#I tried to text my friend who i hadn’t spoken to since Wednesday

[tarosin]

the great adventures of y/n tommy tubbo jack and ranboo - how y/n made friends with everyone

this is an extra to the great adventures series

requested: yes/no

warnings: cursing

tommy

you were actually friends with tommy when he was streaming to a few viewers, and you even watched as his channel grew. eventually he asked you to mod for him, as he knew he could trust you and because had experience being a twitch mod. he was also the reason you began streaming. as for how you met, you were in the same classes as him in highschool, and since you were the ‘quiet’ person in the class, they sat tommy next to you. honestly, you hated him when you first met him and the feeling was mutual. you didn’t want to sit next to the rather loud teenager and he had no one to talk to anymore as his friends were on the other side of the room.

“do you ever talk?”

“heh?”

“i said do you ever talk...do you always do that”

“do what”

“that fucking HeH.”

“are you mocking me simons?”

“noooo why would i do that...”

“it’s y/n.”

“right, yeah, yeah, i totally knew that.”

“great now please leave me alone i’m trying to work.”

“loser.”

“the fuck did you just say?”

“nothing.”

it was that moment tommy decided he was going to make you just like him, and a few years later that’s exactly what he did. by year 11 you and tommy had grown extremely close. the last day of school arrived a lot earlier than expected, everyone was extremely stressed, no one knew what to expect or what was going to happen. you found yourself hanging around with tommy a lot more as you had no idea if you would both be going to the same college, in september you received a text message that made your night:

tommy: college sent out emails telling you if you were accepted go check

*2 minutes later*

tommy: well?

y/n: i got accepted

tommy: me too

y/n: call me right now

tommy: i’m about to stream..have you ever considered streaming?

y/n: absolutely not

tommy: make an account and stream after me i’ll raid you..make me mod you know how people can be

once college started up, you were slightly nervous the two of you would drift away from each other. however this was far from the case, although you both did different subjects and he was only in on wednesdays, the pair of you would hang out together a lot more. he would be in your streams and vice versa, you would either be in his tiktoks, or you would be the one filming them.

“y/n make a tiktok we can be mutuals.”

“please god no.”

you spent so much time at his house either talking about random things, playing whatever game you could find, or streaming. he dragged you to every meet up he went on, allowing you to meet people such as niki, phil, and, wilbur. you didn’t know this, but he would constantly bring you up in conversations with dream, which eventually lead to you joining the smp in october where you would later be able to meet the likes of jack, technoblade and jschlatt. the only person you didn’t seem to see on the server was his other friend tubbo.

ranboo

you had become friends with scott after being his first twitch mod and when he noticed you started streaming, he was extremely supportive, always raiding your stream once he ended his. today you found yourself bickering with scott because he wouldn’t let you in mcc despite the fact you were ‘the best minecraft player.’

“y/n, i watched you die in minecraft 7 times last night within 5 minutes.”

“oh i’m sorry mr perfect, let me in mcc.”

“no.”

“fine i’ll make my own.”

and that’s exactly what you did..well you tried your best.

you started your stream as soon as scott ended and had him call you on discord after explaining to your chat what you were about to do.

“scott final chance let me in mcc, i’ll settle for access to the practice server.”

“fine.”

“REALLY?!”

“absolutely not!”

“fuck you, ill be in it one day!”

you left the call telling chat you didn’t need that negative energy in your life.

you really have scott to thank for you making friends with ranboo, scott made a tweet explaining what you were doing on stream which caught ranboos eye.

Smajor1995: after not making it into mcc again my good friend @y/n has decided to take it upon themselves to make their own on stream!! ill also be in the stream (if they answer my calls) *twitch link*

ranboo joined your stream and was instantly met with you yelling at scott (again) to let you in mcc.

“IM YOUR TWITCH MOD!”

“i will ban you from mcc!”

“you don’t have the nerve... so he left the call this is bullshit watch me land this water bucket clutch down this ravine so we can find axolotls and build an army.”

*you died*

you pulled your hood over your face before sinking down your chair taking a deep breath.

“FUCK!”

you calmly got back up and looked into your camera.

“i was so close, so very close.. HEY CHAT SCOTT SENT ME A LINK TO THE SERVER!”

a few minutes later you were able to get onto the server, only to be kicked less than a minute later. the reason you were banned being ‘i watched you fail the water bucket clutch down a ravine.’

you continued your build on your server and just spent the rest of the stream talking about anything that crossed your mind, that was until you decided to copy ace race. once finished, you looked into your camera and pulled your microphone closer to you.

“so this is race ace, so scott doesn’t sue me, and basically it’s going to be this course, but i’m going to change a random section practice it every day, not tell anyone it changed. of course i’m going to tell my team we have to win, oh fuck i forgot scott was watching my stream..it’s okay he didn’t hear me he’s too busy planning how he can rig the next mcc.”

ranboo found himself enjoying your content and even noticed you in his chat multiple times.

“just a minute chat i’m just sending an important dm to my mods.”

that’s when you noticed chat paused for a minute after you sent a message, it confused you for a minute before realising ranboo made you a vip on his channel and you decided to do the same for him on your channel, from there you added each other on discord. the pair of you made friends extremely quickly, you were constantly part of his streams as you would call him on discord not realising that he was streaming.

“hi y/n, by the way i’m streaming”

“i just wanted to ask if you knew how to break into a house?”

“....why”

“i locked myself out by accident and my parents are asleep come help me.”

“you are in the uk.”

“okay? catch a flight.”

chat honestly loved you and your friendship with ranboo. the pair of you only met a few weeks ago and you were already acting as though you had known each other for years.

jack

you and jack met for the first time on the smp, which would have been fine, however you met during lore and your characters weren’t exactly the best of friends. once lore had ended, everyone said their goodbyes and left the call. a few moments later you received a discord message from jack asking if you were available to call any time soon. since you were back in lockdown, you had plenty of free time. you arranged a time and date a few days later you called jack, where you had your first proper interaction out of character.

“hello jack!!”

“oh hi y/n i just thought it may be a good idea to get to know each other, well you know considering we’re both on the dream smp.”

“yeah, yeah, i understand what you mean.”

the pair of you ended up getting along with each other, it was slightly awkward for the first 5 minutes of the call, but that was expected since you hadn’t really met jack before and were anxious to call him. however, after that the conversation started to flow and you found out the pair of you had a lot in common making it easy to come up with things to talk about. it ended up feeling as though you were catching up with a friend you hadn’t spoken to for a while.

“has anyone told you your accent is really strong.”

“so is yours, y/n, what the fuck is that supposed to mean.”

“it means your accent is strong, duh.”

jack asked if you’d like to stay in call and join him on the smp whilst he streamed, and you gladly accepted the offer as you really didn’t want to do your college work, and you were enjoying your time with him. a few minutes into the stream jack had killed you several times.

“JACK STOP KILLING ME!”

rather than answering you he just sat laughing. he then went on to attempt to mute him microphone, he failed. however he didn’t realise this, so you sat listening to his plan on how he was going to kill you again. this time you were prepared, you sent a message to tommy telling him to log on along with your location. few minutes later tommy was by your side and helped you kill jack several times for revenge.

“Y/N...TOMMY!!”

“you didn’t mute your mic, so i told tommy you were bullying me.”

“im gonna go...BYE JACK, BYE Y/N, ILL SEE YOU SOON!”

“i can’t believe you.”

“hey you’re the one who didn’t turn your mic off.”

“how did you know?”

“i had your stream on my other monitor.”

“ayeee you watch my streams?”

“...i’ve been a sub for 4 months.”

the two of you stayed chatting and playing for another hour. the pair of you were already so close and you had only met each other the other day. this was just the start of your friendship, soon enough you were in a laugh and the stream ends challenge on his stream, however due to lockdown rules this was done over discord leading to you accidentally leaving the call several times.

“and they’re gone again!”

*4 minutes later*

“SORRY JACK IM BACK!”

“stop leaving y/n!”

“oh i’m sorry, let me just go yell at my wifi to stop cutting out!”

a few seconds later you could be heard faintly in the background screaming at your wifi as it would continue to buffer. as soon as restrictions were over one of the first things you decided to do was go to jacks and stream a laugh you lose where there was a punishment if you were responsible for losing the last heart. however everything was apparently hilarious in person as you would constantly laugh, meaning you were responsible for losing the last heart.

“y/n give me your phone.”

“no.”

“you lost let me tweet from your account”

“fine..”

soon enough your fans and friends with your notifications on received this twitter notification

“y/n: jack is so cool and funny he is also really tall i am not”

tubbo

tubbo was actually the last person you met and made friends with, your community were convinced for some reason that you both didn’t like each other and that’s why the pair of you didn’t talk to each other. this was far from the case you were both waiting for the right time, tubbo was an extremely busy teenager and you didn’t want to interrupt him, and tubbo knew you were currently in a stressful position since you had recently joined the dream smp, also you were still meeting people so he didn’t want to stress you out. this doesn’t mean he didn’t want to be your friend, he actually asked tommy since he had been your friend for at least 4 years what would be the best way of getting to know you.

“mate they hated me when we first met, just talk to them or something. you could have met them the last time i went up to visit you, but they ended up not feeling too good and went back to the hotel room.”

“when are you next coming up?”

“how about next week, and i’ll bring y/n, i really don’t understand why you’re nervous tubbo, it’s y/n they wouldn’t hurt a fly..well hmm.”

“see you next week then!”

a week later tommy dragged you to the train station.

“uh tommy where are we going?”

“...on a train.”

“no way, really? oh my god!”

a few hours later you finally got off the train.

“ill go with my dad to check into the hotel room, do you want to come with us or?”

“i think i’ll go for a walk and stretch my legs.”

“right okay, meet you at the beach later”

you spent a few minutes walking around the beach picking up any rocks and shells that caught your eye, little did you know it would result in you meeting tubbo. once you finished putting your new collection in your pockets you noticed a small crowd of people walk up to someone asking for pictures assuming it was tommy you walked over to the boy, it wasn’t tommy it was in fact tubbo. at first you stayed silent not wanting to really cause attention to yourself. you only spoke up when some people started to make inappropriate comments towards him.

“oh sorry to be a pain guys me and tubbo have plans with tommy in a few minutes, we should go so we’re not late. bye guys.”

you smiled and waved as they walked away. you looked over to tubbo, you could tell he was still pretty anxious about what just happened and honestly if you was in his position, you would react the same way.

“we should probably move from here incase they come back and see you’re still here, are you okay?”

“im feeling better now it’s over..thank you”

“oh it’s no problem i’m, y/n btw.”

“wait you and tommy were still meant to be on the train.”

“the train was actually on time, tommy went to check into the hotel i wanted to stretch my legs, i also wanted to collect some rocks.”

“did you collect enough or did you want more?”

“im not going to say no if you wanna go collect some with me.”

the pair of you walked around keeping each other close incase the people from before returned. half an hour later, the pair of you sat on a bench close to the beach so you could show tubbo everything you decided to pick up, he ended up keeping a rock he liked to have as a memory. tubbo wrapped an arm around you as it was getting cold whilst you watched the sunset.

“tubbo i think tommy forgot about me.”

“you can spend the night at mine, i’ll send him a message to let him know.”

“are you sure?”

“of course!”

“this has to be the most unsafe thing either of us will ever do, we hardly know each other and now i’m staying at yours.”

tommy sent you a message explaining that he didn’t forget, there was a problem at the other hotel and they had to go find another one, but you’ll be fine to stay at tubbos for the night. the pair of you spent the entire night learning as much as you can about the other person. it had only been an evening but you already knew the pair of you would be great friends.

taglist:

@dumb-chaotic-bi-energy @uselesssapphickitten @l0ver0fj0y @etheriaaly @xx-smiley-xx @hawarun @kylobensgirl @cawcaw-pretty-thing @reverse-iak @renleicrashed @c1loudee

#mcyt x reader #mcyt fanfiction #mcyt writing #mcyt imagines #mcyt imagine #mcyt reader insert #mcyt fluff #mcyt x platonic reader #mcyt x y/n #mcyt x you #tubbo x y/n #tubbo x you #tubbo x reader #tubbo imagine #tubbo fluff #tommyinnit x y/n #tommyinnit x you #tommyinnit x reader #tommyinnit fluff #tommyinnit imagine #jack manifold x y/n #jack manifold x you #jack manifold x reader #jack manifold fluff #jack manifold imagine #ranboo x y/n #ranboo x you #ranboo x reader #ranboo fluff #ranboo imagine

[halsteadshailey]

So you are seeing someone?

upstead fluff/angst one shot

Hailey meets someone while working with the FBI in New York but when she comes home to her partner, her best friend, how long will that relationship last?

can also be read on wattpad or ao3

——

set at the beginning of s8 after hailey gets back from ny (i’m going with hailey being in new york for 4 weeks bcos i’m not sure if they ever told us how long she was supposed to be there but i know tracy she was supposed to be in more fbi eps but cldnt bcos of corona , sorry if this is wrong)

*slight language*

——

For the first couple of weeks that Hailey had been out in New York to work with the FBI, her and Jay had FaceTimed religiously. In the morning on the way to work, whenever they could both catch a break at the same time, and on their drives home, most importantly though, once they were both home and settled. It was as close to ‘their thing’ they could get after a long day of work while separated by hundreds of miles.

After about 14 days, Jay was starting to notice something different about Hailey, they were calling less, even her texting game was off. She was starting to be busy more frequently in the evenings and her texts had become rare, short and sweet.

On the Wednesday evening of her third week away, Jay decided to bring it up while they were on FaceTime.

“Hey what’s been going on over there?” he questioned “I feel like we haven’t talked in ages”

Hailey’s brows furrowed a little as she struggled to think of what to say, anything to say to avoid Jay finding out about Liam, she wasn’t ready to tell him and definitely not over the phone when she wasn’t even sure how serious things were.

“Yeah, sorry about that, we’ve had lots of tough cases, I’ve been working late” she said.

Her partner knew she wasn’t telling the truth, he could always tell. However, he didn’t want to push, it wasn’t worth it after the long day that he’d had and he knew that Hailey would tell him whatever it was when she wanted to so he settled on saying:

“Don’t work yourself too hard” with a chuckle.

The two spoke for a little bit longer after that, Jay telling Hailey about all the weird things Kev and Adam have been up to and Hailey realising how much she misses her Intelligence family, not that she would ever tell Jay that.

A few days passed and all the interaction that the detectives had had with one another was through text, but when Saturday came around Jay needed to change that.

It was around 10:30pm when he shot her a text:

‘Hey, I know it’s late but I just got home from a tough case and was wondering if you’re free to call?’

Luckily for him, Hailey replied to Jay’s text only a few minutes later by calling him.

“Hey how are you?” she said when she saw that her partner had connected to the call.

“I’m ok, just needed to do our thing i guess” the emphasis Jay put on the ‘our thing’ was slight, but it was there. “How are y-“ he paused.

“What?”

“You’re wearing make-up, you never wear make-up, am I interrupting something? A date?” Jay teased.

Without thinking, Hailey replied with “As a matter of fact, you texted me just before dessert so it was actually perfect timing”

Jay froze, trying to process that words that he just heard. It’s not like he thought that Hailey wasn’t allowed to go on dates, he didn’t own her. But he was jealous, a lot more jealous that he would care to admit. Deep down he knew that it was his fault, he’d had feelings for Hailey for a long time and didn’t do anything about it because ‘nothing good comes out of a workplace romance’ or whatever bullshit he had told himself.

“Was it not going well? If you wanted to get out of there before dessert I mean” he clarified.

“No, no, it was going great. I just meant it made an ok place to stop so I could check on you” she responded.

“I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have left, if I had known I wouldn’t have texted” Jay said, in an attempt to clear the air. Their conversation had become quite stale and neither of them were willing to accept that it was just awkward.

“Jay, stop” Hailey said, causing her partner to crack a small smile. “If you need to talk to me after a bad case, that’s the only place I want to be. I’m always here for you, even when we’re this far away” the last part was delivered with a bit of scorn.

“Thanks Hailey, and you too” he said, lifting a little bit of weight off both of their shoulders as they began to flow back into normal conversation.

Another week had passed and Hailey had told Jay a little more about Liam, but only if it came up in conversation so currently all he knew was his name and his job and what his coffee order is (he’d heard Hailey getting it for him while they were on FaceTime). She quickly realised that Jay didn’t enjoy listening to her talk about him so she tried to keep it lowkey.

During her last few days in New York, Hailey and Liam came to the mutual decision that they wouldn’t take the relationship any further. They had a lot of fun while it lasted but they both knew that long distance relationships were a lot of effort and with the jobs they had, it would just but impractical.

While she was waiting in the airport for her flight back to Chicago, Hailey found herself saddened by the fact that her and Jay hadn’t texted or called for a couple of days so she opened her phone, pulled up Jay’s contact and called it.

No answer, so she texted.

‘About to board my plane, just wanted to check in’

Jay sent a response quickly.

‘Sorry, deep in a case. Have a safe flight, text me when you land’

She decided to shrug it off but Hailey knew something wasn’t right.

The journey felt like years but after her flight and a taxi ride home, Hailey was finally back in her own apartment in Chicago. It was 2am when she arrived so when she reached her bedroom she quickly changed and got straight into bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next morning she got up, easily slipping back into her normal routine and went to work. Voight had had offered for her to take a few days to get settled back into Chicago and sleep off the jet lag but she politely declined as she just wanted her normal back.

The day went pretty slowly, no major cases, but Jay was acting different and Hailey knew it. When she first showed up at work she got warm welcomes from Trudy and the whole unit but nothing from Jay, they barely said two words to each other all day that weren’t work-related and it was making Hailey a little upset.

Since they had spent most of the day doing paperwork, the team got sent home at a reasonable time. Adam and Kim left together closely followed by Kevin as Voight silently worked in his office.

Hailey entered the locker room where she knew she would find Jay, and she was right.

As she hesitantly walked through the doorway, Hailey spoke. “Can we talk?”

Jay wasn’t facing the door when his partner walked in but, upon hearing her voice, he quickly adjusted his positioning on the bench he had planted himself on to grab his stuff from his locker so he was looking at her.

“Sure” he replied softly, pretty confident he knew what she wanted to talk about.

“Come over to mine in about half an hour?” Hailey asked.

Jay nodded in response and they both grabbed their things and walked to the parking lot together.

They walked in silence but it wasn’t their usual, comfortable, silence. The air around the two was stiff. Either way, it wasn’t long before they reached their cars and headed their separate ways.

Almost exactly half an hour later, Hailey heard a knock at her door. She got up from her position on her couch and went to answer the door, knowing it would be her partner on the other side.

“Hey” Jay said with a weak smile as Hailey opened the door and he walked inside.

He set his jacket on one of the hooks by the door as he always did when he was at her apartment and made his way to her couch.

Sitting in silence on opposite ends of the furniture both detectives waited for the other to talk first and after a few uncomfortable seconds, Hailey decided that it was probably fair for her to talk first seeing as she was the one who wanted to talk to him and she invited him over.

“What is going on with you?” she asked, not wanting to beat around the bush, just getting straight to the point.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on Jay, don’t give me that crap. You haven’t spoken to me at all since I got back from New York so I’m sorry for assuming my best friend would have more to say after I left for 4 weeks” Hailey rebuked at Jay’s easy response.

“I guess I figured you’d wanna catch up with the team rather than talk to me seeing as we spoke to each other so much while you were over there” he said but Hailey knew that wasn’t the truth.

She started to get angrier but did her best not to show it and kept her cool.

“Well that’s a load of bull” she snapped. “We both know that over the second half of my trip we barely spoke, compared to the first two weeks anyway”

“Oh and thats my fault?” Jay jabbed back, beginning to feel anger rise in himself. Still, they both sat in the same spots on the couch and neither raised their voice.

“Well is it mine?” Hailey replied.

“More like your boyfriend’s” Jay murmered without thinking.

Hailey couldn’t believe what he had just said.

“Is that why you’ve been weird for these past weeks?” She asked “You’re jealous of Liam?”

That word ‘jealous’ played with his head but Jay didn’t reply, still regretting even bringing it up.

“Not that its any of your business, but he wasn’t my boyfriend” Hailey hissed and moved her body to a much more upright position, but keeping their eye contact. “It was a two-week fling, it didn’t mean anything” she continued with a quizzical look on her face.

“Wait so you guys aren’t together anymore?” Jay asked, a little taken aback by what his partner had just said.

“No, we ended things the day before I left because we agreed it was just a bit of fun and neither of us had the want to try a long distance relationship.” she said while relaxing back into the couch again.

