a small smile. “hey.”

“can we talk?” you asked him and he broke into a relieved smile.

“yeah, i’d like that.”

you followed him to the outskirts of the carnival where the two of you sat on a bench right outside the exit. you sat first, crossing your legs as you faced the opposite side of the bench and patted the space beside you.

marco chucked and sat down, turning to face you as well. he drummed his fingers on the back of the bench, and you noticed his knee was bouncing. he was nervous. because of this you thought you would have to guide him into conversation, but to your surprise he began with no hesitation.

“i know i owe you an apology. ditching you like that because of my stupid crush on elle was not cool, especially after promising i wouldn’t let you do all the work yourself.” you winced at that, hoping it wasn’t too visible. you had known that marco liked elle, obviously, but to hear him say it aloud still hurt. “i’m so sorry. and not only about the lab but about our friendship. you were the first people that was actually real to me when i came here and you were my best friend. i let elle get in the way of that and i feel terrible.”

he fidgeted a bit in his seat. “i know i haven’t acted like it but...i miss you. a lot. i miss our terrible labs and arcade days and having lunch with you. i miss all of it. and i know it’s my fault that none of that has been happening. i really just...want to be friends again.” he looked up at you with sad eyes and you could tell he meant it.

and as much as you appreciated his apology and his honesty, you couldn’t just let him off the hook. “you really hurt me, marco. i get it, okay? crushes can make you do crazy things, but i told you that she had a boyfriend. you knew that and you still decided that she was worth risking our friendship over. while you were off dancing with elle, i was losing my best friend.”

“i know. and i’m so sorry. you’re right, i should’ve backed off the minute you told me that. but i really thought...” his voice trailed off and he shook his head. “but it’s not. and that’s done okay? she’s made it pretty clear i’m not the one she wants. and i hate that it took this for us to finally talk again, but i really just want to get back to the way we were.”

you smiled. “i want that too. and of course i’m upset but i can’t say i wouldn’t have jumped at an opportunity to hang out with someone i liked as well.”

“so?” he looked hopeful.

you laughed and stood. “so...marco valentin peña, you are officially forgiven.”

he smiled and stood up as well, pulling you into a hug. wrapping your arms around his waist, you squeezed him tightly as he did the same to you. you stayed like that for a moment before heading back into the fair. and just like that, the two of you were good again.

over the next few weeks, you and marco started hanging out again, he returned to your lunch table, and of course the two of you screwed up more labs than you could count. and over those few weeks, marco was getting over elle and he couldn’t help but think about you. the way you said his name, how you grabbed onto him whenever you were excited about something, your kind heart, and he especially couldn’t stop thinking about when you hugged him.

due to his height, his whole body ended to engulf you hen the two of you hugged, but you loved it. and you were an affectionate hugger. he wished he was the only one who received your hugs became they always made him feel so comfortable and at home. and when you let go, there have been more than a few times when he would pull you back in saying just a little longer. and you would laugh and snuggle yourself further into his chest. and there was nothing better than that feeling.

he really liked you. and he couldn’t believe he had wasted all that time on someone already in a relationship when you were right in front of him. so one day when you were at his house studying for your upcoming physics test, he decided to short his shot. sitting beside you at the dining table, he put his notebook down and turned his attention to you.

“hey, so y/n.” he said, his voice shaking a bit.

“mm?” you said, not looking up from the flash cards you were making.

“i, uh–” he cleared his throat. “i had a question.”

“shoot.” you said, highlighting the important information in your notes that you would copy onto your flash cards.

“um, do you–i mean, would want to go out with me? like, on a date?”

you paused your highlighting and slowly turned to face him. “i thought your question was going to be about physics...”

marco let out a short laugh. “yeah, well.” he just shrugged. when you didn’t say anything else, he got nervous. “is that a no? did i just make this weird? i definitely did, didn’t i?”

now it was your turn to laugh. “no, no, it’s fine. um, i would like to go on a date with you, really.” his face lights up but then dims again at your next words. “i just–i just don’t want to be your rebound from elle.”

“i can promise you right now, that is far from what you are. elle is in the past, i promise. i really like you, and i’ve just been too much of an idiot to see it. but you are not a rebound, y/n.”

“really?” he nodded. “because i really like you, marco. like, a lot.” you laugh and so does he.

he reached across the table and took your hand in his. “well that’s good to know.”

you watched as your hands intertwined, his hand squeezing yours lightly and you smiled. you looked back up at him.

“so yes, i would love to go out with you.” you said with a grin.

“perfect.” he whispered, leaning in.

you smiled and turned your head at the last moment, so that his lips touched your cheek. you felt his lips curve into a smile against your skin and he kissed your cheek again.

“physics first.” you said when he pulled away. “we do still have a test you know.”

you slid your finished flash cards over to him and he bit his lip, shaking his head. he took them, glancing over at you again.

“since when are you all about the work?” he asked.

“since we’ve almost failed every single one of our labs and need a good grade on this test.” you said teasingly.

“touché.” marco said, tuning back to his work.

but as soon as that last definition was memorized, marco took you by the hand, leading you to the doorway from the kitchen to the living room where a mistletoe hung. the peñas had decorated the house for christmas together but you could guarantee that this one had been marco’s idea.

you could only smile as he cupped your face in his hands, leaning down to meet your lips. you stop on your tiptoes to meet him in the middle and when your lips touched you felt the butterflies burst in your stomach. this boy you’ve had a crush on liked you back and now you were kissing him under the mistletoe. the thought made you smile and marco noticed.

“what’s got you so smiley?” he murmurs against your lips.

“marco peña is kissing me.” you said in response and pressed another kiss to his lips. “what’s not to smile about?”

a/n: idk about y’all but the best friendships for me came out of science labs, they are so funny for some reason.

taglist: @devilishdior @write-from-the-heart @minnyvees @lover1307 @sonnyalice @caro1115 @psg-for-life @mansaaay @thebookwormlife

#marco peña #the kissing booth 2 #marco peña x reader #marco peña imagine #marco peña x y/n #taylor zakhar perez #marco x reader #marco pena #marco pena x reader #marco pena imagine #the kissing booth

[avenging-fandoms]

kissing marco while you're blindfolded at the kissing booth for your first kiss is >>>>

your palms started to sweat as you stepped up to the booth with your eyes covered with the blindfold. you took a deep breath and everyone cheered as lee announced that the kissing booth was open. 

you heard footsteps approach your stand and you took a deep breath. “okay, just a heads up, i’ve never been kissed before and i honestly don’t know why i agreed to this. but if i suck as kissing, you know why” you sigh, licking your lips. “are you gonna kiss me or-” 

the person grabbed your chin, pulling you forward and connecting your lips with theirs. your hands held their biceps, and you nearly moaned as you felt the toned muscles. after a minute they slowly pull away, and you gulp as you feel their smile. 

their fingers push up your blindfold and you blink, before gasping and realizing it was marco. your eyes widen and you smile, grabbing his cheeks and kissing him again. everyone standing at the kissing booth cheered, marco pushing away the table and slightly lifting you off you ground as he kissed you. 

“i’m so glad you were my first kiss, i was scared it was going to be some random person” you mumble against his mouth and he laughs. you wrap your arms around his neck and he spins you around, holding his fist in the air and the crowd cheers again, making you blush into his shoulder. 

#marco pena #marco pena x reader #marco pena x you #marco pena imagine #marco pena imagines #marco pena blurb #marco pena blurbs #fluff #marco peña #marco peña x reader #marco peña x you #marco peña imagine #marco peña imagines #marco peña blurb #marco peña blurbs #the kissing booth #the kissing booth 2 #taylor zakhar perez

[conjaime]

midnight cowboy ; marco peña

He was something original, admist the crowd of faces that all looked like strangers; you took the the time to notice him. And in return, Marco was the one who turned to you after his apparent rejection from Elle at the now annual kissing booth. You don’t know what he saw in you but you cared for him all the same.

You took small mental notes of the things he liked that would later be translated on to paper through messy scribbles you’d remember at midnight. Neon lights, Spanish ballads, old 60′s cruisers he’d never be able to afford. Things that were so basic, you’d think he wouldn’t have any depth. But you remembered his greatest wish of all, to achieve happiness. (Something you admittedly snorted at when he first revealed it.)

Then he took you to his favorite spots he had learned of from the past few months, sometimes abandoned and sometimes dull. Yet, he’d never stop bringing you to a small diner on a street that you can never remember. The thing was that even if Marco didn’t like you as more than a companion, he had learned the way you tick. He knew you were good at directions despite never remembering street names and how you hated lemon meringue because it was like foam and jelly on crust.

You had known each other as well as you knew yourselves which was either entirely or not at all. The tiny details seemed so frugal when everyone else you passed just felt the same.

“Do you dream?” you once asked him as he slid the remains of his strawberry milkshake, he couldn’t finish one all on his own.

“Yeah,” he grins and it’s the same stupid charming show of his teeth that makes your heart pound right against your ribs. “it’s usually about you.”

You roll your eyes, but you still adore it all the same. “Such a stupid line.”

