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ashintheairlikesnow · 3 years

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Misread Details, Part Two

CW: Described death of whumper, BBU, implications of pet whump, references to noncon, dehumanization, sadistic whumper

Part One: Nanda | Part Two: Brute | Part Three: Robert

The Unsolved Murder of Henry “Brute” Hanlon and the Box Boy Killer

r/LetsTalkTrueCrime

•Posted by u/oshaycanyousee

2 weeks ago

I’m back, r/LetsTalkTrueCrime! I really appreciated the questions and discussion under my last write-up, and a few of you really encouraged me to keep working to provide a part two to my Serial Killer Box Boy series, so here it is!

In Part One, we looked at the mysterious death of Nathaniel “Nanda” Benson, who died of cardiac arrest due to an undiagnosed heart defect (and likely head trauma played a part) and was found at the bottom of the stairs inside his California home. The only valuable possession missing from his property was his legally-purchased Box Boy, who fled the city wearing Nathaniel Benson’s shoes and using his money to buy a bus and then train ticket.

The last confirmed sighting of the runaway Box Boy (and Benson’s possible killer?) was in Red Hills, California, a large-ish city a couple hours south of Benson’s house by train.

Questions remain around Benson’s death: did he suffer cardiac arrest and fall down the stairs? Did the Box Boy push him, with the shock of the trauma and injury leading to the heart attack that killed him?

Is the Box Boy merely a witness to a tragic but natural death, or the prime murder suspect?

And most importantly: If he wasn’t guilty, why did he run?

Less than a full calendar year after Benson’s death, the question of where the Boxie went after Benson died was answered… but even that answer only opened up more questions, and the sudden death of a second man places even more uncertainty into the story of a Boxie who might simply be an innocent victim - or who could be a serial killer whose makes a victim out of those who give him shelter.

Which leads us to the story of Henry James Hanlon, known to nearly everyone - including his wife - as “Brute”.

Henry Hanlon was born in a small town in Texas, but moved to Red Hills, California after finishing a stint in the Air Force.

His parents, James Hanlon and Estella Hanlon, maiden name Brickers, had had their first child, Henry’s older brother William “Bill”, right out of high school, born six months after their wedding day. Henry came three years later, and his sister Roberta “Bobbie” one year after that.

Henry was a perfectly normal, cheerful little boy, always toddling after his older brother and trying to join in the games of the older kids in town. His parents recalled him as the quintessential “middle child”, always resolving disputes and quietly getting things done. He received his nickname of “Brute” in fifth grade, when a classroom bully was harassing a female friend of Henry’s and Henry decided to take action. The only information I could really hunt down on this was some old school records that I found on a message board, and I can’t really verify if they’re real, but they suggest that the bully was sent home injured and Henry received a three-day suspension.

After that, it seems, anyone and everyone - even teachers - called Henry Hanlon “Brute”, and he never seemed to mind.

He received perfectly average grades, enlisted in the Air Force, served without distinction but without any significant incidents, and afterwards he moved out to California, where he settled into Red Hills (then a city with a thriving industrial district that was slowly beginning its slide into something rougher) and took a job with a manufacturing company, working in their warehouse.

“Brute” dated around a bit, but it wasn’t until three years after his move that he met the woman he would marry, Ellen Patricia Barry. She was a few years younger than him, and they met at a local bar that both were known to frequent. One of Brute’s former coworkers told police that Brute was big into pool and poker, both of which he would engage in when he went to the bar, and that he met Ellen during one of the poker nights, and that Brute stated that how easily she beat him was one of the reasons he was interested in her romantically.

Ellen claims they first spoke while playing pool, not poker, and also claims she’s never played poker in her life. Why Brute would have told his coworkers a different story is unclear.

They dated for about a year before they wed at Grace Baptist Church on a sunny summer day in 20XX. Ellen’s father gave her away while Brute’s little sister was the maid of honor. A year later, Brute’s daughter Elizabeth was born, and a couple years after that, their son Daniel.

The Hanlons lived a charmed life - they owned a cute three-bedroom cottage home (bought and given to them by Ellen’s parents as a wedding gift) in a good part of town with a little white fence around the property and a yard big enough for the children and dog to play in. Ellen was part of the local PTA and active in her church, and Brute himself had the appearance of a man totally content with everything he had.

But Brute Hanlon had a secret.

Ellen continued to believe he was employed by the manufacturing company, but he actually left his employment there years before his death. Instead, he seems to have transitioned into making his money “under the table”. Ellen wouldn’t discover any of this until after his body was located… in a secret house he’d never told her about, in one of the roughest parts of Red Hills.

Without her knowledge, Brute purchased a two-bedroom home with cash directly from its previous owner that was badly in need of repair in the Pauls Mill neighborhood. Once a “company town” from the 1930’s - 1950’s that was absorbed into Red Hills as it grew in the 60’s, Pauls Mill today is the kind of neighborhood where everyone knows if you belong there, or don’t, and it’s best if you belong.

Brute performed a few very cursory repairs to keep it livable, laid down some new carpet, and then used it as a kind of secret base for the unsavory activities he didn’t want Ellen or the children to know about.

While his family believed he was at work at the factory, Hanlon was in fact hosting poker games, selling illicit narcotics and unlicensed firearms, and generally making quite a bit more money than he had with legal employment entirely under-the-table. He would spend his day making connections (and money) through these activities, then go home right at 5 pm sharp to his loving family, eat dinner at 6 pm, help his kids with their homework and hear about their day, and settle in for an evening playing the loving husband and doting dad.

Somewhere during this time period, Brute told Ellen he was setting up a “poker night” with his friends again, now that the kids were school-aged.

What he did instead was drive down to the corner of Holt and McCormick streets, known to all locals as the Red Hills “red light district”, and pick up prostitutes, usually simply meeting with them in his car, but occasionally taking them to a nearby motel.

After his body was found, police showed his picture around to a variety of the individuals who make their living at Holt and McCormick, and more than a dozen locals immediately recognized him.

Some described him as a regular customer who wasn’t particularly special or notable beyond the simple fact that he never tried to renege on payment and could be relied on to always be looking for someone on a particular night of the week… but others, almost entirely male, said he could be violent. A few described being injured enough that they had to seek medical treatment after meeting him. The same individuals stated that he insisted on using dehumanizing and insulting language to speak to them during these encounters, and that he was often unable to perform unless he did so.

One individual, who gave his name as “Mix”, mentioned that the last few times Brute had engaged his services, he had brought along a collar and insisted Mix pretend to be a Box Boy.

During this time period, Brute continued to be an active, involved, and loving parent.

He was home right on time every night except “poker night”, attended his chlidrens’ recitals and baseball games on the weekends. He often took them to the Red Hills Zoo, local parks, and even did a weekend trip to Berras to see the Berras Aquarium, stay overnight in a hotel as a family, and then visit a redwoods park before returning home.

Six months before his death, Brute’s visits to the red light district abruptly stopped. Instead, he apparently met with a local prostitute, engaged his services, and took him home… for good.

The best record we have is that one woman, Needie Brandt, remembered seeing Brute leading a shorter, angular young man to his car one night, and described the young man as “one of those runaway Boxies, collar and all. Poor thing was half-starved”.

Runaways, especially Romantics, are picked up by police from time to time in Red Hills. Most Romantics don’t really know any other way to survive, so prostitution is a common way to make ends meet. Needie said the young man had been seen around the area for a couple of weeks, right alongside the rest of the working people in the red light district, and that after this one night she saw Brute Hanlon lead him into the car, she didn’t see him again.

Asked if she remembered a name, Needie only shrugged and said that even if she did, it wouldn’t be a real one. Which is probably a good point.

Somewhere in here, Brute began to date outside of his marriage while his family believed he was out with friends playing poker. He took dancing lessons with one Susan Krieger, had a serious relationship with a Lucy Graham, and was apparently occasionally taking a Natalie Dorn out for dinner.

Ellen was never informed about these out-of-wedlock interests.

Brute’s family knew nothing. When his eldest son went to state with marching band his freshman year of high school, Brute Hanlon was right there cheering him on.

Then, just two days later, he presumably went right back to brutalizing the Box Boy he was keeping in his secret second home.

We don’t have a record of what exactly transpired within the house after Brute took the runaway Box Boy in. What we do know is what the police found later on.

On October 18th, 20XX, around midnight, Ellen Hanlon called police to report her husband missing after he did not return from his regular poker night. His car was located in the parking lot of an abandoned FoodMart, but a friend of Brute’s came forward to say he often parked there and carpooled with friends when going out.

None of Brute’s possessions were inside, and it didn’t appear the car had been touched by anyone but Brute himself when it was dusted for fingerprints or signs of DNA. Brute’s friends who knew about his secret activities weren’t telling, and Ellen and the children didn’t know anything about their seemingly loving husband and father’s double-life.

At first, the trail seemed like it would go cold, and investigators were frustrated that they had so little to go on.

Then, on October 29th, 20XX, Brute’s neighbor (who apparently asked that his name not be given) called the police department complaining about how the small two-bedroom house next door had begun to smell “like something died in there”, and that he hadn’t seen his neighbor leave or return in days, which was very unusual.

When police arrived, the front door was unlocked. Officer William Keys, the first one inside, later described the smell as “unmistakable. I knew exactly what we’d find the second we walked in that door.”

He was right.

What they found was the bloodied and decomposing body of Henry “Brute” Hanlon, lying on his back in the middle of a small unremarkable living room, on a dirty and stained carpet. He had been viciously stabbed more than fifty times. One even went so far into Brute that there was an exit wound through his back. Medical examiners would later state that at least seven of his wounds would have been directly fatal, but that he had died within the first few and most of the wounds were technically post-mortem.

The murder had been committed by someone who had a very personal reason for the killing. Investigators believe this individual was “absolutely enraged”.

Next to his body was the murder weapon, along with a set of buckles and strips of leather that mystified the officers. These were eventually identified as modified leg braces, but rather than straightening bent or injured legs, they forced the wearer to keep their legs at nearly right angles, which would ensure they had to crawl rather than walk. They appeared to be homemade.

Bloodied smears and footprints led the officers down a hallway and to the bathroom, where there was evidence someone had showered, changed clothes, and then left.

The same neighbor who informed police about the smell also remembered seeing, on October 16th or 17th (later determined that it was likely the 17th, the day that Brute did not return home from “work”), a young man wearing an oversized coat, sweatpants, and a too-large t-shirt walk out of Hanlon’s house and down the street. The young man was on the short side, the neighbor said, had an angular face, and a visible scar at the corner of his mouth and another along the side of his face. He had the collar of the coat flipped up, and the neighbor doesn’t recall if he wore a collar or not.

He had dark eyes, and short but shaggy dark hair that seemed to have been cut hurriedly and unevenly, and he waved at Hanlon’s neighbor without pausing or speaking as he walked past.

Tests on fingerprints and DNA located within Brute Hanlon’s secret second home would reveal that the Box Boy who once ran from Nathaniel Benson after his death was the exact same one who ran from Brute Hanlon after murdering him. The Boxie’s fingerprints were all over the murder weapon… and everywhere else, too.

Within Brute’s home, more knives were found, along with what looked like a badly-crafted homemade whip and some other supplies. A few of the things investigators found appeared to be essentially identical to what was found in Nathaniel Benson’s home. Other things were different (“animalization” was mentioned in some of the reports, but what I’ve been able to find is seriously vague for some reason).

Possibly related, a series of dog leashes purchased from a local pet-supply store were found throughout the home, but there was no evidence of an actual dog. In the home’s main bedroom was a perfectly normal queen-sized bed that was clearly Brute’s, with a small side table, a large dresser, and an attached bathroom.

There was absolutely nothing outwardly out of the ordinary, besides the room being very plain and impersonal. Makes sense, since Brute almost never slept there.

In the second bedroom, however, there was army-style cot with a thin blanket and sheet, three folded shirts on the floor, two sets of bloody metal handcuffs hanging off the cot’s frame at the top and bottom, and a bucket next to the bed. Two metal bowls, clearly of a style meant to be a dog’s food and water bowls, were next to the door. One still had water in it. The window was painted and nailed shut, and bars had been installed over the windows.

Investigators determined the bars were on the house when Brute Hanlon purchased it and had been installed by the previous owner. No reason for that installation was ever given.

Investigation revealed trace amounts of evidence of blood, but nothing much. However, the living room and dining area both showed poorly-cleaned bloodstains that were much older than Hanlon’s murder, including discolored patches on the walls.

A contract for a 24/7 “master/slave” style relationship was found in the top drawer of the dresser, signed ‘Pet’ at the bottom, and with Brute’s name alongside it. However, both signatures match Hanlon’s handwriting, and the Boxie is not believed to have actively signed it, as he would be illiterate at best. Plus, Box Boys are not legally allowed to enter into any contract, anyway, since they can’t understand obligations at that level, so even if he had signed it, it wouldn’t have been considered remotely valid.

I mean, not that those contracts are legal, but... you get my point.

Also located in that drawer were more than one hundred photographs showing the Boxie in a variety of compromising situations and positions. Several of these photos had Brute himself clearly visible in them, and a few had other individuals who have since been identified as Brute’s associates in his more illicit activities.

Interrogations of those associates led to more than seven further arrests for illegal gambling, the production and sale of illicit drugs, and illegal weapons sales. Those interrogations are also how we know about what Brute Hanlon was up to in-between Little League games and Girl Scout meetings.

Those associates claim that Brute kept a “secondhand Box Boy”, muzzled him so he couldn’t speak whenever guests were over, and that often ‘poker night’ simply turned into a game where the assorted guests and Brute himself repeatedly assaulted the Boxie. The associates claimed they thought the entire thing was consensual, but frankly… given the overwhelming evidence that the Boxie had to be kept restrained and was often seriously injured by these assaults... that’s doubtful.

Ellen and her children, who had previously been very visible and spoke often to local news stations about Henry’s disappearance, withdrew after his body was found and his second, secret life revealed - and have never given a single public statement or made a public appearance since.

Ellen moved her children out of Red Hills, moving back in with her own parents, briefly, in northern California. Where they went after that is unknown, but they appear to have left the state and Ellen may have changed her surname. Investigators are firm in their belief that Ellen knew nothing about her husband’s secret life.

I would give my right arm to know what his son and daughter think about it, and if they ever suspected what their devoted dad was up to when he wasn’t at home.

So, what happened to the Boxie after he left the house and disappeared down the block from the witness who saw him?

In short… no one knows for sure.

After murdering Brute Hanlon and cleaning off the evidence that must have been all over him, the Boxie simply fades away. He could have been anywhere, doing anything at all. There is a brief sighting of him on CCTV footage at the local bus station, where he is in line to buy a ticket… and then abruptly looks up, apparently noticing the camera and looking directly into it, then turns and walks quickly away.

The footage is grainy, but the Boxie does appear to be wearing his collar.

He isn’t seen in Red Hills again.

Instead, he reappears one more time before his final murder and disappearance… more than a year later, in a little town right along the border with Nevada.

Part 3 will go into how the investigation into the death of a quiet little oddball named Robert Weber reveals a basement full of skeletal bodies. But our Boxie isn’t the cause.

Instead, Robert Weber’s murder solves a series of related murders police had been stymied by for more than a decade, and a Box Boy who may have been meant to be Weber’s next victim instead turned accidental vigilante with a final killing of his own.

Or maybe I should say, his final killing so far.

@astrobly @finder-of-rings @burtlederp @whump-tr0pes @raigash @eatyourdamnpears @orchidscript @doveotions @pretty-face-breaker @boxboysandotherwhump @outofangband @whumptywhumpdump @whumpfigure @thehopelessopus @downriver914 @justabitofwhump @butwhatifyouwrite @newandfiguringitout @yet-another-heathen @nonsensical-whump @oops-its-whump @endless-whump @cubeswhump @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @whumpiary

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justcallmenikki7 · 4 years

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These Strands Led Me to You

Pairing: Kim Taehyung x Reader

Summary: having a soulmate who likes dying their hair the colors of the rainbow can be irritating, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Warnings: fluff, some angst? (like anxiousness and doubts), and teal haired taehyung because lets face it, we are all hoes for a teal haired taehyung

W.C.: 1.8k

Notes: ooof, I am almost done with this semester.

BTS Soulmate Series Masterlist

At the age of twelve you woke up with dyed pink hair… on picture day. First off, you were not even close to being happy, you were pissed. You blamed your younger sister, wanting to take out your anger and confusion on someone. So, once your parents walked in on your strangling your sister to death, the first thing they noticed was your pink hear – automatically knowing what has happened. Once your father pulled you off of your sister, separating your sister and you, he explained what soulmates were.

“So, I have the same hair color as my soulmate?” You asked in your innocent twelve-year-old way.

Smiling down at you lovingly, your father nodded. “Yes, Y/N/N. Whenever your soulmate, or you dye your hair, they, or you, get that same hair color.” He explained further, answering your question.

Your happy face turned into a frown after a moment, scaring your father. “But… what if I could never find them? What if they are all the way in Greenland! Or on the other side of the world? What if we never…meet?” Your voiced cracked, emphasizing your worry.

The feeling of your father pulling you in tight to his chest, you felt yourself calm down. “The thing about soulmates, especially this one my love, is that you have the ability to feel them when you get closer because of your hair. Every time you guys get closer, or father, your hair changes. So, when you guys get closer, your hair begins to become your natural hair color. Every time you guys get father from one another, your hair stays the color that they dyed, but with a darker tint.”

“What if we both have the same hair color?” You asked, staring up at your father with wide eyes.

“If that happens, then the color that represents your love, or relationship, will become your hair color for a day, being a sign of your guys founding of one another.”

“Oh…” you drift off, “I hope it’s blue because blue is pretty.”

Throughout the next ten years, you can confirm that your hair has been every color of the rainbow and much more. Sometimes, you love waking up to the new hair color, but sometimes you hate it because of the day it happens. Like the time you woke up to your hair being purple on the day you have an important meeting that day and you had to look professional. It was hard to explain to your boss on why you had purple hair. Thankfully, though, professional businesses give a pass on those who have certain soulmate types that interfere with their job.

But the one thing that bothers you is that you never once in your ten years have seen your hair become naturally its regular color in any way. It has always been the hair color that either you or your soulmate has dyed. Your worry that you felt that day you learned about soulmates has surfaced frequently now.

“Hey, look at this!” Your coworker and best friend demanded, throwing a paper ball at you when she looked over the wall of your guys cubical.

“What?” You yawned tiredly, looking up at your best friend with tired eyes.

“So, you know that KPOP band, BTS?” She asked, earning a nod from you, “Well, one of their members, Kim Tae- uh, V, has the exact same hair color as you. Like, tint and everything to the T.”

“Wait, what?!” You exclaimed loudly, earning judgmental looks from your coworkers. Ignoring them, you stood up from your sitting position. “You better not be lying, Jisoo.”

“I’m not! Look!” She showed you her phone screen which had the picture of the KPOP BTS member that could be your soulmate.

“Holy. Shit.” Your eyes were wide, finding the male very, very attractive. “This is probably a coincidence. I am not that lucky,” you denied, trying to not get your hopes up.

The feeling of a sharp smack on the side of your head alerted you. “Don’t be a debby downer. He, however, the fuck you pronounce his name, V, is your soulmate. It is impossible to fake, or try to get that exact hair tent, color, and style by getting that done by a hairdresser. He is your soulmate cause look,” she zoomed in on the picture, getting a blurry, but kind of clear view on the picture. “He has the exact pattern in your hair right where it hangs over your ear.”

You could not believe it.

You have found your soulmate – technically.

But a feeling inside of you felt like your heart has just enraptured and that you found home. You do not understand why you feel like this, or maybe you do. But how can a picture make you feel such ways? It is not as if you were staring right at him in person, something that made your heart clench in realization.

“NO WAY! They are coming to tour in the U.S. next month! This means that you will begin to get your natural hair color!” Jisoo exclaimed loudly! Ignoring the ‘hushes’ from your coworkers. “There’s two tickets left for the one in LA on May 3rd! This can be your chance to meet him!”

The nervousness that you are feeling has begun to make you feel dizzy. The thought of never meeting him, or if it is hopefully him, is wearing on you, something that Jisoo definitely noticed. “Okay girl, let’s get you home and I will buy those tickets, and everything will be okay.”

Taehyung was leaned back in the jets seat, Airpods in his ears while he played music. The sun set was always beautiful while they traveled over the sea, a feeling of calmness that was brought to him as he watched it. He was too focused on the sunset to even notice that a strand of hair on the right side of his head was beginning to change to his natural hair color. The action did not go unnoticed by Jungkook.

A huge bunny smile made its way onto his lips, already knowing what was happening to his best friend. Not being able to contain his excitement, Jungkook launched out of his seat and onto his hyung.

“What the fuc—”

“-YOUR HAIR IS CHANGING COLOR HYUNG!” The yell attracted attention from everyone, excitement evident on everyone’s faces.

“Wait, what?” Taehyung asked, not trying to get too excited. “Please tell me that you are not lying Jeon Jungkook.” The feeling of crying took over Taehyung once Jungkook took a photo of the strand of hair that was changing. “It cannot be. They’re close.”

“I am happy for you, Tae. But what if they cannot come on tour with us once you find them?” Jimin asked, asking the question everyone is not wanting to hear the answer too, especially Taehyung.

“Then I’ll accept their answer and still find a way to do anything I can to see them. I do not want to pressure them into anything.”

Even though Taehyung was hurt to answer that, he still wanted to respect your decision. But the selfish part of him was hoping that you would do so.

In your bed, you stared out of your window, thinking the same thing. You have already talked to your parents and boss and told what could possibly happened. You are willing to do anything to be with your soulmate, even if it means leaving your home. Once you find your soulmate, you will not bear the thought of having to not see them for another long period of time once you find him.

As you stood in the long line outside of the Staples center with Jisoo, you could not stop the emotional crying of happiness that you are feeling at your natural hair showing. Jisoo had done a lot of research to find the three girls who had front row seats to the concert, directly in front of the stage where Taehyung could easily spot you. You were thankful that they were understanding, the three girls actually soulmates, so they could understand the emotions you are feeling.

“What if he does not see me?” You asked worriedly.

“He will. All soulmates get a glow to them when they first meet. Even though you have the soulmate type of when you get closer your hair becomes natural, and you can feel it, you always get the glow of your guys color of your relationship. So, he will be able to see you, and you him.” Mikayla, one of the girls who allowed you the seats to the front row explained. “Do not stress, it will be okay.” She reassured you softly, giving you a smile.

“Thank you.” You breathed out. The line began to move, signaling that the doors have opened. “Alright, let’s see if this happens.”

Once the boys came out on stage, you could feel a electricity in your hair. You knew that your Taehyung could feel by the way he began to get excited on stage, the look of excitement and eagerness on his face. The music has stopped, an action that brought commotion to the crowd.

“We are sorry for the slight delay, but our Taehyung is about to find his soulmate.” Namjoon explained, the happiness evident in his tone.

Screams of happiness filled the arena, ARMY excited that their Good Boy is about to find his soulmate. Jumping off of the riser, Taehyung began to look closely into the crowd. You wanted to jump on stage and go to him, but you knew that it would not end well due to the guard blocking you.

Your hair began to tingle even more by each step Taehyung got closer to you, and your skin began glow a Purple color, a sign that caught the ARMY around you.

“SHE’S OVER HERE! SHE’S OVER HERE!” ARMY began to yell, catching Taehyung and the boy’s attention.

“I’M RIGHT HERE!” You screamed, tears streaming down your face at the fact that you are seconds away from being in your soulmate’s arms.

