#I have a sister who's 9 years older than me and this is kind of the dynamic we have | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

buckybarnesb-tch · 28 days

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Heyy hiii I love your blog🤍 If you're still taking requests... Could you write an Aemond Targaryen who is obsessed with his half-sister or aunt?

As You Wish Sister -Aemond T.

(Fuck yes I can!

For this story the ages are a little off which frustrates me but I did that to make sure that Y/n wouldn’t be considered ‘too old’ to marry. If however, the person who made this request wants something with an older OFC, like a cougar-y kind of story with him obsessed and willing to do anything to have her then let me know and I will try my hand at that for you)

Y/n had been born first just before her mother Aemma had died giving birth her twin brother, who sadly died just a few hours later, leaving Y/n alone.

Rhaenyra took very good care of her, as much as she could as her younger sister was just a babe and now had no mother and no father as Viserys had all but checked out…especially after marrying Alicent and having more children.

Y/n was only just under 1 year older than Aegon as Alicent had gotten pregnant almost immediately after the wedding however as Rhaenyra was having her own children she took care of her sister less and less, leaving the girl on her own a lot of the time. Alicent had taken a liking to the young girl and they were quite close, which is what led to Y/n and Aemond’s relationship in the first place. Aemond loved Y/n from the moment he was born. When he was with her he was always content and happy, but if she left him alone he would cry and scream for her until Alicent could no longer take it and sent for her once again. That lasted until the boy was about 3 and she was 6 and from then on he was basically attached to her skirts.

Neither of the children had a dragon to their name and spent their time dreaming of flying across the 7 kingdoms together. Aemond had always promised to take his half sister with him when he mounted a dragon one day, and though Y/n thought it a nice dream, Aemond was determined to make it come true. He swore to her that one day he would be strong and that he would protect her, no one would ever bully them again. Y/n did not know just how seriously her younger brother took that vow.

He was 9 years old when Rhaenyra moved to Dragonstone and snatched his happiness away as she took their 12 year old sister with her and it was at that moment that Aemond realized how in love with his sister he really was. She would be his, no matter what he had to do to ensure it.

When they met again on Driftmark it was like no time had passed, they stayed by each others side while everyone mourned, but Aemond wasn’t sad, he was determined. With the death of Laena there was now an unclaimed dragon, the largest one alive and he was going to claim her or die trying. To say Y/n was upset that he risked his life to mount Vhagar would be an understatement however he had done it and the pride and happiness on his face wiped away her anger…for about 10 minutes before watching her nephew slice her brothers eye from his head. She held close to his side for as long as she was allowed, holding his hand as the maester stitched him up painfully.

‘I do not wish to frighten you with my scarred face sister, you shouldn’t have to see this.’ He told her later that night as she sat beside his bed to watch over him, the milk of the poppy he had taking quick effect as his good eye began to close against his wishes.

‘You could never scare me brother, you are as handsome as ever and anyone who says otherwise is blind. I will never fear you, no matter what. I love you too dearly.’ She swore, curling up into her chair and drifting off by his side in case he needed anything during the night.

Aemond’s hand held tight to hers all night long, never letting go as if terrified, even in his sleep, that she would disappear.

Aemond was comforted by her words and it is the only thing that got him through the next years. That and the fact that he had “convinced” his sickly father to betroth Y/n to him.

Aemond was told by the men he paid to keep watch over his Princess on Dragonstone that Rhaenyra had been trying to betroth her to Cregan Stark of Winterfell. The Wolf in the North was apparently quite taken with his Princess and Aemond couldn’t blame him, but he would kill him if the man went anywhere near his sister and he made that perfectly clear to his mother and Grandsire. Aemond had vowed that if they didn’t betroth him to Y/n immediately that he would take Vhagar and have her burn Winterfell and every Stark in existence to the ground. He would melt all of the snow in the North if he had to to make his point. Both Alicent and Otto knew that her son was serious and would do exactly as he promised, they also knew that no one could stop Vhagar if Aemond decided to put his threat into action and so they had the King order the marriage.

However other than Rhaenyra acknowledging the order from the King, he heard no word from his betrothed until he was 18 and it was ordered that she return to Kings Landing to be with her soon to be husband. Aemond had kept eyes on her since the day she had been forced to leave him, men that worked for Rhaenyra were secretly under his command, 2 of which became Y/n’s personal guards and wrote the Prince everything about her so that Aemond didn’t miss a thing. He knows all of her interests, what she loves to do everyday, her daily schedule, the foods she likes and more importantly doesn’t like, and he also had them ensure that no man got close to his future wife in anyway. He knew that Jace had an interest in his aunt, the guard reporting to him that the boy had been grounded to his chambers on more than one occasion for watching her bathe or trying to sneak into her rooms in the night and it both enraged and delighted Aemond that Jace wanted his sister but also that he would have to see her happy with the person that Jace hates most. Aemond would ensure that he could rub it in his nephews face that the babes that Y/n would bare would never be anyone’s but his.

Over the years since she had been gone her brother had changed, not just at her having been missing from his side but especially after Aegons actions in taking him to the silk streets on his 13th nameday. Aemond felt disgusting but he was determined to be a better husband than his elder brother was, after all, Y/n was his. His sister, his wife, his everything and he would ensure her happiness. He would make her his and fill her with as many Targaryen babies as possible, Aemond couldn’t wait to see her swollen with his child at his side and in his bed, his elder sister was just too perfect not to be full of his children for the rest of her days.

2 days after the letter was sent to Rhaenyra he was greeted by the sound of huge wings and angry dragon roars as the large black dragon descended on the Red Keep, a dragon that everyone recognized instantly which prompted them scattering like mice. Aemond had heard that his sister had mounted the cannibalistic dragon but to actually see the creature was incredible. He found it funny that his sister, who was a loner with a tendency to be aggressive ended up with the aggressive loner dragon who would have burned anyone else to dust…he must feel how similar they are, honestly it was a fairly perfect fit if you asked him. Though he could have done without the teeth bore in his face from this scarred beast.

He got as close as he dared, watching as a beautiful women slid down the dragons neck to her feet, the dragon nuzzling her and nearly knocking her from her feet (though the gesture was gentle for such a giant dragon who had to be just slightly bigger than Caraxes) before he took to the skies again and left her to look around the courtyard.

She was a vision, more than Aemond could have imagined after all these years without her and as she turned to see him for the first time, the smile that lit up her face gave him butterflies. ‘Aemond? Wow! Look how you’ve grown, you are certainly not that little boy I remember anymore, you are a man grown! Look at this handsome face!’ Aemond took her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles in greeting, unable to look away from her perfect purple eyes.

‘You are a vision, more beautiful than I could have imagined…and I have imagined for years.’ Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as she blushed and he held his arm out for her to take. ‘Come, I will show you to your chambers and you can freshen up, I know you must want out of your riding clothes-‘

‘Actually…I had hoped we could go riding together like we always promised we would. My sister would not let me come to Kings Landing before now but you did swear to take me on Vhagar when I returned.’ She reminded him as he guided her through the halls of the castle.

‘I could never forget my promise to you, however we will not be permitted to disappear together the night before our wedding, it would be improper after all.’ He teased making her roll her eyes with a smile.

‘Right because riding a 10 ton scaly lizard into the night is definitely a romantic evening.’ She paused after saying that before speaking again. ‘Actually, never mind, for a Targaryen that has to be the most romantic night possible. We’ll save it for tomorrow night.’

‘As you wish sister. Here is your chamber for the night, tomorrow night your things will be moved into one of our own. You change and get comfortable, I will return in a half an hour and we can take a walk in the gardens, how does that sound?’

‘That sounds lovely brother. I look forward to it.’ Aemond leaned down and pressed his lips to her hand like the gentleman he was, watching once again as her face grew pink and he loved her sweet blush, vowing to make it happen as often as possible.

The wedding that next evening was a huge affair. Everyone was present, members of every house in attendance for the event, and even all of the peasants celebrated as they left the Sept, throwing flowers and cheering their congratulations as they had all loved Y/n since the moment she was presented to the world as a baby (often ordering the gold cloaks to feed the poor, especially the children in need). Rhaenyra and Daemon had shown up with the children late, clearly hating being there for a marriage they didn’t want and Aemond couldn’t help but silently gloat to Jace who glared at him all through dinner. As they locked eyes Aemond could not resist giving in to his petty attitude, leaning down and touching his lips to his wife’s and enjoying the feel of her lips pressing against his in return as she clearly enjoyed the show of affection. His nephew glared harder at him before eventually taking Helaena’s hand and bringing her to dance as if trying to anger the One-Eyed Prince but nothing could do that right now, not now that Aemond has everything he’s ever wanted.

‘Would you like to retire now my beautiful wife? I want to make this marriage official before one of the dozens of men here that are jealously staring, attempts to steal you away from me.’

‘As if anyone else could take my attention away from you.’ At that moment there was suddenly the sound of several women screaming and they both turned to see that right in front of the Kings table Jace was locked in a physical fight with a man on the dance floor. Aemond turned his wife’s body away and pulled her to his chest to shield her, not wanting her innocent eyes to see such violence. Even if he enjoyed watching Jace get hurt he knew that his wife would never be the same if she was forced to potentially witness him die and he loved her innocence too much to let that be ruined. The guards pulled the man out of the hall and most likely to the Black Cells after Daemon had saved Jace from being butchered, following along with a rage filled Rhaenyra to question the man. Y/n pulled away from her husband and moved to the floor, inspecting her nephews face and Aemond nearly growled as Jace leaned into the affection. ‘Are you alright nephew?!’

‘Yes, of course, I am fine. I had it under con-‘

‘Thank goodness Daemon was here! You could have been killed! What were you thinking?!’ She demanded and Aemond watched on as Jace’s face fell once again. ‘You are my sweet nephew, not a soldier or a brawler in the streets!’

‘I don-I’m-Uh…‘

‘She is right nephew, we could never forgive ourselves if you had been hurt attending our wedding…perhaps it is time for you to retire for the evening. Too much wine makes the mind do stupid things.’ Y/n nodded along with Aemond but Jace just glared at him.

‘This has nothing to do with you Uncle! Keep your thoughts to yourself! I don’t need-‘

‘Jacaerys! How Dare You?! Have care how you speak to your own family, Aemond is simply showing his concern for your well being! If this is your current state then he is correct, you should retire. I’m sure Luke will help you to your bed, won’t you sweet boy?’ Luke nodded his head, moving to take his elder brothers arm.

‘No! I don’t need to-‘

‘We should be retiring as well anyway. I must ensure my new wife is taken care of…’ Y/n blushed at her brothers words, leaning into his body as his hands found her waist comfortingly.

‘You are right brother, I think I have had enough partying for one day. We have a family dinner tomorrow evening anyway, we can celebrate more then.’ Suddenly Aegon, who had been drunkenly enjoying this whole situation, was grinning in excitement and stepping up to the newly weds, hand on his younger brothers shoulder.

‘Yes brother, time to retire. The bedding ceremony must be seen to before the end of the evening! I shall get our Grandsire and elder sister to-‘

‘No!’ Aemond snapped, everyone that was listening jumping in fright at the rage in his voice. He had felt his wife’s body tense as she pulled him closer by his jacket that she was now clinging to for dear life. ‘There will be no bedding ceremony, I will have neither my sister nor my wife gawked at in her most vulnerable state as if she is some cheap whore on the street of silk! Y/n is my wife now, and no one else will ever see her in such a way ever again. I assure you brother, I can handle consummating my marriage just fine without your wandering eyes and words of encouragement.’ Aemond looked back down at his bride and took her face into his hands, wiping away the tears that escaped in her moment of panic, no one having mentioned a bedding ceremony and Aemond himself having assured her that it would not be happening.

‘My young Prince, it is tradition to have a maester and at least 3 members of the family present to ensure the wedding is consummated. Your brother, myself, Rhaenyra and Daemon are going to-‘

‘No Grandsire, you are not-because if you try to enter our marital chambers tonight, or really any night from this moment forward for any reason under the sun, I will break your spine and be feeding you to either Vhagar or the Cannibal in the morning. I will let my wife decide which she would prefer to make a meal out of your body as it is her you are offending. I am uncomfortable with how determined you are to watch me make love to my wife, and I am telling you that it will not happen.’

‘Aemond! You cannot speak to your Grandsire this way, you must-‘ Aemond cut his mother off quickly, startling her as he had never spoken to her like this before.

‘Do not make the mistake of believing my words to be exaggeration mother, they are not. Anyone who steps foot into our marital chambers this night or any moment from this one onward will find themselves being fed to a dragon of my wife’s choosing. She is my wife! And it is my job to care for her as such! I will not have her humiliated or upset as she gives herself to me for the first time…or any time. That is the end of the discussion, however you may wait in the hall and once we are done I will deliver you the sheets from our bed as your proof. That will have to suffice because it is all that you are getting.’ He looked back down at Y/n who had tears in her eyes once again but this time they were not fearful or embarrassed, but grateful and full of love. ‘Come my wife, it is time that I make this marriage official and fill you with my son. I must give my wife all of the lovely Targaryen babies that her heart desires.’

Aemond bent down slightly before lifting Y/n into his arms like a babe, whisking her away and out of the party. ‘Thank you Aemond…I know I should just accept it but I-‘

‘My wife will never be seen by anyone but me in any state of undress from this moment on, and should anyone sneak a peak at you I will deliver you their heart and feed the remains to Vhagar. Don’t you ever apologize for being uncomfortable, it is my job as your husband to see to your safety and I take my job very seriously.’ He assured her, kissing her head as they reached their new marital chambers where all of their things had been moved to. As Aemond carried his sister through the door he kicked it shut behind himself and locked it with both locks before using the thick wood plank and barring the door so no one could get in without more work than it was worth.

‘Will you assist me with the dress, husband?’ She teased making Aemond smirk, eyes darkening at the thought of finally undressing the prize he has worked and waited for, for so long.

‘You need not even ask, my love. Come here.’ He quickly unlaced the back of her dress, allowing it to fall to the ground and leave her in her small clothes which she removed before crawling into the bed and looking back up at him nervously. ‘Relax my love, you will love every second of this, I promise you.’ He swore and she took a breath, nodding, though her eyes grew wide again as he removed his trousers and revealed himself to her for the first time, now naked as he crawled onto the bed, leaning down to kiss her, sucking his way down her neck and chest.

‘A-Aemond? What are you-‘

‘Shh…just relax. I’m going to take care of you Princess, just trust me.’ He lifted her leg up by the back of the knee and leaned in, pressing his mouth over her slit before trailing his tongue up between her pussy lips and brushing against her clit, causing her hips to jump against her will.

‘I’m s-sorry-‘

‘Don’t apologize again, just enjoy it.’ Aemond wrapped his lips around her clit, sucking on the little bundle of nerves, brushing his tongue against it repeatedly which seemed to shut her up quickly, the only sound remaining was her never ending moans. He pressed a finger into her tight hole followed by a second one which earned him a soft mewling noise that he couldn’t help thinking was adorable as he began pumping his fingers in and out of her, stretching her as gently as he could to prepare her for him.

‘Oh Fuck! Aemond!’ She seemed to be hanging right on the edge in that moment until he curled his fingers up and just as he did she cried out at a whole new octave and her pussy squeezed his fingers in a vice grip, her body shaking while she panted as if she had run a long distance and he couldn’t help but find her flushed face absolutely beautiful.

‘You are so gorgeous…’ he crawled up over her and touched his lips to hers while spreading her legs. They wrapped around his waist before he pressed his cock against her hole and instantly felt as if he had died and gone to Heaven. 9 years he had waited after realizing how in love with Y/n he truly was, 9 years dreaming of this moment and wanting to make it just as special for her as it was for him just knowing how good his sister would make him feel, and he was right. Her cunt was like the sweetest vice grip he had ever experienced, he had never felt anything more wonderful in his entire life as he stilled his hips and just waited, not wanting to hurt her or cum so fast that she would inevitably laugh at him. ‘Are you alright?’ He questioned, wanting to make sure he wasn’t hurting her too badly but she nodded.

‘I want to see all of you brother…I never want you to hide any part of you from me again.’ She spoke as she reached up and pulled the eye patch from his face. He reflexively turned his head away but she caught him, turning his head back and pulling him down to kiss the scar both over and under his eye. ‘My husband nor my brother will ever have to hide from me, you are so strong…and I think my husband is the most handsome man in the 7 kingdoms. I will fight anyone who chooses to disagree with me.’ She teased making him smile before he choked on his breath, her pussy squeezing his member suddenly before she wiggled her hips. ‘Take me brother, I am all yours now!’

‘Yes you are…Mine! I will kill anyone who even thinks to disagree with me! All mine…’ Aemond spoke, shifting his hips back before pushing back in gently, doing it again only to thrust up into her this time. ‘Your husband is going to fill your belly so full tonight that no one will be able to question whether or not you are carrying my son. You want that, don’t you Princess? You want me to give you a baby?’

Y/n’s head nodded frantically as Aemond was now jack hammering his hips into her mercilessly, her whines prompting him to go faster. ‘Yes Brother! Yes! I want to give you everything! Fill my womb so that I may give you all the sons you want!’

‘Never going to stop breeding your cunt, Gods you feel magnificent! We’re going to end up having an entire army because I am never going to stop fucking you! Cum for me Princess and your husband will fill your womb, give me your pleasure!’ He demanded just before she cried out, her head thrown back as her cunt clamped down on him so hard he briefly thought it would hurt before the pleasure shot straight up his spine and he buried his cock into her as deeply as he could.

Aemond couldn’t tell how long they laid there breathing heavily and just holding each other, it felt as if they lost time before there was a knock on the door and Y/n flinched, instinctively trying to cover her body with a blanket despite no one entering. ‘My Prince? If you have finished we need-‘

‘Shut Up! Say Another Word and I Will Remove Your Tongue!’ He growled to the maester at the door. ‘Stay still my love, I will take care of it.’ He kissed her head and she smiled, humming contently before wincing as he pulled out of her, using his thumb to press his cum back into her abused hole as it leaked out. Aemond jumped up and pulled the sheet carefully from under her and off of the bed, rolling his eyes as he saw the small amount of blood on the white linen that he had made sure to fuck her on top of as he wasn’t willing to argue about them needing evidence that consummation took place. ‘I will be right back, then you are mine for the next week, because I do not plan on us leaving this bed for at least that long.’ He teased, kissing her nose and making her giggle as he pulled his trousers on and moved to the door, unbarring it and stepping outside while shutting the door behind him, unwilling to let anyone see his wife in her current state. At the door stood Maester Mellos along with his Grandsire, his mother and brother, and also Rhaenyra and Daemon. ‘I do not understand why this needed to be such a spectacle for so many of you but here.’ He shoved the sheet at the old man angrily. ‘Now, all of you will leave because if I find out anyone continued listening at the door I will slit you from balls to brains!’ The maester inspected the sheet before nodding to the Queen who genuinely looked sorry for her son.

‘I didn’t know you had it in you brother!’ Aegon laughed, Otto shoving him away quickly and dragging him down the hall before Aemond could move to cut him open as he wanted to, Daemon following along, clearly not caring about being there and only having done so as he loved his niece- to ensure Aemond was a gentleman.

‘Take care of your wife Aemond, I know you will be a good husband, better than your brother.’

‘Thank you mother-oh! We will be taking all of our meals in our chambers tomorrow-and for the foreseeable future. Please be sure a maid is sent to do that, my wife will need breaks to eat.’ Alicent didn’t look shocked at all, just nodding her head before she walked off.

‘Brother.’ Rhaenyra spoke, Aemond sighing before giving her his attention. ‘Take care of her. She is a gentle soul, if you hurt my sister I will make sure you do not live to see whatever children you give her.’ He rolled his eyes, not giving a fuck about his elder sisters threat.

‘If you think for a moment that I would harm her then you know nothing about our relationship at all-oh! Wait! You don’t…it took 9 years but I always knew that I would make her mine no matter what I had to do. I’m just thankful that father gave into my threat before you could give her away to that idiot Wolf in the North.’

‘W-what are you-‘

‘Of course, you don’t know! I made my mother aware of the fact that if you were successful in marrying off our sister that I would have mounted Vhagar and burned every inch of the Starks home, and every other home and stronghold that had snow covering it. She was never going to marry anyone else, that was decided quite a long time ago…it just that no one but I knew it.’ He explained, enjoying her shocked expression before opening the door to go back to his wife. ‘Oh! One more thing! You should make sure that you keep your eldest on a short leash, because if I find out-or Gods forbid catch him-peeping at my wife like he did under your watch, he will be locked in the Black cells until I decide to feed him to Vhagar. Your heir or not, father will not be able to argue with him dishonoring my wife and his favorite grandchild, and you know it…it was lovely to see you again sister.’ With that Aemond slammed the door in her face and turned back to his wife.

‘Is everything okay?’ Y/n asked, clearly nervous that the sheet wouldn’t be enough evidence and they would demand to watch this time.

‘Of course my Love, I will always ensure that it will be. Now, let us continue enjoying our marital bliss for as long as we can, hmm?’ Y/n smiled, dropping the blankets and revealing her naked chest to his eyes and he couldn’t help but imagine the breasts that he was in love with, swollen with milk to feed the boy that was growing in her womb. He was desperate to taste it himself, his cock growing hard in record time at the thought before he leapt into the bed beside her.

‘I want to stay here with you like this forever.’ She admitted, now sitting in his lap, his cock buried in her pussy as he enjoys worshipping her breasts with his mouth.

‘As you wish Sister…Always.’

Aemond Targaryen Masterlist

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flamingpudding · 3 months

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I'm back with a part 4 if you want to do it it's kind of more of a crack write I just need Klarion trying to explain the family tree

But not explaining how he was made at all So Young Justice and the Justice League are now convinced that a the Ghost King was a teenage parent who is now 27 years old and just passed college with a degree in astronomy and machinery

Klarion's other parent is a a crazy fruit loop 64 year old millionaire who went to college with Klarion's Mom parents who had an emotionally unhealthy obsession with his mom's mother and then it passed on to his mom.

And he has an older sister who is technicality a clone of his mom but also has the bastards DNA so fundamentally making Ellie Vlad Master and Mom's first born kid but there's six other siblings that Klarion had that died back a while back but Mom got granddad who's apparently the time lord AKA Cronos which is a whole another long story to go back in time and save those kids get them fixed up and now Klarion technicality has seven older siblings which all do their own things

And then he starts mentioning his uncle who is a 9 ft yeti his technicality auntie who is a medieval ghost princess who can turn into a dragon his auntie Pandora and his his grandfather cronos

My names for the six other clone children are Donald (he/him), Cecelia (they/she), Bartholomew(Them/They), Kyle AKA Bite(He/It), Brutus(He/They), and then there's Danna (She/Her) who actually really like the name Dan and asked Klarion if could have it when Klarion changed his name

Sorry if this is a little bit too much I've just really been thinking about au for this after the last part you made I hope this helps you with your writing or at least makes you laugh but I really love the idea of Danny's AKA somewhat clone children and finding their own personalities and and fighting themselves out of just being failed clone of their mom also I love the idea of Danny going back in time to save the rest of the clone kids cuz now he's a mature adult who wants to save their lives and wants them to grow into their own people.

(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

I probably did way to much research into all the fandoms I am in to see what I could tie into this... And yet this feels shorter than it should but I also currently lack the time to add more. But for now I hope this will be satisfactorily.

Also this family tree idea especially the part of saving the melted clones. LOVE IT!

So even though it took me a while! here is Part 4 you inspired! Thanks so much for the ask!

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"Dude, you are making us only curious!" Impulse spoke up as he sat down next to Klarion who had his head in his hands. "Like you and your mom can't just drop your family lore like that!"

The witch boy on the other hand looked up with narrowed eyes at the speedster. "What lore?"

"Let's see, the part that apparently a Vlad tried to kill your Grandpa to make friends several time. That your mom is 'ghost' adopted by the lord of time Cronos and Pandora, which makes us family too by the way, and that you have a sister that apparently is even crazier than what we got to know of your family so far." Wonder Girl counted off her fingers next to him grinning as she mentioned the part of probably being a part of his 'crazy' family too. Which hell yea, that sounded like a lot of fun to be explored she would have to talk with Wonder Woman about that as soon as possible.

"Also..." Red Robin added as he flipped through the photo album that apparently no one remembered he had. He was turning it around and pointed at a particular photo with a wild bunch of people in it that varied between more human and well... less humanoid people. One of them definitely was a Yeti and there was also what looked like living armor as well as Teekly (they knew that demon cat at least), a giant green dog and for some reasons there was a green aggressive looking Octopus in the background too. "...how are you related to a Yeti?"

"Hey that man there and those other teens in the picture actually have some resembles with you! Do you have older brothers too?" Superboy additionally asked as he moved around Red Robin to see the photo better pointing at a man that appeared to be in this late twenties, blue eyed, black haired and a little on the buffer side. If he didn't know any better and the fact that he should keep his mouth shut about their actual identities he would have jokingly asked Red Robin if his family would like to add more kids considering Klarions family apparently had a bunch of black haired blue eyed members too, judging by the photo at least.

"What are you talking about. That man is my mom and yes the others are actually my older brothers and that Yeti is uncle Frostbite who also happens to be the best medic in the Infinite Realms" The four teen heroes looked stunned at the picture and then back at the Ghost King that was smiling at them, still seated by the dinner table with their mentors. Who by the way were now perking up at the change of topic and the information they could gain with it, well Wonder Woman was more interested in the apparently extended family she had.

"Oh I remember we took this photo last year, it was such a hassle to get everyone into one place with them all being busy doing their own things." Danny mused for a moment, remembering fondly how he had to literally drag some of the kids home through a portal.

"It was more annoying than anything too since I was declared to be the youngest...." Klarion muttered also remembering that day not as fondly as his mother.

"Wait, wait, wait! That is a picture of your family? I need an explanation buddy!" Impulse cut in without shame, quickly removing the picture from the photo album to get a better look at it before holding it out to Klarion so he could explain all the individuals. "Plus why does your mom look soooo.... human?"

The witch boy on the other hand stared at him for a couple of seconds before looking over towards his mother as if waiting for something. After a moment the teen heroes as well as their mentors saw Danny nod with a little smile. "This dimension doesn't have the GIW so its fine, the Justice League Dark won't be a problem either, right?." Constantine flinched at the smile the Ghost King was giving him, muttering something under his breath as he had hoped his presence had been forgotten.

"Since mom is giving his okay...." Klarion mutter sitting crosslegged on the ground as he snatched the photo album from Red Robin and flipped through it. "Lets start with the easiest stuff to explain."

Danny chuckled noticing that not only the teen heroes but their mentors as well showed an interest. He choose to stay quiet letting the adults listen in on the kids, and if things went bad he would just ask Clockwork if they could revert time back to this moment and he would change his nod of permission to a shake of denial.

"Okay first of, this is my mom and his sister Jasmine, this is Danielle my older sister and that hulk with flaming white hair and blueish skin is me. That was before I got deaged because of destabilising." Klarion explained flipping to a photo of him, Danny, Jazz and Danielle. "Mom was around fifteen, Aunt Jazz about seventeen and Ellie should have been about a year old but she was aged up to twelve. They look human in this one because well they are. Mom was originally human and became what you call in this dimension a Meta through an accident."

"Wait... that would mean your mom... How could he have two kids at that age of fourteen? You look like an adult and your sister was aged up?" Wonder Girl couldn't help but ask as she looked from the photo and back to Danny at the dinner table again.

"That's cause Vlad was a fu-"

"Language Klarion!"

"Vlad was a fruitloop. That photo was taken shortly after Vlad and I sort of redeemed our selfs. Plus, mom didn't really have my sister and me willingly.... we were kind of forced upon him in a way." Klarion explained shrugging. "Old Man Vlad had an obsession with his mom that then turned on mom, which resulted in my oldest sister Danielle first. Actually, a lot of my elder siblings resulted from that, but they didn't survive it the first time, Mom got Old Man Clocks help to save them once he got used to being the Ghost King. I got added to the mix shortly after my sister, but... i wasn't in the best state of mind at first, kind of went through a redemption phase in which mom had to fix the timeline of our original home dimension, too."

Danny chuckled again at the disturbed looks the teens were giving his son as well as the looks their mentors sent him. He probably should correct Klarion's wording... but being one of the gremlins of his family he just smiled on, not commenting. He really understands now why Pops Clockwork liked watching the chaos he used to cause as teen, and still sometimes causes as adult.

"Klarion... how old is this Old Man Vlad?" Red Robin asked grimacing as his eyes under the mask flicked up to the Ghost King and then back to the witch boy both seemingly unbothered by the disturbing information they were sharing.

"In human years... probably around 67? You stop counting age at some point if your a halfa." Klarion shrugged, not noticing the grimaces of the teens around him. "Anyway, Ellie is sort of the first born. I came in after that, with my core being a mix of Mom and Vlad. Not DNA wise though since I came to be because of their ghost cores. That's why I look like that in this photo. Though human DNA wise I am probably now mostly Moms, we never bothered to ask the old man."

Danny muffled another chuckle, coughing as Superman sent him an incredulous look of shook while he felt Batmans burning gaze on him.

"You... mentioned more siblings?" Red Robin asked carefully sharing a look with his team, feeling like there was a whole lot of trauma in Klarions family he wasn't sure they should address or not. So asking after his siblings was probably, hopefully the safest option. They didn't know that while there was trauma in the witch boy's family it was not the kind they were imagining.

"Yea I got a bunch more brothers, Vlad was a evil crazy fuitloop, before he redeemed himself. They all kind of melted in one timeline but mom and Grandpa Clock found a way to save them." Klarion nodded flipping to another photo containing him, as he looked now, and all his siblings.

"So, Ellie you know about already. The one with the sunglasses and died hair is Bartholomew, second oldest. They made themselves a home in other dimension, barely at home cause he has to much fun messing with something called a 'Starstream' by being a 'Constellation' and throwing gold coins at 'Incarnations'. Don't ask me what that means, I barely pay attention when he gushes about his favorit 'Incarnation'. They spent like all their money and pocket money there. Aunt Jazz thinks he might develop a gambling addiction if we don't stop his spendings." The teen heroes eyed the teen that looked like a young adult grinning in the photo as the witch boy pointed at the one next to them. "The one with the vile is my elder brother Bite, most responsible one of this bunch. Mom even allowed him to take care of a couple of dimensions by taking the role of being their God of Death. I think he messed them up more than helped but he is doing a somewhat good job, even if he is sort of obsessed with making some red head his saint or something..."

"One of your sibs is a God?" Impulse gabbed and Klarion just blinked at him with a shrug. "My Grandfather is the ruler of Time, your point is? Wonder Girl is also related to a God of your dimension."

"Never mind him, moving on." A yelp resounded as Superboy pushed Impulse head down leaning in more to see the photo better. "You got one emo looking brother there!"

"Oh that's Yamikumo, he is like a year or two older than me right now, in human years. He barely got any of mom's powers so he choose to try to life a somewhat normal life but weirdly enough he choose a dimension that is ruled by people who have powers and abilities, you know like the Meta Humans of this dimension. Now that I think about it, he is also the only one who actually is studying on how to be a Hero."

"Do you end up fighting with him if he studies to be a hero?" Wonder Girl whisper asked him with a quick glance towards their mentors, to which Klarion shook his head. "As long as we leave the dimensions one of us choose to live in alone we usually don't fight about stuff like that, aside from the usual sibling fights that is. Then again I do have some siblings that like to make bets like who is better at ruling as demon lord, or who can safe a dying timeline quicker."

Danny chuckled again as he watched the kids, Klarion had definitely caused some misunderstandings with his wording. Then again it wasn't like Klarion said anything that wasn't true, but then again his son loved chaos. So there was a suspicion that Klarion intentionally choose the way he worded the explanation about how he and Ellie came to be as well as the rest of siblings.

"So....." Superman slowly started wondering how he should bring up the topic. "...you became a mom at 14?"