Sometimes you’d think about if he ever used that line on Elle in that short time they flirted with one another, but you knew that if he thought of her as an original then you’d be treated the same. Because you knew that out of all the boring faces in the crowd, he found something special in yours. Your final year of school and someone thought you wouldn’t make their last fragment of youth a complete drag.

It was an honor all the same, among the countless times of visiting the beach during the break of dawn and dancing in buildings that were possibly covered in asbestos. You assumed at some point that it was time to let Marco finally into your heart and so you dragged him to your sanctuary, something that was meant for you to wander and admire alone. But the earth was not made for one person and joy was meant to be shared.

A trail in some park you had found when you were younger, overlooking the vast landscape of Los Angeles. A jutted ledge where you could just sit and admire the stars above without the vast light pollution of human civilization. In the moment, it was just you and Marco and the world seemed to melt away as you leaned into his chest. There was no worries about the future or what other people would think, just two teens trying to enjoy their last year before being thrusted into the ever confusing world of adults.

“Hey,” he had whispered and you had hummed in response, too focused on how the lights of the streets seemed to fade in and out of sight. “can I tell you something?”

He sounded nervous but you didn’t comment on his tone and instead nod for his unusual request. Marco sits up, forcing you to take reality back in and you stare back up at him with sleepy eyes. Something about him in the haze of the city lights just makes him dreamy, almost as if you could touch him and reveal he was never here from the start. He sighs, seemingly regaining confidence, “This is gonna sound dorky, but I think I like like you.”

You snort, reminiscent of the time he told you his future plan was to just be happy and you give him a lopsided grin that regains the hope that his feelings haven’t gone to waste. “Aren’t we a bit too old for like like?”

“So what? Too mature for school crushes?” he leans in so close to your faded expression and you pull him near with your arms wrapping around his neck. He’s definitely real.

“Not for you.”

In a slow tug, you gently kiss him and you realize that not all youth is gone when Marco is by your side.

#the kissing booth spoilers #the kissing booth 2 #the kissing booth #marco peña #marco valentin peña #tkb #tkb2 #noah flynn #elle evans #taylor zakhar perez #marco peña imagine #marco peña one shot #marco peña x reader

[kaznejis]

We’re on the borderline- Marco Peña x Reader

Oneshot: Marco and Y/N are in a relationship- but what happens when Marco begins to pull away in favour of Elle?

Word count: 3,295

A/N: Title is a lyric from ‘borderline’ by tame impala! Enjoy :)

Things had started to happen. You had noticed it, of course you had. But your relationship with Marco had too many foundations built from trust and love for silly attributes like less intimacy and cancelled plans to take any form of a toll.

It couldn’t have began on a more convenient day either- you had been mad at your boyfriend. That kind of anger that twisted in the pits of your belly and made you want to tear your hair out. 

“You’re joking?”

“No.” Marco shrugged, placing his tray down onto the table as you moved to sit opposite him, “I’m not.”

“You’re taking part in a-” You paused and ran your hands over your face, “You’re taking part in a kissing booth?”

“Yes, that’s what I said.”

“Are you forgetting something Marco?”

Marco looked up from his food then, one eyebrow raised as he twirled one of his curls around his index finger, “What?”

“Me?” You huffed out an incredulous laugh, almost embarrassed of the fact that you had to have this conversation with your own boyfriend, “You know, the fact that you do actually have a girlfriend?”

“Babe,” Marco began, sighing as he reached across the table to intertwine your fingers with his, “You know it doesn’t mean anything? You’re the one I’m going home to in the end.”

You batted his hands away, “One, you know I hate when you call me that and two have you lost your mind? You seriously think I’m just going to be filled with joy at the thought of you kissing hundreds of other girls?”

“It’s for charity?” Marco inputted almost guiltily, “And I have too, I lost an arcade game to Elle Evans which means I have no choice but to take part.”

You scoffed at the mention of Elle’s name, Rachel had spent countless nights complaining to the girl about you both over the phone and in person- from what you could tell the girl had little to no boundaries and couldn’t see outside of her own bubble. If that wasn’t enough to make you grimace at the mention of her name, the fact that she had openly thirsted over your boyfriend over the intercom just a number of days prior sent a swirl of fury into the pit of your stomach.

“Why were you even with her? You know what people say about her Mar.”

“She came up to me,” Marco defended, holding up his hands in an act, “And, hey, she’s actually a cool girl if you get to know her.”

“Whatever,” You cleared up your rubbish and finished up with the last of your food, “Hey I’m gonna head down to the library to do some studying before class.”

“Nerd,” Marco grinned before standing up next to you and pulling you into a kiss, “We’ll talk about this later. I love you.”

“I love you too.” You smiled- feeling instantly at ease in Marco’s arms as he stroked a stray hair away from your forehead, “Come over later?”

“‘Course.”

You pulled away then, sharing one last smile as you retreated towards the exit to the cafeteria. You watched as Marco lowered himself back into his seat and Lee Flynn sped towards his table brandishing a pair of crutches. What could he want?

-

You didn’t see much of Marco for the remainder of the school day and you didn’t have any form of conversation with him until later that night. You were curled up in bed wearing a set of comfy pajamas with some music playing in the background, you decided to shoot Marco a text since he hadn’t made any point of making use of your invitation earlier.

You (19:34): Hey are you still coming over tonight?

You didn’t receive a reply until around 20 minutes later- and the words displayed on the screen caused you to furrow your eyebrows slightly.

Mar <3 (19:56): Hey, sorry can’t tonight something came up- will come over tomorrow though.

Sighing, you switched your phone screen off and turned to switch your tv on, may as well make use of the silence. Though, before you could make any move to do so your phone began to vibrate beside you; displaying the words “Rachel”.

“Hey what’s up?”

“I see Elle has begun to take away your time with Marco too.”

“What?” You sat up in bed, pressing the phone closer to your ear, “What are you talking about Rachel?”

“Oh god,” Rachel whispered, obviously assuming you knew what she was talking about, “Um, well- Lee told me that Marco had replaced him in helping Elle win this weird dance competition thing or whatever.”

“Weird Competition- Rachel I have no idea what you mean.”

“Basically, Lee and Elle were taking part in a dance competition revolving around that arcade game they always play,” You knew the one, Marco had recently beat the high score, “Well Lee fell of the machine or something, I don’t know he won’t tell me the full story, so today he convinced Marco to take his place and work with Elle.”

You scrubbed at your eyes with your fingers, trying to grasp the situation. “You have got to be joking.”

“I’m really sorry Y/N.”

“It’s fine, I had to find out somehow.”

“Hey,” Rachel said sternly, “Stop with the mopey voice. Honestly? There’s probably nothing to worry about, Marco is obsessed with you- anybody could see that from a mile away.”

“Thanks Rachel...well at least you have time to be with Lee now.”

“Yeah,” She laughed, “I didn’t mean for it to affect you though, I’ll have to talk to him.”

“You do that,” You laughed with matched enthusiasm, “I’m going to go- I’ll update you if anything happens.”

“You better.”

After a few more giggles between you two- you said your goodbyes. Despite Rachel’s reassurance, you laid in bed that night with an uncomfortable feeling in your gut. You really didn’t like this.

-

The next morning you greeted Lee and Rachel as they pulled into the car park- they both wore matching grins as they sauntered towards you with their hands clasped together.

“Hey Y/N!” They both greeted enthusiastically, swinging their hands between them.

“You guys look happy.” You beamed as you leaned into the greeting hugs they both offered you.

“We are going on a date tonight,” Rachel sang, looking up at Lee with a look that could only be described as fond as she did.

“Yep,” Lee cut in, “I’m taking her to the new drive-in since my car was literally made for that kind of thing.”

“That sounds lovely,” You said excitedly, almost jumping on the spot with awe at the couple. Even so, you felt a tad bit sad at the thought of Marco rejecting your plans for Elle last night.  

The two must have noticed your change in mood as Rachel moved towards you and squeezed your shoulder, “Heard from Marco?”

“No,” You replied dejectedly, supplying her with a sad smile, “I haven’t.”

“I’m really sorry,” Lee mourned, chewing on his lip as he stared at you, “I just wanted to have time with Rachel. I didn’t realise doing so would affect you too.”

“Hey, hey,” You shook your head, ruffling Lee’s hair, “It’s okay. You guys need time alone and maybe a little bit of distance will be a positive thing,” You attempted to convince yourself, “The competition’s weeks away which means I’ll have him all to myself until then.”

“About that,” Lee grimaced as he scratched the back of his neck in a nervous manner, “This is, like, really important to Elle. So important that she wants to have rehearsals pretty much every day in preparation for the competition.”

Screwing your eyes shut, you blew out a breath and willed your eyes to stop watering at the news, “God, why can’t she stick to her own boyfriend.” You snorted wetly, turning as you pressed the palms of your hands to your face.

“Well, he’s kind of across the country-”

“I don’t care!” You snapped, spinning towards the couple causing them to recoil, “If she has a boyfriend she should work on her own issues instead of leeching onto others.”

Rachel pressed a hand to her mouth as she physically willed herself to stop laughing, but Lee looked almost angry, “Y/N I think you’re forgetting that we’re talking about my best friend here.”

“Yeah? Well tell her to fuck off.” You snapped again before turning towards your car and unlocking it.

