#Alex about to throw a punch was hot as hell

[melodiousoblivionao3]

Alex and Trinity squaring up twice in like two minutes

Not the fighting duo I expected but my god the duo we needed

#Alex about to throw a punch was hot as hell #woso #uswnt #alex morgan #trinity rodman

[headingalaxys-spicy]

Wow, I didin't know you write for 2ptalia! Not complaining tho, how would the countries (just pick your faves) react to darling choosing their 2p counterpart over them? And what will they do in retaliation to being the unchosen one?

Me: Gets 98% writing only to realize I answered it backwards. hahahahahhhh.  So here a twofer. Reader being rejecting both original and 2p! Hope you guys enjoy! 

2p America: How much Fall flavored shit do you need woman? *Shows pack of Pumpkin Jojo’s, Pumpkin pie flavored Oreo’s, and Caramel Apple creamer* Also the fuck is so funny? 

Me: Roast post. 

2p America: What? 

Me: Shut up and laugh dammit! *throws notebook that ask was written in* 

Characters: America (Obivious as fuck I’d pick him), Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia. 

🍔🇺🇸America 🍔🇺🇸 “WHAAAAAAAT? YOU’RE INTO A MAN WHO’D RATHER FUCK HIS NAILY BAT?!?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? ARE YOU CRAZY?” He shouts into the early evening air. He was so loud with that last remark that it took a few moments for passersby to look away from you. 

“Alfred! Please keep your voice down! And please release your grip on my arm!” You shrug away harshly to keep space between the two of you. You disliked that he was spouting nonsense. 

“Y/N, please….” You avoid his eyes; you know they were a honey-laced trapped that you knew plenty of unsuspecting people fell for. 

“I’m sorry, Alfred, but he and I work better together and I don’t have to explain that.” Voice was shaky but you knew you’d be away from him soon. Still avoiding his gaze you say ‘Good-Bye’. 

After you’ve left him to be alone with his raw feelings, he will go punch a few brick walls to let off some steam. 

He’s going to go home and ugly cry and eat Half-Baked while he’s half-baked himself making him whole again after a few months pass. 

(Damn reader, you a savage, we now have a sad burger man.)

🕶️🇺🇸2p America 🇺🇸🕶️: “SERIOUSLY DOLL? You go for a man whose entire fucking shtick is eating a shitload of burgers! That bitch wants to be Nikocado Avacado so bad!” 

He’s grinning his teeth. The fury radiated off of him like a heater. He’s gripping the phone so tightly that small indents are beginning to form. He wasn’t interested in prolonging his suffering so he hung up in your face before you even had a chance to try and placate him. The phone meets its demise. The titanium, metal, and nanotech that once resembled a black brick now resembled black sand of sorts. 

He goes out drinking and partying for the night. Why not be hedonistic to high hell if he doesn’t have you? 

He complains about you to others in the FACE family, saying things like: What was there not for them to like about the blood-dusted roses? They show devotion and dedication or whatever bullshit Oliver was on about!

Oliver: “I heard that, you ungrateful tosser! Pay up in the swear jar!” 

Alex: “Fuck yo-” A knife nails his leg and he wails out in pain. 

He ain’t giving up though he’s going to attempt time and time again to get the McDumbass away from you and into his arms. 

🍁🇨🇦🐻‍❄️Canada🐻‍❄️🇨🇦🍁: Most of you reading this post already know he’s going to cry. 

You were kind enough to let him down gently when you video-chatted him. “I’m sorry, Matthew. I’m just really feeling this other guy and I do it with sincerity that you find someone who suits you.” The pregnant silence was deafening but nothing compared to the pipes behind his violet orbs about to burst. He said, “Okay, farewell, Y/N. I hope you and Matthieu will be happy” before he ended the call.  God, that was a cursed sentence. The pipe had burst and tears spilled through his darkened lavender pools. It takes him about 45-minutes to get off the floor and he opens his Tim Horton’s app and gets a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and a few Canadian maple and honey crullers. Once it’s delivered, he will devour his meal and sink onto the couch, watching whatever random thing he’s put on Netflix. All while soaking the couch in his copious amounts of tear-soaked Kleenex.  

He’s going to stress-bake pastries while listening to some podcasts to do his best not to think about it. 

He’s also going to turn off his phone intentionally and put it in a phone jail for 78 hours so he doesn’t accidentally waste 5 hours looking at your cute face and the man that has always gotten in his way ever since he came into existence. 

🐻🇨🇦2p Canada 🇨🇦🐻: 

His right eye twitched in frustration over the text message being the only thing he got. His anger swelled the more he thought about it. It was like a boiling pot of water that went from a mildly active simmer to raging waters supported by the heat of a recently awoken volcano. He snuffs out his 4th cigarette, only halfway done and just thinking about his sickly sweet 1p receiving your attention and love. 

He gets crossfaded for the night, so he can numb the stinging pain of rejection. Once he’s done with being on his drug and booze-filled bender he’s going to get to plotting to get you back. 

Even Kuro was high-key annoyed that the snow-colored bear also had your affection. An aggravated growl leaves the beast as his owner reassures him that in time: you will be with them… permanently.   

☕️🫖🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿England🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🫖☕️: He’s in his tea room drinking scalding hot Earl Grey. The burn on his tongue felt better than the rejection he received. You picked the pastel palette psychopath with cannibalistic tendencies. 

‘Why y/n why? Why in the world would you want to date that Nutter? Is it because I can’t cook for shit?’ Will be some of the thoughts that echo around in his mind as he blankly stares at his tea until the early hours of the morning. 

‘Dodgy Oliver’ ‘What the fuck?’ ‘Bloody hell, has the world gone mad!?’

He considers making a love potion to make you love him. (Since this is the normal 1p we’re talking about Arthur’s code of ethics hasn’t been entirely yeeted out the door.) 

He will lurk on your social media profiles for a couple of weeks before he picks himself back up again.  🧁🎀☠️ 2p England ☠️🎀🧁 Mans has been sitting in his elegant pastel library while rage, sadness and disgust are spilling from his eyes. His heart crumbled into his stomach. When his shiny bright baby blues darkened in hue after reading your text he couldn’t help it. “Hey Oliver…. I know this will be difficult to read but I’ve decided that I’m going to be exclusive with Arthur. I really do hope you can find someone for you. Goodbye.” After a few minutes of letting the river flow onto the desk and pages of his prized cookbooks his mind wonder about how you came to the conclusion to go steady with Arthur. Were you daft? Were you under a spell? Did Arthur trick you? Regardless, Oliver was beginning to crave a special sweet treat that will require him to pay the tsundere British man a visit.

💪🇩🇪 Germany 🇩🇪💪: He’s going to be dumbfounded that you picked Lutz. Like bro has to stare at his phone for 5 full minutes re-reading your text. He tries to make scientific sense of how in fuck you came to the conclusion to like Lutz. After this, he’s just going to curse in his mind for a few hours while he pets his German Shepards while he has maybe a dozen or so cold ones. Ludwig will stare into the void and be like ‘WARUM!?! Auf keinen Fall! Das gibt’s doch nicht!’ 

No matter what, it will never make sense to him. He will be despondent for a while but with the help of Prussia, Italy, and Japan (and his two favorite things Beer and Schnitzel) he’ll be fine. 

You live rent-free in the back of his mind though. While ‘Why for the love of god would you pick someone like him?’ 

💤😴2p Germany😴💤While staring at the screen with bloodshot eyes…he won’t shed a tear, whine, or break things to let out his frustrations. He does nothing. He knows it’s not worth it. He knows he’s not what many would call a “catch”. Sure he has a rugged charm of sorts but that doesn’t mean it makes up for his mentally unwell state of working for Luciano. He will simply stare at the text message that read: 

Hey Lutz, I think it’s best that we just be friends. Ludwig and I are going steady. I just wanted to be transparent with you. I’m sorry.

Even as empty as the words felt, he stared at them with a mixture of regret, sadness, and self-pity. After a while, he releases the phone to fall onto the bed. Well, if there’s nothing he can do, he may as well just jerk it to someone who looks like you. 

🍝🇮🇹Italy🇮🇹🍝 Let's be real he takes your rejection like a champ. He'd been rejected by tons of people before. He’s a professional flirter what do you expect? He’ll go to another bar and snag more bitches. 

This doesn’t mean that later he’s going to realize: WHY ARE YOU DATING A DANGEROUS MAN???????

(Yes, I took this angle for him. Feliciano can be baby but ooooooh lawd he can be a player. He got that 🌟✨duality✨🌟)

🔪🇮🇹2p Italy🇮🇹🔪: His favorite switchblade is tossed back and forth like an acrobat during a finale. Rage is spilling through his pores. His ears burn as honesty comes spilling from you. 

“Maybe it’s best if we can be friends. I’m romantically intertwined with Feliciano and he’s a really sweet guy and I have to take a chance with him.” Your honesty was charming just as it was brutal. It was horrible for him to think about losing you. Your melodic voice was like hearing a live chorus from the musical Baroque of the 1600s. His dream of having you with him was shattered by the idiotia constantly waving a white flag. He stabs the right arm of the chair that he was seated in and drags the knife backward. Cotton and alligator leather were ruined in the blades' wake. 

He was going to give the bastard something to cry for. 

Bro is going to be wine-wasted for the rest of the night and become a little violent towards anyone who is within range of him. Kuro and Lutz 100% know to stay the hell out of his way until the storm has passed. 

👹👺🇯🇵2p Japan🇯🇵👺👹: Oh fuck. You essentially set off an entity that’s similar to Slenderman. Kuro is silent and brooding and his plans are gruesome, slow, and violate the human code of ethics. You were brave enough to have the conversation with him over tea. The air is tense, filled with discontent, and hate. What a waste you’d fallen the evenly keeled Kiku. He cared too much about cherry blossoms, respect, blah, blah, blah. Why would you ever date someone with a massive tree up his ass? His hand will itch for the blade. He wanted to rid the world of Kiku’s existence right that second. 

“Kuro, I’ll be honest I’ve found someone who matches my energy and I’m going to work it out with Kiku. We just work well together.” His eyes shot daggers at his green tea in an attempt not to scare you. He believes he still has a chance he’ll just have to convince you. However, he couldn’t suppress his vibes which could be cut by a plastic knife it was so thick. You bit your lip and gather your nerves. You pull out some yen from your bag to cover your drink and you leave in a huff. You knew from that point onwards that nothing in your life would ever be the same. 

It takes Kuro an hour to finally end his staring competition with his tea. He’s never been so bothered in his life. He blocks you on all social media and uses his alt accounts to gather intel. He isn’t going to let you go, nor will he let Kiku win. 

He definitely goes home that night to destroy a few trees and maybe even a few of his own men who dared to look at him the wrong way. 

🇯🇵 🌸 Japan 🌸🇯🇵 He’s stunned. He will have few words in response.

“Okay, farewell Y/N… and it really was nice to meet you.” he will politely bow and walk away.

his heart will take a while to recover through because you a catch!

☠️🇷🇺 2p Russia 🇷🇺 ☠️Jesus Christ or Holy Fuck are the only phrases that are appropriate for the bitter resentment he has for Ivan. The normally just frigid atmosphere transformed into a bitter frost that could give anyone uninitiated to the cold instant frostbite. Ice on the window appears and freezes over behind him while he grips your written letter explaining to him why you made your choice. He’s nicer, his scarf was warmer and a much more inviting light pink than his confronting red one. 

Outwardly he might be tame / measured inwards he’s brooding and plotting revenge on his counterpart….Only to execute none of it. He knows what he wanted is gone and he’s far too depressed to do something about it. 

He’ll stay in his office while he writes out a complex seven-point plan placing a dead a dead gladiolus flower next to each. He imagines his rival in a pool of blood to make it easier for him to sleep at night. 

🇷🇺🪆🌻Russia🌻🪆🇷🇺He does his best to choke back tears. He won’t lie you sent ice-picks straight to his heart. Thoughts about being lonely swarm his mind. It hurts him because you’re a mortal he’s grown fond of that didn’t have ulterior motives to be around him. He fiddles with his scarf to avoid your lovely (eye color) hues. 

“I’m going to leave Y/N, farewell.” He leaves in order to keep at least some of his pride in tact. 

‘Why Viktor? He’s even more terrifying than me!’ While he mulls over not winning you over, over some Vodka on the rocks a thought crosses through him: 

‘Wait a minute if that psychopath can have a lover so can I! There is still hope!’ 

-End- 

Thank’s for reading ya’ll !

#hetalia fandom #yandere hetalia #yandere headcanons #yandere imagines #hetalia imagines #hws #hetalia #ヘタリア #headingalaxys writes stuff #headingalaxys spicy #axis powers ヘタリア #ヘタリア world stars #hetalia x reader #x reader #hetalia x you #dark hetalia x you

[empressnarria]

“New Piercing!” + Glamrock Babes’ x Self-Insert

In celebration of getting my septum pierced, here’s the Glamrock babes’ reaction to Alex (my nightsecurity self-insert) arriving at the Pizzaplex with her new septum piercing!

Self-indulgent to a distressing degree? Yes.

[⭐Freddy⭐]

"Oh, welcome back, Officer Morelli! I—…oh…oh my."

He’s…stunned, to say the least.

Alex could hear his gears seize up from under his metal plating, and she's given the impression that he doesn't like it. Don't worry, he does. He thinks it’s pretty neat, actually! He's just...imagining the amount of pain she had to undergo for a piercing like that...

It’s that type of speechlessness where your best friend wants to be as open and accepting of your choices as possible, but can’t help how their eyebrows screw up as they choke back internal screaming…

Regret smacked Freddy in the face the second he asked about the process.

Alex went on to explain—Freddy’s face falling further and further until his teeth were forcefully clenched into an attentive smile, while his eyes bulged out, utterly petrified.

He has to double-over a party table, head in hands, when she describes feeling every inch of the needle sever layers of cartilage with a "crunch."

At the end of the day, Freddy is the most supportive person—err..bear out there. Whatever you do (as long as you’re not endangering yourself or others), he’ll support you through thick and thin!

But on the other hand, stars, the thought of human skin, or cartilage, or bone, or—or anything in general being pierced makes his touch sensors crawl (forgetting the fact that he has an ear piercing himself…).

Freddy is happy because Alex is happy, but begs her, please, pleasedon’t show him the incision, he might faint—oh dear lord, the hole is humongous. Look away, look away!!!

[⛳Monty⛳]

"Did it hurt? How big was the needle? Did you cry? Was there blood? How much blood? I bet there was alotta blood."

Monty wants to know ALL the gruesome little details.

A "tisk" of steam left his nostrils (rewarded by a playful shoulder punch) when Alex said she had her eyes screwed shut the entire time.

"Com’on toots, it couldnt'uve been that bad—" his whole attitude changed when she whipped out her phone and pulled up a picture of the needle, blood still staining the tip. 

Monty let out a disgusted groan and flung back…only to lean in for a second look. "EWWW!….heh, heh, gnarly."

He’s in disbelief. She had to have that (he points to the needle) break freakin’ cartilage inside ya’ nose, to pierce that (he then points to her nose).

Alex will never know it, but Monty thinks that is the sickest--and sexiest--thing he's ever heard a person do.

And it was a spur of the moment thing you just…felt like doing? Offhandedly? You said, ‘fuck it, life’s too short’ and took a needle to the face? Willingly? No pissin’ your britches? Knew it’d hurt like hell, but stared it down and said, ‘fuck that, too’?

Holy shit, okay, that’s actually really hot.

He's stoked that another person at the Pizza Plex has a septum piercing like him! Monty actually convinces himself that he's the reason she got the piercing in the first place. Here's how it went down: she saw him rocking the look, and Alex, instantly swooned, wanted to rock the look with him (perhaps to impress him, too).

True or not, he's honored in his fantasy.  

Monty starts ranting about all the sick hoops and gauges they could get together, from spikes, to spheres, to--oh! And studs! Lots and lots of studs!...until Alex waves him down, saying she just got her septum done, and needs to wait at least six months before she can change it out, and two weeks before she can even flip it up.

His shoulders sink as he lets out a grumble. He's disappointed they can't go on a balls-to-the-walls piercing extravaganza, but is willing to wait out the six months. For now, he'll tease Alex about her little trainee-piercing, claiming she has her training wheels while he's been operating a full-on unicycle.

But if anyone throws shade her way. Oh boy. His tail will just-so-happen to be sweeping the floor a little lower than usual, and maybe, just maybe, the jerk's shins get smashed in.

It was an accident, he swears! It's hard to control the swing of that thing sometimes!

[🎹Roxy🎹]

"Sick piercing, boss. Let's put some ketchup on it and scare the shit out of Freddy!"

On the outside, she's totally chill. Septum pierced, huh? Nice. Cool. She digs it.

On the inside, she's rolling on the floor, screaming "so cool, so cool, so cool, so freakin' cool!"

After a..."friendly chat" Roxy had with the wardrobe stylist, Janine, she got permission to trade out the hoops and studs up her ears, but has to steer clear of any facial-related piercings (for marketing reasons).

She'll change them out depending on how she's feeling that day, but may switch to a whole new look if her mood shifts. Her favorite pair as of right now are her purple acrylic lightning bolts (Chica coated them in glitter glue, her excuse being so that they "sparkle" more).

A small expressive freedom, but a freedom, nonetheless.

Then Alex struts in with an uber-cool new piercing?! Now Roxy feels like she missed a trend, and should've hopped on the ‘septum piercing train’ when she had the chance.

Her nose scrunches into a scowl at the lost opportunity. Do you know how cool she would’ve looked??? Imagine if she had two studs on her eyebrow, or a hoop on her lower lip! If an edgy look isn’t marketable, Roxy doesn’t know what is.

But she’ll swallow her pride (nearly choking) and take the attention Alex gets as cool points towards her.

"You see that human over there? Yeah, we’re besties. She got a needle shoved up her nose. Pretty hardcore, right? That’s why she’s hanging with me. Us hardcore chicks have to stick together."

Yeah, sure, Monty has his snout done, but he's an animatronic. He sat back, powered off, while the engineers drilled a hole through a thin sheet of metal, then flicked him back on without an ounce of pain leftover.

For Alex, a huge ass needle had to be shoved up her nose.

And you did it willingly? All on your own? Didn’t chicken out?

She doesn’t care what anyone says—that’s metal as fuck.

The healing and cleaning process sounds like an all-around hassle to her, but if it means you get to walk around telling people you had a sharpened metal object strung through your nose just for a silly ass hoop, then it’s well worth it in her book.

[🍕Chica🍕]

Chica squawks. "What’s that on your face???" She beelines for Alex and squishes her face between her palms, juttingher head back.

Chica is so tempted to lift up her nostril and get a better look at the new hole in her face, but Alex’s flailing and pained gasps convince her to spring back instead. "OH!—Sorry, hun..."

Unfortunately, her design prevents her from wearing any other earrings than those with a peg at the end ('popping' them in on either side of her head), so she's seething with curiosity.

She’s also a teensy, weensy, eentsy-bit jealous. Not enough to throw a hissy fit over the sheer existence of the piercing like Roxy, but enough that her eyes keep darting to it, locked onto its shimmer, while Alex goes on to explain the how and the why. Chica doesn’t realize how close she’s standing until she’s literally hovering over Alex. The shine of the piercing snaps Chica out of her trance, and she squeaks out another apology before springing back again.

It’s freaky how much humans enjoy puncturing holes into their flesh or drawing with permanent markers on their bodies. But the drawings rarely have scribbles, or random squiggles and dots, and, like, have meaning and everything? All down to the positioning of a koi fish??? Double freaky.

Freaky, but also cool as heck at the same time! It’s jewelry for your face—face-jewelry! There are thousands of possibilities to glam-up your face, and Chica believes Alex chose the coolest one.

Maybe if she asked management really, really, really, nicely, they’d consider studs at the edge of her beak!...but she’s too chicken to ever try a bold thing like that. Needles are scary, okay! She’ll leave the ‘adrenaline seeking highs’ to Alex and Roxy.

#fnaf security breach #fnaf sb #fnaf sb x reader #fnaf imagines #fnaf self insert #glamrock freddy #glamrock freddy x reader #glamrock chica #glamrock chica x reader #monty gator #monty gator x reader #roxanne wolf #roxanne wolf x reader #narria’s glamrock babes

[dewydovahkiin]

I know requests are closed but I really need this rn. take ur time and do whatever you want but I just wanna throw this out there. Tachanka x Reader hcs about how he reacts to them having to see their abusive siblings and toxic mother for like family meetings (Cause of a wedding coming up or sum)

idk if you will ever see this but i love your writing and just wanted to barf this up. <3 Love you

How did you manage to describe my mother?😳 anyways ofc you can. Sorry for the wait 😭🤚

Warnings: toxic family members but no outright abuse or anything described.

Alright for the sake of this I’m gonna say you’re going to like…your favorite cousin’s wedding. They’re nice, and you know your asshole family will be there too but you’re gonna ignore them and enjoy your cousin’s day.

Alexsandr is like mildly aware of your familial situation. He hasn’t exactly met them but he’s heard a few stories here and there from you when you do talk about it, and he’s not a fan.

When you tell him you’re gonna go to the wedding his first question is naturally “are you sure?”. He doesn’t want you to go if you don’t want to, and he certainly doesn’t want you to deal with your siblings and mother. But lucky for you, you’ve got a rather large and rather intimidating boyfriend that you’re taking with you so hopefully no problems arise.

Not only does Alexsandr look hot as hell all dressed up, he turns out to be a fantastic deterrent for any obnoxious family members. He’s still incredibly wary though. He notices the way you avoid eye contact with almost everyone and slightly hide behind him if any of your siblings are near. He’s perfectly fine with being your bodyguard though.

The ‘fun’ part is watching your mom circle y’all like a vulture, just waiting for Alexsandr to have his back turned long enough to come and torment you. She’s constantly burning holes in the back of your head with her stare when he’s not looking, and you pray to literally any deity that Alex doesn’t need to use the restroom or anything anytime soon.

Unfortunately, having large amounts of wine and punch does in fact, take a toll on his bladder eventually, so he makes sure you’re fine before heading off to piss. And of course the second he disappears, your mother immediately comes over.

She’s ‘nice’ at first, asking you basic questions but in a condescending tone and you know that she’ll soon make her way to insulting you. Unfortunately all you can do is keep your head down and resist the urge to run away or slap the shit out of her.

A large shadow suddenly falls over the both of you, and you look up to see Alexsandr towering just behind her, arms crossed and looking very unhappy. Your mom is unaware of her possible doom until she notices you staring at something behind her, causing her to look and be barely face-to-face with your boyfriend’s chest. It was almost comical watching her head slowly look up to meet his eyes.

The “Is there a problem here?” He asks is in a deep and almost threatening tone, enjoying the fact your mom is slowly beginning to take steps backwards to avoid being trapped between him and the tables. She manages a “No, everything’s fine” and a clearly forced smile before quickly walking off to hide behind your shitstain siblings.

When you two are free and finally lazing about in your hotel room, you’re giggling wildly at the fact she ran away at the slightest sign of confrontation. And also the fact Alex offered to be your social-meatshield at the next family gathering.

#x reader #r6s x reader #r6siege #rainbow six siege #tachanka x reader #r6s tachanka #this is bad but in my defense I was too lazy to start over

[badgirlcovenrep]

atlas

Alex Chen × Steph Gingrich fluffy comfort one-shot

(I was talking to a friend about the game and we were discussing how Alex is probably still carrying a lot of trauma. And even after everything that happened at the mines we still don't see her really grieve for the whole situation and herself. So- I had to write it, you know?)

Enjoy!

TW: mentions of suicide, death and mental health issues.