"Say Danny is there a way for me to meet this Vlad? You know since we are family." Wonder Woman also asked smiling in a certain way that reminded Danny of Valerie when she was mad but didn't want to show right away how mad she was, to which the Ghost King on reflex could do nothing but gulp for a moment. Not noticing that a green post it note appeared on the table before him.

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ma1dita · 4 months

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crazy little thing

a ‘partners in crime’ installment - luke castellan x dionysus!reader

words: 3.4k

summary: (pre-established relationship) The one where he spends all his drachmas to make you smile. Sometimes, the Apollo kids are better matchmakers than Aphrodite herself. Everyone’s tired of you two dancing around each other. Luke Castellan x fem!Dionysus!reader

a/n: lil valentines day special though im working on more est. relationship fluff after this!! happy season 2 renewal babies

(posted 2/9/24 unbetaed)

—

“Come on, you gotta admit—it’s kinda funny!”

Luke is met with blank stares at the camp store after he places a few drachmas onto the folding table in front of the Apollo kids. They’re not sure if he’s trying to convince them, or himself.

Because yeah, that’s the excuse he goes for, wanting to spend his savings on having them sing to a certain head counselor instead of admitting his blatantly obvious feelings, so if you ask Lee Fletcher and his half-siblings, it’s kind of pathetic.

“What do we look like, a traveling mariachi band, Castellan?” he deadpans, watching the usually confident boy scratch the back of his neck with his face red like someone who’s been sitting out in the sun for too long.

“I’m not saying to follow her around all day or whatever, just pick a random time to sing a song and catch her off-guard,” he insists, before meeting the judgmental look of one of Lee’s younger siblings.

Lee chuckles, ruffling his sister’s hair before looking at Luke quite seriously, “She’s a good friend. You’re gonna have to pay us more than that. Special song for a special lady after all.”

The son of Hermes knows he’s gonna regret this sooner or later, but proceeds to throw the rest of his meager earnings onto the table. He has other ways of being resourceful anyway, the box of chocolates he nicked from behind the store counter feeling heavy in his jacket pocket.

“Right…she’s just a friend.”

Luke’s hands fidget at his sides as he stands there, feeling a little stupid.

Lee’s little sister scoops up the coins from the table, her raised eyebrows and light aura mirroring that of her older brother.

“What song were you thinking?” she asks, “Gotta make sure I know it if I’m singing it to your…friend.”

The 18-year-old boy tugs at his dark curls, getting more embarrassed and wanting to retreat with every minute that passes, but he’s never been one to back down from anything–swordfights, monsters, capture the flag, but this—trying to impress you...is a whole different story somehow.

Why are feelings so damn complicated?

It feels like being at the butt of a joke, or more accurately—at the sharp edge of a sword, and Luke never lets his fights end in a draw.

“You guys got it covered. Just…surprise me too, I guess,” he sighs, walking off without finishing his sentence. He wishes he could pray a little harder to his dad for luck, even if he’s unsure of what exactly he’s wishing for (or if his dad will even listen).

“Castellan’s hopeless. You think he knows it yet?” the girl asks her brother, to which Lee laughs.

“I don’t think she does either, even though everyone else can see right through them. The new bets are on who’s gonna break first. Chiron’s been keeping track, but don’t tell Mr. D.”

If Luke wants a show, they’ll make sure he’ll get his money’s worth—and hopefully, it’ll push you two along faster. Lee bet on you two getting together before the summer after all, and he’ll be damned if he loses to Clarisse.

—

Valentine’s Day might be the day of love, but for you, someone who’s single (not by choice), and heavily busy with making sure people aren’t so…enamored in public (you’ve lost count of the reports you’ve written out due to indecent behavior this morning alone)---this just feels like another Wednesday, except with more hormonal teenagers with uncontrollable urges than usual.

Oh, the joys of being the daughter of the camp director, also known as everyone’s favorite narc.

Honestly, love can suck it. With this much love in the air, you can feel it suffocating you like a plastic bag over your head.

That’s an uncontrollable urge. Too much?

Maybe Silena was right, you do need to open yourself up more to romantic opportunities. But if you have to watch another person swap spit and get pawed at like they’re the last dinner roll at the table….You might commit arson and set this place ablaze.

You just didn’t understand why people had to go all out today of all days. Shouldn’t love be shown year-round? Though you were a person of theatrics and enjoy a good show, it is amazing how much grandiose displays of affection make you cringe. It felt very performative, instead of genuine, and you would know, you’re the best actress at camp. You’ve acted out stories before, knowing all of the greatest romances and tragedies by heart. And you pride yourself on being a decent teacher to the campers, but for some of them, love still translates to a bad rendition of a ballad they heard on the radio.

Nothing gets past you at this point.

But that sucks too sometimes, you know?

Multiple failed flings and a heartbreak or two weigh down on you on days like this one, as you’re stuck being a bystander to outlandish displays put on by the Aphrodite kids being put to work. Love is their domain anyway, and yours…makes you feel a little less undesirable. Each demigod has their own strengths and weaknesses, but perhaps in the name of love, some of them don’t know how to take a hint. Several forgettable prose readings, a Sparknotes version of Eros and Psyche, and too many red roses to count have you reeling from exhaustion and a bit of disgust—-and it’s only lunchtime.

So yeah, maybe you’re a little jealous; they could call you Nemesis at this point.

The only flowers you got today were from the little kids from along the path to the strawberry orchard, and though it’s sweet—the human side of you misses affection.

Devotion.

To be a daughter of Dionysus meant to deal in extremes, obsession or nothing, and there are very few people who can handle that. Always being too much to handle, or uninterested as a defense mechanism. Perhaps that’s what scares admirers away.

That, or the fact that Luke Castellan is always attached to your hip. To be honest, you’ve always preferred it that way—the both of you working as a pair always gets things done faster around camp and he brightens your mood, whether you admit it or not.

But you two are just friends.

Really good friends who look for each other in crowded rooms, hands constantly brushing against the other for comfort, and able to pick up where the other one leaves off. Usually he’s the first person you see in the morning, and the last person you say goodnight to. You know how he likes his coffee and he cuts your apples for you as you two sit together in your unassigned seats in the dining pavilion. You watch each other’s workshops and if one of you is missing, everyone knows to ask the other to get an answer.

Right? That’s totally normal coworker/friend behavior.

If you were ever given immortality, perhaps they’d make you the goddess of denial.

You’re sweeping up confetti from the dining hall floor after an uncoordinated excuse of a flash mob was performed for one of the Demeter kids…and not to sound like a heinous bitch, but maybe next time they should use something biodegradable…or less messy. Sighing deeply, you feel someone’s eyes on you, and when you look up, Luke’s standing there with two full plates of food.

“Take a break, trouble. No one’s paying you overtime,” he jokes, and you roll your eyes as you put the broom aside.

“No one’s paying me at all…” you groan, before taking the plate out of his hands and knocking your head against his shoulder in thanks. He snickers as his hand brushes the small of your back, tickling your spine as he leads you to sit at a table.

“Just another holiday. You know how it is.”

“It’d be nice to have a night off though. Sometimes I regret taking up the position,” you mumble through spoonfuls of soup. He throws his large hand over your shoulder, kneading some tension from your trapezius. Head jerking along with the movements, you giggle as soup dribbles off your spoon, which makes his lips quirk into a small smile. Being around you felt so thoughtless and easy that if you told him to jump off a bridge he’d do it without question, which should be more concerning—the hold you have on him is irrevocable. Feelings are way too difficult for his teenage brain to comprehend at this stage. It’s easier to wash dishes with lava or fight off a dragon (bad example, he knows, but there’s something about you that already makes him feel like he’s losing before anything’s even happened).

Luke is someone who fights until the end, a soldier who’s always trained and so ready that sometimes it makes you wonder what war he’s preparing for. Infatuation, or the scarier, four-letter word was not something he was ever briefed on.

“No, you don’t. You’re a control freak,” he says with a grin.

Luke watches you play with the pendant on your necklace, the dragon scale he fashioned into your favorite accessory glinting in your hand. Running your fingers back and forth over the smooth surface, your other hand puts the spoon down and you place your head on his shoulder. He thinks if he had to describe the four-letter word on the tip of his tongue, he’d tell whoever’s asking about the way you kissed his healing cheek after you both left the Garden of Hesperides. More than a year later, Luke is still unable to find the right words even if the weakness has made a home in his heart with your name written all over it.

“I swear if I have to hear another person croak out a lovesong I might just drown myself in the Long Island Sound,” you scoff as his fingers trace circles onto your waist.

There’s a low strum of a guitar that reaches your ears and your forehead meets the cool surface of the table as you shut your eyes and grumble. It’s Lee and his half-siblings, beginning to walk through the hall seconds away from singing until they see Luke shaking his head and dragging his finger across his throat to please, gods, stop. The Apollo kids swivel and 180, walking out of the hall as the music stops dissonantly, rolling their eyes and dragging their feet.

“That was quick,” you say inquisitively as your head pops up from the table to see Luke looking off in the distance.

“Heh…I think they were just practicing or something…”

He then had to run off and pay them more drachmas for the inconvenience.

Fucking hustlers.

—

The sun sets quickly on Camp Half-Blood since it’s mid-February, and Luke finds you trying to calm your nerves as you look at the mess of glitter and paper mache that covers the arts and crafts hall from floor to ceiling.

“I can’t believe this!” you say in disbelief as you look at Luke, and he takes the can of Redbull out of your shaking hand.

“There’s just no fucking way everyone decided to use glitter. It’s everywhere! I’m—CONNOR, PUT THE SCISSORS DOWN!”

Luke sighs as he holds his hand out for his younger brother to give up the craft scissors, which he relinquishes with a mischievous grin.

“Guys, go find trouble somewhere else,” Luke mutters, pushing his head away, and where Connor goes, Travis quickly follows, tossing a canister of glitter back at him and not knowing it was still open.

“Oops.”

Immediately, the both of you are showered in iridescent particles, floating over your heads and stuck in your hair as the older Stoll brother looks at the two of you wide-eyed.

“You've already got trouble anyway,” he says teasingly, and this asshole winks at Luke before bolting out the door.

The room is silent now, and you pinch the bridge of your nose, before speaking, “I don’t care if he’s your brother, Luke. I might just fucking kill him.” You'd say more but your eyes are shut as you try not to breathe in glitter, and then the sound of the doorknob rattling catches your attention. Luke is standing there, finally faced with a door he can’t open, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance–but the effect isn’t as menacing as it should be when he’s covered in red and pink sparkles.

“Not if I get to him first, the little bastard.”

“Just open the door,” you say panicked, running over and forcing his hands off the doorknob.

“I can’t if you won’t let me do it!” He grits, elbowing you and trying to unlock the door with both his inherited gift and brute strength.

“What kind of demigod even are you? Lockpicking is supposed to be your thing!”

“Well OBVIOUSLY, but it’s not working, now is it, trouble?”

Luke finishes off the rest of your energy drink before throwing the can over his shoulder and he swears he can hear you cuss at him under your breath as you berate him about the mess, so he chooses to focus on busting the door down instead of looking at the glitter stuck in your eyelashes and thinking about how the idea of being stuck in a room with you makes him feel weak at the knees. Through the window, his eyes meet the group of Apollo kids staring at the predicament you two are in (and the barricade of chairs the Stoll brothers put in front of the door). He sighs, and Lee’s little sister flips him off as they start to walk away again, instruments in tow.

“You gonna charge him again?”

A tiny Will Solace looks at his elders for guidance as they walk along the path. As one of the youngest in the bunch, he especially idolizes anything his half-siblings do, going along with whatever they see fit.

“No, but we’re close enough to the archery range that I might just shoot them through their hearts myself. Eros and Aphrodite themselves are pretty much begging us to,” Lee grumbles.

“Why are we doing this again?” Will babbles, and his half-sister grabs his hand to help him walk faster.

“A crazy little thing called love. You’ll understand it better someday, kid.”

—

Thankfully, it all starts winding down after dinner. Luke finds you leaning against a tree flipping through your clipboard during the camp sing-along, so he tugs at your elbow to get your attention.

“Wanna get out of here?”

You look at him, slotting your pen behind your ear as you notice faint glitter particles still dotted along his cheeks. As your lips pull into a small smile, you say, "I still have a few things to do after this, don't you?"

"Cleared your schedule for the night," he mumbles, and whether it's the glow of the bonfire or he's actually blushing, a teasing expression crosses your face as you step closer and cross your arms at him.

"You cleared my schedule for the night. How on earth did you do that?"

Instead of a proper reply, he grabs your hand, tugging you out to the docks near the lake.

"Don't worry about it."

He's not going to tell you that he owes Chris and Annie a few favors before the end of the month to make up for the night shift they ended up taking. Instead, you both sit cross-legged at the edge of the dock, a gentle breeze brushing at your clothes and for the first time today, you're able to just exist.

"I hate Valentine's Day," you suddenly say, looking up at the night sky, and he's watching you closely as the gentle shine of the moon casts a cool glow on your face. Luke cringes at your statement, thinking he's already thrown away his shot.

"Why's that?"

"Tell me something Luke, am I unlikable? Like, is there anything wrong with me?"

He looks at you like you've told him you’re secretly a cyclops.

“The fuck? How many times do I have to tell you that everyone thinks you’re great?"

You don't even give him a chance to finish his sentence before you blurt, "I don’t want to be great, I want to be loved!" Reeling back a little, you lean back on your hands to create some distance.

“Sorry... that was a lot, and I’m just...wanting to be noticed. It's nice to have people's attention sometimes, you know?”

You’ve got all of mine, he thinks, realizing he never stood a chance at fighting it—this four-letter feeling you give him is the first and only battle he’ll back down from, and you're the only person he’ll wholeheartedly surrender to.

In short, he’s fucked.

"I always notice you." He pulls out a dented box of chocolates from his jacket pocket, opening it up for the both of you to share, and the look of amusement on your face makes him glad that at least one thing somewhat went to plan today, even if the chocolate truffles are a bit smushed. You’re popping one into your mouth and his dark eyes follow the trail of your fingers to your mouth, feeling his heart beat a bit faster.

But then you both hear the soft strum of a guitar from near the trees, and the two of you turn to hear some of the Apollo kids singing beautifully along the coastline.

I'll be seeing you, in all the old, familiar places...That this heart of mine embraces...

You gasp, grabbing Luke’s arm to push yourself up so that the both of you can turn and face a small group of your closest Apollo friends singing to the both of you. Luke’s eyes soften further when he feels you grab his hand and squeeze, leaning against his shoulder as you listen.

“Did you do this?” you mumble, still entranced by the performance.

“Only if it makes you laugh.”

And you do, in the way that he loves—a bit crazy and too loud, and it’s perfect.

I’ll always think of you that way…I’ll find you in the morning sun….

Whether it’s fireflies or Will bouncing light off the water to look like small, glowing candles, Luke can’t tell—he’s too busy watching your lips pull into a smile so confectionery his sweet tooth starts to ache. The little kid was never good at archery like his other half-siblings, but as your eyes shimmer under the ambient lights, you think his added romantic gesture shot you straight through the heart.

“You know, sometimes I really do hate you, Luke Castellan,” you whisper, and it couldn’t be more far from the truth.

“No, you don’t.”

His eyes flicker to you again, but you’re already looking back at him.

“I don’t.”

And when the night is new, I’ll be looking at the moon…but I’ll be seeing you…

It’s quiet now, and you’re unsure of where the Apollonian ensemble disappeared to but instead of worrying about if they’ll make it back before curfew, you stand there in front of Luke with your guard down.

Getting a little closer than he expected, your noses brush before you pull the slightly crushed wildflowers from your jean pocket, the only physical reminder you’ve kept from today, and tuck them into his jacket pocket, sitting right above his heart.

“Thank you.”

Luke doesn’t realize he’s holding his breath until he feels your lips gently kiss the marred skin on his right cheek, the blemish having an uncanny resemblance to a stroke of lightning; it serves as a reminder of his weakness. The lines blur as his eyes close to savor it and he doesn’t know if weakness is your kisses or his scar—but he is vulnerable to it all the same, realizing there’s a crack in the otherwise perfect persona that he’s worked so hard on. When his eyes open again, his Achilles’ heel has taken human form.

—

“This has got to be cheating,” Clarisse grumbles as she watches from the distance, hidden behind the trees.

“It’s not cheating if I’m winning. Silena’s gonna get a kick out of this,” Lee chuckles, ushering everyone back towards the cabins. It’s a bit harder to do this in the dark as they try to be quiet and not interrupt whatever will happen next between their favorite counselors.

“Well lucky for you, your gifts are cute and romantic, what am I supposed to do? They fight enough!”

“That’s what got them into this mess in the first place. Come on, curfew’s in 10. We’ll find out which of us wins the bet soon enough,” Chris mutters, pushing them along back onto the main path.

“Easy for you to say, Rodriguez, you live with Luke!”

“Would I ever lie to you, La Rue?” he says with a mischievous grin, and the Apollo kids giggle at the irony.

—

“My body ages,

my anger burns into a seam.

I am so annoyed by love

and still it comes.”

-Kate Baer

ask to be added to luke/general taglists!

luke taglist (some won't let me tag, turn on my post notifs?): @kissingyourgrl @dorcas4meadowes @lorarri @andrewgarfldsgf @noodlesketchbook @10ava01 @poppysrin @ashisabitgay @timhalamet @liv1104 @leeknows-wife @mxtokko @bugcuti3 @luvvfromme @midmourn @2hiigh2cry @yuminako @niktwazny303 @lukecastellandefender @intergalactic-padawan @iliketopgun @annybah @dangelnleif @thegrinningghost @alyssajunelle @obxstiles @m00ng4z3r @visndcaitswhore @b0ok-lover @elegant-face-tree @this-barbie-is-having-breakdowns @amortencjja @idonevenknow1359 @maliaaaa @targaryenluvs @sakyira @dhdjdjjdhsjdiri @number-onekidqueen @bradynoonswife @stevenknightmarc @hoodedhavok @happy-mushrooms @homebyeleven @anotherblackreader @too-deviant @liviessun @lilacspider @theadventuresofanartist @sucker4seresin @simpforsunwoo @zanzie @starrystormwritings

#luke castellan x reader #luke castellan x dionysus!reader #luke castellan x reader fanfic #pjo x reader #percy jackon and the olympians #luke castellan fluff #made by ma1dita ♥︎#trouble!verse #thank you for reading my love ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

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daydreamgoddess14 · 11 months

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Saturday Mornings

MASTERLIST

🤸‍♀️ Well , well, well, didn't take long to get me back on my bullshit, did it? 🤣 I bring you a Roy Kent smutty one shot. Enjoy the gorgeousness of this man 🥵

Roy doesn't have a thing for Phoebe's dance teacher. Until he does. 👀

For @littleesilvia 😘

Saturday Mornings

Saturday morning had always been for Phoebe. From the day she was born, Roy had dedicated every Saturday morning to her. In the first weeks of her birth, he'd let himself into his sister's house and picked up a squawking Phoebe from the moses basket and taken care of her from 6-10 am so his sister could get more sleep. In those early days, he'd spoken to her in his deep, gruff voice while she drifted in and out of sleep. Then they'd go for a walk to the shop, the neighbours peeping into the buggy until Roy had growled at them to "Fuck off and stop gawping at her, she's trying to fucking sleep." As she got a little older, it became cartoons and cereal - devoured together on the sofa, and then a trip to the park. He'd arranged everything for 9 years around his Saturday mornings with Phoebe. Even away matches with a midday kick off didn't stop him, it didn't matter if it was an hour, or five hours - match day or no match day, rain or shine, if he was single or not, Uncle Roy would be there. Their time alone together moved through her swimming lessons phase, gymnastics phase, and morphed into his coaching her kids team. He wanted to be on board with this next phase - really, he did.

After 8 weeks of lessons, he'd finally put his finger on what the problem was. The dancing was nothing new, Phoebe had tried ballet, tap, some weird toddler baby dance shit. 16 weeks ago, she'd switched to some kind of pop/tween dance class with a lovely older woman who mostly sat to one side and pointed to each move, each music transition. It had been great, 8.30-9.30am every Saturday, fucking wonderful. Then 8 weeks ago, that woman had switched classes and you had taken over. You, with your tight Tik Tok leggings and your cropped t-shirt. You who showed the kids each move over and over again. The number of dad's attending the class had suddenly gone up. It had been 6 months since he thought that he and Keeley could try again, but she'd made it clear that that was not the case. He'd been single for longer than 6 months before, sure, but not for a long time. Back then in his younger days, he'd thought nothing of a mutually convenient resolution with a friend until he met his next significant other. He’d come to the conclusion now that he was too fucking old for a friends with benefits situation.

If it was just Saturday mornings that were the problem, he could live with that. He started out by taking a book and ignoring the class completely, but Phoebe did not like that at all. So he switched to audiobooks, brought a pair of fucking ear buds so he could drown out the sound of your voice, your gentle encouragement and the giggles. If it wasn’t the leggings going to tip him over the edge, it was going to be the giggles. Or the praise. Weird, he didn’t realise he had a bit of a praise kink before. Then he heard you in a breathy voice saying something that definitely could apply to situations other than a 9 year olds dance class and nearly had to leave the room. No, it wasn’t just Saturday mornings anymore. You came to mind now at the most inconvenient times. Sitting on the bike while Jamie pulled him along at 5am when shouting at Jamie in the street would have been frowned upon and they instead trained quietly, whenever one of the kids dance routine songs came on the radio and he was forced to relive watching you teach them, at night in the dark when he was alone, in the shower… He absolutely had to stop thinking about you like this. Like you’d see it in his eyes when you waved good morning, or when he held his bank card over your little hand held machine to pay for the classes. He also couldn’t stand the very much married men who flirted so openly with you. Clearly telling their wives at home, no love, I’ll take little… Mabel to dance class, you stay here and have a lie in and a cup of tea.

It was funny how they’d migrated from the later morning class which was run by a woman who had the body shape of a fucking pencil. Beautiful, yeah she wasn’t bad. But she didn’t have the strong thighs you did, the sweeping curve of your hip into a cute little waist. He couldn’t go another week like this. Had to stop now, stop being so pervy. He was no better than the other blokes who came to watch their kids' class. Except he was slightly better, because he was actually single.

“Uncle Roy, we’re here, come on!” Phoebe was already half out of the car. He braced himself for another week of torture.

“Good morning guys! Come in, I’m just getting set up.” You called out from across the room. He was a bit too early really. Not intentionally, of course not. You were still in your hoodie, still setting up the portable speaker and drinking a Costa coffee. You put a song on in the background and he had to hold his breath while you pulled off the warm grey sweater. As it came off, it pulled the baggy cropped t-shirt up as well, exposing your sports bra underneath, the soft skin of your stomach. It was definitely soft whenever he thought about it anyway. You straightened yourself out and sat on the floor, stretching your legs out in front of you and reaching forward to your toes. Phoebe lept out of her seat, threw her coat at Roy and plonked herself down in front of you, mirroring your pose. “Joining me for a warm up Phoebs?”

“It’s important to warm up. My Uncle Roy is a football coach and he says it’s the most important part.”

“He’s not wrong.” You smiled, moving through some other poses and stretches. He was a dead man. This was it. The end, this was how it was going to go. You stretch your arms up as far as you can reach them, stretching out your back with a little pop. He tried to ignore the fucking Grecian vase shape your body made, truly. Until you’d made a noise a little too close to a moan for his liking, followed by, “Holy shit that feels good.”

Fucking hell. Fucking hell .

“Sorry Phebs, didn’t mean to swear.”

“It’s ok. I’ll let you off the first time, but you owe me a pound next time.”

“Aww thanks.” The class soon filled up, he wished he’d taken a seat way at the back, out of the way so he could either look at you without it being so noticeable, or ignore you completely. He totally respected your classes, he really did. It was a tricky thing, conducting an age appropriate class for 9 year olds which avoided sexualising dance moves but also made them feel like they were able to move their bodies how they wanted to. Of course, it’s not always the dance moves themselves which could be seen as sexual, more often it’s the person watching who makes that connotation. And he tried so, so hard not to do that. Tried desperately to not think about how your body would move underneath his, on top of his, the beautiful sounds he could draw from you. He needed to get out, feigned a phone call, holding up his phone as he got to the door so you knew he’d be right outside if Phoebe needed anything. He didn’t think you’d even seen him until you gave him a little thumbs up.

At the end of the class, you encourage the kids to just sit for a minute. You all usually end up sprawled on your backs, not having to make eye contact makes it easier for some of the kids to talk openly if they wanted help or an opinion on something. It was somewhat of an eye opener for the parents as well. This week, you had the kids sit up so they could see you,

“I thought I might take you on a little trip, if you guys fancy it? I was going to go and see the new Barbie film after class next week. If any of you want to come with me, with your grown up - of course - then we could have a really exciting morning! I’m not allowed to take any of you without another grown up though, ok? So you’ll have to check with them first.” You handed each of them a little pink party invite. He already knew before Phoebe asked. Their match next week was on Sunday so he was free all of Saturday morning. He had no excuse to not take her, he also didn’t think he wanted one.

He hoped you were a little bit dumb. It was a horrible thought, he knew that, to wish stupidity on someone. But if there was any chance of him making a full recovery and banishing you to the depths of his mind, never to turn up again - especially not when he was in the shower with his hand around himself, he really fucking hoped that you were dumber than a box of rocks. You weren’t. He already had an inkling of that, but he could still live in hope.

“Fancy the Barbie movie next week?” You’d asked brightly as he’d held out his card to pay, he wasn’t sure if it was the physical and mental turmoil of having to watch you for the last hour, but he thought he could detect a sliver of hope in your voice.

“Fucking probably, she won’t let me say no.” Phoebe held out a hand for her pound. “Add it to my tab.”

And of course, that’s how he found himself in a dark cinema the following week with a gaggle of kids around him. He was still trying to work out if it was a blessing or a curse that he’d ended up sitting next to you - it had certainly earned him glares from one or two of the other grown ups. As you laughed again at another joke aimed to sail just over pre-teen heads, he knew it was a curse. It had to be. Forced to listen to that laugh for two hours? Fucking torture. When you cried, he knew he was done for. He reached over, just a little and patted the back of your hand in comfort. Just a little there, there gesture. You’d only fucking gripped his hand and squeezed it, he stole a glance at you and you’d given him a watery smile and a little lopsided shrug. Then you’d let go of his hand, and turned back to the movie. He had to spend the remaining 45 minutes of the film trying not to think about your warm hands carefully exploring his body.

The following week, he did it.

“Would you like to go for a coffee sometime?” He asked quietly as his card payment went through. He didn’t think you’d heard him until you looked up sharply.

"Aren't you like way out of my league?"

"What league is that then?”

“Well, you're in the ridiculously fit footballer league? Y’know for people who date supermodels and influencers?”

“I wouldn't fucking know about that.”

“I'm sure you would, I'm sure they don’t kick you out once you retire. Once a fit footballer, always a fit footballer? Is that the name of it? The… F. I. T? Or is it just the R.F.F.L?”

“What's that stand for?”

“No idea, it's your league, you tell me. Footballers Into Tits?”

“That’s a shit acronym”

“I know. I can do better, promise. Give me a minute.”

“I'm sure you'd be alright in that league” He said quietly,

“Excuse me? That was very cheeky. Ohh, maybe it could stand for ‘Filthy rich but Impossibly Tedious’?”

“That’s pretty good, definitely suits some footballers I know. Alright, fine. What fucking league are you in, then?”

“Whatever the Conference equivalent of the F.I.T is.”

“Now that can’t be true.”

“Oh yeah? How do you know?”

“I just fucking do. Is it a yes to coffee?”

“I mean, I still think you’re way too high up the F.I.T for me, but sure.”

“It’s the R.F.F.L actually.” He smirks as you hand him a flyer for the class.

“My number is on there.” You tell him, then you’d walked away without taking his number, which meant he was going to have to be the one to contact you first. No, you definitely weren’t dumb. Shit .

This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was a combination of factors really, a busy week at work meant though he’d messaged you quickly, he wasn’t actually able to meet for coffee until the end of the week. So you’d spent all week in a message exchange which had ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous.

“Would you rather fight 100 tiny Jamie Tartt’s or 1 giant one?”

“100 tiny ones. I’d fucking stamp on them all.”

“Figured out what league you’re in.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Champions League.”

“Fuck off am I. I’ve wikipedia’d your dating history mate. Gina Gershon? I think I should cancel coffee now…”

“Fuck, please don’t.”

“Do you always try so hard to look like you’re not looking at dance class?”

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Uhuh. Ok.”

“Yes, I do. Every week is torture.”

“Jamie says I’m too old for the R.F.F.L.”

“Maybe that works in my favour. If I’m up against Gina fucking Gershon, I’d have no chance.”

“You’re not up against anyone.”

“I've been thinking about you all morning.”

“Was that flirting? Were you just flirting with me?”

“Shut up. See you later.”

And now… well. Coffee at 3pm on a Friday turned into dinner at 6pm, dessert at 8pm and a nightcap at 10pm in his kitchen. You tapped the edge of your empty tumbler,

“Another?” He asked, leaning against the counter just across from you.

“No, thank you. I should… go.” The lift at the end meant it could have been a statement, could have been a question. He nodded,

“Early class.”

“Yep. I think we lost track of time.”

“Or not,” he offered,

“Or not,” you bit your lip and he felt indecision fluttering in his chest. He pushed off the counter and closed the gap between you both in only one step.

“If I kissed you now, would you be mad?” He asked softly, he could see your body tremble with the breath you took.

“Think I’d be more mad if you didn’t.” He watched you hold his gaze for as long as you could before looking at his mouth. He took the tumbler from you and put it on the counter before placing a careful hand on your hip and leaning down to kiss you. The warm whisky taste of vanilla and honey mingled with the chocolate from your dessert and Roy realised that no, he hadn’t been tortured before, watching you teach a bunch of kids how to dance wasn’t the way he was going to go. This was. Right here in his kitchen with your arms winding around his neck and bringing him as close as you could possibly get him. Your fingers scratching through his hair. He pressed you into the counter,

“I’ve thought about doing this for a long time,” he whispered, kissing down your neck, making you gasp. He pulled away quickly, worried that it was too much too soon, “Shit, sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” He went to move further back to give you space but your hands gripped his shirt to pull him back in,

“Please, I don’t want to stop,” you breathed heavily, “I don’t want you to stop.” You said, more firmly. He was against you again in an instant,

“Sure?” He asked, “You’re sure?” You stepped up to kiss him, making your feelings very clear,

“I’m sure.” Your fingers flew to the buttons of his shirt, undoing the first couple. He pulled you away from the counter, strong arms wrapped around your back and lifted you enough to move you both to the sofa. You stumbled against the cushions, falling backwards and pulling him with you so that he landed heavily on top of you.

"Oof."

“Fuck, sorry. You ok?” He sits back up on his knees, allowing you to automatically move your legs to either side of his and sit up,

“Never better,” his smile catches you off guard, “fuck, you’re gorgeous.” You mumble, reaching for him. The feeling is more than mutual. He needs to feel your kiss again, desperate to feel your skin on his. It’s better than anything he’d spent the last 8 weeks dreaming of. And the sounds you made as his hands and kisses explored your body were enough to drive him insane. He moves further down your body, pulling your skirt down with him and immediately turns to trail kisses and little bites along your inner thigh while his hand reaches up to link fingers with yours.

“Look at me,” he whispered, his breath hot against your hip. The simple request alone made your body turn to liquid against him. He’d spent so long thinking about (denying, debating, ignoring) the effect you had on him, he hadn’t actually considered that you would be just as affected by him. He wasn’t stupid, he knew he looked y’know, alright , for an older bloke. But still, seeing it first hand… seeing it first hand, hearing it first hand, from you was really something else entirely. You tugged his hand to bring up back up to you but he shook his head, his beard catching the sensitive skin of your inner thighs, “busy,” he said, his voice muffled. He focused on nothing but you, losing himself in each gasp, moan and clutch of your hand still holding his. He worked you through one bone-shaking orgasm without stopping, leaving you a shuddering mess as he went straight for another. Looking up at you, he could see the hand that wasn’t clinging onto him had covered your eyes. This time when you squeezed his hand, he made his way back up your body and settled between your legs. “You ok?” he asked, leaving soft kisses on your jaw before finally capturing your mouth in a filthy kiss. You didn’t speak, just shook your head. “You taste fucking incredible.” He kissed you again and you whimpered, finally moving your hand away from your eyes.