Jumping off of the stage, the guards and the ARMY made room for him to get to you, creating a path that was very cliché in your thought, but you knocked it out of your head once the box smiling boy got in front of you. The both of you could feel your hair turn back to its natural color, quickly turning into a purple color, a tell-tale sign that you both are soulmates.

“It’s you.” Taehyung stated, voice filled with awe and happiness. “It’s really you,” you could hear the crack in his voice, a sign that he is close to crying.

“I’m Y/N,” you greeted.

“Y/N.” Taehyung tested, loving the sound of your name and you loving the way he said it. “Ca-can I kiss you?” He asked, wanting to desperately feel you in his arms and on his lips.

Nodding your head, Taehyung pulled you in close, arms wrapping around your waist. His face was close to yours, a blush forming on your face at the closeness. Smiling back, Taehyung bent down and connected your lips, screams filling the arena from both the ARMY and the boys. The both of you smiled into the kiss, basking in the happiness the both of you are feeling.

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bqstqnbruin · 4 years

Note

20 with Vince?

20. *walks in* Hey guys. What the- okay. *walks out*

Happy blurb weekend y’all

You were never a fan of your birthday. There was no real reason, it was just a day you would rather spend following your normal monotonous routine rather than making a big fuss about it. You were past the age of major milestones like 13, 16, 18, or 21, so why should you make a big deal out of another day? Vince tried to convince you to do something the last three years you were together, failing to do anything other than letting him take you out to dinner, something he already did frequently since his cooking was awful. This year, he didn’t even bring any plans up, just kissing you good morning and again when you left for work.

You go through the normal routine, going to work, doing your job, having lunch. After lunch, you find a box on your desk, Vince’s handwriting on the note attached. ‘I know you don’t want to make a big deal, but happy birthday. Love you, Angel - Sunshine.’ You smile at the box, rolling your eyes at the present thinking it was going to be some sort of gag gift. Opening it, you find a gold necklace, the chain purposefully twisted. The charm was an angel, the body a teardrop cut of your birthstone, the head and wings small diamonds. You gasp at the sight of it, putting it on immediately.

“Wow,” your coworker, Jen says, seeing the jewelry around your neck. “That’s stunning.”

“It’s from Vince, for my birthday.”

“Wait! Today’s your birthday! Happy birthday, why didn’t I know?” she starts yelling, you desperately trying to shut her down form causing a scene.

“I never make a big deal about it, Vince I guess just wanted to get me something,” you brush it off, praying that she doesn’t do any more than just wishing you a good day.

Instead, she sits down on your desk, knocking off some of the papers in the process. “What does he have planned for tonight?”

You shrug, picking up the scattered papers, “I’m assuming other than the necklace, nothing.”

“What?” she shrieks, ignoring the shushing that you keep doing. “He’s doing nothing?”

“I don’t want him to.”

“But it’s your birthday,” she whines.

“It’s just a day.”

The two of you start bickering, going back and forth about whether or not Vince needed to be doing something for today. You’re interrupted by a delivery person standing over you, a bouquet of your favorite flowers with our name on them. ‘Don’t come home until 5 pm - Sunshine’

“Who’s Sunshine?” Jen asks, reading over your shoulder.

“Vince. Can I please work now? I need something to do until I’m allowed to go home.

She leaves you at your desk, finally some peace for you to panic over what he could possibly be planning for the night. You weren’t keen on surprises, and knowing Vince, that was exactly what he had planned.

Close to five, leaving the office, you call Vince. “Whoever is in our home better leave before I get there.”

“I can’t believe you’re kicking me out of our home when I didn’t do anything wrong this time.”

“Vince,” you whine, getting in your car.

“Can’t you just trust me?” he asks. You swear you heard someone shush someone else in the background, groaning at the idea of the surprise party he was clearly throwing you. He probably invited his teammates, they would get drunk, and then you would be left cleaning up the next morning before work while Vince stayed in bed hung over.

“I guess,” you say, “I’m a few minutes away.”

“Love you, Angel,” he says.

“Love you, Sunshine.”

You pull up to your home, Sammy’s car parked a little bit down the street, Jen’s not far behind his. Both of them had to be there. This was a surprise party. It had to be. Vince was so bad at planning things well that he couldn’t even plan a simple surprise party without you figuring it out from the slightest tip. You gather your stuff from your back seat, going up. You take a deep breath, unlocking the door. “Hey, Vince,” you say, only to be interrupted by some of yours and Vince’s friends yelling surprise, Vince appearing sheepishly from behind the door. “What the- okay,” you say, turning around to leave.

“No, no, no, come on. It’s small,” Vince says, taking your stuff from you and bringing you back inside. “It’s the people you care about the most, and all we’re doing is eating dinner together. Please stay?” he pouts, his lip sticking out as he wraps his arms around your waist, “You deserve one night where everyone you love celebrates you.”

You sigh, looking at your closest friends standing in the living room, glasses of wine in everyone’s hand, the most incredible smell coming from the kitchen which told you Vince ordered dinner from somewhere he probably knows you love. “Fine,” you say, him pressing a kiss to your cheek, “This is the only birthday you’re allowed to do this for, though.”

“Works for me!” he says, leading you to the table that was covered in your favorite foods. Your friends had all brought small presents, Jen buying you your favorite wine because Vince apparently didn’t think to tell her about the party until earlier that day, after your conversation at your desk, Sammy got you a shirsy they had Blais written on the back to spite Vince, along with a gift card so you and Vince could have dinner at your favorite restaurant, John getting you a signed copy of one of Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook, Natalie got you tickets to see the Cardinals play the Yankees, your favorite team against the team that your dad’s family loved.

Last was Vince, even though he already bought you flowers and the necklace, he slid one last box in front of you. A small, velvet box that held a diamond ring, the diamond bigger than the ones in the necklace. “What is this?”

“I wanted a way to make your birthday a little more enjoyable, so what better way than asking you to marry me in front of those who loved you most.”

“You’re proposing?” you ask, completely shocked.

“I thought I was the dumb one,” he laughs, earning a swat on the hand from you while he holds up the ring in front of you, “What do you say?”

“Of course,” you tell him, your friends screaming as Vince slides the ring on your finger.

#vince dunn #vince dunn imagines #nhl #nhl imagines #hockey #hockey imagines

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usuccc · 4 years

Note

Please talk more about that au, villain Alfred is a guilty pleasure 🙏🏻

*sweats* You and me both! Oh man, where to begin. First of all, thanks for the interest! It means a lot. I can’t be concise, so I’m gonna put this under a huge ‘Keep Reading’ for whoever is interested. Like for real there is a whole ass essay below that cut. I left some stuff out cause it’s already a ridiculous length, but I got the gist of it.

Leave it to me to take a silly gag au and go completely off the rails with it. It’s honestly hilarious gg me.

This au takes place in some fake big city with dark synthwave-y aesthetics where the skies are constantly gray in the daytime from smog and pollution. Over the last ~20-30 years, Jones Enterprises has risen up as the most influential and powerful company in the United States, with their headquarters in (fake big city’s name). They have hands in many industries, spanning the manufacturing, retail, and technology spheres. Over the past 5 years, especially, they’ve seen massive, nearly unbelievable growth, and unfortunate events or sell-outs have conveniently fallen upon their competitors, allowing them to create monopolies in several industries. They also have the government in an iron grip and no one is willing to stand up to them for fear of the consequences. Most people mysteriously feel compelled not to confront them anyway, especially those who live closest to their headquarters.

Francis was an employee for Jones Enterprises’ main headquarters. He saw how overworked and underpaid his colleagues were. Bogged down by overwork in his first year, he eventually tried to get away with slacking as much as he could. After witnessing one of his close coworkers have a heart attack and almost die from the stress of working there, he changed gears and started speaking out on behalf of his colleagues. Some of his motivation came from feeling partially responsible for what happened, and he wanted to evoke positive change across the company instead. He tried time and time again to organize strikes after his attempts to organize a union were completely shattered. The turnout was very little in the beginning, and soon fizzled out to just him. He stubbornly pressed forward on his own anyway and was fired for it. Finding other work turned out to be impossible, his firing acting as an unemployment death sentence. It was not uncommon for employees fired from Jones Enterprises to be shunned from ever finding a decent job again, and Francis’s situation was even worse given the bad publicity he received from his strike attempts.

Ready to resort to desperate measures, Francis started seriously considering moving back in with his parents in France and figuring out a new plan. Jones Enterprises had gained significant influence in Europe too, so there wasn’t a guarantee he wouldn’t experience similar problems there.

Before he could buy a plane ticket, he was visited by Kiku Honda, a stranger with an unassuming appearance. Long story short, Kiku had come to the US with the alias as a simple tourist. His family was presently responsible for safekeeping a secret and powerful magical artifact with mysterious origins.

The artifact was one of two powerful stones, both of which were in existence since the beginning of mankind. These stones were antitheses of each other, representing and contributing to major moral conflicts throughout history. They were both drawn to chosen human hosts who were destined to face each other. The pink stone, which Kiku was in possession of, gained and gave magical power through love, equality, and hope/healing. It formed a positive, nurturing, non-invasive connection with its host, and gave them the power to protect and inspire hope in others. The other (purple) stone gained and gave magical power through greed, subjugation, and fear. It gave great wrath and influence to its host, whose powers would grow exponentially over time as the two stayed connected. This stone would physically embed itself in its host’s heart, eating away at their mind slowly to bring out the absolute worst in them and shave away at their morals and inhibitions, until they were nothing but a heartless monster. Tendrils would spread out from the stone throughout the host’s body, growing in size and number the longer they were connected.

Kiku had long suspected that the unnatural growth of Jones Enterprises was connected to the purple stone. He had gradually implanted connections in Jones Enterprises and had been monitoring the situation for clues of a potential host. The senior leadership of the company was very hard to crack, however, and the CEO had significantly limited his public appearances in recent years, but Kiku would not let it rest. Any of the higher ups in the company could be a candidate for suspicion. While investigating, he heard of and even saw some of Francis’s brazen attempts to challenge the seemingly invincible company. He was impressed with Francis’s ability to stand up to an insurmountable foe, especially given the influence of the mysterious compelling force that kept most others in the city silent. He wanted to get information from Francis about his experience at Jones Enterprises and to offer him an opportunity to rebuild his life for his bravery. The stone, which Kiku always kept on his person, ended up choosing and bonding with Francis to both of their surprise, and boom Magical Strike was born.

-----

Now onto Alfred and Arthur. Alfred is the son of the founder and CEO of Jones Enterprises and his ex-wife. His parents divorced when he was still a baby, and his father did not remarry. Alfred’s mom remarried right away and had another son, Matthew.

In his home life, Alfred often felt neglected and overlooked compared to Matthew, whom his mom and stepdad preferred and doted on. His birth father ignored him in favor of growing his company as well. This caused Alfred to act out at school and extracurricular activities, always overshadowing Matthew whenever possible and rubbing it in his face. He often got in trouble at home later for it. When Alfred got a little older, he frequently snuck out after these fights and went somewhere to be alone. One night, he walked down to the neighborhood park and saw another boy alone by the swings where he usually liked to go to mope. This boy was a few years older than him and muttering angrily to himself. Feeling a sort of weird camaraderie for this other pissed off dude, coupled with the fact he’d never seen him before and was curious, Alfred took the plunge and went over to talk to him. Alfred and Arthur’s first meeting was a little rocky, but the two quickly found themselves warming up to each other. Many coincidences found them meeting in the same park after a bad day, and the two eventually bonded and made a thing of it. Alfred found that with Arthur he could open up and be more authentic than he let himself be with his other friends.

By the time he hit high school, Alfred emotionally detached himself from his mom/stepdad, and tried to be a little nicer to Matthew, although their relationship was never close. He and Arthur still met often outside of school, and Alfred tried to reach out to him at school too, but Arthur limited those interactions due to his unfavorable status as an irritable loner. Alfred continued to seek out other people’s attention, forming a ton of superficial friendships with his classmates. He became obsessed with being number one at everything he did and getting everyone to like him to patch up his residual feelings of loneliness and inadequacy, and also to hopefully impress Arthur, whom he secretly had a crush on. Excelling in his sports clubs, and even skipping a grade in his academics, Alfred felt like things would be okay if they kept going the way they were.

Then Arthur abruptly confided halfway into Alfred’s freshman year that he was moving back to England that year after he graduated for family reasons. Alfred didn’t take the news well, and when the time came for Arthur to leave, it hit Alfred hard. They promised they’d keep in touch via phone and online, but that did little to comfort him and his other shallow friendships often made him feel worse. The feelings of loneliness and inadequacy returned tenfold. It was around this time that Alfred was contacted for the first time by his birth father in years, asking to meet and catch up. Alfred readily accepted, not taking a moment to think it through in his low emotional state.

Alfred’s dad was getting into some weird shit since the divorce. He’d been putting obsessive efforts into expanding his company, making strategic partnerships, attending all kinds of rich, bougie events for networking purposes, and exploiting his workers to maximize profits. Despite his efforts, his returns were decreasing and the existence of some key new competitors put him in a tough spot for future growth. When conventional methods didn’t appear to be making any progress, Alfred’s father started hanging around some wealthy, sketchy social circles. It’s through a series of events with these groups that he learned of and obtained the purple stone. After seeing it reject and devour an unfit host before his eyes, he decided he was in desperate need of its supposed power, but he couldn’t risk using it on himself in the case he was judged to be unfit. He had to use it on someone inconsequential if things went wrong, but at the same time malleable, so he could ensure they used the power to further his goals.

Alfred’s dad put on an act when Alfred arrived, making it seem like he wanted to bring Alfred back into his life, raise him up like he should have been doing all those years. Alfred soaked it up like a sponge, and his dad appeared to follow through on his promises, engaging with him and frequently making secret visits so they could spend quality time together. After a whole year of building Alfred’s trust, his dad was able to convince him to put the stone to his heart, assuring him that only he could do it and he trusted Alfred to make their company and the lives of so many people who depended on it great. The stone embedded itself in Alfred’s chest, causing him to pass out from the pain. When he woke up, still in one piece, his dad was able to calm him down and convince him to keep it a secret, even from the people he was closest to.

-----

Some other tidbits of info:

Arthur and Alfred did keep up communication after he left for England, and he considers Alfred his closest friend. Life got in the way plenty of times, though, and they couldn’t always keep up the most consistent communication. Still, they did what they could and were able to meet in person a few times even. Arthur obtained a degree in England and worked his first job there. But after that, he moved back to the states and got a job at Jones Enterprises, thrilled to surprise Alfred about it. They have a heartwarming reunion. Alfred, himself, graduated high school early, got accepted into an Ivy League college on a scholarship, received his degree in finance and business management due to his piece of shit dad’s wishes, and was being directed by his dad to start using his powers of influence on their competitors. At first, he justified to himself that the outcome would be good and that the competitors he was going after were bad people—which some of them definitely were—but over time, he found himself doing things he never would have before (to unhappy employees for example), caring less and less about the people that were impacted.

-----

So yeah, the main events take place about 10 years after Alfred becomes the host for the purple stone, having plenty of time to grow his power and lose himself to the stone’s influence in secret. When Francis makes his debut as Magical Strike, Alfred starts infusing some of Jones Enterprise’s key weapons tech with his magic and sending people after Francis, who is still learning his abilities. Then, in the latter half of this arc, Arthur becomes the main antagonist against Francis, having just scratched the surface of what’s really going on with Alfred and thinking (in denial) this will somehow help him. At the beginning of the second arc, there would be growing tension between Alfred and Arthur when Arthur can’t explain or keep excusing Alfred’s actions anymore. Alfred would lose control and almost hurt Arthur, whom he had taken the most care to hide his darker side from, which would cause Arthur to join forces with Francis, desperate to find a way to get the purple stone out of Alfred and save him somehow. Alfred mcfuckin loses it when he finds out.

#hi i'm al and i have a kink for mind control and betrayal followed by healing bye #my token chaotic evil alfred but it ain't his fault #there is so much angst in this au #but there's a positive leaning ending dw #francis: why do i hear boss music #like legit arthur's betrayal scene is imprinted in my head frame for frame #i wanna draw it but it would have to be a comic why do all my thoughts come in comic form why #magical strike au #al's aus

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myheroacademiashorts · 5 years

Text

Heartbreak - Part 1

Prompt: After overhearing your boyfriend admit that he’s cheated on you with another, you try to move on as best as you can; with the help of one of your closest friends, who is also the guy crushing on you without your knowledge.

Pairing: ShinsoxReader, with BakugouxReader (ex-boyfriend, RIP)

Rating: (Attempted?) Angst and Slight Fluff

Words: 3,569 (lololol 69)

Part two? Hahahahaha yeah whatever......... Unless?.....

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

Some days, you’d wish for the sky to fall. Usually you’d want that to happen when small occurrences took place; rain instead of sun, tripped and scraped your knee, forgot about a homework assignment the day it was due. Small problems. Nothing deadly serious.

You never expected to actually want to die. Or at least feel like you did.

“Hey, (Y/N), isn’t that your boyfriend over there?” One of your co-workers nudged your shoulder as you placed an order ticket into the kitchen, snapping it into place on a turntable wire rack. You swiveled your head to the pointed direction, eyes wide and a warm smile growing on your face. You hadn’t told Bakugou you were working today, instead lying and telling him you were going shopping with your mom, because you didn’t want him to notice the extra hours you were putting in… Especially with his birthday right around the corner, and you know that he’s been eyeing a new gaming system. The exact system you planned to buy for him at the end of this week.

He had that familiar scowl on his face as he slumped down into a chair, the face of his companion hidden by one of the many plants placed around the restaurant you worked in. The table was right by a tall window, light streaming in and hitting your lover’s handsome face perfectly. A warm feeling settled in your stomach, and with a cheesy grin you moved towards him, as if pulled by a string. Then, he spoke just as you were about to swing behind a wall to surprise him.

“I can’t keep lying to (Y/N). It’s fucking killing me.” You froze, hand over your mouth as if you were afraid that your breathing would give away your position. You pressed your back flush against the wall ad continued to listen. “Fuck, I didn’t want this to happen! How the hell do I even tell her?”

“It’s better to tell her straight-forward instead of keeping it a secret. You shouldn’t even have kept it as long as you have. Either way, she’s going to be pretty upset.” You’d recognize Kirishima’s voice anywhere, even when it wasn’t full of his cheerfulness and bubbly nature as usual. Instead, it sounded sad.

“Duh, you idiot! Of course she’s gonna be fucking upset. I didn’t do something small, like forgetting to get her flowers or accidentally blowing up her homework. How the fuck do you tell someone you cheated on them with one of their friends?”

You nearly choked on air in shock. A gentle hand grabbed your arm, and in a panic you wretched away, glancing up to meet a familiar pair of violet eyes. “Shinso.” You breathed your friend’s name out in relief, glad it was him instead of another co-worker of yours. The pair of you had been friends since the Sports Festival your first year, despite your differences; while Shinso was normally very quiet, you were the extrovert of your class, always aiming to talk to everyone you stumbled upon and almost always being able to get along with them. It was probably the one reason that you were able to even come remotely close to Bakugou, let alone close enough to date him. You bit down on your lower lip to stall it from quivering.

“I heard everything. Are you okay?” He placed his hand on yours once more, and this time you didn’t push him away. Slowly, you nodded, and looked up to meet his face with a glassy gaze and fragile smile. With both hands, you rubbed furiously at your eyes, cursing the tears away and looking at Shinso, determination replacing your sadness. As well as a shit-load of anger. A lot. “I’m okay! Hey, is that for table 23? Let me take it for you.” You chirped out in false happiness, spotting one of your fellow employees exiting the kitchen with a tray. You’d recognize Bakugou’s order anywhere; extra-spicy curry, so red that it looked like fresh lava. Your co-worker beamed at you as she handed you the tray in thanks, not noticing the deadly look you shot at the waiting table.

“Let me take that for yo-”

“Really, Shinso, it’s my pleasure. Just watch me.”

You plastered on a smile as you made your way to the table, Bakugou grumbling as he looked out of the window while Kirishima stared at the table’s surface with remorse. You caught the tail end of their conversation as you approached. “For the record, Mina was the one who kept coming on to me, so it wasn’t my fault when she kneeled down and-” You practically slammed the plate down in front of Bakugou, cutting him off. Both boys snapped to attention, two pairs of crimson eyes widening at you. “Oh, what a surprise! What are you two doing here? Bakugou, didn’t you tell me you were oh-so-busy training today?” Your voice was sickly sweet, deadly to any diabetic and sugary enough to give cavities.

“(Y/N)? I thought you were with your old hag today?” There was an underlying fear in his voice, which was strange to hear from Bakugou. Although not entirely unpleasant, especially since you knew you were the reason for this emotion.

“No~ope, that was a lie! So, you and Mina, huh? Tell me, was it worth it? How was she on her knees, hm?” You grinned at him, yet there was malice in your (E/C) eyes and poison on your tongue as you spoke. For once, Bakugou was at a loss for words. “Y-you heard?” Kirishima piped up nervously, twiddling his thumbs in his lap as he stared at you. You turned to him. “Oh, yes. Every word!” The happy facade was starting to wear you thin, but you continued to play the part. “Great idea for you two to come gossip at the one restaurant where your girlfriend works, and not at the other dozen down the street. A couple of Einsteins, right here.” You laughed dryly.

“Babe, let me explai-”

You glowered at him darkly, the smile dropping from your lips. “Oh, my mistake. I meant ex-girlfriend. Because you and I? Done, over, no relationship between us. Capiche?” You ran a finger over your throat, as if to bring the words to life. “I don’t want to ever speak to you again, understood? From this day forward, you’re dead to me. I’ll pack whatever belongings I have of yours tonight, and someone will drop them off to you tomorrow.” You spun on your heel, taking a few steps away from the silenced table, before turning back to them. “Thank you once again for stopping at (R/N) Restaurant. A waitress will bring you some to-go plates. Now fuck off.”

You turned away from them once more, hearing Bakugou growl in frustration as he shoved his chair back to reach out for you… Shinso stepped in his path, roughly grabbing the hot-headed boy’s wrist with his usual cool expression still on his face. “I believe that it would be best for you to leave now.” Shinso said. His voice sounded deadly, and at this point multiple other customers had turned their heads to the commotion. Even the manager, a sweet old lady who hated unnecessary drama, had been watching the interaction from the beginning and also stepped forward beside Shinsou, mimicking the same response as him.

Bakugou’s burning gaze met with yours - full of anger, sadness, guilt - before Kirishima finally grabbed his shoulder and steered him to the exit, apologizing the entire time. They even left cash on the table beside their steaming plates of food. As soon as the pair had exited the building, everyone’s shoulders seemed to slump in relief.

You manager hobbled to you, concern etching her features. “Are you alright, sweetheart?” She asked, and you replied with a weak smile. A few other coworkers held the same expression, all-too-familiar with Bakugou’s fiery temperament. As well as the fact that they also heard he cheated on you, after many months of being in a relationship. You hated the weight of their gazes, of their pity.

“I’m fine! If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go borrow the restroom for a moment.” You kept your composure with a smile as you twisted past worried gazes, quietly entering the bathroom. Silence followed you, a few whispers that you couldn’t make out trailing as well. It wasn’t until the bathroom door shut behind you that you took a deep breath, eyes darting to make sure that the two stalls were empty, before sagging to the tile floor with a bubbling sob. You were hurt; of course you were. Your heart felt as if it was breaking to pieces, shattered and unfixable. He was not only your first boyfriend, but also your first love. You loved that temperamental teenager, even if you shouldn’t have. You had planned to tell him so on his birthday, and the thought made another painful cry erupt from your lungs.

God, you felt like shit.

You clung to your knees, chest heaving as you let the tears stream down your face. You couldn’t seem to calm yourself down, which was even worse. Panic began to claw at your throat, and you tighten your hold on yourself, willing for someone to help you. To help ease the pain, if possible.