“Y/N? Y/N!” Rachel called as she jogged after you, Lee having gone towards the school entrance now, “Calm down. It’ll be okay.”

“Sure.” You huffed, wiping your face as you climbed into your car, “Because my boyfriend keeping me in the dark about all this is just splendid.”

“It’s not ideal, I know.” She reached into the car and grabbed your free hand, “But you need to come into school before we’re late.”

“I’m not going,” You let go of her hand and slammed the door shut, “I don’t want to see Marco right now.”

“Y/N-” But before she could say anything else you were already driving out of the parking lot.

-

Curled up in bed an hour later, you realised that you probably had been a little overdramatic. Though, you had every right to be! Marco had deliberately not told you about the fact that he would be hanging out with Elle for the next month and to add onto that he was also taking part in a kissing booth. You groaned into your pillow and listened as the discarded phone beside you once again began to buzz. Becoming annoyed by the relentless noise, you picked up the phone to see who was calling you now. Surprise filled you as ‘Mar <3’ filled the screen. The call ended before you could answer, giving you a view of the texts that filled your lock screen.

Mar <3 (9:34): Hey where are you??

Rachel (9:43): Hope you’re okay and got home safe. Marco’s worried about you if it makes you feel any better ;)

Lee (9:46): Sorry about earlier, you know me and Elle are close.

Mar <3 (9:48): Y/N what’s going on? Rachel won’t tell me what’s happened.

Mar <3 (9:51): Sweetheart??

Smiling sadly, you read through about 20 different texts from Marco that entailed the same kind of theme. Looking at the time, you noted that Marco would be on break right now. So you sucked up your pride and called him. Of course, he picked up immediately.

“Y/N is that you? What’s happening? I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” You replied slowly, your voice devoid of emotion, “I didn’t want to come in today.”

“What?” Marco replied sounding baffled, “I’m really worried now, this is so unlike you.”

You shook your head, tapping your fingers against your phone case, “Yeah, well it’s unlike you to keep secrets from me.”

“Secrets? What?”

“Elle. The competition. Rehearsals,” You listed, “Why would you keep all that from me?”

“What? Me and Elle are just friends.”

“Well why would you keep this from me? What do you have to hide Marco?

“Nothing!” Marco sounded desperate, “There is nothing going on. Believe me.”

You sighed loudly, “Alright. I believe you Mar.”

“Thank god,” He sighed too, though his sounded almost relieved, “I love you Y/N. Nobody else.”

“I love you too.” You whispered into the receiver.

“Good.” You could practically hear Marco’s grin through the phone, “Let’s go out tonight, we’ll have a nice dinner with no distractions or responsibilities.”

“I would love that.” You blushed, chewing on your already-raw lips, “The usual place at 6?”

“The usual place at 6.”

-

At 5:45, you settled onto a bench outside of the restaurant- adorning a dark blue summer dress and black flats. You were surprised to see that Marco wasn’t already outside of the restaurant, your boyfriend had a tendency to be early to dates out of nerves and enthusiasm. You had always found it adorable.

At 6, there was still no sign of Marco. You weren’t worried though as he was probably just running late. The LA traffic was considerably busier that night- yeah, he was probably just stuck in traffic. You decided to busy yourself with a game on your phone whilst you awaited his arrival.

At 6:30, dread and horror began to seize you as you realised that you had in fact been stood up. The worker standing by the door was beginning to send you pitiful looks. Swearing, you gathered up your belongings and began the trek to the nearest bus stop as you were expecting to go to Marco’s house after the date.

“Y/N!” You turned, being met with the sight of Marco running down the street in a red shirt and sweatpants.

“No way.” You mumbled angrily, turning to make a hasty getaway. Your boyfriend reached you before you could.

“I am so sorry,” He panted, grabbing onto your shoulders and making direct eye contact, “I was with Elle and we completely lost track of time. I'm so sorry.”

“Of course you were,” You nodded as you wiped a few stray tears, “You left me sitting here so you could play arcade games with another girl all night.”

“Y/N-”

“Don’t.” You were sobbing now, out of pure embarrassment and shame, “I’m going home.”

“Please Y/N, I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

-

You ran right back into his arms, of course you did. Nevertheless, he didn’t get any better. Dates went from happening at least twice a week to once a fortnight as he stood you up at almost every one. You guys stopped talking apart from a few texts a day. You were devastated as you watched the person you loved choose Elle Evans before you time and time again. So, as anyone else in this situation would, you decided to let him go.

“Hey,” Marco smiled as he let you in and smacked a wet kiss onto your cheek, “I was just about to invite you over actually as I’m free today.”

“Oh, cool.” You pursed your lips, unable to look Marco in the eye, “I actually came to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” Marco closed the door and walked towards you, “What’s up?”

“I-” You began, staring down at the floor as you mustered up the courage to say what needed to be said, “I love you, okay?”

“I love you too.”

“No, Marco. I think-” You paused, feeling a few tears roll down your cheeks as you began to cry, “I think we should break up.”

“What?” Marco spoke quietly, his eyes also began to fill with glossy tears, “Why?”

“You never have time for me Marco. We barely talk or spend time together, it feels like we aren’t even together anymore.”

“No Y/N please. I’ll change and I’ll be better to you. I’ll make up any lost time. Please don’t.” He began to sob, his eyes wide as he begged you to stay.

“I’m sorry, you’ve already said that and nothing has changed.”

“Please,” Marco begged as he sunk to his knees, “What did I do wrong?”

“Elle happened.” You closed your eyes, turning away from him, “You’ve been blowing me off for her for weeks now how could you not realise?”

“Oh god.” He moaned, wiping the tears from his face, “I didn’t even notice, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry Marco,” You sobbed, walking towards the door, “But we need this break.”

-

“So you really did it, huh?” Rachel handed you a mug of hot chocolate and rubbed your arm comfortingly.

“Yeah,” You sniffed, sipping the hot chocolate slowly and allowing it to fill the cold within.

“It’ll get better, I promise- knowing the two of you you’ll probably be back together within the week.”

“Probably.” You laughed wetly, dabbing the corners of your eyes with the hoodie you had stolen from Marco months ago. A knock sounded at the door before Rachel could reply.

“Wonder who that is,” She inquired, to which you shrugged at numbly. You were not interested in talking to anyone else right now.

“Is Y/N here?” You heard Elle’s shrill voice at the door to which you tipped your head back and groaned at. Seriously?

“Hello Elle.” You grumbled as she stormed into the room, her face flushed red and determined.

“You have to take Marco back.”

“Excuse me?”

“He has been a mess this whole week since you broke up with him Y/N. It’s really sad to watch.”

“Sure he is.” You snorted at the thought of Marco even missing you, you were surprised him and Elle hadn’t immediately gotten together.

“He really is,” Elle replied with determination, “He started crying the other day and spilled about everything...I’m really sorry.”

Your heart broke at the thought of Marco being genuinely sad, it seemed that he had been feeling exactly the same as you since the breakup. You had been in bits the last week; getting barely any sleep and having a considerable lack of appetite. That’s how you had ended up at Rachel’s craving some form of affection that Marco had not been there to provide you before and since the breakup.

“It’s okay,” You sighed as you placed the half-finished mug on the table beside you and chewed your nail, “You couldn’t have known.”

“I’m working on being more aware,” Elle smiled and lowered herself onto the couch beside you, “Will you give him another chance though?”

You sighed and looked over at the girl beside you, a sad smile covering your face, “I don’t know Elle.”

“Listen to me,” Elle turned towards you and grasped your hands, “He is so in love with you and would die for another chance with you. You’re the love of his life and it would be sad if such a beautiful relationship ended like that.”

“She’s right.” Rachel cut in from the entrance to the room, “And you’re just as much a mess without him as he is without you.”

“Alright.” You smiled at both of the girls, “I’ll go over tonight.”

-

Hugging the hoodie tighter against yourself, you waited for someone to answer the door. After a moment or two, Marco pulled open the door and shock painted his face as soon as his eyes landed upon you. Elle hadn’t lied, Marco looked like shit- black bags sunk beneath his eyes and his skin was uncharacteristically pale.

“Hey.” You gulped, chewing on your lip harshly, “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” Marco croaked, stepping aside so you could enter. You walked into the familiar house and beelined towards the couch and watched as Marco followed you, a sad but guarded look covered his features.

“You want a drink?” He asked, standing awkwardly in front of you as he turned his wrinkled shirt.

“No, I’m okay,” You mumbled, “I wanted to talk to you about-”

“I love you.”

Your head shot up and your mouth dropped, you stared at the boy before you with glistening eyes as he slowly made his way towards you, “W-what?”

“I love you Y/N. I never stopped loving you and if you could give me a second chance-”

It was your turn to cut him off as you lunged forwards and coaxed him into a passionate kiss filled with love, longing and passion, “I love you, I love you, I love you.” You cried as you pressed kiss after kiss upon his gorgeous face, “I missed you”

He pulled back then and stared into your eyes, cupping your cheeks and smiling so widely that a set of crinkles tugged at the corners of his eyes, “I missed you too. So much.”

-

If you would like to be added to my taglist for any future posts- please let me know!