Silence fell in the room for a moment as Hailey waited for Jay to say something but instead he just stayed where he was and his brows furrowed.

“Is that really why you’ve been acting weird?” she finally asked when she realised Jay had no intention of speaking.

Still not saying a word, Jay shrugged his shoulders a little embarrassed that he had even made this into a thing, it’s not like he could control who Hailey was dating.

“Oh my god will you please say something or I’m abut to get really mad” she exclaimed with a little more volume.

Jay had no idea what he could say without confessing his feelings right there in the middle of her living room so he kept his mouth shut which really pushed Hailey over the edge.

“Jay” she scoffed “for fuck’s sake what are you doing? You’re in no place to act like this because of a guy I dated for like a minute, last time I checked this partnership wasn’t an exclusive relationship and I can date whoever the hell I want” she began to stand up and continued “Just because you’re not looking for someone doesn’t mean I can’t be”

In reality, both of them knew exactly who they really wanted to date and it was none other than the person right in front of them at that very moment but neither were ready to admit that. Or so they thought, Jay’s mind had other plans.

“Who says a haven’t already found them?” Jay whispered, loud enough for Hailey to hear.

That was the second time this evening that Jay had said something that was meant to be kept in his head. ’God I really need to think more before I speak’ he thought.

“What?” Hailey asked, sitting back down.

“I didn’t mean-“ Jay began.

“So you are seeing someone” Hailey cut in.

“What?” his forehead creased “no, I’m not seeing anyone” he said truthfully.

“But you just said you found-“

“You, Hailey” and he did it again, Jay spoke before he could stop himself. However, this time, it proved to work in his favour, as a large smile appeared on his partner’s face.

For Chicago’s best detectives, both Jay and Hailey looked pretty stupid right now. But not stupid in a bad way, stupid in a huge-smile-on-your-face-don’t-know-what-to-say way.

For a second, they both remained still, not entirely sure what had just happened and where to go from there. Then Hailey made a spur of the moment decision and launched herself at Jay.

First she put a hand on his cheek and that was quickly followed by her placing her lips to his and pulling her leg over his knees so she was sitting in his lap and they were face to face.

Without ever breaking the kiss, Jay’s hands momentarily explored Hailey’s body, mainly moving up and down her torso, whereas Hailey kept both hands on his cheeks or gently around his neck, softly touching the hair on the back of his head.

Both were very content as it felt like the whole world was slipping away and they were all that existed. Hailey could feel a huge smile on Jay’s face as they kissed and it only made hers grow wider as their tongues intertwined and they bit at each other’s lips.

Though they had exchanged no words further than Jay implying that Hailey was all he was looking for, neither of them felt it was necessary.

Since they day they had met, the two had gone from strangers, to partners, to best friends, to admitting they trust each other more than anyone else and would follow each other blind. But they had always been Hailey and Jay, and thats exactly what they were that night, nothing had changed between them apart from the enormous weight that was their unspoken love for each other was lifted off their shoulders and they were just Hailey and Jay.

#chicago pd #one chicago #jay halstead #hailey upton #upstead #one shot #fan fiction

[meltwonu]

s n a k e     |     e y e s     [chapter 5]

pairing; snakehybrid!woozi x female!reader

this chapter’s notes; possessive!jihoon, dom!jihoon, marking, choking, restraints, dirty talk, impregnation kink, cream pie w/ minor cumplay ! whew! 🤪🥴🤤 also this snake-hybrid au isn’t following any of the blurbs/drabble game posts that precede it!! I know I did some drabble posts with snake hoonie but this doesn’t follow the same timeline as those otherwise it wouldnt make sense 🤣 kfhkdh also i do be laughin that this gets posted after the svt anniversary video and gose where jihoon was chan and teasing him bc 🥴 anyway! this is a long ass chapter and almost 6k words so strap in for the ride yall! 💕💕💕💕 

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - x - x - x - x - x

“Are you mad?”

“What? No, just… I mean, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

You watch Jihoon from across the table at brunch as he picks at his food quietly. Minghao had texted again asking if lunch was still on for next week and you had asked Jihoon as soon as the two of you sat down to eat.

“If you’re uncomfortable with Minghao and Chan coming, it’s okay. You can tell me, Jihoon.” He sits across from you with a pout on his lips. 

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable I’m just… shy. But it’s okay. Because I… If they’re your friends then they must be nice, right? I’m just shy around new people.”

“Okay, but like, if things feel off… Just let me know?” Jihoon nods, taking a bite of his food. It falls into a comfortable silence while the two of you eat; enjoying each other’s company after last night. The memories flood your headspace in an instant. Right, you needed to talk to Jihoon about that.

“Hey, Jihoon?”

“Hmm?”

“About last night…”

“Oh. Right. Did you hate it? I can stop if you don’t like it. It doesn’t make sense if we don’t benefit from it.” A flush covers your skin almost immediately as you place your fork down on your plate.

“I didn’t hate it… But I’m just curious… If--I mean, I don’t want you to think this is just a physical thing, I guess?” This time it’s Jihoon’s turn to blush as he meets your shy stare.

“I… I mean we’re still getting to know each other, right? And I like you. You’re nice and you care about me. We can just… think of it as the physical part of getting to know each other.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, thinking about his words. You clearly like liked Jihoon too and you didn’t want to take things too far too fast. But you also knew that he was aware of the sexual tension floating around the air now and the two of you couldn’t really go back to ‘normal’ after last night.

“Okay, yeah, that makes sense. I just don’t want to… go too fast, y’know? You’ve only been here a few weeks...”

“That’s true. But also in fairness, this is the longest I’ve been away from the adoption center so it seems to be going well if you ask me.”

Damn. He was right and you hadn’t even realized it. Jihoon had already been with you for over a month and you hadn’t even noticed the time passing. You feel your heart swelling at the thought.

“Huh. You’re right. I guess we really do work well together, huh?”

“Ah, ngh, Ji--Jihoon w--wait, my phone’s ringing!” 

Jihoon’s grip on your thighs tighten, his blonde hair peeking from between your legs. Your hands brace yourself on the table where you calmly had brunch just 3 hours ago. Jihoon had clearly still been hungry.

“You can answer it?” He immediately laps at your clit after his comment, fingertips curling inside your pussy as your eyes roll to the back of your head. “I--I ca--can’t!” He smiles against you before applying pressure to the nub with his tongue. “Uh-kay them, dom’t?” Jihoon’s voice is muffled against your skin, a whimper escaping your lips at Jihoon’s unhelpfulness.

“Ji--Jihoon you’re so m-mean!” You whine.

You watch Minghao’s name disappear from your phone screen next to you on the table, a moan on your lips when Jihoon’s fingers curve up into your g-spot. “Oh, f-fuck, right t-there!” You tangle one of your hands in his hair, tugging him closer as you grind yourself against his tongue and fingers.

Minghao [3:14PM]: I tried calling but you’re probably busy?

Minghao [3:14PM]: Chan and I are free on Wednesday, lmk if it works for you.

You can barely catch the words on your phone screen before Jihoon sucks your clit into his mouth.

“Ugh, fuck, Jihoon I’m--” Your eyes snap shut almost immediately; thighs clamping shut around Jihoon’s head as you cum hard. He scissors his fingers inside of you, tongue still lapping at your clit until you start to come down from your high.

Your limbs feel boneless once your orgasm fades off, shaky legs unclamping as Jihoon slides his fingers from your pussy straight to his mouth. Letting your legs down as you sit up to catch your breath, you watch him still on his knees in front of you as he cleans your wetness from his fingertips.

“God, Ji. That was Minghao!” Jihoon pops his fingers from his mouth, getting up from his kneeling position.

“What did he want?”

“They’ll be over Wednesday so we have some work to do!”

“Okay but can we cuddle first? We can figure out the rest later.”

Over the next couple of days leading up, you and Jihoon take the time to clean up the apartment and buy some ingredients for lunch. And since Chan was a bunny hybrid, he was strictly vegetarian which meant you and Jihoon had tried to cook a few recipes to decide what was best.

“Are they gonna come soon?” Jihoon munches on a stray piece of carrot, watching as you finish up in the kitchen. “Mmhmm, but knowing Minghao they might be a little late.”

You and Minghao had agreed on 12:00PM and it was currently 12:04PM; If you were lucky he’d be here by 12:45PM at the earliest. Jihoon helps you tidy up the kitchen once you’re finished, flopping onto the sofa once he’s done. And he won’t admit it but he’s nervous; eyes fixated on the ceiling as he twiddles his thumbs and sighs.

“You okay, Ji?”

“Mm? Yeah… Haven’t really met another hybrid since Mingyu and Seokmin so s’kinda weird. I’m okay though.” You start to make your way to the sofa but the doorbell rings just as you reach Jihoon. You shoot him an encouraging smile, running your fingers through his hair really quick before turning and making your way to the door.

When you swing it open, you're met with Minghao’s cheery face and Chan inquisitive one. In actuality, you’d only ever seen Chan in photos and you can’t help but immediately gush at how cute he is; completely ignoring Minghao’s presence once you take note of Chan’s cute bunny ears atop his head.

“Oh my god, you are just… So cute!”

You refrain from touching the cute caramel coloured bunny ears, noticing they match the colour of his hair.

“Come in! Jihoon’s in the living room!” Chan flashes you a sweet smile as Minghao raises an eyebrow at you. “You didn’t even say ‘hi’ to me. Rude!” You laugh at Minghao’s comment, giving them enough space to enter your apartment.

“Sorry, I’ve just never met Chan before. He’s cuter in person so I was distracted!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just tell me you’re tired of me, you don’t have to lie!”

“‘Hao! You know you’re my best friend but Chan’s… cuter. I’m sorry.” Minghao feigns hurt, wiping invisible tears as they stand in your hallway.

Now that you think of it, you weren’t sure how Chan and Jihoon were going to get along, if at all. It’d slipped your mind but technically Jihoon was a predator animal hybrid and Chan was a prey animal hybrid. Your mind blanks at the sudden epiphany as you gulp.

“Um, shall we move to the living room?” The two nod, waiting for you to lead the way. Taking a deep breath, you lead them to the living room; eyes meeting Jihoon’s as he sits up on the sofa.

“Jihoon, I want you to meet my friend Minghao and his hybrid, Chan!” You try to put on a cheery smile but you can already sense that Jihoon’s kind of on edge.

When you’d spoken to Seungcheol about him back at the adoption home, he had said that Jihoon typically got along well with every hybrid at the home so far and that the snake hybrid hadn’t gotten into any fights or threatened any of the other hybrids there. You really had no reason to be that concerned, and plus, Jihoon had already told you he was just shy more often than not.

“Hi, I’m Jihoon. Um… I’m a snake hybrid.” You can see the flush on his face, watching as he licks his lips. It was a nervous habit that you noticed he had. And for a second you worry about if Chan’s also going to be nervous about the snake hybrid but he shoots the shorter male a beaming smile.

“Hi! I’m Chan! I’m a bunny hybrid and I like to sing! And I like to dance, too!” Chan moves forward to shake Jihoon’s hand, backing off slightly when he sees the snake hybrid flinch. “Oh, sorry. Do you not like handshakes?”

“Huh? Oh, no I--I was just surprised that’s all.” Jihoon reaches a hand out instead, a tiny smile on his lips when Chan shakes it. “Oh, whoa, your hands are cold!” Minghao scolds him slightly, giving him a warning look as Chan sheepishly scratches his head. “Sorry, hyung always gets mad at me because sometimes I talk first and don’t think.” Jihoon laughs at this and you feel your heart soaring out of your chest. Thank god!

“It’s okay, I know someone else who’s just like that and he’s a big puppy hybrid named Mingyu.”

You and Minghao fondly watch the two interact, glad that they’d gotten along well despite their differences.

“Okay guys, shall we have lunch?”

Over the course of lunch, Jihoon and Chan talk animatedly about music as you and Minghao delve into your own conversations about work, letting the two hybrids bond. Jihoon calls your name after a while, grabbing your attention.

“Chan and I are done with lunch and I was wondering if it was okay to bring my keyboard out? We were gonna do some music stuff.” Chan looks at you with pleading eyes, lips jutting out in hopes of swaying you.

“Yeah, of course! You didn’t need to ask permission for that.” They smile at you in return, Jihoon getting up to retrieve his keyboard from his work room. “I’ll be right back.”

The three of you watch Jihoon leave the dining area, watching as he disappears into the hallway.

“Jihoon is really nice, Minghao-hyung!” The smile on Chan’s face is sincere, eyes curving into crescents.

“You’re more than welcome to come over anytime you want, Chan! Ji could use the company other than myself sometimes, I think.” You laugh at your own comment, leaning over to pat his head. He leans into your touch, sighing dreamily when you start to itch behind his ears.

“That feels really nice…” You internally scream, face red as a tomato when Chan starts scenting your hand. He rubs his face against your palm, resting his cheek against it. Uh oh, Jihoon’s not gonna like that.

Sure enough, Jihoon round the corner, eyes fixated on the way Chan’s head is on your palm.

“Um…” Minghao’s eyes travel from Chan to Jihoon as he bites his nail; knowing exactly what the snake hybrid is thinking without even saying anything. “Hey, Chan?”

“Mmh?” Minghao clears his voice in a warning manner, Chan’s eyes fluttering open.

“I think Jihoon would like to go do music stuff in the living room now.”

“Oh… okay!”

In an instant, Chan gets up like nothing happened and walks up to Jihoon. “Okay! Let’s get it!” Jihoon on the other hand quietly nods, gesturing to the bunny hybrid to follow him to where he likes to set up by the window. You shoot Minghao a look as you share a sigh. “Shall we clean up?” He nods at you, getting up from his seat as he starts to collect the utensils. And once the two are properly distracted, the two of you move into the kitchen where you start on the dishes.

“I’m really sorry about Chan. He’s normally really up on skinship, I just, I didn’t think--”

“Shh, it’s okay! I don’t think… Jihoon’s mad. Just might be weird to see me around other hybrids since he’s used to it just being me and him.”

The two of you talk in whispers, not wanting the two to hear your conversation about them.

“Trust me, Jihoon is really about skinship too. I know he doesn’t seem like it, but he’s just as bad. Don’t be sorry about Chan.”

Once the two of you finish up cleaning, you make your way to the living room as well. The two hybrids sit in the sun by the window; Jihoon’s music notes out while Chan tries to sing along to one of his melodies.

You decide to sit closer, wanting to be a part of their music session as Minghao grabs a film camera from his bag. “Might as well, Chan likes keeping the photos in his scrapbook.”

“Oh yeah! I put pictures of me and all my friends in it. All the pictures are from hyung, obviously. Now I can add you and Jihoon-hyung to it!”

The four of you sit on the floor in somewhat of a circle, Minghao and Chan next to you as Jihoon sits in front of you. Chan glances at you once before he shifts closer to you.

“Can you pet me again?”

You blush for a moment, but he inches closer again and you feel sort of bad. “He never pets me when he’s “working”...” Chan draws air quotes around the word, a pout on his lips as he looks at Minghao.

“How can I pet you if I’m taking photos? Do I look like I have more than two hands?”

Sighing, you raise your palm, placing it on one of Chan’s fluffy ears as he leans into your touch. You’d have to deal with the repercussions with Jihoon later; you’d just hope he understood.

Chan decides to lay down on the floor, using your thigh as a pillow as he listens to Jihoon play the piano. The snake hybrid plays a familiar song as Chan sings along, voice stable even when he’s laying down. You check Jihoon’s face for any signs he’s mad but he seems to be okay for the most part, albeit a little quieter than usual. He still makes an effort to speak to Chan and engage in conversation, praising his singing voice as Chan blushes.

You play with the soft fur of Chan’s bunny ears, admiring them as you coo.

“Your ears are just so soft! And so cute!” He nuzzles into your leg, scenting you again as Jihoon seems to flinch. “Thanks~ It feels nice when people pet them!”

He stays like that for a while longer, only getting up when he starts to feel sleepy. “Hyung, m’sleepy now…” Minghao sets his camera down, running a hand through his own hair. “Did you want to head back then? We can just come over another day.” Chan nods, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. “I’d like that. Jihoon-hyung is cool and I wanna come see him again!”

Jihoon blushes at the comment, accidentally pressing down the wrong key as he sputters. “Y-yeah, I had f-fun too…”

The four of you get up from the floor, stretching and gathering your belongings. “I’ll show you guys to the door?” Minghao and Chan nod, and to your surprise, Jihoon follows behind as you begin to walk to the doorway. “It was really nice having you guys over! And Chan, you’re always welcome here too. Maybe we can call up ‘Cheol and have him bring Mingyu along as well!” Chan talks animatedly about how much he’d like that, already asking when they could set up a date.

“Alright, slow down, bud. We gotta figure out when ‘Cheol’s got time and we still got work, y’know?”

“Yes, hyung…”

You side hug Minghao, only for Chan to launch himself at you right after. He nuzzles into your neck as he squeezes you tight. “Thank you for having us over today!”

When he lets go of you, he immediately looks to Jihoon, shooting him a smile and waving before running out the door.

“I’m really really sorry about him.”

“It’s okay, get going before he bounces off somewhere. I’ll talk to you later, ‘Hao.”

You shut the door once they leave, breathing a sigh of relief when you turn around.

Jihoon doesn’t visibly look upset, but you can see a glint in his eyes that tells you he’s thinking about it.

“Hey, Ji--”

“Mm, I’m gonna work on some music back in my work room. I got some ideas and I wanna hash them out before I lose the inspiration.” You nod, watching him as he grabs his keyboard from the living room and starts down the hallway.

“I dunno when I’ll be done but if you start on dinner, just call me.”

You leave Jihoon to his work, tidying up around the house before you plop down onto the sofa to watch some TV. You’d figured that Jihoon probably just needed some time to himself to cool off, just in case he really was mad. But at the same time, you were really proud of the snake hybrid for being so civil and kind to Chan despite Chan’s need for skinship.

Not even realizing you fell asleep at some point, you sit up on the sofa groggily. The sky is already dark outside of the windows so you’d fallen asleep for quite a white, shutting off the TV as you stretch. Turning towards the hallway, you wonder what Jihoon is even up to; if he’s even still working on his music.

Getting up from the sofa, you stretch, already walking down the hallway to Jihoon’s workroom. You don’t hear any music and you don’t hear his voice at all but you knock, calling Jihoon’s name softly.

He opens the door gently after a minute or so, sleepy eyes meeting yours. “Oh, did you end up taking a nap too?” You can hear the sleep laced in his voice, reaching up to thread your hand into his blonde locks.

“Yeah, I fell asleep on the sofa. Guess we were more tired than expected, huh? I’m gonna start on dinner, if you wanna come keep me company or something.” He nods, letting you know he’ll be out in a few minutes.

You walk to the kitchen, already grabbing the necessary items to start on dinner. Jihoon joins you a few minutes later, walking up behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist as he rests his chin on your shoulder.

“You smell like him, y’kno?” Jihoon’s voice is soft but gravelly next to your ear. There’s a certain edge to his voice that has you shuddering against his form. “Do you want to know something?”

“H-Huh?”

“They say that some snakes can smell the fear in their prey. Do you believe it?”

“I--I don’t know?” There’s a soft but warning chuckle by your ear, Jihoon’s arms tightening around your body as he presses harder into you. “I don’t know if I believe it either. But wouldn’t it be an advantage? To know your prey is… submissive.” You can’t even tell what your hands are doing anymore when Jihoon takes the moment to lick the shell of your ear. His lips travel down, nipping the skin of your neck as you let out a shaky breath. You can feel the wetness pooling between your thighs as he continues his path, digging his teeth into the junction of your neck before he sucks the skin into his mouth to soothe it. His hands begin traveling up your torso, cupping your breasts in his palms before harshly squeezing.

“Ji--Jihoon the--the dinner…”

“I think I want to eat something else right now. What do you say?”

You moan in response, grinding back against his hardening cock. “O--okay…”

“Meet me in the bedroom in 5 minutes.”

You release the breath you didn’t realize you were holding when Jihoon steps back and starts walking towards the bedroom. Okay, maybe he was a tiny bit mad, if not territorial. You wash your hands, forgetting about dinner as you stand in the kitchen thinking about how potentially dominating Jihoon could be. The thoughts alone are enough to have you moaning out loud as you rub your thighs together. You don’t really know why Jihoon has you waiting but you obey his word, giving him a few minutes before heading down the hallway to your bedroom.