A knock rang out from the bathroom door, and instinctively you sucked in a breath, ceasing your muffled sobs. “(Y/N)?” You recognized Shinso’s voice, always so even in almost every situation. When you didn’t respond after a moment, he opened the door. Almost immediately he spotted you, huddled in the middle of the room, your usually bright (E/C) gaze filled with a cornucopia of emotions; sadness, frustration, conflict, anger. So much anger, and you had no idea what to do with it. The two of you stared at each other silently, before Shinso finally shut the door behind him to instead sink down to you. You tried to plaster on a smile once more, as if to wear the mask of the girl you usually were; happy, bubbly, always there to lift one’s spirits. The action made Shinso frown. “C’mere. Don’t hold it all in.” He opened his arms to you, and without hesitation you vaulted yourself into his chest, tears resuming as you sobbed once more. You clung to his shirt as if your life depends on it, hands balling into fists and no doubt wrinkling his black button-down. Not that he cared. At that moment, the only thing he cared about was you. He wrapped his arms around your shaking shoulders, nose buried in your hair and holding you close. “Fuck that guy. You deserve better, way better than any scum like him. You’re the whole ocean when he’s only a pebble on the shore.” For a moment, Shinso felt cheesy for saying anything. Much of his intelligence on romanticism was from soap operas and rom-com movies (not that he’d ever admit to watching either, mind you), yet he didn’t know how accurate the scenes were to real life. However, when a small laugh bubbled form you, he knew he must’ve done something right.

You lifted your head to look at him, eyes sparkling and a small, genuine smile finally overtaking your lips. There was still evidence of your sadness lingering, yet much less than before. “Shinso…” You hesitated on his name, and he felt his heart jump up for a moment after it passed your lips. “... Was that a quote from Love By The Sea?” His cheeks burned, and you laughed when you realized you were correct. Shinso didn’t even care one bit that you were technically laughing at him; instead, he stared at you in wonder, indigo eyes wide in awe as he took in your tear-streaked cheeks, blinding smile, absolutely everything. And he had the urge to lean down and press his lips to yours… But he knew that wouldn’t be the smartest action. Especially since you just broke up with your boyfriend, oh… five minutes ago, maybe? Ten? Probably less, or maybe even more. He honestly couldn’t keep track of time with you beside him, and he wondered if that was a good thing or not.

“I didn’t peg you for the romantic type.” You continued, leaning back into Shinso’s chest as your sniffles began to fade. He continued to sit in silence, instead rubbing one hand on your back while the other caressed the back of your neck, playing with a few strands of the baby hairs that resided. It was calm between you two, the only sound being the music that played overhead through a small speaker. Finally, Shinso broke the silence. “Okay now?” He asked, looking down at you. At least you weren’t crying anymore. After he asked the question, he felt you stiffen in his arms as you contemplate your emotions. Were you really okay? No. But were you better than before? Much. “For now. Thank you, Shinso. It’s kinda embarrassing that you had to see me so dramatic.” You laughed dully at your own remark. You both leaned back to look at each other, Shinso’s attention jumping all around your face, and the hand that had been by your neck came up to wipe away a stray tear. He was incredibly warm, and it was then that you noticed how close you were to one another. You laughed awkwardly once more, untangling yourself from him and making a move to stand. Shinsou was as quick as lightning, getting up first before offering you a hand. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He wrapped his hand behind his own neck at this point, a habit that he usually reverted to whenever he felt embarrassed or shy. Another smile graced his lips. “If you ever need anyone, I’m here for you. Don’t forget that.”

You heart warmed at his words, your cheeks following in pursuit. “Jeez, my hero.” You teased, knocking his shoulder lightly with your hand and you looked at yourself in the mirror. Your cheeks had a stained trail left behind, ruining what little make-up you had put on before work. Make-up meant for Bakugou, who you were planning to meet up with after. A dark look crossed your face as you thought of the heartbreaker once more, and felt another wave of sadness coming up. Shinso noticed as well, and grabbed ahold of your attention once more by making eye contact with you through the mirror. “Stay here for a second.” He muttered, disappearing out of the door. Less than a minute passed by before he returned, carrying your backpack and his own. “Manager said we could take the rest of the day off and to not worry about it. Let’s go.”

Slightly in a daze, you followed Shinso out of the bathroom and into the main area, noting a messily scrawled OUT OF ORDER sign on the women’s door; no doubt the purple-haired boy’s handwriting. Shinso shot a small wave to your manager, who demanded you to feel better or she’d “really put some spice in that meat head’s curry next time he came in.” The thought made you giggle.

You followed Shinso in dead silence for a bit, who still held on to your backpack as he walked forward with intent. “So… Where are we going?” His only reply was a quick grin behind his shoulder at you, before grabbing your hand and pulling you into a convenience store. You didn’t even notice that Shinso had grabbed a basket until he began to pile things into it - chips, candy, plastic-wrapped pastries - all while still clinging to your hand. He turned to you. “Any requests?” He asked, as if commenting on the weather. You were quiet, pushing the purple-haired boy to squeeze your hand. “It’s on me today. Whatever you want.” Your chest bloomed at his words, and with a goofy grin you dragged him to the frozen aisle, grabbing pints and random bars of ice cream.

It was deliciously comfortable with Shinso beside you, and it didn’t bother you one minute as the two of you continued to hold hands, swinging them playfully as you made your way back to the dorms. You even forgot all about your stupid ex, up until you were standing in front of Alliance’s entrance. Weakly, Shinso attempted to pull his hand away from yours, not wanting to surface bad rumors, but you didn’t let him. You tighten your grip on his hand, enjoying the warmth and confidence that it emitted for you. For a quick moment, he flinched, not used to having such physical contact, before quickly relaxing to your touch. He then remembered how you two were walking earlier hand-in-hand, and he had to fight back a rising blush, especially when he realized just how much he liked the interaction. You looked over at him with a smile. “My room okay?” You asked, earning your friend’s silent nod in return before yanking open the door and tugging him along with you.

The common room of the dorms was mostly empty, with only a familiar tuff of green hair peeking up from behind the couch cushions; and where Izuku went, Ochaco followed close behind. When you entered the building, his head immediately snapped to attention, green eyes darting to you. From his side, a second pair of eyes emerged, and you recognized your friend’s large brown eyes and pink cheeks. “Good afternoon, you two.” You sung out, leading Shinso into the kitchen and to the fridge, where you began to place the ice cream to cease it from melting any further.

“Hi (Y/N), Shinso.” His voice was weak, and Ochaco perked up when she noticed the purple-haired boy beside you. “What are you two up to today?” Her voice was soft yet excited, earning an impish grin from you.

“Oh, you know. Just hanging out, planning to watch some TV and pig out on carb-filled snacks. And you two?”

“Pretty much the same.”

Shinso kept quiet during the conversation, his calm eyes drifting between you and the couple perched on the couch. You still clung to his hand, noting the clamminess that had arose. From his hand or yours, you couldn’t tell, yet Shinso enjoyed the warmth that came from it, no matter how much he knew he wasn’t supposed to. Izuku’s eyes flitted to your joined hands, hesitation crossing his features as he debated his next words carefully. “So… I heard what happened. With Bakugou. And in case you were wondering, he isn’t here.”

You tried to keep your face as neutral as possible, batting away the annoyed frown that threatened to overtake your features. “Yeah. Unfortunate about how everything went down, but nothing I can do about it now, right? You know what they say; there’s no rest for the wicked.” Izuku nodded at your response, while his girlfriend regarded you with pity-filled eyes. “You’re way too good for him anyways, (Y/N)! What a scumbag.” She muttered, and although Shinso had told you something similar before earlier, her words made you smile. “Thanks, Ochaco. You’re right. Maybe tomorrow night, we can have a sleepover or something? Maybe invite the other girls too?” She nodded her head enthusiastically, and continued to shout you words of encouragement as you made your way up the stairs.

Shinso had never been in your room before, despite the countless times you had been in his to study and hang out. He couldn’t imagine your room; would it be bright and colorful? Dark and moody? Or more plain than his imagination can come up with? He wasn’t able to contemplate it any more as you shoved open your bedroom door, closing it softly behind him.

It was definitely not what he had in mind, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, he automatically fell in love with your bedroom. It was a mix of everything that reminded him of you, from your rock posters to your flowery bed sheets to the multitude of novels that were shoved on your overloaded bookshelf. As soon as you entered the room, you dropped Shinso’s hand, much to his disappointment, and instead went to light a candle that sat on your desk. A flood of cinnamon and apple filled the room after the wick was finally lit, and with a sigh you sagged down onto your floor, patting the spot beside you as you faced the television. “Oh, come now. I don’t bite unless you ask me to.” You flashed Shinso a teasing grin, and with a light chuckle he slid down beside you, one knee pulled up and the other left to stretch out. He set the two bags of goodies in front of you two and began to unpack them as you flipped through the channels.

“Anything you’d like to watch?”

“Whatever you’d like is fine by me.”

You hummed in approval, landing on an anime show that you’ve never heard of before as you relax your shoulders and nabbed the closest candy bar. Thank god that Shinso was beside you, and for a while you once again forgot about the hot-headed hedgehog you’d have to deal with later; instead, focusing on the welcoming company of a certain violet-eyed boy, his arm pressed against your own and your head resting on his lean shoulder like it belonged there.

Part 2 can be found [here]!

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jowritesthingss · 4 years

Text

Un-Convention-al

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Pairing(s): Logince (Logic | Logan + Creativity | Roman)

Rating: Teen (for swearing and Remus being Remus)

Content Warning(s): some swearing, a couple of typical Remus-like comments (nothing too bad here tho), food

Length: 3,679 words

Brief Summary: Soulmate September, day one! While at a convention, Roman ponders his rather unconventional soulmark. And maybe, just maybe...he might find the person whose name is encoded onto his arm.

TS Masterlist + AO3 Links

“Heyy, Spock!”

Roman rolled his eyes as his brother raced over to a black-haired, pointy-eared cosplayer. This had to be the stupidest thing he had ever done, and this wasn’t the first time Remus had dragged him into weird shit, so that was really saying something.

Watching as Remus spoke excitedly with the dude, Roman couldn’t help but wonder why he had allowed his brother to drag him to one of his nerd convention thingies. The only acceptable thing about this was that this Captain James T. Kirk character was obviously exactly like him, so even if he was acting as some geeky TV show character, at least it was a valorous protagonist, he supposed.

Roman tapped his foot impatiently, looking around the hotel lobby at all of the booths advertising anime and mango and cartoons and whatnot. Yeah, yeah, he was supposed to be supportive of his brother and whatnot after everything, but couldn’t he have held off the supporting thing until tomorrow, at least? Roman could’ve—should’ve—been across town, meeting that famous soulmate linguist guy that was in town, but nooo.

Remus snagged the cosplayer by the wrist and dragged him over, grinning madly underneath his facial prosthetics. Which, of course Remus had to choose one of the weird characters to cosplay—what was his name? Wolf? Wharf? “You two match! We gotta get a picture!”

“Very well.” Sighing and rolling his eyes, Roman acquiesced, moving over to the poor kid. He slung one terra-cotta arm around the kid’s shoulder, striking up a pose. Best to let Remus have and do what he wanted without fighting too too much; then maybe he’d get tired sooner and they could leave sooner.

Remus backed up, bringing out his phone to take the picture. “All right, say tribble!” Remus called to them.”

“Say what?” Roman puzzled, while the cosplayer said, “That is highly nonsensical and—”

The flash of the camera interrupted them both.

“Fuck yeah,” Remus enthused. He looked appraisingly between Roman and the other cosplayer, and nope, Roman did not like that look one bit. Remus always got that look when he was up to no good. “Say, Spocksie,” he drawled, “if you’re not meeting up with anyone, wanna hang with us today?”

“I could’t possibly intrude in such a manner,” Spock tried to politely decline, weakly attempting to disentangle himself from Roman.

Wait but no, that was actually a good idea for once. If this guy stuck around with them, Roman wouldn’t have to deal with Remus on his own. He could share in the shame.

“Oh, but I insist!” Roman said quickly, tightening his hold ever so slightly. He winked, hoping his stunning self could win over the nerd. “As your captain, I command you,” he joked. Wait, uh. Kirk was Spock’s captain, right? Gosh, there were too many Star Trek series to keep track of. How did Remus do it?

“I...very well, if you insist,” the cosplayer said carefully. “If you truly do not mind.”

“Of course we don’t mind!” Roman let go of the guy to splay a hand across his yellow-clad chest. “I’m sure you’ll love the chance to bask in my glorious presence.”

Spock turned to look at Remus, who was practically vibrating with energy. “Tell, me, is he in character or is he always like this?” He raised an eyebrow. “I do not recall Captain Kirk being so...self-absorbed.”

Roman squawked as beside him Remus howled with laughter, and maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

---

To retaliate for the whole “self-absorbed” comment, Roman sentenced the Spock cosplayer to sitting in a panel for an hour with Remus, while Roman aimlessly played on his phone outside the auditorium, thankful that they only had two tickets and that the rest of the tickets had sold out before they got there.

Judging from the smile on the kid’s face as he and Remus walked out of the door, debating amongst each other, he realized that sitting in a stuffy, crowded fandom panel was probably paradise for a nerd, not a punishment. Ah, well. At least he’d had time to try looking up some new online translators, even if he’d had no luck actually translating what he’d been trying to translate for five years now.

As he stood to meet the two, Roman’s right hand slipped over to his left wrist, where it slipped under the sleeve of his sleeved yellow command shirt and unconsciously began rubbing at the characters tattooed across his skin.

Soulmates were something that everyone had, and without fail, the name of your soulmate appeared on your wrist at thirteen, so there was nothing to be confused about there. And there were so many different languages and writing systems out there that having a name written in a different language or in different characters wasn’t out-of-the-ordinary, either.

What was out-of-the-ordinary, however, was that nobody could decipher the characters written across Roman’s arm.

Five years since he turned thirteen, five years since those weird-looking letters appeared on his wrist—five years of family and friends and schoolmates and teachers and even linguists gaping at them, five years of not being able to figure out what they said, what name and secret they held.

And who knows? Maybe if Roman had gone to meet that linguist instead, today could’ve been the day he finally figured it out.

But no, that wasn’t Remus’ fault. Remus had planned on this con for over a year now. He couldn’t take his frustration out on Remus.

“Did you have fun, nerds?” he asked as he strode up to them.

“I got to ask about pon farr.” Remus grinned leeringly, and Roman wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about, but he was fairly certain that he didn’t want to know. “And Spocky-wocky here totally nerded out about Klingon.”

“Oh. Uh. Excellent,” Roman said jerkily. Did he want to know what that was, either?

His grumbling stomach made the decision that no, he most decidedly did not. At least, not for the moment.

“Why don’t we find something to eat?” Roman asked the two. “I don’t know about you two, but I myself am famished.”

Remus immediately turned and flounced away from the two of them. “Sounds dee-lightful to me, broski. I saw this stand selling astronaut food!”

Roman and the cosplayer—Roman really would have to ask his name at some point, he couldn’t just keep calling them “Spock”—hurried after Remus, and soon enough, the three were eating (more like gagging on) freeze-dried ice cream, animatedly discussing Kirk and some gal Uhura who apparently had been part of the first interracial kiss on television (“Could be gayer,” Roman said. “Could be gayer,” Remus agreed, staring mournfully at the empty packet in his hand. He had been the only one to actually enjoy the space food.)

The conversation had moved to Kirk and Spock, Remus adamantly insisting that the two had been more than friends and coworkers. He and the Spock cosplayer had a rather lively debate over it—none of which Roman understood in the slightest, so he let himself get distracted. He couldn’t help but wonder what the cosplayer would look like beneath the cosplay. The guy’s bright eyes were mighty pretty while he argued with Remus.

Mid-sentence, Remus’ eyes drifted over to Roman, and he looked away, hoping his staring hadn’t been caught. He wasn’t one to look at people that weren’t his soulmate—all the same, when you didn’t know what your soulmate’s name was, it was quite hard not to. If Remus got any ideas, though, Roman was doomed.

Sure enough, That Look appeared in Remus’ mischievous brown eyes, and he abruptly interrupted the debate to announce that he was going to go buy some more food, racing off before either Roman or the Spock cosplayer could respond.

Roman and the cosplayer instinctively turned to exchange a glance with each other, then Roman quickly looked away, flushing. Now he’d realized that the dude was kinda attractive for a nerd, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Great.

“So,” Roman said awkwardly in an attempt to break the awkward silence between the two. He fought the urge to run a hand through his hair, reminding him that Remus’ soulmate would murder him if he messed up the borrowed blond wig.

“So,” the Spock agreed. He paused before continuing, glancing between Roman and Remus. “The two of you are...friends? Boyfriends?”

“Ew. Oh, god, no.” Roman gagged. “Ew ew ew.” He looked across the floor at his brother, standing in line to buy some odd foreign candy or something. “He’s my brother.”

Spock nodded sagely, staring as Remus paid for a handful of...something. “Your brother?”

Roman watched Remus shove the entire handful of candy in his mouth, gagging. “...He’s adopted.”

Roman caught Remus’ eye from across the room, and Remus grinned at him, his deep brown cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk as chunks of something slipped out of his mouth.

“Very adopted,” Roman emphasized.

The cosplayer let out a light chuckle, and oh, that was a nice sound. “You’re clearly out of your depth here. You are a good brother for indulging him in this.”

“I...suppose,” Roman said slowly, tamping down on the sudden rush of guilt over having wanted so badly to leave the convention. “So, do you have any siblings?”

The Spock nodded. “I have a younger brother of my own. Unfortunately, he lives across the country with our mother, so he could not come today.”

“Oh.” Roman blinked. Oh, shit. Had he just brought up a sore subject? Shit. “I’m sorry.”

“It is quite all right,” the cosplayer said mildly. “When we graduate, we have plans to attend the same university, and we see each other enough on holidays.”

“That’s good! That’s good,” Roman said. Oh, by Zeus’ thunderbolt, why were his attempts at maintaining conversation so miserable today? Usually he was so good at this.

Across the floor, Remus seemed quite content eating on his own, not coming back to the two of them standing so awkwardly together. He couldn’t rely on Remus to figure out some dorky topic to talk about.

Finally, grasping at straws, Roman lowered himself to asking about nerdstuffs. “So what was that thing Remus you were talking about during the panel? Cling wrap?”

The cosplayer looked mildly affronted, and dammit, if Roman fucked up again—

“Are you referring to Klingon?” he asked, cocking his head slightly to the side.

“Yeah! That!” Roman rushed out. “What’s that?”

The Spock gazed at him in wonderment. “You truly know nothing about Star Trek, do you.”

Roman shrugged helplessly.

“Klingon is a species of alien, alongside a language,” the cosplayer said, moving his hand up to his face and jerking it away at the last second. “Apologies, I forgot that I was wearing contacts for this cosplay.” He cleared his throat. “Your brother is cosplaying as one of the few Klingon characters, Worf. The Klingons are portrayed largely as bloodthirsty antagonists throughout the series.”

“Ah.” So that was why Remus had chosen to be one of them.

“Personally, I myself am more fascinated in their language than I am anything else,” the Spock explained. “They actually hired a linguist to create an entire language and alphabet for the series. Klingon is one of the most widely-spoken fictitious languages.”

Wait. Roman frowned, confused. “People speak fictitious languages?”

“Well, yes, of course,” the cosplayer said evenly. “All language is made-up, and besides, it is logical that dedicated fans would pick up some throughout the television shows. I myself speak a bit.”

Roman snorted. “What do ya know.” Maybe that’s something he would have to add on his list of language to look up—he had almost exhausted dead languages and alphabets, might as well see if his stupid soulmark matched a fake language. It wasn’t like it could hurt anything; he wasn’t going to find them regardless.

“Aw, you’re not making out?” Remus was back, standing in front of them once more.

“I—no, of course not!” Roman blustered.

“Why ever would you think—” the cosplayer stammered at the same time.

Remus grinned widely at them, flashing a pearly white, seemingly threatening smile.

“Wow! Would you look at the time!” Roman exclaimed loudly, not looking at all at the time. “Why don’t we go and look at some of the booths and tables, Commander Spock!” He grabbed the other cosplayer’s hand and rushed the two of them away as a snickering Remus followed from a distance.

As the trio navigated the crowds of people and tables of merch, Roman ignored the fluttery feeling in his stomach and the childish glee over how the cosplayer had yet to pull his hand out of Roman’s.

---

Before Roman knew it, the end of the day had reached them, and they were ushered out alongside other convention-goers. The rest of the day had passed much more quickly than he had expected, with someone else to share his grief over Remus being Remus, and good hour or two he had completely forgotten why he’d been sulking about going in the first place.

Roman, Remus, and the cosplayer that Roman still hadn’t gotten the name of lingered on the sidewalk outside of the Marriott. There was no real reason for them to stay, but despite the Spock cosplayer’s nerdiness, Roman had discovered a shared interest in Broadway and analyzing Disney, and he almost wanted to ask for the guy’s number, awkward and embarrassing as it was.

But Remus thankfully beat him to the punch. “Say, Jabberspocky, can I get your number? My brother over there is too boring, so he never likes to talk about nerd things. I could use more cute geeks in my life!”

The Spock nodded. “That would be amenable,” he agreed. “It has been most invigorating to discuss the intricacies of the Star Trek universe with you.” The cosplayer swung around to look at Roman, looking almost...nervous? “Would you like to exchange numbers as well? You are a worthy debate opponent when it comes to Disney media.”

“Oh.” That was a compliment, right? Well, Roman was taking it as a compliment. He preened. “Of course! It would be an honor! ...For you, of course.” He grinned jokingly.

The cosplayer rolled his eyes good-naturedly, fishing his phone out of his back pocket, unlocking it, and handing it to Roman. “If you wouldn’t mind filling out your contact information, please.”

“Most certainly!” Roman pulled out his own phone and tossed it at the Spock cosplayer, who just barely caught it with his fingertips. Aw, cute, the nerd was clumsy. He focused in on the phone in his hands, typing in his name and his phone number. “There we go.”

When the cosplayer took his phone back, he glimpsed briefly at their contacts in his phone, then glanced away.

He froze.

Baffled, Roman watched as the cosplayer’s wide eyes retrained themselves down on the cell phone screen.

“Is...is everything all right?” Roman asked, feeling a spark of worry. Did they somehow know each other from elsewhere? Had he or Remus done or said something in the past?

“Oh, my,” the cosplayer said in a slightly-strangled voice. “We...I never asked what your names are, did I?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Roman mock-bowed. “Roman Sanders, at your service.” He gestured over at his brother, grinning. “And that oaf is Remus.”

“Oh, my,” the cosplayer repeated, breathless. He looked almost anxiously up at Roman. “My name is Logan Lehrer.”

Roman smiled reassuringly. “A most lovely name!”

“Is it....” The Spock cosplayer—no, Logan—hesitated. “Is it, by any chance, a familiar name?”

Furrowing his brow slightly, Roman pondered it. “...I don’t believe so,” he said at long last. “Why? Do we know each other from elementary school, or middle school, perhaps?”

“No, I just—” Logan sucked in a breath. He fiddled with the hem of his blue science shirt. “May I—” he said haltingly. “May I see your wrist?”

“My wrist?” Roman tilted his head, bewildered. He held out his right wrist. “Why?”

“No, no, I mean your—here.” Logan reached out a shaky hand, gently grasping at Roman’s left wrist. And—oh.

Oh.

Roman held his breath as Logan slowly tugged back his sleeve. There was no way—was there? Or...maybe?