#marco peña #Marco Peña x reader #Marco x reader #the kissing booth #the kissing booth 2 #Elle Evans #Lee Flynn #Noah Flynn #oneshot #imagines #this is a lottt longer than intended oops #Marco Peña #Marco #marco pena

[shelsgovroomvroom]

Okay yeah I’m gonna need a fic where Elle sees the reader and Marco together and understands what she lost?

Okay I love this idea and please send me more stuff with Marco HE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER! Anyway, I hope you enjoy and I’m very very glad to be back 🖤

Of course you heard about him. Pretty much everyone had. The hot exchange student who won the DDM contest with Elle only to have her fall back into the arms of Noah? He was pretty much the talk of the town.

You were more a loner type. Preferred to be on your own and that’s how you met Marco. He seemed to be going through a phase where he also wanted to be on his own and so he had wondered into a classroom you were chilling in.

The first time you ‘met’ him, neither of you even said anything. You just nodded in acknowledgment of his presence and then went back to do doing your own thing. He liked that about you, there was no pressure to act a certain way around you.

Pretty soon you started hanging out. He discovered that you were into music and so you both started playing together sometimes. Helping each other out and trying to figure out the chords to cover songs without googling them because apparently that was cheating according to Marco.

Elle had no idea the two of you had been hanging out. And she certainly didn’t know that you had shared a kiss one night when he lent over to play a chord on your guitar (even though looking back you’re 100% sure he used that as an excuse to get close enough to kiss you considering he literally had his own guitar next to him).

Surprisingly, you got along very well with his friends. You were a chilled person, just wanting to live your life. His friends liked that about you. You were always down for anything.

Although admittingly, Marco was the more adventurous of the two of you. And he was definitely the better dancer.

That’s actaully how Elle found out about the two of you. She was walking with Lee to the DDM machine only to find that there were two people already using it.

You and Marco.

You had never done it before and you were absolutely terrible but Marco loved that. You were down to try it because he so desperately wanted you to. And you were just trying to have a good time. Not really worrying about getting everything perfect.

Elle watched you laugh as Marco spun you, only for him to trip over his feet and you both to go crashing down. You started laughing and Marco tried in vain to get you to turn your head so he could kiss you. He settled for pressing kisses into your neck and trying to stifle his own laughter.

Elle thought she made the right decision. But as she saw the two of you, she suddenly wasn’t so sure.

Later she would bring it up to Marco, ask how serious he was with you. He’d only smile and say he was happy.

#the kissing booth 2 #marco pena #the kissing booth #imagine #imagines #x reader #marco peña #marco valentin peña

[the-not-so-iconic]

Who I’ve Always Wanted

Hi everyone! Just wanted to say that this is my first one-shot I’ve ever really written, so I hope you guys like it! :) :)   (Its a little long, I got carried away but I hope you enjoy)

Pairing - Marco x Reader

Warnings - None

Description - Reader has had feelings for Marco since they met but they were in the DDM crowd and saw Elle and Marco kiss. Later they help work the Kissing Booth. 

     You peaked through the startlingly red curtains at the sea of gathering people. Nervous butterflies churned in your stomach as you turned back to Lee. 

“I can’t believe you got me to agree to this,” you groaned holding back a slight wave of nausea. Lee laughed and patted your shoulder in an attempt to calm you, “neither can I, believe me,”

   You laughed nervously, a million thoughts running through your mind. 

      ‘What if no one wants to kiss you? What if people did want to kiss you? What if you were a terrible kisser and you disappointed everyone?!’

“Lee, I don’t know if I can do this,” you said, the queasiness clear in your voice.

“(y/n), trust me,” Lee said in a reassuring tone, “you’ll do fine, everyone’s gonna love you. And, if it helps, just remind yourself that this is all for charity,”

     You nodded glancing back at the curtain as a loud surge of cheers erupted. You took a deep breath and peaked back out at the crowd. You scanned the bunches of faces, searching for the one person you wished would be here, but prayed wasn’t.

   It’d been a few weeks since you’d last talked to your best friend, Marco. You’d been avoiding him, ignoring all the texts he sent looking for you, or all his attempts for a meet-up. You felt bad since you’d never explained your sudden disappearances to him. But whether he knew the reason or not, you were hurt. 

   You’d been at that stupid dance competition just to surprise and support your best friend and long time crush. You went hoping that maybe- just maybe he’d see you in the crowd and realize he could have feelings for you too. It was a dumb fantasy. It was even worse when at the end of their albeit, incredible dance, you got to watch Marco kiss Elle Evans. You left before he even knew you were there. 

    That night you went to Rachel’s house, and she comforted you as you finally spilled your guts about all your feelings but now this. 

    The sound of the crowd brought you back to the moment and the fear of what you were about to do came rushing back at once. 

     You sighed not seeing Marco’s face anywhere in the audience, but you weren’t sure if you were relieved or upset. He would be the one to know what to say to ease your nerves. 

   You turned back to Lee, seeing him talking discreetly to Elle. It felt like a punch to the gut every time you saw her, but you stood up just a bit taller trying to force yourself to have more confidence. 

“You ready?” Lee asked as he saw you and shooed Elle off.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” you feigned a smile, noticing that the usual happy-go-lucky smile on Lee’s face look suspiciously more mischievous than usual. 

    Lee handed you the black mask and led you out onto the stage. Fighting past the curtains you could feel the heat of the bright stage lights radiating, warming your face. Your heart was pounding so hard, it was so loud in your ears you were sure the entire crowd could hear it.

   You took a sharp breath as Lee let go of your arm and said, “okay, the first persons coming up now,”

   You nodded, incapable of forming any type of comprehensible words. 

 “Everything’s gonna be just perfect, (y/n)” he said quietly before he headed backstage to watch Elle’s master plan in action. 

   Your eyes were shut tight behind the silk black mask, and the overwhelming noise from the crowed made it difficult to hear, so when the ‘mystery kisser’ brushed your hand you jumped. 

You laughed nervously and you could feel your cheeks burn embarrassed, “sorry, u-um whenever you’re ready, I guess,”

   Their fingers brushed your cheek, taking you by surprise, their touch sending an electrifying chill down your spine. Your breath caught in your throat against your will as their gentle hand guided you closer to them. Their warm breath fluttered across your lips and you tried to calm your racing mind and heart, preparing yourself for wh-

    Their lips captured yours, and in an instant all your intrusive thoughts were silenced. Their hand slid to the back of your neck, pulling you closer in such a gentle way that made your heart skip a beat. You sighed, melting into their embrace, their touch feeling so impossibly comforting, and as the kiss deepened the whoops and cheers faded away. It was just you and them. Alone but together. 

     You sighed after such a short moment of eternity passed and the kiss, very reluctantly, broke, their forehead resting against yours as you both caught your breaths. 

    That was better than I ever thought this would be, you thought and you chuckled slightly as your now elated heart calmed down.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” they teased. Your heart did a back-flip and you were once again left breathless, this time out of fear. 

    No. There’s no way. 

    You slowly peeled off the blindfold, your eyes still squeezed shut.

     Please be real. Please. Please

    You opened your eyes, meeting the gentle gaze of Marco. You couldn’t help the grin spread across your face and the sudden happiness took over your senses, and before you could think, you pressed your lips against his once more.

    This time you heard the crowds cheers. You heard the screams and hollers of your friends backstage (who definitely set this up). But as Marco gripped your waist, pulling you impossibly closer, you could hear his soft chuckle before he deepened the kiss once more.

        *  *  *

“Listen, I know you were avoiding me because of what happened at the competition,” Marco said, still holding your hand tight as you moved backstage. 

   You looked at him somewhat surprised, “You knew I was there?”

  He smirked sheepishly and looked down at your entwined hands, “I guess Rachel told Lee and Elle about basically everything you said after you left. Elle felt so bad, so her and Lee came up with this whole thing so I could fix this and tell you how I really feel,” 

  You nodded but couldn’t help but smile like a dork at his last comment, “how you really feel?”

  He laughed and met your eyes again, “(y/n), I’ve had feelings for you from the moment we met in that courtyard.” 

    Your face grew warm at the memory and you laughed. (It hadn’t been the classiest of meetings)

“But, (y/n), what happened with Elle- I was just trying to help her. She really needed that prize. The kiss was stupid and totally out of nowhere. It meant absolutely nothing.”

    You bit your lip, thinking it over. You looked up at the boy you’d come to adore so much, “nothing?” you asked in quiet voice.

    He gripped both of your hands and pulled you so you leaned up against his strong frame, before slipping his arm around your waist. He gently used his other hand, lifting your chin to meet his serious gaze.

“You’re who I want,” he whispered, “you’re who I’ve always wanted.”

#taylor zakhar perez #marco peña #kissing booth 2 #kissing booth #noah flynn #jacob elordi #lee flynn #joey king #elle evans #kissing booth imagines #marco pena imagines #imagines #one shot #writers on tumblr #fluff #marco pena fluff

[mouahh]

i wonder how far down the line can his voice become deeper 🤤🤤 the whole video on scene it cinema 🎦

#the kissing booth 2 #the kissing booth netflix #The kissing booth #marco peña #marco x reader #Marco Pena imagine #marco x elle #marco pena x reader

[imaginingyourfandom]

“Nothing I say is going to change what happened but you have to know that I would never betray you. She kissed me and I pushed away as soon as it happened. I love you.”