Not really knowing what to expect, you open the door to find Jihoon by the foot of the bed, 3 of your panties already torn and on top of the bedsheets. “Sorry, I didn’t really know what to use for restraints so I had to make some. Hope you don’t mind.” You feel a tingly sensation running all over your body; all the way down to the tips of your fingers.

“Um--Uh, no..”

“Good. I figured we could do a little learning exercise. What do you think?”

“I--Sure?” There’s no denying how wet you are just from the energy Jihoon was exuding. “I--I don’t know what to do…”

“I want you to strip and get on the bed for me. And lay back against the pillows.”

You nod, stripping your clothes off slow and quietly before getting on the bed. Jihoon follows suit, stripping himself bare before he joins you, spreading your legs and slotting himself in between. He scoffs slightly when he notices your wet folds. “You know, snakes aren’t typically known for being territorial. But when they feel threatened, they’re more likely to attack.”

Jihoon leans in, his chest meeting yours as he ghosts his lips above your own. “Chan’s a sweet kid. Such a shame he’s so blind with his actions.” You can’t help but gulp and hold your breath, shaky eyes watching Jihoon as he leans towards your neck instead. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page as he is, I guess I should let him know who really belongs to who, hmm?” He chuckles against your skin, leaving love bites blooming in his path. “Ngh, Jihoon…”

Placing your hands on his forearms, he stops and pulls away. “Oh, right. Let’s try these.” He pulls away to grab the torn material on the bed next to you. “I’m sure Seungcheol-hyung’s already told you specifically I’m a ball python hybrid right? And you must know that constrictor types like to, well, constrict their prey.” There’s a glint in his eye and a smirk on his lips when he drags the torn fabric up your naked torso. It tickles your skin, a whimper escaping your lips when the soft material ghosts across your nipples.

“But before we get started, I need to know a safe word from you.”

“Um, uh… l--lightning?”

“Interesting choice, but okay. Arms up and towards the headboard.”

He takes his time tying your wrists above you, admiring his work once he deems it’s tight enough and you’re comfortable. “In theory, I’d love for you to touch me but this is a learning experience on predators and prey. You understand, don’t you?”

“Y-yes…”

Jihoon smiles at you, hands gripping your thighs hard. “You smell so good. You’re so fuckin’ wet I can smell just how bad you want me to slide my cock right into that pussy. But you know what else? I can still smell that bunny hybrid on your skin.” You moan at his rough touch, squirming when he presses the shaft of his cock against your wet folds. “I can stand it when you come home smelling like other people because of work, but not this.”

He leans into you again, lips ghosting against your sternum. “I’m just gonna have to get rid of it myself then, huh?” Licking his lips, his tongue peeks from between them, already lapping at your skin. His tongue drags across your torso, flicking at a nipple before he wraps his mouth around it. You arch your back, leaning into his touch. He repeats this on the other side, laughing softly against your skin when he feels you rolling your hips against his. “Already so desperate for my cock? C’mon now, baby.”

The way Jihoon calls you ‘baby’ has your entire body flaring up, the breath getting knocked out of you almost immediately. “I have to mark you up all nice and pretty for your friends to see.”

What you learn in the next 15 minutes is that Jihoon can be mean.

He takes the time to nip at your skin, biting and sucking at it to leave blooming red marks all over your torso and neck. Jihoon takes it even further by skimming across your lower abdomen, sucking love bites onto your hips and even on your thighs. You sob, tugging at the restraints above you as you beg him to do something more.

“I am doing something. I’m marking you.”

“B--But I want… mo--more…”

“Oh? Do predators usually pamper their prey before consuming or attacking them?”

The goosebumps rise on your skin at his comment as you quickly shut your mouth. “That’s what I thought.”

He slots himself back between your legs, wrapping them around his waist.

Jihoon runs his fingers through your folds, watching you squirm as he collects the wetness on his fingertips before inserting two fingers into your pussy. “Fuck, you’re so wet, my fingers slid right in.” You sob, eyes wet with unshed tears. The urge to cum is already so strong and Jihoon had barely started. He thrusts his fingers hard and fast, curving them inside of you to hit your g-spot. You can’t help but tighten around his digits, crying out when he adds a third.

You feel impossibly full when he fingers you and you can barely wait until it’s his cock instead. He was definitely much bigger than his fingers and you were slightly worried he was almost too big for you to handle. But he works you open, thumb on your clit while he thrusts his fingers in knuckle deep.

There’s no word of warning before you’re cumming all over his fingers, wrecked sobs the only thing you can manage while he continues to rub at your clit.

“Ji--Jihoon, fuck, I--”

“Mmh, your body is so fucking warm. Your pussy is so wet and hot around my fingers. I need to fuck you now.”

Whimpering, you watch through teary eyes as he brings his fingers to his cock, spreading the precum and your wetness all over the head and shaft of it before positioning himself at your entrance. Your body is still sensitive and your orgasm is still ebbing away when Jihoon starts to push in. 

There’s a slight sting when he does; he was definitely much bigger and wider than his fingers. And without even saying anything, Jihoon caresses your skin, quietly praising you for being so good for him.

“Jihoon, ngh, fu--fuck, your cock feels so good and so big…”

He smiles at the praise, watching as his cock disappears into your pussy. There’s an incoherent babble on your lips when he finally bottoms out; the head of his cock snug against your cervix. “Fuc--Fuck! Please fuck me, please fuck me, please fuck me!”

Jihoon can also be nice.

He starts a slow pace, letting you get used to his size. “Your pussy is so tight and warm around my cock. Fuck, I could stay here forever.” His grip on your thighs tighten, grinding himself into you between thrusts. You can feel yourself start to drool a little at the feeling. If you felt full with his fingers inside of you, this was a completely different high all together. “Yes, yes, yes, fuck! Your cock is so good, I--I can’t…!”

“Yeah? Gonna let me fuck this pussy whenever I want?”

“Yes, god…!”

The sound of your moans and skin slapping are all that can be heard in the bedroom. Jihoon starts a quicker pace, leaning down until he’s nosing at your neck again. He licks at your skin, sucking on the love bites he’d already left and leaving new ones right next to them. You can feel his nails digging into the skin of your thighs, a shaky moan leaving you when you feel him raking them down your skin.

In all honesty, Jihoon never really struck you as someone that’d be into marking. But by now, you realize that it just takes a certain situation for him to really want to.

“Fuck, baby, I hope you’re c-close. I wanna cum in this tight ‘lil pussy.”

“Ngh, pl--please cum in--inside of me… I want your cum…”

He laughs against your skin, pulling away immediately after. “Oh? You want me to cum in your hot ‘lil cunt? Get you nice and full with it? Fuck… fuck! You want me to breed you, don’t you? I’ll fuck my cum into your hot ‘lil pussy and get you nice and pregnant with my babies. Bet you’d love, wouldn’t you? I’ll fill you up with my cum everytime we fuck. Everyone will know you belong to me when they smell you, when they can smell my cum trickling down your thighs. And then I’ll fuck my cum back into you and keep it inside of you ‘til you can’t take anymore of it.”

You could almost die at Jihoon’s words, clenching around his cock impossibly hard. “Yes, g-god, yes please! I want it! I want y-your cum inside of me, please!” You tug on the restraints again, just wanting to touch Jihoon as well. One of his delicate hands travels up your torso, wrapping itself around the column of your neck before pressing down on the sides slightly.

“You’re so filthy. You want me to breed you so bad, don’t you? I can feel you getting so tight around my cock.”

The lightheadedness makes you feel fuzzy, soft moans spilling from you as your eyes flutter shut.

“I want you to cum on my cock, get it nice and wet for me before I cum inside your pussy, baby.”

Jihoon grinds against you, letting the head of his cock push up against your cervix. The feeling is almost too much combined with his hand around your throat and he can see the look on your face that you’re about to cum, thrusting into you hard and fast as you sob; his hand around your throat loosening when he feels your body go rigid.

Your breath stutters and you momentarily black out when you cum, body seizing up at the intensity of your orgasm. Jihoon thumbs your clit as you cry. He continues to thrust into you, groaning at the feeling of your walls throbbing around his cock. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum!”

He grinds against you, muttering incoherent curses under his breath the entire time.

Your head feels fuzzy but you can feel his warm cum inside of you and you can’t tell if it's a hybrid thing or just a Jihoon thing but there is a lot of it. He stays still while the two of you catch your breaths, his cum already trickling down the slides of his cock that’s still sheathed inside of you.

“J-Jihoon my… my arms p-please…” He nods tiredly after a moment, undoing the restraints and checking your wrists for any marks. The skin is red and irritated where you were tugging against them but you seem fine otherwise.

“The redness should go down in a bit.”

He kisses your wrists gently, massaging your tired arms as he brings them to your sides. And as much as he doesn’t want to, he pulls out, watching as globs of cum pour out of your hole.

“Damn, what a waste.” You tiredly laugh at him, bringing a hand up to wipe at your tear-streaked face. “Push my cum out, baby.” There’s a slight blush on your cheeks at his request, but you oblige, the warm substance dripping down onto the sheets underneath you. Jihoon watches it as it drips down, bringing a hand towards it as he scoops it up on his fingertips and presses it back into your pussy.

“Ugh, Jiho--oon~ I c-can’t anymore…”

“Sorry, must be a… hybrid thing maybe.”

“Is the amount of cum also a hybrid thing or?”

Jihoon laughs, sliding off the bed to get a clean cloth. “Dunno. Think that’s just me. I haven’t… been with anyone for a long time so… I mean, I dunno to be honest.” 

 “Oh…”

“Yeah, I dunno! Anyway, should we get cleaned up? I think the bedsheets need to… um, go.”

This time you’re so tired you can’t even begin to sit up in bed. “Ji… do you think you can carry me? I don’t think I can feel my legs.” He nods. “Oh, let me run the bath first so it can warm up.” 

You let him, watching as he disappears into the bathroom. To the best of your ability, you sit up, another gush of cum spilling out of you when you do. 

“Ugh, Ji, if you’re gonna cum this much all the time what are we gonna do about the sheets?”

He licks his lips when he walks back into the bed to come get you, scooping you up into his arms as he brings you to the bathroom with a smirk on his face. 

“I mean, we can fuck, get the sheets dirty and then fuck in the laundry room? Or fuck in the bath like I fully intend to do right now.” 

“Oh my god.” 

#snakehybrid!woozi #woozi smut #seventeen smut #svt smut #woozi scenarios #woozi imagines #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #svt imagines #svt scenarios #woozi #lee jihoon

[stxrrywildflower]

out of the old (1)

pairing - spencer reid x reader

summary - you think about quitting the bau

warning - cursing, mentions of case

series masterlist

everyone in the bau had their breaking point.

for some, such as former agents jason gideon and elle greenway, they snapped and left the organization as a whole. for others, such as emily prentiss and aaron hotchner, they had taken a leave of absence before returning and relying on their bau family.

but you, you had no idea where you were. all you knew is that you had reached your own personal breaking point.

ever since you were a little kid, you know that you wanted to be apart of the fbi. you knew the hard work it would take and personal strains of moving from california to washington d.c. but you had enrolled in the academy and gone from there.

director erin strauss had immediately taken a disliking to you. your superiors at the acadamy had only spoken good things about your work and strauss had to meet you in person. you almost wished you hadn’t agreed to seeing her because that’s where everything fell apart.

after meeting her, your superiors began to expect more from you and the pressure grew. you had ultimately discovered that strauss had told them to be harder on you, but not for good reasons. she wanted to see you crack as if you weren’t meant for the fbi.

once graduating top of your class, you were recruited onto the bau team. from there, you made fast friends and the team had taken a strong liking to you. they loved how you fit within the team and your personality as a whole.

erin strauss, however, was less than thrilled. every moment you messed up in the slightest, you were in her office being scolded. most of the time, you had received a warning. after a rookie cop had almost gotten you killed, you were the one being yelled at, not him. and finally, when strauss heard that you and spencer were dating back almost a year ago, she had pulled you into her office instead of spencer. he didn’t even get a look in his direction from her. she had threatened to suspend you if hotch hadn’t stepped in.

there was a strong bias against you by strauss and everyone on the team knew it.

the last case was the final straw for you. the team had been sent to pheonix and had remained there for almost two weeks. the outcome wasn’t exactly ideal but the positives outweighed the negatives.

it had come down to you and the final unsub. the others had been taken in as well as the victims saved. however, in the middle of you attempting to talk the unsub down, he had put his gun to his throat and pulled the trigger, killing himself instantly.

the whole ordeal had left you a little bit shocked, both at what you had witnessed and how you knew strauss would react. after a long flight, which everyone had slept on, the bau team made their way back to the office. everyone needed to get their stuff and paperwork before being allowed to go hone.

walking in, spencer held your hand tightly. you then let go and made your way to your desk, tossing your bag on the floor next to it. as you went to sit down, you heard a recognizable voice behind you.

“i would suggest you remain from sitting down, agent y/n. my office, now,” strauss demanded, her tone harsh. she walked out of the doors and you had no choice but to follow. you glanced back one more time at your team who all gave you pity looks.

once entering strauss’ office, you stood hands behind your back and looking straight on. strauss however, sat down out her desk and pulled it the most recent case file.

“i assume your know why you are here,” strauss started. you nodded to her words, trying not to give her the satisfaction of you looking scared. “i’m going to be a little nice here. i’ll let you go free tonight but know that i expect to see you in my office tomorrow morning at nine am sharp so we can discuss this,” she spoke, motioning to the graphic case photos. you once again nodded and turned around, walking out and back towards the bullpen.

on your way in, you encountered rossi and j.j. who were leaving to head home. you knew that j.j. was desperate to get home to see will and henry so you didn’t want to hold her up. however, rossi shot you a comforting smile as j.j. squeezed your shoulder.

spencer was there to greet you when you walked in. you shrugged his hand off of your shoulder and ignored derek and emily’s concerned looks. instead, you grabbed your bags and exited the building without another word.

strauss was making you hate your job and there wasn’t anything that could be done that would benefit you.

____

the following day, wednesday morning, you stepped into the bau. you first walked up to hotch’s office, tossing your report from the case on his desk with sad eyes.

“good luck,” hotch spoke to you as you walked out. you slightly smiled before making your way to strauss’ office.

this time, she motioned for you to sit down. you did just that and placed your hands in your lap.

“i don’t know what i’m going to do with you agent y/n. over the past few months you have made countless mistakes. you were placed in the bau team for a reason even if i was strongly against it. personally, i don’t think your profiling skills are up to par but you get one more chance. the next mistake you make, i will have no choice but to suspend you,” strauss informed you.

anger slowly bubbled up inside you. thankfully, you kept your shaking hands in your lap and kept yourself from lashing out. “suspend me? with all due respect ma’am, others on my team have made mistakes but they haven’t been called into your office,” you responded politely.

strauss suddenly threw the case file down and glared slightly at you. “oh so now you’re throwing your team under the bus? this further proves my suspicions of you not fitting in and not working well with them. don’t get me started on your relationship with dr. reid. furthermore, agent hotchner will be hearing about your behavior agent y/n. you are dismissed.”

with that you took a sharp breath and did everything in your power to not storm out of the office. the first thing you did when you re-entered the bullpen was go straight up to hotch’s office. the door was open so you entered and closed it behind you. your boss’s eyes looked to you, a concerned look forming when he saw your state.

“i can’t do it anymore hotch, i really can’t,” you spoke, voice incredibly shaky.

“do what?” hotch responded as he finished scribbling down a few things on a file. you rubbed your eyes as tears began to form.

“be on this team. next time i make the simplest mistake even if it’s suggesting the wrong thing, i’ll be suspended. i can’t remain on this team knowing that i’ll have to walk on eggshells for an unknown time. i know strauss doesn’t want me in the fbi anymore, she told me herself. i just can’t be here anymore,” you revealed, getting choked up in the end.

hotch stopped writing and placed his pen down. “she said that?” he asked. you nodded with a frown. “she told me that my profile skills are not up to par and i shouldn’t be at the bau.”

with that, you realized just how mentally exhausted you were. ever since you got to the bau, you’ve had to constantly prove yourself and after all this time you still seem to not do your job right. you just wanted it to stop.

“and there’s nothing i can do about strauss. so, i would like to request a resignation form,” you concluded.

hotch’s eyes widened at your request. “is there anyway i can convince you to take the rest of the week off to think about it? you can let me know monday morning,” your boss tried to convince you. you thought about it for a slight moment before agreeing.

“i’ll let you know monday morning,” you confirmed. once exiting the office, you noticed your entire team in the bullpen including garcia who was sitting with derek. you ignored them as you grabbed your work bag that had yet to be unpacked and your go bag. you pressed your lips together and rolled your eyes sarcastically as you looked at your name plate. ‘ssa y/n y/l/n’ it read. you flicked it down before leaving the building without another word. 

rossi, who had stepped out of his office just in time to see you leaving, looked at his team who were all sporting confused expressions. he then walked down the catwalk and into hotch’s office.

“what’s going on with y/n?” rossi asked.

hotch motioned to close the door and then sit down. rossi sat across the younger man who then sighed.

“she’s reached a breaking point with strauss’s harassment. and dave, from what she’s told me it’s never been this bad. she requested a resignation form,” hotch revealed causing rossi’s eyes to widen.

“she’s quitting?” he asked shocked.

hotch shook his head, “i managed to convince her to take the rest of the week off to think about it. i just don’t know where she’s going to go. and i mean what is there to do about strauss. nothing we could even discuss in a work setting.”

“we can do a team meeting at my house tonight. send a text using the personal numbers. oh and tell garcia to bring her computer,” rossi suggested before exiting to room to avoid suspicion.

spencer looked out confused as his girlfriend exited the bau abrubtly, bags in hand and tears in your eyes. he knew he could go after you but had realized you probably wanted to be alone.

a buzz from his personal phone broke him out of his thoughts. judging by the rest of the teams expressions, they had received one too. it was a simple message from hitch.

“team meeting at rossi’s at 7pm. do not mention it to anyone outside of the team. garcia bring your laptop.”

he looked towards emily who simply shrugged. they had no doubt that it was most likely about your sudden exit.

____

meanwhile, once exiting the bau, you quickly drove home as fast as traffic and the speed limit let you. you then stepped in your apartment, thankful at that moment that you didn’t share with anyone.

the first thing you did was pack your bags. you left your work bag at the table and packed a backpack with personal items such as a few books and electronics. then, you packed a suitcase full of clothes. finally, you changed out of your work attire and into sweatpants and a t-shirt which was obviously much more comfortable.

you sat on your couch, opening up your laptop to american airlines. after finding a flight that was leaving in an hour and a half, you booked it before putting your laptop back into your backpack and standing up.

before you left, you placed your gun on your table. this wasn’t a flight with the bau so you couldn’t bring your gun for obvious reasons. your badge remained in your coat pocket just in case. as you looked back at your apartment, you sighed.

there was only one thought that crossed your mind; spencer. your boyfriend obviously wouldn’t react well to you just getting up and leaving so suddenly. well, no one would, but, you didn’t want to leave him in the dust. you knew he would come to your apartment after work so a note was the easiest option. you quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and began writing.

spencer,

“goodbyes are bittersweet. but it’s not the end, i’ll see your face again”

i know it’s cliche to put a song lyric but i figured it was fitting. i really just need to get away for awhile and clear my head. text me and let me know you’re alright, okay?

i love you,

y/n

you folded it up before neatly printing your boyfriends name on the front. with that, you were out your front door and on the way to the airport.

close to seven hours later, you arrived in san diego. the warm heat of the city welcomed you as you felt your nerves seemingly melt away. after taking a cab, you arrived to your families home.

you first knocked timidly on the door before stepping back. moments later, a figure appeared before the door swung open.

“hi mom,” you spoke with a small smile.

#criminal minds #criminal #spencer reid #spencer reid x oc #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau #derek morgan #penelope garcia #david rossi

[anogete]

Watch me vomit up my thoughts

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?  I’m sorry I’ve disappeared on everyone.  It’s been... a year.  I think that probably goes for everyone, not just me.  If you’re interested in a personal life update, then read on.  If you’re looking for an update on my writing then I regret to inform you that I haven’t written a single thing this year.  Maybe next year, though.  There is always next year, right?  I think I saw a blurb that we’re getting Sam and Bucky back in March.  And Loki shortly after.  Maybe that will be my inspiration.