Logan stared at the white symbols etched across Roman’s tannish brown skin. The five symbols, Roman now realized. Five symbols, five letters...just like Logan’s name, maybe?

Then Logan began to laugh.

Roman blinked. He had only known the guy for, like, six hours, max, but the quiet, reserved nerd he had seen so far did not seem like the type to burst into mad fits of laughter.

“Are—are you all right?” Roman asked, totally lost. What was happening here?”

“Oh my—” Logan wheezed, and Roman now was genuinely concerned. Should he call an ambulance? Should he go back inside and find the medics they had at the event?

“Whatever is going on that’s so funny?” Roman questioned.

Trying and failing to speak through the chuckles running through his body, Logan rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and practically shoved his wrist in Roman’s face, still trembling from laughter and nearly whacking him in the face.

“Oi—” Roman prepared to snap, mildly offended, but the name written across Logan’s wrist caught the words in his throat.

Roman.

Sweet Sif, Roman was Logan’s soulmate. That meant—

That meant Logan was Roman’s soulmate. That mean that, whatever language it was written in, Logan’s name was written on his arm. Logan’s. Logan.

“It’s,” Logan wiped a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye, straightening up and slowly composing himself again. “Th-that is my name on your wrist, Roman.”

“It is?” he heard himself say dumbly, as if from a distance away, still not sure that this was really happening.

“It is,” Logan confirmed. He carefully lifted Roman’s wrist to his face and traced the characters with a thin fingertip.

Roman bit back a whimper. Oh, god, he never wanted Logan to stop touching him. Hell if that sounded inappropriate.

“This is my name,” Logan said, struggling to maintain a straight face, “in Klingon.”

Roman was silent for a good minute, processing this information, until finally he realized, “Wait, Klingon? Like, that made-up alien nerd language?”

Logan’s cool facade cracked, and he grinned down at Roman’s wrist, cheeks a rosy red. “Indeed, it is ‘that made-up alien nerd language’ Klingon.”

“Why the hell...?” Roman wondered, bemused.

“I am afraid that I have no idea,” Logan informed him, still scrutinizing Roman’s wrist. “There have been records of soulmate names being written in Ancient Greek and the like before, but I don’t think anyone has recorded any in Klingon before.”

Roman could have puzzled over this for ages more, but as it finally occurred to him, this was his soulmate standing in front of him. Shouldn’t he do something about that?

Wriggling his left wrist out of Logan’s loose grasp, he cupped the other teen’s face gently in his hands. Logan’s pale whitish green makeup was coming off in his hands, and the two of them no doubt looked ridiculous from an outsider’s perspective, but he found that it didn’t matter to him in the moment.

“I must say,” Roman said quietly. “While unexpected, this is most certainly not an unwelcome development.” A suave grin danced its way across his face. “I’ve been eyeing you all day, cutie.”

Logan’s breath puffed out softly against Roman’s face. “I....” The loquacious cosplayer seemed lost for words again as he pressed closer. “I—”

“Oh, go get a room already!” a warbly voice interrupted them.

Roman and Logan sprang apart, their cheeks heating up equally in embarrassment.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Remus grumped. “I’m still here.” After a moment, though, he brightened. “Oh, wait! This means you two can go on double dates with me and Janus and we can make out and embarrass you!”

“Please, do not,” Roman groaned, He reached out for Logan once more, reveling in the tiny squeak he let out, and he buried his face in Logan’s hair. “You ruin everything, asshole.” It was a playful jab, though; without Remus there to drag him to the convention, he might not have ever even met Logan.

So it had been a good thing after all that Roman had gone with Remus to this geeky convention thing, instead of to hear that linguist’s lecture. All the linguists in the world couldn’t have helped him beyond deciphering the words on his wrist. All the linguists in the world couldn’t have quite literally grabbed his soulmate by the arm and dragged him over, like Remus did.

“Thank god!” Remus realized, gleeful. “This means you’ll finally stop complaining about being lonely forever!”

“We’re soulmates,” Logan realized, sluggish. “We—I have your name on my wrist. You have my name on your wrist.”

“Oh my god,” Roman realized, dismayed. “This means I have a nerd language stuck on my arm for the rest of my life!”

Although, if it meant being with Logan for the rest of his life...perhaps a permanent nerd tattoo was a small price to pay.

Roman untangled himself from Logan and pulled away, biting back a grin when Logan instinctively chased after him. “Wanna come get milkshakes with us?”

“That would be satisfactory.” Logan nodded his assent. “However, we might want to take off our cosplays first.”

“Nah,” Roman dismissed. As a theatre kid he’d been to plenty of Steak ’n Shakes in full stage makeup, and he was pretty sure all the local Cookouts knew his order by heart at this point. “That’s part of the fun!”

Roman reached out and grasped Logan’s hand in his own, pulling him with as Remus began honest-to-god skipping to the car. The three broke into easy banter about the best milkshake flavors, and this time Roman couldn’t hold back the grin as Logan passionately decried the practice of dipping fries in shakes.

A small price to pay, indeed.

Fin

Day 1 || Day 2

Day one of @tsshipmonth2020 ’s Soulmate September! I’m almost an hour late in my time zone, but hey! It’s still September first in Alaska, so this totally counts as on time! ...Right?

Want to be added onto any of my taglists? Shoot me an ask or a message here or via my other social media!

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brittle-bone-gabe · 4 years

Text

Erase Me: Introduction

Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven

Summary: Welcome to the never ending, never changing loop. The loop can’t break, it’s always been the same. Henry never realized he was trapped, but coming back to the animation studio for the “first time” just to see a small, human-like child makes Henry realize that dreams really do come to life.

Read on other platforms: AO3, FFN, Wattpad

August 15th, 1963

Henry Stein was a man of not so many words, yet a man of the paper; while he wasn't great with speaking he could draw out exactly how he was feeling, getting his thoughts down on paper was one of his greatest strengths. That's one of the reasons his wife, Linda, loved him more than the world itself. He was a hardworking, talented man who could've went after whatever he wanted and be successful. In fact, Henry was considered to be a success as he and his former friend and business partner, Joey Drew, opened Joey Drew Animation Studios together, creating popular cartoons back in the day. Henry was co-founder and animator, creating the popular characters of the time, such as Bendy the Dancing Demon, Boris the Wolf, and Alice Angel. While he did have the time of his life working there, his only year there was enough to see that Joey's work ethics were becoming… questionable, to put it lightly. He had begun making erratic business choices, hiring more and more, making people stay for hours, even days, on end; one of the reasons Henry just had to leave, he was missing his wife Linda.

It's been thirty-years since Henry left Joey Drew Studios and moved with Linda to Pasadena, California. Did Henry regret leaving the studio? Sometimes. He surely did miss his coworkers, he missed Joey, he missed his creations, even though he was across the nation Henry never missed an episode of Bendy playing on the TV. Seeing the joy that he helped create on the silver screen, in fact, Henry heard that there were plans to expand on the merch of Bendy and his friends, but he wasn't sure exactly what it was. Besides the merch and plush toys, Henry thought they were making great money based on their popularity. Henry would be a liar if he said he didn't own a Bendy, Boris, and Alice Angel plush toy himself.

Honestly, Henry bought them hoping to pass them down to his children someday, unfortunately for the Stein's while they wanted children and tried multiple times, it turned out that Linda was infertile. For the longest time the news had put a strain on their marriage, as they both so badly wanted to have children someday, but it is what it is, and they did enjoy their company more than anything, so it wasn't an entire deal breaker for their marriage.

Henry had recently retired from being an animation manager at a low-tier animation company. They weren't anything fancy, certainly not trying to compete against Joey Drew Studios (not many companies were brave enough to do that), mainly this studio worked on animations for advertisement purposes. The company was laid back, the owner had more or less "normal" work ethics and didn't work their animators to the bone, perhaps that's why Henry was so drawn into staying for as long as he had. He had only worked five days a week, nine-to-five with great pay for an animation manager. As long as Linda was happy then Henry was happy with his job.

This Thursday felt like any other Thursday since Henry retired and lived the life as a man free from the chains of work, Henry had agreed to go out to the store while Linda stayed home and tidied up the house while he was away. It was an agreement they had in place, Henry does the shopping while Linda did the cleaning, it was a great deal on the fact that Henry hated cleaning and Linda hated going to the store. While Henry was out, he noticed a huge pile of Bendy the Dancing Demon plush toys with various characters that children were going absolutely wild for, begging their parents to buy them one. Henry couldn't help but smile, seeing the joy that his creation brought to children all over America was enough to satisfy him until he day he dies. The best part about these plush toys? They squeak. Something that other plush toys didn't do, although people did complain that the squeaks made their dogs tear up the toys. Whoops. A bit of an unthought of backfire on the designer's end, but oh well. Whatever sells, right?

Once Henry got back from the store he checked the mailbox, as that was normally his job to do anyways. Huh… nothing was in there. That was odd, the mail usually came around this time, unless Linda got the mail?

"I'm home," Henry called as he carried all six plastic bags in at once, not wanting to make another trip out to the car that was now parked in the garage. He wandered into the kitchen to set them down on the counters and floor so he could help put them away. Linda was already in the kitchen, a bright smile on her face, the smile that she gave Henry whenever she saw him. She stood up on her toes, giving him a peck on the lips. "Did you grab the mail, hun?"

"Well…" Linda started, turning around, picking an envelope, "the mail man was told to bring this directly to the house," she explained, handing it to him.

Henry took it from her, noticing the Joey Drew Studio stamp printed on the front, the envelope was addressed to Henry. Odd… He had no contact with Joey or the studio in thirty-years, what was going on? He took a seat at the table in the kitchen while Linda began to put away the cold groceries so they wouldn't get ruined. Henry gently opened the envelope with a letter open, not wanting to possibly damage whatever it was inside. Just digging his fingers around inside, whatever parchment this was written on was rather thick, so it must have been an official letter of some kind.

Pulling out, it was a small letter written in thick ink on a sepia colored paper with a little Joey Drews Studio logo printed on the bottom right hand corner. Henry instantly recognized the handwriting to be that of Joey Drew himself, even after thirty-years Henry could recognize that handwriting anywhere.

Dear Henry,

It seems like a lifetime since we worked on cartoons together. 30 years really slips away, doesn't it? If you're back in town, come visit the old workshop. There's something I need to show you.

Your best pal, Joey Drew

Henry flipped the paper over, making sure there wasn't anything printed on the back. There wasn't, so he flipped it back around to make sure he read that correctly. After all these years Joey wanted to open the studio back up? Last Henry heard was that the studio shut down, he didn't know the specifics, but he knew that it was locked up. As long as Joey didn't change the locks Henry could still get in considering he still had a key to unlock the front door of the studio.

Well, what could be so important that Henry had to go all the way across the country to see what Joey had at the studio? Surely if it was something important he could've sent him a longer letter? A flight from California to New York City was a rather long one. Henry could surely afford the trip, but would it be worth it? It must be if Joey's sending him a letter after thirty-years…

"Bad news?" Linda asked her husband by only judging the look on his face.

"What?" Henry asked as he looked up at Linda who had a small smile on her face. "Oh, no. No, not bad news. It's from Joey."

"Joey? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he…" Henry trailed off, looking at the letter again, "he wants me to come back to the old studio. He said he has something to show me." He looked back up to see what Linda's expression was. She looked both worried yet interested on what it could possibly be.

"It must be something important if he's sending you a letter," she pointed out, throwing some plastic out in the garbage can. "Are you going to go?"

"What do you think?" Henry didn't want to just up and leave Linda to go across the country without asking her opinion on the matter. Her voice mattered just as much as his wants did.

"I think you should go," she said without missing a beat, which surprised Henry as last he recalled she hated the studio due to the fact that it took up all of his time, especially his time from home when he was gone for days at a time. "It's been thirty-years, besides, I think it would be good for you to see your old friend again, reminisce about the old times," she said with a smile.

"Only if you're okay with it," Henry said as he stood up from the chair, "one-hundred percent sure?"

Linda let out a small chuckle, wrapping her arms around Henry's neck, swaying a little bit. "I'm one-thousand percent sure, Henry. As long as you don't work for days on end again." That comment caused Henry to chuckle, pressing his forehead against hers. What did he do to deserve such an amazing wife?

-----

Henry paid for a plane ticket to head to New York that left Saturday morning, he had packed a small bag as he didn't plan on staying for too long, he had reassured Linda that he would be back in a couple of days. It was odd leaving his wife behind while he went back to the studio, it made him think of the old days when he left for work just to end up staying there for days on end working while the couple was left missing each other terribly. Henry was a family man, no doubt about that, he would put Linda before anything in his life, even a good job, as that's already been proven.

Once the five-hour plan landed in Brooklyn, New York, Henry took a cab to the closest hotel to the studio, so he didn't have to ride very far to get there. Plus, he wanted to do as little traveling as possible around here, Brooklyn was hard to get around as it was.

After checking into his room and getting settled with his stuff, Henry pulled out the old studio key that he had kept all these years. Just in case he would tell himself and Linda over and over as an excuse to not get rid of it. Maybe he actually wanted to keep it in case of emergencies, or maybe he wanted to keep one last souvenir of a company that he loved and helped build from the ground up. Henry would never admit it out loud, but he was eager to see how the studio looked after all these years, probably not in the best condition due to the fact it's been closed since 1959. Four years could put a lot of strain on an unused building.

Once Henry was ready to face his past, he grabbed a taxi and took a short drive down to the old brick building that once held his entire future. The building itself looked to be in fairly good shape, the only imperfection was the letters that once said Joey Drew Studios were missing, only leaving behind shadows and outlines of what used to be there. Henry thanked his taxi driver, giving him a tip before getting out. He stood outside the building for a moment, taking everything in, still not sure what he was expecting from all of this. What did Joey want? What was so important that he couldn't add more to the letter that he sent? It was so vague… What else could be in the studio that Henry didn't already know about? Time to stop thinking and time to investigate.

Henry took out the key he held on tight the entire drive over here, putting it in the lock of the door. Henry was half expecting the lock to reject the key, leaving him no way to get in, but a small burst of anxiety filled his chest once the key turned completely, causing the door handle to click. He pushed the door open with his fingertips, some dust escaped the old abandoned building, causing Henry to let out a small cough as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

"Alright, Joey. I'm here. Let's see if we can find what you wanted me to see."

#my fic #bendy #bendy and the ink machine #bendy and the dark revival #bendy and the ink machine fanfic #bendy and the ink machine fanfiction #batim #introduction #video game fanfic #henry stein #bendy the dancing devil #joey drew #Break the Cycle AU

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prettytoxicrevolver · 5 years

Text

Colorful | Corbyn Besson

Warnings? Nah, I think the ending kinda sucks tho

Requested? Yup! I hope you like it @abbyhauck13 :)

Summary: (y/n) and her sister have been wanting to get meet and greet for their favorite band forever but when the time comes, their luck runs out. However everything changes the day before the concert and (y/n) meets her soulmate just before summer ends.

Word Count: 2,294

“Did you get vip?” Your sister Ari asks you.

“Nah I was at work and even when I tried on my break they were all gone,” You sigh and fall back onto your bed.

Your sister lays down next to you and you felt like crying. Your favorite boy band Why Don’t We were coming to your city and you couldn’t even get meet and greet for the first time. While you would still go to the concert, you wished you could meet the five boys that brought a smile to your face no matter what.

“Who knows, maybe we can win a contest or buy tickets off of someone.”

And that was that for awhile. You’d see plenty of people going to their concerts and their pictures with the boys and a pang of hurt hit you. You were positive and hyped everyone up as much as possible though.

“(y/n)!!” You hear your sister scream up the stairs. Before you can even think about responding, you hear her bounding up the steps and towards your bedroom door.

“I met my soulmate!” She screams and your jaw drops open.

“What!? How? When? Where?” You fire off questions as Ari sits down on your bed.

Ever since you can remember, you and your sister loved the idea of finding your soulmate. You both dreamed of how the world would look when the gray lifted and every extraordinary color shone in your eyes. Growing up, Ari dated a bit but never found her soulmate.

You wanted to date, but you also didn’t see any point in it. If you were to have a soulmate, someone you spent your whole life with, why endure the heartbreak? Besides, all the firsts would mean even more if you did them with the one.

You understood where she came from though. It made you kind of nervous to dive into a brand new relationship without any warning was scary. What if you messed it all up because you didn’t have any experience? You tried not to think about it too much.

“So I was at the library studying,” She starts and you scoff. “Okay, I was at the library to see Sam,” She admits. Sam was her boyfriend but recently she had been saying she wanted to break up with him.

“And I was going to break up with him.”

“You were gonna break up with him at the library?” You ask incredulously.

“Yes move on,” She responds and you roll your eyes.

“So, I’m at the library and Sam is there studying so I ask to talk to him. He doesn’t want to leave so I tell him that I want to break up.”

“He didn’t take it well did he?”

“No,” She admits and you laugh.

“Anyway, he starts freaking out and causing a scene.”

“Naturally,” You chime in and your sister looks like she wants to punch you.

“And this guy steps in front of me and tells Sam to chill out. He storms off and whatever and then when the guy turns around it hits me,” She says dreamily as if she falls back into the feeling of what it was like.

You practically fall into the same feeling with the way she begins to describe it. While you wouldn’t understand what the world looks like now to her, you still dream about it constantly. Ari was beyond lucky to be able to meet her soulmate so young.

“We’re gonna hangout again tonight,” She smiles dreamily.

“I can’t wait to be there at your wedding you two already sound so cute.”

She gives you a soft smile before taking your hand and squeezing it lightly. “You’ll meet him soon I know it.”

The rest of the summer seems to fly by. Ari is preoccupied with her soulmate, getting to know him and starting their lives together. You were beyond happy for her to finally find true love but you couldn’t help but feel a bit sad.

Not only were you not able to meet your all time favorite boy band, you had nothing else to do all summer but work. It was tiring and boring but you were making bank all summer. Besides, there was always the next tour.

Tonight you were working the closing shift. It was 6pm to 12 am and honestly your least favorite shift for work. You were alone for the last two hours and the only thing that kept you company were the creepy night shoppers and terrible 80s music.

You tried to make the most of it tonight and bring your headphones so you at least had something different to listen to. As you’re saying your goodbyes to your coworkers, you pop a headphone in and pull up your why don’t we playlist.

You decided to start cleaning the registers first as you wait for the occasional customer to come stop your busy work. As you clean, you find yourself bopping to your music and even singing along. Even though you were alone for the last two hours, doesn’t mean you can't have fun.

Just as you move to your next register, you stop when one of your favorite songs to dance to, friends, comes on. You do a little happy dance before pausing and starting to do your practiced choreography. You loved learning the boys dance moves to songs so you could pop off during concerts.

“I’ll bring a couple of things along,” You sing quietly before performing the tricky steps and landing the beat. You smile proudly at yourself since you had been practicing that move for ages and you finally perfected it.

Just as you’re about to walk away, you feel a tap on your shoulder. You turn quickly on your feet but end up getting tangled mid spin and before you know it you’re falling. You hear someone call out but it’s too late.

You land squarely on the ground, sliding back about a foot before slouching back down. You sigh and before you can move, the boy is sticking his hand out to you. You take it, and he hauls you up.

“Are you okay?” He asks and you check your hands and arms to make sure they’re okay. You pull your phone out to see it’s almost completely shattered and you sigh.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to scare you,” The boy apologizes and you finally look up at him. Your jaw drops open and you try to form a response but nothing comes out.

“You’re Jack Avery,” You state.

“Guilty as charged,” He admits and you still can’t process it.

“You’re Jack Avery,” You repeat. “What are you doing here? Not like Connecticut I know you’re here for the concert tomorrow but what are you doing here? This is literally the middle of nowhere and you’re here at my job and i’m embarrassing myself.”

“It’s fine. What’s your name?”

“(y/n),” You respond and he nods.

“Well (y/n), anyway I can make that up to you?” He asks gesturing towards your shattered phone.

“I can buy you a new one? Or get you limelight? Or both?” He asks unsure of what to do in this situation.

“Both works,” You joke and he smiles.

“Both it is.”

The two of you talk for a bit longer, and he gives you his phone number with the promise you won’t give it to anyone else. By the time he’s finally checked out and leaving, you’re clocking out.

“I know this is a really random question,” You start and Jack looks over at you.

“But have you met your soulmate yet?”

“Yeah about a year ago. Why?”

“My sister met hers this summer and I can’t stop thinking about it,” You respond shrugging your shoulders.

“Hey, you never know what could happen. Maybe it’s someone in the band?”

The next day you wake up and almost forget what happened the night before. When it hits you all over again, you rush straight into your sisters room. She’s still asleep but that doesn't stop you from running over and shaking her awake.

“Ari!!!” You scream.

“What?” She asks annoyed.

“Get up! We’re meeting Why Don’t We today!!”

At those words, she bolts out of bed and lets out an excited scream. She runs over and hugs you and the two of you jump up and down in excitement. This was a dream come true for the two of you and you were still in shock of it all.

“How did you get meet and greet?” She asks after settling down a bit.

You explain the events of last night, and when you're done, Ari freaks out all over again. Suddenly your phone starts to ring and you head into your room with Ari hot on your trail. When you reach it, you see Jacks contact pulled up and your sister shrieks in excitement.

“Answer it!”

You swipe right on the call and Ari leans closer to you to hear what he’s saying. He explains when to get to the venue and where to meet him and when you hang up, Ari and you both cheer in excitement again.

The two of you then decide to split up and start getting ready for the concert. Jack told you to be there in two hours leaving you an hour to get set. After changing and fixing your hair and makeup, you and your sister set out.

“I can’t believe we’re meeting them! This summer is literally the best.”

The drive is quick and you find yourself starting to freak out. Last night was a dream meeting Jack on accident. Meeting the rest of the band is everything you’ve ever wanted and more. You find parking and head inside the big casino. You head for the arena and when you get there you walk towards the security guard sitting out front.

“Hi, uh (y/n) (y/l/n) and Arianna (y/l/n)?” The security guard gives us an uncertain look but before he can say anything, the door behind him opens. Jacks head peaks out and he smiles widely at us.

“Hey (y/n). Come on in.” The two of you slip past the security guard and start to follow Jack. As you walk, your sister hits your arm dramatically trying not to freak out too loudly.

Jack talks as the three of you walk, explaining that limelight doesn’t start for another hour and that he wanted you to have time to hang out with the guys. He leads you towards the back of the stage and into what he told us was the dressing rooms.

When you walk in, the boys are relaxed around the room talking. You spot all of the band members except Corbyn and when they realize Jack hasn’t come back alone, they stop talking. Jack steps forward and introduces the two of us before explaining what happened the other day.

“So that’s why we had to make a stop at the apple store?” Daniel asks and Jack nods.

“You didn’t have to buy me a new phone I was joking,” You chime in and Jack shrugs.

“I felt bad and besides you shouldn’t have to deal with a shattered screen forever because of me.”

After initial introductions, the six of us sit around and talk. Every once in awhile your mind would wander to where Corbyn was but you figured he’d be around eventually. You were still pretty starstruck anyway all things considered so you were just trying to process that this was actually happening.

About ten minutes before limelight was supposed to begin, Corbyn finally walks into the room. He explains where he was and apologizes for not being here earlier. He heads over to Ari first and offers her a hug before turning to you.

And it’s just like Ari explained but even better.

Just as Corbyn turns, his eyes move slowly upwards till they’re gazing into yours. You’re thrown into a state of shock and wonder as the edges of the room slowly start to color. You look to see the walls are a startling white, the carpet black with a red stripe down the middle, and a larger array of colors shadowing across the room.

You look down and realize your outfit displays about four or five colors that this morning you would have described as different shades of gray and black. Finally, when you look back up, Corbyn is staring at you with the softest and most loving smile you had ever seen.