You shook your head, “I love you too but it hurt. You’ve been spending so much time with her and I missed you.”

“I missed you too beautiful and I promise it will never happen again.”

Requested By Anonymous

#the kissing booth #the kissing booth imagine #marco peña #marco pena #marco pena imagine #imagine #imaginingyourfandom

[teescottyblr]

“Elle why do we need to ask him? He is going to say no,” you say as Elle drags you away from your table and storms towards Marco. Elle huffs as she continues to pull you forward, “It doesn’t hurt to ask.” She yanks you one more time before stopping as Marco leans off the pool table. He looks you both up and down as Elle smiles, “Hi! Sorry to interrupt your game but we wanted to ask you if you’d like to be in the Kissing Booth this year?” 

Marco grabs the pool cue from his friend and moves to the other side of the pool table, “No.” You roll your eyes and wrap your arm into Elle’s, “See?! I told you he wouldn’t do it.” He passes the pool cue to his friend and tuts, “Why do you think I said no?” A small laugh bubbles in your throat as you mutter, “You aren’t game enough to do something so bold.” Pulling Elle back with you, you see Marco holding back a laugh as he smiles at you before turning away. 

#imagine #imagines #The Kissing Booth #the kissing booth 2 #the kissing booth netflix #netflix #elle evans #Joey King #marco valentin peña #taylor zakhar perez #not my gif #teescottyblr #that aussie girl #your aussie pal

[juniaruta]

Besitos - Part 1

Synopsis: After Elle Evans, Marco found it hard to move on with his life. Can he found a way to forget the kiss they shared that day?

[Note: the lack of Marco's imagines (and the power he has to distract me) drive me to write this. I apologize in advance since English isn't my first language. Also, I made up the university in this fic so the college setting might be weird since I don't know how it is abroad. The girl won't appear in the first two chapter. I definitely should rewrite the summary later hhh)

prologue

tag: @mansaaay​ 

---

College life is rough. It is nothing like high school, nothing at all. It is confusing, tiring, and fast-paced. It is five projects in two weeks after you just started college. It is sleeping at 4 AM doing assignments and submitting it at 7 AM. It is treating coffee not as recreation anymore but a primary need to stay alive. It is leaving no space to play guitar and gaze on the sky to contemplate about life. It is busy, and Marco thank God for it.

His busy new life as a freshman in Avery University leave him no time to think about his high school heartbreak. Anyway, for the sake of his sanity, Marco decided he won’t say her name anymore. Pretty childish but whatever. It worked pretty well at making him forgetting everything about her.

Marco always thought he was that kind of guy who just look back at his past loves and said, “Ah, the first time I kissed her it was one of the best moment of my life. I wonder what she is doing right now,” while sporting a melancholic smile then goes to strum his guitar and play that one song associated with her. But hell, plenty of time he wished she broke up with that asshole Flynn and regret her decision choosing him over Marco. Months later that Instagram highlight of their relationship still posting updates.

Well… Not that Marco keeps tabs on their relationship, not at all. He was too busy, remember?

“Oh God, stoooop! You’re miserable dude!”

Marco immediately press the home button of his iPhone, stuttering.

“W-what?”

Michael, his roommate, have this “poor you” look in his face as he shook his head. He really hates it when that guy (or ANYONE) gave him that look.

“Seriously? Doing your stalking routine? That’s fucking creepy.” Michael shuddered. Too tired to defend himself, Marco just shrugged as he placed his iPhone on the coffee table. A little harsher than he intend to. Not that he cared.

Michael, still shaking his head and ticking his tongue in an exaggerated manner, walked in Marco’s direction with two can of beers on his hands. He handed one to Marco, chugging his own, ticking his tongue and shook his head even more.

“If only the girls in the whole campus know the great Marco Peña is a miserable guy who cannot moved on,” Michael paused to take a sip of his beer, “That’s actually a great content for Twitter. I think it will go viral.”

Marco immediately grabbed his phone before Michael put his hand on it, “Don’t you dare,” he warned, earning a laughter of the other guy.

“Come on, you should see yourself. After that long, boring lectures of Introduction to Basic Coding, instead of having fun, you choose to mull over your past love,” Michael stopped to think, “Oh wait, it never even started.”

God damn it, this guy is annoying. Marco really regretted that one night they shared drinks and leading them to spilled their heart content. It was mostly loneliness and homesick that drive Marco to told his story. Fuck Michael, luring him with that story where he got ghosted by a girl (which sounded pretty miserable too).

Marco met Michael on his first day in Avery. A over-friendly guy who get along with everyone. Marco labelled him as “people pleaser” because he always tried to please anyone. From fellow students to lecturers. His motto is: Network make the life Works. That sounded awful but Marco got it. Michael friendliness gained him few new friends as well. The guy’s also a great listener. Well, that friendliness also come hand in hand with the need to stick his nose in the place where he should not.

“Let’s see… hmm… Elle… Evans…” Marco rolled his eyes as he saw Michael typed El- her name in his own Instagram search.

“Woohoo, Elle, that is a nice swimsuit,” Michael whistled. Marco unconsciously peeked on his phone. That was a nice swimsuit indeed.

“Let’s see… hmm… Oh man, they’re still together, too bad.”

Newsflash Michael, I know about it already, inner Marco said.

“But look at that. What does she see in him?” Michael exaggerated another head shaking, “His chin looks weird!” Marco gave subtle nods. Gotta agree there.

“And those lazy eyes, God! Was he smoking weed when they took this picture?” Yeah, I thought about it too, inner Marco chimed in.

“You are far way better man, no doubt,” Michael gave a reassuring smack on his back. Hell yeah I am, inner Marco nods proudly.

“Her lost that she didn’t choose you,” Marco huff a laughter. It does feel like his lost though.

“Elle Evans was not worth it. Repeat after me.”

“She was not worth it.”

She was worth it, inner Marco chimed in again, desperately. She was always worth it. Damn, now he realized he is pathetic.

“Good!” now Michael gave another pat on his back. Thank God he cannot hear inner Marco. “You know what you need? You need to get laid. Dude, when was the last time?”

Marco shrugged, “I don’t know,” it feels like a long time ago indeed.

“Well, thanks to me, I got invited to this party. Basically everyone was invited but you are too busy brooding over Elle that you don’t notice that poor sorority girl whose eyes sparkled when she asked you to go. We should go tonight.” Michael jumped from the sofa then goes to his room. He came back with a wrinkled red Avery t-shirt that Marco realized his roommate had used the night before.  

Marco actually knew about the party, but he wasn’t in the mood. He was never in the mood. He also acknowledged every girls who made move on him, but he was also not in the mood to pay them any attention. Not when they were not the one he wished made a move on him.

“You need to stop thinking about Elle and moved on. Starting from tonight,” Michael said while doing failed attempt at straightening the wrinkles on his t-shirt with his hands, “You, Marco Valentin Pena, need to get your shit tonight and get laid.”

Michael was right. He is going to let loose tonight and maybe kiss a girl or two. He was Marco Valentin Peña, the famous MVP who swooned girls back in his high school years just by a mere smirk. Two-years-ago Marco would laugh at him if he saw his current self. No way.  

Nodding to himself, Marco went straight to his room, analyzing his wardrobe. Tonight he needed to get his shit together and forget her.

#the kissing booth 2 #the kissing booth #marco peña #marco x elle #marco x reader #elle evans #noah flynn #marco valentin peña #marco imagine #marco imagines

[jeonsblackgf-writes]

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS!!!!!

If anyone ever gets confused, I write exclusively for black women but anyone else is free to read whatever they please. I DO NOT WRITE “YN” IMAGINES, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THAT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE!!! I ONLY ADD NAMES BECAUSE IT MAKES ME MORE SECURE WITH WHAT IM WRITING!!

*, indicates smut

🔪 MULTI-PART:

CRUSHES AND DATES    PART 2   PART 3* - Jung Jaewon |COMPLETE|

UNTIL I FOUND YOU PART 1 PART 2 - RAFE CAMERON |WIP|

1+1 PART 2 PART 3 - Vinnie Hacker |WIP|

BULLSHIT PART 2 - Marco Peña |WIP|

LIES WITHIN YOUR WORDS PART 2 *- Angel Reyes, Miguel Galindo |COMPLETE|

🔪IMAGINES:

THE ART OF SEX*- Henry Cavill

THE BEACH - Alex Turner

TIKTOK PRANK - Angel Reyes

BREAKING POINT - Draco Malfoy

SAY IT* - Blaise Zabini

#black reader #black!reader #interracial #bwwm love #bwwm couples #ambw couple #ambw imagines #angel reyes x reader #ez x reader #henry cavill x black reader #ambw bwam #ambw fic #x black reader #henry cavil imagine #miguel galindo x reader #alex turner x reader #alex turner fic #itach uchiha

[nomtterwhere]

highly requested part two to this fic!!

a/n: this is...vey long, i literally just couldn’t stop writing. (it’s actually so long that i reached the limit of text blocks, so now there’s going to be a part 3 so stay tuned for that!) but i hope you guys liked it!! also, the way i wrote elle in this is nothing like how she is in the movie, she is nowhere near as mature as this lol.

summary: after your break up with marco, you head to the beach for the senior weekend, where you finally have to face him

word count: 5854

it had been two months since you broke up with marco and you still haven’t talked to him. he’s sent you text message after text message before you blocked him, not wanting to hear anything from him. at school, you avoided him in the halls, taking every possible out-of-the-way route. and when in classes you shared with him, you avoided the urge to even glance at him.

you could feel his gaze on you, though. it took everything in you not to take one look at the boy you once called your own, but you were determined to stay strong. and as soon as class was over, you made sure you were the first one out the door.

rachel acted as your guard during school, walking with you in the hall, helping you avoid both marco and elle. you stopped going to your locker. it’s not like you ever used it anyway, it had become more a spot for you and marco to talk between classes than anything else. now, it was just an ugly reminder of your ex.

outside of school, rachel kept inviting you out with her and lee but you declined everytime.