“I’ve got a problem.”

“Oh yeah?” He said, moving back to your neck, a hand slipping behind you to unclip your bra.

“Yeah I thought you’d only want a one night thing but that’s impossible now.”

“It was fucking impossible anyway. One night is definitely not enough time.”

“Oh,” you whispered weakly. “Good. Please-, oh fuck,” he caught a nipple lightly between his teeth, “please don’t stop.” So he didn’t, and he never would again if it was up to him. When he’d been (much) younger, he fully grasped the importance and concept of consent. He was a professional footballer - it wasn’t just important, it was crucial. But as he’d gotten older, he finally realised just how much better saying, and hearing, the words made everything. Being able to ask, “may I?” and “I need to hear you say it” and waiting, waiting, waiting, for the breathy response had never left him so wrecked before. He pushed into you in long, slow strokes while you met him with each roll of your hips. When you hold his jaw tightly to bring his gaze to yours, he nearly falls apart but he's determined to get you there first and he knows you're so close. "You feel so good-," you whisper, "So good."

"Fuck, I need-"

"I know, I'm right with you." His name is on you lips as you come and he thinks it's the most beautiful thing he's ever heard. When he joins you, he kisses you with such depth it's like you were made for him. You lay still together for a while as you catch your breath. He keeps his nose in the crook of your neck while his hand softly smooths across your ribs and the side of your breasts. Your legs no longer lock around him, you stretch out and enjoy the weight of his body covering you.

"'M crushing you," he mumbles. His voice so low in your ear makes you shiver and despite you not being ready for another round quite so soon, your hips buck, "Fucking hell, give me a minute," he laughs.

"You're not crushing me, and I'm not ready yet either," you grin into his hairline and kiss his temple.

"Hmm if you say so." He rocks against you, half hard again already, needing to hear the broken little moan that ghosts over his head. "Come on, I want you in a bed this time."

He wasn't happy when you had to tear yourself from his bed at 7am to go home. He wasn't happy when he picked Phoebe up at 8am. He wasn't happy in the drive thru Costa queue at 8.10am. He was happy at 8.20am when he finally got to hand you your coffee and see your smile as you stretched out on the floor of the dance studio. He was perfectly happy knowing that you'd be torturing his Saturday mornings for a while longer.

FIN

#ted lasso #ted lasso fanfiction #ted lasso fic #roy kent #roy kent x reader #roy kent imagine #roy kent smut #roy kent x you #roy kent fic #roy kent fanfiction #roy kent fluff

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pizzapottah · 5 months

Text

young love

summary: the youngest malfoy meets the famous harry potter, not knowing that he'll be a big, big part of her life one day.

pairing: harry j. potter x malfoy!reader (no use of y/n)

word count: 4.2k

warnings: some depiction of health problems, mention of premature birth, mention of being underweight, overbearing parents (?) let me know if i missed anything!

author's note: hii! this is the first ever fanfic i post on this site, so, please be kind. english is not my first language (tell me if i missed any mistakes!) so constructive criticism is accepted and greatly appreciated! i thought of this as the first part of a series that i have in mind, so, enjoy <3

ps: yes, i changed draco's birthday for the plot. no regrets.

when you met harry potter for the first time, it obviously was on platform 9¾.

you had always been quite a weak child. born on the 1st of august 1980 after a gruesome labor and almost a month before the due date, always the smallest amongst your friends and family, often used to miss occasions and such because of your poor health. constantly coddled by your parents - more likely, your mother - who for your whole childhood dreaded the day they would have had to send you to hogwarts.

when the day came, they both had already made peace with it. as a witch and as a malfoy, you had to go to hogwarts - or else, what might other people think? said lucius, when narcissa tried convincing him of hiring a tutor at the manor to teach at home for at least the first years.

against all the odds, you were happy about going to hogwarts. it would have meant not having the prying gazes of your parents on you all the time, being free from all the house-elves constantly watching to ensure you didn’t faint or hurt yourself while trying to do things other children did without a struggle - and, last but not least, hopefully not being a victim of your brothers protectiveness anymore.

draco malfoy - your older brother, born not even a year before you on the 5th of september - was a precocious child, but not the kind you were. while you were born early and always ended up being the last, he seemed to be ages ahead of you and all of his peers. he had a malice that you hadn’t quite matured yet - obviously inherited by your dear father - and was able to have a pretty mean way with words. sometimes, you feared that one day, all the sly remarks and insults that he reserved for the people that he despised would be directed to you. more often than not, he was straight up cruel rather than mean.

but still, he was your brother, and you loved him. hogwarts probably would become the place where he could finally forget about his poor, sick sister that always slowed him down.

so, when not even ten minutes after your parents left your kitten disappeared, you wanted to bury yourself from embarrassment. nibbles had never been the easiest cat, hating the carrier almost as much as she hated everyone but you, and it was certainly not the first time she managed to escape her cage.

you wanted to sit down and cry. you hadn't even arrived at hogwarts yet and everything was already going downhill. you were running up and down the platform, searching for your cat, probably looking crazy while you screamed her name. draco was surely already on the train, and you didn’t want to bother him as he was probably with all his friends.

as you ran, you slammed against a boy whom you didn’t even see - he just came out from nowhere, you swore, but still…

‘i am so, so sorry…’ the boy was on the ground, just like you, but had a slower reaction and you managed to get up first. seeing a pair of glasses - now broken glasses - on the floor, you immediately gave them back to him, babbling a string of apologies while helping him to get back up. you kept a hold on his hand while rambling, ‘i am really sorry for your glasses, i didn’t mean to break them, i shouldn’t have been running around-’ the screech of the hogwarts express made you yelp, making you enter an even worse panic - where the hell are you, nibbles? - “i am so sorry, but have you seen my cat? her name is nibbles, she’s about this big, with grey and white fur - she’s a birman, her snout is all brown - she probably hisses at anyone who tries to approach - please, please, tell me that you’ve seen her!’

the boy was all skin and bones, wearing clothes that were clearly too big for him, with untamed locks of black hair on his head - he probably hadn’t brushed them since forever - and two big green eyes that just stared back at you. he looked at you speechless, like he never fell on the ground in his whole life and he was happy that you knocked him out. you still held his hand, waiting for an answer. ‘...so?’

‘excuse me, dear,’ a kind voice echoed. ‘is this the cat you’re searching for?’

removing your attention from the boy, you looked at the woman who spoke - a red-haired, chubby and oh-so-kindly looking woman - who was pointing to a red-haired man. he held nibbles at arm’s length, with his face covered in scratches, while behind him three boys that were clearly their sons were laughing, holding back their tears when the birman tried to scratch him again and then hissed.

‘nibbles!’ you screeched, immediately running up to the man to grab your cat, apologizing profusely, not even knowing what to say. ‘i am so, so, so sor-’

the woman and her husband waved you off with a gentle smile. ‘don’t worry, dear, you better go now, or you won’t find a place to sit! first year, am i right? still not enough friends to keep a cabin occupied.’

you just nodded, thanking them again, and ran to the hogwarts express. thankfully, all your belongings had already been placed there by the house-elves that accompanied you and your family to the platform, and you could count on daphne and theodore to save you a seat. when you finally managed to sit down, you were out of breath and probably your hair looked like a mess, but at least nibbles didn’t become a stray. when they looked at you, your friends bursted out laughing, only stopping when nibbles launched at theo and tried to bite off his nose.

the rest of the day was pretty normal - well, as normal as the first day at a school like hoghwarts can be - but when you met that skinny boy - the one with green eyes and too-big clothes - you didn’t realize that you missed a big (vital, almost) detail about him.

the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

harry potter was sure he was dreaming.

while he watched you run away with your cat in your arms to get on the train, his mouth fell open. he was certain he had never seen a girl as pretty as you, and he was also sure that yours was probably the first sincere apology he had ever heard since… well, since he could remember. it had nothing to do with dudley’s mockery sorrys, and it surely wasn’t a forced apology like the ones he had heard when he was at school. she was really sorry. probably he should’ve been mad that you broke his glasses, but at least, he had proof that you actually existed and he wasn't hallucinating.

‘are you alright, dear? i know that all of this probably looks unbelievable for you.’ mrs weasley placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with a kind of worry that he imagined only a mother could show.

harry looked at his hand - the one you held. ‘i think it’s the first time in my whole life that a girl has held my hand and has talked to me willingly.’ near them, the twins and ron bursted out laughing again.

and that same evening, when the sorting of the houses begins and harry sees you go up to the seat when another malfoy is called and ron is sprouting poison in his ear about your family and your whole lineage, he silently hopes that you get put in gryffindor - where he’s just been sorted.

obviously, as destiny has its strange ways, it doesn’t happen. and after a minute or two of uncertainty, the talking hat places you where draco has just been sorted to. and between the claps and the cheering of the students, you go and sit next to your brother - on the slytherin table.

the second time you met harry potter - and the time you actually consider as the first time meeting him, despite him always arguing that in fact, it was not - it was already january and five months had passed since your first encounter. you stood by the window of the library, watching your friends play in the snow, without you.

when you and draco came back home for christmas, you first caught a cold, followed almost immediately by a high fever. the mediwizard said it probably was because of the weather, and your weak build just reacted badly to it. he recommended you to not get too exposed to the cold for the foreseeable future, and to always stay covered up. it was clear that your parents had taken that seriously.

so, now, no matter how much you beg professor snape, he won’t let you go out. your parents have been strict about this matter, miss malfoy, he said. and i can’t let an all-O student get sick, now, can i? who will answer my questions in class?

hermione granger, you had wanted to say, but didn’t. snape’s distaste for her, or any other gryffindor for that matter, was clear and plain. you were sick of always being kept behind a glass like some fragile object - people get sick, so what? during your time at hogwarts, your health got better. for the first time ever in your life, you felt like you were really healthy, as you finally gained some pounds and were no longer underweight. also, your skin took on a lively color, leaving behind your usually pale and sick incarnate. you were starting to suspect that malfoy manor was the problem. maybe it was cursed.

though, draco never had any health problem. he could go out and play - but instead, as any other saturday, he probably was in his room, sleeping, or in the slytherin common room, talking with his friends about all the presents their parents got him for christmas.

and as you were commiserating yourself by the window, you didn’t notice a certain green-eyed boy looking at you.

harry thought that he was wasting a saturday by spending it at the library, trying to understand snape’s assignments, but that was until he saw you. when he first noticed, he tried to not give it much thought. he just hoped that your brother wasn’t there with you.

but as time went on, draco was nowhere to be seen. and you just stood there, propped up by the window, looking like the saddest person he’d ever seen. harry was conflicted - he knew you weren’t like your brother, or even like most of the slytherins. you always helped neville during potions, trying to alleviate snape’s hate against him, even when the professor said to him to stop slowing you down. you often offered to hermione to confront your assignments before turning them in, creating a strange friendship based on the purpose of getting the highest score possible together. you never took part in your brother’s bullying, and hermione described you as the sweetest person she ever met. ‘she always wants to apologize,’ she said once. ‘for her brother and his friends, i mean, but i don’t let her. it’s not her fault that her brother is such an imbecile.’

‘oh, yes,’ replied ron, skeptical. ‘kindness, a typical malfoy trait, am i right? hermione, she’s brainwashing you.’

they argued back and forth, until harry intervened. ‘i met her, once,’ he mumbled. ‘she’s nice.’

‘oh, you mean when she knocked you out on platform 9¾?’ snorted the weasley. ‘don’t be so stupid, harry, she was just searching for her ugly cat. she probably didn’t even care that you fell. besides, the scratches it gave to my dad’s face tormented him for days. he said that some of them even left a scar.’

harry frowned. ‘she apologized a hundred times - and you were laughing while her cat scratched your dad’s face!’

‘yeah, because i didn’t know it was malfoy’s cat and it would have left scars!’

‘right now, you’re being just like malfoy,’ seethed hermione, getting up from her seat. ‘judgy and full of prejudice. did you know what she said about you, and your family? she said that your parents were really nice to her and that she hopes to meet them again to thank them properly. she says that the twins’ pranks are hilarious, and that she wants to be prefect like percy one day. and she proposed to me many times to let you study with us, so that your grades could get better with our help. and do you know why i said no, ron?’ she glared at him, making him shiver. ‘because i knew you hated her, even if she never did anything to you.’ after that, she took her leave, leaving behind a red-faced ron and a really embarassed harry.

remembering the conversations they had, harry looked at you, and thought that in the small time he had known her, hermione was almost always right - even if sometimes he didn’t want to admit it. and gathering all the courage that he had, he got up from his seat and approached you.

‘hi,’ he said. you turned around to look at him, and gave him a smile. ‘oh, harry,’ you said. in the last few months, he visibly gained a few pounds too - that was a nice thing, you thought, because you knew from hermione that his aunt and uncle barely fed him, and you remembered how skinny he was at the platform. it seemed like hogwarts was treating the both of you well. ‘hi.’ you darted your eyes from him to the table where he was sitting, seeing the homework sprawled out on the surface. ‘were you doing snape’s assignments?’

harry scratched his neck nervously. ‘well, yes, but it’s not like i was really succeeding.’

you laughed lightly - a sound that made his cheeks red. ‘yeah, snape’s homework is not made for actually succeeding, really. you just have to pass.’

harry looked out of the window, frowning at the sight of your friends playing in the snow. ‘why don’t you go with them? it’s surely more fun than staying here alone. i’m here because i have to, i mean, but hermione told me you and her finished the assignment yesterday.’

you grimaced. ‘i was sick during the holidays, thus my parents don’t want me going out, now, and they even told snape, who makes sure that i actually stay in the castle. so, i’m stuck here. i like the library, so it doesn’t really matter.’ it actually does matter, you wanted to say, but you were sure that harry couldn’t care less about your problems. instead, he made a face. ‘what? can he actually do that?’ he wouldn't know, he doesn’t have parents that care about him - in the rare times where he fell ill, the dursleys barely even gave him any medicine, and always sent him to school, despite the weather.

‘well, i mean, yeah. he’s friends with my dad, and i know he can be really pressuring sometimes.’ you tried to smile at him. ‘do you need help with potions? i’m kinda sick of watching my friends having fun and doing nothing.’

harry didn’t want to bother you - or worse, give another reason to draco to make fun of him. ‘don’t worry, i’ll mana-’ seeing your pout made him stop and relent. after a brief pause, he said: ‘of course you can help me, if you want,’

that was how it started. in the weekends - mostly it was on saturdays - when the library was empty, you would help him with his homework (mainly potions, and you were quite proud of the fact that harry started to get higher scores, even if snape continuously suggested that he was cheating on his tests) and he would keep your mind off of your friends. you didn’t want to hold them back from having fun, so it was okay.

until one day, harry came to the library late. it was already february, and probably the snow would have melted soon. it wasn’t really snowing anymore, and all the students spent their free time out in the gardens, trying to enjoy the last bits of winter. he was out of breath and had the biggest smile on his face. he said your name, ‘do you wanna go and build a snowman?’

you smiled sadly at him. ‘harry, you know i can’t. but if you want to, you can go. i won’t be mad at you for going without me.’

he shook his head vehemently. ‘no, no,’ he said. ‘i asked, do you wanna go and build a snowman?’

‘well, i mean, i would like to, but-’

‘no “buts”,’ he interrupted you, ‘go and change - wear your coat, put on a hat and other things like that to stay warm. today professor mcgonagall is keeping an eye on the students, so, we just have to bypass snape. let’s see each other in 30 on the second-floor girls’ bathroom.’

you raised an eyebrow at him. ‘why would you want to see me in a girls’ bathroom?’

he blushed. ‘do you trust me, or not?’

so you went and changed into something warmer, putting your ear warmer, a scarf and a pair of gloves in your bag. as you exited the girls’ dormitory and entered the slytherin's common room, you found yourself in front of professor snape, who eyed you suspiciously.

‘miss malfoy,’ he said. ‘great afternoon, is it? i’ve seen all your friends out in the snow.’

‘oh, yes, professor,’ you squeaked. ‘i’m just going to the library, though. wouldn't want to catch a cold and make my parents worry about my health.’

he raised an eyebrow, not really convinced, but let you go easily. ‘don’t forget that professor mcgonagall also knows that you can’t go out in the garden, miss malfoy,’ he said at last.

you barely even heard him, sprinting to the second floor and making sure you weren’t being followed, immediately entering the bathroom. thankfully, moaning myrtle was nowhere to be seen, but you found harry already there, with a bag of his own and looking pretty nervous. ‘you promise not to tell anyone about this?’

‘now, harry, why would i?’

he opened his bag and took out what was inside. your mouth fell open. ‘is that-?’

‘an invisibility cloak? yes, it is.’

you only ever saw one once, in your grandfathers house, behind a glass in one of his cabinets. he never let you or draco touch it, insisting that it was a "collection object" and it wasn’t made for "children who want to play". you knew they were very expensive and rare, and seeing that harry’s one looked really beautiful, you asked yourself where the hell he got it from.

‘you ready to finally get a bit cold, malfoy?’

professor mcgonagall was watching the students by the window, enjoying some tea and reading a book, when severus snape slammed the door of her office open, stomping inside. ‘minerva,’ he greeted, all but happy. ‘can you tell me how miss malfoy managed to sneak under our noses and get outside?’

unbothered, she looked out of the window and saw that yes, actually, you were out in the snow, covered well, making a snowman with hermione granger, harry potter, daphne greengrass and theodore nott. ‘i don’t see the problem, severus. she’s enjoying herself and is happy with her friends. it’s the first time i see her smile this wide.’

snape raised an eyebrow. ‘yes, and i suppose, it’s also the first time you see her in the snow. out. in the gardens. where her parents specifically asked to not let her go.’

then minerva suddenly remembered - merlin, she can’t go out in the cold. the five-page letter your parents sent dumbledore where they said that their daughter couldn’t be allowed out there for ‘poor health reasons’ immediately came to her mind, and she paled.

she got up, leaving her book and tea behind, sprinting down the stairs to get to the gardens, snape close behind her. ‘miss malfoy!’ she yelled once she got there, without even having her coat on. ‘miss malfoy, come here at once!’

she saw your friends pale, and your face fall. the snowman, by then, was almost completed. the professor felt guilty instantly. how many years has it been, since i’ve seen gryffindors and slytherins get along?

you got up from the snow and sniffled, sad. ‘thanks, guys,’ you said. ‘that was really fun.’

with your head low, you went to your teachers, preparing yourself for the scolding you were surely about to get. at least, they waited until you were inside the castle to start. ‘i never thought you capable of this, miss malfoy,’ started snape. ‘putting yourself in danger, going against your parents’ wishes and the mediwizard precautions - do you want to get sick? don’t you think that if you can’t go out, it’s just for your own good-’

‘now, now, severus,’ a voice interrupted. dumbledore, who was going down the stairs and heard the commotion, looked kindly at you. ‘she just wanted to have some fun. it’s been two months from her illness, am i right? she’s taking her medicines and taking care of herself. don’t get mad at her if she wants to play with her friends; she’s a child, and that’s what children do!’

he approached him and looked at you, smiling widely. ‘why don’t you go back to your friends, miss malfoy? i’m sure they’ll be delighted to hear that from now on, you won’t need to sneak in the garden anymore to play with them - you have my permission to go out during free time.’

your eyes sparkled. ‘really, professor?’ he chuckled. ‘really, missy.’

‘albus-’ professor mcgonagall tried to intercede, ‘her parents, they are gonna be furious if they find out about this-’

‘well, they don’t have to know, now, do they?’ he sent a look at snape. ‘and even if they find out, don’t worry, i’ll take full responsibility.’

professor snape huffed indignantly, turning in his heel and stomping away. 'unbelievable,’ he grumbled. dumbledore looked at you expectantly. ‘now, what are you waiting for, child? you can go. that beautiful snowman needs to be finished, and it looks clear to me that your friends won't complete it without you.’

you stood up straighter. ‘i, i, thank you, professor!’ you stammered, then ran away, going back to your friends, who were all discussing with each other, asking if they should go and try to help you out or just let it be. when they saw you, they all cheered loudly, asking immediately how it went and how many points the teachers took from slytherin.

‘albus,’ murmured minerva, watching you from the window. ‘don’t you think that it’s a reckless decision? you know that severus is going to tell the malfoys. and, poor her, she’s a weak child, do you remember how lucius malfoy described her illness in that letter?’

dumbledore hummed, deep in thought. ‘that child is in perfect health, minerva.’

she raised an eyebrow. ‘are you suggesting that the malfoys are lying? and for what? to ruin their daughter’s first year? you know how much the malfoys care about their children - they’d never do that to her.’

he shook his head. ‘no, i think the malfoys worry is legitimate. they don’t understand the cause of the problem, though, i fear.’ he looked at the snowman, almost completed, and then at you, who was searching for rocks to make him buttons. ‘children are fragile creatures. you never know how what you say, or what you do, will affect them. i am afraid that the malfoys have always been too overprotective of her, not wanting her to get hurt or sick - but sometimes, the more you fear and try to avoid a thing, the more it happens. children need to play with their friends - need friends -, need to play in the sun, and even fall and get hurt, once in a while. that’s what makes children children, am i right? she’s getting more healthy day by day, and i don’t think i’ve ever seen her smile like that - though i know i’m not around that much, i’m sure you can agree with me. we both know that growing in malfoy manor certainly won’t make anyone a happier child than they already are. draco surely loves that ambient - somewhere where everyone is at his beck and call, where he is revered by the servants and can feel all the wealth of his family - but what happens when one does not see all that, but just sees a too-big gloomy house?’

he quietly chuckled, looking at you and harry. ‘and - would you look at that, minerva! look at harry’s smile.’

she looked and immediately melted, knowing the look on the boys face - the flushed cheeks, the wide pupils, the biggest smile she’d ever seen (that’s not true, she remembered, that's the same smile james potter had when he looked at lily evans) while he talked to you. ‘yes, albus,’ she mumbled, deep in thought. ‘merlin. harry really is the copy of his father, isn’t he?’

dumbledore laughed. ‘ah, first love,’ he said, amused. ‘i just know he’ll remember her for his whole life, even if she ends up not liking him.’

‘a potter and a malfoy,’ mumbled mcgonagall. ‘never thought i’d ever see it in my life. is there anything more surprising than young love?’

the divider is from @saradika-graphics! <3

#harry potter x reader #harry potter x malfoy!reader #harry potter imagine #malfoy!reader #harry potter saga #draco malfoy #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #hp fandom #pizzapottah's writing #fanfic #harry potter x you #harry potter x y/n #harry potter/you #harry potter/reader #harry potter fic #harry potter

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liamlawsonlesbian · 2 months

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it's officially past midnight here, which means that it's officially nine years since my mom died, more than a third of my life ago. it's the kind of bad thing where it's impossible to grasp the enormity of the badness of it. bc 99.5% of people who follow this blog don't know anything about my mom, here are some representative facts:

she read on average about 300 books a year, even when she was at her busiest — she didn't sleep much and would read in the night

her creative outlets of choice in adulthood were gardening, party planning, and sewing

her creative outlets of choice as a child were ballet and theater

she was a talented and successful attorney

her natural bluntness meant that she could be kind of a jerk, and she didn't suffer fools

she was a loyal and present friend

she read novels aloud to me starting when I was three, and didn't stop until she got sick when I was sixteen

she once turned in the same final paper to four different college classes - "if you think about it, Henry James is 19th and 20th century and English and American literature"

she would have killed me if I had ever pulled a stunt like the above bullet point

she developed deeply held pro-union convictions at the age of 9, much to the confusion and chagrin of her centrist parents

her accent was so good that when my parents were living in Argentina, people would say "vos sos de acá - pero tu esposo, de dónde es?"

she refused to speak Spanish with her daughters because "it's not the language of our relationship"

my parents got married very young; the last time she broke up with my dad before they got engaged, she told him "you're never going to be as good a writer as me" (wish I had had that kind of confidence at 19)

she loved babies

sometimes when she was talking to toddlers when her own children were older she would grab me or one of my sisters and go "this is MY baby"

she had the best taste in clothes

she got really mad about board games

she was my favorite person

#cw mom stuff #tw grief stuff #personal

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rapz-rites · 1 year

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Demon Spawns

Damian Wayne x Powered!Fem!Reader

When your’s and Damians future kids come to the present

A/N: Inspired by @cipheress-to-k-pop version of this. Please give me some feedback, it’s always appreciated :3

Word Count: 2500+

Warnings: mentions of a miscarriage, was lightly proofread and revised

Future

-Honestly, it’s not Mar’i’s fault

-You needed someone to watch the twins as you and damian had to go away on a business trip for a few dayside hours hours and I

-Mar’i eagerly accepted

-Yes, she knew she wasn’t supposed to bring the twins to the cave but she didn’t think this would happen

-The worst she expected was that they broke on of Tim’s gadgets

-She didn’t expect them to accidentally send themselves to the future

-You were going to kill her

-Mar’i did the only thing she could think of at the moment, call her best friend, White Rabbit, aka Lian Harper, to help her get them back

Present

- You and Damian had been dating for a year already

-You really loved him

-After 3 years of knowing him and 2 months of dating, it was only a matter of time until you both found out about each other

-Damian being Robin didn’t entirely surprise you, it just made a lot of sense

-The constant disappearing, the odd phone calls, the weird excuses

-At least he wasn’t cheating (Damian would NEVER cheat)

-Growing up adopted you never knew your birth parents, just that they had to have been metas because you have powers

-You had powers like Kori and more, you even kind of looked like her

-People joked that you could have been her daughter before she came to Earth

-Those jokes make her uncomfortable

-You thought everything about her was interesting: she’s heir to the thrown on Tamaran, her sister sold her, she’s been married 4 other times, and even the fact that she 9 stomachs

-Today was a normal day at the Manor

-Everyone was just chilling in the BatCave

-Bruce and Tim were working on a case on the BatComputer

-To you, everything in the BatCave started with a ‘Bat’

-BatKeys

-BatSeat

-Your secret name for Alfred was Batler (Bat + Butler )

-Dick and Kori we flirting talking by the weapons

-And you were watching Damian train with Jason

-Watching Damian train was one of your favorite pastimes whenever you were in the cave

-Suddenly a bright light purple light flashed in the middle of the cave, right between Damian and Jason as they were jumping to attack each other,

-The light startled them, causing then the jump back

-All the heroes prepared themselves in a fighting stance

-Next thing everyone knew, two small babies, a girl and boy, were in the middle of the cave

-They looked like they could be twins, but you couldn’t say for certain from where you were standing

- Everyone was surprised, two random babies just appeared out of nowhere

-“Aye, Big Bat. Bet you don’t have a protocol for this, do ya?” Jason says trying to break the silence

-The two babies looked around confused

-They couldn’t be older than a 9 months

-Last they checked they were with Mar’i in the BatCave, now they were in the BatCave with strangers they didn’t recognize

-BOOM, waterworks

-“I’ll go and get Alfred” Tim said dashing up the stairs

-Everyone knew he was probably the least qualified to deal with children, mainly because he’s always sleep deprived

-Naturally the two most recent parents went and scooped one up

-“How did they get here?” Dick asked rocking the girl in his arms

-They both calmed down a bit looking at the person holding them and back at each other and back at the adult

-They stopped crying, but were still fussing

-“While they’re like this let’s get saliva for a DNA test to find out who their parents are”

-Bruce took two swabs and collected saliva from each of the babies

-After, Dick and Kori passed the babies around to see if anyone could calm them down

-It wasn’t until Bruce handed you the little boy that he stopped crying, cooing in your arms and little hands reaching for your face

-Jason stopped, looked at Damian, and questioned if it would be the best idea to hand a baby to him

-“Is handing Damian a crying baby the best idea?”

-“Probably not, but it’s the only idea we have” Dick responded

-Handing the baby girl to Damian, she looked at him and stopped fussing, smiling at the face in front of her

-“Never thought I’d see the day” Jason chuckled

-“What do you think their names are?” Kori asked gaining everyone’s attention

-“How about we get in a circle, go in a circle calling out random names and see who they go to” you spoke

-Everyone nodded and hummed in agreement

-You and Damian placed the babies on the floor jointing everyone else in the circle

-Before you could call the first name, a voice interrupted you

-“After this game, I believe you will be needed these”

-The voice belonging to none other than Alfred said

-Tim decided to join the circle at that point

-“Thank you” you called out

-Alfred gave you a small smile and nod before heading up the stairs

-You all started with your little game ‘Name the Babe’

-“Makayla”

-“Isaiah”

-“Nick”

-��Elizabeth”

-After 5 minutes of calling names and receiving no reaction from the babies, a ding

-It was from the BatComputer, signaling the results from the DNA test

-Dick and Kori

-Bruce opened the test and everyone had a face mixed with shock and confusion

-Under ‘FATHER’ was a picture of Damian

-”The Demon spawn had a spawn.”

-Under ‘MOTHER’ was a question mark and underneath it was ‘match not found’

-You turned to Damian with a look a shock, confusion, and… betrayal and one that said ‘please don’t tell me you cheated on me’

-Damian took a step towards you, and you took a step back

-You rushed up the stairs heading into the manor

-Damian rushed after you

-“This makes no sense. Damian has only ever been with anyone other than YN and Raven”

-“And he’s not the type for random hookups”

-Bruce checked the database and noticed he didn’t have yours or Ravens DNA in the system

-“Kori contact Raven and have her come to the BatCave”

-“Bart!” Tim shouted

-“What? Haven’t you been paying attention, Damian is the father not Bart” Jason retorted

-“I know that! But Bart’s from the future. Who says the babies can’t be too?”

-Back in the manor, Damian was looking all over for you

-Your car was still parked in front, so you were somewhere in the manor

-Fifteen minutes later Damian found you on his bed, facing the window, looking at the garden

-You’ve always loved how Damian’s room faced the garden

-He slowly walks towards you until he’s also on the bed

-“Beloved-”

-“I was pregnant”

-“What? When?”

-“Four months ago. I lost the baby early on, I didn’t even know until I went to the ER. I thought it was food poisoning from that Thai place I went to with Steph and Cass, but they told me I had a miscarriage. I was 3 weeks”

-“Why didn’t you tell me?”

-“I didn’t know how and I was somewhat relieved. I always told myself I’d wait until I was married to have kids. Also we can’t raise a kid now Dami. We’re only 21 and you work in a dangerous field.”

-You put your foreheads together, caressing his cheek with your hand

-Damian just wrapped his arms around you, pulling you down, forcing you to lay with him and you accepted his embrace

-“Todd messaged me”

-“What did he say”

-“Tim come to the conclusion that the babies most likely came from the future and father doesn’t have yours or Raven’s DNA is the system, Raven is on her way so they can run the test again”

-“And if they’re not mine”

-“Let’s not worry about that right now”

-After an hour of silence and Damian just holding you, you both make your way back to the BatCave hand in hand

-Raven, and even some League members, are now there too

-“Can I see the little ones” Diana asked with a smile on her face

-She has always had a soft spot for children

-“Careful. She just ate” Kori informed her, handing Baby Girl over

-While you and Damian were gone, Tim made the executive decision to call them Baby Girl and Baby Boy until the mother was determined

-“Awww, so precious”

-The Themyscrian rocking the small baby in her arms

-Baby Girl soon became fussy, most likely from Diana’s cuffs

-Diana handed the baby off to Raven

-It made sense

-We were here to see if you or Raven would be their mother (yk that motherly connection)

-Once Baby Girl was in Ravens arms she quickly calmed down, almost as quickly as she did with Damian

-You didn’t show it, but you felt a pang in your heart

-Damian just squeezed your hand lightly but you couldn’t take your eyes off Raven and Baby Girl

-Bruce spoke up, breaking you out of your trance

-“I need both of you to get a good saliva swab”

-You and Raven both did as told

-“Here. My arms are getting numb” Dick says handing Baby Boy to you

-You smile at the tiny human in your arms

-After 10 of waiting, a BatComputer dinged

-Bruce went to open the results

-Damian standing right behind him, and you and Raven on each side of him

-On the screen where a picture of the babies

-When did they take that picture?