“Hey soulmate,” He greets and your smile widens. You’ve waited ages for that term to be sent in your direction. If this wasn’t happening literally right before you’re eyes you wouldn’t believe it. “You’re so colorful.”

“Hey. You seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Just that I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with the most gorgeous girl ever? Totally,” You laugh at his cheesiness but you never felt happier than in this moment. You were damn lucky Corbyn has always been your lane ever since the band started.

“Good because I don’t think you’ll ever get rid of me.”

“Wait I was right?” Jack asks upon realizing what was happening between you and Corbyn. “Yo I’m a psychic.”

The rest of the boys laugh at this and you’re still figuring out how you had the worst and best luck of all time. You couldn’t believe that the universe had decided today wasn’t gonna go in your favor until the very last second. It was truly crazy.

“If Jack’s a psychic we’re all in trouble,” Jonah jokes and you burst out laughing.

“I don't know man. This is damn good for me,” Corbyn adds before looking over at you and smiling.

“Same here,” You respond.

#corbyn besson #jack avery #daniel seavey #jonah marais #zach herron #corbyn besson imagine #jack avery imagine #daniel seavey imagine #jonah marais imagine #zach herron imagine #imagine #why don't we #wdw #wdw imagine #why don't we imagine #bravebesson

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suga-honey-icedtea · 4 years

Text

That Summer Night | Seokjin

a/n: it’s been really steamy lately and i hope that everyone’s been taking care of themselves by drinking plenty of water! also, because it’s been steamy, i figured something steamy was needed about jin so this happened! i hope everyone enjoys and don’t hesitate to let me know what you think!

leave your thoughts: here

my other writing: here

word count: 10,032 words

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“I’m ready for the semester to be over with.” A groan erupted from across the room, a muted thump following as the body fell back onto the couch. “I’m sick and tired of all these fucking papers! Seriously, who is going to read eight pages of bullshit about macro molecules used for cloning purposes?”

“I think your professor might?” Y/N raised a brow, watching as her roommate and friend, Doyeon, rolled over on the couch to glare at the former. She grumbled the whole time she sat back up, causing Y/N to chuckle and return to her own paper. She had to admit, the papers were a lot and due in such a short amount of time, as well. They had to be done, though, since both girls wanted to graduate as soon as possible.

“I swear, when all these fucking classes are over, we are going on that trip.” Doyeon continued to grumble as she abandoned her laptop on the couch and made a beeline for the coffee machine in the kitchen. Y/N couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the empty threat of a trip, knowing full well it was near impossible. With a job lined up to start in the middle of July, Y/N knew any trips wouldn’t happen with her empty wallet. Doyeon liked to dream, though. “We’re going and I will drag you along if I have to.”

“You know I can’t, Do. I have family things to take care of after the semester and then I start my job in July.” Y/N explained in a monotone voice, the information nothing new to either party. She could hear Doyeon grumbling again as she pressed the button to brew her coffee before her head was poking out of the kitchen to half glare at Y/N sitting at the kitchen table.

“We can find time. Your brother’s graduation is like, right at the start of June. And then your mom’s birthday isn’t until the start of July, right? There’s totally time to go somewhere and come back!” Doyeon gasped a little, disappearing back into the kitchen to retrieve her coffee. When she came back out, instead of heading back to her laptop on the couch, she took the other seat at the kitchen table. Doyeon sipped on her coffee, watching Y/N type some more on her own laptop before the latter eventually looked up at her friend.

“What?”

“What about somewhere warm, like Hawaii? Or Miami? What about the Bahamas? Or Cuba?” Doyeon threw out the suggestions one right after the other, not pausing for Y/N to interject at all. When she reached the end of her short list, Doyeon gasped and quickly left the table to return to her laptop. Y/N feared it wasn’t for her paper, though. “Cuba would be perfect! You took Spanish, you could understand people.”

“Doyeon, I haven’t taken a Spanish class since sophomore year--”

“This hotel looks perfect! The plane tickets aren’t even that expensive. How long should we go? Is two weeks too long? Oh well! Two weeks in Cuba in the middle of June!” Doyeon sang as she clicked a few things. Y/N was the one to abandon her laptop this time, rushing over to see just what her friend was doing. “And done! It’s happening, you can’t stop it now.”

“Doyeon! What did you do?” Y/N stared at the laptop screen in slight horror, eyes scanning over the confirmation page of the hotel and plane tickets that were just bought and booked. Turning from the screen to her smiling friend, Y/N couldn’t contain her frown of displeasure. “There’s no way I can back out, is there?”

“Nope! You’re coming with me. Don’t worry, I’ll plan out stuff to do in between our beach bathing.” Doyeon waved her hand as if to dismiss the worry of lack of activities, though that did nothing to cure the small bubble of dread building in Y/N’s chest.

This trip was going to be an adventure for sure.

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“So she really bought them?” The shocked gasp that resonated in the room left Y/N feeling even more dread building. She sullenly nodded at her coworker, Jimin, as she resumed the sweeping she’d been doing. “That’s so crazy! I’m jealous, though. I’d love to go to Cuba.”

“Jimin!” Y/N whined, abandoning the pile of popcorn and straw wrappers to face him entirely. She pouted at him and he could only shrug in response. “It’s so sudden! My mom is going to flip out when she finds out I’m going to leave for two weeks to go to Cuba with Doyeon and I didn’t even buy the tickets or hotel room!”

Jimin leaned against the counter with a pout of his own, causing Y/N to sigh and resume her sweeping. The lobby of the movie theater was mostly empty, closing time fast approaching. Jimin was one of the coworkers Y/N considered a friend, aside from the manager. The other was out due to a knee surgery and wouldn’t be back before Y/N left for good. She would definitely miss this place, but knew for sure Jimin and her manager, Yoongi, would keep her in the loop of the crazy stuff that happened in the theater.

“I think you should just go with it, Y/N. Enjoy it and relax before selling yourself away to corporate life forever.” Jimin gave another shrug before spinning on his heel to start cleaning up the copious amounts of leftover popcorn. The large room fell into a comfortable silence as the two went on with their usual duties for closing.

Y/N continued to wear her frown the whole time she swept, nearly grumbling to herself about her situation. It wasn’t even technically a problem, she knew that. Anyone would be lucky to go anywhere out of the country, especially somewhere warm and beautiful like Cuba. Part of her just felt bad that Doyeon had spent so much money to book everything for the two of them. Of course, Y/N knew it was cheaper for just the two of them then a group would’ve been. She also knew Doyeon wasn’t even using her own money. Doyeon’s parents were not only loaded, but they definitely spoiled the girl way too much. Which meant more money than Doyeon knew what to do with.

Doyeon, of course, had spent money on Y/N before. Against her wishes, of course. She loved spending the money she had, especially on friends and family. So, that meant Y/N often got presents of new clothing or accessories, even intimate clothing as well. There was a certain bra and panty set sitting in a box at the bottom of her closet she still hadn’t worn quite yet. To be fair, Doyeon had bought it for Y/N to wear with her ex boyfriend without knowing that they had split the night before.

Frowning as she thought of it, Y/N wondered if she should bring it with her on the trip to Cuba. Only then, she shook her head to erase the thoughts and groaned as she angrily finished sweeping up the lobby.

“Seriously, Y/N. Don’t be upset over this. Just go and have fun.” Jimin smiled as they stood back later on to watch Yoongi lock the doors, gently patting her shoulders as her body slumped forward. “So many people would kill to be in your place, so enjoy it! Live a little!”

“Go have fun where?” Yoongi grumbled a little as he approached them, shoving the keys into his pocket and leaving his hand there. Another groan left Y/N and Jimin couldn’t help his giggle as his hand dropped to his own side.

“Y/N didn’t tell you? Doyeon got them tickets for a trip to Cuba.” Jimin’s eyebrows wiggled and Yoongi whistled a little before stepping around them. Yoongi was not a fan of the cold and there was still a slight chill in the air as the night settled on them. “They’re supposed to go in June.”

“That sounds really cool, though. I’m guessing you don’t want to go, though?” Yoongi commented after Y/N had groaned once again. She sighed as the trio walked toward their cars parked a good distance away from the entrance.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go, I’d love to go. Cuba is such a beautiful country.” Y/N explained, only to sigh again as her shoulders slumped again. “I just hate that she paid for everything. I also will have even less time to prepare for my mom’s birthday and my new job.”

“Honestly?” Yoongi stopped walking as he reached his car, facing Y/N with a serious look. He was always serious, though, so his face just looked as it usually did. Y/N stopped walking with Jimin, the pair of them waiting to hear the wisdom that Yoongi had to give about her predicament. “Just go and live a little. Enjoy yourself and act like the young 20 something that you are.” He shrugged himself this time as Y/N groaned, Jimin laughing as he walked to his own car.

Y/N couldn’t help it as she stomped over to her own car, grumbling about people not caring about their financial situations and only focusing on their own freedom or lack of freedom. She needed to find people who sympathized with her and her struggles.

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“Why don’t they have a croissant?” Doyeon pouted at the menu, staring for a few seconds longer before completing the order that the pair had started at the breakfast place. Y/N yawned as they shuffled over to the side, waiting patiently for the food and drinks that they hoped to wake them up.

“I just wanted you to know that I hate you.” Y/N half hissed as they finally sat down to eat, placing her bag right next to her on the booth seat. Doyeon only giggled, taking a sip of her coffee before unwrapping her donut. Y/N had eventually accepted the trip, but when Doyeon had woken her up at 3 am for their 6 am flight, Y/N had gone back to hating the whole ordeal. Of course, Doyeon found it hilarious.

“You’re so cute before you wake up.” She cooed over her coffee, only laughing more at the finger that Y/N shot her way. It fell silent for a moment before Doyeon pulled out her phone to check things over one final time. “So, when we get there, we’ll just rest up. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the beach and do some shopping. The day after we’re going on that historical hike tour.”

Y/N zoned out as Doyeon rambled, sipping her drink and chewing her food as she people watched. Families bustling to find their gates and business people rushing to make sure their flights were still on time. People watching was nice, Y/N couldn’t say she hated it. It was only awkward when people stared right back at her.

Which was the case as her eyes flitted over to two business men and their frantic looking assistant. One of the men, the slightly taller one with black hair, turned his head and locked eyes with Y/N as she sat and chewed her food slowly. They were both entranced, not really paying attention to their surroundings. The result was the man running into a trash can at full force, knocking it over and eventually falling on top of it as it rolled around.

The loud crash knocked Y/N out of the trance and all attention was on the three standing by the trash can as several airport employees rushed over to help clean up. “That’s one way to wake up.” Y/N mumbled as she turned away, facing Doyeon once more with a smile. It was loud, sure, but it was funny.

By the time they were shuffling onto the airplane for the long flight ahead, Y/N was fully awake and ready to nap once more as the caffeine was starting to wear off a little. Doyeon ahead of her quickly found her seat, Y/N sliding in afterward as quick as she could. Doyeon nearly squealed once the plane started to move, gripping onto Y/N’s arm tightly as the plane took off and she knew then that it was way too late to back out now.

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“Did you grab the sunscreen?” Doyeon called from the kitchen in the hotel room, a frown forming when Y/N called back a loud no in response. She sighed as she set her beach bag down once more to make sure it really was missing.

It had only been four days, the pair only having been to the beach three times in that time frame. One time wasn’t even during the day, it was at night. The bellhop who had helped bring their bags up to the room had raved about the crabs on the beach at night, so the pair decided to go crab hunting in the dark. It was eventful, to say the least. It didn’t explain the missing sunscreen, though.

“We can just get more at the convenient store on the way.” Y/N suggested as she emerged from the bathroom, placing her sunglasses on top of her head and looking at Doyeon. “Besides, I want to pick up some snacks from there. They have really good honey chips that I honestly think I’m addicted to.”

“Snacks do sound good. Okay, let’s go.” Doyeon quickly gathered her things and they were off to the store to get a plethora of snacks and sunscreen. With the needed essentials in hand, they headed to the beach to the spot they had chosen when they were there last. “I love it here, honestly.”

“I know.” Y/N groaned as she began putting sunscreen on her legs, pouting as she looked out toward the ocean. “I know I was having issues accepting the trip before we came but I don’t think I can leave now.”

“Maybe we can just move here.” Doyeon suggested as she turned around for help on her back, which Y/N quickly obliged to. Once they were all covered and protected, the pair sprawled out on their towels and let the relaxation set in.

On the way back to the hotel after spending all day in the sun, Doyeon hummed with happiness at the ice cream she was eating. “We should go out tonight.” She threw the suggestion out there after swallowing the bit of ice cream she had eaten before going back in for more. Y/N’s brows furrowed a little as she ate her own ice cream, glancing at Doyeon for a brief second.

“You want to go out?”

“Yeah! While you went to the bathroom in that changing area, this guy came up to me and gave me this flyer.” Doyeon explained, rifling through her bag to pull out a bright blue flyer. “He said if we showed up tonight with this flyer, we could get in for free and get a free round of their signature drink.” Doyeon’s smile was wide as Y/N took the flyer from her hands. She looked over the blue paper with a frown, slowing her ice cream consumption before her shoulders were going up and down in a shrug.

“Let’s go! We don’t really have anything planned for the morning tomorrow, anyway.” Y/N explained before finishing off her ice cream and handing the flyer back to Doyeon. “Just that dolphin viewing thing in the afternoon that you wanted to check out.”

“If we get blacked out tonight, I promise I won’t be upset if we miss the dolphins. Let’s go get ready!” Doyeon squealed as she grabbed Y/N’s hand, dragging her back toward the hotel to get ready.

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The club was packed, people already drunk and spilling out onto the sidewalk as they arrived. They were quickly let in at one glance of the flyer, and were just as quickly sipping on some fruity drinks once they were inside. With the music loud and alcohol slowly being pumped into her body, Y/N could feel the lingering stress that hadn’t gone away vanish with the pulse of the bass.

“This stuff is so good! I’m going to get some more.” Doyeon half yelled to Y/N before she disappeared, though Y/N didn’t stop her. Part of her wanted to get so drunk she couldn’t remember the night they had.

Doyeon seemed to have the same plan, as she came back with not only the fruity drinks but several shots of random liquor. Y/N didn’t question a thing as she quickly put them down, letting the burn sizzle for a few seconds before chasing it with another shot. Doyeon giggled at the face Y/N made after the fourth shot, sipping her drink fast.

As the music changed and the alcohol began to take effect, Doyeon dragged Y/N out onto the packed dance floor to dance with her. Somewhere along the line, more shots were offered and Y/N gladly threw them back without a question along with Doyeon. When she passed the shot glasses back, her eyes landed on a familiar face that recognized her, too. They were soon approaching her on the dance floor, squeezing through bodies to reach her.

The last thing she could remember clearly was warm hands finding a place on her waist and a warm body pressing against her back. Her face didn’t hesitate to break out into a smile as gentle lips began peppering her exposed skin with light kisses, the trail inevitably leading to her ear.

“You look stunning, doll. Mouth watering, even.” The compliment was a hungry whisper, followed by teeth lightly grazing her warm skin. It left chills running down her spine and subconsciously, her body leaned back into the other holding her by her waist. “It’d be a shame if you went home with anyone else that wasn’t me.”

“Is this your way of getting into my pants?” Y/N’s words were slurred as she clumsily spun to face him. Something about him was familiar but with her head clouded and the dark club filled with flashing lights, there was no way she could be sure. His face was handsome, though. Hair pushed back, eyes dark and looking like he really was going to devour her in seconds.

In answer to her question, he simply shrugged while smirking, leaning back in so he didn’t have to shout over the deafening bass of the music. “And if that’s my motive in the end? Would you really deny me the pleasure of tasting you and pleasuring you as long as you wanted?”

Her breath hitched in her throat at the suggestion, her thighs clenching together as the vague realization of just how turned on she was by that question surfaced in the fog. Y/N couldn’t hold back a whine at his suggestive words, her hands coming up to tightly grip his biceps.

“Well, it’s working.” She ended up huffing with a pout and he laughed at her expression. He was gentle the whole time he took her hand, leading her out of the club and to a car waiting by the curb outside.

Y/N didn’t think to ask where they were headed as she climbed into the back and immediately climbed into his lap. She thanked fate through her clouded judgment for swaying her to choose a shorter dress for the night, making it significantly easier for her to straddle him in the back of the car. His hands found her hips and without any hints needed, his lips collided with her own in an already heated kiss. Y/N vaguely wondered if the driver was paying attention to them but the thought slipped away as his hands began guiding her hips back and forth over his growing problem.

By the time the car had stopped at the hotel, the pair looked far too gone to have been simply just making out. Perhaps it was the alcohol in their systems but anyone who saw them knew for sure that they had either already had sex or were close to getting down in front of everyone.

He pulled her through the lobby quickly, pressing the button for the elevator and stepping in quickly. His hands continued to roam her body, slipping under her dress a little as the elevator climbed the floors up and up.

When they reached the room he was staying in, he dragged her quickly to his bed and pushed her back onto it. He slowed down finally when she was trying to catch her breath on his bed, slowly taking off her shoes before letting his mouth trail up her thigh from her knee. Her head lifted from the bed with a whine and his teasing ended as quickly as it’d started.

His tongue wasted no time with exploring her throbbing heat, circling around her clit before his lips wrapped around the bud. Y/N gasped, jolting from the sudden feeling of his lips. His fingers soon followed his tongue, slipping into her easily and setting a steady pace immediately.

It didn’t take long for her orgasm to explode through her body, loud moans echoing off the walls and surely disturbing the neighbors. He loved it, though, and made it known after his tongue gathered every last drop of her first orgasm of the night. “You’re so beautiful. You sound like an angel singing, doll.”

“Your tongue feels like the fucking devil, though. Holy shit.” Y/N panted as she sat up, making quick work of ridding her body of the dress still clinging to her. Her hands quickly found his zipper after her dress had been discarded, unbuttoning and pulling the clothing down so it fell around his ankles. “Maybe you’ll rethink the angel bit after I’m done.”

His teeth sunk into his bottom lip at her comment, sinking further when she solidified her insinuation of her more than unholy ways with a light kiss to his tip that was dangerously close to peeking out of his boxers. She let her tongue swipe over his clothed dick, smirking at the low groan she elicited from him.

Teasing wasn’t on the agenda, though, and she was quick to pull his boxers down and slowly wrap her mouth around his tip. His jaw fell slack as he watched her take him inch by inch until he was hitting the back of her throat. His fingers weaved into her hair as she pulled back off him, taking in a deep breath before repeating the same action again. When he tugged on her hair after a third time, she looked up at him while he was down her throat.

“Fucking hell, doll. Can I fuck your mouth? Will you be a good girl and let me fuck your mouth, doll?” His thumb came up to her cheek to swipe across it, a grin beaming as she hummed and nodded at him. His fingers returned to her hair after her consent and he held her head in place as his hips began to move back and forth, his dick slipping in and out of her warm mouth.

After a few short minutes, he was spilling into her mouth and moaning as he watched some of it dribble down her chin. His lips met hers and they shared another heated kiss before pulling away for air. They stared at each other for a few seconds, chests heaving from the recent activities.

“You are certainly no angel, doll.” He finally concluded, smiling as she giggled at the comment. His hands carefully cradled her face, eyes scanning every detail he could see as a smirk formed. “I’m certainly not done with you either, doll.”

“Good. I was hoping there’d be more.” Y/N leaned up to kiss him again, sighing in content when he pushed her back onto the bed. The night was going to be long and she was definitely ready for some fun.

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The sun seemed to burn her eyes as consciousness found her once again. Y/N groaned as she rolled over to hide from the bright light, only to fall off the edge of the bed. Immediately, she was awake and alert, her head popping up to look around the room. Her things were on a chair in the corner, along with her clothes.

It was then that Y/N realized she was naked.

“Oh, what the fuck?” She sighed as she looked at the rest of the room. That was filled with various pieces of men’s clothing, like a suit. A suit? As the dots connected, shuffling came from the bed and a head of black hair poked out from underneath the sheets to look at her.

“Well good morning.”

“So, we had sex?” It was the first question Y/N asked after being given coffee, which only happened after her initial freak out. She had justified it to the man, her reasoning being she was naked in a stranger’s bed.

“Yeah, we had sex.” The man chuckled, drinking his own coffee in the kitchen only wearing his underwear. Y/N couldn’t deny the man’s sex appeal, not in the slightest. It was like god had created him by hand, honestly. For once, Y/N was proud of her drunk self for scoring such a hot guy. “You don’t remember it?”

“I had way too much to drink. You weren’t like, sober, right? You didn’t take advantage of me or something weird?” Y/N nervously bit her lip as she watched him nearly choke on his own coffee. After a few seconds of trying to calm down, he eventually sighed and hung his head.

“No, I was definitely just as drunk. So it was a mutual drunk lust event.” He assured her and Y/N felt her body relax at the revelation. “I do remember it, though. For drunk sex, it was pretty hot.”

Y/N couldn’t stop a blush from forming and she only nodded at him, sipping on her coffee slowly. It fell silent between the two, the only sounds coming from the sipping of coffee. Y/N didn’t know what to say or do next, biting her lip again as she set down the empty coffee cup. Luckily, as she had noticed earlier, they were in the same hotel so going back to her room wouldn’t be hard. After chewing on her lip for a few moments, she finally built up the courage to speak.

“So, um--”

“Would you--”

The pair of them quickly shut up, blushing in embarrassment as they realized they’d spoken at the same time. After a few beats of silence, he was clearing his throat and Y/N looked back to see his neck and ears were a bright red still.

“I was going to ask if you’d like to get breakfast. You don’t have to say yes, though.” He quickly added and hung his head a little at the awkward blunder. Y/N shifted in her chair, chewing on her lip again before sighing.

“Breakfast sounds lovely, but I should go back to my room. I have no idea where my friend went.” Y/N explained and the man nodded with a warm smile. She was relieved he wasn’t taking the rejection hard, at least not outwardly. “Besides, I don’t even know you.”

He chuckled, opening his mouth presumably to give his name, but the sound of the door being thrown open made both of them jump. With wide eyes, a man in a suit came rushing in looking all around. When he saw the man he squeaked at him and then squeaked again when he saw Y/N sitting there with the empty coffee cup.

“Sir, the meeting is in an hour! You’re still naked!” The frazzled man whined and the other, who had taken a sip from his cup, set it down and nodded. “You need to get ready!”

“Don’t worry, Hoseok. I’ll be ready soon. Let me show the young lady out, first.” He gave a smile to Y/N before heading to the door. Hoseok only hung his head, taking a seat on one of the chairs scattered in the room, not acknowledging Y/N gathering her things or quickly scurrying off after the man at all.

When she reached the door, the man gave her a sheepish smile while his hand rested on the door knob. “I’m sorry our time was cut even shorter. This meeting is rather important, after all.”

“That’s fine. Good luck!” Y/N offered, smiling her brightest as he opened the door and let her step out. As she made her way toward the elevator, a shout made her pause and look back at the man still in only his underwear standing in the middle of the hall.

“My name is Jin. It was nice to meet you--”

Her smile grew wider as the elevator opened up behind her, sticking her arm over the door to hold it for a few seconds longer. “Y/N. It was nice to meet you, too.”

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“You can’t even remember?” Doyeon gasped quite loudly as they ate breakfast. Well, lunch, but it was breakfast for them. Doyeon had been passed out and sleeping quite deeply when Y/N had finally gotten back to their room. It wasn’t until about 1 pm when Doyeon finally rolled out of her bed and appeared in the kitchen for coffee. “Oh, man! You can’t even remember if his dick was big or not, how sad!”