I’m fortunate enough to have a job that lets me comfortably work from home.  I’m also fortunate enough to own a home.  And my last blessing is that I don’t have kids, so I didn’t have to figure out the nightmare of childcare and home schooling like some of you.  My library on the second floor of the house has been my office since mid-March.  I’ve been transitioning into the Associate Financial Advisor roll this year and that has been going well.  I’m supporting the clients I’ve worked with as an assistant for the past nine years, so it’s been easy-going.  I’m able to order my groceries for pick up to avoid going in the stores and I live in an neighborhood where it is easy to get delivery from restaurants.  I’m incredibly lucky to have all these things going for me and I am thankful every damn day.

I fell into a bit of a funk this spring and early summer, but managed to pull myself out of it in August.  I started planning my meals, walking 2-5 miles every day, and exercising on the Peloton bike I bought a year ago.  I also started reading again and zipped through almost 50 books between June and now.  By November, I was feeling strong and healthy.  I felt like I had found a balance between work and activity and self-care.  I was still coming to terms with my grandma passing in March of last year and with Ferguson (my sweet doggo) passing in September of last year.  But I was trying and things were getting better.  I felt like I had my feet underneath me.

Lemme stop you here if you don’t want to read about death and some general medical stuff.  Because that’s mostly what you’re getting from here on out.

On November 21st, my mom texted me at 5:30am.  I got it right away because I usually wake up around that time, alarm or not.  She said she had dropped my dad off at the hospital because he was having difficulty breathing.  Apparently, he’d been feeling bad for a week, but insisted to everyone that it was just his sinuses draining.  I called her and began questioning her like I was cross-examining a star witness.  I was able to piece together a really fucking shitty story.

My dad always went to a friend’s house on Friday evenings to have a couple beers and hang out.  We’d all warned him since March that he needed to stop, but he insisted it was fine.  He bought into a lot of the cavalier attitude that the Trump fans have over this virus. Plus, he was 64-years-old and didn’t take any medication so he probably thought it was no big deal.  He spent a few hours at his friend’s house on November 6th.  Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, he received a call from that friend on November 11th that the friend and the friend’s wife had tested positive for COVID.  He didn’t share this info with my mother, my brothers, or my uncle, all of whom had been near him.  By November 15th, he was coughing but insisted it was drainage when my mom suggested he take something for it and go to the doctor.  By November 18th, he was worse and admitted to my mom that his friend had tested positive but that he hadn’t seen him for almost two weeks so his problems were just sinus-related and not COVID.  My mom hates confrontation, so she accepted this and didn’t tell anyone, including me and my brothers.  By November 19th, he had a fever and was having trouble breathing along with a persistent cough.  He finally agreed to take some cold medicine, but refused to call his doctor’s office despite my mom asking him many, many times.  At 4:30am on November 21st, he woke my mom and asked her to take him to the hospital because he couldn’t breathe well.  She dropped him off and returned home to text me since they wouldn’t allow her in the building.  She also texted my brothers, who admitted that they felt like they’d had a cold for several days.  I live 4 hours away and haven’t traveled since March, so I hadn’t seen any of them.

A nurse called my mom a couple hours after she dropped my dad off to tell her that he was positive for COVID and pneumonia and they were admitting him to put him on a bipap.  From what I understand, that’s the oxygen mask that pushes air into your lungs.  Later that day, the health department called my mom and told her to quarantine for two weeks.  My mom cooperated and gave them my brothers’ phone number (they live together), my uncle’s phone number, and the name and number of the person we suspected my dad was infected by (his friend).  My brothers opted to get tested and were positive.  They quarantined for two weeks and had mild to moderate symptoms (brief fever, very tired, cough, drainage).  My mom had virtually no symptoms with the exception of some drainage that she took Mucinex for.  She didn’t get tested, but she lived and slept in the same bed with my dad for a week while he was symptomatic.  If my brothers got it from 30 minutes in the same room as him, surely she got it as well.  My uncle and his son got tested, but they were negative.

My dad was cooperative with the doctor and nurses at first, but as the first day wore on he became irritated.  He’d been without his chewing tobacco (yes, I know: eww) for several hours and was going through nicotine withdrawal, but wouldn’t admit that to the nurses or doctor.  The next day he was put in ICU, still on the bipap, and even more unruly and rude to the staff taking care of him.  They called my mom to ask her to talk to him and convince him to cooperate.  They said if he couldn’t recover on the bipap and required a ventilator then “things would be very bad.”  My mom tried to talk to him by text and he just continued to insist that he was well enough to come home.

I used to be close to my dad when I was a kid, but we’d grown apart over my adulthood.  Over the past 20 years, my dad morphed into someone different.  Everyone around him, especially my grandmother, told me they saw this happen the same as I did.  The result was that my dad became someone I didn’t like and didn’t want to spend time with.  He also didn’t seem to know how to talk to me anymore.  To be fair, I didn’t give him much help in that regard.  I texted him to see how he was doing and the conversation quickly devolved into him complaining about the care and insisting he was well enough to come home.  I tried to reason with him and appeal to his love for my mom by saying that my fear was him coming home and giving her the virus.  He told me that he’d decided he was no longer contagious and this was just a bunch of bullshit.  This conversation via text continued through Monday and Tuesday (November 23rd and 24th), but it took a turn for the delusional.  The doctor can only assume that the virus and the lack of oxygen had resulted in hallucinations and delusions.  My dad told my mother and I that he was in an office building owned by a man named Mr. Pritt.  He said he was the only patient and that this man was having his workers experiment on him and that they would eventually kill him.  He demanded that we come get him immediately so he could recover at home.  When we told him he’d die if he came home because he was too sick, he insisted he wasn’t sick at all and became very angry with us.  He accused both my mom and I of conspiring to kill him because we wouldn’t help him.  One day he told me that I’d confirmed what he’d known all along.  I asked him what that was and he said, “That I always loved you more than you loved me.”  This really hurt because even though I knew he was loopy, I also knew that he’d probably actually had that though before.

He began refusing treatment on those days and wouldn’t accept the steroids they were trying to give him and raised hell when they tried to take him for a chest x-ray.  He also told them he didn’t want to be placed on a ventilator even though he had agreed to one when he was admitted.  He was texting all of his friends and telling them he needed a ride home.  He attempted to get up and leave the hospital twice, falling in the floor both times because he was so weak from lack of oxygen once he took the mask off.  He also told my mom and I that he was secretly removing the mask when the nurses couldn’t see to prove to them that he wasn’t sick.  He was taking and sending blurry pictures to us of the room as “evidence.”  He told my mom to forward the pictures to “the feds.”  The pictures were of his hospital bed, the whiteboard with his nurses’ and doctor’s names on it, his IVs, etc.  By the morning of Wednesday, the 25th, I was getting some off-the-wall texts from him.  He was begging us to come check him out of the hospital at that point and we were trying to play along and tell him we were getting everything in order for him to come home soon.  Eventually, he told me that he wasn’t getting out of there alive and that he loved me.  I told him I loved him too and begged him to do whatever the doctor said because the doctor wanted to help him get better.

A few minutes later, the nurse called my mom and asked if she’d been on the phone with my dad.  My mom said she and I hadn’t spoken to him by any way other than text since he arrived at the hospital.  The nurse said he had been on the phone with a woman, trying to convince her to come get him.  The nurse made him put the call on speaker so she could tell the woman that he wasn’t well enough to leave.  Because she was concerned that her message didn’t get through before my dad hung up, she called my mom to make sure he hadn’t convinced my mom to check him out against medical advice.  My mom assured her that we had no intention of breaking him out of the hospital, but she didn’t know who the woman was.  It wasn’t her or me.  We called a long-time former co-worker of my dad’s that I’ve known since I was a kid and she said she hadn’t talked to him.  We called his best friend and asked if he’d called and spoken to the man’s wife.  Not her either.  More on this later.  I’m sure you know where it’s going.

We were stumped, but didn’t have time to deal with it because the nurse practitioner called and told my mom that my dad was delusional and could no longer make his own decisions.  They said he had no chance of survival if they didn’t put him on a ventilator immediately.  My mom called me.  I told her to agree to it.  The nurse called her back and gave the phone to my dad.  He had agreed to the ventilator as well and wanted to tell my mom that he loved her and me and my brothers and his dog.  His speech was slurred and muffled from the bipap mask, but she at least heard that.  They intubated him right after the call.  He was on a paralytic for a week.  When they backed off on the paralytic, they had to increase his oxygen.  A week later, the nurse tried to kindly tell us that he wasn’t getting better and his chances of survival were low.  She suggested we start to talk about turning off the ventilator and letting him go.  We did talk about that, which was very upsetting for everyone, but the doctor said he’d been on the ventilator for two weeks and we’d give him one more week to see what happens.  By this point, he no longer had pneumonia. But the damage COVID did to his lungs couldn’t be repaired.

The ventilator was on full blast (highest pressure, highest oxygen) just to keep him somewhat stable.  The days were ticking by and he still wasn’t making progress.  Any step forward was followed by a bigger step back. My mom would call and get the update from the nurse most days, but I did call myself a few days.  When I’d call and talk to the nurse, I’d get a grim picture that my mom didn’t seem to get or understand. I talked to her on December 12th and asked her if she was trying to protect my brothers and I or if she really thought he was going to get better.  She admitted that she’d had a feeling for days that he wasn’t going to get better.  We decided to just wait for the doctor to call.  The nurse called my mom on Monday, December 14th and told her that my dad’s blood pressure was all over the place and they were struggling to keep him stable, that the ventilator was turned up to the highest settings and it was barely enough to keep him going.  My mom texted me and told me she asked them to call me.  The doctor called me within about 20 minutes and basically told me that my dad wasn’t going to make it.  They’d had him on a ventilator for 19 days and within a couple days his throat tissue would likely become necrotic from the pressure of the cuff keeping the tube in place.  They could only continue the ventilator if they could put in a trach and he wasn’t stable enough for that.  In addition, he needed more support than the ventilator could provide.  I was told he was either going to go into cardiac arrest while on the ventilator and die or they’d be forced to take him off the ventilator because of the damage to his throat.  The most damning thing he told me was that he’d removed the sedation but my dad didn’t wake.  He wasn’t responsive, wouldn’t squeeze their hands, wouldn’t flinch when they tested his reflexes, nothing.

I was told we could come sit with him and say goodbye when the ventilator was removed.  I asked when and the doctor said soon.  I live 4 hours from my parents, so I told him I’d leave right away and have my mom call to make arrangements for me to come to the hospital.  I called my mom and told her all this and asked her to let the hospital know.  I packed a bag and rushed out the door.  On my way out of town, the doctor called me back and asked if I was on my way.  My mom had told them that we’d come by the next morning and he was worried my dad wouldn’t make it through the night.  So, I had to have a shitty conversation with my mom about how we couldn’t schedule my dad’s death for 7am on Tuesday, that it needed to happen at 8pm on Monday.  I do not recommend these types of calls.

I got into town around 7pm and picked my mom up because she’d decided she wanted to come with me.  My brothers said they couldn’t handle it and decided to stay at my mom’s house.  My mom and I were taken to the COVID floor, given gowns, and gloves, told he was COVID positive so we’d need to continue to wear our cloth masks (no medical mask, is that safe?!), and escorted to his room in the ICU.  Guys, he looked so fucking tired and so sad.  It was heartbreaking.  The nurse said their ICU was full and most of the patients were in the same shape as my dad.  We talked to him for a few minutes, held his hand and all that shit.  He didn’t respond in any way, so I don’t know if he was even there.  We stepped out of the room while they removed the tube and gave him some medicine.  When we went back in, his breaths were labored and it looked like he was gasping for air. My mom almost lost it because she wasn’t expecting that.  I told her she could go wait in the hall and I’d stay with him until he passed.  The nurse was kind enough to give him a little more medicine to make it less dramatic, but it was still difficult watching him breathe in that way.  My mom sat so she couldn’t see his head to make things easier on herself.  We sat there with him for about 40 minutes before he passed away at 8:32pm on Monday, the 14th.

I stayed with my mom last week and helped her arrange a private graveside service and the burial.  She wanted to do a funeral and I thought that was the worst idea, so we agreed on doing a celebration of life next year when things are a little better (hopefully).  To my knowledge, I haven’t had the virus.  I operated under the assumption that my mom and brothers had it and were immune for now and wouldn’t transmit it.  So, I was able to be with them without mask, but I did wear a mask when anyone else was around.  I can’t say the same for the fucking funeral director and the locksmith’s employee who opened my dad’s safe for us, though.  I live in a bigger city and mask wearing is pretty wide-spread here, but I saw so many people in my hometown (a more rural area) who didn’t bother with them.

Anyway, while all these graveside preparations are going on my mom goes through the bag of personal items from my dad that the hospital gave us.  She tossed his clothes in the washer and placed his two rings into a bag to give to the funeral home so he could be buried in them.  She also pulled out his wallet and his cell phone.  His wallet has a picture that was obviously cut from an old driver’s license of a woman named Deb.  Apparently, this woman lives in Florida and had attended junior high school with my dad.  About two years ago, my parents took a trip to Florida and visited with her for several days.  She even friended my mom on Facebook.  So, the old driver’s license picture of her was very weird.  What was even more disturbing?  His wallet also contained a plastic bag of hair that very obviously is not my mom’s.  And there was a piece of paper with three phone numbers on it.  His phone was locked with a PIN and was set to wipe itself after 20 incorrect tries.  I did tried to break into it, but wasn’t successful.  My mom admitted that she suspected he’d been talking to someone on his phone for years, but she never directly confronted him about it.  She’d just make comments about him always texting on his phone and being secretive.  Two Christmases ago he bought her a ring at a store that she has an online login to.  This particular store posts the receipts for all purchases linked to the customer’s account to the website.  She saw that my dad had purchased two pieces of jewelry even though she only received one.  My dad has never in his life bought me a Christmas present without my mom assisting, so she knew it wasn’t for me.  She still didn’t confront him, though.  She just told him that she could see the itemized receipts online.

I sympathized with my mom because I’ve experienced the infidelity of a partner in a relationship and if I were her then I’d want to know.  But I also told her that I don’t know digging into it will make things any better and may not even give her the truth.  He’s gone and there is nothing that can be done about that or anything else.  While I was running errands for her the day before the graveside service, she messaged Deb in Florida and asked if she wanted her picture back.  She also called the three phone numbers in his wallet.  One went to Deb.  The other two were the cell phone and work phone of my dad’s best friend’s wife, Anne.  The same friend and wife who likely gave the virus to my dad.  My mom told me when I got back that she’d done this and admitted she’d always felt like my dad was talking to Anne and might have an inappropriate relationship with her.  I suspect my mom is right.  Gut instinct is usually accurate.  She said she didn’t think anything physical was going on with Deb, but she did think my dad was carrying on a flirtatious relationship with her via text.  In both cases, he tried to hide it.  And if you hide it, then you know it’s wrong.  That night Deb messaged my mom back and said she had heard about what happened to my dad and was very sorry.  She said that my dad was always clear that he was married and nothing went on that was inappropriate, but that he gave her someone to talk to when her husband was sick and dying five years earlier and they’d always kept in contact.  Again, I don’t think my mom can count on anyone to give her the full story without spin or deceit.  A couple days ago, she texted me a picture of a receipt from my dad’s truck.  It was from last Christmas from a department store.  It had two pieces of jewelry on it.  She looked them both up using the UPCs listed and found the necklace he gave her last year and a ring she doesn’t recognize.  We don’t know if he was giving this jewelry to Deb in Florida or Anne, his friend’s wife.  Or someone else we don’t even know about.  And we’re probably never going to know.  Do I want to call Deb and Anne and tell them I want to full story?  Fuck yeah.  Do I think it will fix anything?  Fuck no.

TL;DR?  I finally found some balance in my life late this summer.  This balance was destroyed when my dad got COVID and died after three weeks in the hospital.  And when you’ve already got a not-so-great relationship with your dad, you get all kinds of feels when he dies in a traumatic way and then you find out he’s been screwing around on your mom.  I also have lots of anger toward him for knowingly exposing my other family members to the virus simply because he didn’t want to own up to getting it after doing something we’d all told him to stop doing.

Health-wise?  I think I’m okay.  It’s been almost ten days since I was with him in the hospital and seven days since his graveside service.  I haven’t had any symptoms yet and I think most people show symptoms by now.  Regardless, I’ve been at home since I returned last Thursday evening and I intend to stay home until January 2nd.  My boyfriend is also home and will be here until January 2nd as well.  Just to be safe.  My brothers are mostly recovered, but both still have a bit of a cough.  My mom never had much in the way of symptoms and seems fine.  My dad was 64 and overweight.  We found out once he was admitted to the hospital that his regular doctor had told him he was a diabetic and my dad insisted on “treating” that with cinnamon instead of actual medicine.  Other than those things, he didn’t have any health concerns.  Be careful, ya’ll.

#Anogete in real life #personal #covid_19 #fuck covid #family #death

[thewayshedreamed]

This Time— Part 5

A Nessian Fan Fic

Fic Masterlist

This chapter was a tough one for me to write. I got stuck a few times with the order of things (for this chapter and the following ones). Once I decided on that, the angst in this one was a little emotional for me to write, then edit. So, proceed with caution. That’s the official angst warning!

On a more positive note, this is a definitive turning point toward resolution, so it WILL get better! Thanks again for all of you who have offered your feedback and followed the story. Knowing y’all are enjoying this little au with me makes it all the more fun to write 😊

Trigger warning for short depiction of grief.

——————————————————————————

Birthday breakfast was really more of a birthday lunch the day after celebrating at Rita’s. Elain was sitting at the small island of Nesta’s kitchen, nursing a Gatorade and holding her head in her hands. Feyre was next to her scrolling through her phone. She was doing intel on their group’s collective social media updates, and so far, there were no embarrassing posts to deal with.

Nesta was mixing pancake batter, periodically folding in chocolate chips. Chocolate chip pancakes were reserved for Archeron birthdays or holidays, and they looked forward to sharing them when the occasions presented themselves. She poured some of the batter into her skillet, absently watching for bubbles as her indicator they were ready to flip. After making the initial flip, she walked to her refrigerator and produced a bottle of champagne with orange juice.

“Who wants to open the champagne for birthday mimosas?” She set both bottles on the island, with glasses, before turning her attention back to the pancakes. Elain’s only response was a long groan. Feyre giggled, pulled the champagne toward her, and started untwisting the cage over the cork.

“What’s the expression, El? Hair of the dog? It may make you feel better.” She stood away from the island to pop the cork. The last things they needed were physical injuries.

“I guess it can’t make me feel any worse, right?” She picked her head up from her hands. “I’m going to go grab my phone,” she said, with a cringe. She padded away to Nesta’s room, returning seconds later. She was scrolling through her phone as she walked and stopped short once she met the threshold of the kitchen, a horrified expression on her face.

”Why the fuck would I have deleted all of my texts last night?!” Her voice was more shrill than normal, and her sisters’ eyes grew at her use of “fuck” during pancake breakfast.

It was Feyre who dared answer her. “Umm... I have no idea. Maybe it was an accident?”

”That’s a pretty impressive accident.” Nesta realized her comment wasn’t helping as her sisters glared in her direction.

Elain continued. “I’ll tell you why. Because drunk me tried to hide something from sober me.” She paused for a second, blushing. “My evidence, in case you were wondering, is a text from Azriel that says: ‘*laugh emoji* Not cool. You had me worried there for a minute, Ellie. Goodnight. Hope you enjoyed your birthday.’” She glanced up at them in horror.

Nesta gave her a small smile. “Ellie, I’m sure it’s nothing. Even drunk you couldn’t have said anything too terrible. Maybe just talk to Az? It would be better than wondering.”

Elain sat down, her anxiety palpable in the small kitchen. She was quiet save for the nod she’d given her sister in acknowledgment of her advice. Nesta assumed maybe she could use a little more encouragement since she didn’t look wholly convinced.

“I really think it’ll be okay. Az is reasonable and has probably said his own fair share of drunken things he would care to take back.” She offered a short chuckle before sipping her mimosa. “You could call him, maybe, or—“

”Nes, are you really preaching to me about communication right now?”

Nesta blinked, taken aback by the irritation in Elain’s voice. “I wasn’t trying to preach, El. I just meant you didn’t have to worry and could trust Az to give you a chance to—“

”The same way you gave Cassian a chance to fix whatever the hell you’re holding against him? Why should Az be any more gracious than you’ve been?” Elain snapped. Her shoulders rounded a little at her own words, and Feyre’s eyes grew to the size of two steel blue saucers.

“Cauldron, Elain,” she said, looking from one sister to the other. Her back was straight, anticipating Nesta’s best weapons: her words.