-The babies were at the bottom middle and above them was the same picture of Damian as earlier and under ‘MOTHER’ was a picture of…

-You

-WAIT! How did they get that picture?

-You were too happy to question that

-“Happy to say that Baby Girl and Baby Boy are Y/N’s and Damian’s ”

-“Thank Azarath”

-You laughed at Raven, she pulls you into a hug

-“These babies are so adorable but I don’t think I’m cut out to be a mother. I’ll gladly babysit though”

-“Wait. You guys have been calling them Baby Girl and Baby Boy?”

-No one other than Wally West would ask that question

-“Come one. You can think of something better to call them”

-Before you could say something, Damian stepped in

-“Actually we already know their names”

-You smiled

-You handed Baby Boy to Damian

-“This is Soren Jackson Wayne”

-“Jackson after Drake”

-You walked over to Raven, who was holding a sleeping Baby Girl, and picked her up

-“And my gorgeous daughter. You are Jaylena Mariah Wayne. Jaylena inspired after Jason but means blue crested bird aka Nightwing. For that time you both saved me”

-You and Damian make eye contact not breaking it even when the others spoke

-Dick and Jason both smiled

-Jason punched Roy’s side

-”See that. Demon spawn named his spawn after me”

-“Don’t worry father we plan on naming the next ones after your mother and father”

-You looked away quickly,

-Bruce had a shocked look on his face

-“There’s going to be more?!”

-Jason could already see it: A demon army

-Suddenly another bright light flashed in the middle of the BatCave

-Everyone but you and Damian had a fight stance ready

-Bruce and Dick stood in front of you and Damian

-Two people now stood in the middle of the BatCave, they looked like vigilantes

-One was dressed in all white, with a matching white masked with bunny ears falling along her wavy ginger hair

-The other, well anyone could tell who she was

-Mar’i Grayson

-“Hi mom. Hi daddy”

-The girl in all white removed her mask as she walked towards Roy giving him a big hug

-“Hi dad”

-It was obvious to say that Dick, Kori, and Roy were baffled

-It wasn’t even a few hours ago they saw their daughters in the care of Barry and Iris, playing along with the other superhero kids

-Now they were teenagers, vigilantes at that too

-Mar’I was walking towards you with a pleading look

-“Sis”

-Sis?

-Mar’I never called you sis

-She always called you this funny tamaranean name she heard from Kori, it’s supposed to be a pretty flower but dangerous or something

-“I am so so so so so sorryyyyy. I know you told me not to bring them to the BatCave by myself but it was only for a minute to get something. I didn’t think they would get sent to the past. I put Sor and Lena down for a second then boom they’re gone. Please don’t kill me”

-She turns to Kori and Dick

-“Please don’t ground me”

-You step towards her

-“I can tell you didn’t want this to happen and I know my future self will probably get on you for this. So just please, please get my babies home safely”

-Mar’i nodded eagerly as you handed her Jaylena

-“I promise. I really don't want to be on the LoA’s bad side” she chuckles

-Damian looked slightly confused at the remark

-He gave Soren to Lian, staring her down with a look that says ‘drop or hurt my son, I’ll hurt you’

-“Daaaaddd”

-“Stop scaring my daughter Damian”

-“Tt”

-“Anyways… Congrats on your…nevermind” Mar’i stops when she noticed your promise ring that Damian gave you

-Soren looks at Mar’i, reaching for her but found it no use when Lian wouldn’t let him

-He looked upset

-As he started fussing a blue power orb slowly started to form about a foot above him

-Thinking of only your kids safety, you quickly absorbed the energy

-“Our kids have powers?” Damian asked in shock

-Naturally you were in shock too

-You barely knew the full extent of your powers compared to other metas your age, and now at least one of your kids will have them too

-“At the moment only Soren does. He uhm… does that sometimes. So far it only happens when he’s mad or extremely fussy.”

-Lian’s watch starts beeping

-Before she can even open her mouth Mar’i talks

-“We really have to go now”

-Damian walks up next to you, placing a hand on your waist

-“Bye Uncle D. Bye bye sis”

-Again with the sis?

-You and Damian give a small wave goodbye

-Just like that, with a flash, they’re gone

-Everyone goes their respective ways

-Tears start to well in your eyes when it’s just you and Damian in the BatCave

-“Let’s go to bed, Beloved. It’s been a long day”

-You follow him to his room and you both go to sleep

-That night you dream about your future with Damian, Jaylena, and Soren

Back to the Future(hehehe see what i did there)

-“Great! They’re still sleeping. We can get them to bed before Y/N and Damian get home”

-Mar’i was ready for this day to be over

-She knew she would get hell from you and Damian for what happened

-“Oh. We’re home. What happened?”

-Hearing your voice, Lian took that as her que to hand Soren over to Damian and hop out

-Mar’i turns around to see you and Damian dropped head to toe in LoA attire

-“Uncle D. Sis. Back already?”

-Damian walks over to Mar’i also taking Jaylena in his arms

-He walks over to you, with both twins in his arms, placing a kiss on your temple

-“I’ll put them to bed while you deal with Mar’i”

-With that Damián walks up the stairs into the manor

-“Before you blow a fuse, I know I shouldn’t have brought the twins to the Cave but I had no choice. I couldn’t leave them upstairs by themselves. As soon as they flashed to the past I immediately got help to go get them. And I almost ruined your proposal surprise but i didn’t so that’s something. I promise this will never ever EVER happen again”

-“Go home”

-“What?”

-“Go home. It’s late and we’re all tired. We’ll talk tomorrow”

-“Oh ok”

-You retire to yours and Damian’s shared bedroom as Mar’i leaves

-“What did you tell her”

-“To go home and we’ll talk tomorrow. You know she almost ruined your proposal”

-“Not surprised”

-You slip into bed, cuddling up next to Damian, head on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around your waist

-You bring your left hand up admiring your engagement and wedding rings

-“It was a great proposal”

-“Damn right it was”

-You chuckled

-You look up at a sleeping Damian, admiring the man he grew to be

-Physically he’s always been attractive, but he grew mentally and emotionally

-He wasn’t the same boy who entered the manor when he was 10, emotionally and mentally detached from everyone, doors and windows shut to everyone, stubborn as a mule

- Actually, Damian will always be stubborn

- You both grew to care deeply for each other

… after writing for about 15-20 minutes I decided I wanted to make a part 2 but of the proposal…😚

I kinda want to make another version, the kid is like a teen. Should I???

Should I write why Mar’i called the reader ‘sis’?? Wouldnt y’all like to know? Do you have any ideas?

#damian wayne x reader #batfam x reader #damian wayne #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #koriand'r #starfire #lian harper #roy harper #mari grayson #diana prince #wally west

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followthechick · 2 months

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Random headcanons on the Weston boys

Okay since Weston anime is out, I’ll be sharing some headcanons I’ve collected during 10+ years of being obsessed with this saga and its characters.

I’ve been so invested into these headcanons that I consider them to be canon at this point. Anyway please don’t be mad if they don’t match your personal headcanon, it’s still my own interpretation and silly ideas about characters that don’t belong to me so anyone can disagree.

First I’m gonna write down the ones that involve more than one character, then I’ll be more specific and list them by character.

Brace yourselves for a pile of totally self-indulging blabbering.

Lawrence and Edgar are canonically childhood friends (Yana confirmed it), I like to think they grew up together thanks to their mothers being best friends with each other.

While Lawrence and Edgar already knew each other since birth, they met Herman and Gregory during their first year at Weston.

Because of the rivalry, friendship between students from different dorms has always been rather frowned upon, so the boys decided to put all their efforts in becoming the best students of their respective dorm to one day become Prefects and be free to meet and be friends without being judged by other students.

To freely chat and keep in contact prior to becoming P4, they secretly exchanged letters hidden among the library’s textbooks.

While we know Lawrence has 7 sisters, Edgar and Herman don’t have any sibling, while Gregory has an older brother. He’s doesn’t talk about him often as they’re not very close and don’t get along well.

Gregory met Cheslock while he was at his 3rd year (Cheslock is one year younger). They often spent their free time in their dorm’s common room, Cheslock would practice violin and Gregory would silently sit near him while drawing. One day he made a portrait of Cheslock and left it near him as a gift with the encouraging inscription “Keep playing”. The next day Cheslock asked him if he had any request for him on what to play, and that’s how they started talking to each other.

Headcanons by single character

Edgar:

His zodiacal sign is sagittarius

He has a sweet tooth and would live on sweet food alone

His maternal grandmother is french

His noble title comes from his mother, who is a Viscountess and older sister to Viscount of Druitt

He’s either pan or gay

Lawrence:

His zodiacal sign is capricorn

He’s ambidextrous (he usually writes with his right hand but is more comfortable doing other activities with his left one)

His sisters’ names are: Isabel (6 years older than him), Deborah (4 years older than him), Madelyn (2 years older than him), Adela (the only one to have a canonical name, 5 years younger than him), Rebecca (the one who has a crush on Edgar, 7 years younger than him), Rosalind and Amelia (identical twins, 9 years younger than him)

His father is a banker

Pretty sure he’s either ace or gay

Herman:

His zodiacal sign is libra (though I feel like aries might suit him better)

He took after his mother the most

He’s notoriously good at many sports, but he’s not very good at dancing (he’s not graceful enough for that kind of activity)

He’s good at cooking

He’s either a straight ally or a disaster bi

Gregory:

His zodiacal sign is cancer (mayhap also aquarius could suit him tho)

He used to wear charcoal and inks as make-up in his early years at Weston

His father is a politician

He’s kind of a picky eater and doesn’t like meat and seafood

He’s 100000% ace-spec

Cheslock:

His zodiacal sign is scorpio

His iconic “scar” is actually make-up, though beneath it he does have a smaller scar on his left eyelid, which is the result of a quarrel with his sister when they were kids

His father is a surgeon

His full name is Victor Theodore, which he hates

Pretty sure he’s bi

I might add more in the future, though I don’t have many headcanons for other characters but who knows.

Also I’m up for asks to chit chat about what I’ve shared, or for other headcanons o/

#text post #headcanons #kuroshitsuji #black butler #weston college arc #edgar redmond #lawrence bluewer #herman greenhill #gregory violet #cheslock

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thewulf · 1 year

Text

Big Blue World || Joel Miller

Request: Can you do a Joel Miller x Franks Younger sister reader?? I haven't seen any fics with her. Maybe she's a bright ray of sunshine to Joel's grumpiness?... Read rest here

A/N: Wasn't planning on posting this first but inspiration struck and you've gotta take it! Hope you guys enjoy.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Y/N

Word Count: 9.4k+ (Another long one!)

TW: Talk of suicide, general TLOU warnings

One – Seven Years Post Outbreak: The Dinner

The first time you laid eyes on him was only a few years after you and Frank moved in with Bill. It was simple really. Both you and Frank fell into Bill’s trap ditch. You managed to break your ankle on the fall down. Panicked and sure death was in your immanent future you burst out into tears. You weren’t made for this kind of life. This impossibly hard life. You, Frank, and a group of nine others were venturing to the Boston QZ after your home was demolished. You’d been walking for what felt like months, you could really never be too sure.

It didn’t make sense how you of all people were one of the last surviving in the group. Often getting by with just the skin of your teeth your only saving grace being that you were quick. You could run for your life. That, and you had Frank. He was eight years older and the best big brother you could have ever dreamed of. Even pre-outbreak the two of you were thick as thieves plotting to take over the world. He saved your life more times than you could count. You hated it. Being weak and shit. You wanted to be better for Frank. You had to survive with him. He couldn’t do it alone either.

So, when you fell into Bill’s hole and screeched you were just thankful whatever it was would take you both out. Neither having to live in this sick world alone. To your pleasant surprise Bill not only let you stay but he knew how to fix your ankle properly, without having pain in the future. You were sure Bill and Frank fell in love that first night. You didn’t know how that all that worked but you were so happy that your brother found his happiness, his purpose.

Life slowly turned back to a weird fucked up new normal for the three of you. Bill and Frank fell madly in love with each other within a few months. They never excluded you though, making you feel as though you were meant to be here with them. You found it easy to pretend you were back in life pre-outbreak. Finding hobbies around town you got really into knitting and gardening. You just wanted to be seen as useful to Bill. He was kind enough to let you stay so you wanted, needed, to bring something to the table.

You were interrupted from your solace hearing the men arguing at the front of the house. So much for weeding. Being far too curious for your own good you listened in on the two of them as they bickered.

“Oh, fuck you!” Frank yelled rather dramatically.

“Hey! Would you stop?” You knew Bill was rolling his eyes at your brother’s antics. Whatever the hell he could be up to now.

“Do I ask for things ever? Why am I even saying that? This is for me. This is for the three of us!” Your brother yelled. You inched closer dying to know what this blow out was about. The two men could be so damn dramatic when they wanted to be.

“Who cares what they look like?” Bill continued. What the fuck were they on about? You could only wonder as you sat behind the tree near the front listening in.

“I do! Our home isn’t just our house. It’s everything around us!” Frank yelled again throwing his arms up in the air. Oh, he was on the beautification subject again. Frank wanted everything pretty, but Bill never let him. Resource management was key.

“Give me a fuckin’ break.” Bill returned your over dramatic brothers cries. Oops. You knew that was a mistake. Bill always tried to argue but Frank always won.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot. I live in this world. You live in a psycho bunker where 9/11 was an inside job, and the government are all Nazi’s.” Your older brother seemed to calm down even though you knew he was downright mocking Bill.

“The government are all Nazi’s!” He boomed. You couldn’t help but to let out a silent laugh. You agreed with him of course. Frank just knew how to push his buttons.

“Well, yeah, now! But not then!” Frank defended, “I am asking for some paint and some gasoline for the lawn mower. That’s all. I’ll do everything else myself.”

“It is not man-“

Frank interrupted him clearly agitated. You were getting a full-on show now. You hated to admit it, but you loved when they had blow outs. It was your entertainment for the day, “If you say resource management so help me, I will run through one of your trip wires.”

“Okay, okay. Just tell me why.” Bill seemed to reason. Boo. You knew as soon as it calmed down the show was over. It was fun while it lasted. Standing slowly you were going to make your way back to the garden only to hear Frank continue.

“Paying attention to things. It’s how we show love.” You listened in again. What the hell was he talking about now? It sounded like bullshit, “This is my street too. Just let me love it the way I want to. And I’m fixing up some of the shops.”

Ohh, it just got juicy again.

“Woah, woah, woah.”

Frank rolled his eyes, “Not the stupid ones. Just the wine shop, and the furniture store. And the clothing boutique.”

“The boutique? Are we hosting formal garden patties now?”

“No!” Frank couldn’t help but to roll his eyes at the man. That was so like him, “But we are going to have friends.”

“Excuse me.”

“We’re going to make friends and we will invite them to visit.” Oh, hell yeah, this was getting good now. You could use some friends anyway. You prayed Frank won this battle with Bill.

“We don’t have friends Frank. We will never have friends. Because there are no friends to be had. Other than Y/N.” You grinned hearing that last bit thrown in. You loved that he always made sure to include you. You grew on him that’s for sure.

“Well, I’ve actually been talking to a nice woman on the radio.”

“You what?!” He screamed. Oh hell, Frank was in trouble now and he knew it. You watched as he darted to the front door ignoring Bill.

Bill turned right to you shaking his head. Busted, “I know you heard that whole thing. You’re not sneaky.”

You shrugged, “Who said I was trying to be?”

“You and your brother are going to fucking kill me.” He groaned making his way in to talk to Frank.

You only smiled as he departed. Bill had also grown on you.

Next thing you knew you were meeting the nice woman named Tess and her friend Joel. You couldn’t but to take your eyes off the man. He wasn’t like anything you’ve come across in Baltimore and now here. He was so freaking handsome. You hadn’t a clue how to handle it. It’d been years since you talked to another human let alone a beautiful man.

At dinner you made sure to look at anything but him, keeping your eyes locked on either Tess or Frank. Luckily Bill was his usual grumpy self after losing to Frank and kept his gun out and trained on the two strangers. You were so thankful he kept their attention instead of you.

“Can you not, please?” Frank sighed looking over to his boyfriend. You bit you lip trying to stifle the smile that threatening to spill over. They were always bickering. Like an old married couple. They couldn’t even hold it together in front of the guests.

“I’m the same way.” You heard Joel speak for the first time. He seemed to let Tess take the lead most of the time. Thankful you weren’t standing. You were sure your knees would be wobbly. He had that smooth southern drawl with a thick husky bite that’d draw just about anybody in. Fuck. You couldn’t have possibly been this horny to be thinking such things of a literal stranger. You had to reign yourself in quick.

“Oh, you’re a paranoid schizophrenic too?” Frank quickly chided in. You only leaned back rolling your eyes earning a quick glance from the handsome stranger.

“I’m not schizophrenic.” Bill sat there looking between everyone. That killed the whole mood. Great, just wonderful. The first real people you meet, and you’ve all ruined the chances of them coming back already.

Tess cleared her throat interrupting the silence, “Well, can I just say, gun aside, which I get,” She laughed but continued, “how nice this is to have a civilized meal in such a beautiful place? It’s been so long. I mean, I just, uh, I wanna thank you. Even if we don’t end up working together. I really needed this.”

“We are working together.” Frank cheers confidently. You only leaned forward smiling, “We are.” He looked at Bill who only looked horrifically apprehensive about this whole situation. Frank was pushing him beyond his limits.

Before you knew it Frank and Tess were walking inside giddily talking about something they chatted about on the radio. Leaving only you, Bill, and Joel alone. Great, the three mutes. You leaned back waiting. It wasn’t your place. This was for the big dogs, and you certainly weren’t one of them.

“If my uh, if mine brought strangers into our situation I wouldn’t be too happy either. But of all the people you could’ve found on the radio we’re actually decent people.” You leaned back further letting your mind wander as the two of them talked. You only prayed Bill wouldn’t drive him away completely.

You sighed as they left. Bill drove them out. You stayed a couple of feet behind and watched the two conversations unfold. You gave Tess a wave and smile before she was out. Joel didn’t bother turning around as he waved the group off. Leaving you with only a small frown. They’d be back soon enough. You were sure of it.

Two – Eleven Years Post Outbreak: The Supply Run

That familiar voice that you hadn’t heard in so long came from downstairs. Quickly, you ran down the steps to greet the now acquaintance that you wished would show up more often than he did.

“Joel! Tess!” You jumped down the last step only to be greeted with Joel and Bill, “Wait where’s Tess?” Fear ran through you. Did she get infected? Was she gone already? She was Frank’s only friend outside of here.

“Frank just took her to the boutique.” Bill grumbled sitting down in the chair at the dining table.

You let out the breath you were holding, “Good!” You clapped thankful that the worst hadn’t come over your somewhat friend. If you could use that word, “Maybe she’ll pick out some of the clothes I made.” You grinned knowing you just stocked the store up with your latest sweaters and hats. What else were you supposed to do with your time other than make way too much clothing that the three of you would never go through?

“You make clothes?” Joel asked seemingly interested in the conversation.

You beamed just happy he noticed you. He hardly noticed you before, only briefly talking to you each time they had come back. It seemed they stopped about once a year. Tess always giving Frank a heads up on the radio before the made the trek up north.

You wished you could get Joel to see you. But you were just Frank’s little naïve sister. That’s all you ever seemed to be. Not that you blamed him, he was right after all. You really were just Frank’s naïve little sister having way too much optimism for this cold world.

You craved any attention Joel gave you. From the second you laid eyes onto him four years prior and every brief interaction each year since you were entranced by him. He was so strong and composed. Something so opposite of you. Someone so sure of himself every time he came around. And Jesus, look at the man. He was so damn attractive it nearly drove you mad. He only seemed to get more handsome each time he and Tess walked through those gates. You thought about him far too often. Far too often for somebody who saw you as Franks little sister.

“I did and do! There should be some that fit you if you want some yourself?” You gave him a hopeful smile. Maybe he’d accept?

Joel looked somewhat impressed? You couldn’t tell. It wasn’t a look you’ve seen from him before, “Yeah?”

“Mhmm.” You grinned, daring to take a step closer, “Bill’s even modeling my latest collection. Classic springtime.” You waited patiently for him to decide. You weren’t sure how to handle yourself if he decided to come with you. You’d literally dreamed of alone time with Joel and here was a chance at it… you didn’t think you were ready.

Bill huffed turning away. Because of course he did. Earning a brilliant scowl from you. Truth be told he held a lot of love for you in his heart too. Your constant reassurance and optimism grew on him over time, not that he’d ever dream of telling you. He wasn’t mushy. He could hardly handle you in your sober state. In your emotional one? He’d for sure go mad.

As if by a miracle Frank and Tess came barging in giggling about who knows what. Saving you from a too awkward encounter with both grumpy men. You couldn’t help but to smile at the Tess and Frank. They would have been friends’ pre-outbreak too. You could just tell. Two souls that connected so effortlessly.

Joel noticed you watching them. He always noticed. He was always watching you when you weren’t watching him. He couldn’t help it. He was drawn to you, and he was really God damn tired of fighting it. Every time he came, he hoped he wouldn’t run into you. He wanted to but for his sanity’s sake he couldn’t run into you. But you always showed up. With that damn brilliant smile and cheerful greetings. Making him feel way too special. He craved it. He loved it.

“Y/N!” Tess came rushing over to you placing both hands on either of your shoulders, “You made these? These are actually good. They have designs in them and shit. I didn’t really believe Frank when he said you were good at it, but he was right. I’m impressed.”

You shrugged, “Well, when you have all the time in the world.”

That earned a chuckle out of the woman. She seemed so happy and relaxed here. A side Joel rarely saw. A side that was seemingly reserved for you and Frank. It made sense though, both of you were infectious. Both Joel and Tess let their usual stoic guard down around you both.

“Joel. Go now. Y/N will show you.” She ordered. So sure of herself. Something you so deeply admired about the slightly older woman. She lived that life. The rugged one. Yours was so damn peaceful compared to hers. A country club compared to the life she lived.

You nodded towards the door, “Come on, I’ll show you.” Not daring to betray Tess’s orders you nodded for him to hurry up.

He nodded. His mind was made up for him by Tess, “Alright. Lead the way.” He tried to look grumpy. He didn’t know how it was actually paying off though. Because he was way too damn excited to finally be alone with you.

You held the door open waiting for him to join you outside. You led the way a couple of steps in front of him. Tired of the silent walk you had to say something, “How’ve you been holding up Joel?”

He sped up a couple of steps taking that as an invitation to walk beside you. He had no God damn idea of how to act around you. He had a stupid big fat crush on you that Tess, and now Frank, knew about. He was sure that’s why she sent the two of you alone.

It happened slowly for Joel. Initially, he really only did see you as Frank’s little sister. You didn’t do much for him. But over time, over the shortest of visits he slowly started to look forward to seeing you bright shining face. You always greeted him with the happiest of smiles. Like it was the pre-outbreak world, like nothing was wrong. Tess picked up on it over time when he bugged her to visit with supplies. Claiming he needed to see Bill but always brining you up somehow.

Joel knew it was dangerous. Falling for someone in a world like this. Someone like you. You were just too pure for this world. He couldn’t see you outside of these chain link fences. He didn’t want to imagine you trying to survive out there. You didn’t deserve it. You deserved so much more.

“I’m okay. We’re okay. Getting by just fine. Couple supply runs here and there.” His accent came out strong the longer he was away from the QZ. The longer he was able to relax the thicker it came out.

“Good.” You nodded. You too had no idea how to talk to him. Coming from such separate worlds it was like your brain couldn’t fetch the words to converse with him. Which was really bad for you.

“And you?” He offered. He was trying. Something you hadn’t seen from the gruff man. You turned looking at his face as the setting sun seemed to hit all his angles just right. Eyes tracing every feature you soaked everything about him in.

“I’m decent.” You sighed knowing that was a terrible answer. So, you did what you did best and just started talking, “Been busy knitting a store up. Trying some new techniques in the garden I read from a 2001 Farmers Almanac. I think it’s working too. I’ve got a ton of cucumbers. I’ve gotta pickle them or they’ll go bad. Unless you guys want some?” You offered knowing you needed to stop before you babbled far too much. It was either way too much talking or stone-cold silence when it came with you and awkward conversations. And this was incredibly awkward.

He was giving you a different look. A much softer one. One that’s as if he’s seen you for the first time, “We’ll take some. But you’ve gotta pickle the rest. We’ll be back and then I’ll take some pickles. Deal?”

You giggled feeling your cheeks heat up as he kept his eyes locked with yours. You watched as you saw his eyes turn up slightly as small smile formed on his face. You had a feeling this was a very rare occurrence for Joel. Not often finding that smile. And you were right. It was terribly foreign to Joel, but you brought it out. Somehow, some way he felt a little lighter when you were there.

“Deal! We’ll have way too much for us anyway. The garden is getting a bit out of hand, but it keeps me busy.” You stopped pointing towards the building, “Here we are.”

He held his hand out, “Ladies first.”

“Course.” You smiled leading him in, “There should be some stuff over there that you might like. I’ve got some extra stuff in the back if you don’t like any of it.”

He nodded letting himself go and search. You sat back on the countertop that used to contain the cash register.

“You really made these?” You heard him before you saw him.

“The ones without the tags yeah!” You brought your legs up and sat with them crossed beneath you. Simply waiting on him to grab whatever he needed.

Before you knew it, he walked up to you holding a few sweaters and shirts, “Is it alright if I take these?”

You nodded, “Sure. I’ve got plenty more. It only takes a few hours to make these now. I’m afraid I’m going to run out of yarn.”

“I can get you some.” He replied without a hesitation.

“Yeah?”

“Sure. Consider it a trade. Next time I see you I’ll have some. What colors you want?”

You smiled a bright smile to him. You’ve grown so fond over the four years you’ve known each other. But it felt like you’d suddenly broke through to him. Whatever it was you were so thankful. This was a Joel you didn’t know. A Joel you could surely get used to. Even if you only saw him every year or so.

“Pinks and purples. I ran out of those so quick. Didn’t know how much I liked them.”

He nodded, “Pink and purple yarn coming right up.”

“Thank you, Joel.”

He shrugged, “Consider it a trade.”

Three – Fifteen Years Post Outbreak: The Seed Trade

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Looking around to make sure Bill wasn’t going to pop up.

Frank shrugged, “He’s got so many fucking guns he won’t notice a measly 9mm missing.”

You sighed feeling that anxiety rising in your chest, “Fine. Who’s coming for this trade?”

“Joel.”

“Joel?” You sounded surprised. It had only been six months or so since you’d seen him last. Not that you were complaining in the slightest. You’d always welcome him back.

“And Tess.” He smirked, “But I just wanted to see your reaction.”

“Oh, fuck off.” You giggled knowing he was teasing about your crush on Joel.

“They say after six months of crushing on someone it’s love. It’s been what? Eight fucking years of the two of you flirting like mad when he comes around. I think it’s past love at this point.”

“What of it Frank? It’s not like he’s moving in here. It’s not like I’m moving to the Boston QZ.” Rolling your eyes, you leaned onto the chain link fence.

Franked rolled his eyes right back at you, “Why couldn’t he move here?”

“Uhm, because he has his own life with Tess?”

He shrugged, “You know people moved for far less in the pre-outbreak days.”

“Well, we aren’t living in those days, are we? We’re living in fucking reality Frank. He has a life. I have mine.”

“You haven’t even asked.”

“It’s not my place to.” You admitted. Sure, you’d thought of it, but it wasn’t your place to in the slightest. This was Bill’s place after all. The two of you so immersed in the debate back and forth neither of you heard the pair coming up on you both. It wasn’t even like they were being that silent.

“What were you guys talking about?” Tess asked popping out of thin air. Joel stood behind her smirking at the heated conversation between the two siblings. He and Tommy bearing a striking resemblance to the bickering siblings.

“Nothing!” You turned smiling at the pair you’ve grown to love over the years.

“Joel!” Frank said right after you. You turned towards your sibling eyeing him up and down. The nerve on him beyond you at this point. Frank was really just tired of waiting to see you two together. He knew there was nothing going on between Joel and Tess, like you were worried about, but he also knew Joel was apprehensive. As were you.

“And Tess!” You turned towards the two of them again, “Good to see you both so soon.” You smiled brightly towards Joel. Your best smile reserved for your favorite man. That certainly didn’t help your case with Frank though.

“I got you some more colors.” He handed you a duffel bag stuffed full, “Red, purple and blue this time.”

“You’re spoiling me, Joel Miller.” You cheered happily accepting the gift. Tess and Frank could only step back and watch the innocent interaction. For the life of her Tess couldn’t understand how soft Joel got with you. Only with you. Frank too marveled at your nerves with the man. Your usual confident self only seemed to waver in his presence.

“Or” You turned back towards him with wide eyes. Getting ready to tease him, “Is it because you know I’ll make you nice clothing?” You continued on, welcoming the harmless flirting that always seemed to arise between the two of you.

“You caught on quick.” He threw you a rare wink.

You giggled softly, acutely aware of the audience intently listening in behind you, “You’re lucky I adore you both. I’m more than happy. Any requests?” It really was your favorite. Gift giving was your love language to others. It just made you so warm and fuzzy inside to see everybody’s reactions to getting something they love.

Tess coughed, not caring that she was interrupting the moment. She needed some items and if you were offering, she would be taking. She missed the harsh glare from Frank though, “I really could use some new socks.”

You turned towards your friends, “You got it. Stick around long enough today and I go grab you a few pairs?”

She nodded her head quickly, “I honestly could really use them. You mind Joel?”

“As long as Bill doesn’t.”

Frank shook his head quickly, “Not at all! We’ll make sure to have dinner ready for everybody.”

“We wouldn’t want to impose…” Joel began before you bucked up the courage and interrupted him. You wanted him to stay.

“You wouldn’t be at all. Bill and Frank love cooking. Enjoy it.”

Joel nodded folding into your assurance quickly. That’s all he really needed to hear before he agreed to staying.

“Thank God.” Tess grumbled, “I could use some good food too. Joel, we gotta get out here more often.” Tess notes.

“I agree!” You nodded trying not to be too gleeful about the innocent proposition.

“Yes please.” Frank nods. He adores hosting and wants people to come around more often. Especially if those people include Joel. He so desperately wanted to see you happy with him. Even if it meant losing you to the Boston QZ. He knew you’d visit.

Joel let out a rare laugh seeing the group so happy. So fucking carefree. So, unlike the norm. God, he missed the old days. How simple that life really was, “I’m not stopping anyone.”

Tess smiled, “It’s settled then. We’re coming for you more often.”

Your face lit up at the confirmation, “Good. Well come on then.” You flashed your smile towards Joel, “You know where everything is, get comfy.” Beckoning them to come in with your hand you turned back towards Tess, “What color this time? I’ll even make you blue ones if you want!” Your cheeks began hurting from the grin that wouldn’t fall from your face. It warmed your heart that Joel always brought you more yarn, always. Even five years after that conversation with him, he never failed to bring you some.

She shook her head, “Just use some scrap yarn or something, nothing special.”

“You deserve to have a color you want Tess. Something that makes you happy. Plus you know I have a pair in every color ready to go.” Your eyes softened as you really looker her over now. The last five years not being kind on her, on anyone really. Her initial soft features began hardening over time. Wrinkles formed where her scowl always was. The world wasn’t kind to you. But the world was downright cruel to Tess and Joel.

“Anything is fine really…”

You stopped immediately not satisfied with her answer. Joel almost ran you over as he was paying attention too closely to the conversation and not what you were doing, “Well, what’s your favorite color?”

She laughed, “That’s something I haven’t thought of in a while.”

Giving her a sad look these conversations never failed to pull at your heartstrings. You all were unfortunately born into a world that would simply never exist anymore. A world that was thriving. A world that was so fucking foreign it hurt. You were almost jealous of the humans being born in the post-outbreak world. They would never know the luxury of living that old life. This was all they knew. This was their normal. This September will mark the fifteenth year that you were living this new normal. This insanely fucked up normal.