It's two months into their relationship now, and they are somewhere in a Californian town, living in a tiny apartment close to the beach. They play together in small venues and underground clubs. Alex bartends and Steph referees for DND campaigns at a nerd bar they found by chance on their first week there.

They're happy. As happy as Alex remembers being since she was- well, maybe nine.

Every day, it's a little like waking up into a dream. Living in an apartment with her first girlfriend, listening to music as they cooked dinner together. Getting to kiss her just because Alex felt like it. Because her heart went a little loopy inside her chest when she smiled. Because she knew Steph would hold on to her waist and make her feel like she was full of electricity.

The 'falling in love' business felt overrated before Steph.

But Being in the middle of it now, Alex doesn't think there's anything better.

Although a part of her still felt quite numb - she guesses it's not something that will go away that easily - and day by day, Alex felt a little bit more like she could breathe... like she was finally letting herself go, at least a little bit.

****

Now that she could comprehend and use her powers, it also seemed as if she'd started to become even more of a magnet for all sorts of emotion around her. And apparently Alex could do it in her sleep too.

The nightmares came in clusters most of the time, a badly cut-together mess of voices and feelings. The lady that lived under them, who lost her son when he was little. The couple from down the street, who were going through a hard time in their relationship. Even the little girl from upstairs, who had terrible night terrors of sharp-teethed monsters reaching from under her bed.

They all mixed inside her head until she woke up gasping for air and sizzling with emotion.

It was rare that she'd have a full dream, one that made sense and completed itself, but when she did they were always about Gabe. About sitting together at the rooftop of the Lantern and sharing a beer. Or climbing trees, like they used to do when they were little.

It was a relief from the usual doom.

And that dream was supposed to be nothing different. Or at least she thought it wasn't.

****

In it, they were at the ravine. A world of twinkling stars shining above their heads. The Colorado mountains all around them creating a landscape that was just as beautiful as it was bittersweet. Alex could see the log she'd crossed, still standing between her and the tiny outcrop of stone Ethan had been stranded on.

She hadn't dreamed of the ravine since leaving Haven Springs, but while she was there, Alex dreamt of it every night. She would see it when her eyes were closed. She could hear it, - the sirens, the terrible, deafening rumble of the ground splitting beneath them. The panic, pounding into her ears.

But this is different. Because when she looks around, Alex realizes she's standing over the elevated plateau, tied to the waist and leaning all her weight against a sturdy piece of rock.

Looking at her from below is Gabe. Lying on the cold ground. A cheesy smile spread across his face.

"Why are we switched?" Alex asks because that's all she can think of asking, as she stares at the rope that anchored her to the ground... to Gabe.

"Beats me. This is all your brain, not mine." He says, and Alex huffs in annoyance, "you know what's going to happen, but you keep coming here."

"I don't have a choice."

"Hmmm..." Gabe hums, but there's some humor in his expression as he stares intently back at her, "and that's exactly why... I'm here because I should say goodbye."

A coldness spreads over Alex's limbs. Around her, the very fabric of the dream dims into darkness as a strong breeze blows past them. She suddenly feels like throwing up.

"What- what does that mean?" It's a stupid question. This is her dream. Alex knows what it means.

Deep down, she knew she'd been conjuring him up for her own sake. Trying to bring back any morsel of relief into the giant hole he'd left inside her heart. However, Alex also knew at some point he'd be gone- she just didn't expect-

"You don't need me anymore, Alex." He says. As if it's that simple. As if she'd ever-

"I'll always need you, Gabe. Of course I need you." The words stumble out of her mouth, and she can feel the hot, angry tears falling down her face.

It feels like a hot iron pressed to the very top of her chest.

Like lava, boiling up into her bloodstream until Alex wants to punch something. The steam that prickles from under her skin, fighting to break free.

Anger always comes first when people feel cornered. It's something she noticed a while back. Out of all the emotions Alex had dealt with the past few months, that, at least, hadn't changed.

"Shit, Gabe. When you died I needed you more than ever."

"But we can't fix that, can we?" He asks, and another wave of anger rips through her. She looks anywhere but him, because Alex feels that if she does, she'll tackle and kill him all over again. But when he says nothing and they're left in the same pocket of silence - the one right before the whole world collapsed - her eyes eventually fall back to her brother. Tied to her and laid on the ground beneath. Looking at her like just as much the goofy asshole she missed so much.

Anger always felt urgent and fast, like a flash going through her body and leaving everything inside it in disarray. It demanded to be completely felt, but only for the moment it took for Alex to decide it wasn't worth launching the nearest object at a window.

Or trying to kill her dead brother.

"You might have needed Gabe. But you don't need this Gabe anymore, Alex. You can do it on your own now."

The fear and sadness that came after? They were usually much, much worse.

"But this is the only Gabe I have."

Those emotions, when mixed, turned into a horrible harmony that paralyzed her lungs and darkened the sides of her vision. They felt just as urgent as anger, but complacent. A beast staring at her from the very bottom of a pit. Tied to her by the waist and trying to lure her down into the abyss.

And, for Alex, the abyss was as deep as a ventilation shaft for a Colorado mining site.

"No, it's not. You'll always have me, Alex. And you know that." Not in the way that matters. Alex wants to say, but it's so redundant. He's the ghost. He should already know that. "And you have Ryan now, and Eleanor, Riley, Charlotte, Ethan... Steph..." he gives her a cheesy smile in the last name, wiggling his eyebrows back at her teasingly.

"Oh, God, way to ruin the moment." Alex can't help but chuckle a little through her tears. Is she blushing? You can't blame her for blushing, right? God, she feels like Diane.

"Hey. Let me have it. One of my only regrets is that I never got to tease the hell out of Steph for dating my little sister... and for being whipped as hell."

"That would have been so funny."

"I knew she'd get along with you but I guess I didn't expect... that. Shame on me. Should've had more artistic vision."

Alex chuckles as more tears run down her face. It's so bittersweet it hurts from the very inside of herself.

"All jokes aside. I'm glad you have her, and that she has you. She's good. Just make sure you tell her I'll haunt her from the grave if her dumb ass breaks your heart, okay?" Alex nods, and her body starts shaking with strangled sobs. So much emotion she just can't let go of. Because if she does, Alex is afraid there'll be nothing left.

"Hey. Don't cry. You can do this, Alex. You know how to live life now."

"I don't want to lose you again, Gabe."

"You'll never lose me. You'll just have to look a little harder." He smiles up at her, pulling jokingly on the rope, "now play your part - or is it my part? You get it."

And then- too soon. (Same as it was that night.) The sirens blast through the mountains, and somewhere above them, a giant explosion blows her eardrums, and boulders the size of cars come tumbling down the mountain.

She barely has time to blink. Barely has time to breathe one last time. Seen as she's Gabe, when she looks up all she sees is the giant rock, flying towards her, hitting her across the torso so hard, before she knows, she's flying way above the ravine, and one last glimpse of the stars catches hold over the veil of her memory before everything turns black.

****

She wakes up in bed, desperately clawing at the top of her chest as she gasps for air. Her lungs feel like they're made of lead, and all around her, she can feel the weight of the rocks, the explosion, the debris, weighing down her body.

Alex pats across the mattress for Steph, who is not there. Another wave of panic washes over her. So strong her mouth turns dry and her head aches as she tries to breathe in, but her lungs can only handle tiny, torturous gasps of half-breath.

Alex dispels a world of curses towards herself inside. Willing her own body to just calm down. In the bathroom, she can hear Steph singing softly to herself- she must have come home late from the DND tournament. Alex told her she'd swing by, but she'd had a long shift and ended up just passing out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Alex hadn't had an incident like this in very long. She could control it now. Most times. It wasn't easy, with being on the road and constantly surrounded by people. Sometimes, she still got more than she could bargain. When she walked across a depressed person on the sidewalk, or heard one of their multiple neighbors yelling at each other through the walls, and suddenly she felt as if the world blended out of focus into a tsunami of feeling.

Feeling that wasn't hers but still felt so much like it was.

Steph helped whenever it happened. For a sarcastic punk rock mess, she was surprisingly stable and so very reassuring.

Just the fact that she can hear her voice. That Steph is there in the apartment with her, is enough to calm some of her nerves, and while Alex still can't keep herself from pulling in gasps of air as she tries to hold in any kind of oxygen, she at least has a plan.

Water. Water will make her feel better, right?

Almost as soon as the idea crosses her mind, Alex's half-delirious brain commands her to get up, but her body feels so very heavy. Like she's really been trampled over by a wave of giant boulders. And as soon as her feet touch the ground, her legs give up under the weight, and she falls onto the hard floor with a loud, heavy thud.

The girl's hands fly up to hold her weight against the bed, and thankfully that means she doesn't face plant the ground, but it sends her heart into a neck-breaking pace, and all air Alex'd been able to gather so far escapes her in a single huff until she's hyperventilating again, hot, angry tears running down her face.

You're so weak. You're such a fucking idiot. Of course, you had to go and lose Gabe twice, who the fuck would want to stay with such a mess-

"Alex, are you okay?" Steph's voice comes, as she opens the door to find her girlfriend sitting on the ground, looking like she might pass out from just trying to get her lungs to work, "Alex!"

In a second she's crossed their room and kneeled by her, both hands going up to her cheeks on instinct, smearing away her tears.

"Breathe with me, okay? We've done this before, you can do it." She always gets just a tiny bit of a scared aura around her when Alex gets like this, never for long enough that she can read it, but it's still there, the tiny flutter of fear, "come on, breathe."

Her eyes go up to find Steph's, her strong, glittering green gaze. Alex might be the one with superpowers, but it was Steph who could so easily reach in and soften her edges like it was nothing. It was Steph who could just lean in and hold Alex's hand against her chest, letting her feel the determined rise of her lungs. Strong. Stable. Even Alex couldn't possibly understand how she did that.

How she always made Alex's breathing slowly come to shaky, deep breaths, crawling painfully out of her dry throat, but still better than gasping like a fish. Inside her, Alex feels the furious hurricane of emotion, twisting itself into the bottom of her lungs, taking hold of every bit of her until she felt like she could throw up.

"Wait here, I'll get you water," Steph says, and Alex wants to complain, she doesn't want to be alone, even for a second.

But before she can, Steph has left their bedroom for the kitchen, and Alex feels as if she's stable enough to crawl into bed, so she does so at a glacial pace. She grabs Shu-Shu, holding her close to her chest as she sits and waits for Steph.

She eventually comes back in with a glass full and Alex gulps it down in silence, unsure if whatever dam of emotion that has taken place inside of her will break if she tries to speak. So she sets the glass back and lies her head down on the pillow, facing away from Steph and the rest of the room as she tries to reel herself back in.

She can hear Steph taking off her boots and climbing into bed, one arm winding around her waist as she pulls Alex in closer.

"Was it the lady from upstairs?" Steph asks, eventually, after they sit in a few long minutes of silence.

"No." She replies, and it comes out so strangled, so broken, a few more tears run down her face. Steph pulls her even closer, a tight, steady pressure.

"The couple again? I swear to God I'll call the police on that asshole this time."

"No." Alex says, and she detaches herself from Steph just enough so she can turn around and look at her, "I had a dream about Gabe." Simply saying his name makes her whole body shake. Steph is looking at her so intensely, Alex has to close her eyes, holding on to the fabric of her shirt with all she had not to explode in whatever terrifying, dizzying bomb of emotion she could feel brewing inside herself.

Alex felt so much from other people it overwhelmed her multiple times a day, and even then, it was nothing compared to this. Nothing compared to how much sheer strength it took from her not to let it blow.

It scared her. More than anything.

"He wanted to say goodbye." She says eventually, "it was- I don't know. This- I- this isn't coming from anyone- How do I get rid of it? It's like it's all inside of me and it's taking up so much space and I don't know how to fix it" The words come tumbling out before she can stop them, and she's rambling through tears.

Steph sighs. And Alex can feel the love and sadness mixed together, blowing from her in waves as she holds Alex's chin, bringing her up so they can look at each other.

"Baby..." there are tears in her eyes now, as she pulls her closer until their foreheads are touching, and they are so close Alex can smell her lemongrass shampoo, "This is all yours."

And such simple words shouldn't hit her this fucking hard.

But it all suddenly makes so much sense-

Alex was numb after her dad left. She felt nothing for months. It was one of the most terrifying feelings in the world, a deep and powerful depression that threatened to overtake her at any given point.

Like her whole body was nothing but dead weight and her brain was way too tired to even try and keep up.

Young as she was, Alex guesses she never realized the first time she felt anything at all after that was when she discovered her powers. The day a boy came to the orphanage and he was so angry it blew her across the hallway. Ever since then, everything around her was a cacophony of feeling. Coming from every direction. Every street corner, every store, every park.

Every moment of her life since she was eleven, Alex could only feel for others.

"I- I forgot." She realizes, half surprise and half so much sadness another sob breaks through her throat.

Now it made sense, the anger, the sadness, the fear, a hurricane of emotion so very powerful it made her ears ring.

"I'm scared." She admits. Because for someone who had been so focused on learning how to exist among other people's feelings, Alex had no clue how to handle herself, "what do I do with all of this? How do I fix it?"

"Alex. Look at me." Steph brings her face upwards until they are so close, Alex can see the speckles of blue in her eyes, "Gabe died just four months ago, and you were there to see everything- then you got shot and thrown down God knows how many stories into a dark abyss that you somehow walked out of, but not before also finding out about your dad's tragic death - and I haven't seen you cry, actually cry, for yourself, even once."

"I- I can't, it's too much. I don't know how, Steph." Alex had learned her lesson. She'd seen her life as it was and survived it. Deep down she knew it wasn't her responsibility anymore - that it never was her responsibility, to begin with - to hold herself together for others. She knows.

But old habits die hard, and Alex guesses it'll take a while before she starts feeling it too.

Because right now, it still felt like the world might collapse if she wasn't there to hold it together.

"Just- give it to me. Everything you have, I can carry it for you." Steph says, with such determination, Alex actually believes her, but she takes her eyes away, trying to avoid the bubbling of tears threatening to jump out through her throat "Let it go, please, Alex. I can't watch you carry it alone anymore."

At that moment, Alex glances at her again, and there's so much pain, so much love in her eyes, that inside Alex, the dam finally breaks and she's choking on sobs. Tears start running down her cheeks as Steph leans in and pulls her closer, one arm around her shoulder and one on her hip, squeezing tight in reassurance.

If she didn't know better, Alex would've guessed Steph was the one with the superpowers, with the way she coaxes wave after wave of emotion out of her with nothing but her steady presence and quick, light kisses she leaves on Alex's head and hair as she holds on to her shirt for dear life.

It overwhelmed her more than anything she'd experienced so far, and for what feels like hours, she just sobs as Steph holds her.

She cries for her mom. Dead before her time, trying to hold them together to the very end. She cries for her dad, dying a slow death deep underground, a picture of the two children he'd never see again dangling around his neck. She cries for Gabe, for the time they'd never have, for the time they did have.

Above all, for the first time, Alex cried for herself. For being the last out of all of them. For the little girl that had to love and lose every single one of them in succession.

And in the middle of all of it, like a speckle of golden light hidden under all the darkness, for the first time, she feels that it could all start to feel alright.

#send me chenrich prompts #i dare you #chenrich #chengrich #alex chen #steph gingrich #life is strange true colors #long post #chenrich fanfic #chenrich fic #alex chen × steph gingrich

[4stars-uswnt]

You Take My Heart Away [Kelley O’Hara x Reader]

requested by anon: Kelley O’Hara x reader where reader gets into a fist fight but she’s like I won’t throw the first punch bc I’ll finish it and like she gets teased by the team but Kelley is mad at reader for it bc R could’ve gotten hurt but it was still cool

requested by anon: Can we get another Kelley O’Hara x reader doesn’t have to be anything specific just maybe along the lines of them both being crazy and maybe oblivious

A/N: i decided to combine these two prompts! hope y’all enjoy it. also bonus points to anybody who gets the title reference (there’s a lil connection to a reference within the story)

warnings: homophobic and sexist language, violence, and swearing

Conversation was flowing and music was playing in the background of the bar, as the USWNT finished up their first round of drinks and appetizers. The team had pushed together a couple of tables, where you all were now sitting, laughing at each other’s jokes.

The air was light, victory and celebration filling the atmosphere. Megan and Ashlyn had been the ones to suggest a night out after your win against Japan, not only to celebrate the 2-0 victory but also to celebrate Lindsey’s birthday that was in the next couple of days.

You were currently sitting next to your best friend, Kelley O’Hara, bridging the gap between the veterans and the youngsters.

“Anybody want another drink?” Alex asks, pushing her chair back, as she moves to get up.

A chorus of yeses ring out, the team’s orders ringing out.

“I’ll help you with that, Al.” You stand up from your seat, giving the other woman a warm smile.

Once the two of you had left for the bar, the rest of the team began interrogating Kelley, who let her eyes follow you as you moved through the crowd.

“Kel,” Ash calls out over the noise of the music. “When are you gonna admit to (Y/N) that you’re hopelessly in love with her?”

“What?” Kelley sputters, flustered.

Megan rolls her eyes at the defender. “It’s so obvious that you’ve had a crush on her for the past like six years, and a blind person can see that she likes you too.”

“I- I’m not in love with (Y/N).” Kelley’s face flushes, as she rubs the back of her neck nervously. “She’s my best friend.”

“Kelley,” Christen softly chimes in,, hoping to talk some sense in her friend she’s known since college. “You guys obviously have feelings for each other that go beyond friendship, and you’ve been dancing around them for years. We just want you two to be happy.”

Many of the women nod and voice their agreement.

“But what if it ruins our friendship and I lose her forever?” The freckled defender bites her lip nervously.

“That’s not gonna happen.” Christen gives her a knowing look. “Even if she didn’t reciprocate those feelings, she’s not gonna cut you out of her life.”

“And Kel,” Tobin adds on. “You never know until you ask her. And who knows? The risk of putting your heart out there may be worth it. But you’re just gonna live in the dark haunted by the unknown and what ifs unless you tell her how you feel.”

“I hate that you’re philosophical insights are usually right,” Kelley huffs.

Meanwhile, as the team holds their intervention for your best friend, you and Alex were at the bar ordering another round of drinks.

As you were waiting for the bartender, you and Alex were engaged in your own conversation, when you hear a boisterous voice interrupt you.

“Hey! It’s Alex Morgan!” A large man approaches the two of you, holding a half-full cup of beer in his hand, and you have a feeling he’s downed a couple pints already.

You sense Alex tense up next to you, as she gives the stranger a tight smile. “Hello.”

“Oh, and who’s this?” He turns to you, a leering grin on his face, making your insides turn. You reach for Alex’s hand in search of comfort but also as a protective gesture.

“Is she your girlfriend?” The man looks back at the star forward. “I hear your entire team is full of d*kes, but I didn’t think you were one. You’re way too hot to be a d*ke.”

Alex’s grip on your hand tightens, as anger radiates off of her. “I’m actually happily married.” She raises her left hand to show off her ring.

“Woah.” The stranger lets out a low whistle, his eyes slowly widening before he squinting to get a better look, as his movements impaired by the alcohol. “That is quite the rock. How’d you afford that with your pay? I’ve heard all about your team’s fight for equal pay and all that. I personally think it’s a load of crap. You guys aren’t even that good at soccer, and it’s so boring. The only thing that makes your games interesting is your smoking hot bodies.”

You scrunch your nose in disgust at this man’s blatant misogyny. “I’m surprised you know about our equal pay fight. I’d think it’d be too complicated for your thick skull,” you quip, throwing the insult right in his face.

“Ooooo feisty, are we?” He raises his eyebrows at you. “And where do you get off calling me dumb?”

“I’m just calling them as I see them,” you simply state, letting go of Alex’s hand, as you move to stand in front of her protectively. “Where do you get off disrespecting women and being a bigot?”

“(Y/N/N), it’s not worth it,” Alex whispers in your ear.

“I’d listen to your friend,” the man sneers and stands up straighter, slightly sobering up. “Because I’m not afraid to hit a girl, especially a mouthy one like you. Women like you deserve to be put in your place.”

“Go on then,” you challenge, probably a stupid decision on your part, but the adrenaline is rushing and you are at your wits end with this man in front of you. “I dare you.”

You thank all the gods in the universe that the stupid stranger was actually stupid enough to try and throw a punch with his blood-alcohol level because you can see his punch coming from a mile away.

Before his fist can make contact with your face, you grab his hand and twist his arm, leaning in closely to his face. “Is that all you got? My mom hits better than you.” You smirk.

“Let go of me, you bitch,” he growls, snatching his arm out of your grasp.

“Wait, I have one more thing,” you call out.

“What the hell are you talk-”

Before he can finish, you cut him off, rather your fist cuts him off. The man in front of you had been testing your patience and had used up all your grace, which, in your opinion, warranted a punch in the face.

You can’t help but wince at the sharp pain shooting through your hand upon the contact, but the cracking sound of his nose eases some of your discomfort.

By now, the rest of the team had become worried by your prolonged absence and then had noticed the commotion this stranger was stirring. Hearing the raised voices coming from your direction, many of the veterans, including Kelley, Christen, Tobin, Ash, Ali, and Megan, made their way over to where Alex was currently holding you back from unleashing your anger on this drunk man.

“What is going on here?” Becky asks, surveying the situation in front of her.

“This asshole was insulting Al and then had the audacity to continue being a sexist pig,” you spit out, directing your words at the man, who was still holding his bloody nose, while Alex was doing her best to keep you under wraps.

“I think it’s time for you to go,” Ashlyn states firmly.

As the goalie, along with Becky, Megan, and Ali, coax the stranger into leaving you alone, and hopefully leaving the club, Alex, Christen, Tobin, and Kelley try and calm you down.

“(Y/N/N),” Christen soothes, cupping your face. “I need you to calm down. Take a deep breath.” The curly-haired forward inhales and exhales, motioning for you to mimic her actions.

You take a deep breath, and upon exhaling, you feel the tension, along with the adrenaline, leave your body.

“Shit,” you sigh. “My hand.”

You lift your right hand, revealing your split knuckles on which bruises were starting to form.

“Come on, Sylvester.” Tobin claps your shoulder, letting out an amused chuckle. “Let’s get you back to the hotel, and on the way, you can tell us all about your heroics.”

You amusedly roll your eyes and lean into the other woman’s side.

As the team gathers their things, ready to call it a night after the turn of events, Megan approaches you, holding out a bag of ice.

“Here, (Y/N), the bartender gave me this for your hand.”

“Thanks, P.” You place the cool ice on your knuckles, hissing at the temperature shock.

On the way back to the hotel, many of your teammates were interrogating you about what had happened back at the bar. After telling the entire story, you received many hoots and hollers from the rest of the team.

“Damn (Y/N)!” Ash whistles. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“Way to protect our honor,” Rose gushes, as many of the women nod along.

“Thank you, (Y/N), for defending me,” Alex says sincerely.

“Of course, Al. Anytime.” You give the forward a warm smile.

“Who knew (Y/N) could be such a badass?!” Emily exclaims with an impressed look on her face. “Kel, did you know that your best friend was a secret badass?”

While the rest of the girls had been teasing you about your heroic actions, your best friend had been oddly quiet.

“News to me.” Kelley answers shortly, her face hard and distant. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion, wondering if the defender was mad at you. You thought she would’ve been proud of you for standing up for the team and putting a sexist douchebag in his place.

Before going back to entertaining your teammates’s jokes and questions, you make a mental note to talk to her once you get back to the hotel, silently thanking Vlatko for rooming the two of you together this camp.