Nesta took several seconds to reflect on their current situation. It was such an unexpected shift, where Elain was the one throwing insults, and Feyre, of all people, was defensive of Nesta. She wasn’t used to this type of interaction with Elain, and her words stung more than she was willing to admit. She finished her mimosa in one swift gulp and placed her dishes in the sink.

“Lucky for you, Azriel is nowhere near as disappointing, or shitty, as I am. I’m going to shower while you two finish breakfast. I’ll bring you home when you finish.” Her tone was neutral, dry even. By all measures, it was on the milder side for Nesta. She was halfway to the bathroom when she heard Elain’s wavering voice.

“Nes, wait. I’m sorry I didn’t mean—“

“Don’t ever apologize for saying what you mean, Elain,” she said, coldly, before walking the rest of her way. She couldn’t get out of there fast enough, wanting to leave the gaping wound that Elain had ripped open far behind her.

——————————————————————————

The following week went by fairly quickly. Elain and Nesta had made up within the day, Elain insisting that she had spoken from her own nerves rather than how she truly felt. She asked if Nesta wanted to talk about what happened with Cassian, but she declined, saying it wasn’t a big deal. She tasted the lie the second it left her mouth, but she shoved that down with everything else.

Her attention to the day of the week was higher than usual in anticipation of Wednesday. She was oddly preoccupied with a day that truly meant nothing to her, but it had haunted her since she overheard Cassian’s conversation with Alis. When the day finally arrived, she found herself ruminating over their conversation, letting her imagination run wild with the possibilities of how they were spending their time.

She told herself that she didn’t care beyond the fact that he would usually tell her all about these sorts of things. Gods, it bothered her to no end that she wasn’t his person anymore.

That Thursday, she found herself getting ready for dinner with Tomas. He had called her that Monday to see if she’d like to go out, and she didn’t have a reason not to. She may have even wanted to go. The downside, when the day arrived, was that it happened to be a particularly brutal work day. She was at home touching up and mentally preparing herself for a couple of hours of conversation. She would usually call Cassian for pep talks on days like this, but their non-friendship was a dealbreaker in that department. Not to mention, he likely wouldn’t have cared to give her a pep talk for this particular night. Gods, it bothered her to no end that he wasn’t her person anymore, either.

Dinner had been fine enough. Tomas looked handsome and seemed completely engaged with her the entire night. He was interested in her work, how her life had been since he’d last seen her, and her friends. He made brief mention of her mother and how he had been really sad to hear that she passed a few years ago. His condolences were sincere, but Nesta found herself oddly defensive at his mention of her. He hadn’t known her well, since their relationship hadn’t lasted long, and she felt like he couldn’t possibly imagine the void she left in their lives.

She resisted any response beyond a “thank you”, knowing that her reaction was likely due to her death anniversary coming up within the week. The rest of the night had gone well. The food was good, the conversation was fine, Tomas was fine. They had a fine time together. Everything was just fine.

Which is why, she assumed, that Tomas had tried to kiss her at the end of the night. He had driven her home, walked her to the door, and hugged her goodbye. As he pulled away, his cheek lingered next to hers, face turning toward her in slow motion. She cleared her throat abruptly and reached into her bag for her key.

“Well, thanks for tonight! I had a nice time.” She had the key in the lock, and she was already mentally selecting her sweatpants for the evening.

“Wait.” Thomas grabbed her elbow, turning her around. “Why are you being so weird? I thought we had a good time?”

”We did. I just said I had a nice time.”

”You seem to be rushing out pretty fast for a person having fun.” He paused for a few seconds to allow her to insist that she was having fun, or to invite him inside, she thought. She did neither.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Is it Cassian?”

She knew she was balking at him, but she didn’t have it in her to control it.

“Are you kidding me? Just because I’m ending the night without kissing you or asking you to come inside and fuck me, there has to be a man responsible? Could it be because this night has taken us as far as it was ever going to?” She rolled her eyes, turned the key, and walked inside. “Goodnight, Tomas,” she said, as she shut the door in his face.

She kicked her shoes off in her entryway and tossed her purse onto the small table next to her door. She removed her dress over her head as she walked purposefully to her bedroom and ripped her sweatpants out of the too-full drawer. She pulled on an extra large t-shirt and went to the kitchen to pour herself some red wine. She settled onto her couch, put on some mindless television, and tried to relax.

She reflected over the night’s events. She was honest when she told Tomas that they had a fine time. She had enjoyed herself tonight, and she started to feel a twinge of guilt for snapping at him in her doorway. He hadn’t done anything wrong before asking that question, and if she was honest with herself, she knew why it bothered her so much. It’s not that he wasn’t handsome, that he was unkind, or that he was disrespectful. It wasn’t even that he had misjudged and asked the wrong question. The truth hammered through her brain like an ambush, and she was utterly incapable of stopping it.

He’s not Cassian.

——————————————————————————

Nesta watched several episodes of a home renovation show as she worked through her bottle of wine. She decided that it was the perfect type of show to watch on nights like tonight, where she was knee-deep in her thoughts. Her earlier revelation had sunken its claws into her brain, and she was having trouble thinking of anything else. She wasn’t sure at what point she had stopped fighting it— either glass 2 or glass 3. She finally allowed herself to take a critical look at all these pent up emotions, and noteworthy memories of Cassian started to play through her mind like a montage.

She is sitting in the passenger seat of an older, black pick-up truck. Cassian is driving, and they have the windows down to feel the cool fall breeze. They’re going for a leisurely drive because he got his license just yesterday, and he loves the freedom it’s given him. He doesn’t have to be a slave to his home life or his abusive father anymore. He can just drive. She makes a joke, and he’s laughing now. His mid-length waves are dancing around his face, and he turns to look at her for mere seconds before looking back at the road.

She sipped her wine thoughtfully, noting the memory as the first time he ever took her breath with how beautiful his joy could be. She remembered how her chest had burst with pride at being able to make him laugh and smile like that, despite his pain. She noted now what she was too scared to admit then: there was little she wouldn’t do to protect his happiness.

It’s junior prom, and she’s posted against the wall with a bottle of water. Her date is a total jerk, and she’s hoping that maybe he’ll just leave. His departure would be better than pretending to enjoy herself anymore. She sees Cassian approaching her from her left. He looks so much more mature in his tux, half of his waves tied back in a knot at the back of his head.

“Hey, Archie. Where’s your date?”

She chuckles softly. “I don’t know. But I think I like it that way. He’s kind of the worst.”

Cassian frowns. “Well, he’s an idiot, then. Dance with me?” He extends his hand to her, palm up, and offers her a half-smile. He looks almost nervous, and her heart swells with affection for him.

“Always. You’re my favorite person here.”

She wiped the tears from her face, not sure of when she started crying. The feeling now so vivid; her favorite person. The truth of that statement refused to be downplayed. She shook her head, realizing it to be as accurate as ever.

It’s her sophomore year of college, and her friends are at a local bar celebrating the end of finals. She hasn’t been able to see them nearly as often this semester, and she’s enjoying their time together. At a certain point, a guy she doesn’t know gets awfully too comfortable with her, and he’s touching her all over. She tries to walk away, and he grips her arm tightly as she fights against him. He’s so much stronger than she is, but her brain can only focus on getting away from him. Just before the panic sets in, she sees two familiar figures approaching from the side. Faster than she can note what is really happening, Azriel is separating the guy’s hand from Nesta’s arm and is shoving him too easily away from her. She’s immediately wrapped in a tight hug, her face tucked tightly into Cassian’s chest. She inhales his scent as she steadies her breath, and she clutches the back of his shirt like a lifeline. She isn’t truly crying, but tears are starting to pool in her eyes from the sheer relief of being safe with him. He pulls back only as much as he needs to cup her face with his hands. His brow is deeply furrowed as he scans her face in that knowing way of his, and his lips form a tight line. He is painfully concerned. He is furious. He is fighting all of those things to remain even for her.

“Are you okay? Nes, please. Talk to me. Tell me you’re okay.”

”I’m okay.” Her response is quiet, robotic.

“He’s gone. Azriel took care of it.”

She was yearning for a sense of normalcy, the intensity of his care becoming too much. She resorts to humor as she usually does.

“I’m surprised. It’s usually you who runs straight to the front lines. Forever the hero.” She cracks a small smile, hoping it’ll comfort him.

He’s still holding her face in his large hands. He drops his gaze briefly as he shakes his head, and when he looks back at her face, he’s wearing an ironic sort of smile.

“All I could see was you.”

The memory knocked the breath out of her, having been so long since she had thought about it. She understood his meaning then, but it hit her with a renewed vigor now. She superseded his basic instincts to protect, eliminate the threat. When it came to her, he trusted no one else and had to personally ensure she was okay. He would throw himself between her and anyone or anything that threatened her, and he would do it happily. Her heart clenched as she thought about how no one else could have made her feel comfortable or calmed her under those circumstances. Another tear rolled down her cheek at how careless she had been with his heart and how much she had taken him for granted. At how much she had always lied to herself. Because she was feeling particularly masochistic, she entertained one last memory, her tears pouring.

Her mother is terminally ill, and the doctors believe she will leave them any day now. It’s 3 AM, and her phone rings. Her father tells her she’s gone, and she holds herself together until she hangs up the phone. She is panicking; can’t catch her breath. Her father is calling Elain and Feyre, and they are supposed to meet at his house when they can get themselves ready. She doesn’t know how she will face this. She can’t do it. She can’t do it. She Can’t. Do. It.

Her fingers work automatically, pressing Cassian’s contact and putting him on speaker phone. Holding it to her face seems too taxing, and her tears will smear all over the screen. He answers in two rings, his voice gravelly with sleep.

”Nes?”

Her only answer is a choked sob, followed by several attempts at catching her breath.

“Nesta. I’m on my way. Stay on the phone with me.”

She complies, finally mastering herself enough to say, “Momma” through her sobs.

“Nesta. Sweetheart. I’m so sorry. I’m in the truck now. Please stay with me.”

Everything else is a blur except for hearing him come through her door. He opens her bedroom door swiftly, obviously in a hurry to get to her. He leaves the bedroom light off, allowing the hallway lighting to be his guide to her. His weight is shifting the mattress next to her, and he’s leaning against the headboard. He easily pulls her into his lap, and she’s tucking her face into his neck as she cries. She curls her legs into herself, and he holds her for what feels like seconds and years. She feels something wet soaking into the shoulder of her t-shirt and realizes his tears are falling as well.

He drives her to her father’s once she’s ready, holding her hand the entire way. He never leaves her side the days following, through arrangements, the ceremony, and family visitations. He makes sure she eats on somewhat of a schedule because time is all an illusion to her. He sleeps on her couch every night for the couple of weeks following, knowing bedtime is the hardest time for her, and she won’t want to be alone. She is so touched by his dedication, and she isn’t sure she could do this life without him.

She cried for a long time, only recovering when she felt like she had nothing left to give. She was hardly surprised at the landslide of emotions tackling her considering she had been repressing them for the entirety of their friendship. It was now apparent to her what should have always been apparent: she was in love with Cassian.

She was in love with him, but she had been myopic for so long that she may have finally exhausted his love for her.

——————————————————————————

A/N: Well, here it is. We’re nearing the end of this one, and I’m excited to get the rest up for y’all. As always, your feedback/ comments are welcome! If you’d like to be tagged, feel free to message, comment, or reblog! I’ll be happy to add you to the tag list.

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#nessian #nesta archeron #nesta x cassian #nesta #cassian #acotar #nessian au #nessian fwb #nessian angst #nessian fanfic #acowar #acomaf #nessian fluff #archeron sisters #acotar fanfiction

[mypunkpansexualtwin]

WIP Wednesday

I am, again, untagged but undeterred! Who wants more Wingman? No? Too bad, that’s what you’re getting!

I... haven’t slept yet. Consider yourself tagged if you want to do this and please please tag me in your WIPs, I really love seeing what my friends, mutuals, and followers are all working on. Part of this is under a cut, mostly for the sanity of Future Me.

About halfway down the block, they realized at about the same time that they had nothing to talk about.

“So…”

“So...”

So. Akira didn’t remember how to have a normal damn conversation. He wasn’t going to blame that on the fact that the only people who’d spoken to him on a regular basis in the past five months were all eccentric to say the least, but it definitely hadn’t helped. One of the top five current sanest people in his life was the drag queen proprietor of a bar in the red light district, for crying out loud. Not to mention he’d always been more of a listener to begin with because it was less stressful. So long as the person talking wasn’t a harried reporter who could only ever be found at the aforementioned drag bar. Or his homeroom teacher being blackmailed into dubious side work by a late student’s family. Or an ex member of the goddamn yakuza. Being “robbed of one’s place to belong” apparently also did a number on one’s sanity.

Akira was pulled from his thoughts by Ono awkwardly clearing his throat.

“I, uh, heard that one of the Japanese schools staying here is Shujin. That you?” Jason hazarded. 

“Yup.”

“Phantom Thieves Shujin?”

“That’s the only one I’m aware of.” Akira responded blandly. Not the best topic for small talk considering the apparent state of his brain-to-mouth filter, but better than walking along and twiddling their thumbs until one of them decided to leave. Probably.

Jason cracked a smile and jokingly asked, “Do you know them?” Even half-expecting it, the question still caught him a little off guard. Although not as much as it would have a few months prior, considering he’d gotten it just as jokingly from several of Leblanc’s regulars since May. Meaning he’d had time to practice his answer.

“Oh yeah,” Akira responded, pouring every ounce of sarcasm he had into a completely truthful statement, “I found them on accident and they made me their leader.” Then he rolled his eyes for good measure. Who needed to be a good liar when you could just tell the truth in a way nobody would believe?

“Pff, why would they do that?” Jason snorted, indulging the “joke.” Akira shrugged in response.

“No idea,” he answered, again, completely honestly. “My unparalleled charisma? My superior adaptability?” He paused for his date to stop laughing before he continued, “My cool glasses?” That earned him a scoff.

“Clark Kent you ain’t, buddy.” Ono retorted dryly, but the effect was ruined by the smile trying to break out across his face. Topic successfully deflected.

“Definitely no Superman, either.” Akira stretched and laughed softly.“Too gangly.” He was finally starting to actually relax a little when an arm snaked around his waist and tugged him close, effectively shooting his progress in the face.

“I dunno if I’d say gangly. Lean, maybe?” Ono’s voice was close to his ear again and his hand was ridiculously warm where it rested on his hip. “Whatever you wanna call it, it definitely suits you.” 

“Uh. Th-thanks.” A few moments passed, allowing Akira to attempt to scrape together something resembling a brain cell.

“Y’know, if you’re here to make memories, maybe we should get on that.”

Attempt failed, try again later. Something about the guy’s voice, especially with the way it ghosted across an apparently very sensitive spot just behind his ear, seemed to have a vendetta against Akira trying to think. Purely on impulse, with no input from his higher functions that had all abandoned him at that point, Akira turned his head and hummed his assent against the corner of Ono’s jaw. He felt a shiver run through the taller boy and a decidedly Arsene-shaped sense of smug satisfaction in the back of his mind. Akira wasn’t sure if he should offer his inner self thanks or wonder where the hell this kind of helpful nudge was earlier that afternoon with Ryuji. Or at literally any point with Ryuji. Maybe it was for the better, he really didn’t have the nerve to follow up on a move like that. And if he couldn’t with the guy who’d arranged the damn date, there was no way he’d have been able to after probably ambushing his unsuspecting best friend. There was no point in dwelling on that, though. Instead, he met the hooded gaze Jason levelled at him with a smirk meant to cover his rising nerves. 

Anyone who knew Joker, Infamous Leader of the Phantom Thieves would have recognized that particular smirk as the prelude to him being a little shit, but Ono did not. He had no idea what to expect when Akira replied lowly, “I think you might be onto something there.” The blond leaned in a little, eyes fluttering shut as Akira reached up to settle one hand on the back of Jason’s neck--

--and shattered the moment with a quiet click from his phone’s camera. Ono blinked a few times, looking up to where Akira was holding his phone up for the selfie he’d just snapped, and back to Akira’s face. Double take. Triple take. And then he fixed him with the most unimpressed face Akira had ever seen in his life, which had to be some kind of world record.

“Uhhh, say ‘cheese?’” He cracked a smile and tried hard not to laugh as that look somehow turned even more unimpressed.

“Ha freaking ha.” Ono pouted up at the camera. “Seriously. I’m gonna crack a rib laughin’ here. You’re hilarious.”

“Are you saying you don’t want a picture of yourself when you look this good?” Akira replied innocently and lowered his arm a little. Maybe it was unfair to push the buttons of a guy so obviously and aggressively walking the fine line between confident and vain, but the way his pout deepened before twisting into a smile was too cute.

“Fine, twist my arm why don’t you?” Jason rolled his eyes good-naturedly and settled against Akira before looking up into the camera. Halfway through the burst of pictures Akira took, Jason exacted his revenge and pressed a kiss to that sensitive spot he’d ghosted his breath over a moment ago. Thankfully the camera didn’t pick up the deeply embarrassing yelp that particular move elicited from Akira, but there was no hiding the way the phone suddenly jerked in his hand halfway through the dozen or so pictures, or the way his face had gone completely scarlet in all of them from that point onward. It was his turn to pout as he swiped through his camera roll and deleted the blurriest ones. “Ooh, definitely send me that one. And those two.” Ono instructed with his chin hooked over Akira’s shoulder. Naturally the guy wanted the pictures with the worst of Akira’s tomato face, but at least the rest he requested were nice. Maybe Akira wouldn’t be spending the rest of the night too mortified.

The incoming text notification that dropped from the top of his screen said otherwise. Goddammit.

“Oh man, the timing on that’s almost spooky. Hell of a coincidence.” Jason laughed as the preview of Futaba’s ‘who the heck is that guy???’ disappeared into the notifications bar. Akira groaned.

“Not a coincidence.”

#my writing #persona 5 #misguided wingman #any and all bits of the persona peanut gallery in akira's head is less a separate entities thing #and more like 'romantic impulsivity and maxed courage stat is stored in the arsene' #I'm working on the final chapter of this and am really hype #like. REALLY hype. #like planning at least 2 spinoff fics that resolve the nonsense #plus possibly a third that's literally just a chatfic of the other thieves betting on pegoryu becoming canon #I've been doing this for how many weeks and only just thought to start putting it under a cut

[graceslavenderhaze]

bright { connor stevens}

synopsis: connor knows your soul and you know his. now that knowledge is put to the test. 

authors note

part two of haunted!

in this story a evil eye bracelet is use, which is a talisman used for protection against misfortune and injury. i have used evil talismans since childhood and their apart of my culture which is why i’m adding them into my writing. 

also i tried my best to reconstruct the timeline so if there’s some mistakes and gaps, i tried lol. 

also the major plot twists i threw into this? whip lash worthy

Your walk home was accompanied by your tears and broken heart. While your mind was on auto pilot buzzing through every moment you spent with Connor, trying to pin point the exact moment everything had gone wrong. Was he being honest with you? Did he suddenly start caring all of a sudden what your over bearing parents thought about your relationship with him? Or was he just never into you that much to beginning with. You weren’t immune to hearing the whispers in the hallway and how cruel your classmates could be, while Connor always reassured you. Your mind always had that deep corner that was out for blood and to hurt you.

Your cheeks were raw and your eyes were stinging by the time you had returned back home. All the lights were out downstairs and upstairs. You snuck back into your bedroom with ease. You had no willpower once you entered through your windowpane to do anything. You shrugged off the jacket and your shoes, managed to changed into the first pair of clean pajamas you saw and the second your head hit the pillow, you were out. 

You woke up to your alarm and felt like you had been left on the side of the road after being ran over. You sat up to check your phone and saw that there had been a few notifications from your socials and texts from Luke, they were about Connor. Adding insult to injury. You stared at the texts debating if you should even them, and deciding against them. You couldn’t deal with this decaffeinated. 

“So he just broke up with you? Out of nowhere?” Carrie said as you had finished ranting to your friends. You nodded and her face furrowed. “That’s out of character for him, he looks at you like you put the stars in the sky.” She said nonchalantly making a turn onto out of the coffee shop parking lot. You took a sip of your coffee. 

“It’s so out of character for him.” Kayla commented from the backseat, you turned slightly to look at her. “Obviously we don’t know him as well as you do but c’mon that’s so weird.” It was weird, you didn’t put everything together in the moment but something was definitely going on. 

“You’re right.” You murmured. You didn’t want to give yourself excuses but something was definitely going on. As you rolled into school you noticed Luke and your eyebrows furrowed, Connor wasn’t with him. They always walked to school together. Unless he ditched. 