“Mine was pink. But it just doesn’t seem as happy anymore.” You admitted, “I think my new favorite is blue. Sky blue. That’s happiness to me.” You shot her a small smile.

“Why’s that?” She asked as the group started their short walk back to Bill’s house.

You shrugged hoping what you were admit didn’t make you look too soft, “When I get tired of gardening I like to lay down and just look up. Watch the clouds like I did when I was a little kid. Find figures in the clouds. The sky never changes. There’s just something so cathartic about it.”

You didn’t see it because he was walking behind you but a ghost of a smile crossed Joel’s lips. He couldn’t help it. He was so fucking drawn into everything about you. So gentle in a world that wanted to rip you apart at any moment. He, of course, made a note of it. He needed to find sky blue yarn. It wouldn’t be easy now. It started getting difficult to find untouched yarn in the QZ. It was even harder finding it outside. But it never bothered him. The smile alone on your face when he handed you a bag full of yarn was worth all the trouble to get it.

Tess nodded, “I think mines green. Grass green. Tree green.”

“And why’s that?” You asked her the same question, curious as to what she came up with.

“Green means the weather gets better. It just makes life easier.” She let out a small sigh of frustration. A growing frustration of trying to stay alive. It wears down on you far too quickly.

Again, another wave of sadness rushed through your heart. Why were you, of all people in the world, given the chance to live this somewhat normal life in the middle of nowhere? Why wasn’t Joel given the chance? Tess? The longer you lived here relatively unstressed the more guilty you felt through it all. Especially seeing just how much the real world had aged the pair.

“Then green it is. I have a really nice forest green pair I think you’ll like. Did the last pair fit okay?”

She nodded opting not to reply verbally feeling the emotions bubble up from deep within her. Emotions she buried so deep down she wasn’t sure if they’d ever come back up. But your gentleness with her, your determination to break down those walls she put up so high was beginning to crack the walls. How you could be so thoughtful was beyond her greatest comprehension. You had to be selfish in the world. You were the opposite.

“Okay!” You clapped at the group made it back to the house, “I’m going to run to the boutique to grab what I need. See you guys later.”

“Want some company?”

Your stupid heart sped right on up hearing that husky voice from behind you. Biting your cheek, you wanted to hide the smile that was forming automatically. God, you’d dreamed of moments like these. Moments where Joel sought you out instead of you seeking him out. Moments where you knew he liked you. Wanted to be around you.

“I’ll always take your company Joel.” Turning towards him you did not want to see Frank and Tess’s reaction. There was a 100% chance they’d run into the house giggling like little schoolgirls gossiping about the two of you. They turned into middle school girls the second any kind of drama could be sniffed in the air.

You could’ve sworn you saw the slightest hint of a blush dance across the apples of his cheeks.

Giving him a soft smile, you started walking to the boutique with Joel in tow.

“How are you doing Joel?” You asked hoping he’d give you the real answer not the bullshit fluffy stuff you were used to. You always asked him this same question each time he came.

“I’m… tired.” He admitted while running his hand through his grown-out hair.

Looking down to the ground you hid the frown as you kept pace with Joel now, “I can’t even imagine Joel. I’m so sorry... I”

He cut you off by placing a friendly hand on your shoulder. The contact immediately making you freeze up. It’d been too long since you’d been touched by anybody other than your brother or Bill. Your eyes clouded over with unshed tears as you tried to bite back the emotion that suddenly overcame you.

“You don’t need to apologize.” You continued to walk as you racked your brain for anything to say to him, but it seemed to have short circuited.

“I feel guilty.” Not having a clue why you were admitting it to him you blinked a few times hiding your emotions best as you could.

Joel didn’t understand why you would feel that way. He just gave you a curious look, waiting for you to continue. When you didn’t hear his reply you finally bucked up the courage to get another look back at him. His eyes urging for you to elaborate.

“Why me? Why did I get to live this life. This easy, simple life? How did I luck into it? I guess it doesn’t really matter. It’s all ending soon anyway.” You decided to drop the bomb on Joel. Finally feeling like you could tell somebody.

“Why do you say that?”

You sighed finally spitting out what’s been bothering you for the last few months, “I think Frank’s sick.”

“What kinda sick?”

“Not infected. I think it’s like pre-outbreak sick Joel.” You turned away wiping the stupid tears that slipped down your cheek. You were worried. So, fucking worried for your best friend.

Joel still looked confused, “Okay. Why do you think that?”

“He’s tired all the time. Complains to Bill about losing feeling in his hands and feet. He doesn’t remember things like he use to. I don’t know. Maybe I’m looking too much into it, but something just doesn’t feel right.”

Joel frowned trying to think of words to comfort you, but he came up terribly short. He didn’t do this. He couldn’t do this. The last time he had to was when Sarah was alive. An entire lifetime ago.

You continued knowing he hadn’t a clue what to say, “Bill won’t talk to me about it either. Says nothing’s wrong. I don’t know what to do Joel. They can’t just ignore it.

“Do you think there’s medicine? I can try and find something.”

You shook your head, “Don’t think so. Don’t think they had a cure back then. Sure as hell don’t have one now.”

“Well, you don’t know that Y/N.”

“It’s not cancer. It’s in his brain or something. That’s what the books are saying. I don’t know Joel. It just doesn’t feel right.”

He nodded, “Keep an eye on him.”

You stopped in once you reached the store. Quickly you ran in grabbing what you needed before meeting him back on the street to start your walk back to Bill’s house. Both of you walked back in silence, unsure of what to say.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty.” Joel broke the comfortable silence that consumed the walk home.

“Yeah.” You mumbled not really feeling like debating right now.

“Really. You and Frank were meant to find this place. You were meant to do everything here. You’ve been a constant in Tess’s life. My life, for the last eight years? God, how’s it been that long?” Joel smiled thinking back on his times with you,.

You smiled, “Don’t make me feel so old Joel.”

That drew a heavenly laugh out of your favorite guy. Something that came around so rarely that you cherished every second, “You’re still a kid.” Joel didn’t believe that. As cruel as this world was to everyone it still looked so beautiful on you. You hadn’t aged like everyone he knew. A woman who could pass in her twenties easily.

Scoffing you shook your head, “Hardly! I’m seasoned at life.”

“You sure are.” Joel nodded. He smiled as he studied you this time around. He wished and prayed he wouldn’t have fallen for you, but he couldn’t resist. Not with that smile. Not with your kindness. He wished this was easier. There was no easy way to go about it. That’s why neither of you cared to admit your feelings. What good would it really do but complicate things further?

You made it back to the house where you were ambushed by Frank who looked far too happy, “Y/N! They got us strawberry seeds! Your favorite, remember?”

Walking over to him you inspected the seeds. Looking up to Tess you smiled softly to her, “Thank you. I haven’t had a, uh, strawberry in what?” You looked to Frank brushing the tears away from your eyes, “Fifteen years now?”

He nodded with a big happy smile, “Yeah, fifteen years.”

You turned to Joel, “Thank you so much!”

“Sure, we would’ve brought them sooner if I would’ve known you liked them so much.” He admitted. He wasn’t sure how you did that to him. Got him admitting embarrassing things in front of everybody he knew.

“I guess I just forgot about them. Such a luxury I didn’t even think of. They were our mom’s favorite. She found a way to incorporate them in our food almost everyday.”

Frank wrapped you in a hug. He knew just how soft you were. How sad you got when you thought about mom or dad. They just disappeared right out of your life. Dad never made it back from work that day. Mom got infected the second day. Neither of you could kill her so you ran. Ran so far away until you landed in the Baltimore QZ. Until it then was demolished.

Giving him a squeeze to let him know you were alright you pulled yourself away from him, “Thank you both. Really. Now you’ll just have to come back in a few months when they’re grown. We can make some strawberry shortcake.” The gears started turning in your head. There were so many new recipes you guys could use with strawberries now on the menu.

Joel nodded. Tess agreed, “We already agreed to coming around more often anyway. Now it’s just an extra excuse.”

Frank pulled her to the living room to talk about who knows what.

“Alright, I’ve gotta get to work.” You held up the green yarn. Walking over to the chair in the window you got comfortable.

“Want some company?” Your favorite voice broke your concentration.

“You know my answer, Joel Miller.” With some newfound confidence you winked at him as you said so.

Four – Eighteen Years Post Outbreak: The Trip Back to Boston

“No. No, no, no, no, fuck no!” You punched the pillow sitting next to you with all your might. This couldn’t be fucking happening to you. They couldn’t be making you leave. Feeling your heart tip into two you let the tears fall freely. How could your brother do this to you? You knew his health was the reason, but you couldn’t fathom why he wouldn’t let you stay. You’ve been through this whole thing with him. It felt like he was just abandoning you.

“Y/N… you have to.” Frank’s sad face broke you. You didn’t care about his feelings anymore. You broke down completely now letting the loud sobs free.

“Please Frank, please don’t make me go.” Choking on your words you could hardly comprehend why he was saying this. Why he was making you go.

“You can’t be here any longer. You have to go.” He couldn’t look at you not with the look you had on your face.

“Just tell me why Frank! I can help. I can help you both. I’ll do more. If that’s what it is, you know I’ll do more Frank. Please don’t make me go. Please Frank.”

He shook his head letting his own fresh set of tears fall, “I’m dying Y/N. I’ve got a few months, maybe a year left. You can’t be here for that.”

“I’ll die out there.” You shook your head back and forth suddenly terrified of what traveling to Boston actually meant. The real world. The sick world. The world that wanted to kill you.

“Not with Joel. Not with Tess.”

A cry broke from your throat, “Just like that? After all this time? I can be there for you in the end. I can help Bill.”

“Bill’s going to have to move on to and I’m not sure if you fit into that plan.”

“Oh.” You continued to cry. Curling up within yourself you let yourself cry until you couldn’t anymore. Frank didn’t dare try and comfort you. He knew that wasn’t welcomed. So, he sat there. He wasn’t going to leave you. Not yet anyway.

After calming down you finally processed what the this all meant. It meant the end of the road for you and Frank. It meant starting over, completely. You knew it would end sooner or later but it still stung. It didn’t feel like enough time.

Standing suddenly, you caught Frank’s attention who was just sitting there with his head down, “I’m staying in the guest house.”

“Y/N…”

“Night.” You shut the door behind you, loudly.

It was still bright out when you laid down to go to sleep. Joel and Tess would be here in the morning to get you. To take you to your new home. Turning over in your bed you looked out the bedroom window studying your home once more. The flowers that bloomed out front reminded you of all the times you and Frank spent gardening. Making your home beautiful.

No longer would you be able to make trips to the boutique. No longer would you be able to stock it up for your guests. No longer would you get to live in this little fantasy land.

Woken by a hand on your shoulder you pushed the hand away, annoyed you were woken so abruptly, “Go away Frank.” You mumbled.

“Not Frank.” Fuck. Why was Joel in your room waking you up?

“Oh,” You couldn’t bear to turn towards him. You adored him. Loved him even. But you didn’t want to go like this. Being forced outside your will. It hurt. Crushed you even. You didn’t want to take your anger out on Joel so best to keep your back turned to him. But God, you just wanted to scream. Yesterday you were just living your life as normal, as possible, that you could. Then Frank dropped the bomb and now you were just expected to go, “Sorry, Joel.” Meekly replying to the man, you shed a single tear. That’s the one thing you hated about yourself. How damn emotional you got. You couldn’t bottle it up even if you tried.

“S’fine.” He sighed not sure what to say. What could he say? He knew you didn’t want to go. Frank warned him and Tess once they got there. He knew just how devastated you likely were. Everything you knew was about to vanish. Joel had gone through that a few times. It wasn’t the best feeling. But he always survived. He knew you’d be just fine. And there was that sick twisted thought of happiness that you’d be close to him.

He tried to fight these feelings away. Tried his damn hardest. He knew you couldn’t really love in a world like this. How devastating it always ended. Nobody was ever really that lucky. Joel had loved hard and lost even harder. He swore he’d never let in anybody ever again. Tess was the closest and they were just partners. Nothing more. He loved her but he wasn’t in love with her.

Then you came along. All happy and shit. He swore he’d never love hard again but that promise seemed to crack each time he saw you. You never failed to put a smile on his usual stoic face. He resisted the urges for so long until he couldn’t any longer.

“Can you give me a moment?” You asked hoping he’d take the hint.

He nodded before realizing you were turned away from him, “Right, yeah. I’ll be at Bill’s place.”

“Okay.” You closed your eyes until you heard him close the door. Letting out the shaky breath you were holding. You watched from your window as Joel walked slowly back over to Bill’s place. Seemingly lost in thought.

You put on the fresh set of clothes that you always left over. A simple set of jeans, t-shirt, and a hoodie. Not believing it was really it you forced your legs to walk back over. You had to face the music sooner or later.

“Morning.” You nodded your head at Tess, the first person you saw sitting in the living room.

Giving you a sad smile, she nodded right back to you, “Morning.”

“Y/N.” You heard your brothers voice, “Bill made you a pack. It’s got everything you might need.”

Biting your lip, you took it gratefully. You really couldn’t have done it without either of them, “Thank you.”

“You’ll be okay out there.”

“Sure.”

Joel and Tess sat back watching the painful interaction. Tess nodding towards the door letting Joel know they needed to get out. They both snuck out without you or your brother really noticing. Both too caught up in whatever the hell this was.

“Y/N.”

“Spit it out Frank.”

“I don’t want you to hate me. I’m doing this for you. It’s best for you.” You leaned back into the wall crossing your arms. Choosing your words very wisely. This would be the last time you’d talk with him in this lifetime. You had to do this right. For his sake and yours.

“I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. I love you so fucking much it hurts.” You let a tear fall. Dammit here they came. The waterworks, “I just wish you’d let me be here for you but if you think this is best then I’ll go.”

“It’s best.”

Letting a few more tears slip you nodded your head, “Tell Bill that I love him. I love you, Frank.” You walked over hugging him tightly. Squeezing him so tightly you knew it was hurting him, but he didn’t dare say a word. You were hurt and grieving him even while he was still standing there.

Letting him go you gave him your best smile, “I’ll always love you, Frank.”

“And I’ll always love you. Be safe out there.”

“You know it.” You turned quickly walking towards the door. Shutting it behind you, you took a breath. Why did you have to be born into this world? What good fucking came out of all of this. What was the point?

Walking over to Joel and Tess, you gave them a quick head nod.

“You alright?” Tess asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Joel looked a little too apprehensive seeing your blood shot eyes and rosy cheeks, “You sure?”

“Positive. Please, let’s go.”

“Alright, follow me.” Tess led the way. This was your life now. This was going to be just fine.

The walk back to the QZ was quiet and cold. You didn’t dare complain though. They were simply doing this as friends. Whatever the hell friends were. It only dawned on you as soon as you got close, without incident, that you were an outsider. How in the fuck was that going to work?

“Joel?” You asked one night shortly before you arrived.

“Hmm?” He stayed silent most of the way. Not ever knowing what to say to you. God, he wanted to be a source of comfort, but he hadn’t a clue how to be for you.

“How’s this going to work? I’m an outsider and all.”

He understood your concern, “It’s all taken care of. Tess got some paperwork made up. You’ll live with me for the time being and we’ll find you a job.”

“Cool,” You nodded. Pleasantly surprised that it had been so thought out, “Thanks Joel.”

“Sure.” He had a hard time looking at you. Knowing he’d cave for whatever friendly look you’d be giving his way.

“Thanks for everything Joel. Really. For protecting me and what not.” You mumbled feeling terribly awkward about it all. Even though you didn’t appreciate your life so much anymore it felt good to be looked after. To be wanted and taken care of.

“I’ll always protect you.”

Five – Twenty Years Post Outbreak: The Trip Back to Bill’s

“You don’t have to go in.” Joel stood at the gate blocking the path for you and Ellie.

You shook your head, “I’m okay.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, “Let’s fucking go then.”

Smiling at the girl you turned back towards Joel, “You heard the girl.”

He gave you a skeptical look, “You sure?”

“Yeah, I just won’t go in the house.” You kept your eyes forward, not darling to look at him.

He nodded turning back towards the overgrown town. Ellie walked past you keeping pace with Joel. Bugging him about something. You hung back taking a leisurely stroll through your old home. A place you called home for nearly fourteen years.

The usual green grass had turned a shade of brown without Frank’s attention to detail. The bright yellow flowers had been overgrown with weeds. A tug at your heartstrings knowing the worst had come to Frank. That was expected. His condition going from okay to tragic in a matter of a few months. What you didn’t expect was Bill taking his life too. Bill wouldn’t let this place go to shit. It was his home first.

Too quickly you made it back to the house. Joel looked back at you before he and Ellie went in. You nodded, letting him know it was alright. You made your way to the side of the house where your garden was. You strolled through the raised garden beds that were overgrown with who knows what now. It looked like the place hadn’t been touched in two years. He must’ve done it right after you left. They must’ve decided together. Without you.

Tears sprung to your eyes when you spotted the thriving strawberry patch. Somehow untouched by weeds or the animals around it your once small square of strawberries had grown tenfold. Seemingly thriving in this environment.

Squatting down you picked a ripe one. Turning it over in your hand a few times just thinking about Frank before you ate it. He would’ve loved to share one last one with you.

“To Frank.” You mumbled before taking the last bite, discarding the stem on the floor.

You sat down next to the strawberry patch grabbing a few more before you laid back onto the grass. Letting yourself feel sorry for yourself after everything. Knowing what Frank was going to do. Seeing Tess die in front of your eyes. Realizing Bill also left this world. Everyone you loved and cared for gone in a matter of two years.

Tess’s death hurt you the worst. One moment she was there and the next she wasn’t. So unexpected. You had time to process and grieve your brother’s death. Bills caught you off guard but didn’t surprise you completely.

Looking up to the sky you remembered a long-ago conversation with Tess about favorite colors. Sky Blue. It looked so pretty today. Not a single cloud in the sky. One big blue sky.

“Bill’s gone.” Joel’s voice interrupted your peaceful solace.

Flicking your eyes over to look at him you didn’t see Ellie behind him, “I know.”

“You, okay?” He took a seat next to you.

“Mhmm. I’m fine. Take a strawberry. They’re still good.” You smiled up at him continuing to lay on your back.

He did as you instructed, “They are.”

Giving him a genuine smile, you just felt comforted by his presence. He was the only constant in your life for the last two years. You’d grown far too attached to the man, but could you blame yourself? He was everything to you. You were so terrified that you’d lose him too. It’s all you seemed to be doing in the last two years.

“Get everything you need?”

“Yeah. Battery is charging for another hour or so.”

“Ellie?”

“She checking out the town. I told her about the boutique.”

Sitting up you looked over at him. He was so beautiful. The salt and pepper look throughout his hair only making him more attractive in your eyes. The scar that graced his cheek enhanced everything about him. His hair was at the perfect length where it flicked all over the place. He’d probably start complaining in a few weeks. Then you’d cut it and it’d be far too short, and you had to wait until it was your favorite length again.

“Maybe she’ll grab something.”

He nodded, “Power still works. Grab a shower while you can?” He stood up offering you a hand.

“Sure,” You took his hand in yours. Joel pulled you up gingerly. Always so careful with you, “Thanks Joel. I’m going to the house next door. It should still be stocked up.”

“Need a change of clothes?”

He was always so thoughtful with you. Never skipping a beat, always making you a priority. His way of showing just how much he loved you. And he did. Boy did he love you. He just had a hard time expressing it directly. Showing his love in other ways instead. He initially said no when Frank proposed you coming back with them to Boston. But when he heard his pleas through the radio, he knew what he needed to do.

He was surprised at how well you adapted out there. You knew your strengths, weaknesses. You knew how to be helpful and when to take a step back. You never complained either. Just wore a smile on your face instead. That was how you coped. Smile and walk. You’d be there soon enough. The first trip was the hardest. It got easier after that. Joel wouldn’t let you sneak out with him at first. Too scared you’d get hurt. But Tess eventually convinced him. Then you were off helping them out as you could.

“If you don’t mind? There should be some clothes in my room.”

“You got it.”

You’d known about Frank’s passing. Hoping to come to Bill’s for supplies. Lucky for you it hadn’t been raided, yet. Joel worked on getting the truck ready while you and Ellie showered.

You walked back over to Bill’s standing at the front door. You wanted to go in so bad, but it didn’t feel right. Something tell you that you shouldn’t.

“Hey, you hear me?”

You snapped out of the trance you seemed to be under, “No, sorry Joel, what’s up?”

“Come on, need your help loading up.” He motioned to the garage on the side of the house.

“Yeah, alright.” You jogged over to meet him, “Thanks for the clothes.”

“Mhmm.” He kept his gaze forward.

You really couldn’t take it much longer. The thought of losing yet another person with telling them how you felt just didn’t sit right any longer.

“You know I love you right?” You asked.

“What?” he paused looking taken aback at your sudden admittance.

“I love you, Joel.” You smiled a genuine smile. One that felt so good to do.

“You do?”

“Why do you look so surprised? Of course, I do. You’re everything to me.”

He gave you that brilliant smile that made you weak at the knees, “You love me, huh?”

You slapped his arm, “I love you. How many times are you going to make me say it?” You giggled feeling like he was loosening up. Softening even further as he saw your overexcited state

“I dunno.” He took a step towards you, “It sounds nice.”

“Yeah?” You asked transfixed on his gaze.

“Oh yeah, and you know what?” He asked.

“What’s that?”

“I think I love you too.” It felt strange admitting it out loud, but damn did it feel good. Right.

Your heart started racing, “You think?” Raising your eyebrows, you dared take a step closer to him.

He shook his head a bit upset by his choice of words. Always seeming to mess them up, “I know. I love you, Y/N.””

“I like the sound of that.” You didn’t let your smile fade only bigger. God did I feel good to get it out. You knew what his answer would be. He showed his love in other ways but damn did it feel good to hear.

“Yeah, now come here.”

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eminsunnytoons123 · 15 days

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Disclaimer: this post has mentioning of naked bodies, And other stuff that arent really for kids. So if you're sensitive to them, skip this post right away.

@splashy900 @kxllboii @aquamarine-dream-queen @dayzsaclark @oscarandgrinchfan @moshywoosh @ilovescaredysquirrel2 @nuggetaubrey @sharkyy599 @nightkit92 @familyoffood @mysafespaceblog13 @thelazzyblogzz @sugar-miss1 @shrimpathizer @shypeachrunaway @iggyguyy @sayuri-does-skits @typical-sophie @peaceforpeople @ben5569 @itsmyaltaccountforshiitybloglol0 @ducktoonz903707 @artismeyou-12 @blackstar044 @acen402 @diego-r-the-artist-2009 @nia1sworld @rumplestiltsbear @s4gefr0g @beeware-of-lulu @leafith @bluebird-in-a-cagedrawing @muppet-fan-frr @thegroovyskull @blo0st4r @vickymcsworld @fancytigercupcake And @muppet-fan-real @cheezekennith

I'll say this again, And I hope y'all will respect my opinion. And I understand that some of y'all may not like some human anatomy because of your traumas, but respect my opinion still And i'll respect yours.

Theres nothing wrong with a naked body, but if its a naked body from a child And a minor (from a Baby to 17 year old to be exact), then thats not okay. Naked bodies are only okay if theyre coming from adults, sometimes not really.

And again, Im not saying to Artists who are minors to draw NSFW, this is just my opinion And a thing for my besties, Sisters, Brothers, pen pals, even my two girlfriends And my boyfriend to know.

I know you may wonder "but Emin? You're literally 13!" I DONT CARE IF IM 13. I actually knew whats rule 34 when I was like 9 years old, And yes it traumatized me when I saw Friday night funkin rule 34, And I never watched it again. But now that im 13, I wanna learn more about human anatomy like how they do in Art academys And colleges, for example they draw a model's naked body.

And also, with The cheddar man thing about his transgenderity And him having a female vagina, it is true in my AU. He has both a vagina and a dick, And yes I saw a vagina and a dick before, but it did traumatize me like Friday night funkin rule 34. But since Iggy @iggyguyy is kind of an NSFW artist, I'll go with his steps and not draw something that involves genitalia or an overly sexual scenario.

And I felt like this had to be Said because again, like how I made another first post about this subject, I had to tell this to all my besties, Sisters, Brothers, pen pals, my two girlfriends And my boyfriend to know that they shouldnt be afraid of People that draw NSFW or are sex workers, because not all of them are bad, most of them are bad but half of them arent. And ofcourse they should not allow proshippers, comshippers, pedophiles, zoophiles, necrophiles to their profile or to interact with them, neither I want proshippers, comshippers, pedophiles, zoophiles, necrophiles And even People that draw NSFW of minors to interact with me.

And again for cheddar man's transgenderity, he isnt completely an female due to the fact he still has a dick too, he has both a vagina and a dick. And Im not sexualizing him, this is just what I had in my mind to make for him. Dont go fucking Crazy. This is just in my AU And in AU I can change everything.

And again a message for all my besties, Sisters, Brothers, pen pals, my two girlfriends And my boyfriend... Dont be scared of NSFW Artists or sex workers. There are some of them that dont mean no harm to anyone, but there are some that do, so beware of them, And i'll protect y'all at every cost... Even if most of y'all are older than me. And I know that I used to put in my DNI list for NSFW People to not interact with me, but I now matured a bit And I now realize that some of them dont mean harm to anyone. And again, I DO NOT SUPPORT THEM, I'm just sharing awareness. And ofcourse, you should be aware of some NSFW Artists that make NSFW out of minors And some overly sexual scenes, that still stays.

Thanks for listening, y'all. 🧡💛

#emin rambles #advice #important

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dragonydreams · 1 month

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Plus One - Buck/Tommy

Title: Plus One Fandom: 9-1-1 Rating: Teen Audience And Up Pairings/Characters: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Tommy Kinard, Athena Grant/Bobby Nash Additional Tags: Fluff, family dinner, coming out, Tommy Kinard POV Summary: Buck is Tommy's plus one for dinner at the Grant-Nash home. Timeline: 7x05 Word Count: 2,366 Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Reamworks, Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Television, and 20th Television. Betas: Thank you to @medieshanachie for looking this over for me.

Read on AO3

Tommy was enjoying sitting out in the sun with Evan's hand caught between both of his when his phone rang. He still couldn't believe that he'd just agreed to be Evan's date to his sister's wedding.

Reluctantly, he removed his hand from on top of Evan's to pull his phone from his pocket. He didn't recognize the phone number, but in his line of work he couldn't ignore a call from an unknown number.

"I should probably take this," he said as he accepted the call. "Hello?"

"Hi Tommy, it's Bobby Nash."

"Captain Nash, hi," Tommy said, meeting Evan's wide eyes across the table. Evan gave his hand a little squeeze. "What can I do for you, Sir?"

"Athena and I would like you to come to dinner at our house," Bobby said. "We barely got to talk after the rescue and we would like to thank you properly."

"I was just doing my job," Tommy deflected, not that he wasn't grateful for the invitation.

"We both know that you weren't sanctioned to come get us. You put your career on the line to come save us and I cannot say how grateful we are that you did. The least we can do is make you a home cooked meal."

"I do miss your cooking," Tommy admitted.

"I don't know if you're seeing anyone, but feel free to bring them along, too," Bobby offered.

Tommy turned his hand over so he could squeeze Evan's. "I have started seeing someone who I think I'd like to bring."

Across the table, Evan pointed at his chest and mouthed, 'Me?' Tommy just nodded.

"We look forward to meeting them," Bobby said. "How's Wednesday night?"

"Wednesday works for me," Tommy agreed.

"I'll text you the address. I look forward to catching up," Bobby said.

"I'll see you then," Tommy said. He met Evan's eyes. "Want to go to dinner at Captain Nash's with me on Wednesday as my date?"

"You want me to be your date for dinner with Bobby and Athena?"

"Only if you're comfortable with it," Tommy said.

"Well, he'd find out about us at the wedding anyway," Evan said. "I like the idea of him knowing about us before then. He is kinda like my work dad."

"That's not really a thing," Tommy said, laughing. "I can't believe how much of a family the 118 became after I left."

"Hey, if you hadn't left when you did, I could have ended up at some other station." Evan shuddered dramatically.

Tommy blinked. "I hadn't done that math. You were my replacement."

"You left some pretty big shoes to fill," Evan said.

"How old are you?" Tommy hesitantly asked.

"I'm thirty-four," Evan said.

"Ten years, that's not so bad," Tommy mused aloud.

"If it makes you feel any better, you wouldn't be the first person I've dated who is older than me. Abby was like twenty years older than me when we dated," Evan admitted.

"You have some kind of May/December fetish I should be aware of?" Tommy teased.

"N-No," Evan spluttered. "This would only be the second time I dated someone that much older than me. Not that you're old."

"I'm kidding, Evan," Tommy said. He wondered why Evan seemed to melt a bit every time he said his name. He'd need to remember to ask him about that sometime.

"Besides, there is something to being with someone more mature, with more life experience," Evan said.

"Especially for someone who only recently discovered they were into men?" Tommy asked, knowingly.

"Yeah," Evan said, blushing.

"So, what kind of wine should I bring to this dinner?" Tommy asked, looking to get back onto safer ground.

"Red wine for Athena and something non-alcoholic for Bobby," Evan said.

"He's sober?" Tommy asked. "That certainly explains some things."

"Not my story to tell, but yeah," Evan confirmed.

"Do you have a wine preference?" Tommy asked. "I'm not all that picky," Evan said. "Depends on my mood."

"Good to know," Tommy said. He took another sip of his terrible coffee and grimaced. "First, I'm going to get some real coffee and then head to the liquor store. Care to join me?"

"Y-you want me to come with you?" Evan asked, clearly surprised.

"Unless you have plans?"

"No, my day is wide open," Evan said, enthusiastically.

"Great, let's go," Tommy said.

~~*~~

On Wednesday night, Tommy picked Evan up before heading to the Grant-Nash home. He and Evan had a mild debate about who should drive since Evan had been to the house many times before, but Tommy wanted to woo Evan. Even if just a little.

Evan was fidgeting beside him as Tommy rang the doorbell.

"Second thoughts?" he asked, resting a hand on Evan's back.

Evan steeled himself and grinned at Tommy. "Not a one."

The door swung open to reveal both Bobby and Athena. Tommy registered their surprise at seeing Evan with him.

"Buck, what are you doing here?" Bobby asked.

"I-I'm Tommy's plus one," he stuttered.

Athena recovered first and stepped around Bobby to loop her arm through Tommy's and pull him inside. "That is wonderful news. I can't wait to hear all about how you two got together."

As they walked down a short flight of stairs, Tommy saw Bobby pull Evan into a hug and say so softly that Tommy almost couldn't hear it, "I'm happy for you."

"This is for you," Tommy said, presenting the wine to Athena. "Thank you for having us over."

"It is our pleasure," she said. "Especially if we are getting the good gossip before everyone else." She winked at him.

"I'm afraid Eddie's got you beat, in that case," Evan said as he and Bobby joined them. "He interrupted our first date."

"He does know how to keep a secret," Bobby said. "We didn't even know about Christopher for the first few weeks he was with us."

"He seems like a really great kid," Tommy said.

"You've met him?" Bobby asked in surprise. "I thought you were dating Buck."

"I am, but Eddie and I have become pretty good friends since the rescue, too," Tommy said. "I've hung out at his place to watch some fights."

"Tommy flew the two of them to Vegas to see some fight a couple of weeks ago," Buck added.

"You sure you're not dating both of them?" Athena teased.

"Oh, I'm sure; Eddie turned me down when I asked for a date, but said he wanted to be friends."

"Wait, you asked Eddie on a date?" Evan asked in surprise.

"I'm going to finish getting dinner on the table. Is that for tonight?" Bobby asked, gesturing to the bottle of sparkling grape juice in Evan's hand. He held it out for Bobby without looking away from Tommy.

"I'll go pour the wine," Athena said. "We're going to need it."