“rach, it’s okay. really.” you said to her one night after she invited you to a movie night with her and lee. “you don’t have to include me in everything you guys do. you deserve time with your boyfriend.”

“...okay.” she responded uneasily. “but you know you’re always welcome to hang out with us.”

you would take her up on her offer every once in a while, but made sure to give them space when they needed. instead, you started spending more time with your friends (that weren’t dating anyone) and tried to enjoy the rest of your senior year.

marco had come over twice that first week, but each time your mom, bless her, would cover for you.

“i know she’s here, could i please just talk to her?” marco pleaded.

your mom slightly shook her head as you watched from the top of the stairs. “marco, i don’t know what happened between you two, but i do know she doesn’t want to see you right now.”

that was the night of the ddr competition and after that, your mom had come upstairs and held you while you cried into her shoulder. even now, you still hadn’t told her that he had kissed elle, just that you had broken up. you told yourself you didn’t know why you couldn’t just tell her the truth, despite you always telling her everything.

but subconsciously, there was a part of you that wanted to get back together with him. and you knew that if your mom knew that he had cheated on you, there would be no chance of that happening.

but it’s two months later and while you weren’t totally over it, you were much better. you weren’t your relationship, and it took you a while to realize the breakup didn’t mean the end of you.

and now you found yourself getting ready for a senior weekend on the beach, any remains of the heartbroken girl you once were left behind you. there was no doubt you would run into marco there, considering the entire senior class was going, but you refused to dwell on that.

as you finished getting ready, your phone buzzed with a text message from your friend liz.

slowpoke much? hurry up, i’m ready to go!!

you laughed as you quickly typed out a reply, letting her know you would pick her up soon. you then unplugged your phone charger before throwing it inside your bag, then grabbed it and headed downstairs.

at the bottom of the stairs was a medium sized cooler and when you opened it, it was filled with mike’s hard bottles and white claws. you grinned and turned to your mom who was sitting at the dining table on her ipad and wrapped your arms around her shoulders.

“thank you, thank you, thank you!” you said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

she just let out a laugh. “now i bought it because i trust you. be safe, please.”

“i will, promise.” you gave her one last hug. “love you momma.”

“i love you too, baby. have fun!”

“see you sunday!” you called as you left the house.

you headed outside, giving a quick wave to your neighbor as you walked to your car.

she waved back and glanced at the cooler you dragged behind and the overnight bag over your shoulder. “senior weekend?”

you gave her a sheepish smile and nodded.

she winked, then glanced back at her house. she looked at you again and mimicked locking her lips and throwing away the key.

you laughed at the gesture, knowing her husband was a police officer.

you winked back at her. “thanks.”

after picking up liz, cora, and justine the four of you arrived at the beach, saying hi to your friends that had already arrived and checking into the motel room you had booked.

“okay, first things first.” you announced when your entered the room. “we are not letting anyone else in this room, okay? this is not going to be the room that gets trashed.” you stated and they nodded in agreement.

cora nodded to the cooler. “except that’s going to be the reason people will want to be in here.”

you gave her a grin. “and that’s exactly why it’s going in taylor’s room.”

“genius!” cora said, falling back onto her bed.

you laughed, taking out a few drinks and placing them in the minifridge for just the four of you. as soon as you stood up, justine made her way over it, pulling out a white claw.

“justine, it’s two pm.” cora said with a look.

justine cracked open the can and took a long drink. “and what about it?”

you laughed, heading out the door with the cooler. “i’ll be right back.”

you checked the text message taylor had sent you with his room number, realizing that you would have to go upstairs. you groaned, lifting the cooler with both hands, knowing you weren’t going to be able to roll it up the stairs.

you reached his door, knocking on it with your foot. putting down the cooler at this point seemed futile, considering you knew he would make you carry it inside.

except it wasn’t taylor that opened the door. instead, you were met with marco.

just your luck that they’re roommates.

he had been laughing at whoever was talking to him before he opened the door and the sound seemed to completely erase the past two months of healing you had been doing because suddenly all you wanted was to fall into his arms and let him hold you and laugh together and—

“y/n.” god, you forgot how great your name sounded coming from his mouth.

he smiled at you, then seemed to remember that you had spent the last eight weeks avoiding the hell out of him and cleared his throat.

“i, um,” you adjusted the cooler in your hands, raising it a little. “taylor said i could leave these here.”

“oh yeah, of course. here, let me get that.” he reached for the cooler, taking the handles from you and relieving you of the heavy weight.

“thanks.” you placed your hands in the pockets of your shorts, unsure of what else to do with them.

he stood there, still holding the cooler, but with none of the struggle you seemed to have.

of course, you thought as you tried to restrain yourself from glancing at his bare arms.

“look, y/n—” luckily for you, he was interrupted before he could finish his statement.

“y/n!” taylor said, entering the doorway. he looked down at the cooler marco was holding and his eyes widened at you. “did you bring this? you’re the best.”

you couldn’t help but laugh. “yes, i told you i was going to. have you been drinking already?”

“maybe like, a little bit.”

marco sighed, turning to you. “the answer is yes. since noon.”

“only like this much!” he holds his thumb and pointer finger out, only an inch of space between them. “okay, maybe a little bit more than that but jeez man, why you gotta be such a buzzkill!”

he turned his attention to you. “god, your ex is a real piece of work you know. i can see why you broke up with him.”

you laughed awkwardly. “yeah, okay taylor. um, i’m gonna go. you have fun, boys.”

you turned and walked away, ignoring marco calling out your name behind you. you entered your own room, immediately being hit in the face with a towel. after the initial shock factor wore off, you removed it from your face and saw your friends in their swimsuits, rubbing on sunscreen and grabbing things to bring to the beach.

“get in your swimsuit girl, we’re heading to the beach!” liz said, putting on sunglasses. “a bunch of people are down there already and i refuse to miss out on any moment.”

you laughed, throwing the towel back at them. “okay, okay!”

you removed your top and shorts, having worn your swimsuit underneath your clothes. you were putting them in your bag when you heard a whistle from the other side of the room.

justine lifted her own sunglasses to the top of her head. “damn, girl. where did you get that?”

your skin got warm at her comment. the swimsuit in question was normally out of your comfort zone, but for some reason when you had tried it on for the first time, you felt a surge of confidence.

it was a black one piece, but it was cut deep down the middle of your chest, cut out on the sides and the back, allowing for open space for your skin to show. and in front, there were two sections made of mesh. whoever said one pieces couldn’t be sexy clearly has never seen this one.

“holy shit, y/n. and i thought i looked hot.” liz added.

cora gave you a sly smile. “marco’s not going to know what hit him.”

you gave her a look. “please, this has nothing to do with marco.”

“oh, sure, of course not.” she says, walking towards you and leaning in and whispering, “but it never hurts to show them what they’re missing out on.”

you looked at her and pretended to think about it before giving your response. “okay, so maybe the swimsuit is a little bit about marco.”

the four of you burst into laughter before gathering the rest of your stuff and heading out the door. after making sure everyone had their key, you shut the door behind you and made the five minute walk to the beach.

for the most part it was just the seniors that had come for the weekend, but you saw a couple other groups of people spread out along the beach. the four of you found a clear spot a few feet from the lifeguard tower to put your towels down.

justine propped up the large umbrella she had dragged along with her from the motel along with her beach chair. she laid down in her chair underneath it, closing her eyes, and slipping her sunglasses onto her face.

“do you even plan on going in the water?” you asked her, spraying sunscreen onto your skin.

“nope. my plan today is to get his attention.” she nods to the lifeguard near us. “but i’ve gotta get my energy up first, so i’ll just be taking a nap if you need me.”

you just laughed, throwing your sunscreen bottle onto your towel and tucked your phone into your beach bag.

“i’m gonna stay and tan for a little so i can watch our stuff, don’t worry.” cora said as she watched you throw your sweatshirt over your bag.

you gave her a grateful smile before standing back up.