“Hey!” Luke announced as he walked up to Carries car when you’d gotten out. “Hi.” You said shortly walking past with your friends. “You seen Connor yet?” You and your friends stopped short. “Why would she keep tabs on her ex?” Carrie snarked. Confusion washed over Luke and he went silent as a sympathetic look was cast your way. You smiled before you and your friends continued your way to class. 

After school, you stayed late to hang with Kayla as she choreographed some more things for dance while you worked on your homework. Eventually you were both kicked out by the boys wrestling team and when leaving the coach asked if you knew where Connor was, you shook your head and went your way with Kayla. “He didn’t show at all today?” You voiced with concern to Kayla, she met your face with mutual concern. “You should call him. Breakup aside this is some criminal minds type shit.” You nodded. You pulled your phone out and your finger hung over his contact before you finally pressed down. 

The ringing went on and on which just built up your anxiety. Then his voicemail. “Hey it’s Connor, leave a message if you even do that anymore it’s the twenty first century.” You swallowed and looked at Kayla. “Hey, i know i’m probably the last person you want to hear from but where ever you are can you just call me and let me know you’re not kidnapped or something morbid like that. ok bye.” 

“Effective.” She said as you opened the passenger door. “Well sorry i don’t have a go to my ex who i love is missing might be missing and i’m concerned voicemail at the ready.” You said buckling your seatbelt. “Weakling.” She said pulling out of the school parking lot. 

“Where’s y/n? “ Hanna asked as they went through Connor’s backpack that they had found in the woods the day prior. Luke hadn’t spoken anything of Connor and yours breakup with the rest of the group and they’d been confused on the absence of their friend. “Connor and her broke up the night before he went missing.” Luke said to the group. The room went silent other than the humming of the art room lights. 

“Is that why she’s been avoiding us?” Gabby asked, she’d seen you several times and you’d dodged. It wasn’t intentional it was just that they were Connors friends first. “Probably.” Jai said continuing to look through the backpack when a letter addressed to you fell out. He looked at the group, “Nope not reading it.” 

“None of us are!” Hanna said as Luke inched towards it. Gabby nodded, “I have class with her next period. I’ll give it to her.” She said shooting the boys looks. The boys both put their heads down like dogs in the dog house. 

Eventually, the bell had rung so the group went separate ways and when Gabby saw you in class she sat next to you before you had the chance to move seats she dropped the letter on your desk. “We know why you’re avoiding us. But he left this for you, Luke found his backpack in the woods yesterday and he’s convinced something happened.” She said keeping her voice down not wanting to draw any attention to the two of you. You nodded taking everything in. 

You slipped the letter into your backpack. “I want to help but things with my parents aren’t the best right now and besides my shifts at the book store i’m on lock down.” You explained to her, there was nothing more you wanted than to help Connor. She nodded. “I totally understand. I’ll text you updates.” She said with a reassuring smile. You gave her a smile and then turned your attention to the class even though the only thing you could think about was the letter in your backpack. 

It had been hours before you were able to read the letter that Connor had left you. It sat there taunting you. You ripped it open and didn’t know what to feel. It just had a post it note that said you’re enough, then ticket stubs from dates you’d been on and a wax bracelet with an evil eye charm attached. You put the bracelet on almost instantly. Nothing made sense.

 What you had was a piece of the puzzle. 

On Monday, Connor was here. Sleep deprived, worried eyed and self heart broken. Tuesday came like sunrise and he was gone as if he never existed. The only thing left was his backpack and laptop that was password encrypted. 

On Tuesday, his backpack had been found in the woods he last was in before he disappeared. With trinket lights, a letter for you, and a note that was chalked up to be clues. 

On Wednesday, his friends went through his backpack at school. Hanna and Luke snuck into his house and stole his laptop in hopes of figuring out more about what happened to him. Later, that day Jai finds out the group didn’t make it out of the woods in time and was in deed cursed by the shadow man. Jai was almost taken in his basement, Hanna and Seth were almost taken in their living room, and Gabby while on a jog.

Not being able to get any contact of Luke who was at wrestling practice, Gabby stole her mom’s car to hopefully save her friend. The group took refugee at Connor’s house for the night. The shadow man came back and they managed to fight him off this time. Hanna cracked the password to Connor’s laptops and they figured out that he was cursed too. He was researching into the curse and was going to the lighthouse to preform a ritual to end it all. 

Pieces came together, like the corners of a puzzle. 

When Thursday rolled around you found yourself studying in the cafeteria when Gabby and Jai came to sit with you. “Hey.” You said looking up from your textbook. “Hi.” Gabby said with a nervous look on her face. “What’s going on?” You asked looking at the both of them with confusion and concern at the same time. 

“Your mom’s maiden name is Murphy, right?” Jai asked as he pulled out an old yearbook. You nodded, “Yeah but what does this have to do with Connor?” Jai placed the open yearbook in front of you. “This is June Murphy, she was the first victim of the shadow man curse we think, she was the light house keepers daughter, well one of them.” Gabby explained to you. 

“One of them? Whose the other?” You asked flipping to the next page, and staring up at you was your own mother. Who looked somewhat like. “Oh shit.” You muttered. “We didn’t know for sure.” Jai said sympathetically.

“It’s definitely her, probably think it was me if her name wasn’t there.” You said looking up and pulling your phone out to take a picture of the year book pages. “She chastises me for lying when she has a whole hidden identity.” You said slumped in shock. 

“We’re sorry.” Gabby said placing her hand on your wrist in an act of comfort. “Maybe she knows something that can help with Connor?” Jai implied, you shrugged. “I’ll talk to her later and let you guys know if it’s anything helpful. I have to go meet Carrie about the glow dance.” 

“Also Jai, If you’re planning on asking Kayla. Her dress is purple. Just a heads up.” You said as you grabbed your textbook and walked away from your two friends with questions swirling around your head. How was this suddenly a real life scenario in your life?

“Mom!” You announced when you walked in your house. She was in her bedroom. You hadn’t talked to her since the night you last saw Connor. “We need to talk.” You said, She smiled. She thinks she going to win, she has no idea what’s coming. 

“I’m so glad you came to your senses about that boy.” She said. You laughed pulling your phone out. “No we need to talk about your double life.” Her face went pale and fear overstruck it. You had never seen your mother scared in your entire life, not even when you broke your arm. 

“Tell me your secrets and i’ll tell mine.” You said with your arms crossed. She sat there for a minute before she exhaled. “First you need to understand everything i did was to protect you. Second, i need to know what you know. ” You nodded, you’d never seen your mother like this before so whatever she was about to say must be gospel truth. 

“I know June Murphy was the lighthouse keepers daughter, well one of them, she tried to save the lighthouse and failed, then she died. Not so long after the light house was shut down and then her dad died not so long after her.” You said and your mom nodded. 

“June fought to save the light house and was only a few signatures short. She’s a lot you, you’d like her.  One night she decided she’d turn the lighthouse on by herself. Only problem was we’d thrown the key off the cliff into the water earlier that day. June swore she saw it hanging by a low branch. So we went to get it. It was pouring so when she came just close, she slipped and she fell.” Tears collected in your mothers eyes and you regretted everything you said about her earlier. 

“My father was devastated and took a book of shadows. He turned himself into a monster to try and get my sister back. In the end, i lost them both.” She said as she stood up and went into her closet pulling out out a medium sized wooden chest. 

“I changed my name, moved to an out of state college and when i married your father. We moved back here, perfect place for a family. No one remembered me because there was nothing worth remembering anymore.” She placed it down and opened it. There was pictures, a baby blanket and other keepsakes. 

“At the time i couldn’t understand how my father turned himself into a monster to save a daughter he lost, when he still had one who was alive. But after i had you. I understood. I could never let that happen.” You sat there. Your parents had been hard on you but if this was the reason? You had no reason to complain. 

“Does dad know?” You asked. She nodded, “You can’t go through something like that and keep it to yourself you need to let burdens off your shoulders and lean on the ones you love.” You nodded. She sat next to you on the bed “I’m sorry about what i said about your boyfriend.” 

“He’s not my, um, that’s a whole mess right now.” You said to her. “He broke up with me the night we fought, i snuck out of my window. Then went missing the next day and his friends who are also my friends, but that societal you can’t have mutual friend with a significant other bullshit was in my head, found out he was in the light house cottage before he disappeared so they went there too. He wasn’t there but his backpack was in the woods, which are cursed so now they’re cursed and they’re trying to save him and themselves before the shadow man takes them like they took Connor.” You rambled on. Your mother look at you as you had three heads. “Are you cursed?” She asked placing a hand on your shoulder.  

“No but like i’m sitting on the sides watching everyone i love get taken so i wish i was at this point.” you said as your mother took you into a hug and you started to break down. “I don’t know what to do, i need someone to tell me what to do.” You cried into her shoulder as she soothed you like she used to when you were a baby. 

“It’s going to be alright, we have something that the shadow man doesn’t.” she said getting up and grabbing something from your dads side of the closet. A small book, before she grabbed your hand. “Where are we going?” You asked. “A family reunion.” She said as you both walked out of the front door and into the car. She looked over at your wrist, “Where’d you get that?” It was the evil eye bracelet.

“Connor left it for me before he disappeared.” You said subconsciously rubbing the bracelet to soothe yourself. “Smart move.” She said as she pulled out of the drive way. “Why?” You asked you knew the evil eye was protective. “A protective talisman, gifted by a lover? He had every intention of protection you from the shadow man whether he was taken or not.” She said looking over. “Breaking up with you, the letter, and the talisman? He loves you. Call it motherly intuition.” 

“Yeah well when we save him, i have a lot to talk to him about.” You said as you looked out the window. “You could talk to me about it.” You looked back. “I realize that in these past years protecting may have drawn a wall between us and that's not what i want and that's not what i ever wanted.” You knew it would take some time but you wanted it too. “I don’t know if that would work. I usually complain about you and dad.” You joked as you looked back out the window. 

“A magic shop? What are we witches?” You said to your mother. She turned to you. “Mom.” She ignored your advances and once you made it to the door you were asked about a password. 

“Lemme guess abracadabra?” The door slide open. This wasn’t the weirdest thing that had happened this week. “See you’re a natural.” Your mom winked. Your eyes widen. A man in an extravagant purple suit answers the door. He’s taken back. That makes two of us. 

“Okay, to recap. You’re my dad’s brother but he decided to never bring you up for some unknown reason and my family has ties to magic and shadow powers?” Your mom and Sardo nodded. “Is there any other major family secrets you wanna tell me?” 

“Teenagers.” Sardo muttered. “Wait teenagers as in plural.” Your mother said turning her attention to Sardo. “Yes i run a magic shop, teenagers come in.” He said nonchalantly. “Have any other teenagers come in today asking about the shadow man?” You asked. 

“Well there was this group of rugrats earlier today.” The midnight society. “Earlier this week this tall, lanky, one dressed in all black came in for a spell book.” He explained. “Connor?” You asked. Sardo got up and went through his purchase slips. “Yes, Connor Stevens.” 

“What’d he get?” Your mom asked while you got up and took the slip from your new found long lost uncles hand. “Skeleton key and a love potion.” You said looking back up at her. “He didn’t use a love potion on me.” You said to your mom. 

“Oh this is the boyfriend? Wow family drama must be fun on facebook!” Sardo said sitting down. “He had the book of shadows though. How’d he get it?” You asked as you put the slip back. “He broke in and stole it on monday night.” He exclaimed.

“It was in a life or death situation, i think that’s excusable.” You reasoned. Sardo shook his head, “That book brings nothing but trouble and even more darkness into the world every time you open it. It’s a book of shadows. Its dark magic. Not white magic.” He announced with a dissatisfied look on his face

“And you all want me to learn this? I’m not being sold on it.” You said sitting back in your seat. “There’s more than dark magic. There light magic, green magic, crystal magic and so on. Every practitioner chooses between the dark path and the light path.” Sardo explained as he stood up to grab a grimoire. 

“What path will help me save my friends? Is there a path for that, cause i want that path.” You said as your mom rubbed your shoulder. “You don’t choose a path, the path chooses you.” Sardo explained pushing the grimoire close.

“What if dark magic chooses me?” You voiced, silence washed over the room. “Why do you want to save your friends?” You were taken aback, why? “Wouldn’t it be easier to let them all just be claimed? Throw in the towel, make new friends.” 

“No!” You bellowed. “That’s not right, there’s always a way and when there’s love there’s light.” You explained. Your mom smiled at your answer. “If that’s how you feel. Dark magic won’t choose you.” 

By the time you’d left the magic shop it was late and Gabby wasn’t answering her phone. You’d given an update about what had happen. 

It was starting to make sense, not perfect sense, not just yet.

On Friday the glow dance had rolled around, what also rolled around was a stomach virus that had cause Carrie and Kayla to miss school and not be able to attend the dance. Gabby hadn’t been in class so you assumed she was also out with the stomach virus. Hanna met up with you during lunch letting you know what happened the night before. She tells you that Luke’s returning the book of shadows after school and everything should be back to normal now. Oh how wrong she was. 

You weren’t able to see Connor after school, you had a shift and then were going to get ready for the dance. Gabby texted you that he was feeling up to going so you’d see him there. An hour into the dance and you ended up wandering the halls. You had felt this pit in your stomach and needed air. 

But once you went into the hallway the pit just grew larger and larger. “Hey stranger.” Your eye evil bracelet burned and blinded. You looked up from your wrist and turned around. “Connor?” You asked. There was a screaming voice in your head. It felt wrong. “Who else?” He asked coming closer. You saw a light shine through a classroom and walked backwards towards it. Once the light enveloped you and Connor still stayed back. His sleeves were rolled up and his wrists were bare. The real Connor wears a rainbow bracelet you made him. 

“The shadow man perhaps?” You suggested, the smirk on “Connors” face dropped. You inched closer to the switch that controlled the hallway lights and switched it on, when the lights were on “Connor” was gone. 

You started to go towards the gym seeing your friends on stage with Sardo and “Connor” in the crowd knowing a rescue mission was already in place. All you could do was stand there and wait. Within ten minutes, the shadow man had out smarted your friends and Jai sacrificed himself to save the group. 

On Saturday you were completely left out of the loop. You heard nothing. Gabby wasn’t answering. Hanna wasn’t answering. You feared the worse and could do nothing to save your friends. That what Sardo said earlier was going to come true. You still had that pit in your stomach. You were reading your grimoires but it felt useless, why study if right here and right now. The people you care about most are disappearing through your finger tips. 

On Saturday night your parents brought you upstairs and put your to bed, but you stayed restless with worry. You stared at the ceiling and walls of your bedroom before at some point your mind gave up and lulled you to a nightmare filled sleep. Losing Gabby, Losing Hanna, Losing Jai, Losing Luke. Losing Connor. Like a broken tape it looped over and over and over. 

It all fell apart right in front of you.

On Sunday morning Kayla and Carrie had recovered from their stomach flu. Your mom invited them over in an effort to distract and cheer you up. You told them everything. Life’s too short to keep secrets from your best friends. Especially when you don’t know how long you have left with them. 

Suddenly it was Friday again and you were at your shift at the book store again. You pulled your phone out to text Carrie and Kayla. They both responded with the same texts they did on the Friday of the glow dance. “What the actual fuck.” You muttered. The door rung several times signaling a mass group of people walked in. 

The midnight society had just seen that Sardo was alive and remembered that you work Friday shifts. Which caused them to practically sprint to see you, Connor leading. When your friends all walked through the door you stopped in your tracks. “Seen a ghost?” Gabby said with a smile. “i hate you all i hate your children and your childrens children.” You said rushing to hug her. 

“Hear that Connor?” Luke said causing his friend to hit him upset the head. “That’s a two way road.” You said hugging Hanna. Then Luke, Jai and Seth. Then there was Connor. 

“I’m gonna go take a nap, really tired see you guys later.” Gabby said excusing herself. “Same honestly, later.” Hanna said leaving with Seth. “I’m just going to go.” Luke said dragging Jai with him. You laughed at your friends. 

“I’m scared that if i walk any closer you’ll disappear like last time.” You said looking at him. He walked towards you. Grabbed your hand and placing it on his heart. “This real enough for you?” He said leaning his forehead against yours. You smiled. Noticing the blinded evil eye he smiled, “So that worked.”

 His head moved to rest on top of yours and you wrapped your arms around his torso. “Legally, you’re obligated to stay like this for at least twenty minutes.” You laughed moving your head into the crook of his neck. “I’m okay with that.”

“I didn’t mean breaking up with you, i just didn’t know what happened when he took you and couldn’t let that happened to you.” He said slightly holding you closer. “I understand. Just never do it again.” You said to him, he laugh and nodded. 

“So the glow dance?” You pulled away because your shift was starting to end. “You’re up for that?” You said as you started putting stray books in the resort bins. “I’m always up for a good time.” He said sitting on the front counter. You nodded, “Pick me up at 7.” 

“What about your parents?” He questioned. “A lot happened when you were gone.” You said starting to rant to your boyfriend. 

it rebuilt it self.

#are you afraid of the dark #are you afraid of the dark imagine #ayaotd #ayaotd imagine #connor stevens #connor stevens imagine #luke mccoy #gabby lewis #hanna romero #jai malyas #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms imagine #grace writes

[debbiechanclub]

Best Two Out of Three, Part 11

Before you all get into reading this part that I’ve been STRESSING over, I want to say from the deepest depths of my often cynical heart how much I appreciate each and every one of you. It blows my mind on the daily that there are so many people who seem to care about this fic. YOU ALL MEAN SO MUCH TO ME. This fic has given me something to focus on and look forward to during this strange time in the world.

And now that I’ve buttered you up...  pleasepleaseplease don’t kill me or @what-does-mine-say or Alex. She’s just trying to do the right thing, dammit!

Best Two Out of Three

Part: 11/26

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC x Cash Wheeler and Adam Page x OFC

Warnings: ANGST

Word Count: 4.2k

Catch up on previous parts here.

Alex woke up just after 7 a.m. the next morning. She’d slept as best as she could, given all that was on her mind. And that meant she needed a strong cup of coffee, stat.    

She opened the door to the guest room and padded quietly through the house into the kitchen. She was surprised to find Adam there. “Morning,” he greeted when he noticed her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you up for another hour at least.”

“I could say the same about you,” she returned. “You and Dax hit the bottle pretty hard last night.”

“Please, that was nothing and you know it,” he dismissed. “Besides, I figured I’d get up and make everyone breakfast. You know, since Callie did everything yesterday.”

He grinned at her. She playfully rolled her eyes as she motioned at the coffee pot. “Is that coffee fresh?”

He nodded. She grabbed a mug from a cabinet and poured herself a cup, just waiting for Adam to bring up Cash. It didn’t take long.

“So,” he said as he started cracking eggs into a large bowl. “You and Cash looked like you were getting pretty cozy last night.”

Alex’s face went instantly red. She took a sip of coffee to try to hide it—but there was absolutely no hiding it.

“You like him,” Adam grinned.

If possible, her face went even redder. “Don’t.”

“Why? You know he’s been asking me about you.”

“Because, Adam.” She stopped and let out a frustrated huff. “Why are you so obviously trying to set me up with Cash? Better yet—why are you so obviously against me and Kenny?”

Adam stopped what he was doing. He looked conflicted, like there was something weighing on his mind. But Alex couldn’t have predicted what he said next. “Because I think Cash would be better for you than Kenny, Alex.”

A weight dropped like a rock into the pit of her stomach. She was stunned. Kenny was Adam’s tag team partner—his friend. She couldn’t believe he would go behind his back like that. “What?”

Adam cracked another egg and tossed the shell into the trash. “Look,” he started. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this but… even if you and Kenny finally did decide to be together for real, I don’t know if he’d ever really make you happy.”

That confused her even further. “What? Why?”

“Because you’re such different people, Alex,” he said. “You like drinking and having a good time just as much as I do. You like actually watching baseball, and stupid comedy shows, and you know how to handle a gun, for fuck’s sake. Meanwhile, Kenny doesn’t drink, and I love the guy but, besides wrestling, I honestly don’t know what his interests are other than video games and Japan. You don’t play video games. You suck at video games.”

She sent him a flat look. “So you think Kenny can’t make me happy because he doesn’t drink and I suck at video games?”

“Come on, it’s more than that and you know it,” he breathed. “Let me ask you this: have you ever stopped to think if you and Kenny actually have a connection? Or is it just physical?”