"Did you kiss him, too?" Evan demanded in a whisper, pulling Tommy to the far side of the room.

"No, it was nothing like that," Tommy insisted. "On the way back from Vegas I asked if I could take him on a proper date and Eddie said that he was flattered, but he had a girlfriend. I was surprised because it was the first time he'd mentioned her. Apparently she'd been babysitting Christopher while we were at the fight."

"So, am I like some kind of consolation prize?" Evan asked, his voice trembling.

"No, never," Tommy grasped Evan's face between both his hands. "I didn't know you were an option until I went to your loft that night. And when you said you'd been trying to get my attention all week, I realized I didn't want to miss my chance with you."

He kissed Evan then, a soft chaste kiss since they were at someone else's home, but one filled with promise.

Evan looked dazed when he released him, just like after their first kiss. Tommy could get used to putting that look on Evan's face.

"Now let's go eat, I'm starving," Tommy said, grabbing Evan's hand and pulling him towards the kitchen. "It smells amazing in here."

"You guys all good?" Athena asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, we're good," Evan said, that dopey grin still on his face.

"Coming through," Bobby said, setting a large pan of lasagna on the trivets on the table.

Tommy inhaled deeply and sighed. "Man, I've missed your cooking."

"I'll have to make you my version sometime," Evan said as they sat. "Bobby's been teaching me how to cook and I think I've got this one down. Eddie and Christopher like it, at least."

"You've got the chili down, too," Bobby said, "now that you know the secret ingredient."

"He told you his secret chili ingredient?" Athena asked, surprised. "I don't even know that."

Evan puffed out his chest. "Yeah, I pestered it out of him."

Bobby served up the lasagna, the salad and garlic bread were passed around, and they took a few minutes to enjoy their food.

"Bobby, you have only become a better chef," Tommy said. "When you retire you should definitely open a restaurant."

Bobby laughed. "Thank you for the compliment but that is a stress I do not want in my retirement. I much prefer cooking for family and friends."

"The 118 really has become a family, hasn't it?" Tommy asked, somewhat wistfully. "I could see it heading that way when I left, but leaving was still the right move for me."

"You seem happy at Harbor," Bobby said. "I've heard nothing but good things from your captain."

"You checkin' up on me?" Tommy teased.

"Maybe from time to time," Bobby admitted. "You seem much freer since your time with us."

Tommy glanced over at Evan. "Yeah, when I started at the 217 I did it as an out gay man. Took a page from Wilson's book and made it clear that this is who I am."

"I heard a lot of stories about Captain Gerard when I started and I know what it was like under him. I understand why you didn't feel comfortable sharing that part of yourself. I'm glad you found somewhere that you can be you."

"Yeah, Gerard was the worst kind of old school misogynist. I saw what Han and Wilson went through when they started and out of self preservation didn't want to have him treat me that way, too. It was cowardly, but it was also survival."

Evan reached over to squeeze his thigh under the table.

"I am a bit surprised you didn't tell us about yourself, Buck," Athena said. "You seem to share so much of yourself with everyone that this caught us a bit by surprise."

"I, um, didn't actually know this about myself until recently," Evan said, meeting Tommy's eyes. "Not until Tommy kissed me."

Tommy wondered about the look that Bobby and Athena shared and wondered if it had something to do with Evan and Eddie's close friendship.

"Well, I'm -"

"We're," Athena cut in.

"We're very happy for you both. I'm guessing you haven't told the rest of the team, aside from Eddie?"

"That's correct," Evan said. "Well, Maddie knows. Pretty sure she hasn't told Chimney since he isn't bouncing off the walls trying to keep a secret."

"But they'll know soon, as I'll be Evan's date for his sister's wedding," Tommy finished.

"Now that's one way to come out," Athena said. "You sure you want to do that with your parents there?"

"I'm done trying to get their approval. We're never going to be close. If they can't accept that I'm dating a man now, that's on them."

Tommy could sense that there was a lot of bad blood there, but now was not the time to ask. He wondered if this had anything to do with why everyone called him Buck instead of by his name and wondered if he should be doing that too. But Evan hadn't asked him not to call him Evan; in fact, he seemed to like it. Tommy made a note to ask about that later.

"That's very mature of you," Athena said.

"What can I say, the therapy actually helped."

The rest of dinner progressed easily. Athena told them about Bobby's heroics after the ship capsized and his acrobatics to get Norman safely lowered to the new floor of the ship.

Tommy told them about some of his more interesting rescues, although saving Bobby and Athena would be at the top of his list for a long time when telling stories to other people.

When it was time to go, Bobby packaged up the leftover lasagna for Tommy to take home with him. Evan pouted about Tommy getting all of the leftovers and Bobby promised to make it at the station soon.

On the drive back to Evan's loft, Tommy asked, "Would you prefer if I call you Buck?" Evan turned to look at him. "It's just, I know that's what everyone else calls you."

"I-I kinda like that you don't call me what everyone else does," Evan admitted. "I always felt like such a disappointment as Evan, so when there were two other Evans in my class at the fire academy I started having people call me Buck. Buck wasn't a screw up. Buck was a firefighter who could get things done. Someone who mattered."

"You matter regardless of what you're called," Tommy interrupted.

Evan reached out to clasp Tommy's hand on the gearshift. "I know that. And when you call me Evan, I don't feel like a disappointment. I guess you could say that you're a first step to reclaiming that name."

"So should I expect everyone else to start calling you Evan now, too?" Tommy asked.

"Unlikely," Evan said, laughing. "You've seen how no one calls Chimney 'Howie' anymore. Except for Maddie, sometimes."

"If at any point you change your mind, I will call you by whatever name you want," Tommy assured him.

"Thank you, that means a lot," Evan answered.

As they approached Evan's apartment building, he asked, "Do you want to come up for a nightcap?"

Tommy glanced over to see the hopeful expression on Evan's face and even though he knew he shouldn't, he found himself saying, "I'd love to."

#bucktommy #evan buck buckley #tommy kinard #bathena #911 fic #Fic: Plus One

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ladamedusoif · 1 year

Text

Visiting - Overview and Masterlist

(moodboard by the wonderful @cutesyscreenname)

*cross-posted on AO3*

*Series In Progress*

Pairing: Professor!Ben (College AU) x OFC Lydia/fem!Reader (reader POV/2nd POV)

Summary: Seeking a change of scenery after her life falls apart, Lydia crosses the Atlantic and arrives in a small New England town, to spend a year expanding her intellectual horizons as a visiting professor of art history at a small liberal arts college. Her growing friendship with Ben Morales, professor of Hispanic literature, forces Lydia to confront the fallout from her past - and raises unexpected questions about the future.

About Lydia: A couple of years ago she'd have told you her life was over. Now, at 41, Lydia has realised the future is hers to make - even if that means never opening her heart up again.

She's an art historian and European - though this should not be taken to imply a specific appearance or ethnicity! Her family and other aspects of her background are established.

You'll notice that the physical descriptors for Lydia are deliberately loose, other than: her age, that she's fem/AFAB, her hair is starting to grey, and she's got stretch marks and a whole metric ton of issues with her own body. In other words: she can look whatever way you want her to look in your own imagination, bearing these aspects in mind, and be from wherever you want her to come from.

Rating: Explicit (18+) - individual chapters will have their own ratings (there's a lot of fluff and angst ahead) but smut will be very clearly signalled. Expect bad language throughout. If you read beyond the warnings on each chapter, you are agreeing you're 18 years or older.

Content: Professor Ben College AU; smaller-than-usual-for-this-fandom age gap (she is 41 and Ben 47 when the story begins); canon is not a thing here; slow burn; explicit smut (eventually); discussion of infidelity and emotional abuse; discussion of self-esteem issues; references to body issues; strong language; alcohol; I'll update if I need to as the fic continues

A/N: My love for Mr Ben is well-known but I couldn't stop thinking about him as a literature professor and, well, here we are. This is my first fic, and it's written as an AU with nary a sprinkling of canon about a character who existed for five minutes in a sketch. Make it make sense, Rose.

This is going to be a multi-chapter series (I have a plan and an outline document and everything). I plan to add some headcanons for Professor Benjamin at some point, and will pop some little drabbles in amongst the full chapters.

There will be smut - but this is a slow-burner. You have been warned.

Main Series:

Chapter 1 - The Visitor

Chapter 2 - Bright in the Sea

Chapter 3 - Ghosts

Chapter 4 - Save Me

Chapter 5 - This Must Be The Place

Chapter 6 - If You'd Accept Surrender

Chapter 7 - Forget Who We Are

Chapter 8 - Sister Winter

Chapter 9 - Open Your Eyes

Chapter 10 - Something About You

Chapter 11 - My Favourite Work of Art

Chapter 12 - If I Must Have A Future

Chapter 13 - Coming Soon!

One-Shots and Drabbles:

An Inspecteur Calls: A Pedrotober One-Shot

Books: A Merry Fic-Mas One-Shot

Christmas Tree: A Merry Fic-Mas One-Shot

Please let me know if you'd like to be added to a taglist!

Thanks: to the people who made me feel less bonkers for developing an entire world around Ben and Lydia - @cutesyscreenname, headcanon collaborator, moodboard creator, and Prof Benjamin E. Morales enabler supreme; the incredibly encouraging, kind, and heroic fic writers whose understanding of how to embrace the sensitive and emotional hidden side of 'canonical' characters is an inspiration - @lunapascal, @imaswellkid, @julesonrecord

(bookshelf divider by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more)

#visiting fic #visiting masterlist #mr ben snl #professor ben x OFC #mr ben #pedro pascal character fanfic #mr ben x ofc #pedro pascal fanfiction #new fic announcement

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saythenametotheworld · 1 year

Text

You Will Find Me

Genre: strangers to lovers; destiny: smut

Pairing: Jung Jaehyun x Female Reader

Warnings: lying, mild stalker-y behavior, explicit sexual content (18+), this is not proofread ily

Notes: 20k words, song prompt was You Will Find Me by Alex and Sierra, loosely based on the movie Only You (1994)

Synopsis: Less than a month before your wedding, you answered a call from someone who introduced himself as Johnny Suh—the exact name of the man you believed to be your soulmate. In a spur of the moment decision, you embark on a trip to Italy to meet him, believing that it was fate's way of telling you to fulfill your destiny.

You were a corporate employee, working a 9 to 5 job as an accountant in a big magazine company in your city. You've lived a comfortable life; with a decent job, a nice home, great friendships, and a great boyfriend who popped the question a year into your relationship. Eunwoo is a nice guy—a good doctor, gentlemanly, kind, and well-mannered. Your family adored him and your friends admired him. You met through an acquaintance and after a month of talking, you decided to date. You were happy for the most part. He was everything a girl could ask for and he treated you right. But it felt too easy, redundant sometimes.

After the proposal, you confided in your bestfriend Jihyo that you felt like the whole thing was moving too fast. In a reluctant confession, you revealed that you aren't in love with him enough to imagine getting married and settling down.

"I don't want to jump into this only to end up getting divorced at one point," you had told your friend.

Jihyo told you to follow your heart but she also said Eunwoo was a great guy who loves you. You loved him too and you would have loved to get married but with him, it just felt wrong and it was weird because you have no idea why you felt that way. Jihyo told you to figure it out and talk to him before you make a mistake. But she strongly suggested you work it out with Eunwoo and let him know.

You couldn't bring it up to him, of course. But you were glad he hasn't gone around talking about your engagement yet. You haven't exactly accepted it. You just told him you would think about it. As you laid down on his bed, wrapped snugly in his embrace, you thought about spending the rest of your life with him. The idea seemed nice but a part of you was terrified that you may be making wrong decisions.

"You're awake," Eunwoo asks, nuzzling his nose on your neck.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about us."

"I know it's so sudden. I'd understand if you're not ready yet."

Feeling guilty upon hearing the fall in his voice, you jolted and briskly said, "No, no. I'm fine. Let's do it."

He hummed. "Are you sure? I don't want you to be forced into something you don't want."

"There's no reason not to do it, Woo. And I'm not being forced."

"Really?"

"Sure. Let's get married."

The days have never passed as fast as they did. Suddenly, it was twenty days before your wedding. Most of the preparations were ready. From the venue to the guest list. All there's left to do is send out invitations and pick a dress. Your mother has insisted on a custom-made dress, but you opted for one that is RTW and won your case by insisting that you'll follow your personal preferences in your own personal wedding.

At the salon, Jihyo and your sister came with you to help you pick the dress. You went through arrays of dresses which all looked great. You liked dressing up and so did your friends so you enjoyed the whole thing. But the feeling in the pit of your stomach grew stronger the more clothes you tried on.

"Okay. The tenth dress. Come on out, my sweet. Let's see it," your older sister called out and you stepped out from behind the thick red curtains. Gasps filled the salon, not only from Jihyo and your sister but from the staff as well.

"What? Is it good?" you asked curiously, turning to the mirror to see for yourself. Sure enough, even you ended up gasping at the beautiful image reflected back to you. The dress was breathtaking, looking regal on its own while hugging your figure in the right places. This is it, the Dress.

"My baby sister is getting married!" your sister exclaimed, hugging you from behind as emotions overwhelmed her. "You look amazing, sweetheart."

"She's right, y/n. You're breathtaking! This is it! This is the dress!" Jihyo affirmed, also joining you in front of the mirror.

The compliments may have been great, but you felt your stomach turn the longer you stared at yourself in the mirror. Your breath hitched and you were sure you were about to hyperventilate so you gently pushed them away from you. "Excuse me."

You ran to the bathroom adjacent to the dressing room and started throwing up on the sink. Your girls followed you, as well as a staff who hurriedly offered tissue papers.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Jihyo asked.

Your sister followed up with another question that made you shake your head. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"No. Heavens, no," you denied. Your birth control never once failed but you touched the part of your arm where the implant was just to make sure that it's still there. "No. No, I'm not."

"Oh, y/n," your sister sighed, holding you as you walked out of the restroom. "You must be so stressed."

She may be right. Stress gets through to you so badly that you'd throw up. But they didn't ask about it until you had left the dress shop and taken a break at a nearby coffee shop.

"You're still second-guessing?" Jihyo questioned while you weakly sipped on some citrusy drink that your sister said would alleviate your nausea.

"Wait, you're not sure about this wedding?"

You shook your head at her and she heaved a deep sigh. "Then why didn't you say so? You should have talked to Eunwoo about it. I'm sure he'll understand."

"I know but," you pushed your drink away and sighed. "I'm not sure if it's because I don't want it or if I'm just overthinking things."

"What's bothering you?"

"I feel like this isn't the right direction to take. I mean, I love Eunwoo but I never really thought this far ahead in our relationship. It seemed so soon and I don't think I'm ready."

Your sister nodded. "Being unprepared is normal. Marriage is a big deal. You can always cancel while it's still early. You're already engaged anyway. The wedding can wait."

You shook your head. "No. It's not the marriage I'm uncertain about. What I meant was that... I don't think I'm ready to marry Eunwoo."

"What?" Your sister gawked at you and then at Jihyo as if to ask if she knew about this.

Jihyo just shrugged and you went on to explain how you feel about the whole thing. You explained how you're not seeing yourself in a family with Eunwoo and how misplaced everything seems to be. "I don't think I even felt like we belonged in the first place. It's awful, I know, considering how we dated until now."

"Baby, I want you to be happy more than anything so whatever this is, talk to Eunwoo about it. I'm sure you'll figure things out. Don't throw it all away yet. If you need time, have some."

"I agree. And whatever happens, you do what makes you happy. Even if it does not include Eunwoo."

At the office the next day, you were in your boss's office to have him sign some paperwork when the secretary's phone started ringing. You left it to keep ringing, knowing you're not supposed to take the calls unless you're the secretary. But it rang again and again for the third time so you decided to pick it up in case it was important.

"Mr. Lee Taeyong's office. How can I help you?"

"Hi. Is Taeyong there right now? He's not picking up his cell and I need to talk to him urgently," replied a deep, manly voice.

You grabbed a pen and a pad of paper from the desk to write with. "He's out for lunch at the moment and he probably left his phone but I can let him know."

"I see. That's fine too. Thank you."

"No problem. Now if you could just give me your name please so I can let him know who called and what for?"

"Johnny Suh. I'm calling for a chat." Your mind went blank upon hearing his name. Suddenly, all your senses were heightened and you could feel goosebumps all over your body.

"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch your name. Come again?"

"It's Johnny. Johnny Suh."

You swallowed so hard that your throat hurt. "Your name is Johnny Suh?"

"Yes. We were supposed to meet earlier today but I woke up late and now I have a plane to catch. You know what nice lady, just tell him my name and he'll know to call me back."

"Where are you?" you asked in a high-pitched voice of panic.

"I'm at the airport. Heading to Venice."

"Venice?!" you exclaimed, wondering how far that was from where you are right now.

You heard the man chuckle. "I know. It was unavoidable. But I hope Taeyong understands. Anyway, I got to go. Can I count on you?"

"Yeah! I mean, yes. Yes. I'll... I'll let him know."

"Cool. Thank you so much. Goodbye."

"No, wait wait wait..." but all that ever made it back to you was the beeping tone of the call being hung up.

You placed it carefully back on the desk and took a deep breath. Then you placed your folder of papers on the same desk before you sprinted out of the office back into your own.

You grabbed your phone first and called Jihyo. Luckily she picked up quickly. "I found him!"

"Found who?" she asked from the other line. "I'm sorry but I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"I found Johnny Suh!"

"Remind me how I know a Johnny Suh?"

"Johnny Suh! The guy from the Ouija board!"

"Oh that Johnny Suh! I'm sorry you said you found him?" she asked, now equally excited.

"Yes! He's friends with my boss and he's heading to Italy, right now!"

"Italy? Why Italy?"

"I don't know!" you screamed, the rush of emotions filling you to the brim. You let out a huge sigh and take a quick breathing exercise to calm down. More calmly, you told your friend, "I think this is it. The sign that I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Y/n, no."

"Yes. I'm doing it."

"Y/n, this is madness!"

You hung up the phone and started looking through your office computer for plane tickets to Italy.

When you were 12, you were playing Ouija board with your sister and Jihyo during a blackout. You asked it about your soul mate and the board responded with the name Johnny. You thought it was bull at first because it happened to be one of the most common names on Earth. But then the board gave you its last name too, Suh. Johnny Suh. You knew how to narrow down your search and the bigger part of your teenage years was spent searching through the internet for someone named Johnny Suh. There were plenty of them and you were too shy to message them because what would you say? Some batshit tale about how you knew his name from an Ouija board?

Jihyo managed to convince you that if it was fate, you need not look for him because he would come to you at one point in your life.

"This is the point of my life that you were talking about. For years I forgot about the whole thing and now he came to me right when I was having doubts about getting married."

"Hon, this is madness. You know better than to chase after some complete stranger."

"I know. It's a shot in the dark but I'll take it anyway. I have a feeling that I would regret it if I didn't. So, I'm going to Venice."

"Okay, but I'm coming with you. I don't want something bad happening to you in Europe."

"Good! Great! Let's go there together!"

After a crazed meet-up with Jihyo, you went home to your shared apartment and found Eunwoo resting in front of the TV. He spotted you and invited you over to sit next to him, snuggling you close and kissing your temple.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Crazy. How was yours?"

He shrugged. "Well, first I had to perform a seven-hour surgery with the head neurosurgeon, who lectured me the whole time about suturing the brain and whatnot. Second, I had a class with some third-year med students at the university, and guess what I lectured them about?"

You chuckled. "Suturing the brain?"

"Yes, but the topic was about renal failure during brain death."

You giggled, humored. "That's crazy."

"Not crazier than yours, I suppose," he chimed, moving his body to an angle where he could see your face. "What happened?"

You bit your lip nervously, but you knew you had to let him know and he deserved a proper explanation about the whole thing. So you sat up, turned off the TV, and looked at him seriously.

"Listen, I don't want to hurt you or anything. And I certainly don't think you deserved to be treated badly by someone, even if it's me but..." you paused, recognizing the hint of confusion on his face. "I don't think I can marry you, Eunwoo."

You had expected him to pry more, but he just reached for your cheek and gently stroked it. "I know."

"You know?"

"Yes," he nodded, pulling you back into his embrace. "I've known from the beginning."

"How?"

"Don't feel bad, baby. It's not just you. I've had this feeling for a while now too, the feeling that something is misplaced. I can't explain what it was, but it bugged me. At one point, I thought it was just me but I noticed the signs that you were uncertain too. Then I thought that maybe, despite how perfect our relationship seemed to be, everything is just... wrong."

"Eunwoo..."

"I love you. I know that for sure, but I feel unsure. It was weird. I asked you to marry me because I thought that if I did, the weird feeling would go away."

"Did it?" you questioned, feeling your heart break when you found out how you both felt the same way.

"It didn't. It got worse."

"I know. It was awful," you agreed, sighing as you wrapped your arms around his torso. "But I love you. I know I do."

"Just not enough to spend the rest of your life with me right?" he asked and you shyly nodded, not meeting his gaze. "Yeah, I feel the same way. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, silly," you chided, sitting up to hit his chest. He just laughed and stroked the part that you hit.

"I love you too, babe. Just not enough for marriage. I'm sorry I even asked you to. It would have been a disaster if you had wanted it while I didn't."

You reached for his cheek and kissed his lips. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied and said I wanted it. I would have dragged you into an unhappy marriage."

He scowled and pursed his lips. "I don't think I would be unhappy with you. I think it has something to do with um, discontent?"

"Yeah, discontent."

He smiled, kissing your forehead. "So, what are we gonna do?"

You told him you were going to Italy with Jihyo for some soul-searching, leaving out the part where the soul you were looking for was your soulmate. He told you to have fun after you both decided to not call off the engagement yet and instead just cancel the wedding date. A part of you felt sad after the confessions between you, but the other part of you felt relieved to know you were right about being in the wrong place. So you held on to him through the night, whispering sweet nothings to each other until morning came.

The next day he drove you and Jihyo to the airport and promised not to bother you while you were gone. You said he didn't have to do that and you would love to have him check on you often.

"Nope, I'd love to give you your space and I kinda need my own space to think and figure things out too."

"Alright. Have fun getting lectured by your superior."

Eunwoo laughed heartily, hugging you tightly. "Call me if you need anything, alright?"

"I will. Thanks, babe."

"I love you."

The flight to Italy was long but you didn't feel tired at all. You were giddy, excited to start your search for your soulmate. Your boss thought your story was mental, but he gave you Johnny's Instagram anyway, warning you that Johnny mostly kept to himself and rarely used his electronics.

"Why do you think he likes Italy? Because of the old vintage feel. He goes there every year."

You thanked him for helping you out but he said it was fine because you get to have your very first vacation after you joined the company three years ago. You had asked him to send you a photo but he couldn't find one and Johnny only had Instagram which mostly had a bunch of photography in it. His hobby was being a photographer, as you have been told and he had been contributing to your magazine ever since its establishment.

"Shouldn't you have known if a Johnny Suh was a contributor in your magazine?"

"Jihyo, I'm an accountant. I have no idea about magazine production and stuff."

When you landed, you found that Johnny had posted his story about a certain hotel in Venice and hurried to show it to Jihyo. You both headed there in a rush, but there was no way to rush in the boats that were taking you to the hotel by the canal. So you both opted to take nice pictures of the place.

"Whatever happens in this search, you and I better go sightseeing around town. It's so beautiful I could literally pass out. Look at that gargoyle sculpture thing!"

You just giggled at her, finding it cute how she's easily impressed by everything. A few more minutes later, you arrived at the hotel and had the man at the port help you off the boat. He even carried your luggage for you, politely asking where you were headed.

When you got to the front desk of the hotel from Johnny's story, Jihyo immediately asked about Johnny Suh, which surprised you a little.

"Johnny Suh?" the male elderly receptionist asked. In heavily accented and broken English, he said he does not give out information about their guests.

"Look, sir. We came here for him so if you could just let us know if he's here, that would be nice. You don't have to tell us his room or where he is. Just tell us if he's here," Jihyo tried again, but the elder man just shook his head.

You tugged on her sleeves and shook your head to discourage her. "Let's just check in. I'm sure he'd still be around. The post was just an hour ago."

"Okay," she agreed but when she faced the receptionist, she went on about Johnny Suh again. "This woman is here is my best friend and she's looking for this man because he might be her soulmate. Could you please just tell us if he's here?"

"Jihyo!"

"Stop. The boatman said there are five branches of the same hotel. We need to know if this is the right one!" she chided softly and that's when a handsome Italian man came to intervene.

He had a respectable air to him but he also exuded quite the charisma. "Sorry, ladies. If I may, I'd like to help."

You both glanced back at him and Jihyo sighed in relief. "Yes. Thank goodness. If you could just tell this nice old man that my best friend's soulmate is Johnny Suh and she needs to know if he's here."

The Italian went on to translate what Jihyo said while the two of you stood there gawking cluelessly. If he was translating for real or talking crap about you in Italian, you wouldn't have known. You just trusted this stranger to do your work for you.

"Ladies," he turned to you after a while. "I'm afraid your friend Mr. Suh has left the building."

"Left? He was here just an hour ago," Jihyo questioned.

"Yes, he was indeed in this building but he left just a few minutes ago. I'm afraid you missed him."

The receptionist said something in Italian that your nice stranger translated. "He stayed the night but he left right after breakfast."

Then the elder showed a key with his room number in it and said something else. "He also said your friend is heading to Rome."

"Rome?"

"Yes, Rome," the receptionist confirmed before he turned to put the key back. You thanked them both and got ready to leave, pulling up your phone to see if Johnny had a new update.

"Ladies!"

You stopped to see the nice Italian following you out of the door. Jihyo beamed at him.

"I am under the impression that you require lodging for tonight."

"Thank you but we really need to look for this guy."

He looked around and opened his arms wide, "It's Venice. Wouldn't you hate to just leave without seeing its beauty?"

"He's right," Jihyo agreed, walking towards him. "We could use a tour and a nice guy to show us around."

The man beamed at her and you recognized the flirtatious looks they gave each other. You sighed and gave in. You wanted to do that too and you're pretty tired anyway.

The man who introduced himself as Andre, took you on a small motorboat all the way to a different hotel. The ride wasn't long. In no time, your stuff is being hauled out of the boat and brought into a fancy-looking hotel. You booked a single suite with a Queen-sized bed that you would share with Jihyo. She told you to go up first which you did, stepping inside the bathroom the moment you were alone. After a quick shower, you came out to Jihyo, giggling on her phone.

"Where's Andre?" you teased, assuming it was his texts that were making her giddy.

"Oh, he left. He says he needs to take care of some stuff at his store."

"He has a store?"

"Yes, a dress shop. And he must be well-off because he paid for this room."

"He did?" you questioned, confused. "Why would you let him do that?"

"It's fine because he likes me," she grinned. "A girl shouldn't buy her own drinks at the bar and a lady should never pay for her own room in Italy."

"Sounds like a pretty privilege to me," you snorted, pushing her foot away when she placed it on your lap.

"He said it, not me," she replied, sticking her tongue out at you.

You let your damp hair fall down as you walked towards the dresser where the hairdryer was. "Has Mr. Andre invited you to dinner yet?"

"No, but he said he'll be back later at 7pm tonight to take us to an opera house."

"An opera house? Sounds like a fancy night out."

Jihyo wiggled her eyebrows. "You bet."

You and Jihyo agreed to go sightseeing for the rest of the day, visiting landmarks and taking pictures. You also tried a variety of food that filled you to the point of almost bursting, all the whole happily walking around the nostalgic city. Came nightfall, Jihyo dressed in a pretty black bodycon dress for the opera. You clapped at her excellent choice and even snapped pictures for her Instagram.

"Are you sure you don't want to come? It might be fun! You'll never know!"

"I'm fine, Jihyo. I'm tired of all the walking earlier. And I'm sure Andre would love to have you all to himself too."

She giggled. "You're right. But I'd hate to leave you alone."

"Just go, hun. And make sure he's not a creep."

"If he was, would you come with me?"

You stood up from your position on the bed and headed to your luggage. "I'm gonna get ready. Can you wait?"

"No! No, you don't have to. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

You scoffed. "Looks like you want to be alone with him tonight too."

Jihyo giggled. "He's cute."

You shook your head, sitting back on the bed and wishing her a good night. You pulled up the hotel's TV to watch a movie and pass the time. It was a cheesy romcom but you enjoyed it anyway and made it halfway through. As you were feeling drowsy, you received a notification on your phone.

Johnny just posted a photo!

You sat up immediately, tossing the remote to the side to grab your phone. You opened it up to see a single photo with the caption: 'Two'. You wondered what it was for and examined the picture. It was an array of dresses in different shades of pastel. When you tapped the tagged location, you saw that it was a dress shop in Rome.

"He really is in Rome," you sighed, standing up to pack your stuff quickly. As soon as the day breaks, it's GO time for you and Jihyo.

What are the odds that the dress shop Johnny went to was owned by Andre? 0.10% unless he owns all the dress shops all over Italy. But he does own that specific dress shop so he is now driving you to Rome in his fancy convertible. You sat in the backseat while they were blatantly flirting right in front of you. You weren't paying attention though because you were scrolling through your phone for any updates.

"How long till we get there?" you asked. You had been sitting for two hours so you stopped by the road to rest. The road was long and barely any cars passed by. But the scenery around you leaves you in awe of its beauty.

"Just thirty more minutes, my lady," Andre replied and pointed at the crossroad up ahead. "If we take this route, we should arrive in lesser time."

Jihyo suddenly stood up from the grass. "How much lesser?"

"Say, twenty or fifteen minutes?"

"Good, we should go now," she declared. "Our mystery man is in this church."

Jihyo borrowed your phone to inspect Johnny's feed and found that he recently posted a photo of a church. You grabbed the phone to see it clearly.

"This is two minutes ago."

"It is! Let's go!"

You appreciated Jihyo's enthusiasm and also felt bad for dragging her all the way here. Sure she came willingly, but it's not a secret to say she came for you, to support you, and to make sure you'll be fine. Then again, she had always been there for you. She was there every step of the way from when you were kids until now. Even with your obsession over destiny and love, she listened intently despite having different ideas. When you took leaps, she was there to encourage you regardless of the outcomes. With Jihyo, you've come to know how love in friendships is powerful and strong.

"Is this it?" Jihyo asked Andre as the three of you stood in front of a majestic church.

"Yes. Basilica of St. Agnes, the exact one in the picture."

You compared the two and found that is indeed, the same one. You looked around and saw a few tourists, taking pictures and walking around.

"Quite strange," said Andre, making you look at him.

"What is?" asked Jihyo.

He pointed at the entrance of the church. "It's closed. No visitors are allowed in."

"Why do you think so?"

"I will go find out."

You sighed, eyes roving the surroundings for any signs of Johnny Suh. You don't even know what he looks like but you reckon you'd be able to narrow it down to Asian tourists. Weirdly enough, you can't seem to even guess if any of these were Johnny. Not even a wild guess.

"If it's closed, does that mean he wasn't able to go inside?" you asked Jihyo who was also looking around.

"For all we know he must have left a long time ago."

Andre came back to say that the church was under renovation. While you wished to take a rest, Jihyo said you should try to look around first. You did that, even going as far as asking random Asian men if their name was Johnny Suh, to no avail. It was lunchtime when you gave up your search and went to a restaurant for food. Pasta used to cheer you up, but you're starting to feel like coming here was a bad idea. A part of you is still giddy for the adventure but seeing Jihyo made you feel like you're bothering people for something ridiculous. Even Andre--who is a complete stranger was dragged into a blind chase motivated only by a childish belief.

You shook your head, trying to get the thoughts away. Instead of feeling bad, you told yourself to feel grateful instead. These people were willing to stick with you in the name of friendship, although you know Andre just liked hanging around Jihyo.

You ate quietly, scrolling through Johnny's feed again. His photographs were beautiful and you can see the expert part of it. You wonder if he was as beautiful as these photos, if he was as delicate as the subjects on his feed, and if he took these photos at random or if he took them for a reason. As your mind wandered in that direction, you noticed a photo taken in Italy from last year. You've scrolled so far that you reached the ones from last year.