“looks like you’ve caught someone’s attention.” cora said, laying back on her towel, nodding her head behind her.

you looked up and saw marco, taylor, and and few more boys walking towards the beach, all of them talking excitedly to each other. except marco’s gaze was focused on one thing.

you.

you watched as his eyes scanned your body from top to bottom, his eyes stopping on the cut out parts of your swimsuit. you felt a small shiver course through your body at his actions. you knew you looked goof, but when marco looked at you like that... 

you couldn’t help but let your eyes drift as well. he was only in swim trunks, putting his upper body on display for all to see. as he got closer, his muscles only became more defined, his skin practically glowing underneath the sun.

“um, chile...anyways, so.” cora said, snapping you out of your reverie until you looked at her. “y’all are practically eye fucking each other, you know.”

you laughed at her, sparing one last glance at marco, only to see that his eyes were still on you. you looked away quickly before he could notice and turned back to cora.

“mission accomplished.”

she gave you a high five before you linked arms with liz and made your way to the shore, knowing you were giving marco a nice view of your backside as well.

as if liz could read your mind, she laughed and leaned in to whisper. “oh, you are bad.”

you moved in front of her, walking backwards towards the water. “who, me?” you feigned innocence.

she shook her head smiling, and then reached forward, pushing you backwards.

you hadn’t even realized you had reached the shore and when you fell back, you fell right into the ocean. you stood up laughing, pushing your hair out of your face.

“oh, you’re dead.” you say and liz squeals, jumping into the water herself.

the two of you join a group of your other friends, hanging out for a while before you head back.

when you get back to your station, cora is sitting up on her towel and the beach chair next to her is empty.

“where’s—?” cora cuts you off, pointing in one direction.

you follow where her finger is pointing and see justine talking to the lifeguard that was stationed a few feet away from us. good for her.

“well alright then.” you said with raised eyebrows and a proud smile before looking back at cora. “if you wanna head down, i can watch our stuff for a while. i’m pretty tired of being in the water, anyway.”

she smiled at you. “thanks!” she started towards the water before turning and taking off her sunglasses.

you held open your hands and she tossed them to you. you set her sunglasses down next to you and decided to take justine’s chair to sit in. it’s not like she was using it. you settled yourself in the chair, grateful for the shade the umbrella provided and pulled out your phone, put your earbuds in, and started scrolling through tik tok.

maybe an hour had passed when you felt a hand tapping on your shoulder. you quickly took out your earbuds, turning to whoever tapped you.

“oh, i’m so sorry, i didn’t...” your voice trailed off as you realized who it was that had tapped you.

elle evans.

“can we talk?” she asked.

she looked nervous. good. she should be! what kind of nerve does she have coming up to you after kissing you boyfriend on stage in front of thousands of people?

but before you could say any of this to her, she spoke again.

“i know you have no reason to speak to me and i understand that you probably hate me. i just, really want to explain.” she said.

you wanted to say no. you wanted to say no so badly and just stay mad at her. but even you couldn’t admit that your curiosity was getting the best of you.

so you just nodded, motioning for her to sit down on one of the towels.

she looked grateful, giving you a smile before taking a seat.

“look, i’m just going to get right to it. i know it was wrong, what i did. but i was hurt. i was angry. and marco had been so nice to me for so long and i thought noah was cheating on me so...” she trailed off so you finished her sentence.

“you cheated on him instead?”

elle looked at you, remorse in her eyes. “yeah.” she sighed. “i know, it’s all so stupid and i’m not proud of it, i want you to know that. but i was lucky enough that noah forgave me for that. and i know you haven’t forgiven marco.”

you swallowed, looking down.

“i wasn’t even thinking of you when i kissed marco and that’s on me. i am so, so sorry y/n. and i wish there was some way i could make it up to you.”

you sighed, looking her in the eye. “look, elle. thank you for apologizing to me. that’s great that noah forgave you, but that’s not something i can just overlook...it’s not just on you, it’s on him too.”

she let a moment of silence pass between you.

“you know he would always talk about you during our practices?”

your gaze had drifted back to the ocean but went back to her when she spoke again. “what?”

“he felt so guilty every time he had to cancel on you. and maybe i should’ve taken that as a sign as to what i was doing, but i didn’t. and for that i apologize too. but with the way he talked about you, i really didn’t think anything i could do would ruin what you had.

“i guess that was pretty ignorant of me.” she laughed a little. “y/n, he loves you. he really does. and i get it, the kiss was completely out of line and you don’t owe him or me anything. but if you think for a second that marco would ever choose me over you, you’re wrong.”

you didn’t say anything in response to that. what exactly were you supposed to say?

and when elle realized you weren’t going to respond, she sighed. “of course, i can’t change your mind and i don’t know how you feel. all i ask if that you talk to him. he misses you.” and with that, she got up and left without another word.

you laid back in your chair, putting your earbuds back in and turning on some music. you thought about what elle said, and you appreciated her coming to talk to you, but it still didn’t erase what marco had done.

but at the same time...

had he really been talking about you to her? did he really feel sorry about the canceled dates? because to you, it always felt like he was choosing her over you.

maybe elle was right, maybe you should just talk to him.

you groaned, closing your eyes. i thought this weekend was supposed to be fun and stress free, you thought.

you reopened your eyes and saw liz and justine standing over you.

“what was elle doing over here?” liz immediately said.

you loved how protective your friends were and smiled at them, making sure they knew it was nothing they had to worry about.

“it’s okay guys, she just wanted to talk.”

“about what?” justine was giving a nasty look in elle’s general direction.

“actually, she apologized.” you said and both of their head snapped to you.

“apologizes, huh?” justine said.

“yeah. but i don’t wanna talk about that right now, let’s just relax, yeah?” you said, trying to distract them.

they obviously wanted to talk about it but your distaste for the subject must have been clear on your face because they backed off.

“if you insist. but you have to get out of my chair first.” justine said with a smile.

you laughed, grabbed your phone and got up from the chair to sit on your towel. “how did it go with the lifeguard?”

“well, i got his snap and a date with him tonight, so you tell me.” justine said, laying back on her chair.

“you have to teach me how to do that.” liz said, sitting down on the towel beside her.

later that night, justine was off on her date with the lifeguard but the rest of the seniors were out on the beach, having a bonfire.

you, cora, and liz were in your room, getting ready to head out onto the beach when you heard something topple over.

you jumped, looking over your shoulder at the hair straightener that liz had dropped.

“oops.” she giggled.

“shit, liz.” cora said, picking it up and decided to finish liz’s hair for her. “are you drunk already?”

“honestly, i haven’t been sober since four pm today.” she admitted.

you shook your head, strapping on your sandals before standing. “why am i not surprised.”

cora looked up from liz’s hair and grinned. “i love the outfit. very cute.”

you looked at yourself in the mirror. you were wearing a spaghetti strap lavender crop top with black cotton shorts and gold sandals. you smiled at yourself.

“yeah, i think so.” you turned to cora. “thank you.”

“i think you look hot.” liz said with a funny smile.

“of course you do.” you said, slipping your phone into your pocket.

you stayed in the room until cora finished straightening liz’s hair and then you all went down to the bonfire together.

you headed straight for the cooler that stood on the outskirts of the large group, grabbing a white claw. there was music playing, and everyone was either dancing with one another or just hanging out by the fire.

you took a seat on one of the logs surrounding the fire, not in too much a partying mood for tonight.

“mind if i sit here?”

you didn’t need to look up to know it was marco who had asked but you did anyway, and made eye contact with the boy in question.

you shrugged, but didn’t say anything.

that seemed good enough for him because he took a seat next to you, leaving space between you. not enough apparently because you could still smell his cologne, the scent making its way into your senses.

marco fiddled with the drink in his hand, obviously thinking. you recognized the habit as one he did whenever he needed to get something off his chest.

“whatever it is, you can just say it.” you say.

he looked over at you and then looked back at his drink. “elle told me she talked to you.”

“yeah. she did.” you looked at him, but he was still looking at his drink.

“and from what she’s told me, sounds like i was living rent free in your mind.” you joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“you were. you are.” he said back, except he was 100% serious.

he finally looked up and met your eyes. “you’re all i think about.”

at that moment, you heard a scream and looked over to see one of the boys had tossed cora over his shoulder, carrying her to the water as our classmates cheered him on.

“can we...go on a walk or something? just find somewhere quiet to talk?” marco asked you over the commotion.

you knew you wouldn’t be able to avoid talking to him any longer, and quite frankly, you didn’t want to. so you nodded, standing up alongside him, finishing off the last of your drink before tossing the can in a garbage bag by one of the logs.

marco did the same and the two of you started walking away from the bonfire.

“you might wanna take your sandals off, it might make walking a little easier.” he said to you and you shot him a look.

“i think i’ll be fine, thank you very much.”

you regretted your decision as soon as you took that first step but you were determined not to say anything. but with every step you took, you could feel sand getting into your sandals and finally you groaned in defeat.

“hang on.” you said and bent down, unbuckling them and then slipping them off your feet.

you gathered your sandals in your hand and continued walking, feeling the sand moving beneath your feet.

“that’s better.” you said.

you looked over at marco when you realized he was laughing.

“and what exactly is so funny? don’t forget you’re already in hot water with me.” you raised an eyebrow.

“just reminds me of when we went to the beach earlier this year and i told you to bring a blanket, a sweatshirt, anything really, because it was going to get cold.”

you rolled your eyes at the memory. “right, and i didn’t. but only because i really didn’t think anything of the weather.”