Alex opened her mouth—but she didn’t have anything good to say. Now that he’d forced her to think about it, she honestly didn’t know if her connection with Kenny did go beyond the physical. Their conversations never went below the surface to anything of substance. In fact, whenever she’d tried to go deeper in the past, he’d always pushed her away; and then, inevitably, he’d try to reassure her with sex. Trent was right—Kenny had commitment issues. But maybe Adam had a point, too. Were she and Kenny just not right for each other?

“Look,” he said again, pulling her out of her thoughts. “I know I’ve put you in a shitty position, and I’m sorry for that. But I can tell that you and Cash do have a connection. And I think that’s worth giving a shot.”

He went back to cracking eggs. Alex frowned down into her coffee. She thought back to less than eight hours ago, to how she’d felt when Cash had held her in the hallway, like there wasn’t anyone else who mattered in the world. They did have a connection; she could feel it already. But, given the circumstances, she also couldn’t help but feel guilty about it.

“I’m gonna go get dressed,” she sighed, and she walked out of the kitchen before Adam could say a word. She went straight back to the guest room and fished her phone out of her bag. There weren’t any messages. She opened her texts with Kenny, her thumbs hovering over the digital keyboard. But she didn’t know what to say. There was too much and absolutely nothing to say all at once.

Someone knocked lightly on the half-open door. She turned and looked. Her heart fluttered. It was Cash.

“Morning, sweetheart.” He let himself in, pushing the door nearly closed behind him. She felt her pulse start to quicken—but then he gave her an amused smirk. “Did you sleep in an Orange Cassidy shirt?”

“Oh.” Alex flushed as she looked down at her shirt. “Yeah. What, are you jealous?”

“A little, yeah,” he admitted with a grin. “I’m gonna have to get you an FTR shirt to sleep in.”

She bit back a grin. Something about Cash made her feel like a schoolgirl with a crush. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time.

“Come here,” he said. She dropped her phone to the bed and met him halfway, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Mm,” he hummed as he hugged her. “How’d you sleep?”

“As well as I could, I guess,” she answered. “You?”

“Same. I had to talk myself out of coming in here more than once.”

She smiled against his shoulder. “Did you?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He unwrapped his arms from around her but kept his hands on her hips, still holding her close. “Are you glad you came this weekend?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I am. It was… unexpected. I’ll just put it that way.” She ran her hands over his chest, worrying at her lip. It had been unexpected, alright. In a good way… but also in a not-so-good way. Just because she’d realized her feelings for Cash were more than just drunken attraction didn’t mean that her feelings for Kenny were gone. They weren’t—and she didn’t want to hurt him. She knew all too well what that felt like.

“Hey,” Cash gently said. She looked back up at him. His eyes were soft and sincere. “I know things are complicated right now. And I don’t want to complicate them further. But I wasn’t just sweet talking you last night, Alex. I meant everything I said. And if you meant what you said, too… then I’d like to take you out sometime, even if it’s just for coffee.”

There were the butterflies again. “Are you asking me on a date, Cash?”

He smiled. “Yeah. If that’s something you’d be interested in.”

Alex’s grin nearly split her face in two. “Of course I’d be interested,” she said. But her grin faltered. She couldn’t just accept a date with Cash. As he’d said, things were complicated.

“Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming?” he asked.

“But,” she said. “I need to talk to Kenny first. It wouldn’t be fair to him if I didn’t.”

Cash nodded. “I know. And honestly, the fact that you know that makes me like you even more.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck again, and he held her tight like he had in the hallway the night before. Alex knew there was a difficult conversation ahead of her, and probably a lot more guilt and anguish. But Adam was right: what she and Cash seemed to have was worth a shot.

She just wasn’t looking forward to having to tell that to Kenny.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex arrived at the hotel in Jacksonville on Wednesday with a heavy heart and a stomach full of nerves. Her legs felt like Jell-O as she walked across the lobby toward the elevator, praying that she wouldn’t run into anyone on the way up to the room. She wasn’t ready to talk to anyone yet.

She hadn’t spoken to Cash since he and Dax had left Adam and Callie’s house on Sunday, and that was by design. She’d told him before he could even ask for it that she didn’t feel comfortable giving him her number until after she’d talked to Kenny; she just wouldn’t have felt right texting—and probably flirting with—him behind Kenny’s back. Cash had, of course, completely understood. Ironically, how sweet and sensitive he was being about the entire situation only made things harder for her.

As for Kenny… their communication had been sporadic over the last four days. He’d been busy. She wasn’t even sure what with; all the things he had on his plate were hard to keep straight. But honestly, his business had been a blessing in disguise. If they’d talked any more than they had, she didn’t doubt she would have given away that something was weighing on her.

But Cash and Kenny weren’t the only people on her mind. She still needed to talk to her best friend—and she couldn’t put off that conversation any longer.

She stepped off the elevator and made her way to the room number written on the key card sleeve the hotel clerk had given her. When she arrived, she slid the key card into the lock, opened the door, and gave a warning knock. “Are you naked?”

There was no answer at first. And then Chuck called, “No. Should I be?”

Alex laughed lightly to herself as she walked the rest of the way into the room. “Just checking. Can’t be too careful after you and James walked in on me.”

Chuck stood from his bed, clearly surprised to see her. “Hey. Are you staying here this week?”

She looked sheepishly at the floor. “I was hoping to, if that’s alright with you.”

He didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, of course,” he said. Alex let out a relieved breath. “I just figured you’d stay with Kenny again.”

She awkwardly cleared her throat. She really didn’t want to get into all that right now, so she just ignored the comment. “Well, you and I are about a week overdue for a certain conversation.”

For a second, Chuck looked like a deer in headlights. But then he shook his head. “We don’t have to talk about that, Alex.”

“No, we really do, Chuck,” she returned. “Trent and I might have hashed things out, but that doesn’t mean that what he said just disappeared.”

“I didn’t agree with anything he said.”

She pursed her lips. “Be honest.”

His eyebrows arched. “I am!”

“So you don’t think I took advantage of your feelings by flirting with you to get the attention I didn’t get from Kenny?”

“No! Not intentionally!”

Alex gaped at him. “So you do think that then.”

“No, I—” he cut himself off and let out a frustrated huff. “Okay, that sounded bad. But I promise you—it didn’t hurt me. Not like Trent implied. I’m not an idiot, Alex; I knew what you were doing. And honestly? If I could help keep you from crying over Kenny, then I really didn’t care if the flirting meant anything or not.”

He looked back at her, completely vulnerable and honest, and it absolutely gutted Alex. Was that really the truth? If it was, then Chuck was too good a person; she felt completely undeserving of his friendship. But there was a giant pink elephant staring at her from the corner of the room, and there was no way they could put this behind them if they didn’t address it. So Alex just came out and said it.

“When you told me you were in love with me in Vegas, did you mean it?”

Chuck hesitated. But then he ran a hand through his hair and said, “At the time, yeah. But I got over it. That’s why it pisses me off that Trent and James still bring it up. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Alex felt like she’d had the wind knocked out of her. She walked over to one of the beds and sunk down onto the comforter, stunned. Chuck was at her side in a second. “When?” she breathed.

His brow furrowed. “When?”

“When did you get over it?”

He combed his fingers through his hair again. “I don’t know… sometime in the fall? I mean, I knew you didn’t feel the same. And you got involved with Kenny not long after I said it, so… it was just easier to get over it.”

Alex couldn’t look at him. She felt awful. More awful than she had when Trent had called her out, more awful than she did about her feelings for Cash. That’s why Chuck had let her flirt with him—because he’d been in love with her. And she’d been too blind and selfish to see it.

She looked back at him. “Why don’t you hate me?”

He gave her a look like that were impossible for him. “Because I do love you. Platonically,” he emphasized with a grin. It made her smile, just a bit. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. “You and Trent and James are my best friends. And there’s not a lot that I care more about than that.” He paused. “I mean, there’s Walter’s happiness and health. And the Phillies. And the Sixers. And the—”

“I think I get it,” she smirked.

He smiled. “The point is… our friendship is like a cockroach. A nuclear blast wouldn’t kill that shit.”

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose, trying not to laugh. “You have a way with words, Chuck.”

“I know,” he seriously returned. “So can we please put all this behind us and go back to being best friends?”

She looked up at him. “We never weren’t best friends,” she said as she pulled him into a hug. She closed her eyes, happy to have at least sorted this out; but when she opened them again, she got a shock. Trent and James were peeking around the adjoining door between their rooms. Watching. “What the fuck?” she proclaimed.

“What?” Chuck let her go and turned around to look. “Seriously?” he asked when he saw them. “How long have you been there?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” James coolly returned. “We just got here.”

Alex pursed her lips. That was an obvious lie.

“So are you two good now?” Trent asked.

“Yeah,” Alex nodded with a smile. “As long as Chuck is okay then I am, too.”

He wrapped his arm around her again. “Of course I am,” he assured.

Trent stepped into the room. “Well then I think we know what this calls for.” He opened his arms and beckoned them over.

Alex arched a brow. “Seriously?”

“We’ve got to give the people what they want, Alex,” he returned.

She playfully rolled her eyes as she and Chuck stood up and walked over. James joined them, and they all gave each other a group hug, Alex squished in the middle.

There were a few seconds of silence. And then Alex said, muffled by James’s shoulder, “This is weird.”

The others all agreed as they stepped back from each other. “Yeah, let’s never do that again alone in our hotel room,” Trent said. But Alex smiled. Chuck was right. Their friendships were like cockroaches—and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

* * * * * * * * * *

A little while later, Alex walked down the hall toward the elevators. She felt like she was walking to her execution. Kenny had texted that he’d arrived at the hotel and can’t wait to see you. She’d wrestled with what to do before she sent a response—See you in a few—and went out the door. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.

She rode the elevator up one floor and made her way to Kenny’s room, hoping that the Bucks or anyone else wouldn’t be there, too. When she got to his door, she took a deep, steadying breath and knocked. It was only a few seconds before he answered. The sight of him broke Alex’s heart before he even said a word.

“Hey, baby,” he smiled. Her stomach fluttered. Why did he have to call her that? But then his brow furrowed. “Where’s your bag?”

She had to swallow a lump in her throat before she could answer. “I’m actually staying with Chuck this week.” She looked down at her hands, picking anxiously at her nails. She wasn’t at all surprised by what Kenny said next.

“Oh… okay. Is something wrong?”

She looked back up at him, her heart pounding in her chest. “Can I come in?”

He didn’t say anything at first. It was obvious now that something was wrong. But he nodded. “Yeah.” He stepped back and opened the door so she could walk inside. She moved past him and sat down on the bed; her legs were too shaky to stand. Kenny closed the door and came to sit facing her on the bed. He put a hand on her thigh. “Alex, what’s going on?”

Alex stared at the carpet in front of her. She’d thought a lot about how to start this conversation over the last four days, and she’d kept coming back to what Adam had said to her as they’d stood in his kitchen Sunday morning. “Have you ever thought about if we’re actually compatible?”

She looked over at him. He looked confused. “What? What’re you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” she breathed. “Have you honestly ever really thought about if we’re right for each other?”

He searched her eyes, completely taken aback. “What brought this on?”

“Please… don’t avoid the question.”

He let out a sigh. “Alex…” he reached out and gently cupped the back of her head, massaging his fingers through her hair. “I told you I want to do this right this time around. Don’t you think I would have thought about that?”

Alex closed her eyes. That was a non-answer, and she didn’t know what to make of it. “If you want to do it right this time then why doesn’t it feel any different than eight months ago?”

Kenny abruptly stopped massaging her head. “What?”

She looked back into his eyes. “I feel like we’ve barely talked in the last week. And I know it’s only been a week since we decided to try this again… but it already feels like more of the same, Kenny. You said you wanted talk to Trent after our fight, but you didn’t. It bothered me, but I understood; when we’re at work, business should come first. But the thing that really got to me was when you didn’t come back to the hotel room until after one in the morning after telling me that filming for BTE wouldn’t take that long. So were you actually filming that late, or were you just hanging out with Matt and Nick or whoever?”

He pulled his hand back. “Alex,” he started—but she wasn’t done.

“It made me feel like you didn’t care that I was sitting up waiting for you. Do you know how often I felt that way last year? Too often. I don’t want to go through that again.”

They fell into silence. They were sitting right next to each other, but it suddenly felt like there was an ocean in between them.

“It’s only been a week,” Kenny reiterated.

Alex shook her head. Part of her wanted to believe him, to hold onto hope that this week was just a fluke—but she couldn’t ignore what Trent had told her at ringside last week. Maybe Kenny just didn’t have room in his life for a relationship. “I know. But it didn’t feel any different than the last time, Kenny. That’s the point I’m trying to make.”

She looked back down at the carpet, a heavy quiet engulfing them again. But then, unexpectedly, Kenny reached out and took her hand in his.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t get back to the hotel until after one in the morning,” he said. “I hate that it made you feel like I didn’t care, but I understand why it did. And I get why you’re worried. I know I need to work on balancing my work and personal life. You’re not the first person to tell me that; it’s a problem I’ve always had. But I will work on it, Alex. I want to work on it for you.”

Alex closed her eyes again. A tear rolled down her cheek. This was the part she didn’t want to do. But she had to. “That’s not the only thing,” she said.

He rubbed his thumb back and forth over her hand. “What do you mean?” he asked.

She spit it out before she could stop herself. “There’s someone else.”

Kenny went still, but he didn’t let go of her hand. The seconds that passed before he spoke again felt like an eternity. “Who? Chuck?”

Alex almost laughed; she hadn’t expected him to think that. “No,” she shook her head as she wiped the lone tear away from her cheek. “No, it’s not Chuck.” She paused. And then she said, “It’s Cash.”

He pulled his hand away then. “Cash?” He looked confused. “You flirted with Cash once when you were drunk.”

Alex bit down on her jaw. She could have easily thrown out a comment about how Kenny’s jealousy over her drunken flirting with Cash was the only reason he’d even talked to her that night, but she bit her tongue. She didn’t want to get in a fight. She was just trying to do the right thing—and that meant being honest. “I went to a cookout at Adam and Callie’s on Saturday,” she explained. “The whole point of it was to try to get me and Callie to at least not hate each other… but Adam invited Cash and Dax, too. And I’m not going to lie to you… I realized that I like Cash when I’m sober, too.”

“Cut to the chase, Alex.”

She stopped. The look on Kenny’s face was entirely unreadable. Her mouth went dry. If he wanted her to cut to the chase, then she would. “He asked me on a date,” she said. “And I know it’s fucked up, but… I wanted to tell him yes, Kenny. I can’t just ignore that.”

Another tear fell and she wiped it away. Kenny ran a frustrated hand over his face. “So what did you tell him?”

Her voice came out small. “That I needed to talk to you.”

His eyebrows arched. “That you needed to talk to me? About what? To get my permission to go out with another guy?”

“No!” she returned. “I wanted to talk to you so that I wouldn’t be going behind your back! So that I wouldn’t be lying to you about how conflicted I’m feeling!”

“Well, you’re not the only one.”

Alex’s face fell. Hearing that was like a knife to the gut.

“Maybe we rushed into this,” he added.

She faltered. There was only one thing left to say. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t.” He ran a hand through his hair, scratched the back of his head in frustration. Alex sat there, mute. She knew it wasn’t her place to say any more.

“I get what you were trying to do with talking to me,” Kenny eventually said. “And I actually do appreciate that you didn’t want to lie to me or go behind my back. But I know how I feel about you, Alex. And if you don’t know how you feel about me, then you need to figure it out. And if that means going on a date with Cash… then I guess you should.”

Alex’s heart dropped into her stomach. She wanted to grab his hand, hold him, do or say something to communicate that her feelings for him hadn’t just disappeared. But she had a feeling that anything she might do or say would only make things worse.

His gaze met hers. “I think we’ve both said everything we have to say right now.”

Tears fell from both of Alex’s eyes then. She didn’t bother to wipe them away as she stood and moved toward the door. She didn’t know what this meant. It didn’t feel final, but it didn’t feel like there was anywhere for them to go, either. All she did know was that, as she let herself out, she felt even more confused than she had when she’d arrived.

#AEW #aew imagine #aew fanfic #aew fanfiction #Kenny Omega #kenny omega imagine #kenny omega fic #kenny omega fanfiction #kenny omega fanfic #adam page #adam page fanfiction #adam page fanfic #adam page imagine #hangman page #hangman page imagine #hangman page fanfiction #hangman page fanfic #hangman adam page #hangman adam page fanfiction #hangman adam page imagine #hangman adam page fanfic #cash wheeler #cash wheeler fanfic #cash wheeler fanfiction #cash wheeler imagine #best friends aew #chuck taylor aew #chuck taylor imagine #chuck taylor fanfic

[sakura-blossom28]

Modern Day Romance

Chapter 4 

This was super fun to write! Happy with how it turned out.  Please let me know what you think! Don’t own Naruto 

Ch 1 / Ch 2 / Ch 3 

A date.  Easy enough, Gaara thought to himself as he was getting ready for bed. Today was Wednesday and his date with Sakura was on Saturday, plenty of time to come up with something she’d like.  Just not dinner.  He could manage that.  Dinner was boring anyway.  This was the first girl he really connected with if he based it off of how much they had been talking to each other.  Sure he was a bit hesitant, but she was slowly becoming his favorite part of the day.  

They were both pretty busy during the day, but they managed to make it work. Without fail, always sent a good morning text that he returned and he found a silly picture from her by lunchtime.  The jokes in the pictures were always pretty lame, but he felt this matched Sakura’s own sense of humor.  When both their days were over, they would text non-stop until one of them fell asleep.  They would talk about their day and Gaara always enjoyed hearing about Sakura’s patients and how ridiculous their claims of pain were.  She typed like how he assumed she spoke so she was always expressive in her messages. 

When they weren’t talking about work, Gaara had looked up different talking points on how to get to know someone.  Sakura seemed impressed with the type of questions he asked her.  That page of questions was currently bookmarked to his browser in case he needed it.  They were slowly making a routine of talking and Gaara was greatly enjoying it.  Sakura was filled with all different kinds of opinions and genuinely seemed interested in his own opinions and really getting to know him.  She had a great interest in his siblings and always asked questions about them.  Gaara wanted to tell her more but held back about how they actually grew up.  Hopefully, in the future, Gaara would be able to tell her about his past.  

Sakura was definitely different from any girl he had met or spoken to so he really needed to impress her from the start.  She had opened up a bit about her own dating past and her ex’s really set the bar low for him.  He tried his best not to pry and go into work mode, but he could sense that she wanted to talk about it.  He really wanted to make up for all the lackluster relationships she’d been in, but didn’t want to come on too strong.  Gaara was hopeful about Sakura, but knowing his luck something was bound to happen, so it was better to play it safe.  

It only took as long as to brush his teeth to realize he had no idea what he was doing and was in over his head…

X

“Did you talk to your brother first before coming to me, hmm?” Temari asked with a catlike smile plastered all over her face.  

“No, I wouldn’t trust any advice he gives me about women,” Gaara said looking right at his sister, “And he won’t find out until I tell him Temari.”  They were in Temari’s apartment.  Shikamaru was lazily reading a book on the couch while they were sitting at the table, they had just finished a dinner Gaara had brought over.  He instated that it was not a bribe for help.  

“Good, his advice is awful,” Temari said as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, “Okay.  So what is this girl like?  I’ve never seen you like this before Gaara.”

“Well, she’s definitely smart and kind.  She laughs and makes jokes a lot.  Maybe go to a comedy club?” Gaara suggested.

“Nah you need to do something where you can talk to each other since it’s the first date.  Good idea, keep that if things go well,” Temari said with a smile.  They thought about it for a bit longer but came up with nothing.

“Maybe if I saw what she looked like it would help give me inspiration!” Temari exclaimed, knowing Gaara would see right through her.  He rolled his eyes and opened his phone to her dating profile. 

“Ooo, Sakura what a pretty name!  It certainly matches that pink hair! And her eyes Gaara!   Did you like her first?  I’m surprised she’s talking to you!” Temari said as she handed back his phone.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Gaara said.  He smiled at Sakura��s picture before closing his phone.  “Actually she liked me first and that’s exactly what I asked her when we first matched.  She was just as shocked as I was that we matched.” 

Temari gave a hearty laugh to his response.  “I like her already!  Bring her to my fashion show on Saturday!  If it’s going well I’m sure she’ll say yes to going with you!”

“Let’s see how the date actually goes first, she could find me creepy in person,” Gaara said with a slight slump to his shoulders.  