You would never in a million years admit it, but you were harboring a huge crush for your best friend, had been for the past six years, ever since you’d joined the national team. Not only did you not want to ruin your friendship and end up losing Kelley, but you knew she would never return your feelings.

Over the past several years that you’d been friends with the defender, you’d seen Kelley go in and out of relationships, and comparing yourself to her other girlfriend’s, you had a feeling you weren’t her type.

You also had reservations due to the fact that Kelley was your teammate, and you didn’t want to change the team dynamic, especially if the two of you didn’t work out.

Thoughts of Kelley clouded your mind all the way back to the hotel, only further exacerbated by her deafening silence.

Upon arriving to the hotel lobby, before you all disperse to your rooms, Alex gives you another hug and thanks you again, and Becky, ever the mother of the group, gives you a warning.

“Make sure to ice on and off. 20 minutes. You know the drill, (Y/L/N). Kelley, make sure she takes care of that hand.”

“Don’t worry about me, Becks. I got it,” you reassure the veteran defender, giving her a mock salute.

Following Kelley, you cautiously enter the hotel room. You nervously watch the other women move around the room, as she silently goes about her usual nighttime routine. Taking the hint that she wasn’t going to talk to you anytime soon, you go about your own routine and get ready for bed.

After about twenty minutes later, after both of you had showered, you were finishing wrapping your hand and were about to get into bed, when you noticed Kelley discretely staring at your bandaged hand.

Unable to tolerate the silence anymore, you break the tension. “Okay, what is up with you?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Kel,” you sigh, plopping down on the side of her bed. “You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder ever since what happened at the bar. Are you mad at me?”

“Nope. Not mad,” Kelley hums slightly passive aggressively, still not looking up from her book.

You roll your eyes, frustrated by your best friend’s childish behavior. “Kelley, I know when you’re lying, and I know that you’re mad at me right now, so would you please just look at me?!”

Sensing the exasperation and frustration in your voice, Kelley closes and sets down her book. “Fine, you’re right. I am mad at you.”

You thought you’d feel relieved, hearing her confirm your suspicions, but instead, the pressure in your chest increases.

“Why? What did I do?” You practically beg, scooting up the bed, so you’re closer to the other woman.

“As if you don’t know,” she scoffs.

Confused, you tilt your head. “I clearly don’t. Kel, please talk to me, tell me what I did.”

“You literally punched a dude in the face!”

“Yeah, but he deserved it, Kel! You heard the things he was saying,” you defend. “I couldn’t just let him get away with talking about our team like that. I thought you’d be proud of me for standing up to a sexist asshole like him.”

“I am proud, sort of. I mean that was completely badass and totally warranted, not that I necessarily expected that from you, and I’m glad you put him in his place,” Kelley babbles. “But that’s not the point, (Y/N/N). You were reckless tonight. You could’ve gotten hurt!”

Your face softens at her outburst. Taking a deep breath, Kelley confesses, “I love you, (Y/N). I’m in love with you, and I just can’t stand the idea of you getting hurt, especially by some drunk idiot who doesn’t know shit about football or respecting women.”

Your eyes widen and your heart practically stop, when you process the words that have come out of your best friend’s mouth.

“(Y/N), please say something,” Kelley begs.

“You’re in love with me?” You test the words on your mouth.

“Yeah,” she sighs contently, giving you a soft smile. “Have been for the past eight years.”

“Gosh, we really are idiots.” You let out a wet chuckle, shaking your head.

“What?”

“I’m in love with you, too, Kel,” you rasped, your voice laced with pure emotion. “I’ve loved you since my first camp.”

“Wow,” Kelley scoffs, an amused grin playing on her face. “Are we really that oblivious?”

“Apparently so.” You shrug. “But we’re here now.”

“Yeah, we are.” The freckled woman softens. “Can I kiss you?”

You nod eagerly, leaning in to meat the other woman’s lips. The kiss is nothing like you’d dreamed of; it’s better. It’s soft and tender, full of love and passion. You melt into each other, as your lips move together in harmony.

Not wanting things to get too heated, especially not before you’ve talked about what this meant for the future of your relationship, you pull away, resting your forehead against hers.

“Hi,” you whisper, smiling like a fool.

“Hey,” Kelley murmurs softly, returning your smile.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She takes your hand, kissing your wrapped knuckles. “But please don’t be getting into any more bar fights.”

“Hey! I would never start a fight, however I have no problem finishing them.” You smirk, boasting slightly triumphantly.

Kelley rolls her eyes playfully, but then looks into your eyes. “I mean it, (Y/N). I can’t stand the idea of you getting hurt. So no more fights alright?”

“I promise, Kel.” You give her a chaste kiss.

“Good.”

That night, you stay in Kelley’s bed, cuddling into her side. As you slowly drift into a peaceful sleep, you notice the woman next to you is already fast asleep.

You sigh contently, and you can’t help but feel extremely lucky that even after all these years, and everything that’s happened, life still led you to this woman and a love worth fighting for.

#uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #kelley o'hara x reader #kelley o'hara imagine #kelley o'hara imagines #uswnt #kelley o'hara

[innytoes]

for the tropes - peterpatter 57 & 73?

Forgotten First Meeting + Stranded Due to Inclement Weather

So imagine, Luke and Reggie don't know each other. Luke's run away from home and is living in the garage where Sunset Curve rehearses.

Reggie isn't in the band, and is home a lot more often, which means he's around his parents' fighting way more, which means he starts to become their target more often than not. Or maybe he tries to get between them when he’s worried they’re escalating again, because he doesn’t want the cops to be called, again. Either way, he gets punched in the face for his trouble by his father, and his mother kicks him out of the house screaming to mind his own business.

So he scrams, and he walks around, and he stops at this street musician busking on the pier. He's very pretty and he has Impressive Arms and his voice is beautiful, and he's singing with so much passion that Reggie stops to listen to a song. And then another. And another. And the guy starts to notice, and gives him this cute, scrunchy-nosed smile, and he awkwardly grabs the few crumpled dollar bills he keeps in his flannel for emergencies and throws them in the guitar case, just so the guy doesn’t think he’s a useless creeper.

And maybe he stays too long, but every third or so song, the guy comes out with something Reggie’s never heard before. And he listens to a lot of music, okay, so he’s pretty sure it’s original. This guy is like, super talented. (And extremely hot, which is just unfair.)

So he stays, and then all of a sudden this guy sings what he is pretty sure is a song ripped straight from Reggie’s very soul, about broken homes. And he looks at him with those beautiful, sincere eyes, and croons at him that it’s okay to ask for help, and that he’s so strong and he can make it through anything. And Reggie suddenly realizes his cheeks are wet and before he can think about it, he makes a break for it, pushing through the crowd of people.

But he does ask for help. And things get better, even if it means he doesn’t live with his parents anymore. His new foster parents, the Ortegas, have this big and happy family that just accepts him as one of their own right off the bat. And while it can get loud, it’s never scary. He shares a room with Willie, who is just the coolest, nicest, most chill dude ever, and everything is pretty great.

Instead of trying to scrape by with shitty after-school jobs so he can pay for stuff like food and clothes and the power bill when his parents forget again, he gets to do stuff like study, and play music, and just hang out and be a teenager. And nobody ever hits him, or throws glassware at his head, or screams at him, or even tells him to shut the hell up because he’s annoying.

So when Willie says his boyfriend’s new band is looking for a bass player, he is all over that. Willie’s boyfriend is super cool. Even though he can be kind of snarky and sarcastic, he will make time to play Princess Tea Party with Willie’s younger sister, and it’s pretty hard to be intimidated by a dude when you’ve seen him in a hot pink feather boa and a plastic tiara.

So he follows Alex to the garage where they’re rehearsing now, and it’s super cool, and he shakes hands with the lead singer, Julie, and then in walks... the guy from the pier. And Reggie nearly drops his bass, because that’s the guy that changed his life, and he’s still super hot, and have his arms gotten even more toned in the year since Reggie saw him?

And he smiles and introduces himself as Luke, and they get right into the audition, and then they jam together a little and it’s pretty awesome. And Alex looks super smug when Luke and Julie tell him he’s got the job, and Willie gives him a high-five, and the Ortegas order pizza to celebrate him getting into the band.

So Reggie gets right to work learning all the new songs for Julie and the Phantoms (which is an awesome, awesome name). Sometimes Luke even asks him to stay late to see if they can improve the bass line for some of the songs, or work together to make one for the songs he and Julie are working on. Julie usually bounces after a while, saying she has homework, so he and Luke spend a lot of time alone together.

Reggie finds he really, really doesn’t mind. Sometimes he even calls the Ortegas and asks if it’s alright if he stays late. They usually don’t mind, because they’re cool like that, just making sure he let them know if he wants a ride home. Reggie learns that Luke doesn’t have to call anyone anymore, because he pretty much lives in the garage. He says he likes it that way, that Julie’s dad had offered to let him crash at theirs, but that he likes the freedom. Still, there’s a loneliness in his eyes when he says it, and Reggie starts to make it his mission in life to keep that look from ever crossing Luke’s face again.

So he starts inviting Luke over for dinner (again, the Ortegas are so freaking awesome), and sometimes they all go out to get pizza together after rehearsal, Willie tagging along as their unofficial fifth member. Sometimes they go out just the two of them, grabbing some street dogs and walking around or going to catch a movie and sharing a popcorn. It’s super cool, especially when they realize they both like holding hands so they don’t get separated when one of them is distracted by something cool. It takes a couple of months for Alex to get fed up and spell out that they’re dating each other, Willie and Julie muffling their laughter behind him. Then it’s even cooler, because Reggie and Luke get to hang out and kiss sometimes, too.

This time, it isn’t so much a planned hang-out, as it is a ‘no Mister Ortega, really, you don’t need to come get me, it’s pitch-black and storming outside. I’ll just stay over at Luke’s tonight if that’s okay’. He knows Mrs Ortega hates the idea of Mister Ortega driving in this weather, and to be perfectly honest, the idea of an impromptu sleepover with Luke seems pretty exciting.

So they make sure the garage door is safely shut, and when the power cuts out, they curl up on the pull-out together with only the light of the battery powered fairy lights hanging on the wall. Luke tells him about how he used to hide under the covers during storms like this, his face wistful and sad. Reggie tells him a bit about his own home-life, before the Ortegas, and Luke finds his hand, squeezing it tight.

“How come you never play that song?” he asks Luke. They play a lot of Julie-and-Luke songs, and a few just written by Julie (one of which was stolen directly from her dream box and almost earned Luke a concussion, apparently), and some written by Luke. Even the one they never perform in public, the one about Luke’s mom, Emily. But they never play the one he sang to Reggie that day on the pier.

“What song?” Luke asks, sitting up and leaning on his elbow. Reggie tries not to think of how pretty he looks, eyebrows knit together in confusion, lips parted slightly in the most beautiful pout.

 “You know,” he says, sitting up as well and singing the chorus of the song from the pier, the one seared into his brain. The one that finally gave him the strength to go to the guidance counselor at school when a thrown glass came a little too close to taking his eye out, the bruises on his ribs still healing.

He isn’t expecting Luke to react the way he did. “Where did you get that?” Luke hisses, pushing away from him. “Have you been going through my songbook?” Luke’s songbook was sacred, he always carried it with him. He was super protective of it. Alex had told him once that something had happened with their old band, that a friend of theirs had stolen several of Luke’s songs and passed them off as his own, and he’d been very protective of his songbook ever since. Nobody was allowed to look in it except for Julie.

“What?” Reggie asks, terrified. His mind was racing, trying not to think of how Luke’s balled fists look like he’s about to throw a punch.

“Nobody knows that song, how did you get it?” Luke looks really angry, and Reggie flinches and tries to cover his face.

“You sang it to me,” he blurts out. “You sang it to me on the pier!”

And just as sudden as the anger appeared, it’s gone. Luke sits back, shocked, mouth hanging open. And Reggie realizes that Luke had no idea who he was, had no idea that he’d changed Reggie’s entire life. Reggie had just thought Luke was being a cool dude, never bringing up the time Reggie had been some weirdo staring at him busking before crying and running away. But he just hadn’t made the connection.

“Oh.” His hand comes up to Reggie’s eye, where the bruise had been. Reggie flinches, and Luke pulls his hand back, guiltily.

“That song changed my life,” he tells Luke, curling in on himself. “You changed my life. I thought... I thought you knew.”

“That’s the only time I ever performed that song,” Luke whispers. “I just... that guy, I mean, you... you looked like you needed it. Like you’d understand.”

And when Reggie inches his hand across the sheets to take hold of Luke’s hand, Luke gladly takes it, linking their fingers together. “I’m sorry I scared you,” he says, miserably. “I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just... Bobby...” He shakes his head. “It wasn’t cool of me. I’m really sorry.”

Reggie nods, before leaning in, his lips nearly brushing against Luke’s. “I know how you can make it up to me,” he says. Luke smiles against his lips.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Reggie grins. “You have to add that song to our set list the next time we play.”

Luke blinks. “Are you sure?” he asks, eyebrows knitting together in a worried frown. “It’s kind of a downer.”

“It’s a good song,” Reggie says, stubbornly. “It can help people.”

 Luke was quiet for a moment, but then smiled. “Okay. I guess it did bring me you, in the end.”

Send me two tropes from this list and a pairing and I’ll tell you the fic to go with it.

#julie and the phantoms #lukexreggie #fanfic #I wrote a thing #AUs are awesome #right in the feels #notice how I never actually wrote any lyrics because I am not a songwriter #this turned out way longer than I meant it to #thank you! #luke patterson #reggie peters #alex mercer #willie throckmorton #willex #julie molina

[incorrectdmp]

DMP SEASON 4 EPISODE 9 OUT OF CONTEXT SPOILERS

okay so like. i’m GENUINELY sorry that i haven’t been updating this blog a lot outside of ooc spoilers. genuinely my sense of time rn is so messed up that i think i’m updating it semi-frequently then realize i only did one round of quotes before a new episode drops lol. didn’t even do anything for last episode my sense of time is just utterly fucked. so sorry hahaha i can’t promise i’ll try to remember things but. i still love this blog i’m just drifting outside of space and time atm

spoilers ahead as normal but honestly this episode was so chill and vibin you could PROBABLY read this update without watching and wouldn’t be majorly spoiled for much. ngl this is one of my fav ooc spoilers because not much super intense happened so i was able to capture most of the shenanigans through memes

-charlie, probably (made by pip for space game. Saved it in advance knowing it was spoilers for this episode lol)

I’m pretty sure tasting the colour pink is just peptol bismol

Charlie has reached a new low 2 episodes after the pizza image, somehow

“Despite all my rage i am still just a rat in a cage” -thorin

Alex’s nickname on the fanserver sure is real awkward now

Charlie is a weeb. next up, the sky is blue

I mean. If YOU gained god powers don’t tell me you WOULDN’T watch every anime in existence

The biggest tonal dissonance between the art and the music i’ve ever seen

-art by cam

Cant believe zephi is cg’s friend from work

NO TEARS. ONLY YOGA

My therapist: calm voice CG isn’t real he can’t hurt you. Calm voice CG:

Even the void is not immune to capitalism

COMPETITIVE YOGA

GAY PANIC TIME, THE FRIEND FROM WORK HAS ARRIVED

Vinny is phoenix wright 

Junior is denied playing with dogs by virtue of not being in the show. Shame.

Thorin being left alone with zephi, this could only end well. Just look how minerva ended up!

Vinny straight up admits he’s willing to kill a dog

“Ezra, yay or nay about val’s area” 

Miss Charlie steal yo girl

“I fucked your girl shitlips” -charlie, probably

Maybe ONE day the space jam scenario will see the light of day

Welcome to FUCK IT

The local mall cryptid returns at last

Two legends make a triumphant return: junior no last name and the gazebo

Junior nolastname can legally swear

Chuck. 

How dare you make me sad over one piece jokes

Just Starbucks

After months of CG and grace being the best goddamn dynamic in the show despite it being ENTIRELY noncanon they GET TO FUCKING INTERACT IN THE SHOW

Alex’s hyena laugh my beloved

Paul blart flesh mall

Do not investigate the meat

Yugo wasn’t dead, he was just put in gay baby jail for a nap

-cam

ALEX BE DROPPIN HOT BARS THO

Tommathan 

Hailey gets struck by the apollo ball

Yknow. A proposal. As a friend. She put a ring on it. As a friend. 

Tommy and angalena h*ld h*nds

Sometimes ur just so depressed you dont realize ur girlfriend proposed to you in a romantic way

Perhaps, just once, the girls will not be fighting

TACTICAL STEALTH EZRA

“It’s like i’m a WEBSERIES CHARACTER” -hailey looks directly at the camera

DAD TIME

Dads havin a good dad talk. I’m just vibin to this music

“The surrealism of it made me nearly scream”

Daily reminder that percy blackwood punched a kid at sunday school

Things gettin spicy in this mattress store ;)

Val averts thine eyes, at the disappointment of the fans

TOES TIME

Kingdom hearts called, it wants its belts back

Dmp would be instantly solved if junior hadnt been demoted to mall cryptid. Bitch been on screen for like 5 minutes and he’s goin full cinemasins on CG’s ass

Jesus canon to dmp

Junior decided to test god, he fucks around and finds out

CG throwing a temper tantrum and ripping apart his dolls like an angy 5 year old

(bitch), CG edition

THAT’S IT YOU’RE GOING TO SPENCERS

Eternal gazebo time

HOLY SHIT???? People go to malls to SHOP???

oh wow! [eldritch screeching] my favourite pokemon!!!

HAIR SWOOSH GANG

Oh noooooooo my two favs are talking whatever will i dooooooooooo

Yall are really just gonna shove doc’s corpse into a pretzel box huh

Charlie just progresses more and more into being comically small and sad

Rip the mall announcer, lost to the parking lot. We barely knew you

Charlie is a basic bitch, we been knew

Yeahhhh no cg sure as hell aint human. No human being would reasonably wear THAT

#out of context spoilers #dmp #discord murder party #dmp spoilers

[leah-halliwell92]

It’s Over

For @band--psycho​‘s bingo challenge. The prompt is enemies to lovers. Pairing is Tig x Reader

Note: (S/N) = sister’s name

“It was my sister,” you said coldly as you packed your bag.

Flashback

You’d just come back from a week long conference, Tig said he’d be on the road doing club stuff so timing couldn’t have been better. Everything went amazingly well, from your presentation to the doors that had opened for you and your career. Hell you could count the times someone told you to call em if you’re interested in a specific job. You’d done some light research and seen that most are out of state near the Maine area of the U.S. And while that seemed all well and good, you couldn’t just leave the family you’d made behind.

You were making Tigger’s favorite, ready to surprise him by taking it to the shop with promises of play time later. You loaded up the food into your car and made your way to T.Ms a happy grin on your face feeling giddy with all the pent up energy from not having seen your old man in a solid week. Yea there were calls but that shit ain’t the same.

You went through to the office waving at the boys as you passed by. You pressed a kiss to Chibs’ and Happy’s cheeks in greeting as you passed them by batting their hands away from the lunch bag.

“Nu uh,” you said with a grin, “This one is not for you. But let me know what you want me to bring for Sunday dinner and I’ll do my best. By the way have you seen Tiggy anywhere?”

The boys nodded happily but stilted at the question.

“He’s in the back,” Chibs said with a grin.

You noticed he didn’t look quite as teasing as he should have been but chalked it up to jet lag from the bike trip.

Happy didn’t look much better. You were sure if looks could kill someone would be dead with how cold and hard his eyes were.

“Come on little girl I’ll take you,” Happy said with a small smile.

“Lemme put this in tha lounge aye?” Chibs said reaching for the bag.

You furrowed your brows at them and the sudden odd behavior but gave Chibs the bag. You’d never needed any of the boys to take you to the back...

Happy didn’t say much on your way and you were going to say something when you heard moaning and heavy breathing.

You looked to Happy who nodded forward.

You walked up quietly hoping it was one of the prospects getting handsy with a crow eater. Your hopes were dashed at seeing Tig on a chair a woman bouncing on his lap. You covered your mouth to keep from gasping at who it was exactly that was on his lap. Your sister...

You made your way out to where Happy stood a sad look in his eyes.

You pulled out your phone and text widow, ‘Are there cameras in that room?’

You showed him the message and nodded as he confirmed it.

‘Get me a copy of that and make sure her face is visible,’ you typed in.

Happy looked at you startled, he’d never seen you so dead seat on something.

You turned around walked back into the room and took a picture of the deed tearful eyes cold and heart dead.

That done, you turned around and left. Out in the front, Happy and Chibs waited for you both concerned as they looked you over.

You took a seat in the lounge both boys at either side.

“Are ya gonna wait on ‘im?” Chibs asked quietly.

You shrug really not knowing what to do before sighing.

“Is it ok if I crash at either of you apartments?” You asked.

Happy nodded quietly, considering he never uses the place.

“I’ll help ya with your stuff,” Chibs said with a nod.

“No you won’t,” you say with conviction, “Despite everything going on between us now, he’s still your brother.”

“Yea...but if looks could kill he’d be dead,” Happy said with conviction.

You’d become family in the near 5 years you’d been with Tig. You meant a lot to them, even the prospects.

“I promise to keep in touch,” you say taking their hands in each of yours.

They nod and stand one to punch out the other to work the ladder not at all happy with how things ended.

As soon as Happy stepped out to punch out your sister walked out Tig not too far behind her.

“(Y/N)! You’re home!�� Your sister said excitedly moving to hug you.

You kept your distance avoiding her hurt look and before she could say anything, you pulled out your phone showing her the picture you’d just taken. 

(S/N) paled at the image.

“It’s not what you think,” she said voice shaky. 

“No you’re right....him and I was not what I thought,” you said voice hard.

She shook her head pleadingly at that but before she could say anything...

“Baby!” Tig cried walking around (S/N) to envelope you in his arms.

You felt sick as he hugged you knowing where he’d been. It also didn’t help that (S/N) had been exactly were. 

“You ok?” He asked when you pulled away, “Did something happen?”

‘Yea you dick you cheated on me with my sister,’ you thought but shook your head and left without a backward glance Happy hot on your heels.

You were heaving from how angry and ready to break you were. Happy saw this and gently held you in place.

“Breath,” he said lowly as you both heard Tig yelling at Chibs.

“I can’t,” you said as tears fell.

“Chibs is being a door stop,” Happy said looking over your shoulder, “But if you wanna leave...”

“We leave after I do this,” you said and walked to Tig’s bike. 

You saw the men freeze as you looked at the bike a not so friendly look on your face.

Before Happy could do anything, you pulled out the knife Tig had given you for Christmas and slashed his tires making sure to leave the knife imbedded in the second tire.

You turn around to see a shocked and mouth agape Happy. 

“Ok...Now I can go,” you said and walked away to your car. 

You were stopped by your crying sister throwing her arms around you as she cried, “(Y/N) please!”

You pushed her off roughly not ready to deal with her yet and ran to your car.

You’d not sooner gotten in you car that you heard Chibs called out, “Move over lass! Ya ain’t in na condition to be drivin’.”

You were about to say no but was pushed to the passenger seat by the Scott. 

“Lemme drive lass, Hap’s holdin’ on ta Tig while ya make yer getaway,” he said with a small laugh as he remembered you’d slashed the bike tires, “Granted he won’ be goin’ nowhere on flat tires.”

Back at home, Chibs found empty boxes to start putting your things in as you told him what belonged to whom while you packed away your clothing.

~End Flashback~

“What the hell man!” You heard Tig yell at Chibs who was loading up the last of two boxes that held your things.

“Babe–”

“It had to be my sister,” you said not turning around continuing to pack your bag.

“Babe please!” He said desperately, walking to where you were and taking things out. 

You slapped his hand, hard, and repacked the clothing he’d taken out.