“Well, from what he told me, it was really good. Even for drunk sex.” Y/N only shrugged and took another bite of the strawberries they’d gotten. Doyeon frowned but it was quickly replaced as she dove into a story about some man selling plush mangoes that she ran into on the way back. Needless to say, she now had two huge plush mangoes and one was for Y/N.

“Are you going to see him again? Jin, I mean.” Doyeon asked after a while, finishing up her coffee as Y/N only sighed.

“I doubt it. He’s in the same hotel and all, but that doesn’t mean I’ll see him again. Jin’s a busy man, from what it looked like.” Y/N frowned this time but Doyeon assured her that she’d catch another glimpse of the man at some point.

Y/N didn’t take Doyeon’s promise to heart, seeing it as wishful thinking. Doyeon had been begging for Y/N to date even a little bit for so long and was most likely just hoping some fantasy scenario would happen where they’d fall in love and get married or something. That wasn’t likely but it was only three days later when Y/N was thinking maybe Doyeon’s fantasy for her wasn’t too far off the mark.

“I didn’t think I’d run into you here.” The sudden shade and voice caused Y/N to peek her eye open, sitting up after registering who it was and smiling a little. Doyeon was soon to follow Y/N’s lead, eyes a little wide at the man seemingly looming over them.

“It’s a small world after all.” Y/N shifted on her towel before motioning to her side. “This is my friend, Doyeon.”

Smiling, he gently took her hand and shook it with a gentleness that left Doyeon blushing. “Ah, the friend who had possibly disappeared! I’m glad you found her.”

“She was actually sleeping in the room when I got there. How’d your meeting go?” Y/N asked and watched as Jin took a careful seat on the end of her towel to continue chatting more comfortably. After a few moments of light chatter, Jin sighed and glanced at the way he had come.

“Would you ladies like to come to our tent? We have a bunch of food and drinks there. There’s better shade under it, too.” Jin chewed his lip a little after he asked, and Y/N couldn’t help but find it endearing. She looked over at Doyeon, who was frantically nodding at her to accept.

His tent wasn’t far from where they had been, reaching the moderately sized shelter in no time. Jin held the flap open for both of them, stepping inside afterward with a smile directed at the other men relaxing under the tent.

“Usually when people go for walks along the beach, they find shells, not women.” One of the men commented, making the others chuckle as they eyed Y/N and Doyeon. Jin laughed along, carefully pulling Y/N into one side of himself and Doyeon into the other.

“I think these two ladies make up for any shell I could possibly find. Gentlemen, meet Y/N and Doyeon.” Jin introduced, letting the information sit for a few seconds before introducing the men in the tent. “Ladies, these fine men are Taehyung, my business partner, Jaehyun, another business partner, Jinyoung, Jaehyun’s assistant, and Hoseok, Taehyung and I’s assistant.”

Y/N awkwardly waved at the men and things quickly settled back to a more comfortable atmosphere as conversations resumed. Jin carefully led Y/N over to the food and drinks, his smile still on his face and looking quite dazzling, if she was being honest.

“I’ll apologize in advance if any of these guys get boring. Our business lives take up a large portion of our time so it happens to be what we talk about the most.” Jin watched Y/N as she carefully picked up a snack, chuckling as she chewed and swallowed it then reached for more. She simply shrugged at his apology, though, flashing a smile his way as she ate another snack.

“Business is going to be something I become very familiar with once I go home. So, it doesn’t hurt to start early.” She explained and Jin only nodded before he was pulled into a conversation by Jaehyun.

As the afternoon went on, jokes and laughs filled the tent while the sun dropped lower and lower into the sky. Eventually, Jaehyun and Jinyoung excused themselves for an event they had to attend, leaving the two ladies with Jin and his partner and assistant.

“Listen, there’s this party tonight, it’s on a partner of ours’ yacht.” Jin explained as it started to grow a bit cooler everywhere. “It’d be really awesome if you ladies could join us.”

“Oh, that’d be wonderful! Definitely would liven up the party.” Taehyung smiled, winking at Doyeon and causing her to blush. She made eye contact with Y/N and with a smile, they both nodded.

“Great! Wear something more on the formal side. It’s not a black tie event but it’s definitely on the classy side.” Jin said before they parted ways in the hotel lobby.

As the elevator doors closed behind the girls while they walked down the hallway to their room, Doyeon couldn’t help but gasp a little in shock. “We just got invited to a fancy boat party.”

“One of those businessmen winked at you.” Y/N stated and Doyeon scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah? Well, you slept with one of them.”

“Fair point. Let’s go; I call shower first!”

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The soft lights that twinkled along the railings outside of the boat reflected off the warm ocean water below and made everything around look like it was glowing. To say it looked magical was an understatement. Doyeon and Y/N were breathless as security let them onto the boat, their eyes both wide and absorbing all they could of the large vessel.

“You ladies look gorgeous!” Hoseok greeted them as they stepped inside the boat, his smile large and inviting. A comfort among all these fancy looking people, Y/N realized. They followed him through the people, heading right for a table toward the back. Jin was there, a seat next to him on either side with another empty seat next to Taehyung. The rest of the table was filled with various men and women, colleagues of Jin’s that he was close enough with to joke around.

As they approached the table, Jin’s eye caught Y/N and his smile grew larger as he took her in. He quickly ushered the ladies over to their side of the table, Doyeon taking the seat next to Taehyung as Y/N got comfortable next to Jin. The table dissolved into idle chatter among everyone as the Y/N adjusted in her seat.

“You look absolutely gorgeous, Y/N.” Jin’s breath fanned across her neck, making her swallow thickly. She had picked a red shimmery dress, not knowing why she’d brought it at first but now thankful she had. When she glanced up at Jin, he was smiling but his eyes hid something and it was only after his attention was pulled away for a brief second that she realized it was lust.

A chill ran down her spine at the thought, teeth finding purchase in her bottom lip as her thoughts began to run in a frenzy. Was he really giving her such a look earlier? Sure, they’d slept together once, and he was the one who had remembered everything. But would he really give her that kind of look with so many people around?

Her thoughts disappeared as soon as food arrived and her attention was brought to the food and table conversation. Y/N realized she had met Jaehyun and Jinyoung already, easily falling into a conversation with Jinyoung about nonsense things. By the time dessert rolled around, the comfort Y/N was feeling had grown immensely.

It was only as she took a spoonful of the pudding placed before her that her body was freezing up and screaming at the sudden sensation. Jin’s hand rested on her thigh under the table, out of view of everyone around them. He didn’t move it, only his thumb brushed the bare skin of her thigh slowly back and forth. It took a lot of strength to relax again, the pudding on her spoon finally finding its way into her mouth. Butterflies were erupting when his hand slowly moved up a few inches, pushing her dress up that much further. People had to know what was happening, that Jin was touching her under the table like this.

Nothing further happened as dessert finally came to a close and people began to branch off and explore different parts of the boat. Y/N nervously followed after Jin as he asked her for a walk along the deck, her face feeling hot with the lingering touch he’d left only moments before.

The night air was cool against her warm face as they walked, Jin occasionally greeting people that passed by. Eventually, they reached a fairly deserted part of the deck where none of the guests or crew seemed to be.

“You really do look absolutely stunning in that dress.” Jin commented as they stood near the rail, staring up at the stars above. Y/N blushed at the comment, opening her mouth to thank him, only for Jin to interrupt her and continue speaking. “I really couldn’t get the image out of my head of how you looked without anything on, though.”

Y/N’s breath hitched as Jin turned toward her, his eyes reflecting that look she’d seen earlier. It was dark, almost dangerous. It left a warm feeling tingling in her stomach as she took it in. “Really?”

“I kept thinking about how this pretty red dress would look as I took it off. As I pushed it off and kissed every inch of your body again and again.” Jin leaned closer as he lowered his voice, his lips brushing Y/N’s ear and setting her skin on fire. Her throat felt closed up, making it hard to voice how she wanted to feel his hands on her. She wanted to feel it all and remember every second of it this time around.

Carefully, she took one of his hands and brought it under her dress so he could feel her panties. “I want it too, Jin.” Y/N whispered and she shivered as he growled in her ear. His fingers carefully maneuvered her panties aside, toying with her clit before sliding into her slowly. She couldn’t help the whine that escaped her and she quickly grabbed his arm to stop any movements he made. “I-I want more than that, please.”

Jin nearly came at her plea, a soft moan leaving him as her hands reached out to shakily undo his pants. Beating her to it, Jin was pulling them down far enough to pull his dick out and was quickly pushing her dress up while holding her leg up and wrapping it around his waist.

“I want you to be quiet, darling. We can’t have anyone finding us over here, yeah?” Y/N nodded her head and quickly slapped a hand over her mouth as Jin pushed her panties aside and slid into her with ease. He stilled when he was fully inside her, his forehead resting against her shoulder for a few seconds as he tried to calm down some. “Fuck, this feels even better sober.”

Y/N only whimpered in agreement, pressing her hand hard against her face as he began to move his hips expertly. She couldn’t deny that the feel of his dick inside her was the best feeling she’d had in a long while. She hated that she couldn’t remember what it felt like the first time it was inside her but the thought quickly left her mind as he began to pick up the pace of his thrusts.

“J-Jin--” She gasped between her fingers, blushing at the volume of her voice. He only smirked, his fingers digging into her leg and hip as he held her against the rail of the ship. “P-Please, harder.”

“My angel wants it harder, does she?” Jin smirked a little as his hand on her hip slid down to her clit, his thumb carefully rubbing the small bud as he slammed into her more forcefully than he had been. Y/N couldn’t help the loud moan that escaped her at that point, her orgasm so close that her senses were failing her. With a few more thrusts, her head was falling back and she was staring at the stars above them as her orgasm washed over her. Jin was close behind, burying his face in her neck as he spilled into her.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, letting the atmosphere settle down around them. Jin was the first to move, pressing a light kiss to her neck before he carefully pulled out of her. He smiled at Y/N as he then cleaned her up gently, wadding up the tissues he had used and throwing them away in a nearby trash can.

The silence that enveloped them was comforting, instead of awkward or embarrassed. When Jin came back over to Y/N, he was quick to wrap his arms around her and stare out over the ocean with her doing the same. The warmth of the breeze tickled her cheeks and Y/N smiled and let her head fall back against his shoulder.

“At least this time you got me dinner beforehand.” Y/N quipped and Jin laughed while nodding. The rest of their time up there was spent staring at the stars and dark ocean water, quiet conversation flowing like a waterfall between the two as they stayed in their own little version of reality for a short time.

It was only when the boat was docking again and they were standing on shore again that Jin promised he’d see her again. Y/N left him with a kiss that solidified that promise that they’d meet again for sure, like he had said.

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“Are you all packed up?” Y/N watched as Jin pulled on his boxers that had been on the floor, shoving his shoes over toward his waiting luggage. The answer was obvious, but she wanted to fill the space with something before she’d have to leave. The word ‘goodbye’ was leaving a bitter taste in her mouth as it tried to crawl up.

“I finished before you came over, except a few things. I’ll get those in the morning.” Jin explained before climbing back into bed next to her. His arms wrapped around her, only humming in content when she was flush against him under the sheets. Y/N smiled at the gesture, wiggling closer and sighing in content at the warmth he radiated.

Silence fell over them, sleep evading both of them as their thoughts ran wild. Like Jin had promised, since the night of the yacht dinner, they’d met up quite frequently. It was almost scandalous, Y/N had said one night after they had messed around. They were almost sneaking around even though there was no need to.

They didn’t always just have sex, though. Y/N was thankful that sometimes when they met up, Jin would take her out for dinner or shopping or something. Almost like cute dates.

That was the catch, though. They were almost like dates, almost like lovers enjoying a vacation together. Y/N had told Jin before that a relationship wasn’t what she wanted, she couldn’t have one. Her career was important to her and Jin had said he understood that completely. Y/N wasn’t so sure if he really did.

The silence only lasted a few minutes longer before Y/N was sighing and wiggling out of his hold and out of the bed. She avoided looking at his face, knowing he probably looked hurt to some degree. Her heart was already screaming at her for leaving but it needed to be done. She couldn’t stay with Jin forever.

“Where are you going?” Jin’s voice was quiet, almost like he was afraid of it breaking if he spoke any louder. Slipping her underwear back on, Y/N finally looked back at him with a pained looking smile.

“I have to go now, Jin. I can’t stay the night.” Y/N forced herself to look away as she searched for her shirt, slipping it on next. She was hoping this would be painless, quick. She wanted a shower and some sleep tonight before her flight home, after all. “My flight is really early tomorrow.”

“Well, you’re all packed, right? You could just stay here and I’ll help you wake up--”

“Jin, no. I can’t.” Y/N sighed and she’s holding her shoes when she glances at him. It was a mistake; she realized too late that she should’ve avoided looking at him all together. He looks so hurt, like Y/N was almost ripping a piece of him out and taking it with her. Maybe she was, after all.

“Well, at least leave your number or email or something. I don’t want to lose you forever.” Jin pleads with her, almost desperate sounding. Y/N guessed that he was desperate, though. His eyes looked like they were glistening in the moonlight seeping in through the blinds. “I want you in my life.”

“Jin, you know that I can’t involve myself with anyone like that. I have a career to focus on and so do you. Please, don’t make this harder than it already is.” Y/N takes a step toward the door, looking just as pained as Jin looks. He scrambled from the bed, approaching her and stopping a few inches away.

“This can’t be goodbye. Please, Y/N…” He trailed off, his voice quiet again like it had been earlier. Y/N looked away, looked down at her toes and then at the carpet. Anywhere but him. The tension was stifling and when she finally opened her mouth to speak, Jin interrupted her. “At least...can I kiss you one last time?”

It wasn’t a good idea, Y/N’s brain was screaming that but her heart won out this time. She gave a small nod and Jin carefully lifted her chin so their eyes could meet. Jin hesitated for a second before gently pressing his lips against hers. The kiss was bittersweet, soft and everything that Jin wanted to say shoved into one kiss. It didn’t last long, not as long as Jin wanted. Y/N was slipping out of his touch, out of the room, out of his life, sooner than he wanted.

Walking down the hallway, Y/N covered her mouth with one hand and her body silently shook with the tears she was trying to hold back. Her heart was shattering and it was strange, but not really. She only knew Jin for two weeks and yet she felt so much for him already. It was crazy, Y/N thought she had to have been crazy. This kind of stuff only happens in movies and cheesy romance novels; not reality where they lived and breathed and everything that happened with Jin was real. In the real world, Y/N knew that things weren’t a fairy tale and wouldn’t work out like Jin hoped or Y/N wished for.

Stepping into the elevator, Y/N let out a shaky breath and watched the doors close on the happiness that her heart finally found but was denied. She had a career to focus on, after all.

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Doyeon flashed Y/N another sad look as she made tea in the kitchen. The TV was set up for a movie, some random action film that Doyeon had wanted to see ages ago. Y/N was sitting on the couch, staring off into space and way more quiet than Doyeon had ever seen her.

She knew it had something to do with the handsome businessman that shall not be named. The morning they had to leave, Y/N had looked like a wreck. It was obvious she’d been crying all night and Doyeon didn’t need to be told what it was about. Or rather, who it was about. She just let Y/N rest on her during the plane ride back home and didn’t say a word.

It’d been two weeks since they had gotten home, and Y/N looked just as distraught as that morning. If Doyeon could only look into her brain, then she’d see the constant thoughts of Jin that ran through it.

Y/N didn’t know why her thoughts were so focused on Jin. They hadn’t known each other for longer than two weeks at most; so why was he still there in her mind? She couldn’t get over his smile, his laugh, his hands, the way they touched her. Y/N missed him entirely too much for someone that she only knew for two weeks.

Part of her regretted not keeping in contact with him. Maybe she should’ve given her number or something to him. It was cruel of her to just cut things off entirely. Y/N felt awful for hurting Jin like she had and wanted nothing more than to go back and perhaps fix things.

Her mind wandered to how things could have been if she’d just let herself be human. Having a relationship wasn’t evil, she knew that. Y/N even tried to reason with her mind that despite wanting a career and to be successful in the career of her choice, she could still have a healthy relationship.

The truth of the matter was that she knew that she didn’t have to push Jin away like she had; there could’ve been a healthy and great relationship there. Somewhere deep down, though, Y/N was scared. She was scared of being hurt and she didn’t want the hurt to consume her entirely. But maybe it already had consumed her.

The thoughts quickly disappeared as she furrowed her brows and tried to remind herself for the reason why things ended like they did. She had a job starting soon and didn’t need anyone getting in the way of her doing her best. Y/N needed to focus on the goal here and find her determination again to start a successful career.

That’s what ran through Y/N’s head as she stepped into the large building downtown three days later bright and early in the morning. Her nerves were chaotic as she nervously approached the receptionist sitting in the lobby of the building.

“Hi! How can I help you?” The woman smiled brightly at Y/N, pausing her typing to turn her focus all on her. Taking a deep breath, Y/N smiled back and tried to look more relaxed.

“Hi. I’m supposed to start working here today?” Y/N said more as a question than a statement that she was sure of entirely. The girl just nodded, though, turning toward her monitor and smiling wider after a few clicks.

“Y/N Y/L?” When Y/N nodded, the girl nodded quickly and began gathering papers. “It’s great to meet you! Welcome to the company, I’m Sooyoung! I’m the receptionist down here but I hope we can be friends!” She excitedly explained before standing up and rounding the desk. Y/N was quick to follow after her after she motioned toward the elevators.

“You’ll be working closely with the higher ups, actually! They’re waiting to discuss your duties in one of the conferences rooms on the 57th floor.” Sooyoung explained further before pressing the button. “I promise they aren’t that scary, really. Except Mr. Choi, he’s kind of creepy.” Sooyoung made a disgusted face but quickly replaced it with another smile as she faced Y/N. “It shouldn’t be a problem, though! I know you’ll do great.”

The elevator stopped with a pleasant ding, and Sooyoung stepped off as soon as the doors opened. Y/N followed, taking in the office scene of cubicles and miscellaneous typing filing the air. Sooyoung didn’t stop, though, and instead continued down a hallway to the right of the elevator. She turned right again after a while and when they reached the end of a shorter hallway, she stopped and motioned to the room on the left.

“Good morning Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim, and Mr. Choi! I have the new employee here with me!” Sooyoung called into the room, most likely offering them a smile before she dipped back out to hand the papers to Y/N. “Good luck, Y/N!”

Y/N watched her walk away and gulped a little before cautiously stepping into the conference room where the men sat, now silent. “Good morning.” Her voice was light as she bowed a little in respect before standing up straight.

The world froze as her eyes landed on the person farthest to the left at the end of the table. His body seemed to freeze, as well, though his colleagues didn’t point it out. Y/N almost forgot she was supposed to move until a few chuckles were heard.

“You can take a seat right here, Ms. Y/N.” It was Mr. Choi who spoke and Y/N could only nod at him. Forcing her body to move, she shuffled over and took the seat that he had motioned to moments before. “Welcome, officially, to the company. I know you applied for another position, but the three of us decided that you would fit better as one of our assistants. Specifically, mine.”

The words that they spoke after that seemed to go in one ear and out the other, which was an issue since Y/N needed this information to do her job. Luckily, Mr. Choi was nice enough to have a document detailing her duties clearly available for her.

“Any more information or work that comes up will just be explained as it comes.” Mr. Choi explained, smiling as he clapped his hands and looked at his business partners. “Anything to add, Kim?”

All eyes drifted to the left most person, who seemed to choke on air before shaking his head. “Welcome to the company, Ms. Y/N.” His voice was quiet and it was odd to hear. Y/N just nodded at him, muttering a thank you as the meeting came to an end.

Mr. Choi led Y/N to her desk as she gathered everything she’d been given. After showing her the desk she’d be using, which had a computer set up and was quite isolated near his own office, Mr. Choi disappeared into his office and left Y/N alone to get settled. Y/N only dumped her things off, making sure to grab her phone as she bolted for the bathroom.

Tears threatened to fall as she quickly locked herself into the bathroom once she found it, hands trembling the whole time she tried to dial the familiar number of her best friend’s phone. “Pick up, please.” She begged as the phone kept ringing constantly until a click was heard and relief flooded her system.

“Y/N? Are you okay? Aren’t you at work?” Doyeon’s voice crackled over the phone and Y/N couldn’t hold back the small sob any longer. Doyeon’s tone quickly changed as she heard it, dropping something that she was holding onto the counter in the kitchen, most likely. “Are you crying? Seriously, Y/N, are you okay? Are you still at work?”

“Doyeon…” She trailed off, sounding a little teary as she spoke. She was trying so hard to hold it back, not wanting to cry on her first day. But her heart was hurting from the unexpected shock she’d received only moments before. “Doyeon, how could I be so stupid?”

“What are you talking about?”

“How could I not research just who owned this stupid company?” Y/N ignored Doyeon’s confused question, still rambling to herself before she sighed. Doyeon would have to know more of the story if she was going to get any comfort out of this panic call. “He works here, Do. Jin fucking works here.”

The silence that came from the other end of the phone was deafening until Doyeon was cursing in her ear. “Shit, Y/N. You fucked your boss…”

“I know.”

“Like, multiple times!”

“I know.”

“And then totally ripped out his heart and threw it away like garbage.” Doyeon sighed as she fell onto the couch. Y/N scoffed at that, rolling her eyes even if Doyeon couldn’t see her.

“Thanks for reminding me, Do. Not like I wasn’t already reliving that the moment I saw him.”

“Sorry.” Doyeon sheepishly apologized and it grew silent again as Y/N chewed on her lip. This was quite the situation, not something she had expected in a million years. How was she going to survive working here? “What are you going to do, Y/N? Are you going to quit?”

Y/N thought for a moment before sighing. “No, I’m not quitting. I don’t have to work with him in close contact, anyway. So I should be fine...right?” Y/N’s voice sounded hopeful and Doyeon was nice enough to return that same hopeful tone in confirmation.

“You’re gonna do great, Y/N. I know that and you know that. All you got to do is just focus on your work. Do that and come home and then do it again.” Doyeon laid out, smiling on her end of the phone when she heard Y/N’s sigh. Even if she couldn’t see her, Y/N knew there was a smile on her friend’s face.

When Y/N finally returned to her desk, finding some reports and things to work on piled up on the surface, she put her phone away and sorted things out. Doyeon had reminded her that her priority was working, not some guy she hooked up with on vacation. Y/N just had to remind herself she could do this and that her past wouldn't get in the way of her job performance.

At least, Y/N hoped that things would go smoothly with Jin as one of her new bosses.

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lemoneyesour · 4 years

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This is going to be long af, this isn’t the whole tea I didn’t want this rant to be too long.

I think the hardest part about being a Libra is learning that I’m not always going to be able to explain my side of situations to people. There are always two sides to a story and sometimes the wrong side is louder. I have to learn to be content with the fact people will perceive me differently because of the words of another.

That sometimes people will dislike me without knowing me. Sometimes it’s better just to be quiet. And since you decided to make our personal affair public in order to gain the sympathy from other and reassurance that you a “good person”. I’ll voice my side of things too, but I choose to do it on a platform where no one know who tf I am, and most likely only 1 person will read this.

Back in December I found out some troubling news and I was lost. My friend lent me $100 to help me out with it (I’m pretty sure she offered the money but I don’t 100% remember) I accepted because she was genuine about it and I figured why not. After everything got taken care of, I became a little distant. I was unemployed, stressed about money and just started a new relationship. I didn’t speak to her as much as I had before. When she reacted out to talk I would reply until I felt the conversation naturally died down. So a lot of times that meant I left her on read after a little bit of talking.

One day she reached out to me and showed her concern. She missed me and wanting to hangout. I told her my situation and that I needed time to heal. When I go through a stressful patch, I like to be alone a lot of the time to self reflect. She told me she unstood and then that would be enough until she would message me saying the exact some things she did last time. I was patient and calm with her.