So it's true he comes every year.

Then you saw the very first picture from that trip. It was the hotel in Venice, captioned '1'. After that, he was in a dress shop in Rome as '2'. Then the church from a while ago. Next, he's in a restaurant, still tagged in Rome. You scrolled past his feed two years before and saw the same pattern. Different pictures of the same places.

"He comes here and travels in a pattern," you blurted, making Jihyo and Andre stop flirting and look at you.

"Who?"

"Johnny. Look at this," you exclaimed and showed Jihyo your phone. You explained the pattern and she saw it instantly.

"So if you're right, he'll be at this restaurant next?" she asked and you nodded confidently. She took your phone and showed it to Andre. "Do you know this restaurant?"

Andre read the tagged location and nodded. "I do. It's a local favorite. It's in the downtown area. Thirty minutes from here."

It was already an hour after lunch and the restaurant was far so you all assumed Johnny would be there for dinner. Andre supported this by saying the restaurant opens at 3 in the afternoon so it's basically a dinner place. You checked into a hotel in the downtown area and stayed there to rest, except for you who decided to walk around and sightsee by yourself. Jihyo wanted to come but you told her to rest too. Seeing how she agreed easily, you understood that she wanted to hang out with Andre too.

The city was beautiful and busy, with streets full of people and vehicles. There are plenty of establishments and shops that you visited, mostly to look around but you also bought a few stuff. Andre was adamant that you visit his dress shop and told you its location. He said he'd call them to let them know you were coming. You were grateful enough for his help so you went there for a visit.

The lady that asked for your name immediately ordered a few staff to help you. It turns out Andre has told them to take care of you and let you pick a nice dress for tonight. It was daunting to accept something from someone you just met but you were grateful anyway. The staff had you pick your favorites and you tried all of them on, all the whole feeling giddy at the prospect of finally meeting Johnny Suh.

An hour of looking around had you going back to the hotel room with a box of a nice red dress. You were pouting as you entered your room, eyeing Andre and Jihyo who both look cozy on the second bed of your suite.

"I appreciate this so much Andre but why did you have me go through all that fashion show if you'd end up picking the dress for me anyway?" you complained shyly but Andre gave you an innocent look while pointing at Jihyo.

"It was me," she grinned. "To be fair, you still got the dress you chose."

"Yes but not the color. I almost freaked when they insisted that I take this one."

Jihyo rose from the bed and walked towards you to open the box—a red satin dress lay delicately over white feathers. It was a delicate dress that looked elegantly minimalistic in white, your original choice. But red made it bolder and vivid. Dinnertime soon came and Jihyo helped you dress up for the night. You felt daunted to wear the dress. It was beautiful but the delicateness of your makeup did not match the fierceness of the dress at all.

"What are you talking about? You look great!" Jihyo convinced you. "The goal is to get noticed, y/n. Red will give you the attention you need. So unless Johnny Suh is blind, you'll be a star wherever you go tonight."

You sat by the window of the restaurant, curiously looking around the quiet place. You are now convinced of Andre's influence, getting you a table easily even with the long queue outside. You wondered if Johnny was already here or if he was outside queueing. You know you can just try to message him and arrange to meet him. But the idea of messaging a stranger felt too scary for you. It was ridiculous to feel so because you literally traveled across the world to find him. But you already felt stupid doing that so you don't really want to go messaging him that, "Hey. I followed you all the way from Korea to Italy because I think you're my soul mate." That's just nuts. Right now, you are content with just a glimpse of him. And then from that, you will decide what to do. Surely you'll know if he was the one, right? You won't be able to explain it, but it should feel right.

"Now where are you, Mr. Suh..." you muttered as you refreshed his feed and found his most recent upload. It was of a table of food, the same table you are sitting on. He is here! At the corner of the picture, you could see what looked like a navy blue sleeve. You wondered if that was him or if he had company. You looked around, trying your best to be discreet about it, and found a few men with the same colored jacket. Then you looked at the picture again and wondered if instead of him, maybe it was whoever he was with at this moment. Maybe he wasn't alone.

You sighed. "I'm a creepy stalker," you muttered to yourself, shaking your head.

The waiter soon arrived with your orders and you took the initiative to ask him if a certain Johnny Suh is dining there tonight.

"Johnny Suh? Ah, Mr. Suh! Yes, he's here tonight."

"Are you sure it's him?"

The waiter chuckled confidently. "Madam, Mr. Johnny Suh always makes his reservations one year in advance. He is here tonight. Right there." You followed the direction he was pointing to and found two Asian men on a table halfway across the room. Both of them were in navy blue clothing, one in a suit and the other in a button-down shirt. How were you supposed to know which one was Johnny?

You turned to ask the waiter again, but he was already walking far away. You decided to just observe for the meantime, trying to eat in peace despite being giddy in your seat. You watched discreetly while they conversed through their food. You can faintly see their faces but you obviously can't hear them. The one in the sleek coat had jet-black and slicked-back medium-length hair that went neatly right down his nape. The other had shorter brown hair styled in a comma hairstyle that was popular in your country today. In physique, the black-haired man was larger but the other was considerably muscular too even under his button-down shirt. They stayed for a while and you stayed too, mostly because you don't know where to go and you were hoping they'd somehow glance your way and you'd take a better look at their faces. But since you only stole glances instead of flat-out staring at them the whole time, you wouldn't have known if either of them noticed you at all.

Slightly drunk due to having about five glasses of wine, you answered Jihyo's chats asking if you were all right. You asked for the bill as you typed in your reply: I'll take a picture of them.

When the bill arrived, you took out your card but the waiter said it had been paid for you by a certain Johnny Suh. Your head automatically spun to their table and saw that they had already left. You panicked and ran out to find them. How can he pay for your food and NOT even talk to you at all? It was ridiculous. You kept running, trying to make out someone with a navy-colored shirt but you couldn't quite tell under the night lights. When you saw the figure of the black-haired man, you called out to him but he was too far to hear you over the crowds of people.

As you struggled to chase him, one of your shoe's heels got stuck in the pavement and you struggled to get it off while the man continued walking further away.

"Fuck it," you grunted, taking off the shoe and leaving it there to continue chasing after him. But after a few minutes of running, you found no trace of him and realized you were in an unfamiliar place. You felt like breaking down, thinking everything you've done just to be here was pointless. Your feet were sore and you're missing the shoe your sister gifted you. And to top it all, you're heartbroken over someone you've never met before. Shoulders sagging in defeat, you called for Jihyo to pick you up.

You sat down at a fountain where Jihyo found you immediately. "We were close by. What happened? Where's your shoe?"

"He's gone."

"Johnny? Did you meet him?" she asked and you shook your head, staring into space, looking distraught.

That was when a man approached you, asking in Italian if you were alright. He was carrying your shoe and somewhere in his expertly enunciated Italian, you could make out that he just called you Cinderella.

"Oh, thank you, sir! Thank you!" Jihyo told the guy but you were still dazed.

"Oh, English! Finally, some friendly faces!" said the guy. He knelt down by your feet. "Allow me?"

"Thank you," you muttered, not sparing a glance at the nice gentleman. He took out a handkerchief to clean your foot with. You had been running barefooted so your foot was soiled.

"You look gorgeous, by the way. Mind giving me your name?" he asked but you ignored him and looked at Jihyo.

"Should I just DM him?"

"Honestly, I was wondering what's taking you so long to do just that," Jihyo smarted

"You're right. That would have saved us a lot of trouble," you sighed.

"Do it. It won't hurt you to just try," Jihyo encouraged, thanking your Prince Charming after he was done with your foot.

"What am I gonna say to him anyway?" you sighed taking your phone out and staring at it.

"What happened at the restaurant?"

"Well, he paid for my meal. That means he noticed me right? But if he paid for my meal, why didn't he talk to me? Was he there paying for everybody's meal tonight?"

"Hey, I don't mean to cut in, but may I ask how long you're staying in the city for?" Prince Charming asked but you were too focused on your phone. Jihyo ended up answering for you.

"Not long. We're here looking for someone."

"Would you tell me his name? Maybe I know him. The Asian community is small in places like this."

"I don't know. He's a tourist, not a resident as far as I know."

"Oh, I'm a tourist myself so–" he stopped when you suddenly stood up.

"I did it. Let's go. I can't wait for his reply while I'm here. I'd freak," you blurted, pulling Jihyo in the direction of Andre's car. "Oh, thanks again!"

"Hey, wait!" he followed you to the car, standing right at the door to stop you from getting in. "I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't say it," you retorted, trying to open the door but he held the handle.

"Well, I'd love to know it."

"Thanks, sir. But I really have to go. You're wasting my time."

"Who is it, then? The guy you're looking for? I'll take that if you can't tell me yours," he insisted so you sighed in frustration, staring straight at him. You gasped when you realized he was the brown-haired guy from the restaurant.

"It's you."

"You know me?"

"No but... at the restaurant. I saw you there."

He smiled, two dimples showing on his cheeks. "Yeah, I saw you there too."

You exhaled, feeling exhilarated. "I'm actually looking for Johnny Suh. Maybe you know him? He paid for my dinner."

His jaw dropped and gaped open for a bit before he closed it again. "That's funny because... I'm Johnny Suh."

Jaehyun panicked as you lost your balance due to weakened knees caused by shock. He caught you in his arms, eyes widening as he asked if you were alright. You got up, trying to calm down as you stared at him more closely.

"Yeah. It's just... I've been looking for you since I got here. Matter of fact, I've been searching for you way longer than that."

Jaehyun felt guilty for lying, but it was the only way you wouldn't get in that car and disappear from his life forever, so he decided to just ride with it. He can worry about telling you the truth later.

"Well, I guess you found me."

Rome at night was magnificent, as you're now finding out while you walked the cobblestone streets with Jaehyun who you now believe to be Johnny. You had no idea about his pretense, but you were on cloud nine, thinking you've found what you came here for and he's everything you dreamed he would be. Considering how it was he who found you while you were chasing a different person, you strongly believed fate was behind the whole thing.

"Accountant? That's great. I work for a fashion brand."

You hummed. "Let me guess, shoes?"

"Was it that obvious?" he asked, smiling shyly and showing more of his dimples that you can't get enough of.

You shrugged. "Not really but you were pretty delicate with my foot tonight and you even told me it wasn't the right fit. That was true, by the way. These are gifts that are a size too small."

"It looks beautiful on you either way," he chimed and you scowled even though you were smiling at the compliment. "And I'm a photographer for the brand. Not like a designer or something."

"Photographer. Yeah, I heard you were."

Jaehyun goes over a short fence where a neatly trimmed lawn is enclosed. Then he takes your hands to help you jump in.

"Please tell me you don't have this weird fixation on..." you paused, pursing your lips before saying, "feet."

Jaehyun threw his head back laughing. "No. God, no. I mean, some feet are pretty, but no. I'm not into that kind of thing."

"I see. Good to know," you replied, sitting on the lawn when he did it first.

He propped himself up with his hands, beckoning for you to lean in. You did so, leaning on his shoulder and staring into the night sky. The stars weren't visible but the moon shone brightly with sparse clouds painting the sky.

"That's pretty," you commented, staring at the waning moon.

"It is. But it's prettier in Positano. By the beach, with the stars and the sea breeze."

"You've been there?"

"Yes, once. It was a long time ago on a short break when I was in college. I've been here several times after that but I never really went back there. I was mostly just here for work."

"You don't live here?"

He chuckled, looking down at you so you met his gaze. "No. What made you think so?"

"You're Italian is good."

"Ah, well, I come here on the regular. One of our designers lives here in Rome. He holds a showcase every year and I always come to take the photos."

"So, you're busy?"

"Not anymore. The show was earlier today. I'm officially not working from today onwards."

You hummed, staring back at the sky and quietly thinking. Jaehyun relaxed right next to you, resting his cheek on your head.

"Take me to Positano," you asked, trying to be confident despite being shy.

"Sure," he hummed, sniffing your hair before nuzzling his cheek on it. "I'll take you tonight if you want me to."

You scoffed. "Tomorrow maybe?"

"Tomorrow then."

You smiled to yourself but then you remembered the restaurant so you sat up to face him properly. "Right. Earlier tonight at the restaurant..."

"Why?"

"You paid for my food. Does that mean you noticed me?'

"Yeah. I did notice you. Ever since you walked in, actually. You were so beautiful, I barely managed to keep my eyes off of you."

"Then why didn't you talk to me? I had been eyeing you all night."

He exhaled. "How was I to know? Besides, I was with a friend and I didn't want to leave him as much as I'd hate to disturb you."

"Very well then, we should be glad you picked up my shoe."

"I know. I was actually on my way back to the restaurant to talk to you, but I found you running around like Cinderella instead. It's a funny story."

You giggled. "One for the books, if I do say so myself."

He smiled, staring at you with his dreamy eyes. You stared right back, both self-conscious and feeling appreciated under his gaze. It was like he could stare at you forever and you felt so loved like that, so beautiful, and so delighted. "Do you believe in fate?" He asked so you snorted.

"Are you really asking me that? Me, who came all the way here because I believed in fate... maybe a little too much?" You had told him about the Ouija board, the search, and how you followed him just because you answered a call that wasn't for you.

"Hmm. Touche." His lips looked so full and plump and pink even under the moonshine. You stared at them for a while, wondering if they were as soft as they looked. "Would you like to try and see?"

"Hmmh?" you inquired, flushing on the cheeks by his indirect invitation for a kiss.

He tapped his bottom lip and you stared back at it, biting your own to mask your shyness but it only showed how unsure you were.

He took the initiative to lean forward, setting your lips as his goal. You can tell him 'no' or you can dodge and even make a move to refuse, but you didn't. Instead, you leaned forward too, meeting him halfway where your lips found each other. Soft, just like you imagined they'd be. Firm, especially when he started to move them, claiming yours in a long, passionate kiss. The sensation made you warm and euphoric, instinctively reaching for his neck and closing your eyes to take in more of him. When pulled away, you opened your eyes and were met with beautiful brown ones and a smile.

"Hi," you blurted out, unable to think of anything else to say. He just laughed, stealing a brief kiss before pulling you back in his arms.

It was past midnight when you parted, not even wanting to let go of each other's hands even while you were literally standing in front of your door. He kept telling you about tomorrow and you kept saying 'yes' to going to Positano. If it wasn't for Jihyo who scolded you for keeping the door wide open, you would spend the entire night staring into each other's eyes.

"See you in the morning," he said for the final time, kissing your forehead when you pressed it on his chin.

"See you in the morning, Johnny," you replied. You saw him do a double take but he just sighed and didn't say anything else, just a wave before leaving.

You closed the door and did a twirl as you walked further into the room. Jihyo chuckled teasingly. "You look obscenely happy."

"Thanks. I am," you replied proudly before stepping into the bathroom for a quick wash.

The morning was beautiful from your window, but sadly, you are set to leave Rome today for the beaches of Positano. You were excited to leave and it seems like Jihyo was too because she was the first to drag her stuff out of the room. A hotel attendant helped you with your luggage and brought them down to the parking area where two cars and two gorgeous men were waiting for you.

"Good morning," Jaehyun greeted as you ran towards him with open arms. "Are you ready to go?"

"Can't wait."

He chuckled and tapped your nose affectionately. Glancing over at the other car, Jaehyun asked if they were ready too. Andre raised a thumb in response.

"We'll follow right behind you," he told Jaehyun, who waved and beckoned for you to get into the car.

The ride was fun. Music filled your ears and the air blew your hair beautifully. Jaehyun's camera sat on the compartment between your seats and you asked if you could use it. He agreed and cited instructions on how to operate it. When you got the gist of it, you started snapping pictures of him driving. He noticed this and started posing for the camera, earning a giggle from you.

"You look great in these, John," you commented as you browsed through your snaps.

"I'll take pretty ones of you later," he promised, taking one of your hands and kissing it.

Positano was beautiful too, much greener and much more provincial than the first two cities you've visited. You could the sea beyond the cliffs and Jaehyun said you'll be staying in a hotel by the beach. A few more minutes of traveling and you finally reached the said hotel, its driveway was expertly lined with tall trees on each side, giving it a majestic entrance.

"Food! Great because I'm starving," Jihyo announced as soon as she spotted the hotel restaurant. She dragged you there, leaving the men to take care of the luggage and the check-in.

You ordered a feast and soon Andre and Jaehyun joined you without your bags.

"Y/n, dearie," Andre began, sitting next to Jihyo. "I hope you don't mind. I booked a room for me and Jihyo to share."

You cocked an eyebrow at Jihyo, who smiled sheepishly. "Ah, come on. You have Johnny. You won't be alone," she pouted.

You exchanged looks with Jaehyun who just nodded encouragingly. "If you want, I can get a different room."

"No. It's fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked, reaching for your hand that was on your thigh.

You held his arm with your free hand and beamed at him. "Yes. I don't mind."

"Alright."

The food was great, as you had expected. Jihyo chose the restaurant's best-selling sets so the men ended up praising her choice, even encouraging you to try specific things. You were impressed at Jaehyun being well-versed in both the language and the food. It seems he really liked Italy despite saying he only ever comes here for work. Even when you went out for a walk by the beach, he kept telling you about the seashells you would pick up while taking random shots of you at the same time. You enjoyed his trivia so much that you purposely picked up different shells and rocks to ask him about.

"That one's different," he commented, taking the shell from your hand to get a better look at it. "This one is not usually found here, but it's still pretty. Probably washed over by the current."

"It looks like you," you quipped, taking it back and putting side by side his face to better compare it.

"How do you say so?" he grinned.

"See. Your hair is the same color, golden brownish. This shell is you, Johnny!"

Jaehyun laughed taking the shell again and chucking it in his pocket. "I'll keep it then. Souvenir from the best vacation of my life."

"You're a flirt, Mr. Suh."

"That's because you're pretty, Ms. Y/N," he retorted, pulling you flush on his side.

You giggled, wrapping your arm around his waist as you continued walking. At one point, you were able to take his camera and snap pictures of him. He looked regal on the camera but it was nothing compared to what you're seeing in real time. He's breathtaking, like the sea breeze and the view right before you. He's gorgeous and golden, like the sun that's setting down the horizon.

You leaned on Jaehyun's chest, staring at the sunset with dreamy eyes. None of you were talking, tired from goofing around all afternoon and just utterly speechless by the beauty before you. It felt right to be here, perfect even. But at the back of your head, there's a fear of this moment coming to an end. You don't want it to, and you wish you could stay there forever, flush in his embrace, engulfed in his warmth and staring into the beautiful sunset until time passes by so long that the sun begins to rise again.

"Would you be surprised to hear that I might be falling in love with you?" asked Jaehyun, unaware of the way he's willingly being vulnerable in front of you.

"Yes, but it would make me happy to know that too," you confessed, closing your eyes to focus on his heartbeat. "I like being here, right by your side. It feels right. It feels good. I don't think I'm gonna let anyone take this away."

You felt him kiss your head so you looked up, reaching up to kiss his lips. "Would you stay?" you asked.

He lifted your chin so your lips could touch properly. "I'll be wherever you are and wherever you want me to be."

With that, you kissed again, the sunset witnessing the birth of love that was meant to be. A kiss that was fated to happen. Two people meant to meet and be together.

Days with Jaehyun were filled with new experiences. You went boating, scuba diving, hiking, and cruising around in a small yacht owned by Andre. If you weren't taking each other's pictures, you were making out somewhere cozy. On the times when you were cooped up in your suite, you're both tangled limb by limb, content with sharing each other's warmth and getting to know more of each other's strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and even hopes and dreams. You bonded over photography, him as the photographer and you as his subject. You talked about the future like you both belonged in each other's versions of it. Five days in Positano had you realizing you had never told so much about yourself to anyone until Jaehyun, who you still cluelessly believed to be Johnny.

Jaehyun on the other hand was getting anxious about the lie. The closer you got, the more he feared losing you once you found out that he lied. It shouldn't be a big deal, but he knows it was given how passionate you get when talking about destiny and fate and the universe putting you in the world to be with that one person. You still believed that that one person was Johnny Suh, but Jaehyun would rather believe that it was him. He wanted to believe that it was fate that brought you together, you were fated and he just happened to have a different name. It shouldn't matter, right?

"Where are we going?" you asked as you let Jaehyun guide you through the bushes.

"You'll see."

You started to hear faint orchestra music and make out bright lights beyond the tall bushes. When you finally reached a clearing, you saw a huge house in front of you, almost like an actual palace. The music grew louder and you could see people dressed beautifully walking around the garden while most of them were gathered inside.

"Please tell me we have an invitation for this thing," you pleaded, holding Jaehyun,'s hand tighter.

He glanced briefly at you and chuckled. "Of course we don't. We're not elite Italian socialites."

You gasped. "Are we gate crashing?"

He pressed a finger on his lips and shushed you. "We're foreigners who made a wrong turn while looking for the bathroom."

As you neared the entrance, you nervously bit your lip. "I have a feeling you've done this plenty of times."

He chuckled. "Well, for once, your assumption was wrong. I haven't. This is my first time."

"Are you kidding me? So you don't have an exit plan?"

"Have you heard about spontaneity? You should try some."

You scoffed mockingly. How dare he say that to you. You literally flew all the way to Italy on a whim.

He straightened up, patting his suit and tie. You did the same, thanking the fact that you were both out for a fancy dinner tonight and your nice clothes are helping you blend in easily with the crowd.

"Welcome to the Baron's ball, Madam," Jaehyun greeted with a bow then he offered his arm for you to hold on to. "Shall we?"

You giggled, hooking your hand on his arm. "Lead the way, Mr. Suh."

He grinned at you before he led you inside the venue. People are dressed in fancy-looking dresses and suits, most of them shimmering under the massive chandelier's light, giving you anxiety and fear of getting caught for being underdressed. An actual orchestra was playing the music and while some were chatting on the sides, others were at the center of the hall, dancing in pairs. Nerves started creeping up on you when Jaehyun guided you all the way to the dance floor.

"What are you doing?" you scolded in a whisper but he just shushed you gently, squeezing your hand in assurance.

"We can't pass up on a chance to dance at a swanky party," he whispered in your ear, kissing the side of your head right after and leaving you warm and nervous.

"Good evening," one man greeted and Jaehyun was quick to give him an acknowledging nod.

"Good evening," he replied. Now that you're noticing it, he had been making greetings all night, nodding and smiling at the people who happened to look your way. It makes you look less conspicuous and more like you actually knew people there.

You soon reached the dance floor and you let him pull you in a dancing stance similar to everyone else there, one hand pulling your waist gently and the other delicately holding your hand. You placed your hand on his shoulder, stroking his neck with your thumb as you both swayed to the music.

"Relax, love," he smiled, leaning closer to your ear. "You got me. We'll be fine."

You couldn't help smiling and relaxing into his voice—a baritone melody of your own. You close the gap between you, pressing your ear on his chest while you continue to dance. Your heart was at ease and just like how it had always been ever since you met him, you felt the fulfillment of belonging to something, to someone. You were glad you booked that flight and fate was amazing for letting you pick up that call. Finally, you feel like you found what you came here for. Everything might have gone too fast, but it didn't feel that way at all. Rather, it feels more like things have started falling into place, right where they're supposed to be. Including you who's supposed to be in his arms, just like right now.

"Is this destiny?" he asked and you smiled, lifting your head to peek at his face. He was smiling down at you too, eyes crinkling and dimples showing.

"It is. Because if it isn't then it shouldn't feel this right, John."

He had a sad smile that he quickly masked by kissing your forehead. "I'm just asking because I'm not big on destiny and soulmates and all that stuff. But a friend told me that everything you do, everywhere you go, everyone you meet, you meet them for a reason. The reason was destiny. Do you think so too?"

You nodded. "I've been a firm believer of destiny since I was little. I like to believe that destiny governs our lives, especially with meeting people. Every friend we unfriended, every enemy we hated, everyone we loved and stopped loving, even the passing older woman in the grocery store or the student looking down at his phone on the train. We met them because we were meant to meet them. To some we play a role in their lives, others we don't even care about, but it was all meant to be. And we begin in a random place, navigating through people and relationships and places until we find where we belong."

"That's beautiful."

You smiled at him, tiptoeing to peck on his lips. "It's even more beautiful now that I found you. This, I feel, is where I belong."

"I feel so too," he replied, leaning down low for a longer kiss. "I feel like after this, wherever you are or wherever I go, I will find you."

You gasped, grinning upon remembering something. "You know that song that goes, anytime, every time I get lost you will find me."

Jaehyun's eyebrows knitted. "No, but I like it already."

You rolled your eyes. "I'll have you listen to it later."

The music changed at that moment, into something more energetic and fun. People started cheering and heading for the dance floor, cramping the space. You held on to Jaehyun when you lost your balance and he held you right up until people stopped coming in and finished adjusting the spaces. You looked around anxiously and found that everybody was in coordinated places, except for the two of you.

"I have a bad feeling about this," you told Jaehyun, the music has halted and everyone in their pairs and places seemed to be waiting for it to play again. "Should we leave?"

"Just relax. It's a cotillion. Let's just blend in."

The music started playing and the dancers started dancing in eerily coordinated movements and uniform dance steps. Jaehyun was swaying you around, laughing at the ridiculousness of being at the center of this beautiful dance.

"Dance, love. Dance like this is your last night in Italy," he beamed at you and you started copying his silly dance moves, all the while laughing and giggling your embarrassment away. It wasn't long until other people started noticing you.

"The guy in the red suit, I think he's a guard or a butler or something," he told you. "When he comes this way, we run to that door, okay?"

"What?" The panic in your voice was loud, following the direction he was pointing to. "Wait, that wasn't where we came from!"

"Yes, but it would be easier to escape through there!"

"Oh, god no. Is that a guest list he's checking?" you questioned, observing the man going through a book? When he looked at you sternly, you held your breath and grabbed Jaehyun's hand before you started bolting for the door.

"Oi! Hey!" came the voice of some guy.

Jaehyun stopped you from running and knelt to take your shoes off of your feet. You kicked them hastily and as soon as he picked them up, you ran out of the main entrance right outside a long garden. Jaehyun spared no second and went for the huge gates. The man chasing after you started shouting in Italian but you were already past the gates with the clueless guards scowling at the unusual occurence.

You didn't stop running until you were far from the venue, laughing and giggling all the while until you both stopped to catch your breath by the seawall. Jaehyun sat on the ledge, tapping the space next to him to invite you over. You sat there panting, leaning on him for support.

"You good?" he questioned, wrapping an arm around you and massaging your shoulder.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Better than ever," he replied and you both laughed heartily, breathless and euphoric. You sat up after a while and stared at his face.

"You're a bad influence."

He grinned proudly. "I know. Can I kiss you?"

"I might if you don't," you replied bravely, looking at his lips. And he did, he kissed you long and sweet, until you were both breathless on that ledge, until you were both overcome by more than just the adrenaline from the recent run.

When you arrived at the hotel, the receptionist greeted him as Mr. Jung, which made you wonder. So when the elder man turned around, you asked, "Mr. Jung? I thought you were Mr. Suh?"

"He's probably another Asian guest. To these people, all Asians look the same."

You laughed because he was right. You've had similar experiences before. Besides, you were so drunk on his scent and his warmth that you forgot about everything else as you rushed to his suite. As soon as the doors closed, you jumped into one another, kissing and nipping your skins in a spur of lust. You knew where this was heading. You knew you would end up sleeping with him so you slipped away from his arm even as he chased after you.

"There's something you should know. It's gonna surprise you and might have you rethinking this whole thing," you said, looking into his half-lidded eyes. He smiled and rested his forehead on yours.

"I don't think anything you say can change how I feel about you."

The statement made your heart swell so you hugged him again, kissing him on the lips before he parted with you to nip on your jaw and neck. You tilted your head to the side to give him better access, letting out a faint moan as his lips brushed your skin. "The truth is..."

"Hmm?" He inquired, sending vibrations to your skin. He nibbled on your ear before adding, "What is it?"

"I'm actually..." you began, taking his face so you could see his eyes. "...engaged."

He makes a full stop, half-lidded eyes now wide open in shock. "You're what?"

"I'm engaged. I'm supposed to get married in like, a week or something."

He backed away just enough so your chest would stop touching. He was still holding your arm when he asked, "Then why are you a thousand miles from home looking for a soulmate in a complete stranger?"

"I... well, I happened to have answered your call for my boss, Taeyong Lee. And at the time I was very very conflicted about getting married and spending the rest of my life with someone I'm not sure about. And then you called and it happened to be me who answered. I..." you paused, reaching for his cheek and stroking it. "I had reason to believe it was fate telling me to find you."

He kissed you again, pulling you even closer this time then carrying you onto his bed. He climbed on top of you, kissing, sucking, and nipping at every exposed skin. "Well, I kinda have a little something to say too... It might be a big deal."

You sat up, unbuttoning his shirt as you shook your head. "It doesn't matter."

"Are you sure?"

You smiled, reaching in to touch his chest. "We found each other, didn't we? That's all that matters. I mean, what could be worse than me being an engaged woman?"

He smiled, revealing his dimples as he dived in to lay you down again. He showered your skin with kisses again while you led his hand to palm your breast. "I don't know... maybe the fact that my name is not Johnny Suh."

In a daze from the sensation of his kisses and his touches, you couldn't quite process what he just said. "You're not?"

"No."

Your brows knitted, eyes half-closed as you felt arousal clouding your head even darker under his hands. "Then, who are you?"

"I'm Jung Jaehyun."

Your eyes fluttered open, suddenly feeling wide awake. "What?!" you hollered, pushing him off of you but he was heavy so you were only able to move him a little.

He pouted, "You said none of it matters."

"Yes, except for that!" you bellowed, pushing him with your legs that sent him flying off the bed and onto the floor.

"Hey, it's just a name!"

You stood up angrily, picking up your purse, your shoes, and your coat from where they were scattered in the room. "You are a liar! You're a jerk and a horrible, horrible person!"

"Hey, calm down." He attempted to calm you, holding your flailing arms that were hitting his chest, but you yanked your arms away from his grasp.

"Don't touch me!"

Jaehyun raised his arms in surrender. "Okay. Okay. I lied. But only about my name. The rest of it was true. All of it. My dreams, my hopes, how I felt about you... all of it. I like books, I'm a photographer. I didn't lie about any of that!"

"Except the most important thing to me!"

Jaehyun sighed, shoulders sagging and head tilting in defeat. "Come on, love."

"Don't call me that."

"I thought you liked it?"

"I did when I thought you were Johnny."

Jaehyun exhaled sharply, getting frustrated as he followed you through the door to the hallway. "Hey, Johnny isn't even the kind of guy you think he is. Be real. He's a stranger. You don't know him."

"You would be very much a stranger to me too if you hadn't lied about being him. Honestly, that's a terrible thing to do. Have you no conscience?"

He called your name just as you had pressed the elevator button. "Please. Give me a chance. How would you even know he was the man you were looking for?"

"I will figure that out myself," you declared, getting into the lift and facing him. You shut the steel gate so he couldn't follow you inside. "Why did you even do that?"

"Because I'm in love with you!"

You rolled your eyes, scoffing. "You've outdone yourself."

You knock on Jihyo's room with your eyes full of tears, weeping as you pounded nonstop. When the door opened, you saw Jihyo looking like she had been disrupted from sleep. Andre was right behind her and you didn't even care to think they might have been doing something else entirely when you pushed through the door. You sat on the couch by the window and started crying uncontrollably. Jihyo rushed to you, stroking your back and shushing you.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Let's go home, Jihyo. You were right. This was madness. Coming here, chasing after some ghost. Believing in stupid fate. All of this. This is the worst trip of my life!" you ranted, covering your face with your hands.

Jihyo asked Andre to give you both the space and the latter was understanding enough to leave. She let you cry your heart out and offered you a glass of water as soon as you calmed down.

"What happened? Where's Johnny?"

"He's not Johnny, Jihyo. He lied about being Johnny. His name was Jung Jaehyun."

"What? Why would he?"