“And before you start, I saw you don’t give me the “it’s not what you think” crap,” you say as you packed up the last of your clothes.

“It didn’t mean anything!” He yelled.

“It meant enough for you to throw away 5 years together Alexander. Five fucking years I gave to you only to have it thrown in my face cuz my bitch ass of a sister made her cunt available to you while I was away for work,” you yelled turning to look at him, “And the worst thing is that I have no fucking clue how long this has been going on.”

Tig lowered his gaze and scuffed at the rug with his boot.

“How long Alexander?” You asked not really wanting to know the answer. 

“A month...” he mumbled out.

Chibs walked in just as Tig answered the question and looked at his brother in disbelief. 

“You sack o’ shite!” He yelled and punched Tig in the face, “You cheated on the best thing that has happened to ya with ‘er sister for a month! What was it Tig!? Was it the fresh pussy? That she was there? What the FUCK was it Tig!?”

“I don't know!” Tig yelled out as Chibs punched him while he was down, “I don’t know. She came onto me one night I’d mixed two drinks too many and next thing ya know I woke up with her on me.”

“Did it never make you stop and think to come clean!?” Chibs yelled.

“Dude she made me swear not to,” Tig said letting Chibs wale on him for the answer.

You on the other hand stood frozen as everything came to light. 

“She made you swear because of (S/H/N),” you said quietly. 

Chibs turned to look at you questions in his eyes.

“(S/N)’s husband is in the military and is diploid,” you said looking at Chibs, “She’s always been a horny bitch, sad she couldn’t just fuck a prospect and had to go for what wasn’t hers.”

Chibs approached you and nodded to the bags behind you on the bed. 

You nod and he takes them to the car.

“At least now I'm free to fuck any son I want,” you say cruelly, “Because now nothing is sacred, and that is on you. Enjoy the crows Alex, maybe they’ll help you forget about me.”

“But baby I love you!” He yelled after you.

You scoffed and said, “If you did you’d have come to me as soon as it happened. Not gone back for more....fuck you Alexander Trager and hope that this doesn’t make it’s way over seas.”

#tig trager #soa #sons of anarchy image #band--psychos bingo challenge 2021

[red-cape-morgana]

FIAT LUX

Everyone sees the girl of steel as an almighty, indestructible being. But before being a hero, she is a person, and this implies some quirks. Some fears as well.

Chapter 2

(Chp 1) // (ao3)

Of course Lena knows about Kara's love of phosphorescent things, and especially about those sneakers.

She can actually see the shoes' faint glow in her entry every single evening, when Kara gets back home. And if now it has become a comforting sight, something she looks for when she wakes up and Kara was on patrol the previous night, it has not always been that way.

The first time she had seen that greenish glow... she had thought of kryptonite.

She had been quietly reading perched on her couch, when Kara had finally gotten back home from a grueling long workday. The blonde had an agar look on her face, leaving her bag and kicking her shoes off. Lena had heard her mumbling something about breaking pencils, spilled coffee and needing a shower, before heading to Lena’s luxurious bathroom.

Lena had decided to let her girlfriend unwind for a while before asking about that apparently rough day. Now that she knew about Kara's alter ego, she understood her girlfriend's clumsiness on a whole new level and knew that a simple task could require a lot of focus from her. Consequently, the number of incidents grew up accordingly as the hours of the day passed, and many phones had been the innocent victims to the super's strength.

Lena was getting lost in her historical novel once again, when she had noticed a faint light in her entry.

Odd, she had thought. Lights are turned off. What’s there?

She had closed her book before getting up to check on that. On her way, she had grabbed her phone, just as a precaution. After so many assassination attempts, she had learnt that communication means where really what mattered (as well as an efficient punch in the nose from time to time).

A couple of meters away in the entry, she could distinguish a faint greenish light coming from the messenger bag that Kara had abandoned there.

A bomb.

She started to run toward the bathroom. She needed to warn Kara! The kryptonite would suppress her powers, she had to flee! She speed dialed Alex to ask for an intervention squad while barging in the bathroom.

"Lena?! What's going on? Why are…?" Kara stammered when Lena had opened the shower cabin.

"You have to go!" Lena had said in a hurry while dragging the soaping blonde out of the shower.

"To go? But, why? Lena, what's…"

"There's a bomb Kara!" Lena shouted at her, in a near panic

She needs to go, she thought to herself. If it's kryptonite, she is even more at risk then me. The residual radiations would deepen any potential injury and worsen her state. And considering the rate of cellular degradation from direct exposure, even the DEO may not be fast enough.

"Lena, you, hide while I take it away." Kara stated while fumbling to activate her suit.

"You don't understand. It's kryptonite. You can't risk getting anywhere near it!"

"What?" Kara exclaimed. "But, I thought you had installed a biometric security system after last time?"

"I did!" Lena answered while trying to shove the unmovable kryptonian toward their bedroom, where she could escape through the window.

"But there is that greenish glow in the entry, and I know how to recognize kryptonite Kara. Believe me if…"

Kara had held up a hand to stop her mid sentence.

"You said in the entry?" she had calmly inquired.

"Yes! Why do you care where it is? It's still a bomb Kara." Lena said, her voice filled with exasperation.

And Kara had laughed. She had laughed till tears streamed down her face, mixing with water and shampoo left from her half finished shower. She had laughed even harder when Lena started to scream at her to go while she had time.

The brunette started to fear it may be something else than kryptonite, and that it was messing up Kara's mind because who laughs at the prospect of a toxic bomb in their apartment for God's sake?!

Kara didn't stop before hearing her talking to Alex, asking for help in their apartment. That got her attention, and she took the phone out of Lena's hand before uttering between giggles

"No it's fine Alex. Lena… Lena thought my shoes were some kryptonite trap. Can you, can you believe that?!"

Lena felt as if she could hear the groan Alex surely made to accompany her “I’m tired of my sister” expression.

Well I guess 13 years of that kind of shenanigan does that to someone, Lena mused. She had only known Kara for 3 years, and yet she was sure she had her own special kind frown as well.

Kara ended the call, promising they would explain more clearly tomorrow, before proceeding to explain that what she had thought to be a kryptonian bomb was only the new sneakers she had bought that were phosphorescent.

“They are the best glow in the dark shoes one can buy Lena! I had to get them, you understand?” she said as if her point was obvious, bouncing on her feet like a kid who had just been promised a trip to the candy store after school.

Lena had debated throwing the shoes out the window, just for the scare they had given her, and also because she wanted to erase Kara’s smirk.

Now the blonde keeps referring to that moment to tease Lena, a reminder that the genius she is got fooled by glow in the dark material. But coming from the Luthor family, can you blame her for thinking of an assassination attempt first?

And if that incident wasn't enough, the hour-long rant Alex gave her about Kara's love for glowing things would have clued her on it.

The next day, Lena had dropped by the DEO, willing to apologize for the false alert of the previous day. She knew Kara had said they would all gather at the end of the day for a drink, but Lena felt the need to see Alex first thing in the morning. Those apologies also included freshly brewed coffee from the best roaster in town, and enough pastries to satisfy a small army. The redhead vented to her for an hour straight, using memories from their shared childhood in Midvale to illustrate her explanation. As well as justify her exasperation with her sister’s eccentricities.

Lena took the opportunity to learn what her girlfriend was like when she got on Earth, Kara oddly quiet about this period of her life. She also thought it was the safest move possible in her situation, to let Alex get it out of her system. No one wanna get on the bad side of their possible future sister in law, and even less when they work for a secret agency that has a knack for making people disappear.

What she learns though, makes her see some of her girlfriend's habits under a new light.

Lena knew it must have been incredibly jarring to not only start a new life on a foreign planet, but learning that she had been lost in space for decades, and that Kal-El didn’t need her anymore must have been devastating. It was her mission after all, the reason why her parents had sent her away. Knowing that now, she didn’t have any purpose anymore… And it goes without saying that the enhanced senses she suddenly gained thanks to the yellow sun, would be enough to drive anyone crazy on their own. Heart beats, motors, reading through a book, crushing your mug of hot chocolate accidentally,... And all that during teenage years. Earth must have looked like hell at first. No wonder why Kara is unusually quiet whenever this topic arises. But Lena sensed there may be something else lying there, and since she wouldn't pry at Kara's traumatic memories, Alex was the next best best source for informations.

So far, she only thought Kara was that kind of forgetful/lazy person that never really complete a task. When the blonde would leave the curtains in their bedroom slightly open, or their door ajar, or her phone on the bedside table and always displaying time. Lena simply thought that Kara didn’t mind any of it. And since it wasn't bothering herself much, she let her do.

For Lena it was just Kara's little quirks. Just like her love for phosphorescent things.

Though, now that she thinks of it, she can remember an incident that happened when Kara had first moved in with her.

So far, in their relationship, the blonde had rarely slept over at Lena's place. Either because Lena was actually the one sleeping over, or Supergirl was needed for an emergency mission, or when Lena was travelling the country for scientific and technological conventions and checking up on branches of L-Corp. They had decided to move in together to make things easier for both of them. There was no point in sneaking around like lovesick teenagers, and Kara had already claimed two drawers at Lena's (who was very keen on borrowing oversized sweaters from said drawers when her girlfriend couldn't be around).

The move in itself was as smooth as possible: Kara stacked her boxed belongings in the van, Alex drove it to Lena's place, Kelly had looked for the best itinerary during this busy week day, and Lena had prepared snacks for everyone once they'd arrive. All in all, it had been the matter of a day.

Alex and Kelly had stayed over for dinner at Lena's demand, and Kara had just dug out what she would need for the next day.

"It will all be unboxed tomorrow Lena. What would be the point in putting it all back in the boxes now?" Kara had said, when Lena pointed out she couldn't see the color of her couch anymore with all the stuff the hero had thrown on it.

At some point, Nia and Brainy had joined them, bringing a couple of bottles to celebrate "an event I didn't think I would get to see before having grey hair, considering the pace you were going!" Nia had said.

The evening had continued full of laughers, memories of moments the couple had been completely oblivious to one another, and potstickers of course.

When everyone had left it was finally time to go to bed, the super had become strangely agitated. Lena had brushed it off as all the emotions of the day and finally living with her.

It will all settle once we lay down and get some rest, she had thought.

She had been proven wrong. Kara had spent the night turning and tossing, unable to find sleep. Lena had tried to soothe her by pressing her front to her back, gently holding the blonde in her arms. But when Lena had woken up some hours later, Kara wasn't in bed anymore.

"Darling?" Lena gently called as she padded in the living room, barefoot and eyes still full of sleep.

Kara was on the couch, huddled against an arm rest and looking at her laptop without really seeing it.

Lena closed the distance between them before sitting next to her girlfriend. Sensing that she wasn't in the right headspace to explain what was going on, she simply decided to just lean against Kara, anchoring her in the present. Together.

After some time, the sun had started to rise.

Lena had slipped in a state between sleep and alert, still here but not fully conscious of how long they had stood there together. At some point Kara had closed her laptop, setting it aside on the coffee table, and she had pulled Lena on top of her, holding her close. The weight and warmth of her girlfriend must have calmed her nerves somewhat because Lena felt the stiff muscles finally relax under herself.

Lena was about to suggest they move to the kitchen to have a well deserved breakfast when Kara had softly said "It was so dark, you know. I just… it brought up some memories. I'm sorry."

Lena hadn't prayed any further. Kara had every right to keep some things secret, and she knew she would learn about it eventually, when the hero would be ready to face this.

After that, Kara had always left a small source of light in their bedroom. At the end of the first month living together, she even bought some star stickers that she put on their ceiling as well as on some furniture. Lena had raised an eyebrow at that, but Kara had brushed it off, saying something about how it remembered her of her apartment and that she thought it comforting to share this with Lena.

Showing the Luthor a part of the Super that very few select people had ever witnessed.

But now, after her talk with Alex, Lena knows that it comes from a different place.

From what Alex told her, on earth Kara had never liked total obscurity. Elyza and Jeremiah had tried to help her of course. They offered the teenage girl therapy, sophrology and many alternatives to help her conquer her fear. But nothing had worked.

Every night Kara would wake up drenched in cold sweat, her breath coming up in short pants, convinced she was back in the phantom zone. Those nights, Alex would begrudgingly get up and walk to this new sister she didn't ask for bed, and lay down with her. She would take Kara in her arms, because that was the only thing that would ground her in the present.

Until one night, when Alex slept over to a friend.

#this took me so long to write I am sorry #I've never used the word phosphorescent so much and now it's suggested by my keyboard everytime a word atarts with p- 😂 #I hope you like my rambling! #supercorp #supergirl #lena luthor #kara danvers #supercorp fanfic #red cape writing #well here i am this rambling has now officially become a fic #supercorp sunday

[victoria-daydreams]

Of Vices and Virtues

Chapter Nineteen: The Embargo Line

AN: Sorry about the brief disappearance I needed to prep for a job interview and I got the job! The unemployment drought is over! Anyways, we are nearly to the end of this story, can you believe it?

Word Count: 2.1k

Trigger Warnings: none

Taglist: @azayamari​

Chapter Twenty: The Cuban Missile Crisis 

I woke up with an acute pain in my head and the bitter of taste blood in my mouth. Letting out a shaky breath, I slowly opened my eyes and everything around me seemed to be inverted. I then realized that I was seated upside down, unbuckling myself I fell to the floor, using my hands to brace myself. I pushed myself up and looked around just as I heard a groan at the back of the jet. Flipping my head to look back I saw both Charles and Erik getting up, once Charles' eyes met mine he quickly made his way over to me.

He held his hands out to me, "Are you okay?" Charles asked softly, scanning for any injuries as I pulled myself up.

"Peachy," I answered, with a strained smile.

"Are you sure you can fight?" Charles pressed, worry clearly written on his face.

"Yes, I'm perfectly sure Charles," I replied, pushing my now messy ponytail out of my face. "Now go help the others out," I ordered lightly, pulling my hair back into a neater ponytail.

Charles nodded and flashed a small smile before he moved forward to help Hank and Moira.

Erik walked past me and lightly patted me on the back, "Nice job, Blythe," he smiled to me as he helped Alex up.

"Thanks," I groaned, massaging my neck and the back of my head.

"I read the teleporters mind," Charles prompted, as we all moved around to look out the windows at the wrecked submarine, across the beach from us with Angel, Azazel, and the other man, Riptide, standing in front. "Shaw's drawing all of the power out of his sub. He's turning himself into some kind of nuclear bomb," Charles informed, lips drawn into a thin line.

"We've got no time, the Geiger counter's going out of control!" Moira shouted, staring at the sensors and trying to make sense of them.

"All right Moira, this is what we're going to do," Charles began. "Get on the radio and send both fleet's out immediately," he ordered, and Moira went straight to work.

"I'm going in," Erik announced.

"Beast, Havok, Blythe, back him up," Charles continued and got nods back from all of us. "Erik, I can guide you through once you're in. But I need you to shut down whatever it is that's blocking me. Then we just hope to god it's not too late for me to stop him," Charles finished, looking at all of us.

"Got it," Erik nodded and turned towards the massive opening in the back where the jet had ripped apart.

The boys and I all shared a look with each other before we exited the submarine. Erik, Alex, Hank, and I all stepped out the jet, our feet finally touching the sandy beach of Cuba. Stepping out into the open, we lined up with Azazel, Riptide, and Angel as they stood in front of their submarine. The submarine was only a few hundreds yards away from our crashed jet.

We all stared down at each other. Angel fluttered her wings and flew into the air, Azazel unsheathed his two swords, and Riptide created two miniature tornadoes that hovered above his hand. Without even a slight hesitation, Alex fired an bright, red energy beam at Riptide, making him fly backwards. He smacked the submarine with a resounding thud and Azazel soon disappeared afterwards.

The battle had begun.

I let out a yelp of surprise as Azazel appeared behind me instantly swinging his sword at my neck. Luckily, I managed to jump backwards, only earning a small scratch on my neck from his sword. As Azazel lifted his other sword up into the air, Beast attacked him, stopping him from taking another swing at me. However, Azazel had another plan and quickly grabbed a hold of Alex with his red tail Hank had grabbed onto the teleporter's shoulder and all three of them were gone.

I watched as Erik ran towards the sub as I stood up. I heard the tell-tale sign of insect wings and turned just in time as Angel attacked me. Ducking and rolling I threw out my hand causing Angel to fly back. She righted herself and floated above me, just as Riptide ran out towards me.

I took a quick look around to see if I could find Angel, but she was nowhere to be seen. Well, at least I only had one person to worry about now. But, I had to move fast before he could make another one of his tornadoes and blow me away. I narrowed my eyes allowing my violet aura to flare up around my hands in a show of power, waiting for him to get a little closer.

Once he was closer, I threw sphere of violet quickly threw it at his feet, I didn't want to kill him, but unfortunately this is a war and casualties are apart of it.

The blast sent him in the air and onto his back, I charged straight at him as soon as he landed, focusing my aura into my hand I jumped up and went to land a blow on his face, but he moved out of the way, rolling next to me. He got up and grabbed a hold of my leg, easily picking me up and throwing me to the side. I was able to land on my feet and straighten myself as he made his was closer to me.

Riptide swung punches left and right and I easily dodged them, sending him a few of my own. I had to rely on my hand to hand training that Erik taught me to get me through this as it was too dangerous to try and use my powers as I too could get hurt if I tried to use another telekinetic blast. Though I would never admit it to Erik because I don't want to inflate his already large ego, but I'm very grateful for my training with him for if I hadn't had any, I would have easily been done for.

Riptide went to hit my side and I slid down under him, pushing him from behind so that he'd fall on his stomach. I took this time to send a disk of energy and throw it at a Palm tree in front of us, causing it to fall down towards us. I quickly moved out of the way so that the tree would only hit Riptide, and it completed its purpose of successfully knocking Riptide out.

I looked up at the sound of Sean's shrieking and saw him falling down towards me with none other than Alex hanging onto his arm. Although I was very happy to see that they were mostly unharmed, I was more worried that they were about to land right on me at the moment to be glad to see them. Sean seemed to have one of his wings burned so he had to resort to a crash landing. I held out my hand using my hands to slow their fall, but they were coming too hot and just as I predicted, they landed right on top me.

I let out a groan as Alex's weight was pushed onto me, not gently what-so-ever at that. Sean had landed a little bit away from us, thankfully not on me as well, as Alex had.

Alex got off from on top of me, "Thanks for the help,"

"I try," I joked, as he moved to help me up.

I looked up to see Angel coming straight for us. I quickly maneuvered us and shot bolt towards her before she can reach us, sending her off course. Angel spat acid at me and it ended up hitting my leg, causing me to cry out in pain. Alex whipped around towards Angel and fired a beam in her direction, finishing what I had started, slicing off one of her bottom wings. Flipping around out of control Angel crashed to the ground with a shout, but she was still breathing.

"We work pretty well together don't we," I smirked up at him, ignoring my pained leg with the help of the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

I could hear Sean laughing from the side with relief after seeing Angel land on the ground with a thud after Alex shot her down. Alex helped put out the small flames on my leg while Sean tore away his ruined wing right.

My eye went to Alex's chest and I noticed that his plate was gone, "What happened to your chest plate?" I asked, amazed that he had been able to fire at Angel even without it.

"Angel got a hold of it," he answered gruffly, sounding very displeased as helped me to my feet.

I couldn't help but smile and laugh until a sudden, a sharp, searing pain entered my head. I collapsed to my knees, kneeling in the sand, clutching my hands to my head tightly. My screams grew louder as the pain grew stronger. It felt like something was being pushed through my skull. My screams grew louder and louder as I felt a small object float through my entire skull, it felt like my brain was being ripped right through. It had lasted for only for moment.

But it easily felt like an eternity.

"Claudia? Claudia!" someone was shaking me. "Are you alright? What's going on? What's happening?"

I blinked multiple time as my vision was blurred from the invisible pain before I was finally able to focus on Alex and Sean. The horror was over, but I still clutched my head as I still felt the lingering pain of whatever just tore through my skull. I was at a lost of words, I had no idea what had just happened.

"I don't-I-" I stammered, looking around of what could cause that amount of excruciating pain. "H-Help me up," I breathed out, and Alex and Sean quickly obliged, putting each of their arms around my waist to lift me off the ground.

My mind was clearing up, but the residual mind splitting pain was faintly pulsating in my head. As I recollected my thoughts I mentally did a headcount of everyone on the beach through their emotions. Something wasn't adding up, everyone on the team seemed a little worse for wear, but otherwise fine. Hell, even in Shaw's team were battered themselves...wait a minute.

What about Shaw himself?

"Holy shit...it's Shaw," I gasped, when it hit me not realizing that Raven and Hank were now with Sean, Alex, and I. "He's-" I started, but couldn't the finish the sentence.

The loud sound of metal creaking pierced through the air, looking over to the submarine my eyes widened to the size of saucers at the sight before me. Shaw's corpse was floating in the air, with Erik himself emerging right behind him now wearing Shaw's helmet.

"Today our fighting stops!" Erik shouted, as he levitated Shaw even higher. All of us, including Shaw's team, started walking towards him slowly. As we got closer I could see a line of blood on Shaw's forehead right as Erik let go and he fell to the ground with a sickening crush in front of us making me wince. Slowly, he descended to the ground, looking around at us. "Take off your blinders, brothers and sisters. The real enemy is out there," he pointed to where the ships of the USSR and the US were. "I feel their gun moving in the water; their metal targeting us. Americans, Soviets, Humans!" He spat out the last word in disgust, as both Charles and Moira appeared, walking up to join him by the water.

"United in their fear of the unknown. The Neanderthal is running scared, my fellow mutants!" Erik looked over towards Charles and I, he was walking alongside him out to the shore. "Go ahead Charles, Claudia tell me I'm wrong,"

Charles narrowed his eyes at Erik, but reluctantly raised two fingers up to his temple. While I also looked to the water, probing out to sense what emotions were running through the heads of the men on the ships and sadly I felt it. I felt the ships running together and if I concentrated more I could feel the guns turning towards us.

"He's not," I whispered and felt all, Alex's, Sean's, Hank's, and Raven's eyes look to me and then to Charles.

Charles, who slowly lowered his fingers, looked to Moira and nodded. Quickly she took off to the jet, to call off the attack or something. We waited, staring out at the ships when I felt a shift in the air and automatically let out an audible gasp as missiles from every ship fired heading straight for the beach.

We would all be dead.

Chapter Twenty-One: Whose Side Are You On?

#x-men fanfiction #black fanfiction #charles xavier fanfiction #charles xavier x oc #x-men fanfic #black!oc #magneto x oc #erik lehnsherr fanfiction #erik lehnsherr x oc #charles xavier #erik lehnsherr #black!reader #marvel fanfiction #marvel imagine #marvel fanfic #x-men #x men fanfiction

[lovelucybradford]

I Pretend You’re Mine-2

Chapter Two: We Learn to Live with the Pain (Mosaic Broken Hearts)

Masterlist

A/N: Thanks so much for all of your support on Chapter One. I’m so excited that you love it as much as I do! Please let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list for this story. Also, not sure how I feel about this one. Be warned: I hate Jennifer Blake.

Derek and Rose’s ‘engagement’ was supposed to stay a secret between the four of them. So, naturally, all of her friends knew about it. Even if she tried (and she really, really wanted to) Rosalie couldn’t push the thought of the upcoming ruse to the back of her mind. Her friends wouldn’t let her.

It started out innocently enough. A ‘Hey Rosie, Derek looks hot, don’t you think’ here or a ‘Friends to lovers is the best, right Rosalie’ there. Rosalie was used to it. Ever since she returned to Beacon Hills and became close with all of Lydia’s friends, who had somehow become Derek’s in the span of years, they’d been relentless with their teasing of Derek and her.