“nuh uh, i believe your exact words were, ‘i do what i want.’” he raised an eyebrow at you.

“and what is your point exactly?” you laughed.

“well considering you spent the rest of the day in my hoodie and huddled under my blanket, mi amor, my point is that you can be extremely stubborn.” he laughed, before he realized what he said.

your heart clenched at the nickname, missing it already. but it reminded you of why you were out here with him in the first place.

“why did you kiss her?” you asked, quietly.

he paused and you inhaled, holding your breath in fear of his response.

“i could stand here and say i don’t know, but that would be a lie. i think...i think it was because a part of me thought i was already losing you.”

you stopped. “wait, what?” you looked at him. “why?”

he shrugged. “we never really talked about college and what would happen after graduation. i kind of assumed you would want to break up. and when i had rehearsals with elle, it didn’t seem to bother you that much, even when i had to cancel dates. i mean, until you said something at the competition, i didn’t realize how you felt about the whole thing. i thought it was because you were, i don’t know, getting tired of me.”

he may have had a point. despite your initial feelings towards him spending all of his time with elle, you never really expressed that to him. he would tell you he had to miss a date and you always responded with, “that’s okay, maybe next time.”

“so, at the competition, when elle kissed me, it felt like i had nothing to lose. but i’m an idiot. i don’t even like her. and when i saw you,” he looked at you, his voice thick with emotion. “i realized how much i screwed up. i couldn’t believe that i had hurt you like that.”

“marco.” you were standing in front of him now. “i need you to realize that every canceled date resulted in me calling rachel to scream my head off about the lack of time we were spending together. but i wasn’t about to tell you to not help her, i wasn’t going to be that girlfriend.

“i do realize that i could have said something sooner, though . elle had mentioned how you were upset about the dates we missed as well.” you glared at him. “but that doesn’t excuse you kissing her on live television!”

he shook his head. “no i know, i know. and it’s not an excuse, it’s just how i felt. what i did, no matter the reason, was wrong. and i am so, so sorry y/n. i never should have kissed her, and i regret it more than anything. i regret losing you.”

you turned your back to him, afraid you were going to start crying and you didn’t want him to see.

you had been avoiding him for so long for this very reason. you didn’t want to hear an apology. you didn’t want to forgive him.

but hearing him apologize and regret what he did made you question why you didn’t want to hear it. while your heart wasn’t completely full once again, heating those words did something to you. it made you feel...heard.

both elle and marco took the initiative to come to you even after you making it clear that you refused to speak to either of them for the past two months. despite what they did, that says a lot about their character.

“y/n?” marco called from behind you.

you took a deep breath before turning to face him once again.

“i forgive you.”

marco looked shocked. “i—thank you.”

“and i’m sorry for ignoring you and refusing to even give you the chance to apologize. i just,” you shrugged. “wasn’t ready.”

he nodded, gazing at you intently. “i completely understand. what i did...” he swallowed. “you were hurt. you were angry. hell, i would be too.”

“yeah, well. that hurt and anger didn’t do anything for me. but you and elle talking to me did. so thank you.”

“i had to let you know how i was sorry. i couldn’t let you go thinking there was anyone in this world i would rather be with than you.” he said, and when you looked in his eyes, you could see he was sincere.

“marco.” you breathed, realizing how close the two of you were.

one of his arms slipped around your waist and you let him pull you even closer. your breaths mingled as your lips were only centimeters apart and you felt your eyelids start to flutter shut.

“tell me to stop and i will.” he whispered to you.

every pulse in your body was screaming at you to just let him kiss you, to fall into his arms and be his again. but in your brain, there that one rational part that was telling you to stop this now.

damn your rationale.

but you knew it was right. you were both running high on emotions, whatever you did now, you weren’t sure you wouldn’t regret it tomorrow. so you tilted your head down, grabbing onto his forearms.

“i can’t.” you managed to croak out.

he exhaled, his mouth by your ear now so you felt the rush of air against your skin.

“i want to, believe me. but right now i just, i can’t.”

he nodded. “you don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

you wrapped your arms around his waists in a hug and rested your head against his chest. marco hesitates for a moment, making sure you weren’t going to pull away before hugging you back. his chin rested on the top of your head and the familiar embrace filled you with warmth.

“can we just talk?” you mumbled into his shirt.

he chuckled lightly. “of course. whatever you want.”

so you did. the two of you sat on the sand and talked. about elle, the ddr competition, what you forgiving him meant. but you also talked about the past two months. college acceptances, last minute applications, applying for scholarships, any accomplishments, everything. you talked and talked until you ended up falling asleep on the beach.

you slowly blinked your eyes open as you felt the sunlight hit them. you sat up and looked to your side where marco was still dozed off. you looked at him with a small smile, you had missed seeing him in such a peaceful state. you remembered the times he had woken up before you whenever he slept over at your house, opening your eyes to see his brown eyes gazing down at you lovingly. it was rare that you ever woke up before him, so this sight was a rare one.

his was lying on his back and you could see his chest gently rise and fall with every breath he took. at some point his shirt had come unbuttoned and the wind blew it back against the sand, exposing his chest. you rolled your eyes at yourself, compelling yourself not to even think about it. you traveled your gaze up to his face and saw the relaxed expression. the emotion from early last night was no longer there, he was just...marco.

in all honesty, you probably could have spent the rest of the morning waiting for him to wake up. but you weren’t 100% sure what your reaction would be to seeing him in the morning for the first time in a while. so, you brushed a few of the curls on his forehead back into place, then leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead before getting up and walking back to the motel.

you entered your room as quietly as you could. a quick look at your phone let you know it was nine am and you were unsure of whether or not your friends were hungover.

however, as soon as you entered the room, you were met with cora pouncing on you.

“she’s back!” she yelled as your other two roommates groaned in response.

“what?” liz mumbled from underneath a pillow.

“okay, spill. where were you all night?” cora demanded.

“oh, please. like we don’t all know the answer.” justine sat up on her bed and gave you a teasing smile. “with marcoooo!” she singsonged, making kissy faces at you.

you rolled your eyes. “okay, it wasn’t like that.”

“wait, so you were with marco?” cora gasped. “and on the beach? you dirty dog.”

“why is everyone yelling?” liz grumbled, pressing the pillow against her head tighter.

you couldn’t but laugh at what cora was implying. “yes, i was with marco, but we just talked! honestly. it was nice.”

“you just talked all night? huh. i’m not buyin’ it. you?” cora turned to justine.

she shook her head. “nope. liz?”

“absolutely not.” her muffled voice came.

you scoffed. “well, i don’t care what you think happened. because i’m telling you nothing happened.”

“okay, say we believed you. what did you talk about?” justine said.

you shrugged, taking a seat on your bed and tossing your sandals to the ground. “everything. i mean, we haven’t talked in two months, we had some stuff to unpack.”

“are you guys getting back together...?” liz asked, peeking her head out from beneath the pillow.

the other two watched you intently, waiting for your response and you laughed.

“right now? no. i don’t know. all i know is we talked, fell asleep on the beach, and it was nice. that’s all.” you said. “i missed talking to him.”

“so what happens now?” cora asked you.

“i’m not sure. but i feel a lot better about whatever does happen now.” you say confidently.

with that final statement, your friends drop the subject. you didn’t want to think to much about this anymore. last night was great but you were determined to make the most of the last two days of this beach trip.

the marco situation would have to wait.

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[avenging-fandoms]

Dancing with Marco

“you know, i didn’t think you could get anymore beautiful, yet under this moonlight..” marco trailed off and held your chin, bringing your face close to his, a smirk playing on his lips. “you’re the most beautiful girl in the world” you smile, breaking the space and kissing him. 

you pulled away, laying your head on his shoulder as you both watch the moon sparkle on the ocean water. marco’s head snapped up, startling you of your peace. “what is the matter with you? you scared the shit out of- marco?” he took your hand and pulled you up, taking you to the pier. 

a jazz band was playing one of marco’s favorite songs, ‘can’t help falling in love’ by elvis presley. he took your hand, the other holding your hip. you smile, holding onto his shoulder as you two slow dance in a circle. 

“wise.. men.. say..” marco started to sing and you smiled, laying your head on his chest. “only fools rush in” he tilted your head up to look at him so he could sing the next line. “but i.. can’t.. help.. falling in love.. with... you” you smile, marco kissing you passionately as you two spun. “i love you, yn”

“i.. i love you too, marco” he laughs, nudging his nose against yours and kissing you again, holding your face and slowly spinning in a circle. you two finish slow dancing to the song, then picking up the pace of the dance when the band started to play ‘blue suede shoes’

a crowd started to form around you and marco, but you didn’t care. you two felt like the only two people in the world, and you were only focused on marco’s eyes and his smile. every time he smiled, you fell in love all over again. 

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#marco pena #marco pena x reader #marco pena x you #marco pena imagine #marco pena imagines #marco pena blurb #marco pena blurbs #marco peña #marco peña x reader #marco peña x you #marco peña imagine #marco peña imagines #marco peña blurb #marco peña blurbs #the kissing booth #the kissing booth 2 #taylor zakhar perez