You scoffed and gave her an incredulous look. Standing up, you started ranting, "Because he's a horrible person, why else? He probably thought this whole thing was a joke and that he could get into my pants if he lied about who he was. Well, guess what? His honesty was five days too late! He has wasted my time and all the effort it took me to come here. I will never believe in fate or destiny or love or any of that crap ever again!"

Jihyo sighed, taking the glass from your hand. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" you snapped.

"Really? You won't believe in fate or destiny? And love too?"

You recognized the worry in her voice and then realized everything you just said. You sat back down and buried your face in your hands. Your whole life, you believed in love and destinies. Everything good that happened to you, you thanked destiny. For everything bad, you believed destiny had something better in store. You believed in love because your parents never stopped loving each other. You believed in love because you grew up in a home where love was the main foundation. Now, just because a random tourist broke your heart, you're throwing everything you believed in out of the window? That doesn't sound like you at all.

"Y/n," Jihyo chanted, hugging your curled up figure. "Maybe this is destiny too. Getting hurt is part of everyone's growth. What he did was wrong and he was indeed a horrible person for doing that but don't let him be the reason you forget everything you believed in, okay?"

You nodded, sniffing the tears away. "Let's go home, Jihyo."

"Okay. We will. We'll go home."

Jihyo was alone in her hotel room, packing up both yours and her bag so you could go home the next day. She was the one who took all your stuff from the room you shared with Jaehyun and found no one there so she just took everything she believed was yours. You were out early to book tickets with Andre so Jihyo was left to clean up.

She was almost done when she heard knocks on the door. At first, she thought it was you or Andre but when she opened up, she was greeted by a huge bouquet of flowers. Jihyo sighed and swatted it away, knowing the tall guy behind it was none other than Jaehyun.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Not Johnny Suh?"

"Oh, Jihyo. Is she here?" he asked, peering inside.

"She's not."

Jaehyun took a sharp exhale. "Would you tell me where she is?"

Jihyo scoffed mockingly. "She's booking tickets for our flight back home."

"You're leaving already?"

"Yes. Early tomorrow. But if she finds a flight for tonight, I'm sure she'll take it. The sooner we leave, the faster she forgets about the jerk she met in Italy."

"Come on, Jihyo. Not you too," he begged. Jihyo just scoffed louder and attempted to close the door but Jaehyun was quick to stop her. "Okay, I know. I know I messed up but can you please hear me out?"

"You're not worth my time, Jaehyun."

"I understand," he sighed, pushing himself inside the room. "But I beg you to hear me out because she wouldn't."

Jihyo crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay. Three minutes."

"Great, well. The thing is," Jaehyun began, placing the bouquet on the table. "I am in love with her."

Jihyo laughed mockingly. "Are all guys the same? Willing to say just anything to get laid?"

"Hey, for the record, I have no problem getting laid."

"You're admitting that you go around sleeping? Gross."

"No. Wait, listen to me..." he took Jihyo to sit down on the chair and crouched on the floor to meet her height. "I never believed in fate as much as she did. I think it's crap."

"Is that why you fooled her? Because you think she believes in crap?"

"Wait. You're not letting me talk."

"Okay. Do it fast."

Jaehyun motioned for her to be quiet. "So, I never believed in that, right? But I wasn't supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to be in Italy at all! I was supposed to be home taking care of my dog because, for the first time since I started working, I have earned a vacation leave. But what happened? The photographer who was supposed to come here canceled and I was called in to fly at the last minute. And so here I was, tired of always coming back here every year only to take pictures of that old grumpy Marchetti's shoes which are nice by the way but not nice enough for him to earn my respect."

"You're blabbering, Jaehyun."

"Sorry, okay." He paused, took a deep breath, and nodded his head. "So here I am in Italy, in Rome, happy that the show was over and I can finally go back home. But then I met my old friend, Johnny Suh. He invited me out to dinner and I accepted because I wanted to catch up with him. And then in comes this gorgeous gorgeous lady in a beautiful red dress. It's like the world was shifting out of focus and all I could see was... her, looking around curiously before sitting on a table by herself."

"She was there for Johnny."

"I know! I mean, no, I didn't at the time but I know now. I wanted to talk to her but I had a friend with me and I'd hate to leave him alone, so I didn't. I was under the impression that she was waiting for someone. I mean, she wouldn't be dressed up so gorgeously if she was alone, right? So I just stole glances and Johnny noticed and he told me to approach her. I said I'd pay for her food instead but he was adamant that I talk to her and then he paid for her bill too."

"I see, so that's what happened."

"Yes, and then my friend left and I was there watching her drink wine after her meal, waiting for a chance. But then I chickened out, so I left."

Jihyo cocked an eyebrow at him, telling him to continue. Jaehyun stood up and started pacing around.

"So I was walking the streets, thinking about her and then suddenly, this girl bumped into me. She was wearing the same dress and the same hairstyle and I knew it was her. I followed her because I'd regret it if I didn't but your friend is a fast runner, did you know that?"

"She did track and field in high school."

Jaehyun clicked his fingers. "I see, that's why. And so I found her shoe, stuck in the cobblestone. I picked it up and started looking for her. She was easy to find in that gorgeous red dress. And so we met and she was visibly upset and then suddenly, you guys were leaving. I knew I had to stop her, I knew I had to at least get her name because I'd regret it if I didn't. I'd regret it if she got into that car and disappeared forever. And then she said she saw me too and told me she was looking for Johnny. I thought it would be easy to make her stay if I said I was Johnny."

"Or you could have just said you know who Johnny Suh is."

"I know! But hey, I panicked, okay? I was... desperate. I guess. I have never felt this way before. Ever. My mum told me to hop on this plane. To go on this trip even when I had to work while I was here. She told me something great might happen to me here and honestly, I know this is it. Finding her was the 'something great' my mom told me about. I just know. I don't know how I knew, I just do. And now I messed it all up. I can't let her leave, Jihyo. Not when I just got to know her."

Jihyo sighed. "That's actually very romantic, but it was wrong from the get-go. This was a big deal for her, she left home to pursue this. She left her fiancée. You lied to her and she's mad at you right now and if you ask me, I would be too."

"Is there any way I can make it up to her?"

"Bring her to your friend, Jaehyun. She just needs a look, a confirmation that she won't be making the wrong decision."

"What? About her marriage?"

"Yes. It's not my place to tell, but she's conflicted."

"Yeah, she mentioned."

"You know about it? Then good. You also know how much this means to her."

The door suddenly opened, revealing Andre who looked surprised to see Jaehyun. "Buddy, you messed up."

"I know," Jaehyun sighed, standing up from the floor and grabbing the bouquet. To Jihyo, he said, "Thanks, Jihyo."

"Good luck, Jaehyun."

The tickets were already booked and you were set to leave in the morning. You checked your bags for a final inspection of your stuff. "We have to leave super early, Jihyo. The flight is early and we don't want to miss it."

"I know. Andre and I will just drive around and stuff. It won't take long."

"Just have fun, okay? You don't have to rush. We just need to be there on time. We have to leave before that jerk comes looking for me."

"You like him, don't you?" Jihyo teased while hooking an earring on her ear. "You're crazy for him."

"I am not. I may like him but it was because he made me believe he was someone else. I thought he was my soulmate."

Jihyo pursed her lips. "You liked him just because you thought he was your soulmate, now that you found out he was someone else, your feelings just disappeared? That doesn't really sound like fate to me."

You scoffed. "You don't believe in fate."

"I don't believe in chasing fate. I believe that it comes to you when it's time."

You sighed in exasperation. "Whose side are you on?"

"No one's," she replied. "So tell me, you're not in love with him?"

"I hate him," you said with utter disgust.

"Good, because that's what I told him when he came to drop flowers for you."

Your ears rang bells in your head along with the pounding of your chest. "He came here?"

"While you were out to book tickets."

"And you told him I hated him?"

Jihyo gave you a playful grin. "You don't?"

You paused and looked away, continuing to pack your things. "None of that changes the fact that he lied about who he is."

Jihyo smiled knowingly. "Good, then we can go home without regrets. I'll go sightseeing with Andre today and you can stay here and... I don't know, weep?"

"You're mean."

"Maybe," she giggled, heading for the door. "Call Eunwoo. Tell him to send out the invitations because you are totally ready to get married to him."

"Park Jihyo!"

"Bye," she chanted, slipping out of the door.

The night came and went. Soon, the birds were chirping outside your window. You didn't even sleep a wink and instead of feeling glad to be going home after over a week of being here, you feel rather heavy. Part of you doesn't want to leave but your mind just wants to get out of there fast.

"Ready?" Jihyo asked after you've buckled your seatbelt in the backseat of Andre's car.

"Ready," you exhaled, forcing out a smile.

Andre turned on the engine and was about to drive when a loud thud made all of you halt. You spotted Jaehyun in front of the car, his large hands pressed on the hood.

"Wait. Don't go yet," he breathed and it seemed to you that he had been running.

You got out of the car to confront him, thinking he was there to argue his case.

"What are you doing?"

Jaehyun inhaled deeply and held your shoulders. "Don't leave yet. Let me make it up to you."

"Nothing you do will ever change my mind, Jaehyun," you belted, putting a clear emphasis on his real name.

Jaehyun bit his lip, looking frustrated. "You're so beautiful."

You turned to go back to the car so Jaehyun stopped you. "No wait, please. I messed up, okay? I understand that you're mad, that's why I'm here now. I want to apologize and make it up to you."

"How? By sweet-talking me?"

Jaehyun shook his head. "No, Johnny. Johnny. I know where Johnny is."

You stopped trying to get in the car and turned to face him. "You're not lying?"

"No. I'm not. Uh, I know he comes here every year and I remembered in Rome he told me he'd be in Amalfi on the 5th. Today is the 5th. He will be there for a while."

"Amalfi? Isn't that just around here?" you asked, turning to Jihyo and Andre.

"It is, and it's worth a shot. Also," he fumbled in his pockets to fish out his phone. "Here, I have his hotel number. You can contact him through that."

"How did you get it?"

"I pulled some strings. But I'm sure that will work. That is if you really changed your mind about finding him."

You paused to think, glancing over at Jihyo for her opinion. She just nodded and you let out a sigh.

Looks like Destiny doesn't want you to leave just yet.

You changed your route from the airport to Amalfi. It wasn't a long trip, just less than an hour and you are already at the hotel Jaehyun mentioned. He followed you there too but you refused to ride with him and settled in the backseat of Andre's convertible. You feel a little stupid for pursuing this again after you went on about how this is all a sham. But you came all the way here, a glimpse of Johnny Suh should be enough. You're not even trying to see if he was your soulmate anymore. You just want to fulfill the goal that brought you here in the first place.

"Can I use your phone?" you asked the receptionist after you checked in. He showed you to the phone and left you there. Your friends went on their ways too. You were nervous to dial his room number and stared at the white telephone for a while.

"Gosh, you can't back out now," you told yourself but just as you were about to grab the receiver, your phone buzzed so you checked it first. Seeing the notification made your jaw drop.

By some miracle, one week since you sent him a message, user johnnyjsuh finally got back to you!

You successfully contacted Johnny through Instagram and he apologized for seeing your message so late. After a quick chat, you asked if you two could have dinner together and told him you were in the area. He accepted and set the time for it, promising to treat you to some great food.

You got ready for said dinner, picking out a demure white dress that you had in your luggage. Jihyo was excited for you too and she was going for a dinner date with Andre so she was getting ready with you. You were in the middle of getting dressed when Andre arrived, Jaehyun in tow with a box. You escaped into the bathroom since you were still half naked.

"I'm gonna go," Jihyo said holding on to Andre's arm. "See you later, okay?"

"See you!" you called out from inside the bathroom.

"See you later, Jaehyun," Jihyo told Jaehyun before closing the door.

Jaehyun knocked on the bathroom door. "I got something for you."

"Maybe later, Jae. I'm kind of naked right now," you chided and Jaehyun gulped at the idea of you naked in there.

"Just take it. I won't look. You're gonna need it."

You peeked through the door and Jaehyun handed the box to you. You took it and then found that it was a pair of white shoes. "Thanks! But how do you know my size?"

"Um, intuition?" he chuckled, looking around your room and spotting the dress hanging in the closet. He grabbed it and stood outside the bathroom door.

"Good guess. It fits perfectly," you called back out. Jaehyun flashed a proud smile. You opened the door slightly and poked your hand out. "Hey, Jaehyun, do you mind handing me my dress. It's the white one in the—"

You couldn't finish your sentence because he had already hung the hanger on your finger. You pulled it inside and thanked him. Jaehyun then went over to the dresser and picked up a set of earrings and a bracelet.

"Oh, and I also need my earrings—" you stopped when Jaehyun placed the pair in your hand the moment you pushed it out of the door. "And my silver bracelet—" Again, Jaehyun placed the jewellery on your palm.

Quite impressed, you popped your head out of the gap to see him. He was standing right outside and he smiled when he saw you. "What?"

You shook your head. "Nothing. Thanks."

After getting dressed, you opened the bathroom door and found him sitting on the couch with an Italian magazine. You shyly asked him to button your dress for you.

"Usually, I can do it myself but with zippers."

"Yeah, no problem," he lilted, touching you exposed shoulder and turning you so you were facing the mirror.

You could see him from the reflection, looking as handsome as when you first met him. The air of elegance, his beautiful skin, and plump lips. You remembered kissing him and found your hand touching your lower lip. When he couldn't button you up with one hand, the other hand left your shoulder to fiddle with the locks. His face contorted in concentration and you felt a rush in your veins when his fingers brushed the bare skin of your spine.

"Damn buttons," he muttered as soon as he buttoned you up. He met your gaze in the mirror and smiled at you. "You look great."

"Thank you," you breathed, still locked in his gaze. You saw his jaw clench and noticed how he tucked his hands in his back pocket.

"You should go. Johnny's probably waiting."

You sighed. "Thanks for taking me here, Jae."

His face darkened as he clenched his jaw again. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Don't call me Jae." He closed the gap between you until you can feel his warmth from behind you.

"But... isn't that your name?"

"Yes," he muttered, resting his head on your shoulder. "And it sounds so good when you say it. It was meant for your lips, for your voice..."

"Don't do this, Jaehyun..."

He let out a sigh that made you hold your breath. He just told you not to say his name but you did.

"Go to Johnny. Go see if he really is your soulmate."

You chuckled bitterly, turning to face him. "Are you mocking me?"

But the look on his face was anything but mockery. Instead, he looked frustrated and defeated. "I'm asking you to go. Maybe if he makes you happy, I'll move on."

You touched his face and he nuzzled on the warmth of your hand. When you were about to let go, he held your hand in place, the other finding your waist and pulling you close. You don't know what it was that was drawing you to Jaehyun. Is it because he was handsome? But you met countless handsome guys. Heck, your boyfriend was literally the most handsome man you laid eyes on. Is it his charm? Or the way he makes you feel like you're all he wants? Whatever it was, it was drawing you again, making you reach to hold onto his neck while he pulled you into a soft kiss.

"Don't go," he pleaded with eyes closed, pressing his forehead on yours after the kiss. "Stay."

"This is what I came here for, Jae," you insisted, watching his pained expression. "I must do this."

You let go of him and took your purse. Jaehyun turned his back, not giving you a look even as you bade him good night. The night was young and the breeze blew cold. Somehow, you regretted wearing this dress and not bringing a coat. You were being irresponsible. But as you descended down the lower floor where the restaurant sat, you felt warmer. The man at the entrance greeted you and you gave him the name on the reservation. He called for another man to escort you to your table.

Johnny was sitting at the table. Your intuition was right that night in Rome. You followed the dark-haired man at that time and he turned out to be the real Johnny Suh.

"Hi. You must be, y/n," he greeted, standing up to shake your hands. You accepted it and felt how small your palm was compared to his.

"Thanks for accepting my invitation," you began, sitting down after the waiter pulled out the chair for you.

"Thanks for asking me," he chimed.

You ordered food and chatted for a bit. He talks a lot while you observe him quietly. He was a bit different from what you thought he would be. You had based his being on the quality of his photography. They were taken with delicate care and attention, but the man before you seemed to be a little on the manlier side; macho, buff, and aloof. His build, his voice, and even his mannerisms. But then again, you know you shouldn't judge someone by their appearance.

"Thanks by the way. That night at the restaurant in Rome. You paid for my dinner."

He appeared to think but it didn't take him long. "Oh, the girl in the red dress? That was you?"

"Yes."

"I remember. I was with a friend, Jung Jaehyun. We met by chance in Rome so I told him I'd treat him dinner. Then he saw you there. You looked immaculate, by the way. That dress sure made heads turn. Mine included."

"Is that why you paid for my meal? You could have talked to me, then," you beamed.

"Well, not really. It was Jaehyun who liked you and he wanted to talk to you but he couldn't leave me so he decided to pay for you instead. I said I'd pay and that he should go talk to you."

"Oh, so that's what happened," you said, looking down at your food. You don't feel fulfilled or satisfied. In fact, you feel forced to be here, like you were complying with something even when this dinner was your idea in the first place.

"Did he?"

You were prompted from your thoughts. "What?"

"Did he talk to you at all?"

"Yeah. We talked. Actually, he brought me here. I really wanted to meet you."

"Really? I'm flattered. But what for?"

You didn't want to reveal more about the crazy soulmate thing to him so you cooked up an excuse. "I'm a fan of your work. I follow you on Instagram and I saw that you were here so I thought I'd meet you since I also happened to be around."

"Thanks, I really appreciate that. Although I mainly do photography as a hobby. My wife liked looking at pictures."

Your heart rate picked up pace. Weirdly though, you didn't feel any hint of sadness, rather, you were relieved to know he was unavailable. "You are married?"

"Were. She passed away a few years back." He saw your face turn pale. "Don't be sorry, I'm fine. I've moved on. However, I'm not in a position where I can entertain the possibility of a relationship. So, it might sound a bit obnoxious, but I hope you didn't find me for that."

"That's okay. I really just wanted to get to know you. My boss, Taeyong Lee, you know him right?"

"Right, Taeyong. Of course. You work for him?"

"Yes. I saw some of your pieces in our magazine. That's where I knew you from." You couldn't believe how you tormented Jaehyun for lying while here you are spouting lies to avoid embarrassing yourself. The situation may be minor on your part, but lying is still lying.

No, it was completely different. Johnny didn't need to know you obsess over his name through your teens. You needed to know if the person you almost hooked up with and threw your relationship with Eunwoo for was really Johnny. It was different and whatever Jaehyun's excuse was, he still did a terrible thing to you.

The dinner was nice. Despite the uncertainty you felt in the first part, he turned out to be fun to talk to. You agreed to take a walk by the beach, talking and laughing here and there while wrapped in his coat. He was mostly making jokes about crazy encounters overseas every year. He would ask about you too and you told him a few interesting things about you. He also discussed how he met his wife in Italy. Since then, they always visited the country. They both liked the sea at Amalfi and would always spend most of their vacation days here.

"Must be nice to be in love like that," you commented, just as you spotted the restaurant on your way back.

"It is. I was lucky to have experienced that kind of love."

"I know it's not my place to comment but I think you should try again. You know, maybe you'll find another woman who'd make you happy. Maybe you'll get to experience beautiful love again."

He chuckled. "You know sometimes I think she's up there saying the exact same thing."

"Really?"

"Yes. That's the kind of person she is. She wouldn't want me to be lonely because she's gone. That's why instead of grieving, I tried to live on. Now I am still reliving the times I spent with her, but, I'm doing it with a happy heart. If someone else comes to change my life forever the way she did, then, I'll welcome her with open arms."

You just smiled, nodding your head as you reached the stairs to the seawall. He offered his hand for you to hold on to and you gladly took it. When you reached the platform, you took off his coat and handed it back to him.

"I think we both know that someone is not me," you quipped and he tilted his head uncertainly.

"Well, you're a lovely woman and I would have fallen for you in no time but, nah. I don't think so," he said and you both laughed. "I'm big on soulmates and destiny. I like to believe that if she's the one, I would know. There has to be some sign or a feeling. I'm not sure, but I just know."

"You know that's funny because I actually came here to fulfill my destiny," you confessed, giggling at how ridiculous you sounded.

"You did?"

"Yeah, I was looking for my soulmate. I got his name when I was twelve and since then, I believed he's the one for me."

Johnny stops walking and stares at you. "Wait, don't tell me..."

You winced and gave him an embarrassed look. "Yeah. The Ouija board gave me your name."

His eyes widened and he covered his mouth with one hand, looking shocked but you knew he was just trying not to laugh.

"Don't laugh. I'm embarrassed enough."

He pursed his lips but you can still see the smile he was holding in. "I'm not judging."

You threw your head back to laugh. "It's ridiculous, isn't it? Now that I'm looking back on it, I think my friend or my sister might have been behind the whole thing."

"Hey, who knows? Maybe you were right to come here."

"No, Johnny. No offense, but I don't want to fill in for your great love."

Johnny laughed. "That's not what I was gonna say."

"Okay then sorry, go on."

"I'm saying, you came here looking for something. Now, it might have been me at first but the truth may be that you were chasing for your destiny. Maybe if you stuck around a bit longer, you'll find what you're looking for."

You caught a glimpse of Jaehyun on the restaurant's veranda, a glass of wine in his hand that he drank quickly when you caught him looking. He turned his back on you and pretended to talk to Andre and Jihyo. Not even a few seconds later, you caught him sneaking another peek and then looking away immediately.

"How do I say this, um... It was fate that brought you here, y/n. I'm sure she has big plans for you."

"Yes, I agree," you muttered, still watching Jaehyun from afar. You turned to Johnny. "Hey, listen."

"Hmmh?"

"Are you sure you're not just saying that to be a wingman for your friend?" you asked pointedly, a bit accusing but you were determined to know the truth.

"No. Which friend?" he asked. "I haven't met a friend who knows you."

"Jaehyun."

"Ah, Jaehyun? No. The last time I saw him was in Rome," he replied and then paused to think. "Didn't you say he was here too?"

"Yes."

Johnny perked up. "Great. We should meet for a drink."

"No need to call him. He's right there," you said, pointing at the restaurant. "Would you like to join us? We're here together with some friends."

"I would love to."

You climbed back up the restaurant to join your friends. You introduced Johnny to Jihyo and Andre, making sure to remind Jihyo not to act weird around him. You had drinks by the bar, chatting and laughing through the night. Jaehyun barely looked at you, his attention taken by Johnny and Andre who kept chatting him up about random things. All the while, you stood by, quietly joining in and laughing along while thinking hard about the Johnny Suh that you obsessed over, Jaehyun who you thought was Johnny, and the fate that brought the three of you here in the beautiful Amalfi.

"Are you okay?" Jihyo asked, noticing your silence.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," you replied. It wasn't even an excuse. You really were tired and hoped the night would end quickly.

"We can go back now if you want," Jihyo offered but you knew it was only because she was worried about you. While you appreciate that so much, you also don't want to ruin her night, especially after seeing how cozy she was with Andre.

"I'll be fine. I can go back by myself. Have fun though," you assured her and it took a bit of convincing before she agreed.

You slipped away quietly, not even bidding them goodbye and telling Jihyo to let them know instead. The stairs were winding and you felt dizzy as you walked up. You're not drunk yet, just a little tipsy from the wine. You huffed when you reached the second-floor landing. One more set of stairs and you'd reach your suite, so you inhaled and took another step. But you ended up losing balance on your heels and falling over. Your butt landed on the floor with a thud. It didn't hurt much though but you felt frustrated.

"Hey," came a voice from below, followed by rushed footsteps ascending the stairs. Jaehyun helped you up, looking worried. "What happened to you?"

"Your shoes are stupid," you grumbled, taking the shoes off and standing up with his help. "Why would you even give them to me?"

Jaehyun chuckled awkwardly. "I don't know. I saw them and thought you'd look great in them."

"Well, I did but they're crap," you huffed angrily.

Jaehyun just sighed as he walked up the stairs with you. "Was the date bad? You seem to be in a bad mood."

"No. The date was great. Johnny was a great guy. He's funny, he's nice, and he's honest," you ranted, emphasizing the honest part.

"I'm sorry, y/n. I really am. I brought you here to hopefully make it up with you. But seeing that you're still mad, I guess it didn't work."

You stopped in front of your room's door and faced him with a stern expression. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Like I said, I wanted to apologize."

You sighed. "By setting me up with your friend? I thought you're in love with me?"

"I am! But you're mad and it's because I messed up," he confessed, sighing in defeat. "So to apologize for wasting your time, here's Johnny Suh."

"But you're in love with me."

"That's true."

You sighed and dropped your purse to clutch his collar. Close to tears and frustrated, you asked, "Why would you set me up with him if you're in love with me?"

Jaehyun seemed taken aback as he held your elbows, confused by your actions and words. "Y/n, I..."

"You even bought me shoes," you spat. "What if we ended up liking each other? What if he really was my soulmate? Were you just gonna let me go?"

"Fuck, no! I'd fight him for you, y/n. I'd keep trying until you tell me to get lost. Hell, I'd even follow you back to Seoul and stop your wedding. If I lost you here, if I missed this chance, I would... I would..." he sighed, pulling you into a hug and burying his face in the crook of your neck. "I would never forgive myself."

You let him stay there, feeling the warmth from his body and his breath.

"I know how stupid it sounds to fall in love with someone so quickly, but I did. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. I knew you were the one for me, I knew you're everything that was meant to be. And I'm sorry I lied but I did that because I was scared I'd lose you forever without even knowing your name. I'm sorry."

You pushed him away, gazing into his eyes and seeing sincerity there, mixed with emotion you couldn't fathom. You reached for his cheek, stepping closer to plant a kiss on his lips.

"Y/n..." he croaked but you silenced him by kissing him again. This time, when you were about to let go, he held your waist flush against him, making sure you didn't leave. He deepened the kiss, reeling you into a surge of sensations and emotions that clouded your head. When he pulled away for a brief moment to look into your eyes, you wanted to reach for him again, to feel him and be engulfed in his warmth again.

"Take me, Jaehyun," you pleaded and that made Jaehyun exhale sharply before holding your hand firmly and pulling you into his room.

Jaehyun basically kicked the door closed as soon as you were both inside, hands firm on your back and lips pressed onto yours. Your hands were busy unbuttoning his shirt, fumbling but succeeding when you had the entire shirt tossed on the floor. Jaehyun had struggled with the buttons on your back earlier and the sound of your dress being ripped made you pull away from him and gasp.

"Jaehyun!"

"Sorry, love. I'll get you a new one," he promised, pulling you back to his embrace to continue ravaging your lips. The back of his knees hit the bed so he sat down, pulling your leg up to make you straddle his lap. The kiss was intense, tongues clashing and teeth nipping on each other. His hand was firm on your back, unclasping your bra expertly and throwing it across the room. You then tilted your head when his kisses trailed down your neck until they reached your bosom. Moans escaped your lips as he suckled your breasts, playing with the other. The neediness started getting into your head so you bucked your hips on his erection, sending a surge of pleasure for the both of you. He let you do that for a moment while his mouth left bruises on your skin. You knew how it would look in the morning and you knew everyone would see it but you didn't mind. Your head started spinning at the mere thought of people finding out that Jaehyun had marked your body as his own.

With a swift movement, he pinned you on the bed, getting rid of your dress so you were naked underneath him. Then he muttered your name, stroking your cheek with the back of his hand. "You're so beautiful, it hurts."

You desperately took his hand and placed it on your bare breast. "Touch me, Jaehyun."

He palmed your breast, kneading firmly before diving in to suck your nipples. You moaned loudly, sending Jaehyun into a spiral that made him bite your bud. His hand then moved down from your boob, mouth still attached to it. He pulled your underwear down to touch your pussy, massaging the wetness that pooled there.

"Haven't we both been waiting for this?" he asked but you just whimpered under his touch. "Why did we even hold ourselves back?"

"Jaehyun!" you chided him for taking his time but it came out as a raspy moan, making his dick twitch in his boxers.

He cursed you as he reached for a pouch on his bedside table then pulled out a strip of condoms. You could hardly wait for him to tear open the packet so you sat up and pulled his boxers down, putting his dick in your mouth the moment it sprang free. Jaehyun let out a loud moan, surprised at your eagerness. He let you suck him for a while holding your head in place until you had your fill and stopped. He then pumped his cock a few times before encasing it in the condom.

"How are you so hot?"

"How are you still talking?" you retorted, falling back on the bed with a light bounce.

He prodded your entrance and slowly pushed inside. His length and girth made you moan as he adjusted in your clasp and you on his size. After a few slow movements to make sure he was positioned perfectly, he started thrusting at a steady pace, getting faster and faster as he went.

When you came here, you never imagined having sex with someone, not even the soulmate that you were desperately searching for. And Jaehyun, he's a stranger and even the way he makes you feel is new to you. You've always been the sensual kind, taking things slow and steady. Jaehyun was steady but strong. The force can be felt by your entire body and each thrust brings pain that is not doing anything to actually hurt you, instead, you crave more of it. You screamed for more of it, letting him break through you and use you to satiate his lust. The way he hits the tight spot drives you crazy and the way he's stretching you open feels elaborate and perfect.

"Oh my god, Jaehyun!" you screamed, feeling the familiar knot in your stomach. The clenching of your pussy made it known to him that you're close and your louder and more eager moaning is driving him to the edge too. His thrusts became harder and more erratic as he gripped your waist, chasing his orgasm until he bucked one hard thrust into you and kept it there. He groaned in satisfaction, arching his back with his eyes closed and mouth open.

"Fuck," he blurted, looking down at your fucked out expression and grinning. He leaned to kiss your forehead so you smiled.

"Hey," you said weakly, out of breath and out of energy.

You chased your breath some more as he thrust a few more times before he pulled out and collapsed next to you. The sound of panting filled the room as the air of lust dissipated. He glanced at you and you glanced back, laughing at each other, both drunk on orgasm.

Two years later, you were standing in front of a podium, facing the person who would be officiating your wedding. After simple vows thanking fate for bringing you together, you stamped your seals on a piece of paper and sealed it with a kiss. Both of your friends and family were present to share this beautiful day with you. Even Andre Marchetti, who turned out to be the son of the Italian shoemaker who was Jaehyun's nemesis. He and Jihyo ended their fling right before you left Italy two years ago but he still got invited for playing a huge part in your crazy love story. Cha Eunwoo was present too, with his wife and beautiful baby girl. You became good friends after the amicable breakup and he even got married before you. Everything is in its rightful place, as you like to put it. After everything, you still held on to the destiny that governed your life. Wherever or whenever you get lost, you believe you and Jaehyun will find each other, as destiny willed it.

"Oh, it's Johnny Suh. The soulmate she was raving about for years," said Jihyo, pointing at you across the hall, talking to Johnny. "Looks like he played a completely different role in her destiny."

"Johnny Suh? Why does that name sound familiar?" Your sister wondered, tapping her glass as she too stared at the guy greeting you and Jaehyun.

"The soulmate from the Ouija board? Remember?"

Your sister gasped. "Oh, yeah. The one I made up!" she snorted.

"What?" Jihyo questioned, confused.

"Johnny Suh. I made it up. I didn't even think hard about it, I just randomly came up with that name."

"No. You couldn't have. I was there too."

"Yeah and you were both dumb enough to freak out over moving glass so I kept messing with you all," she laughed, taking a sip from her glass.

"Do you have any idea how she held on to that name her whole life? She even looked up every single Johnny Suh on the internet believing he was her soulmate!"

"Of course I have! I've seen it and at the time, it was so funny. She stopped doing it though so I thought she was over all that."

Jihyo sighed in exasperation. "Eonnie, we literally flew to Italy for that. That's how she met Jaehyun."

"No, you did not!"

"We did. Now she believes that the Ouija board told her to meet Johnny so he could bring her to Jaehyun, her real soulmate."

"Oh my poor sister," she winced. "Who's gonna tell her?"

"Don't tell her," Jihyo chided, shaking her head. "She'd freak and she might hate you forever. I've seen something quite similar."

You may have been oblivious to this conversation between your sister and your bestfriend, but who's to say your sister's innocent little prank wasn't destiny's design as well?

[fin]

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