The joking she could handle.

It was when they used Rosalie’s feelings for Derek for their own amusement that it really started to bug her.

Wednesday had been the day from hell. It all started in Rosalie’s first period class. One of her more bold students, captain of the lacrosse team, had greeted her not with his normal, ‘What up, Miss H?’. No, the boy strutted right in, stopped at her desk, and said, ‘How’s it going, Mrs. Hale?’ with a shit-eating grin. Alex Layhue was normally the last to arrive to class, right before the late bell rang, so, of course, all of Rose’s other students had heard him. And began to refer to her as Mrs. Hale. Which had spread like wildfire, and then all of the kids called Rosalie by Derek’s surname.

 It only stopped once she’d threatened detention. By the time eighth period was over, Rosalie was fuming and ready to stomp right out onto the lacrosse field to give her good friend, Assistant Lacrosse Coach Scott McCall, a piece of her mind. Instead, Rosalie raced out the door as soon as she was allowed to leave, forgoing her normal after-school visit to Derek’s classroom.

Rosalie’d reached her apartment, eternally thankful that the shitshow was over, when she had spotted it: a poorly taped rose on the front door, with a sign next to it. A rather crude sign.

Congrats on the D(erek). Love, Isaac. The words were bad enough. Isaac had to go and include a rather accurate drawing of Derek as a, um, d.

She had ripped the sign off the front door, threw it into the wastebasket under the kitchen sink, then punched the damned thing a few more times for good measure.

Then, Rose had called and screamed at Isaac. She couldn’t remember what was said in her anger, but Rosalie knew that a few choice words were thrown in, along with ‘obscene’, ‘tasteless’ and ‘terrible friend’.

Isaac showed up at the woman’s front door an hour after the ‘conversation’ holding a bottle of wine in one hand and takeout in another, a guilty smile on his face. Rosalie forgave him. Eventually.

That night, she’d had a very vivid dream about Derek’s dick. Rosalie woke up the next morning, covered in sweat, and knew that if she saw Derek she would spontaneously combust, and, well, other things that she didn’t want to even ponder.

So, Rosalie spent the rest of the week eating lunch in her car, leaving right after the final bell, and basically avoiding her best friend at all costs.

Until today. Rosalie had been waiting all week to watch this movie, and she would be damned if the deafening bang of construction across the street from her apartment building would keep her from Peter Kavinsky.

The door to the loft slid open, and Derek sauntered in, hands full with grocery bags. He paused at the sight of Rosalie, his face contorted in disgust.

“Get that shit off my TV!” he grumbled.

Rosalie paused the movie, looking up at him with a sharp glare. “It is not shit, Derek Sebastian Hale. It is romance. You wouldn’t know romance if it bit you in the ass.”

Derek scoffed. “Oh yeah? Remember, my senior year, when I showed up in front of my ex’s house all John Hughes-like and quoted Shakespeare at her like a total douche?”

“Mmm, yeah. And that went over swimmingly, didn’t it, Romeo? I specifically remember having to clean the cut on your forehead from the rock that she threw at you.” Rosalie snorted.

 Derek ignored her, hauling the bags into the kitchen and shoving items into cabinets. Rose joined him, grabbing a bag of refrigerated foods. As she pulled out the milk, a slip of paper flittered to the ground. She reached down to grab it, stopping short when she found that a phone number was written on the back of the receipt.

“Elena Soto gave you her phone number?” Rosalie asked Derek.

Damn. Rosalie suspected that Elena was after Derek since the day that the new Spanish teacher started at BHHS. Two weeks ago. Girl had game, Rosalie gave her that.

Derek put down the box of noodles in his hand and scratched the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at his friend. Rosalie could see a hint of pink on his cheekbones and wondered if the man had actually gotten a sunburn after years of making fun of her for her lobster-tone skin in the summertime.

“Yeah. She, uh, asked me out to dinner next Saturday night.”

Rosalie straightened herself back up and busied with putting food in the fridge. She feigned nonchalance, asking, “And what did you say?”

“I told her thank you, but I’ll be in Hawaii… with you.”

The woman hid her smug smile in the inside of the refrigerator. Serves Elena right. “I thought you’d forgotten. Since you haven’t, you know, even brought it up since Disneyland.”

“I didn’t forget. And it’s not like you brought it up, either.”

True. Rosalie was avoiding that discussion like the plague. She knew that she’d be able to pull of fake fiancée. She’d had feelings for Derek that were successfully repressed since she was sixteen. But Derek… he’d made it very clear that he felt nothing more than familial love towards Rosalie. How could he convincingly play madly in love with her?

“I’m sorry I cockblocked your hot date with Senorita Soto,” Rose confessed, tone sounding more harsh than intended.

“Rosalie.”

She pulled her head out of the fridge and shut the door. The BB-8 magnet her  niece bought him at Disney was displayed proudly towards the top. Rosalie studied it as an excuse to not look at Derek, lest he catch onto her jealousy.

She was losing her touch. Rosalie had built an excellent poker face over the years, and she let her friends’ suggestions and one bold woman break it. Rose had to up her game.

“Rosalie, you know I didn’t mean it like that. It’s why I didn’t bring Elena up. You’re my best friend. You know I’d do anything for you.”

Rosalie smiled deviously up at him, all thoughts of Elena Soto gone and replaced again with Peter Kavinsky. “Does that include watching my romcom?”

Derek rolled his eyes with a playful smile. He eventually gave in after Rose told him she would buy them a pizza.

___________

 Rosalie tried to enjoy the movie, but one thought plagued her mind like some annoyingly catchy song.

 Fake dating contract. It was so cringey she didn’t want to bring it up. But she did anyways.

 “Hey Derek? This sounds so stupid, but since you and I are two adults playing pretend, don’t you think you and I should, you know, come up with rules for our charade?” Rosalie shoved pizza in her face to distract herself from any comment that would come next.

Derek laughed. “Yeah, ok, Lara Jean Comey.”

“It’s Covey, not Comey… and I’m serious, Der. You and I have both been shit on by our significant others. Don’t you think it would be good for us to come up with some kind of guidelines, so this doesn’t get out of hand and neither of us get hurt?”

Derek sighed, putting his plate down on the coffee table and giving Rosalie his full attention. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Rosalie bit her lip, thinking. When she came up with nothing, she asked, “Do you have any dealbreakers?”

“I’m not making Drew jealous,” he swiftly announced.

Rosalie’s eyes shot up to his. “I’m not in love with Drew anymore, so there’s no need to make him jealous.”

“Thank God. What about you?”

She ignored the former comment. Rose did have a dealbreaker. She knew it would sound totally prudish on her end, but Rosalie knew her limits.

“No… No kissing.”

“What do you mean no kissing? Like, I can’t kiss you at all, or no tongue? Because I sure as hell know that we won’t be believable if I can’t kiss you.”

“And how would you know that?”

Derek pursed his lips. “I remember having an in-depth conversation with your brother about how gross you and Drew were together.”

Rosalie gaped at him. “And you didn’t stick your tongue down Jennifer’s throat at your engagement party?! It was like witnessing some messed-up porno. And, in my defense, Drew initiated every public—”

“I did not have my tongue down Jen’s throat!”

“Then why did Laura tell you two to get a room?”

Derek scowled. “Moving on…”

“Ok, rule 1: yes, to kissing. No tongue.” Rose ticked on her finger. “Two, no checking out other women. Like, at all.”

“You think I would do that when I’m engaged? I’m not a total dick.”

“I know that Derek. I’m just saying, when you were younger—”

“When I was younger. I’ve matured a lot since I was eighteen.”

She smacked his shoulder playfully. “You sure about that, Mr. I-throw-a-tantrum-every-time-I-lose-to-Scott-at-pool?”

“Shut up.”

“You can’t deny it, Hale. I know you too well… anything else to add?”

“No sex,” Derek said so suddenly that Rosalie about fell out of her spot on the couch.

“I…” She started, but couldn’t formulate a sentence, so she just nodded her agreement.

They sat in silence for a while, Rosalie processing what the hell happened.

“Let me warn you now. I don’t know how to be a good fiancé,” Derek added so softly that Rosalie might have missed it if she wasn’t so in tune with him.

“Derek…” She looked up to meet his green eyes, full of turmoil, of ghosts of past hurts. A haunted look that Rosalie knew too well. Only because she wore it too, late at night when she was alone with her demons.

Rosalie’s heart broke for him, and she pulled him into a hug. Derek was rarely vulnerable, preferring to keep those emotions locked tight. Rosalie was thankful that he opened himself up enough to let her see that side of him.

“You were a good fiancé, Der. It wasn’t your fault, that it ended. Jennifer was a bitch… I knew she wasn’t good for you,” Rosalie whispered into his shoulder, squeezing him tight so he knew that she meant every word.

Derek’s hot breath fanned over Rose’s neck as he spoke. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

She pulled away from him, leaving her hands on his shoulders. Rosalie set him with an unimpressed look. “Would you have listened?”

Derek shook his head, a small smile overtaking the once hard line of his lips. “Nah, probably not.”

___________________________________________________________

Tags: @wolfarrowepz​

#derek hale #derek hale fluff #tyler hoechlin #derek hale x reader #teen wolf

[min-youngis]

We’ve Met

gif not mine

~ Pairing : Min Yoongi x Reader (Wedding Cake Baker x Maid of Honour)

~ Genre : Fluff, Humour, Pini n g

~ Summary : When Irene picked you to be her maid of honour, you didn't expect the very cute cake baker you'd be dealing with, and you sure as hell didn't expect all the bothersome feelings that tagged along.   

Strangers to Lovers

~ Word Count : a fair few i'd say (10,685)

~ Warnings : swearing, some smexy descriptions of Yoongi's hands

~ A/N : if you say anything bad about this, i'll cry. but i'll also cry if you say anything good about it. 

i'd love to hear feedback! spread the love!