I was very frustrated because I had even more money problems, I was unable to pay my car insurance which led to my license being suspended. I was unaware that it was suspended so I naturally get Pulled over by a cop because I didn’t have my lights on when it was cloudy. He informed me my insurance wasn’t valid and my license was suspended. So I got a ticket of $160, had to pay off my backed insurance and buy new insurance. Then I had to pay $150 to get my license reinstated. Which I had to paid for two paychecks to do, so I had to get rides from coworkers to work for three weeks, I was late to work serveral times. Then my phone broke, I didn’t have one for a week. So a lot of times I was unable to call my job ahead of time to tell them I was going to be late. While also dealing with bills, stress and the same situation happening AGAIN that caused me to borrow money in the first place.

One day she messages me about how I “obviously do not want to be friends with her and I could have just said something about it instead of ignoring her and that she needs to know when I will pay her back.” She sent messages like this a couple more times, honestly her passive aggressive comments and inability to see the situation wasn’t about her, but rather me and my mental state, made me not want to hangout with her... I didn’t like how she was manipulating things. I decided to open up to her about everything that happened to be in the last month. Maybe if I tell her specifics she will be more understanding. I am kinda private about these things.

So I could try to give her $20 a paycheck Until it’s paid off. I told her how I was mentally drained and couldn’t really carry on a conversation with anyone let alone make the time to hangout. I tried my hardest to express to her that i wasn’t avoiding her, that I simply needed space. My best friend of 8 years randomly stopped talking to me and never explained why, so I understand how it feels to be left In the dark or feel abandoned by someone you love. She told me she understood and hoped I was well.

After about a month, all my bills where paid off, I got my car situation fixed, I was feeling better mentally, I was ready to open up again and hangout. Then I got a message from her saying (this is the exact message)

“OK so I’ve given you six months, and you’ve not really tried to be friends with me or talked to me, so I’m just guessing you do not want to be friends. I understand having to work on yourself but fuck Hannah. I’d rather you just be honest with me. At this point I just need the money for my medicine for my face, plus my car payment. So please get back with me as soon as possible.”

At this time it had only been 4 months, not that it really matters. I had been nothing but honest with her over the last couple of months. I wanted her to feel validated and reassured about my feelings. I explained my side again and even showed her where I had explained it all to her before (she stated I could have just told her things where tough, and she would have understood. I LITERALLY DID 3 TIMES) she replied with “I don’t give a fuck about that lame ass conversation, I want my money”

That’s when I realized it wasn’t about our friendship to begin with, all she cared about was the money. If you aren’t talking about something that is upsetting you, you don’t just randomly blow up on someone one day. (In this situation being if she really missed me, then why did you change tone so quickly and start using the money against me??)

I told her I had no idea me not posting her back when I said I would (because things went to shit so quickly after I told her that) would anger her this much and cause problems in our friendship. I didn’t know money was that important to her. (I know it’s money but to me lending someone money isn’t a big deal. I don’t lend someone money with the expectation of them paying me back because we are friends)

She never communicated that to me.

At this point I was going to pay her back, but when she started coming at me I got mad. When I get mad I get petty. So I just didn’t pat her back, and I know that was peak lt childish.

All she does it talk about how she gets fucked over all the time, or how she is such a great person or friend. Even in our arguments she kept stating that. IF UR A GOOD PERSON U DONT NEED PEOPLE REASURRING YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA ALL THE TIMEE. I can’t stand immature adults who can’t understand their friends are their own people and they have lives. I don’t always reply to my friends and my friends don’t always reply to me, in my eyes we are friends until one day we tell each other we aren’t. I don’t care if we haven’t talked In year. I guess that’s what I get for befriending a insecure, emotionally underdeveloped paranoid doo doo head.

So the reason I’m posting this is because she reached out to me AGAIN. Demanding I pay her back and then proceeded to make a status about me on Facebook so everyone knew what had happened. I was able to actually talk to her again, express what had actually happened. But come more from a sympathetic approach. Maybe if I do that she will actually be willing to listen to what I had to say. It worked and we sort of patched things up. But she left the status up, she wanted people to know she was hurt and there was a big meanie out there who had her $100. (FYI I haven’t had a job in two minutes this because of COVID and $100 isn’t shit. Sorry it’s not, she’s made that money back so many times now. She’s just trying to get me with whatever leverage she has)

One thing I can’t stand is having people force feed a biased narrative of my character. They don’t know the other side, and they probably never will. They will only see me as a lair, user, theift. It hurts

I know I didn’t handle the best way possible, but she isn’t as blameless as she is leading people to believe

If anyone actually read all of this and you want to know the rest I’ll definitely tell it 😂

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ironwoman18 · 4 years

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The Worst Third Date Ever part 13

Chapter 13: Surprises part 2

The next night Spencer and Max were on a taxi on their way to the apartment. He managed to find tickets thanks to a couple that canceled their trip at the last second.

Thankfully the return will be some days later so the flights are less crowded. Before they left to the airport early that day, Spencer talked to the man at the reception of the building and asked if he could put in the apartment a bouquet of roses and champagne.

He wanted to make their first month, something special and of course he wanted them to enjoy their alone time together as much a possible before his job started to keep them away for days.

"And is the city too crowded?" Max asked the driver.

"Yeah, the city always got crowded on New Year's eve" said the man with a heavy African accent "normally the city is full of people but not as much as these days"

"Ok so it will be tough to reach the museum, unless we went early, because I'm sure the tourists won't be out too early but the New Yorkers will be"

Spencer nodded "so we will need to wake up early tomorrow to reach the museum in time"

"The museums will work tomorrow and the next day not the 31st won't work" the couple nodded.

"Ok thank you" said Max cuddling on Spencer's chest "it's really cold her, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I asked the man at the reception to turn on the heater for us, so the apartment is warm when we arrive"

"Good" she said looking outside the window, everything was cover with a white layer.

After some minutes they arrived to the building, he paid the driver and both get out their suit. They packed clothes for six days and put some more, just in case.

They walked in and talked with the receptionist "Good night, I'm Spencer Reid and this is Max Brenner we are going to the apartment 87" the man check.

"Ok here you are Mr. Reid. The owner said you will be staying for six days right?"

"Yes"

"Ok, the main room isn't open. Mr. Fisher has the key so you can stay in the guest room but don't worry it has a bed for two" they both nodded "and as you asked my partner turned on the heater before leaving so it must be warm"

"Great, anything else?"

"No that's all... oh wait here is a phone guide with numbers of some delivery restaurants. They work 24 hours"

"Ok thank you" he held it and the key and handed it to Max then he held both suitcases and walked to the elevator.

The floor of the apartment was the eighth and when they arrived they walked to the apartment. Max opened it and both were surprised when they saw the big apartment.

The apartment's livingroom has a large sofa L shaped and a smart TV in front of it, them the dining room and the kitchen were designed as an open concept and with a big marble table as their division. When they walked the apartment was warm and comfortable.

"I will go check the room, maybe tomorrow we can buy somethings to cook here, I don't want us to eat always out side. Maybe since you cooked for me, I can do it for you" said Max winking at him.

"Sounds perfect" he smiled and she walked there while he checked the kitchen. There were some bottles of water so he grabbed one, suddenly he heard a scream from the room so he ran toward there and when he reached there, Max was looking at the roses and a bottle of champagne with two cups.

She was with a hand on her mouth and turned to him. She walked to him and hugged him and he held her tight "this is for our first month. Which will be tomorrow" he whispered on her hair.

"This was so sweet of you Spence" she looked at him and kissed him gently "you make me fall in love more everyday we spend together" she played with his hair gently.

"So do I, you are making me so happy" he picked her up and walked to the bed they will share the next few days.

OOooOOooOO

The next day they woke up early and after a shower they got dressed and walked out of the apartment holding hands.

"We should eat when we reach the museum" he nodded.

"Yeah, there's a good place to eat close to the museum"

"Ok" she smiled as a taxi stopped in front of them. They got in and said where he will go.

She layed her head on his arm "so did you ever went to this museum?"

"Actually no. I only came to New York for work and then we left after catching the bad guy" he looked at her "this is the first time here without a case"

She smiles "and it happens with every case?" He nodded.

"Yeah, we leave as soon as the unsub is in prison" they arrived to the museum, he paid and got out of the car.

The museum was still closed so they walked to a coffee shop and bought their breakfast.

While they waited Max found a brochure of the museum and read their exhibitions. She was excited for some of them she wanted to check out.

She started to ramble about them and he was looking at her with a smile. I liked hearing people rambling about things they love.

He nodded and commented a thing or two while he held the tray to a table. They ate and talked.

When they finished their food, they stood up and walked out the coffee shop "ok let's go" she held up the tickets as they headed to the museum.

He held her hand and walked in handing their tickets to the guy there. Then both walked in the museum.

They checked some pictures and she rambled about them as they saw them. He nodded and said some things about what he knew too.

This was not his field of expertise so he let her explain everything. They checked as much painting as they can all morning.

They just stopped for coffee an a snack they got at a little stand in the museum. Then continue until they wanted lunch.

"We should go now" he said and she pouted "don't pout at you young lady" he said with a smirk "we have to get lunch"

"Ok I think you are right, let's go" she held his hand, went to the souvenir store to buy some presents for their families and he also got some for his coworkers then they left the museum.

"Where should we go Spence?" She asked as they called a taxi.

"Dave told me about a restaurant he knew in the Little Italy. He grew up here so he recommended me that place"

"Sounds good, if he recommends a restaurant that place must be amazing" she said as she remembered their time at his house "oh and I forgot we need to buy food for us" he nodded as he managed to get a taxi.

"After lunch we can go to a market" he opened the door for her then he got in and said where they wanted to go to the driver "I saw one a few blocks from the apartment"

"Perfect" she smiled and held his hand playing with his fingers softly "did you like the museum?"

"Of course, it was fun and I learned a lot. I love to learn things. You told me a lot about art History, something out of my expertise" she looked at him "I knew somethings but never like you"

"Well I'm glad I managed to teach you something, at least a few new things" he smiled softly.

"I enjoyed watching you talking and been excited about all of this and that fulfill my heart" she blushed "also this teached me more about you" she looked up and him and kissed him.

"I'm glad you are telling me this because I also learned about you. You don't usually share your thoughts or feelings so everytime you do, I know you are breaking your walls with me"

"My job is tough and I saw so many things that made me build them so, yeah... you are making me open up" he smiled and rubbed her cheek "I love hope and I watched it with you most often" she smiled and blushed.

"That's so sweet" she kissed the hand the had on her cheek "I love you"

"I love you too" they kissed again. There was traffic so they did not arrive as quick as they wish to their destination.

When they finally arrived, he paid and both got out. Spencer looked for the restaurant Rossi told him. After some minutes he found it and they walked in. The place was decorated with pictures of Italy and its flag, there were some paintings on the walls of famous places from there, the tables have candles lighted up and a pot with little flowers.

Spencer approached to the manager and whispers something in Italian. The man smiled "David's friend is my friend" he said with a heavy Italian accent "come, come... follow me" he led them to a table "this is my special table" he looked at the waiter and told him to go get them a menu "please enjoy. The wine is on me" he left them and walked away.

Then the waiter handed them the menu, they checked it and while they do, he poured some wine in their cups and some bread with olive oil with spices.

They ordered and toasted for their first officially month as a couple. Then they talked about the city and more about the museum.

They ate their food, Spencer was making random comments about Italian culture or rambling about some statistics.

Max just nodded and let him talk. She found it cute when he did that "Spencer, what happened to the champagne in the apartment?"

"I put it in the refrigerator, you can have a champagne in there for three or four days before the bubbles start to disappear"

"Ok sounds good, we will need it for New Year"

"Yes I'm agree" he finished the food "did you like it?"

"Love it" he smiled "do you want to go now?"

"Sure it's almost five. And the traffic will be heavier"

"Ok let's go then" he called the waiter and asked for the bill.

After it arrived he stood up and went to pay. When he returned he had a tiramisu cake in a bag "Giovanni, the manager, sent this to us. He said 'you and your girlfriend deserve to enjoy this so here's a gift from me' and didn't accept a no as an answer so..." she could not hold a little laugh at that.

Then she stood up "I'm sure we will love it" she helped him carrying it while he held their presents to their families and friends.

The travel back to their temporary home was quite as they were tired. They stopped at the apartment to left the bags and walked to the market closer to them.

They bought bread, butter, cheese and other things. They made the decision to eat outside on New Year's eve so they just bought for breakfast and dinner for the other days.

She grabbed somethings for her secret dish, she even paid for them with another cashier.

The next day they planned to go to see the city and do as much tours as they can.

He decided to give her the best few days there before he started to work and she had the same plan for him, she wanted him to have good memories of the city, so he did not see the city as the home of the serial killer or a kidnapper.

OOooOOooOO

This is an escape for me as much as yours from this global problem so let's cheer each other and continue the support. Thank you to all the people who took the time to comment, favorite or just read. I wish all of you who just read tell me what you like or dislike.

I am open to any recommendations as long as they help me to learn.

Read you soon with more.

#spencer reid #criminal mind #maxine brenner #maxcer #fanfiction

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rockisagirlsbestfriend · 4 years

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The Isolation Journals: Glorious Awkwardness

April 4, 2020

Today’s writing prompt proved a challenge because what was once my most glorious awkward intrinsic trait is currently a way of life for a vast number of people globally. I agonized over the topic longer than I should have.

It felt “too easy” – choosing to write about a “glorious awkward trait” that is so widely accepted now.

It felt “too hard” – would people relate to this as “awkward” now? Could anyone imagine the feeling of hundreds of people staring at them as if they were a freak when they walked down the aisle of an airplane? Would people be able to relate to the experience of returning to the box office, 10 minutes into a movie, to request a new seat assignment; or asking the manager at the gym if they could move to a different cross-training workout station? As many people embrace this trait now, would they be able to imagine their co-workers and friends repeatedly teasing them about this awkwardness and questioning their sanity?

On the idea of it being “too easy”: I thought about some of our most brilliant artists, inventors, designers, musicians, and filmmakers. Stories of being “misunderstood”, “an outcast”, or feeling “different” are commonly shared in interviews. However, once a certain level of fame or recognition is achieved, people celebrate and often emulate their “glorious awkward traits”. But it wasn’t easy. Sometimes that recognition came after decades of taunting by peers, sometimes after death.

On the idea of it being “too hard”: Just this morning, I opened the front door, and saw the grocery delivery driver, in his N95 mask and latex gloves, jump back to the required social distance of 6 feet. Yes, even though this trait is now widely accepted, it still feels awkward. Each of us shrouded in masks as a way to protect each other and ourselves from a dangerous virus. While we both understood it as a necessity, it felt surreal, removed from humanity.

The delivery driver was visibly nervous and anxious to leave. I’d ordered some wine so he needed to scan my ID. With our feet firmly planted on their 6’ marks, our bodies stiffly upright to remain out of the no-fly zone, we extended our arms just far enough that his scanner could read my driver’s license, and retreated as soon as we heard the confirming “beep”.

The writing prompt Jon Batiste offered this morning asked us to describe our “glorious awkwardness”. Well, my glorious awkwardness is: early onset Germaphobia.

I first remember consciously being disgusted by people’s hands in middle school. It wasn’t about the person. I simply saw all the things they touched, could envision dirt and bacteria piling up each time they picked up a pencil, touched the desk, tied their shoe, or twirled their hair. I hid it well (I think), but inside I cringed seeing them raise their unwashed hand to their mouth to eat a sandwich, a healthy snack, or a cookie.

My friends would get sick and brush it off. Their congested nasal passages trying to intake air as they argued, “Agh, izzz jus uh hedddd cold” when I’d decline their request to “try a sip” of my soda. I didn’t want a cold, a head cold, the flu, their mouth on my straw, their breath droplets on the lid.

And it never went away. I thought about it during sex (this was after middle school, for those tracking chronologically). “He didn’t wash his hands when we got home and now they’re where. . . and then. . . ?”

The 3-second rule… or 10 second rule… I don’t remember how many seconds it was, but if a thing fell on a table, the floor, a counter, my shirt, it was not going in my mouth.

In order to have any semblance of a social life, I did the best I could to hide it. Unlike the arbitrary “x-second rule” which never worked for me, I tried to appease my anxiety with “the alcohol will kill it”, which worked for me if I’d consumed enough alcohol.

I’m active, physically and socially. I like to run half marathons, am competitive in a circuit training class, go to rock concerts surrounded by thousands of sweaty people, eat meals out, bump elbows at a crowded bar, travel. The longer I was out in the world, the more I witnessed the repulsive and inconsiderate trait many people - adult people - had of not covering their faces when they sneezed or coughed.

As recently as February – when we were well aware of COVID19, but before we were ordered to stay home – I saw a man sneeze all over the self-service ticket kiosk at the movie theater, as he retrieved his tickets. It was a busy Saturday night. I envisioned all the people who would touch that kiosk after him, print their tickets, go buy popcorn, and put that popcorn directly in their mouth to determine whether it would be salty enough a third of the way through the bucket, before leaving the concession stand to take their seat and perhaps wash their hands on the way. Perhaps.

I alerted an employee, who politely responded, “Thanks for letting us know!” As he continued to address the needs of people in line, the thought of a deadly virus on a high-touch public surface was now trailing off in the distance, unattended.

I’ve been wearing a mask on airplanes, trains, and in all forms of public transport, for more than a decade. The most accessible photo of it I have (meaning I don’t have to sift through 8 hard drives to find an older one) is from 2018 and is posted at the end of this story.

First, it was the looks on the faces of the gate agents, followed by the flight attendants who strained to hear my replies, muffled by the mask. Then, of course, there are the looks other passengers give you, followed by their sighs of relief that you’re not sitting next to them, until you do. Sit. Down. Next. To. Them.

At dinners, my friends would sit waiting around the table, while I washed my hands for well over 20 seconds. Often, depending how long we’d been friends, people would say, “C’mon. It’s ok. The alcohol will kill it!”

Their children would ask, “Can we just start eating?” Sometimes, they could.

Business meals were equally complicated. A coworker once wiped her nose on her napkin, put her napkin on the table, and it touched my fork. I tried to hold it together, to not request new utensils, which would likely be uncomfortable for at least two of us during this business lunch. But I was eating chopped salad. I needed a fork. And I could not use that one. I tried to flag down the server as inconspicuously as possible.

“M’am?” he said.

Fuck. I’m a “M’am” already. Fuck. “Could you please bring me another fork?”

The server picked up the fork, raised it toward his eyes, and twirled it around until nearly every part of it had been touched by his fingers, and declared, “This fork is clean!”

To which my colleague added, “It’s fine. It’s just my allergies.”

Allergies… COVID-19…. the mucus oozing from your nose… whatever hepatitis may now be smeared all over that fork… I’m not using it to place things in my mouth.

This text message regarding COVID-19 is from that co-worker:

To me, for as long as I can remember, this trait wasn’t awkward. It was sensible. I could see how we moved through the world - and we weren’t clean about it. How many things do you do, and surfaces do you touch, between using the ATM and washing your hands? Even if you wanted to, there’s no mechanism for hand washing directly adjacent to the ATM (yet). How many other people pressed those buttons with their dirty hands? Those of us who carry hand sanitizer still have to reach into a pocket or a purse to get it out, mash our dirty ATM hands all over the lid to get it open, splatter it on a hand, close the bottle, brace it between our non-dominant forearm and our ribs, and then rub our hands together vigorously without having it splash in our eyes.

Put the bottle of sanitizer away. Feel victorious. And then hear the parking lot attendant decree, “You’re safe!”

One of my favorite observations came from my friend’s son. He was only 5 at the time, but he’d been witness to my glorious awkwardness for most of his life.

“Colette? What happens if you run out of hand-sanitizer?”

“I have more hand-sanitizer.”

“No, but say you’re out - like now - and that bottle is empty… “

“I’ve got a backup bottle in my purse,” I responded, waving the evidence before him.

“Ok, but what about if you’re in the car. . . and you run out of hand-sanitizer in the car??”

“I have a backup bottle in the car too…”

“Can we get ice cream?”

In January and February, people freshly returned from their global voyages and large family dinners, would come to circuit training class sick. Coughing, sneezing, sick. “After this workout, I’m going to urgent care,” one member told her friend as we waited in the lobby for class to begin. “I haven’t been able to get rid of this cough for weeks!”

I’d speak with the manager or guest services (they have a fancier name for it, but whatever) people at the front desk. “I come here to be healthy, to stay healthy, to keep my immune system strong. There are visibly sick people about to get on the treadmill adjacent to - and touching - my treadmill, while we breathe heavily, running 8 miles per hour, for 23 minutes, in a steamy enclosed studio. Do you think you could send out an email alerting members that if they’re sick, they should stay home?”

“No, we can’t ask our members to stay home,” they’d respond, while simultaneously – and at my request - reassigning me to a station further away from said sick people. By the way, it wasn’t up to the lovely people at the front desk. They had been told or, at minimum, believed it to be a corporate policy that sick people could workout there.

Fast forward to April 2020: my glorious awkwardness is your glorious awkwardness.

My friends now call me for advice. Colleagues ask where I got my reusable mask (the one pictured below in 2018). “Where did you get that bottle of hand sanitizer?” someone will ask, unaware there’s backup.

But it’s still awkward, isn’t it? Not being able to see the smile of a stranger, clutching the wall as your neighbors cross paths in the narrow walkway, flinching anytime someone sneezes during a ZOOM call. It was one thing when a handful of us felt this way. We understood it to be odd, but we couldn’t escape it, and everyone else seemed to balance it out with their carefree spirits. But now we’re all fumbling through space, with as few points of contact as possible.

Back on the subjects of “easy” and “hard”: in many ways, the new CDC guidelines and local safety mandates have been exceptionally easy for me. It’s my “glorious awkward” moment in the spotlight. I haven’t had to change my behavior at all. I didn’t have to rush to the store (though, on the subject of toilet paper, I am living roll-to-roll).

I have had to change my activities. I miss going to the gym, the crowded bars, the packed arena concerts. I miss running on the beach. I miss traveling. I’ve become numb to the notices of concert cancellations and postponements. Are the days of being at a music festival, with 100,000 people, crammed into sweaty tents, over?

The active part of my life coming to a standstill is hard. But that, I’m still hopeful, is temporary. The hardest part, for me, now that everyone shares this glorious awkwardness, is wondering how we regain that sense of safety in physical space. Will we become afraid to do the things that used to make us feel so alive? Hopefully, we’ll remind each other, “The alcohol will kill it!”

TODAY:

#Isolationjournals #JonBatiste #the isolation journals #theisolationjournals #creativewriting

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seouledbysisi · 5 years

Text

Ambitious Dreams

Chapter Six

Hyoeun ran up onto the stage. Nori was very captivated by his very presence. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Her phone had been vibrating all day but she didn’t care. All she was worried about was supporting this talented man that was onstage. She had never seen him exhume this type of energy and it made her see him in a new light.

Hash ran up to them through the large crowd. “Sorry, I’m late. My interview ran over a little.”

Nori glanced over at him speaking to Changmo.

He hadn’t realized she was there yet.

Nova waved to him from the other end.

He decided to walk over to where she and Elle were. “What’s up?! Wasn’t expecting y’all to be here.”

She nodded as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. Ash had bought her some loaded fries. He insisted that she eat something even though she wasn’t hungry. “Yeah, Hyoeun invited us. He gave us tickets so here we are!” She yelled over the music.

Hash looked around and noticed Nori standing beside a female that he didn’t recognize. “Hey Nori!” He pulled her attention.

Nori smiled. “Hey! “ she waved then turned her attention back to Hyoeun.