masterlist in my description.    

~~~                                                                                   

You pull into a parking space opposite the destination and take a good look at the building you need to be inside within the next ten minutes.

It’s a small, single storey shop, with glass windows and two tiny tables on either side of the door. If you squint just so through your glasses, you can make out the display counter and all the sweets lined up. The white sign board on top reads Kim Seokjin Bakery in large, bold script and underneath, in smaller cursive, Wedding Cakes Available For Order.

It looks comical almost, all light and welcoming, baby pink and white themed, no doubt playing some bubbly radio-friendly pop, perched as it is, in between a dark, imposing tattoo shop on the one side and a sports apparel store on the other.

Trust Irene to find the brightest, cutest, most delightful bakery in the city. You let out a quiet groan, collect your bag from the passenger seat and your coffee cup from the console and climb out of the car, putting on your best I am here because you are my best friend and I love you and this is a part of my maid of honour duties face. You cross the road and after checking the address one last time, push open the door.

The first thing you register is the Katy Perry playing so loud, you feel like she’s singing Teenage Dream right inside your ear canal. The next thing you notice is the tall, broad shouldered, brown-haired man standing behind the cash register with a bright, friendly, maybe even genuine smile on his face.

He gives you a quick bow and shouts to be heard over the music. “Hello! Welcome to Kim Seokjin Bakery! What can I get you today?”

You’re convinced that you’ve stepped into one of those weird, Care Bear style, candy cane themed ice cream castles that Irene writes about in the children’s books she authors and the dude in front of you is Cheer Bear in the flesh.

You clear your throat a bit, working through the sensory overload, and begin to shout back that you’re here for a wedding cake tasting appointment and that the happy couple should be at the bakery any minute.

You’re halfway through the sentence, hoping against hope that he can hear you, because it'd be super awkward if you had to repeat yourself, when the music is cut off abruptly and you’re screaming, “-they’re almost here!” in the sudden, dead silence of the shop.

You shut your mouth immediately after trailing off at the ending and squeak out a soft ‘Sorry,’ refusing to meet....Jin's eyes, according to the name badge pinned on his chest that you can suddenly read, now that your ears aren’t being assaulted.

Huh. The man himself.

The guy looks like he’s trying hard not to laugh at your bashfulness and he’s about to say something, when the door behind the counter suddenly slams open with a loud bang, and a man in an apron stomps out, rage evident on his face.

“Jin, what the fuck? If I have to cut the music one more time because it’s too loud, I swear to God, I’m going to murder you-Oh, hello.”

You register how cute he is, even with his half-angry half-surprised expression, with a dash of flour on his forehead and clad in a fluffy, white cardigan, though he can’t be older than 26. Distantly, you also notice how elegant his fingers look inside his messy, icing coated gloves, his slightly veined forearms exposed with his sleeves rolled up.

You half heartedly raise your hand in a sheepish wave and watch with slight regret as he bows at you rapidly and mumbles out a quick ‘Sorry,’ before scrambling back to where he came from, quick as a flash.

He was there and then he wasn’t, so to speak.

Jin looks unfazed at the prospect of being murdered, still retaining his sunny disposition, as he lets out a small laugh and says, “Let’s try that again, shall we? Welcome to Kim Seokjin Bakery! My name’s Kim Seokjin. That grouch who just disappeared back there is Min Yoongi. Don’t mind him, he forgot how to have fun when he turned twenty one. Now I heard something about a cake tasting?”

You really don’t know what you’re about to say as your mouth opens, thoughts still stubbornly fixed on Min Yoongi, and it’s really for the best for all parties involved that Irene and her fiancé walk into the bakery at that moment.

“Y/N! You’re on time today!” she says, letting go of Namjoon's hand and making her way towards you, wrapping you in a hug.

You’d be offended at her surprise but you had, in fact, been late for the flower-picking and the venue-choosing, so you let it slide, letting her pull you into her frame and inhaling her permanent, calming, lavender scent.

You pull away to watch quizzically as Namjoon goes behind the counter, smiling brightly, and begins conversing with Jin like they’re old friends.

“They’re old friends,” Irene whispers, seeing your expression. “Met at high school, stayed in touch somehow, were in a band together apparently. Them and a couple of others. The other owner of this place, too. Something with Y? Yooni, maybe. That’s why we chose this bakery.”

You swallow thickly and whisper back, “Yoongi. Min Yoongi.”

She throws you a confused look, obviously curious about how you’re so confident about that piece of information, and she’s about to enquire about the same when Namjoon calls her, saying, “Darling? Let me introduce you to Jin.”

She throws you a look, one that holds a promise of this conversation isn’t over, and the two of you make your way behind the counter. Namjoon does all the introductions and when he lands on you, ‘Y/N, Irene’s best friend and maid of honour', Jin says, “We’ve met,” his eyes filled with mirth.

“I reached a bit early,” you explain. “I was just telling Jin that we were here for a cake tasting.”

Irene gives a good-natured, at least to her, punch on your arm and gently mocks, “Early? Oh, look at you go!”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come at all,” you faux bitterly mutter under your breath, rubbing at the sore spot on your shoulder.

You’re snapped out of your whine when you hear Namjoon ask, “And where is the other owner of this fine establishment?”

You barely have time to morph your features back into their characteristically neutral expression when the back door opens again, and as if on cue, Yoongi enters, gummy smile on his face, gloves and apron off. It’s like you’re watching everything in slow motion, like that scene in Madagascar where Marty and Alex run towards each other with Chariots of Fire playing in the background. Except, instead of a chasing-on-the-beach sequence, it ends with a hug.

Once again, introductions are made all around (“Jin, this is Yoongi. Yoongi, this is Jin.” They all crack up at that, bless Namjoon's soul) and this time, there’s no mirth-filled grin when it’s your turn.

Yoongi’s hand comes up to rub the back of his neck shyly as he catches your eye.

“We’ve uh...met,” he drily says.

Once again, you’re rushing to explain, “There was an incident with the music just before you guys walked in.”

“Jesus, Y/N, how early were you?” Namjoon asks, slightly awed.

Again, you’d be offended if it weren’t for the fact that his shock is perfectly justified, given aforementioned past instances, so you just vaguely mumble, “A couple of minutes, that’s all,” and wave your hand in a dismissive get over it motion.

A couple more minutes pass, conversation floating around you with Namjoon, Jin and Yoongi reminiscing about their band. You find out that Yoongi used to be a rapper and you have to shake the mental image of him on stage, probably wearing dark, grunge clothes, fingers wrapped around a mic and gasping for breath.

It’s disconcertingly odd and not a little intriguing, as you try to match that Yoongi to the one currently laughing in front of you, still in that goddamn fluffy cardigan that makes you want to simultaneously wrap him in a blanket and wrap yourself in a blanket.

Different blankets.

Maybe.

Eventually, Jin moves to get the catalogue and the five of you walk to a little table at the corner, squeezing best as you can into a set up that should ideally host three people at most.

It’s an agonising hour and a half, as you discuss designs and shapes and flavours and tiers, with your left side pressed into Yoongi’s arm, his soft, low voice hitting your ear in such close proximity and his damned hands resting on the table, fingers interlocked, directly in your line of sight.

At the end of it, as you all wrap up and arrange a final meeting and you feel simultaneously hot and cold with the lack of his presence next to you, you’re convinced that the following three months are going to be...interesting.

                            ________________________

The next week passes in a flurry of activity at work and you barely have time to think about the wedding. With quarterly reports due by the end of the month, your boss is being more of a hard ass than usual and your only saving grace is Jungkook, your roommate, who manages to pick up the groceries and keep dinner in the microwave for you every time you reach home late.

Friday night, 9 PM, sees you climbing up the stairs of your apartment, bag threatening to fall from your limp grip and exhaustion heavy on your shoulders. The rain outside has made your hair scraggly, and your glasses are flecked with obscuring water droplets, even after you had tried shielding yourself with your blazer, and the cold is seeping into your bones, clothes sticking uncomfortably to your body. Your head is filled with thoughts of a warm shower and bed, and you can only hope that Jungkook’s meeting with his new producer is over by now.

You open the door and toe off your flats, calling out, “Kook? I’m home!”

“In the dining room,” you hear him shout back.

You make your way to the room in question, only to halt to a dead stop at the entrance, comically sudden, like in those Tom and Jerry cartoons where somebody gets hit by a large frying pan mid-step.

There, leaning back against the counter, tea cup in hand, is standing one Min Yoongi.

He’s wearing a beanie, black hoodie and dark blue ripped jeans and your mouth goes dry at his ring clad fingers. Those mental images of him rapping? Yeah, they seem more believable now.

Almost unconsciously, you scan him, toe to head, past the grey socks, the peek of his knee through the hole in his jeans, the outline of one of his fisted hands inside the pocket of his hoodie, lips pursed against the rim of his mug and the few strands of black hair that have escaped his beanie. Your eyes pause at the rings on his fingers curled around the handle of the cup, and suddenly, you don’t feel very cold anymore.

Your eyes finally meet his, only to find him staring right back at you.

His expression matches your own startled one, his mouth still comically puckered around the cup, eyes wide and filled with surprise, gaze unwavering from your drenched form.

“Hey, Y/N!”

You’re brought out of your somehow hyper-aware daze by Jungkook’s voice and so is Yoongi, who softly clears his throat and darts his eyes away from you, busying himself with his tea cup.

Poor, sweet Jungkook whom you didn’t even notice was in the vicinity and, bless his soul, doesn’t seem to have noticed the very obvious tension in the room.

He’s bent over the table, takeout brochure spread out in front of him, phone in hand and trademark, bright smile on his face.

Before you can reply, and probably for the best because you’re not sure whether your voice still works, he excitedly continues, “This is Yoongi. I’m gonna be working with him on a track!”

Turning to the man in question, he says, “Yoongi, this is Y/N.”

Simultaneously, the two of you, in the same voice utter, “We’ve met,” doggedly refusing to look at each other.

Jungkook tilts his head to the side, like a confused puppy, and asks, “When?”

“Irene’s wedding cake,” you explain shortly.

“Bakery,” he says at the same time.

You both awkwardly chuckle and Jungkook shrugs, satisfied with the answer(s).

“I’ve ordered pizza for dinner,” he tells you, holding the phone up. “You wanna go change into something warm?”

The realisation that your clothes are still wet hits you, and you suddenly feel a renewed wave of coldness.

You give him a ‘Hmm,’ and with a short, not-at-all awkward nod in Yoongi’s direction, you all but sprint away from the room, forcing yourself to not turn back and see if he was even looking at you.

You engage in what you think is a very necessary pep talk in front of the mirror while changing, and with a deep breath and one last, ‘He’s just a boy,’ you make your way back down.

Stepping into the living room, you find a box of pizza on the centre table, a sitcom playing on television and Jungkook in the middle of a slice.

Alone.

You feel your stomach sink.

Tamping down the disappointment, (all that work, and for what?) you return Jungkook’s full-mouthed, cheesy smile best as you can, nonchalantly grab a slice, and sit down next to him, passively asking, “Where’s Yoongi?”

“Oh, he left.”

Suavely, so suavely, like you couldn’t care less, you let out a noncommittal, vaguely inquisitive ‘Oh?’

“Yeah, he was only waiting for the rain to stop.”

You try not to let your chagrin show as you hum softly, hopefully sounding uncaring enough for Jungkook to not question your curiosity, and turn your attention to the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode in front of you.

That night, you fall asleep to one part of your head repeatedly whispering, “He’s just a boy,” and another countering, “A very cute boy.”

You’re inclined to agree with the latter.

                         ________________________

Sunday mid-morning sees you in a trial room at a wedding dress boutique, trying on the Maid of Honour dress that Irene’s chosen.

(Puppy dog eyes, the promise of a free community library membership through her connections and ‘I promise, if you don’t like it, we can get it changed. But please, please, please let me pick out a dress for you.’)

You strip out of your t-shirt and jeans and unzip the dress cover that’s hung from a hook on the door, carefully slipping out the dark turquoise, soft, flowy cloth from it.

After a brief altercation between your glasses and the sleeve, you manage to pull it on, and turn to your reflection in the mirror.

You have to admit, you look good. The chiffon material seems to flow down from the V-neck to the clinch at the waist, where the material spreads out and the colour begins to slowly fade into a calm, deep blue, ending at your feet.

You might just have to tell Irene that she did a good job.

Unbidden, a thought rushes into your head, I hope Yoongi will be at the wedding. It’s a little surprising because, after all, he is just a boy.

(And you haven’t exactly faced your thoughts about said boy, so far preferring to stick to your usual reaction when feelings crop up i.e. stringent avoidance.)

Giving yourself a quick once-over and a satisfied nod, you push the curtain aside and re-enter the waiting lounge, immediately greeted by Miya cooing, “You look amazing!”

She and Hyejin are sat on the couch, already in their dark blue bridesmaid dresses, similar to your own.

Hyejin looks up from her phone, grin on her face. “I almost forgive Irene for picking you as maid of honour now.”

You mumble a ‘Thank you,’ blush creeping up your neck, a tad bit conscious from the attention, even when the source is your closest friends. Moving to take a seat next to Miya, you ask, “Is Irene not done yet?”

As if on cue, the curtains of the centre cubicle part and out steps your best friend.

“My head's too big for the tiara,” she says, like she isn’t standing in front of all of you looking like a goddamn princess, in her sparkling, white, off shoulder wedding dress.

The next couple of minutes are filled with squeals and twirling and ‘When did you grow so old? I can’t believe you’re getting married,’ courtesy Hyejin.

Two hours later, you’re all in your normal clothes and leaning back in your chairs, satiated after lunch at a restaurant nearby, and in high spirits off of the company and a productive day.

Miya lets her fork clatter on her plate, an air of finality in the sound and utters, voice sleepy, “I could go for dessert.”

You hum in agreement, already thinking about a good chocolate chip ice-cream or a slice of red velvet cake.

“Oh, I’d die for some cheesecake right now,” Irene says.

Hyejin pulls out her phone and searches for dessert places nearby and really, you should have known that this day was going too well, when a moment later, you’re choking on water as she reads out from her screen, “There’s a Kim Seokjin Bakery, like five minutes away. Wait, isn’t that where you’re getting the cake from?”

Miya repeatedly thumps your back as Irene enthuses, “Yeah! Joon and I tasted some of their stuff the other day, they’re good.”

And that’s what finds you, ten minutes later, about to enter Kim Seokjin Bakery.

The entire time while walking, you had wracked your brain, trying to think of an excuse to get out of this situation without making it sound suspicious, only to come up empty-handed.

You watch, palms clammy, eyes glued onto Irene’s hand on the handle, praying to all the gods you believe in only when you need something, that Yoongi’s on holiday, or that he’s late, or even that he’s just in the back and doesn’t surface the entire time you’re here.

The door swings open, and because you didn’t go to the temple on that one birthday when you turned thirteen and the higher ups have hated you ever since, standing there, in all his white cardigan glory is Min Yoongi.

The gods can suck it, you’re actively atheist now.

Before you can make a run for it, consequences be damned, he looks up from the counter top he’s wiping with a cloth and starts in a drone, “Welcome to Kim Seokjin Bakery, how can I help-oh, hey!”

No escaping now.

You raise a hand in greeting, refusing to meet his eyes, forcing the butterflies in your stomach to cut out the bloody rager they’re throwing in there, as Irene replies, “Hi, Yoongi!”

He moves towards the register and asks, “What can I get you today?”

You focus on choosing between a red velvet cupcake and a chocolate mousse, eyes burning holes into the glass as you force yourself to not look up or in his general direction.

Did that sweater always fill out his shoulders like that?

The others tell Yoongi what they want and now it’s your turn and you want to kick yourself when you honest-to-god stutter out, “O-One red velvet cupcake, please,” like a fucking teenager with a crush, your voice pitching up as your eyes catch on the single ring he’s wearing on his left pinkie finger.

The same finger that brushes against yours when you reach over the counter to take your cupcake.

You nearly drop the pastry as you feel a blush beginning to form at the base of your neck, and you mumble out a ‘Thank you,’ scurrying away to the table in the corner where Miya's sat, already halfway through her brownie.

You have to push away the thought of Yoongi making the very same cake that you’re about to eat. It’s simply too erotic an image for a bakery.

Forcing yourself to seem placid, you bite into it, immediately understanding why the place has such a high rating.

However, you’re rudely brought out from your cupcake-induced coma when you notice Hyejin and Irene sitting down at the table with wide, Cheshire grins.

You suddenly feel very unsafe, sat as you now are in between the two of them.

Miya looks up from her brownie and says around the spoon she’s still got dangling from her mouth, “Uh, guys? What are you doing?”

Hyejin's grin grows wider. “Y/N here has a little something she’s been hiding from us.”

Irene looks like she’s trying hard not to burst into giggles, as she coos and pinches at your cheek. “You’re the colour of the cupcake,” she observes.

You swat her hand away, busying yourself with said cupcake, stubbornly refusing to meet their eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you sniff, before you take a huge bite, staring straight at the wall behind Miya, who looks mighty confused.

“What’s going on? What’s she hiding? Y/N, what are you hiding?”

Hyejin, truly the devil incarnate, leans back  in her chair and damningly says, “She’s got what the kids call a crush.”

There’s only so much avoiding you can do around the three of them and now you’re blushing in full force, fruitlessly fighting off your own grin as Irene lets out a cackle and Miya excitedly whoops.

You immediately shush them, sure that there’s no way Yoongi won’t notice all the noise they’re making.

“Shut up,” you whisper harshly. “It isn’t a crush, don’t call it a crush.”

Blatantly disregarding what you just said, Miya softly exclaims, “Oh my god, I knew something was weird when you were being quieter than usual on the way here.”

“Miss I-have-no-emotions is in love,” Irene teases as she nudges your shoulder.

Flipping her off, you quietly whine, “Stop, it’s nothing, don’t make it a thing.”

Hyejin dabs at her mouth with a tissue and nonchalantly says, “So I’m guessing it wouldn’t interest you to know that he keeps looking at you every three minutes?”

The blush that was fading is now back in full force as you try hard not to giggle, fucking giggle, and you manage another bite of your cupcake and unconvincingly utter, “Nope.”

You’re fighting a losing battle at this point really, as the rest of the conversation revolves around Yoongi and your crush and you’re repeatedly forced to slam your palm over Irene’s mouth every time she goes to call him for ‘wedding related reasons.’

You all leave the bakery, the others throwing obnoxious ‘Bye, Yoongi’s behind them, as you manage a small, shy wave.

It is possible that, maybe, you have a teensy crush on one Min Yoongi.

                              ________________________

The thing about liking somebody is that it makes you giddy. The thing about admitting that you like somebody is that it makes you feel like you’re permanently floating on a cloud.

You swear your glasses have been fitted with rose-tinted lenses and everything in the world has a lovely, warm glow to it. Logically, you know it’ll pass. A couple of weeks (okay, fine, maybe a couple of months) and you’ll hardly remember Min Yoongi. But for now, you’re going to enjoy getting lightheaded over something this inconsequential.

Jungkook figures out what’s happening about a week after the dress trial, when he walks in on a video call you’re having in the living room with Miya, in the middle of her squealing and you blushing. He stops at the door like he’s just seen a ghost when he hears you giggle and you don’t blame him.

Giggling and...emotion in general, are not things you do.

After getting over his shock at seeing you blush that vividly for the first time in your five year friendship and four year roommate-ship, he manages to wrench it out of you, howling in glee when he remembers how you had acted that night when Yoongi had come over.

He doesn’t let it go the entire day, always greeting you with a teasing smile when he sees you around the house and even going so far as to take the call about his collaboration with the man himself in the living room, you sitting right next to him on the couch.

You bear with him as well as you can, repressing the urge to bonk him with great difficulty. You won’t let him take away your good cheer.

That night, you’re chopping carrots as Jungkook leans over the stove, stirring at the bubbling gravy inside. He’s been relatively decent for the duration that the two of you have been cooking dinner, probably not wanting to test you when you’re holding a knife, and it’s the last thing you’re expecting when he asks, “So what're you gonna do about it?”

You nudge him to the side with your hip as you drop the vegetables into the pot.

“Do about what?”

“Your crush on Yoongi.”

You’re confused. He can’t possibly thing you’re going to do anything about it.

“Aren’t you going to ask him out?”

Apparently, he can.

As you wash the cutting board, refusing to meet his eyes, you ask, in an obvious tone, “No? Why would I?”

He turns away from the stove, letting the pot simmer and looks at you quizzically. “Because you like him?”

The poor, naïve boy.

Replacing the board behind the sink, you pick up two glasses from the cupboard overhead as you explain through a chuckle, “Jungkook, it’s just a crush. I’ll get over it, no biggie.”

His eyes grow wide with realisation as you walk past him to the fridge, and he switches off the stove, accusing stare following your motions.

“Why do you always do that?”

“Hmm? Do what?” you reply distractedly, as you pour out cranberry juice into the two glasses.

Suddenly, the carton is snatched from your hand and you look up to see Jungkook staring at you with a frown in his face.

“Not act on your feelings.”

You lean back against the counter and scoff, crossing your arms over your chest. “I act on my feelings plenty. I have friends, don’t I?”

He takes a gulp of juice straight from the carton, ignoring your pointed stare at the full glasses right next to you on the counter, and begins counting on his fingers as he lists out, “The barista at the coffee shop near your office, that RA during our third year of uni, Mrs. Smith's daughter who visits every weekend-"

“Are all people I’ve gotten over, just like how I’ll eventually get over this crush too,” you interrupt, now beginning to get a little annoyed. This is starting to veer dangerously on talking-about-feelings territory and you don’t do that shit sober and before three in the morning.

Twisting the cap back on the carton, Jungkook says into the fridge, “You didn’t have to get over them. And you can’t tell me that this one isn’t different. I’ve never seen you this...free before, even with your previous crushes.”

“Dude, stop. This isn't going anywhere. Don’t harp on it,” you say with an air of finality, turning around and busying yourself with piling rice onto two plates.

You feel Jungkook’s eyes on you as you walk out of the kitchen, hands full, but thankfully, he doesn’t attempt to continue the conversation.

Dinner is quieter than usual, with you deep in thought about things that don’t bear thinking about, and Jungkook biting his tongue every time he’s about to talk, so as to not send you into a bigger spiral.

As you rinse the dishes in silence, passing them to Jungkook to dry, he finally says gently, “I just want you to be happy. And Yoongi’s a great guy.”

You merely hum in response.

Taking that as an invitation, he continues, “You don’t have to be so worried. What’s the worst that could happen?”

What’s the worst that could happen?

Your head repeats it over and over as you toss and turn in bed that night, running through worst case scenarios. You fall asleep with only one conclusive thought that doesn’t answer anything.

Feelings are stupid.

                              ________________________

You’ve practiced and perfected your signature act of stringent avoidance, and for the next two weeks, you drown yourself in work and Irene’s wedding that’s looming closer, absolutely refusing to let yourself even think about Jungkook’s words and Min Yoongi as a whole.

There were blips of course. A final cake tasting that Irene wanted you to go for, and when Jungkook asked for you to drop off some food at the studio when he was working with Yoongi. You managed to get through both events with minimal embarrassment, refusing to meet Yoongi’s eyes and sometimes pretending to not hear him when he spoke to you, coming out of both instances feeling like your heart had been put through a blender and eagerly looking forward to Irene’s wedding getting over and Jungkook finishing this damn song already, so you can just get over him in peace.

Two weeks left for the wedding and you, Miya, Hyejin and Irene are walking down a set of staircases on the pavement, all of you slightly tipsy from the tequila, including your usually teetotalling ass, about to enter a seedy looking pub with a sign on top of the door, at street level, that reads NYLON in bright, green neon tube lighting.

The thing about Irene, is that in addition to being a children’s book author who has weekly readings at the community library and volunteers in old age homes, she also lives and breathes hip hop music.

And being the incredible maid of honour that you are, for her bachelorette party, you’ve planned to end the night with a visit to a pub that often hosts some of the most famous underground rappers in the city. At least, that’s what Google said.

Somehow, from Irene’s frequent giggles as she stumbles her way down the staircases, and the slightly hazy look in her twinkling eyes as she clutches onto an equally giggly Miya, you don’t think she’ll mind, either way.

Hyejin pushes the door open with a flourish, and you all enter to the sounds of hooting. It’s fairly more packed than you had expected, crowd excited and bobbing to the bass thumping out of the speakers. There are too many people in front for you to be able to see who’s on stage, but even you have to admit that they’re really good, hardly pausing to take a breath as they rap out line after line.

And from Irene’s wide eyes and delighted grin, she seems to agree.

You can tell that you guys are a little late into the set, as they wrap up in the next ten-ish minutes or so, and for a split second, the crowd parts enough for you to see the performer on stage, sweating and panting and surveying the cheering crowd with a satisfied, cocky smirk.

The alcohol seems to drain out from your system as you make eye contact with Yoongi and your heart skips a step as he doesn’t look away, everything seemingly happening in slow motion.

The room suddenly seems too crowded to breathe, and without a word to the others, you turn around and push your way out of the pub, wanting nothing more than to get away from there.

You shove the door open and let it fall shut behind you, letting yourself take deep breaths as you slump against the wall next to the entrance. You shut your eyes and let your head fall behind, resting on the cool brick, abruptly feeling so tired as you faintly hear the thumping bass from behind you.

“Hey.”

Jumping off the wall as if a matchstick had been lit under your ass, your eyes shoot open and land on the man standing next to you, looking at you with his hand sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, small smile playing on his lips.

Min fucking Yoongi.

You force yourself to calm down again as he leans back on the wall next to you and continues, “First time here?”

Despite how supremely distracting he looks at the moment, dressed in tight black jeans and an oversized black t-shirt under a large brown coat, hair matted to his forehead with sweat and long fingers covered in large rings, you manage to say, “Yeah, we're here for Irene’s bachelorette.”

Distantly, you realise that this is the first time that you’ve been alone with him.

“Preparations going well then?”

You shrug, sinking back, what little alcohol that’s left in your system allowing you to loosen up, as you reply, “Well enough.”

He lets out a hum and now there’s quiet around the two of you, the neon sign overhead casting a muted glow and the faint sounds of traffic above mingling with the music behind.

It doesn’t feel awkward. Just...silent. It isn’t comfortable either. It just exists.

“And how's Jungkook?”

You turn your head, looking towards him out of the corner of your eye, confused as you slowly say, “He’s fine. You guys had a meeting today, didn’t you?”

He opens his mouth to reply when the door opens next to you and Hyejin jogs out, wide eyes immediately drawn to you on the side.

“Oh thank god. We’ve been so worried, you just disappeared and we couldn’t find you and the we called Jungkook to find out if you had gone ho-Oh, hello.”

Yoongi shuts his mouth abruptly and raises his arm in greeting.

“We were going to leave because Miya's head’s starting to hurt but we can stay for a while longer if you want?” Hyejin hesitantly asks, eyes locked on yours, as if she’s telepathically trying to understand what you’re doing out here in the dark, hanging out with Min Yoongi, whom you’ve declared as the-boy-who-won't-be-named in your little group over the last couple of weeks.

Hell if you know.

You turn to Yoongi as he gives you a weak ‘Don’t worry about it,’ with a soft, almost-rueful smile, before he waves at you and Hyejin and turns around, walking towards the back entrance from where he came.

Hyejin looks at you worriedly, probably only now noticing your tired face and drooping shoulders.

“Is everything fine?” she quietly asks, placing a comforting palm on your shoulder.

You let out a sigh before you say, “I don’t want to talk about it right now. Let’s just get the others and go home, yeah?”

She gives you a reassuring nod and a soft ‘Chin up, love,’ and with one last nod, the two of you re-enter the pub.

                             ________________________

“You’re moping again.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You’ve been eating that same bowl of cereal for the last ten minutes.”

“It’s good cereal.”

“It’s plain cornflakes. I don’t know why we have it at home in the first place.”

“It was on sale.”

Jungkook huffs in annoyance before snatching the bowl and spoon from your grip and placing it on your side table, ignoring your cries of protest as he whips open the curtains, letting in the sunlight that you so dearly wanted to keep outside.

Shutting the laptop that’s playing dumb cat videos, he moves it out of the way before sitting in its place, not letting you bury yourself under the covers.

After a brief scuffle between you, him and the blanket, that really, you were bound to lose, seeing as how Jungkook’s biceps are the size of your head, he manages to wrench the bedding from your hands, leaving you glaring at him sourly, arms crossed.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he scoffs, bundling up the blankets and dumping them on the floor, before he turns towards you. “Ever since you came back from that bachelorette party two days ago, you’ve been cooped up in here. It’s time for an intervention.”

You roll your eyes, kicking your legs out petulantly, not reaching anywhere near him. “I don't need any intervening. I’m fine.”

“Have you eaten anything other than cereal? No, scratch that, other than plain fucking cornflakes?”

“I’m trying out a diet,” you cautiously reply.

“Oh, please, we both know you don’t buy into that bullshit. You never shut up about unhealthy eating habits and the harmful effects of diet culture when I’m doing my monthly keto,” he says, fingers in air quotes and expression sceptical.

You let out a huff, annoyed that he saw through you that easily. You and your fat mouth.

At your refusal to engage in further conversation, lips stuck in a pout and stubbornly avoiding his gaze, he lets out an exasperated groan, before he whines, “Come on, Y/N. I’m starting to get worried here. Joon asked me how your cold was during our run today morning. I didn’t even know you had a cold.”

“...I don’t.”

His eyes soften as he leans forward and taps your knee, making you look at him.

“What’s going on?”

You let your gaze flick to the bedroom door.

Noticing, Jungkook cocks his eyebrows up. “Do you really think you’ll make it?”

Letting out a harsh sigh, you slump against the headboard of your bed as you feel the fight leaving your body. Your roommate is a muscly, stubborn little shit and you’re not getting out of this.

He gives you time to collect your thoughts, looking at you expectantly, but not rushing you, now that he knows you won’t try escaping again.

“Min Yoongi.”

He doesn’t look surprised that you open with that, probably expecting him to be the topic of conversation.

“Is that bothering you so much? Last I heard, we weren’t allowed to say his name in a non-work capacity in this house.”

“We aren’t,” you shoot back, with a dirty look.

He raises his hands, palms outward in a pacifying gesture. “Sorry, sorry, please continue.”

“Did you have a meeting with him two days ago?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Then why did he ask me how you were doing?”

Now, Jungkook looks confused.

“Wait, what? When did you talk to him?”

In as few words as possible, you relate your sad, sordid tale and watch as Jungkook’s face flies through five different emotions during your retelling.

He settles at perplexity. His hand comes up to his chin, stroking his non-existent beard.

“I had just met him. And at the studio, he had asked me about...holy shit.”

You’re brought out of your gloom by Jungkook’s slowly widening grin. You can practically see the gears turning in his brain.

“What?” you shortly ask, thoroughly sceptical.

“Okay, don’t freak out when I say this-"

“If you already think that’s a possibility, you probably shouldn’t say it-"

“Yoongi likes you.”

You lean back from him as if you’ve been burnt.

“I’m sorry, what now?”

He leaps off the bed, excitedly beginning to pace around the room, arms waving as he begins to explain, occasionally turning to your disbelieving face.

“Every time when I’m with him, he always asks how you are-"

“He's being polite, you should try it sometime-"

“And Irene was telling me how he asked her if he had done something wrong because you were ignoring him-"

“Stop talking about me behind my back!”

He waves you down as he begins to pace more feverishly and continues, “And he changed that one line to purple frame from pouring rain, I’m thinking because of your glasses-"

“He should probably change it back, that sounds like a horrible decision.”

“That’s it, I connected the dots.”

“Jungkook, you didn’t connect shit.”

Again, disregarding your protests, he continues, “And I’m pretty sure the reason he asked you about me is because he wants to know if we’re dating, but he doesn’t want to seem too obvious about it-"

“Jungkook!”

“Whoa, hey, that’s the thing you’re the most offended about? I’m hurt, Y/N-Oh, fuck.”

He rushes towards your side of the bed on seeing your stricken expression. Your head feels heavy, tears blurring your vision as you watch Jungkook bend down on the floor in front of you, taking your hands in his.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s fine, you don’t have to say anything to him. The wedding will be over in two weeks, I’m almost done with the song, you don’t even have to see him if you don’t want to,” he rapidly says, as he wipes off the single tear that manages to escape.

You force yourself to calm down and take a deep, shaky breath, harshly rubbing your eyes with your free hand.

Quietly, in the pregnant silence of the room, making eye contact with Jungkook for the first time in the entire conversation, you finally, hoarsely utter, “What if I want to see him? What if I want to talk to him? What if I like him so much, my heart almost hurts more when I’m around him than when I’m not?”

He gives you a small smile and a gentle squeeze of your palm.

“Then you’ve got the best wingman right here.”

You hiccup softly at that, feeling drained from all the emotions of the last three days. Jungkook stands up and pulls you along with him, tugging you into a hug that you welcome.

“Thanks,” you softly mutter as you pull away, slightly sniffling and refusing to make eye contact with him, suddenly embarrassed from the events that have transpired.

Noticing your discomfort, he lets you turn away from him and moves to leave the room.

He stops at the door and says, “Why don’t you come down after texting the others, and we can order lunch and watch something trashy? No boy talk,” he says, crossing his heart.

You give him a tiny grin, the most you’ve managed in the last two days, before you reply, “You’re a boy.”

“Not in the romantic way.”

“According to Yoongi, you are.”

“Oh, we’re laughing about that now?”

                              ________________________

Twenty four hours left for the big day and you’d be happy if you never had to hear the word ‘wedding' in your life again. Despite organisation and coordination being your strong suits, nothing could’ve prepared you for the last minute rush.

Really, it’s a miracle that you and the best man, Jackson, haven’t just up-and-away'ed from it all.

You’re at the venue, securing the arch with Hoseok, one of the groomsmen, when Jackson comes jogging into the chapel, phone in hand.

Absurdly, the mental image of a labrador puppy with a tennis ball in their mouth comes to the forefront of your mind.

“The bakery called and Joon asked if you could take it because he and Irene are finalising the speech sequence,” he explains in a single, long breath, holding out Namjoon's phone to you.

Oh.

After your big, emotional reveal with Jungkook that day, you’ve pretty much just been biding your time in the romantic front and resigning yourself to passively letting any and all feelings just happen until you actually meet Yoongi face to face at the wedding. Jungkook’s more than happy to let you be, probably being able to tell how mortified you are after all that uncharacteristic word vomit, and he doesn’t bring anything up. Occasionally, when the two of you are watching television, he'll point at a couple on screen and with a wide grin, he’ll say, “Fighting, Y/N!” and once, he sent you a YouTube link that you assumed was one of his usual Vine compilations but ended up being a video titled ‘5 Ways To Ask Someone Out' but for the most part, he’s been pleasantly bearable.

He did casually let it slip to Yoongi that the two of you were just good friends and roommates and not, in fact, dating. Apparently, Yoongi gave a small smile when he heard, but you don’t know if that’s just Jungkook dramatising and his overactive imagination.

You can manage a phone call, no problem. It’s a toss up between which owner you’ll end up talking to anyway.

Taking the unlocked phone from Jackson, you redial the most recent contact (KSJ Bakery), and move away from the arch as Jackson rushes forward to take your place and Hoseok continues fastening the metal to the wall.

You bite your lip in anticipation as the ring tone hits your ear and very nearly drop the phone when it stops, hearing a decidedly deep, non-Jin voice casually rattle off, “Hey, Namjoon. Thanks for calling back, I just wanted to confirm the pick-up plan for tomorrow.”

Clearing your throat, you hesitantly reply, “Uh, this is Y/N speaking. Joon's a bit busy at the moment, but he’s given me all the details, so I can clear any doubts you might have.”

Silence.

You’re about to let out a tentative ‘Hello?’ when he says, “Oh yeah, no problem. I just wanted to make sure that the cake would be collected before five in the evening.”

Taking the pen out of your pocket, you scrawl ‘Jimin-cake before 5’ on your wrist while balancing the phone between your shoulder and ear, as you reply, “Yeah, somebody should be there before then, no problem.”

“Awesome, I’ll make sure it’s ready to go.”

“Great, thanks.”

“Yeah.”

Once again, silence.

You open your mouth to say something, anything, to get rid of this awful awkwardness (“Bye,” perhaps) but he beats you to the punch by almost delicately asking, “So, uh, how have you been?”

After inaudibly swallowing in nervousness, despite there being no reason for it, he’s just making polite conversation for fuck's sake, you reply in a similar uncertain tone, “I’m good, yeah. And you?”

“Good, good, yeah. Me too,” he hums out, voice tapering out awkwardly at the end.

You see Jackson giving you a questioning look out of the corner of your eye, obviously confused about how weird you’ve suddenly become and you rush to end the call.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow then?” you ask, stuffing your pen back into your pocket and turning away from the half erect arch, mentally punching yourself for making it sound so flirty.

You get an obviously quizzical ‘Huh?’ in response and rapidly say, “At the wedding I meant. I didn’t-I didn’t mean anything else. Of course, not that there’s anything else to mean. Joon’s and Irene’s wedding is obviously what I was referring to. Okay, bye!”

Not waiting for him to reply, you hit the red button as quickly as you can, turning back around as you softly sigh and your insides churn in embarrassment, wanting nothing more than to get away from the offending device as soon as possible.

You’re met by two pairs of wide, surprised eyes as Hoseok and Jackson have completely stopped working on the arch, looking at you instead. Hoseok's eyebrows have nearly disappeared into his messy brown hair and Jackson looks like Christmas has come early.

This won’t do. This won’t do at all.

With a half-assed excuse of returning the phone to Namjoon, refusing to meet their eyes, you scamper out of the room, quick as you can, without making it more painfully awkward than it already is.

                             ________________________

Wedding robes are, in your humble opinion, the single most simultaneously gratuitous and comfortable things, you’ve come to realise. Granted, you had turned your nose up at the concept the first time Irene brought it up, but now that you’re sat on the plush couch next to Irene’s mother at the corner of the bridal suite wearing a beige robe, watching as Irene gets her hair done and Miya helps Hyejin with her makeup, you’re convinced that you’re floating on a cloud.

You’re fairly sure that the reason Irene and Namjoon were able to get these robes without going over budget is that they just hired Miya as the makeup artist and she gave them a discount

The silk rubs soothingly against your skin as you get up and pad towards the front of the room, standing next to Irene’s chair and meeting her nervous eyes in the mirror as the hairdresser sets another curl just so.

“Tense?” you gently enquire, giving her a soft smile.

“Just a bit,” she breathes out, staying very still as the stylist flits around her.

“If you’re in this state, I’d love to see how nervous Joon is,” Miya giggles, evening out Hyejin’s blush.

Irene chuckles and moves her hand off of her lap, letting it fall and grabbing yours loosely. She gives your fingers a squeeze and you squeeze back with a reassuring grin.

“Y/N, you’re next!” Miya calls out, prompting you to walk to her as Hyejin moves towards the rack that has your dresses hanging in the centre of the room, smacking her lips as she smoothens her lipstick.

You obediently stand in front of Miya, tucking your glasses by the frame into the opening of your robe and tilting your neck back so she can apply your eyeliner and lip gloss, hands crossed behind your back.

Her already made up face hovers over yours as she delicately holds your chin in one hand, steadying your head as she runs the gloss over your lips.

She softly mutters, “Are you nervous?”

“About what?” you hum, best as you can without moving your face.

You know about what, of course you know about what.

She fixes you with a knowing look, and your eyes dart away from hers, fixing on Irene’s mother helping Hyejin adjust her dress, but she doesn’t pursue the thread of conversation, doing your eyeliner in silence.

Stepping away from her when she gives you the go ahead and turns to Irene, you move to the rack and collect your dress, turning to enter the attached toilet when your phone rings.

The caller ID reads Jackson Wang, and your mind immediately whirs into worst case scenarios.

Not wanting to alarm Irene in case it really does end up being something serious, you drape your dress on the couch arm and move to the corner of the room, while giving her what you hope is an encouraging thumbs up as she worriedly looks at you.

The first thing Jackson says when you accept the call is, “The florist just called and their truck broke down so one of us has to go get the flowers ourselves."

“Send Hobi,” you immediately say, your mind moving to the last minute problems and solutions chart that you and Jackson had gone over the previous night.

“I did, but then the caterers also called and apparently the appetisers got squished on the way, and they can’t make another batch in time.”

Well. That wasn’t on the chart.

“Uh, okay, then we can go get something from the café down the street. Is Jimin free?”

You hear a harsh sigh from the other end of the line as Jackson replies, “Yeah, but he needs to go get the cake too. I’d go but I don’t think it’s best for me to leave Joon right now, he’s started thinking about why they need a religious ceremony in the first place when he has, and I quote, ‘nothing to prove to God anyway,’ and I’ve only just stopped him from calling the priest.”

“Well, fuck. Tae?” you ask, half-groaning, referring to the third and final groomsman, crossing your fingers in the hope that he might be able to help.

“Needs to be here when the cameraman reaches.”

You look at Miya doing Irene’s makeup and Hyejin in turn fixing Miya's hair, as Irene’s mother unzips the wedding gown from its protective packaging.

Glancing at your own done up face and hair in the mirror and shooting a quick look at the tiny alarm clock on the table, you take a decision.

“I’ll get the cake. Let Jimin do the appetisers.”

“Are you sure? You need to be here for the pre-wedding photoshoot.”

“There’s still an hour to go. If I rush, I’ll be back in time.”

“All right, then. God speed, Y/N, god speed.”

Rolling your eyes at his dramatic farewell, you end the call, morphing your face into as calm an expression as possible before moving towards the others.

“What was that about?” Irene asks warily as she gets up from her seat, hair and makeup fully done.

In as nonchalant a manner as you can, you reply, “Oh, nothing. Just some last minute stuff with the florist, it's all good.”

You grab your dress in what you hope doesn’t look too hurried a manner and step into the toilet, changing in record time. You allow yourself a second to look at your reflection, fixing the strap on your shoulder and giving the fabric a sharp tug at the back so it doesn’t bunch over your ass, before you step back out into the room.

Irene’s climbing into her wedding dress with the help of Hyejin and her mother, and it’s all you can do to not call Jackson and tell him that the cake is mostly unnecessary anyway, so you might as well just not bother.

With a clear of your throat, you say, “I just have to get the cake real quick, so I’ll be going,” and with an apologetic look in response to Irene’s penetrating one, you grab your purse from the table, pull on your flats as fast as you can, and shuffle towards the door, pulling your car keys out.

You throw an ‘I know!’ behind your shoulder in response to Miya's ‘Photoshoot's at 3:20!’ before the door shuts behind you, and you make your way to the car park.

You’ve almost reached the bakery, when you become aware of the possibility that you might meet Yoongi, and you pray that Jin is also there so you won’t have to go through any time-wasting awkwardness.

Maybe it’s because you prayed too hard or because you agree with Namjoon’s philosophy and did the prayer all wrong, but when you enter, you find the bakery empty and quiet. If not for the signboard outside that reads ‘OPEN’, you’d have thought they had closed for the afternoon.

You check the time on your phone.

2:30 PM

Mentally calculating the time you have left to collect the cake and be back at the chapel (45 minutes), you tentatively ask out loud as you move towards the counter, “Hello? Is anybody here?”

You get no answer.

2:32 PM

You really have no time for this. You move behind the counter, hand poised to push open the door behind it, hoping that you’ll find one of the owners, when abruptly, you faintly make out a voice that sounds like Jin.

Inwardly cheering, you’re about to enter the backroom when you hear something that makes you stop in your tracks.

In Yoongi’s deep voice, more frazzled than you’ve ever heard, “I can’t ask her out today! It’s her best friend’s wedding, I’m sure she’s super busy.”

Your breath catches and your palms become clammy. Mentally, you try rationalising that it could be anybody, for self-preservation. Loads of people must be getting married today, and you’re sure you aren’t the only maid of honour who’s been put in charge of the wedding cake.

Behind the door, Jin replies, “You gotta do it soon, I get second hand embarrassment whenever I see you pining. You come back from every session with Jungkook with hearts in your eyes and he’s just her roommate.”

...Jungkook is a fairly common name?

You barely have time to gather your swimming thoughts and rapidly move away from the door, before you hear a low huff and an annoyed grumble of ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it,’ followed by the sound of two pairs of footsteps walking towards you.

You have no time to go back to the customer side of the counter, and trying to look as nonchalant as possible, you pretend to be absorbed in a catalogue that’s kept near the cash register. You hear the door open behind you and turn around, trying to seem as natural as possible.

Keyword being trying. Yoongi looks like a fish, mouth open, eyes widened in surprise. Jin behind him just looks vaguely pleased. You catch sight of your stricken expression in the glass cupboard behind them and mentally punch yourself for looking so obvious.

For a moment, the three of you just stare at each other, nobody moving or saying a word. And then Jin, recovering admirably well, amusedly says, “I didn’t know you could read upside down, Y/N.”

You look down at the pamphlet in your hand and see that ‘Weekend Special!’ is, in fact, upside down.

Face burning, you look back up and stammer, “Uh, yeah, nobody was there and I needed to pick up the cake so I thought I’d just-uh-come behind here and see...,” you trail off awkwardly at the end, refusing to make eye contact with either of them, desperately checking yourself from shuffling from foot to foot like a chastised student at the principal’s office.

Vaguely, you register that Yoongi still hasn’t said a word.

Hurriedly placing the catalogue back on the counter, you scurry to the other side, as a softly chuckling Jin gently shoves a still gaping Yoongi out of the way, and moves to the refrigerator, retrieving a large box from inside.

“The black hatchback parked right outside is yours?”

You shake your head out of your stupor, mind running a mile a minute. Replying to Jin, you say, “Uh, yeah. That one’s mine.”

He walks towards the door, and you know that logically, you should be following.

2:47 PM

Daring to look at Yoongi, you see that he’s shut his mouth, but his expression still resembles your own round-eyed one. Unable to handle the butterflies any longer, you violently throw an arm up, squeak out a swift ‘Bye!’ and spin around, rapidly walking towards the door behind Jin, your dress swirling around your ankles with a whoosh.

Your face is the colour of ripe tomatoes as you unlock the car and open the hatch, only half paying attention to Jin carefully placing the cake box inside.

He straightens up, clapping his hands together in a satisfied motion before turning and looking you dead in the eye.

You definitely aren’t prepared for the words that follow.

“You know, if neither of you do anything, nothing’s going to ever happen.”

And then, like he didn’t just drop that bombshell, he gives you a blinding smile, shakes your limp hand in his, and cheerily saying, “See you at the wedding. Don’t hit the brakes too hard!” he turns around and marches back into the bakery, hands tucked into his pockets, carefree as can be.

You’re in a haze as you move to the driver’s seat, buckling yourself in, head and heart all topsy-turvy.

The blinking digital clock on the dashboard warns 3 PM.

Fuck it.

In a rush, hardly registering what you’re doing, you let go of the seatbelt, not paying attention to the thwack it makes as it hits the side of the car. Throwing the door open and scrambling out, you jog back to the bakery, no doubt looking like a woman possessed.

You push the glass door and briskly walk to where Yoongi’s looking back at you in astonishment from behind the counter, tray full of colourful macaroons in his hands. Your system’s running on pure adrenaline at this point. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Jin giving you a thumbs up and a delighted smile, and strolling to the back room, probably to give you guys a little privacy. A suspicious thump follows and you reckon he’s leaned against the other side of the door, ear probably pressed against it. You’d debate ethics, but really, you’re in no position to judge.

“Hey,” you start shortly, once you’ve reached Yoongi, who’s now placed the tray inside the display counter and is looking at you with a bemused expression.

“Hi! Did you leave something behind?” he asks, eyebrows furrowed.

You open your mouth and shut it again. In a rush, you realise what you’ve done. Like a fool, you try getting something coherent out, but all you manage is a weird cross between a tiny cheep and a squawk that sounds like a dying bird, before you clamp your mouth shut again.

From behind the back door, you hear a stifled chuckle.

Fucker.

Yoongi’s looking at you worriedly, as he kindly enquires, “Are you alright? Would you like some water or something?”

“No!” you shout, louder and more panicked than intended, as he turns around to get a bottle from one of the cupboards on the wall.

“No,” you repeat softer, with a nervous giggle that probably doesn’t do a lot to convince him as he turns around, now looking thoroughly bamboozled.

“Um, okay. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Another chuckle from behind the door.

Ridiculously, in the back of your brain, you can see Jungkook’s dumb grin as he screams, “Fighting, Y/N!”

Well, you’re definitely ready to fight someone.

You take a deep breath in. Shooting a quick prayer to the boss people up there (because that’s always seemed to work so well) and throwing all caution to the wind, you shakily ask, “Do you wanna-wanna maybe get coffee sometime? With me?”

You gauge his reaction, and your heart pretty much swoops as his face clears up and gives way to a wide, gummy smile, however much he tries to stop it from growing. Distantly, you think it makes him look like he’s having a seizure, but an attractive one.

He coughs and clears his throat, attempting to look nonchalant, as he nonetheless enthusiastically replies, “Yeah! Yeah, I’d like that!”

You can feel yourself matching his expression, as a stupid grin fills your face. You’re sure you both resemble right dorks, beaming and blushing like fools at each other, looking pleased as Punch.

Suddenly, a loud shout emerges from the back room as Jin insistently thumps the door. “Just set a time and go, Joon wants to know where Y/N is and what’s taking her so long!”

Flustered, Yoongi looks away, throwing a dirty look behind him as you look at your phone (3:07 PM) and see that you’ve got two missed calls from Irene, one from Hyejin and a grand total of six from Jackson.

With an agitated air, you revert your gaze to Yoongi, who gives you a small laugh as he waves his hand and says, “Go! We can figure it out later.”

You give him an apologetic grin and a cheerful ‘Bye!’ before jogging back out of the bakery, lightheaded.

                                  ________________________

[5:35 PM] Min Yoongi : Good luck. You look nice.

The entirety of the ceremony consists of you torn between paying attention to what’s going on right next to you on the dais and fighting your blush every time you catch Yoongi’s eye in the crowd.

Too busy thinking about his text you had received right before the doors opened, you nearly miss your cue to give Irene the ring.

                                  ________________________

Hours later, at the reception dinner, after the speeches are done, and the guests are dancing, and you can finally breathe, you feel yourself being tugged to the side by Jackson as you step down from the wedding party dais, and into a large, chaotic circle full of Namjoon’s friends. Incidentally, you end up standing right opposite a smiling Yoongi. Next to him, Jin throws you a wink.

Jackson begins introductions and there are ‘Nice to meet you's and ‘It was a beautiful ceremony’s thrown all around.

He finally reaches Yoongi.

“And this is Yoongi - part time bakery owner, part time music producer.”

A grin, a performative hand shake, and a blush from both parties involved, followed by a chuckle. Together, in the same amused voice, with twinkling eyes, the two of you say, “We’ve met.”

~                        

#bts #btsguild #btsbookclub #kwritersworldnet #ultkpop #thekpopnetwork #yoongi #suga #agust d #min yoongi #kpop #fluff #kpop imagine #bts imagine #yoongi imagine #kpop fluff #bts fluff #yoongi fluff #kpop fanfic #bts fanfic #yoongi fanfic #kpop scenario #bts scenario #yoongi scenario #j writes #daechwita #irene #jin #jungkook #jimin

[thejolexgroupchat]

the one where they met in med school - part nineteen

confrontations and loft spaces if you haven’t read part eighteen, you can find it here

(July 2008 cont.)

 The next day was rough for both Jo and Alex. Neither of them got much sleep the night before and Alex realized very quickly that Jo was actively avoiding him when he walked into Meredith's hospital room and saw this disapproving look, on her face.

 "You know?" Alex made a face.

 "Izzie told me," Meredith replied. She huffed and narrowed her eyes. "I can't believe you said that to her."

 "I can't believe I said that to her either,” Alex sighed. “I was angry and when I get angry, I lash out.”

 “Yeah, I know,” Meredith shook her head at him. “Alex, you messed up. Badly. You came for her where it hurts the most. You don’t shove someone’s insecurities in their face.”

 “I know that, Mer,” Alex huffed. “I know that… I was just so—so angry that I wanted her to hurt the way I was hurting. Which now that I say it out loud it sounds stupid because the one I should be hurting is Avery. God, I just want to pummel his face.”

 “Don’t do that,” Meredith warned. “Nothing good can ever come out of that.”

 “I make no promises,” Alex excused himself and left the room. 

 He was on Torres’ service today and would be helping assist on a spinal surgery with her and Shepherd. Alex walked up to the patient room where he was supposed to meet the two attendings and prep the patient for surgery. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Avery present, standing beside Shepherd.

 The surgery would take all day, and Alex was dreading being stuck in an OR with his fellow resident. Alex scowled and glared at Jackson the entirety of the operation. 

 Jackson on the other hand, felt nervous. When he’d woken up that morning, the night before had been a blur. He’d had so much to drink that he was nursing a pretty bad hangover when he walked into the hospital that morning. He hadn’t even remembered the kiss he’d planted on Jo until he watched her skitter past him in the hallway, refusing to make eye contact. 

 He felt bad for what he’d done, because despite what Jo may have been thinking, Jackson wasn’t a bad guy. He was a guy that got a little too cocky after having a little too much to drink and went out in search of hints and clues that hadn’t been there to begin with to make him feel better about trying to make a move on Jo while she was clearly with Karev. 

 By the time the surgery ended, Jackson decided that he needed to talk to Alex once and for all, if he ever wanted the stares burning into the back of his head to stop. Jackson needed to find Alex and apologize. He also needed to apologize to Jo.

 Jackson decided that the latter would probably be easier to talk to than the former. He made his way to the peds floor where he knew Jo had been working today. Jackson maneuvered his way around the floor searching for the woman he’d hoped he hadn’t completely ruined his friendship with. Finally spotting her, Jackson reached for Jo’s arm and pulled her into an empty linen closet.

 “Jackson, listen. I don’t know what you think you saw or felt but I was not—”

 “Jo, it’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Jackson motioned for her to stop talking. “I just wanted to apologize for last night. I’m not usually that guy. I don’t know what came over me, but I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or cause you any trouble. I like you, but I wouldn’t ever try to purposely mess up your relationship. I respect you too much for that.”

 Jo eyed him carefully, “Okay.”

 “Okay?” Jackson tilted his head in confusion.

 “I’ll accept your apology,” Jo crossed her arms in front of her. 

 “Really?” Jackson’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I thought I was gonna have to work a little harder for that, but thank you.”

 “It’s all in the past,” Jo shrugged. “Besides, all you did was open my eyes to issues that were already present in my relationship, so I guess I should thank you.” 

 “For what it’s worth, I think you shouldn’t give up so easily. I know Karev isn’t and I know I wouldn’t if I had you,” Jackson smiled shyly. “Anyway, I’m going to go talk to your boyfriend now, so wish me luck.”

 “Be careful,” Jo warned. “Alex and I aren’t afraid to throw punches for each other.”

 “I will.”

 Jackson and Jo walked out of the linen closet and went their separate ways, each going in opposite directions. Alex—who’d come up to peds to see if he could finally get a moment alone with Jo—witnessed as the pair walked out of the room together. 

 Alex could see Jackson walking towards him. His fists balled in anger at the thought of what could’ve possibly happened in that linen closet. He clenched his teeth and watched as Jackson approached him and Jo walked out of sight. With his blood boiling in rage just like it had been over the previous hours, he tried to let it go, but failed. Swiftly and without even thinking, his fist found its way to Jackson’s jaw. 

 “What the hell, Karev?” Jackson winced while rubbing the impacted area. He felt Alex pull him by his scrub top into an on-call room and didn’t even react when he felt his body pressed against the wall. 

 “You listen here, Avery. You come here acting all snazzy and flirty with your money and your last name and your shiny pair of blue eyes, but she is mine, you hear me? Jo is the best thing to ever happen to me, and you are not going to take her away from me,” Alex twisted his hand around the newcomer’s shirt. 

 “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” Jackson surrendered, putting both his hands up. 

 “Yeah, but you did. And from what I remember from med school, you’re not a bad guy, so I have a feeling that you’re going to measure your words and actions from now on,” Alex said, pushing him away and letting go of the taller man. “Now, I hear you got stuff to do, so get going,” he added, eyeing Jackson as he made his way out the door and closed it just to open it again after a few moments. 