He smiled a little. “Tell me something?”

Nova returned his attention. “What’s up?”

“She really likes him, right?” He asked as he nodded towards Nori.

Nova gave him a sad smile. “Yeah. She does. But it’s not that she doesn’t like you it’s just-“

He shook his head still smiling. “No, I get it. He’s more of her vibe. I’m cool with it.”

“Really? You’re such a great guy and some girl will be lucky to have you for sure!” Nova reassured him.

He smirked. “I know. I think Hyoeun will benefit from having her around. He needs someone whose going to spice his life up.”

Nova nodded. “Well I don’t wanna be rude, this is my coworker, Elle. Elle, this is Hash Swan.”

“You can just call me Hash.” He held his hand out.

Elle grinned. “Nice to meet you! You have good music.” She said excitedly as she swayed to the music.

“Well thank you. I try. What do you do?” He asked.

She smiled. “I’m a junior style consultant.”

He nodded. “Sounds cool.”

“There’s never a dull moment for sure!” She responded.

Hash nudged Nova. “I like her energy. Keep her around.” He said lowly and walked back over to Changmo.

Nova glanced over to Elle who was oblivious at this point. She didn’t want to read too much into what Hash was saying because after all he was a really nice guy so compliments didn’t necessarily mean that he liked someone.

Marz came onstage afterwards. When he performed I Can Be Your Rockstar he kept staring at Nova and there was no way that he could hide it.

Ash latched his arm around her waist as if to say back the hell up cause she’s mine.

Marz girlfriend’s eyes moved from Nova back up to Marz. She wondered if something was going on between the two but she couldn’t be for sure and she surely didn’t want to cause a scene or make Marz angry with her. After all she needed him like her life depended on it. At this point maybe it did, because when he wasn’t around she felt like she was barely hanging on.

Nova bobbed her head to the music but made sure she didn’t make eye contact with him. Ash had already damn near staked his claim on her so to save the drama she was going to do everything possible to stay away from it.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Ash asked in her ear.

Nova shrugged. “I told you I wasn’t hungry!” She yelled over the music.

“We’re going out after this. You gotta eat something, okay?”

She nodded.

He scooped her from behind and rocked her hips with his. “This isn’t too much for you, right?”

She shook her head. “Not yet.” She leaned her head back on his shoulder and swayed with him.

Nori looked in her direction and her eyes nearly popped out of her eye sockets. She snatched her away and pulled her into her embrace. “Are you drunk or are you high?” She asked frantically.

“Now you know I don’t have anything in my system! What’s the big deal? Y’all been trying to put me on him for the longest.” Nova laughed.

Nori threw her hands up. “I’m all for this but I’m making sure you know what you’re doing.” She laughed.

“I do. He’s cool and I’m pretty sure he’s tired of being rejected. Plus he’s pretty cute when he’s possessive!” She snickered.

Elle cornered in with them. “I knew you liked him!”

“We’re friends. That’s it!” Nova rolled her eyes.

“Yeah sure y’all are-.” Elle started.

Nova held a finger up, “BUT I’m not totally opposed to spending more time with him.”

“Finally you admit it. We all knew! What about Marz?” Nori asked as her eyes dragged to the stage that he was on.

Nova shrugged.

“Wait- what about Marz?! I want the tea!” Elle interrupted.

“Well they-“

Nova shook her head to cut her off. “There is no tea. He has a girlfriend and I’m not in the business of stepping on other people’s territories.” Suddenly a loud crash was heard and equipment from one of the rides went flying everywhere.

Everyone screamed and began to run. It was so many people trying to get away that you could barely see which direction was safe. Nova felt a hand grip hers and pull her away. She wasn’t sure who it was but at this point she didn’t have time to think. It was a now or never situation. She just prayed for safety.

Hyoeun leaped off the stage. “Nori!” He began to yell frantically searching for her. He wasn’t worried about his own safety he just wanted her to be okay. “Nori!”

Elle was pushed to the ground. She heard a loud groan as she hit the gr- it was Hash. Her eyes widened. She immediately began to cry. “I’m so sorry!” She yelled and tried to get herself up. She was a mess at this point. She looked up at the huge crowd and became so overwhelmed.

He held his hand out and jerked her up. “Hurry, lets go!” They ran together with the crowd.

Emergency sirens were ringing from every direction. Everyone had been split up.

Nova began panicking when she searched the parking lot and couldn’t find Nori.

Ash held her and rubbed her hair to calm her down. “She’s fine. Hyoeun is looking for her.”

She shook her head. “I won’t be okay until I see her!” Tears blurred her vision.

Ash pulled his phone out and began to call Hyoeun. He held Nova close with his other arm. Her arms were wrapped around him so tight he could barely breathe but strangely he was okay with that. Her warmth was keeping his calm. Hyoeun wasn’t answering.

Nova looked up at him. “No answer?”

He shook his head and held her head into his chest. “They’re okay. They have to be!”

She was beginning to shake. “But what if-“

“Nova!” Elle yelled as she walked hand-in-hand with Hash.

Nova tore away from Ash and ran to her. “You okay?” She grabbed her cheeks to check for any cuts or bruises. She had a small cut above her lip. “Elle, I’m so sorry.”

Elle shook her head. “I’m fine. I just got knocked over and my face made friends with the ground.”

Nova passed a look between the two who were still holding hands. “No more making friends with the ground.” She rubbed her shoulder.

“I can’t make any promises but I’ll try not to. You know I’m super friendly!” She giggled.

Nova couldn’t help from being distracted by the two still holding hands. Like she understood him being a gentleman and getting her to safety but damn, she was safe now. “You sure you’re okay?”

Elle looked over at Hash and finally realized that their hands were still interlocked. She snatched it away. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” She spoke to him quickly as she fiddled with her fingers.

He slid his hands in his pockets. “It’s cool. We’re all shook up and caught in the moment.”

“Hey! I found them!” Ash yelled in their direction. He had kept trying to call Hyoeun but still was getting no answer. He was relieved when he saw Nori and him emerge from the crowd. He ran to them quickly. “Dude, why the fuck haven’t you answered your phone?”

Hyoeun shook his head. “I dropped it somewhere back there when I was looking for her.”

Ash noticed him limping. “You okay? Do you need to get that checked?”

Hyoeun shook his head fast. “Nah, I’m good. Let’s just go!”

Nori grabbed his arm so he could settle his weight on her a bit. “You saved me so now it’s my turn to help you out.”

He gave her a warning look.

“Let me do this! Don’t give me that look.”

He smirked. “You’re gonna be the death of me.” He chuckled.

They all gathered into Ash’s green expedition.

Ash opened the front seat door for Nova and shut it behind her. He jumped in and cranked the vehicle. He hooked his phone up to the Bluetooth in the vehicle. His phone began to ring. Marz. He answered it. “Hey, y’all good?” Marz asked over the big speaker of the truck.

“Yeah. Y’all?” Ash answered as he turned onto the freeway.

“Yeah. We’re heading to grab some food. Y’all got the girls? I didn’t see them. We looked for them.” Marz revealed.

Ash sighed. “Yeah they’re with us. Is Jangmi and Lee okay?”

Lee? Who the hell is that? Nova thought to herself. She couldn’t remember anyone else being around but then again Ash had occupied all of her space.

Marz got quiet. “Yeah they’re fine.”

“Alright, we’ll see y’all at the house. We gonna grab some food and head there.” He hung up. He looked over at Nova whose leg was trembling. He reached over the middle console and grabbed her hand. He laced their fingers.

She tightened the grip and caressed his hand with her free one.

They went inside a McDonald’s to order food. Ash ordered himself two burgers and a large fry. Nova just stood behind him slightly quietly.

“What you want?” He pulled her next to him. “You gotta eat, Nova.” He rubbed her shoulder.

“Just a nugget and side salad.” She spoke quickly and stepped back with Nori as he paid for the food. He handed her a large cup.

Hash ordered his food and then pointed at Elle.

She looked around. “Me?”

He nodded and beckoned for her. “I got you. Order whatever you want.”

“No no! I’m good. I can buy my own food.” Elle became flustered. Why the heck is this man being so nice to me?

“Order. I’m not taking no for an answer.” Hash pushed.

She finally ordered a burger and fry.

They got back in the vehicle and headed to the guys house. They pulled up to huge house. It was nice.

Nova’s eyes widened. “Do y’all all live here?”

Ash grabbed their food and nodded and headed to the front door. They all followed him to a big room with a huge tv and two sectional couches in it.

Nova’s eyes blinked a few times when she saw a familiar face. She stiffened.

Ash noticed her hesitation. “What’s wrong?”

Lee. When he had asked Marz about Jangmi and Lee,this is who he meant. The devil herself. She rolled her eyes and continued over to one of the couches.

Ash sat beside her and handed her the food. “You sure you’re okay?”

She nodded. “Yep! Just be prepared to take me home soon.”

He eyed her. “Let’s just enjoy the moment. We could’ve died tonight. I just want to be beside you and share your comfort.”

She nodded with a slight snare.

Jangmi stood from the couch and walked out.

Marz just watched her. He didn’t dare follow. Quite frankly he wasn’t too interested in her nor her friend’s drama.

Lee walked near Nova. “What the hell are you here for? Have you not tortured my friend enough already?”

Nori’s attention caught quickly. She stood up to be sure her friend was okay.

“What exactly have I done to your friend?” Nova questioned. Now she was really irritated!

Lee cocked her head to the side. “You want what you can’t have. Marz doesn’t like you so back the fuck off! They’ve been together for years, nothing you say or do will change that!”

Nova laughed. “I’m not trying to get him, what imaginary world are you and your friend living in?”

“Just stay away from him!” Lee continued.

Nova stood. “Let me make something clear, I’m all the way over here minding my own business. If your friend is threatened just by my mere presence then that sounds like a personal problem to me! Now you back off!”

Nori walked up. “Walk away little girl. You don’t want these problems!” She directed at Lee.

“Lee, you and Jangmi are dismissed. Take her home. I’ll talk to her later.” Marz spoke up.

Lee’s eyes widened. She was fuming. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re going to dismiss your girlfriend? You’re a disrespectful asshole. She should dump your ass!”

Marz shrugged. “Been waiting on that anyway.” He said under his breath.

Lee whipped her head around. “What did you just say?”

He simply shook his head. “Nothing. Take her home.”

Lee walked out the room to find her friend.

Nova sat down with her face in her hands.

Ash grabbed their food up and held out his hand. “Let’s go to my room.”

Nova nodded. As soon as they made it to his room her emotions fell apart. She was livid. She wasn’t a home wrecker. “I don’t deserve that. I don’t, Ash!” Tears fell onto her cheek.

“No you don’t. Don’t worry about it. Jangmi is insecure.”

“But why? I’ve never even made an advance at him. Barely talk to him! And on top of all of that I’m here with YOU!”

Ash sat on his bed and patted the space next to him. “It’s not about you. They’ve had problems for a long time. They’re just finally being brought to the table I guess.”

Nova looked up at him. “They act like I’m the problem.”

“You’re not. That’s been a sinking ship for about two years now.”

“So why does he keep her around? He doesn’t seem happy anyway!” She rolled her eyes.

Ash exhaled deeply. “Circumstances.” He said plainly.

Nova laid back on two of his pillows staring at the ceiling.

He laid on his side and cozied up close to her. They laid in silence. He caressed her soft coils on her head. He’d never been happier lying next to someone who wasn’t even his. For all he knew Marz and his girl could break up and pull Nova right from under him. He wanted to savor this moment as long as he could.

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paradisobound · 5 years

Text

I Want It, I Got It: Chapter 16

Summary: Phil Lester was a worker for the BBC in London. Working in the advertising department, he was content being alongside his friend and fellow coworker PJ during every shift. However, the BBC is temporarily being used as a film set for a new movie staring Hollywood ‘It’ star, Daniel Howell. Being stuck as an extra on the set, Phil finds it’s hard to ignore the famous star. And maybe, just maybe, Dan finds it hard to ignore Phil as well.

Word Count: 2.6k (this chapter)

Warnings: Occasional swearing and sexual themes

Rating: Explicit

Updates will be every Sunday around 1pm EST

**MASTERLIST | READ ON AO3 | WATTPAD**

“I need a week off from work.”

Louise looks up from her desk where she is sat in front of Phil, who was currently stood with his hands in his jacket pocket. He didn’t know why he was even doing this. She wasn’t going to give him the time off and this was stupid…he was being stupid.

“What for?” She asks, folding her hands on her desk and staring at him with intent.

“I would like to take a holiday for myself and I’d like a week to do that.” Phil can feel his voice shaking but he’s trying to remain as calm and confident as he can in hopes of landing this week off.

“And where are you going that’s going to require you to take a week off?” Louise presses.

“I would like to go to Los Angeles.” Phil says. “I’ve already looked into tickets and I would like to book them today if possible. This is why I need this week off.”

“And what on Earth are you going to be doing in LA?” Louise asks.

“I’m visiitng Dan.”

“Daniel Howell?” Louise questions. “What for?”

Phil feels his cheeks heat up. “I would like the time off so I can go and visit him.”

“And when are you expecting to have this time off?”

Phil felt himself tense. He genuinely didn’t know. He hadn’t thought that he’d get this far ahead. When would he do this? Would he even had time to find plane tickets?

“Uh…”

“Well, Lester,” Louise says with a smirk. “We can allow you time off for next week if you really want it. But I have one request.”

Phil looked at her puzzled. “What is it?”

“Bring me back a souvenir from Hollywood, please? My daughters would love something from the United States.”

Phil laughed and smiled at her, nodding his head because he’ll try and remember to do that. He’s met her daughters Darcy and Pearl before at bring your child to work day and he’s adored them.

He quietly left the room after the made sure everything was in fact okay for him to take the time off and he headed back to his desk, eager to message Dan and let him know he was gonna try and find plane tickets even though he―in the back of his head―feared the worst. It was going to be way too sudden to buy them and every thought in his head was telling him that he’s not gonna find anything.

He tried not to let that deter him though. He got to his desk and sat down, opening up his laptop and temporarily ignoring the Illustrator file he had started for the new logo he was doing for the BBC Radio 1 advertisements.

Phil opened his messages and quickly typed one out to Dan. He explained how he did get the time off but he hadn’t thought that far ahead about actually finding plane tickets and now he’s feeling a bit lost. He hoped Dan wouldn’t get mad or even think otherwise of him for that one and being a bit of a mess.

When he’s done, he closes that window and opens up Illustrator again, ready to dive back into his work when a tap resonates on the wood of his desk. He looks up, following the noise, and sees PJ, having wheeled over to his desk.

“What were you talking to Louise about?”

“I needed to try and get some time off.” Phil says, sitting back in his desk chair and crossing his left leg over the other.

“Oh? Where are you heading?” PJ asks, his glasses falling slightly to the bridge of his nose.

“I’m hoping to go to Los Angeles.” Phil says, his voice wavering. “But I’m not sure I can even find tickets.”

“What are you going to be doing in LA?” PJ questioned. “Is it one of those YouTuber conventions? I heard that was happening but I don’t know the dates.”

Phil shook his head. “No. I’m actually visiting Dan.”

“Dan?”

Phil nodded.

“Why are you going to LA to visit Dan?” PJ pressed.

“He wants me to go to LA.” Phil says. “He wants to show me around and he wants to just spend time with him. But he has filming around LA still for the next two weeks and so he can’t leave.”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit…daft to go all the way to LA just to meet up with Dan?” PJ asks. “I mean, I’m not judging by any means but this is a big step and a lot of money.”

“I don’t care about the money.” Phil finds himself saying, which isn’t entirely true. He didn’t really have a lot of extra money to spare between paying bills, paying his rent, and buying his and Spike’s food and other necessities. But he’d take a trip to LA to see Dan no matter the cost.

“When do you leave?”

Phil bites his lip. “I kind of don’t have plane tickets yet.”

PJ’s eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. “You…Phil, what do you mean you don’t have tickets yet? They’re plane tickets. You can’t just get them whenever you want, they do become sold out.”

“I know, PJ!” Phil countered. “Dan and I just were talking the other night and he sounded like he really wanted me to come and see him and I really want to see him too. We never really thought of the logistics of it but..” Phil paused. “I really miss him, PJ.”

“I know,” PJ says, his lips curling up in a smile. “I only hear you talk about him every day that you’re here. You have a fondness for him.”

Phil feels his cheeks heat up as he gets ready to retort against what PJ said. He opens his mouth, about to say something when his computer lets out a beep and he turns and sees the bubble for one new message.

He opens it and reads it.

Dan: Oh thats not a problem ill just send my jet to pick you up

“Dan has a private jet.”

“That’s not all that shocking.” PJ says with a light chuckle. “I imagine with the money he’s taking in that he probably can afford a fleet of them.”

“But he’s sending his private jet for me to come to LA on.”

“True love.” PJ says with a smile.

“It’s not love, PJ.” Phil says. “We’re not dating.”

“Not for long, you’re not. Maybe he’s flying you to LA to plan some big extravagant way to ask you to get into bed with him.”

Phil blushed. “He wouldn’t have to try too hard for that one, mate. Kind of already breached that line.”

PJ looked at Phil, his green eyes going a bit bigger again in surprise. “Do spill!”

“It’s not like we slept together.” Phil begins, not being able to have a filter now that he’s speaking directly with PJ, someone who he considers to be his best friend. “But we did kind of get each other off? But it was over Skype. Not like directly us with each other.”

“And how did it feel?” PJ asked.

Phil felt his brows furrow. “What do you mean ‘how did it feel?’. It felt bloody incredible.”

“That’s not what I meant.” PJ began to clarify. “But being with Dan intimately, even if it was over a screen, how did that make you feel?”

Phil sat back in his chair again and thought to the way Dan looked over Skype. Dan was gorgeous anyway. He didn’t need any help to showcase his natural beauty. From his hair to his eyes to his skin to his smile, he was stunning. And Phil very much was in awe every time he thought of how he’d managed to snag the attention of such a well know heartthrob.

“I really like him.” Phil says, not answering the question directly. “You know, maybe I’ll ask him out when I’m in LA.” Phil continues, biting his lip. “I think I’m ready now to move past this line and see where it gets us.”

PJ flashed him a smile. “I’m really proud of you. And I can’t wait to hear of the new ‘IT’ couple that comes out of Hollywood when it gets out that you guys are dating.”

“I really don’t want to think about that.” Phil said with a nervous chuckle. “But right now, I kind of just want to focus on finally admitting my feelings regarding Dan.”

PJ leaned over the desk and pat his arm affectionately. Phil flashed him a smile back and then they went back to work. Phil sent Dan back a message and a then he went back to finishing his logo. When it was time for them to both leave, they hopped on the same Tube train and went to a pub that they both liked for dinner and a few drinks.

***

“Hey guys! Phil here…no, that’s rubbish isn’t it?”

Phil leaned back on his couch and rubbed his hands stubbornly over his face. He was never going to the introduction right for his video. They all sounded so forced and rubbish and he was beginning to seriously doubt that he’d be able to do this.

He sat back up and looked at the camera on the tripod again and took a deep breath. He let it back out, forced a smile, and tried again. “Hey guys! It’s Phil here! And today, I’m going to be answering your questions. I received a lot of them from everyone and I’m really eager to answer them so let’s jump right in.”

He smiled at himself. That would work! He reckoned he sounded pretty good right then and there. He got out his laptop and pulled up the list of questions he had chosen and sceenshotted and began again.

“First question is from Nicki underscore Rivera nineteen who asks ‘didn’t you used to make YouTube videos a while ago? What happened?’ Well Nicki, I did used to make videos back in…2009? Yeah, I think that’s correct. But then I got busy with life and being an adult and I kind of lost touch in something I enjoyed so much.”

When he was done, he mentally applauded himself for getting through the first question. He just had ten more to get through but he could do it!

Phil went through each question one by one and answered each one as honestly as he could without leaking too much of his private information. He saw so many of the questions asking for him to clarify his relationship with Dan or other prying for pictures of him and Dan. Frankly, Phil didn’t ever want to just speak so openly at him and Dan to people he knew as strangers.

He finished up the last question and then said his goodbyes to the camera and reached over, hitting the record button again to shut it off. He slowly took off the camera from the tripod and put it into his lap as he looked at the footage the best he could on the small view finder.

Phil turned off the camera and pulled out the SD card before taking his laptop with him to the breakfast bar and setting up a mini office there so he could begin to edit the video.

Spike had been sleeping the entire time in his bed in the corner which Phil was grateful for. He didn’t need his little fur baby jumping into the shot every few seconds because he wanted a treat or a belly rub. Although, Phil will probably give him a treat later for being such a good boy while he filmed.

Before Phil had sat down and begun to film, he’d briefly talked to Dan over the phone. It was surreal, really, to talk to Dan as he was waking up and Phil was just getting home from being with PJ. The time differences were still something he wasn’t quite able to get used to but pretty soon, he’d be with Dan for a short while in the same timezone.

The thing though was that they haven’t discussed what happened over Skype that one night. And maybe Phil is overthinking it just a tad, because he does tend to do that, but it is bothering him that he doesn’t really know if Dan was having second thoughts or not. Sure, he could say something to Dan. But wouldn’t it be awkward to open up a conversation by saying “hey, are you okay with the way we got off while on Skype?”

He should talk to Dan. He knows that he should but he can’t seem to bridge that awkwardness to do so. What if he had been reading these signs all wrong? What if Dan really was looking for just someone to quickly sleep with to get his mind off from everything else? But Dan wouldn’t do that? Phil wouldn’t let his mind believe that.

Fuck.

Phil doesn’t know what to think. He doesn’t know what to do.

His phone suddenly goes off and the loud sound of the vibrations against the counter throw him off his balance and he jumps into the air with a gasp. He quickly picks up his phone and looks at it.

Dan: have to attend a party tonight with the cast but id rather be on Skype with you :(

Attached with the text is a picture of Dan half awake in his bed, his eyes hardly open and his curly hair falling over his face. Phil feels himself coo a little bit. Dan looks adorable. He looks so peaceful and dreamy and Phil can’t wait to experience what it’s like to wake up and see Dan like that, just looking at him.

Phil: stop being so pretty :(

This was testing the waters. If Dan replies back with a flirty text, clearly what happened over Skype will be fine and all will move on. If he doesn’t…Phil bites his lip. He really doesn’t want to think of that outcome if he’s being honest.

Dan: im not pretty your prettier

Phil can forgive all of the grammar and spelling mistake in Dan’s text through the feeling of the flutters in his heart. Okay, Phil feels a bit better about this now.

Phil: I can’t wait to see you on Sunday. I really miss you.

Dan: i miss you too

Dan: why aren’t you in bed with me

Dan: im sleepy and i wanna cuddle

Phil feels his heart melt out of his chest. Maybe he shouldn’t be feeling this lovestruck over something that he’s not even sure of yet, but he can’t help it. He can’t help it when he’s texting someone as beautiful and stunning as Dan.

He’s never wanted someone as beautiful and stunning as Dan. In just a few short weeks…barely two months…Phil has done something that he hasn’t been able to do in a very long time.

He’s fallen in love.

He’s fallen in love with the Skype calls. The pictures. The texts. The calls. Dan’s voice, his eyes, and his smile.

Phil’s fallen hard for Dan.

And all he can do is pray to whatever God is up there that Dan feels the same way.

Phil continues to text Dan for a while until his eyes get tired and he has to force himself to end the conversation. But before he goes, he sends Dan a voice message saying goodnight and then he gets out his suitcase.

He may still have a week before he leaves, but that doesn’t mean he can’t pack for what is about to be the most amazing time of his life.

#phan #phanfic #phanfiction #au #famous!dan #moviestar!dan #normal!phil #princesslexi763fics

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