 “Karev,” Jackson called his attention. “Sorry about your girl,” he said before closing the door one last time and walking away. 

 Alex, now feeling a lot calmer than a few minutes before, decided to act mature. Running towards the door, he opened it and chased the other man. 

 “Avery,” Alex called out, making him turn around. “Sorry about your jaw.”

***

 The next few days, Jo and Alex hardly ever saw each other. Partially because Jo was purposely avoiding him and partially because ever since Izzie, Lexie, and Cristina caught wind of Alex’s major screw-up, they’d been intercepting Alex’s every move. They wouldn’t allow him to get more than a hundred feet within Jo’s presence. 

 “Come on, you can’t do this forever. You can’t keep me from talking to her. She’s my girlfriend,” Alex argued with Cristina as she held up a hand in front of him so that he couldn’t walk out of the residents’ lounge to follow Jo. “Look, I know I was an ass, but we share a bedroom and I haven’t seen her in the past three days. She sleeps in Izzie’s room, she comes in to grab her clothes while I’m in the shower, she even took her damn pillow with her. ”

 “No you listen right here, Evil Spawn. Jo has never, ever given you a reason not to trust her and now all of a sudden you assume the worst of her? Because what? You feel threatened by pretty-boy’s presence? Because he kissed your girl? What the hell is wrong with you?” Cristina slapped the side of his head. “Is it so horrifying to think that someone else might want her? Jo is hot and smart and funny and way too good to be putting up with your bullshit.”

 “You think I don’t know that?” Alex exclaimed. “You think I don’t know that Jo could do so much better than me?” Alex let out a sigh of frustration. “I’m an ass, I’ve always been an ass. Jo saw that side of me and still loved me. She wanted me. Which is great and I’m thankful for it because I think she’s perfect. I think she’s amazing and everything any guy could ever want. So yeah, I feel threatened and I get defensive and mean and I lash out because I’m so freaking terrified she’s gonna realize that she could do so much better than me and leave me. Avery is better than me. He’s got the name and the looks and the money. And he’s a good, decent guy. He’s what she deserves. The years we’ve spent together will mean nothing if she finally realizes that there is someone out there that could offer her more than I ever could.”

 “Are you dumb or stupid?” Cristina asked, prompting a scowl from Alex. “No, it’s a serious question. Are you an idiot? Because that might just be the dumbest thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth.” 

 “Oh shut up,” Alex glared at Cristina, walking away from her to sit on the bench behind them. “This is why people don’t tell you things.”

 “Alex, I’m not making fun of you. I’m being serious,” Cristina sat next to Alex, eyeing him for a moment before speaking again. “You may be right, Avery might be everything you’re not but Jo doesn't care about that. There could be a million guys better than you lining up at her door begging her to be with them and she’s always going to choose you. She loves you, idiot. I don’t know why honestly, but that’s the only thing she cares about. She doesn’t care about the money or the name or how much that asswipe tries to butter her up with compliments, she’s only got eyes for your dumb ass. Get over your own insecurities before you push her away.”

 “You make it sound so easy,” Alex sighed. “I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never loved someone so much that I’m constantly worried that I’ll lose them. I’m used to losing people. I’m used to things being temporary and people turning their back on you or getting sick and being unable to help you or themselves. I’m used to all of that crap. But Jo… Jo’s the first person that I’ve ever had that I really can’t lose. I tell her all the time that I want forever with her, I tell her that I want to grow old with her, have kids with her, marry her one day. I tell her those things on a daily basis, but I hardly ever hear her say them in return. Sure she shows it, but it would be nice to hear it sometimes. It would be nice to know that she feels the same way too.”

 Unbeknownst to Alex or Cristina, Jo had been listening in on the conversation from outside the lounge. She had left her ID badge in her locker so she’d made her way back down to retrieve it when she stumbled across the conversation going on between the pair of friends. Jo's heart sunk as she heard Alex's words of worry. She had no idea Alex felt that way. It was true, she didn't say it often, but Jo thought she'd made it clear that all she was waiting for was for Alex to ask and she'd marry him in a heartbeat. She didn't know that he was constantly terrified that she'd find someone better for her--as if that person existed--and leave him behind. She had to do something, say something that left him with no doubts about himself and the love she held for him.

***

The next morning, Jo walked up to Alex and pulled him into a nearby on-call room, interrupting the conversation he was having with Meredith who'd just returned to work. Alex raised his eyebrows in question when she locked the door behind them, "Oh, now you want to see me? After having Lexie, Izzie, and Cristina block me from getting within a hundred feet of you and switching with you so that you’re not stuck on a case with me all week?”

 “Just shut up,” Jo leaned up and grabbed Alex’s face with both hands and leaned in to kiss him. Jo pulled away when she felt him tense up. “Alex, please. Relax.”

 “Is this what you want from me? Sex? Because if that’s all you want, might as well go ask Avery. He’s more than willing to give it to you,” Alex pulled away and crossed his arms. 

 “Stop being an asshole,” Jo shoved him slightly. “God, I brought you in here because I miss you and I wanted to talk to you. Not because I want to use you for sex. I miss your voice and your hugs and your laugh and notes you slip into the pocket of my lab coat when I’m having a bad day and the way you wrap your arms around me when we sleep. But for some reason you think that I don’t care about those things. That I’m just using you to keep my bed warm until someone else comes along. I thought you knew me better than that.”

 Alex had the decency to look a little ashamed of himself as he took a seat on one of the beds, “I’m sorry. I really am, Jo. I was… projecting my worries and fears onto you and that’s not fair to you. Not when all you’ve shown me is love and commitment.”

 “I know,” Jo sighed. “Which is why I’m being much more gracious and forgiving than many people who advised me otherwise.” She sat down beside him. “This doesn’t mean that I’m excusing your behavior. Missing you and forgiving you doesn’t mean that what you did wasn’t wrong. It means that I love you enough to know that we are worth getting through this. After everything, what we have is too precious to just throw away.” 

 Alex spared a glance at Jo, “You’re not mad?”

 “Oh, of course I’m mad. I’m livid and I’m hurt,” Jo replied, causing Alex to wince. “You are my best friend. You know me better than anyone has ever known me. You love me more than anyone has ever loved me. And still, you thought I was capable of betraying you? Of being unfaithful to you?” She blinked away a couple tears. “The fact that you don’t trust me hurt me more than anything. Because I trust you with everything, Alex. Even though it terrifies the crap out of me, I have given you all that I am and trusted you with it. I trust you with my medical decisions, my life, my body, my heart. So yeah, I’m hurt and upset, and I have every right to be. But you also have a right to be scared, because all your life you’ve been told that you aren’t good enough. And I get that, truly. Because for the longest time, I thought the same thing about myself. You know who showed me that I was good enough and worthy of love, though? You. You showed me that. So, now it’s time for me to show that you are too.” 

 Jo placed her hands back on Alex’s face, forcing him to look at her, “You are good enough. You are loved and worthy of every single bit of affection and care. You have the best, most kind, and gentle heart, even though you cover it up and I’m the only one who ever really gets to see it. Not everyone’s like you. Not everyone is good. There is no one who could ever replace you. Not when you take up every single one of my spare thoughts and when you practically hold my heart in your hands.”

 Alex pressed his forehead against Jo’s, “God. I’m a jerk, aren’t I?”

 “Sometimes,” Jo chuckled. “But it doesn’t take away from how good you are.”

 “I don’t wanna fight anymore,” Alex released a breath. “I know I’ve still got things I need to work on and fix, but I don’t want to fight with you. This whole thing started because I was blinded with jealousy and scared I was gonna lose you. The most ironic thing is that for a minute there, I thought it was over. I thought I had really screwed it up this time. And it would’ve been my fault, because my behavior drove you away.”

 “We’re not over,” Jo assured him. “I don’t ever want us to end. I want to die holding your hand like in the super cheesy rom-coms that Izzie and Lexie can watch for hours and sob over.”

 “I do too,” Alex kissed Jo soundly. “Come back to our room. I hate sleeping without you. I can’t sleep without you.”

 “Me neither,” Jo responded. She stood up and extended her hand. “Come on, we have to get to work. But I’ll see you tonight after our shifts?”

 “Yeah.”

***

“Would you mind taking a detour?” Jo said as soon as Alex got inside the car later that evening when they walked out of the hospital. 

 “Why? Do you need me to drive you somewhere?” he looked at her. She could see the tiredness all over his eyes, but was too excited and nervous to back out. 

 “I want to take you somewhere. I know you’re tired, but this is really important to me,” she grabbed his hand. 

 “Okay, then. Wherever it is, here we go,” Alex shot a smile at her. 

 ***

 “What are we doing here? What is this place?” Alex frowned as they walked inside the empty space. 

 “It’s a loft space,” Jo followed him across the room. 

 “Jo, it’s a crime scene,” he turned around, facing her. 

 If he was honest, the place looked worse than a crime scene. It had clearly been occupied by wildlife and probably some of the homeless people he had seen outside, the whole room smelling of urine. He couldn’t really understand why Jo had been so insistent on bringing him here. 

 “Stop. You’re ruining it,” Jo complained, a frown playing onto her lips. 

 “Someone beat me to that,” he chuckled. 

 “Shut up. It’s all I can afford,” Jo stopped right in front of him, arms crossed as she avoided meeting his eyes. 

 “What?” Alex shook his head in confusion, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. 

 “I took everything. All my savings, everything that I had, and it was almost enough to cover the whole thing,” Jo said. 

 “Wait. You’re buying this? Alex stared at her incredulously. 

 “Well, we are, if you want to pitch in. I put in an offer,” Jo looked at Alex nervously, sounding almost doubtful about the words coming out of her mouth. 

 Alex looked around one more time. The space that had previously looked so useless to him suddenly gained a lot more meaning and potential. Still, he didn’t really know how to respond to what she was saying. 

 “This is what I want, Alex. I am very thankful for Meredith. She has been such a good friend, allowing all of us to live with her, but this is what I want. Our own place, for us. I saw this place, and I know it’s not much, and it’s obvious that we won’t be able to live here forever, especially if we ever decide to have a family of our own, but we can make it anything, whatever we want. Because I love you. And I love living with you, but I think it’s time for us to have our own place, just us. If you want that, if that’s what you want too. And, you know, it would make me the happiest person in the world if you did, because there isn’t anyone in the world I’d want to do this with. Hell, there isn’t anyone in the world that makes me safe enough to do this,” Jo paused. “I know I’d don’t say it very often, but I want it on record that I said it twice in one day. I want to be with you until I die. This is a step towards that. I want to build a life and a home with you. So, what do you say?” Jo asked. She was scared, but hopeful he would want to do that with her. 

 Alex pulled her close to his chest and closed the space between their lips. “I love you so much, Josephine,” he said, their foreheads touching while they smiled. 

 “So, is this a yes?” she asked. 

 “This is a hell yes. Let’s make this place our home.”

Did you ever doubt that we would fix it ? let us know what you thought about this chapter and what you'd hope to see later on in the comments below!

#jolex #jolex fanfic #alex karev #jo wilson #the one where they met in med school #jolex au #grey's anatomy #grey's anatomy fanfic #jo x alex #grey's anatomy au #confrontations #loft spaces #meredith grey #jackson avery #cristina yang #izzie stevens #lexie grey

[toomanyfandoms02]

Thoughts - Part 1 // Matthew Gray Gubler x Reader

This timeline is set around 2006 because that's when the actually 2nd season of Criminal Minds was going on. So Matthew is about 26.

Summary - Soulmate AU! Once you turn 18, you can hear some of your soulmates thoughts. And when you meet, your thoughts go silent for 30 seconds. Readers soulmate is quite the character. (Anything you see in bold is the other persons thought.)

Word count : 2.1k

This is kind of experimental lmao, lemme know if you like it :)))

"What was your first soulmate thought y/n?" I got this question often, everyone did. This time it was asked by a new friend of mine, we met in our cinematography class this semester at LAFS ( Los Angeles Film School ).

"I think my story is one of the more fun ones."

"I bet mines better." Her eyes held promise, but I wasn't sure she could beat me.

*It was currently 1:15 pm, and I was waiting patiently for my first soulmate thought. I was with my best friend Marley, we sat in the cafeteria of my college, mind you, surrounded by other people.*

*"What time were you born again?" She had asked the question so many times this hour, by the way she was bouncing, you would think that we were waiting for hers.*

*"1:19 pm for the last time Marley." I giggled, nudging her shoulder. I took a bite of the cupcake she had bought me for my birthday. It took no time for the clock to hit 1:19, I anxiously waited to hear something, anything.*

"Now disclaimer." I told my friend, who I now knew as Alex. "I knew that some people had reported that their first soulmate thoughts were kind of, *loud*. But I can tell you that I was severely unprepared."

*Only 30 seconds after my watch ticked past 1:19, I heard a near deafening screech in my head.*

***"What the fuck?!"** The thought was so obnoxious and loud that I spit the fluffy pastry from my mouth and directly onto the back of another person, holding tightly to my ears, this did not help.*

*"What's going on? What did they say?" Marley leaned over to me, rubbing my back with a horrified look. Not long after, the man I had spit on turned around with a furious look.*

*"Hey I'm so sorry." I choked out, waving a hand at the man. "My soulmate thought was painful." The man rolled his eyes with an angry huff, taking his cardigan off and turning back to his table.*

*"What did they say y/n?!" There she went again, bouncing like a dodgeball.*

*"What the fuck." My eyes darted to hers, narrowed slightly. She furrowed her brows at me. "He literally thought, what the fuck, so loudly."*

Alex was on the floor giggling like a fiend, she held her stomache as if her guts would spill out with so much joy.

"Nope, you're right." She could barely speak between laughter. "I can't beat that." She promptly wiped the tears from her eyes, composing herself. "So you haven't met him yet?" She let out a final sigh.

"Nope. When I meet him, I kinda wanna slap him." A sly smile made it's way onto my lips. "The little shit thinks the weirdest things! I have had to deal with his thoughts for 4 years, and I'm ready for the complete silent bliss when I meet him." I laid my head back on the couch.

**I would really like a fruit roll up right now.**

"Speak of the idiot, he really wants a fruit roll up right now." Alex shook her head at me.

"Maybe he will be funny?"

"We'll see about that. What was your first soulmate thought?"

-

Tonight was Marley and I's 'introduction night.' Similar to a movie night, we have a night every two weeks where we either introduce the other to a new show or movie, alternating turns.

"I think you'll like this one." She plopped onto the loveseat, nearly throwing and spilling the hot popcorn on me while grabbing the remote. "It's a crime show, just started last year so after this season we can just keep up with it. If you like it of course." The show was flipped onto the first episode, it was a man talking about an unsub, or unidentified subject. Then a younger guy walked in, interrupting him.

"Who is that guy?" The words flew from my mouth before I could even think them.

"Spencer Reid-"

"No, I mean his *real* name. He looks *so* familiar." It felt like my brain was eating itself alive, why did he look so familiar.

"I think his name is Matthew Gray Gubler." Marley shrugged, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Has he been in anything else but this?"

"He models a lot. That's probably where you saw him." She pushed some magazines around on her coffee table and threw one at me. "He's on page 16, Hilfiger Jean's." I flipped to the page, seeing his face again.

"Wow, he is something else. I must have just unknowingly saw him in a magazine somewhere."

"I know! Once I saw him on here, I knew you would think he was cute too. Plus, he's a genius. I figured this would be another Peter Parker situation again." She teased, poking at my giant crush on Spiderman AKA Toby Maguire a few years ago.

"Shut up!" I snickered, throwing a pillow at her head. My own thoughts were interrupted by one that was not my own.

**I wish Halloween would come faster.**

"Its literally May." I whispered to myself, earning a weird look from Marley. This is the typical weird thought, Halloween is big on his mind.

I of course ended up loving the show. ~~And may or may not have had a huge crush on Spencer Reid already.~~

I informed Marley that we would most certainly be catching up on the show regularly, making that out new weekly thing for a while.

Though I could truly not get that Matthew guy out of my head, and I had a weird feeling it wasn't just because I thought he was super hot.

Matthew

**Who is Matthew Gray Gubler?**

The thought nearly made me spit out my coffee as I walked through the set. I knew for sure that wasn't my thought.

*No shit sherlock.*

Now *that* was my thought.

The question swirled around in my head, I really wanted to just think,

*I'm Matthew Gray Gubler!*

Just to make this whole process easier. Who knows if she could even actually *hear* it if I did answer her, or that she would believe me.

So lost in my train of thoughts, pun intended, I ran right into a punch cart.

"Holy shit!" The punch came spilling down right onto my khaki pants. I rested my forehead on the rim of my coffee mug. "I'm so sorry Terry, I was really caught up in my head."

"It's alright." He pulled a towel from his back pocket, throwing it onto the puddle that was forming on the wood floor. "Thinkin' about a girl?"

"Yes actually, thinking about my soulmate. Let me help you with that." I kneeled down on the floor, wiping up the spill. "Sorry again."

"It's all good Matthew." He dragged the cart to the opposite side of the room.

**Why can I not focus damnit?! This trip is suppose to be fun. Focus y/n. Focus!**

Y/n! I've never heard her name before. Maybe shes getting closer to me.

I set my coffee on the table of the reading room, pulling my script out and sitting next to AJ.

"You seem out of it today, are you feeling okay?" She tapped my shoulder. "I saw you run directly into the lunch cart." She clearly tried to suppress a giggle.

"How did you meet Nathan? How did you do it?" My script was not slammed onto the table, my hands pressed firmly on top of it.

"Are you worried about soulmates again? Matthew, she will come to you-"

"She said my name!!" My hands flailed wilding in the air. "I heard her think it! This sucks." I laughed a bit at the end, feeling ridiculous and vulnerable. Ask phone buzzed on the table, interrupting my dilemma.

"Well I hate to stop you in the middle of this debacle, but we have a film class coming in to observe, I guess sit was suppose to be a surprise." AJ shrugged with a pity smile, which is my least favorite version of a smile. I dramatically slammed my head on the back of my rolling chair, groaning like a child.

"Come on Gubler, we don't even have to do anything, we just have to act normal so they can observe. Let's go educate some college kids." She stood above me, patting my head and dragging my seat from the table a few inches. I reluctantly stood up and left the reading room.

To be clear, if it were any other day than the day that I found out my soulmates name, I would be totally in the game. I love teaching people, I love being an inspiration, but all I could think about was how close yet how far I was from meeting the love of my life. I shook it all off, physically and mentally, while heading to the set.

*Time to get my head in the game.*

I hope my soulmate heard that and started thinking of highschool musical.

-

"Action!" I held my prop gun in my hand while following Shermar, he proceeded to kick a door down that had a camera on the other side to capture it. The class that was observing sat on the other side of the door, seeing all of the behind the scenes that goes on during filming.

To avoid making direct eye contact with the camera, I often look right past it. So instead of making eye contact with the camera, I made it with a girl.

Then it was silent.

I stopped in the doorway, leading AJ to slam right into me on her way through the door.

"What the hell are you doing Matthew?"

"Cut!"

**You have got to be fucking kidding me.**

We did not break our stare, her eyes wide now with the realization.

*Wow.*

The girl sitting next to her was shaking her shoulder violently, but she sat unfazed.

"Can you excuse me for a second?" Bobby Roth, our director for the day looked at me like I was dumb, inevitably giving in.

"Whatever, take 5 guys."

I immediately waltzed past the cameraman and over to, who I could only assume, was my soulmate. The girl next to her was promptly slapping her arm and squealing like a pig, but she was giving her quite the death stare.

*She's my kind of girl already.*

Right as I thought that, she looke duo at me with a large grin and a tilt of the head.

*Shit.*

**Damn, even cuter in person.**

"Thank you." I couldn't suppress the automatic pep in my step meeting her. "I'm Matthew, you must be y/n?" It came out as a question because I was worried I would be wrong, and embarrass myself.

Which I've done, many times.

"You know my name?"

"I uh, I heard you think it." I pointed to my head, nodding awkwardly.

"You are so weird." She laughed, which made my face reddened more 3x more than I'm sure it already was.

"What?" I managed to murmur out.

"Well, you just think about weird stuff, mostly Halloween though." She was slowly smiling more as she spoke of me, which made my heart skip a few beats. She was so much more beautiful than I had pictured her. Her eyes held every intelligent thought that I had ever heard from her, and I knew right then that the eyes were the door to the soul. "Now that I'm here," she finally stood to my level, poking at my chest. "Do you wanna do a couples costume? This year?" She did a cute half shrug, as if I would say no.

"Oh my God, you really are my soulmate." I pulled her into a hug, a tight one, never wanting to let her go now that I'd found her.

"Alright guys! Let's go!" Bobby motioned everyone back to the set.

"Yeah, get out there *Spencer*." She patted her hand on my cheek. I didn't know if I hoped that she *did* see or *didn't* see how much I already liked her on my face, but I could feel the admiration spilling from my features.

"I- I'll talk to you after this!" I stumbled backwards from her, going back to the set and awkwardly running my back into the cameraman.

"Can't wait!" She waved with a flushed face, sitting back down next to her friend who was now shaking both of her shoulders violently.

*This is the best day of my life.*

**Same.**

---------

I've got a few more Soulmat AU ideas if you want more! I just don't know if theres any demand, so LEMME KNOW.

#mgg #criminal minds #spencer reid #dr spencer reid #mgg fanfiction #mgg x reader #mgg fic #mgg imagine #MGG #matthew gray gubler #matthewgraygubler

[rebelwrites]

Chapter Seven: Broken, Weak and Vulnerable

Summary // Chapter List / Masterlist

Join The TagList Here 💜

The sound of the metal cell door, creaked open. Slamming against the wall with a bang. Brooke didn’t dare look up. She didn’t want to look at him. The bastard that took her. Backing against the wall, she pulled her knees to her chest to try and keep what little warmth she had left. Her body shook with fear as she heard his footsteps getting closer to her.

“No need to be scared, my little petal” he smirked as he crouched in front of Brooke, running a blade over her soft skin. “It’s only me”

She didn’t do anything, frozen with fear as she tried to think of happy thoughts.

“Stop fucking around bitch” he snarled with an evil glint in his eyes “I’m bored and it’s time to fucking play” without giving her time to move he grabbed a fist full of her hair, yanking her to her feet and slapping her in the face. “When tell you to do something you fucking do it”

She felt him drag her into his play room, the first thing she saw was the knife that would leave her with a nasty reminder of this day for years to come.

Brooke sat bolt upright in bed, screaming. It all felt so real, she could feel the coldness of the blade, she could smell the damp that lingered in the room. Her bones felt cold and her body ached. The nightmares were getting worse. Pulling her knees to her chest, she tucked her head in.

She was alone.

“It was just a dream” she kept mumbling to herself “you are safe Brooke”

The sound of her door opening made her jump and hide under her duvet.

“Sweetheart” her mom whispered sitting in the bed, Brooke took a deep breath before crawling into her mothers arms. “You are save darling, it was just a dream”

Her mother’s heart broke as her daughter sobbed in her lap. There was nothing Hazel could do to soothe brook so she tried the one thing that always calmed her daughter down, she started playing with Brooke’s hair.

Forty minutes had passed and Brooke’s sobs had finally stopped.

“Tell you what, let’s go get you a hot chocolate. It will help you sleep” Hazel smiled, kissing Brooke’s head.

Climbing off the bed, Brooke grabbed her cigarettes before pulling on her hoodie. Rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie. Taking a deep breath she followed her mom. As they were heading downstairs all they could hear was Xavier and James shouting at each other. Pulling the sleeves of the hoodie over her hands Brooke tried not to show the fear she was starting to feel.

She knew things were too good to be true here.

“Calm the fuck down Xavier” James shouted.

“Why the fuck should I?” Xavier screamed “it’s not like anyone gives a shit about how I’m feeling”

“We do fucking care Xav but going to a bar to get yourself beaten up is not the fucking answer” Alex snapped “or did you forgot the last time you went on a self destruct mission. And needed fucking emergency surgery”

“Come back to me when you feel like a fucking failure” Xav snapped pulling at his hair.

None of them saw Brooke and Hazel standing in the doorway, Brooke hid her shaking hands in the pockets of her hoodie as Xavier went over to the bar, throwing the bottles across the room. One hit the wall next to Brooke making her scream and jump out of the way. Her breathing became erratic as everyone looked over to her as she tried to control her breathing. The last time some lashed out like this Brooke was next in line. In a matter of seconds she felt like a vulnerable eight year old again as the tears started to fall.

Were all men like this?

She looked into Xavier’s eyes and she could see the defeat and regret in them. Gone was the sparkle that met her on the first day she arrived. But as well as the defeat there was anger, lots of anger. His face was covered with dried blood alongside an open wound on his forehead. Brooke couldn’t stand there any longer, she took a couple of steps backwards before she ran.

“Bumble wait” Xavier shouted after Brooke.

“Xav just leave her” Hazel sighed “she needs space right now. She’s not long woke up from a nightmare”

Brooke had no idea how long she had been outside, she was down to her last cigarette, and she couldn’t stop shivering. Her clothes stuck to her body from the rain. She knew she should probably head back inside but she could bring her body to move. It was like she was frozen on the spot from fear. Placing the last cigarette between her lips she fumbled with her lighter trying to get it to spark but it was no use the rain had got to it and completely fucked it.

Taking a deep breath as she held the lighter tight in her fist, she was just about to launch the lighter when a tattooed hand appeared holding a lit flame. She didn’t even need to look up to know who it was. She knew the tattoos.

As the wind picked up, her shivers got more violent and her teeth started chattering. Brooke pulled her hoodie tighter around her to try and escape the cold but it was no use, the garment was soaked. All of a sudden she felt the warmth of another jacket being placed over her body. The jacket was heavy from the leather, the smell of the leather and spice made her take a breath. She stayed silent, she was afraid she would say the wrong thing and end up getting beaten.

“Bee I am so sorry you saw that” Xavier whispered leaning back against the tree.

He was met with silence. But he didn’t know what he expected. In the moment he saw Brooke standing there, he saw how scared she was, scared of him. And that crushed him and brought him back down to reality. He hated himself right now for making her feel so scared.

“I never in a million yeats meant to scare you, I really didn’t” He whispered “It’s just knowing that someone hurt my best friend for so long and I wasn’t there to protect you, makes me so angry. Angry at the person who did it and angry at myself because I failed on my promise of protecting you”

Brooke could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks, as she silently sobbed. This was the person who was next in line to be president of the club yet in this moment he sounded so defeated, so weak and so broken .

“Look I get it, you don’t want to talk” He whispered as his hands found the zip of his jacket, zipping it up around Brooke. “I just wanted you to know how sorry I am”

“Xav, I know I am broken, and maybe too broke to repair,” Brooke said, finally looking up at Xavier, her voice barely above a whisper. “But the last time I saw someone flip out like that, I was next in line. I was their punching bag”

She could see the tears that had formed glistening under the moonlight, she could tell he was processing what she just said before he pulled her into his arms, tightly holding her as she buried her face into his chest.

“I promise and I swear on my goddamn life I will never hurt you, I will never lay a finger on my bumble bee” He whispered, nuzzling his face into her wet hair. “You aren’t broken but these things take time and you will come out of this a hell of a lot stronger”

“But what if I can’t” Brooke sobbed “It's been years since it happened and I am still so afraid”

“Sweetheart you need to let yourself heal, you need to stop letting the feelings bottle up inside of you. If you continue to carry around the bricks from your past, you will end up building the same house” He said “You are home now, you are safe. I know you blocked a lot of your childhood out but I will help you through this, even if it takes all my life. We will take things day by day”

Brooke felt a gentle kiss being placed on the top of her head as she snuggled into Xavier’s body trying to warm herself up thinking he wouldn’t notice. But he did.

“But first let's get you back inside” He whispered “You are freezing and soaked and I don’t want you catching a cold”

Somehow he managed to stand to his feet with Brooke in his arms, holding her bridal style as she rested her head against his chest letting the sound of his heartbeat soothe her soul and being the perfect lullaby she needed.

#rebel writes original #can love save a life? #romance #motorcycle club #motorcycle club romance #love #loss #fear #writing community