“I don’t get that vibe from her.  Don’t worry, as your older sister I will always look out for you!” Temari said as she rose from her chair, “I had a feeling a girl was involved.  You’ve been happier.  I got some samples for you that would be perfect for a date.” 

When she left the room Shikamaru made a polite cough.  “You know the botanical gardens might be a good spot.  You can walk and talk and show her what you know about flowers and stuff.  A good spot for both of you since she doesn’t want to do the typical dinner thing.  Which to me is a good sign that she hasn’t figured out who your family is and is after your money,” he said without looking up from his book.  

Gaara wanted to roll his eyes, but Shikamaru had a really good point.  He would feel right at home amongst the flowers and Sakura would look so pretty standing near all different colored flowers… 

Gaara’s attempted to smile, which was more of a smirk, he gave his thanks to his soon to be brother-in-law and made his way to the door.  Temari came back with a bag of clothes, Gaara grabbed them and gave a quick thanks to his sister and said he would be in touch and left.  Looking bewildered, Temari turned to her fiance.  

“What on earth did you tell him to make his rush out like that,” she asked as she started to clean off the table.  

“I knew Gaara and Sakura would both enjoy the botanical gardens that’s all,” Shikamaru said with a yawn. 

“And how would you know what this Sakura girl would like hmm?” Temari asked with a hint of anger on the edge of her words.

“Well I know Sakura of course,” he said as he sat up so he could smirk at Temari, “She’s Ino best friend.  She would tag along sometimes on the Ino-Shika-Cho family vacations.  Small world right?” 

Everything was in motion.  His hair was styled, not too much hair jell just enough to keep it out of his eyes.  His eyes did have a bit of eyeliner on them, old habits die hard.  Temari had come through with some decent clothes.  Thankfully she hadn’t put in the super trendy clothes that she made him wear when he helped her and Kankuro out at photoshoots.  She picked out a fitted button-down shirt that was red, a bit lighter than his hair, with a small rose pattern all over his shirt. He had a pair of light washed jeans and his tan shoes that he sometimes wore when he went out with Kankuro.  

Temari just stared at him blankly until, “Tell. Me. EVERYTHING!”

X

He was standing at the entrance of the gardens waiting for Sakura.  Making sure he came early so that she didn’t have to wait by herself.  It was a beautiful summer day and not too many people seemed to be around Gaara noticed happily.  He really didn’t want to be bumping into people as he was getting to know Sakura.  Checking his watch again Gaara had about ten minutes left before Sakura showed up.  He had to keep reminding himself not to crush the flowers that were in his hand.  Temari had insisted that he get Sakura flowers.  

His phone was going off in his pocket and it was a text from Sakura.  Just parked!  Let me know when you’re here!  He quickly typed back where to meet him.  Gaara’s heart was pounding.  This was so unlike him.  When was the last time he was this nervous?  He could feel a slight blush creeping up from his neck.  Gaara tried to think of anything to get himself to relax.  

“Gaara?” a light voice said.  And there she was right next to him.  When he turned Sakura gave a bright open happy smile that made him so interested in her in the first place.  He had to look down a bit to see her, but he did notice the slight blush to her cheeks too.  Her hair was smooth and came to about her shoulders.  She was wearing a dark blue button-down dress that had sunflowers exploding all over it and simple white shoes.  She giggled seeing the state he was in.

“Am I worse than you expected?” Sakura asked with a laugh in her voice.  

“Better actually,” automatically came out of Gaara.  Now it was Sakura’s turn to be flustered.  They laughed nervously for a second when Gaara remembered the flowers in his hand. “Here for you.”

Sakura looked shocked to see the flowers.  She slowly reached out for them and gazed at them longingly.  But a huge smile broke across her face. 

“Thank you so much, Gaara.  I love them!” she giggled as she put her face in the bouquet to smell them, “And they match my dress too!  It’s not my birthday you didn’t have to do this.”

“Does it need to be your birthday to get flowers?” Gaara asked.  He remembered the few times Kankuro had a girlfriend for a while that he would always stop to get her flowers.  Even Shikamaru did it from time to time.  His comment seemed to surprise her, but she smiled nonetheless.  

“I guess you’re right.  Let me put these in my car and let’s get going!”  she ran off and was back in no time, (she parked right in front of him, he was too busy trying to calm down to notice.)  Then they were off to start their date.

Ch 5

#gaara x sakura #Sabaku No Gaara #Sakura Haruno #dating au #modern au #shikamara nara #temari #Kankuro #gaasaku

[st-crylo]

Rebound

Part 3

A/N: The party is next week, so this week you get some build up! This chapter’s a little shorter, but I hope you guys enjoy!

Warnings: Mentions of drug use, swearing, tobacco use, mentions of alcohol use.

Word Count: 5.6K

Tagging: @haylaansmi @nankstasty @thomasscresswell

Masterlist

You felt your chest tighten, and a wave of nausea hit you. You hadn’t expected to receive a message at all, let alone when you were without the company of your friends. Your hands were shaking, and you weren’t sure what to do.

So, you opened the message. 

Sorry for the late reply. I took this picture at a party Wednesday night. A few of us on the soccer team decided to go to this house party in Corellia. Shawn was flirting with this girl all night, but I never got a good shot of them together until I found them making out on the couch. I asked some of the guys about it, and Dylan said that he’d been seriously talking to this girl for about a month.

It was like your heart broke all over again. The walls felt like they were closing in, and you felt like you couldn’t breath. It would have been one thing if this was a one time thing, caused by some drunken stupor, but knowing that he’d been talking to this girl before then? It crushed every part of you. Only one thought stuck out in the cascading river of emotions: Why wasn’t I good enough? 

With a choked sob, you let your tears fall freely. You needed to talk to someone, desperately. You knew that if you bottled this knowledge up, it wouldn’t be long before you went crazy. Kylo wasn’t really an option, after all he would probably insist you sit with him outside, and you weren’t quite mentally ready to leave your room at the moment. You definitely didn’t want to call any of your old friends. You had barely talked to them recently, you felt it would be shitty of you to just dump all of this on them.

So, you decided to dial Sami.

It took two rings before Sami picked up, and when she did, you were still sobbing.

“(y/n)? What happened?” she said, her voice slightly distorted through the phone. Through your sobs and tears, you read her the message the sender of the picture had sent you. 

“Fuck that. What an asshole,” was her response.

“I just d-d-don’t get it,” you said, trying to wipe away your tears as you began to calm down. “Why wasn’t I enough for him?” It almost felt stupid to ask, but it was how you honestly felt.

“Sweetie, don’t think like that. It’s not your fault he couldn’t keep his hands to himself,” she assured you with a stern tone. “Men like Shawn never realize that they have something good until they lose it.” 

Your mind, however lacking in rationality it was right now, knew that what Sami was saying was true. That didn’t stop your heart from feeling like it was ripping in two. You were planning your life with this man. As stupid as that sounded, especially in retrospect, you had hoped the two of you would spend your lives together. Even though you already knew that wasn’t going to happen, the hurt of the fact that he’d been flirting with someone behind your back told you that he hadn’t thought like that, or even worse, that he could fool around and have you waiting for him. It made his insistence to talk to you all the more unbearable. Why would he want you back if he’d been talking to this unnamed girl for a month?

“Are you gonna talk to Kylo about this?” Sami said, breaking the silence you’d created. You thought about the question for a moment, and wondered whether you should. 

“No,” you decided, a hiccup proceeding your words. “If Kylo finds out, he’ll beat Shawn’s ass.”

“You’re right. Kylo doesn’t fuck around with cheaters. I’m surprised he hasn’t already beat Shawn’s ass,” Sami mused. “Look, try to keep yourself distracted, and think ahead to Friday. I’m assuming you got permission?”

“Yeah. We need to take a picture together when I get there, so I can send it to my mom. I had to tell her about dinner with the Skywalkers, and obviously, she doesn’t trust Kylo,” you responded. Sami was right, the best thing you could do was try to look forward to Friday. 

The two of you talked a while longer, until you had fully calmed down. Not long after, your mom called you for dinner, so you said your goodbyes and hung up. It wasn’t until after you’d hung up that you remembered that Sami said she’d recognized the girl in the photo. You pondered on whether or not to call her back after dinner, but you ultimately decided that you couldn’t handle that knowledge tonight. 

***

Wednesday and Thursday passed by in a blur. Wednesday morning, when you’d gotten into Kylo’s car, he’d asked if you were alright, but you answered rather placidly.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Thankfully, that had been enough for Kylo, and you were content with holding off the slaughter for another day, but you knew eventually, Kylo would find out. You were just worried that Kylo would get worse than house arrest when he did.

Wednesday had passed by quickly, probably because you had spent a good portion of the day spacing out, choosing not to be present in any conversations. As much as you wanted to pretend that you were fine, you most certainly were not, and you were glad that no one had pressed the matter. You suspected that either Sami or Kylo had informed them not to. 

The drive home Wednesday was silent, Kylo choosing to play music instead of forcing you to talk. You listened to the music, preferring the music over your tumultuous thoughts. The more you listened, the more you realised that Kylo had really good taste in music. You began to sway your head to the music.

When Kylo pulled into the driveway, you gathered your backpack, prepared to say a quick goodbye before making a beeline for your house, but Kylo laid a hand over yours as he turned to look at you.

“Look, I don’t expect you to tell me what happened, but I can only assume it has to do with Shawn. I just want you to know that if you ever need catharsis without having to talk about anything, let me know. I have plenty of glass bottles to break,” he said, the corner of his lip turning up in a smirk as he said the last part. You looked into his brown eyes, and where most people saw coldness, you felt a great sense of warmth. Something about Kylo’s presence had become really comforting to you.

“I’ll let you know,” you said with a smile before leaning across the dash to give him a hug. As you wrapped your arms around him, he did the same, and you breathed in the smell of fir and cedar, along with faint hints of cigarette smoke. Damn, how did someone who smelt like cigs manage to smell so good?

When you let go, you gave one last smile before departing the car, heading for the door to your house. 

Thursday was a lot better, but your thoughts still plagued your mind. It was now a week since you’d received the photo, knowledge that would tear you apart. It was amazing how, even within a week, you felt you had changed so much. You’d always been warned that your first break-up would do that to you, but you’d never expected to break up with Shawn, and you certainly never expected him to cheat on you. 

As you walked out the door, lunch bag in hand, you noticed that Kylo was talking to someone. Upon further inspection, you realised it was his grandfather.

“Well, make sure you’re calling your mother. She says you haven’t spoken to her, other than sending one word responses to her texts. She worries about you, you know,” Mr Skywalker said, his arms crossed over his chest. Kylo looked away from his grandfather, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, I will later,” he responded in a mutter. You wouldn’t have heard him if you hadn’t been walking towards them.

“Good morning, miss (y/l/n)!” Mr Skywalker said as he noticed you walking towards them. Kylo turned around to see you, and gave you his signature half smile.

“Good morning, Mr. Skywalker,” you responded as you fell into place beside Kylo, giving him a smile. He smiled right back at you. You had always liked the Skywalkers. Even though you hadn’t really talked to them all that much, they were nice to you whenever you did. 

“Alright, well drive safe, Kylo,” he said, turning back to his grandson. “Love you.”

“Love you, too, Granpa,” Kylo responded before turning away and heading towards his car. You gave Mr. Skywalker a final wave goodbye before making your way to the passenger side of the car. 

As you climbed into the car, Kylo turned on the engine, and you put your seatbelt on, settling into the seat. Admittedly, listening to Kylo and Mr. Skywalker's talk was a little heartwarming.

“I didn’t know your Granpa called you Kylo,” you said as Kylo pulled out of the driveway. When you turned to look at the window, Mr. Skywalker was sitting on the porch, waving goodbye.

“He’s the only one who does. Said he was the same way when he was my age, which Gran confirmed. It’s part of the reason I like Granpa the best,” Kylo said as he drove. “You excited for tomorrow?” 

You had been so caught up in your sorrow you nearly forgot that tomorrow was Friday. As soon as you remembered, you could feel the excitement begin to build within you. 

“Yeah. I’ve never been to a party before. At least, not an actual high school party,” you admitted, feeling a little embarrassed. You were sure Kylo had gone to his fair share of parties in his day, and the thought made you feel kind of amateurish.

“Parties aren’t really my thing, I just like to smoke and drink. Being crossfaded is a nice feeling. But, Jordan has a lot of college friends. That’s why she decided to go to Coruscant Central. All of her college friends are there. But, because she has so many college friends, her parties are more like college parties. A lot more drinks, and a lot more drugs,” Kylo said.

You felt your chest tighten slightly. You’d never once had anything to drink, and you definitely had never tried any drugs. The idea was certainly daunting.

Kylo, probably sensing your unease, turned to sneak a peek at you before looking back at the road.

“Look, you don’t have to try anything you don’t want to. Usually, Jordan’s friends only ever bring weed. There was a time they brought acid, but they won’t pressure you into taking anything. They’re all chill people,” he assured you. It did make you feel a little better. If Kylo trusted them, then you would trust them.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence, and the silence continued as the two of you waited to be allowed into the building. Once inside, Kylo walked with you until it was time for your paths to diverge. He waved at you, and you waved back, giving him a half smile before heading off to first block. 

Instead of the nice and quick passage of time that you’d lived through the first three days of school, your first two blocks passed by agonizingly slow. It almost felt as if someone was controlling time, making your economics teacher speak in slow motion, and the ticking of the clock to be abnormally slow. The feeling made you want to pull your hair out. It gave you too much time to think, and that was the last thing you wanted. You really wished there was a way to get your mind to stop thinking for once, and just be empty-headed with no emotions. 

Naturally, second block was no better, and you had to resist the urge to bang your head on the desk as you took notes, trying your hardest to pay attention to what your math teacher was saying. You kept stealing glances at your phone, and at one point, you saw a text message show up on your lock screen. Glancing up at the front, you noticed how your teacher, Mrs. Portman, was looking solely at the board. You had another advantage, as you sat at the very back of the class. Unlocking your phone, you saw a message from Kylo.

Apparently Shawn already thinks we’re flirting, cause Dylan just came up to me and threatened me. Confused, you started to type back.

Really? What did he say? Also, what class do you have with Dylan? As you sent the message, you carefully placed your phone beside your notebook and looked up at the board so as to not raise suspicion. You knew Mrs. Portman wouldn’t give you detention for having your phone out, but she would certainly give you a stern talking to. You did, however, keep glancing at your phone waiting for a response. When your screen lit up, you checked to make sure you weren’t being watched before looking back down.

Said I had no right to be flirting with “Shawn’s girl,” and that I need to back off. Also, I have weight training with him. 

You tried to stifle a laugh. Yeah, what Dylan, Shawn’s best friend and confidante, said to Kylo was annoying, especially since you now knew more about the situation than before, but you couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that Kylo took weight training. Imagining Kylo Ren lifting weights was an odd thought. 

Funny, considering Dylan flirts with girls before they even break up with their boyfriends. Dylan certainly had a reputation as a womanizer. He probably would’ve flirted with you, too, if you hadn’t been dating Shawn.

Some men truly only think with their smaller head. 

You shook your head at Kylo’s response before typing up a response of your own.

Never thought of it that way. Of course, I can’t imagine that head has a very long neck attached to it. 

Have you seen the truck he drives? He’s definitely compensating. You tried hard not to laugh again. Finally, someone said what you’d been thinking for almost two years. 

The bell rang, and you let out a sigh of relief as you packed your stuff back into your backpack, and headed off to lunch. 

In the cafeteria, the same level of noise rang throughout the hall, and you were glad you always brought your own lunch as you looked at the line before heading to the courtyard for lunch. It was a beautiful day today, and the sun warmed your skin as soon as you stepped outside, peering around before you spotted Sami and Alan, who were already sitting side by side. 

“How are you feeling today?” Sami asked as you sat down next to her, pulling some fruit snacks out of your lunch bag. 

“Better. Still pissed, but better,” you assured her. You popped one of the fruit snacks into your mouth before looking up, seeing Kylo and Phasma walking side by side, the two in deep conversation.

“I told her I didn’t really feel comfortable with them coming, but she promised they would behave,” Phasma said as she and Kylo sat down, Kylo sitting next to you.

“I fucking hope so. I thought Milo might get arrested, he almost beat the shit out of Andrew,” Kylo said.

“You guys aren’t talking about Andrew and Lauren, are you?” Sami said, looking between Kylo and Phasma. 

“Yeah, Jordan invited them to come tomorrow, but she said she doesn’t really think they’ll come,” Phasma answered.

“Who are they?” You asked, curious about people potentially coming to the party, especially since Sami seemed worried when she asked about them.

“Assholes. Andrew and Lauren are two of Jordan’s friends who already go to CCU. They cause drama with Milo each time, and Andrew keeps looking at me like he’s looking for a fight with me next. Can’t say I’m shocked, I think he lives to get his ass beat,” Kylo said before stealing one of your fruit snacks. You playfully punched his arm as he popped it into his mouth.

“On top of that, Lauren keeps trying to sleep with Jordan. Jordan keeps saying that she’s only like that when she’s fucked up, but she’s always giving me dirty looks,” Phasma said, picking at her food. 

Kylo typed something on his phone before showing the screen to you. Phasma and Jordan are dating. That did clarify things. 

“Well, let’s hope Jordan’s right, and they won’t even bother showing up. After all, they’re gonna have all this time with Jordan once their semester starts,” Sami said with resignation, taking a sip of the soda she was drinking. 

“I don’t feel like being here tomorrow,” Phasma said before heaving a sigh. 

“I can’t skip. All of my teachers are friends with my grandfather, not to mention my uncle,” Kylo said with a frown. “I think they did it on purpose.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me, after all your mother is very well-to-do in town, on top of the fact that she’s a government official,” Alan offered. “You got into a lot of trouble last year especially.”

“That’s because Stella would drag me across the state,” Kylo huffed out, a frown forming on his face. You put your hand on his under the table, and he gave you a half-smile. 

“We also barely ever saw you then. It’s a miracle they didn’t hold you back,” Sami noted. 

“They can’t say I’m not smart,” was Kylo’s response. 

When lunch was over, the five of you split your separate ways, and you and Kylo walked to physics. 

“You know what we should do?” Kylo said as the two of you pushed your way through the crowd of students in order to get to the physics room.

“What?” you asked, looking up at him.

“Fan the flame,” was all Kylo said, before he held out his hand for you to take. With a smirk, and a rush of excitement in your heart, you took his hand, lacing your fingers with his. 

The initial discomfort of how large his hand was compared to yours was overtaken by how well your fingers seemed to lace together with his. Even though his hands were a little rough, nothing about holding his hand felt unnatural, like you’d expected it to. 

Walking into the classroom with each other’s hands clasped caused about as much of a stir as you thought it would, and oddly enough, some sick part of you enjoyed it. You enjoyed the whispers of people as the two of you walked to sit at your lab table. 

“Did you see that?”

“I guess she’s going for bad boys now.”

“What a way to throw away her future.” 

You ignored them- doing so was becoming a sport to you- and you pulled your stuff out of your bag, and prepared to take notes for the day. Kylo leaned over to whisper in your ear, clearly getting as close as he was for dramatic effect. 

“Someone’s fuming. Feels like daggers are being stared into my back,” he said to you before sitting up straight and pulling out his own notebook. You didn’t dare look behind you, and instead decided to laugh. Amazing how the simple act of holding hands could get someone so heated. 

Physics passed by quickly, probably because you were now in the company of a friend. Between taking notes from the board, you and Kylo would draw on each other’s notebooks, or write notes for each other, trying your hardest to keep from laughing. 

The two of you made sure to hold hands walking out, as well, and you laughed all the way to English. 

“I only caught a glimpse of his face, but damn was the motherfucker mad,” Kylo said, withdrawing his hand from yours as the two of you entered Mr. Skywalker’s classroom. A very small part of you missed the warmth of his hands when he did. 

“Good. I hope his blood boils so much that his head pops off,” you joked as the two of you sat down behind Phasma and Sami. 

“What are you two so chipper about?” Phasma asked, turning to face the two of you. 

“Just pissing off Satan himself,” you answered, pulling things from your backpack.

“Amazing how holding hands can bring so much anger to one person,” Kylo mused as Mr. Skywalker stood, looking around the room and taking attendance as the late bell rang. 

English passed by as quickly as it could, with people reading a book written in old English aloud. You simply ignored them, opting to read ahead and block out the voices. When you glanced over at Kylo, you saw he wasn’t even paying attention. He noticed you looking at him, and wrote on the corner of his notebook.

I read this over the summer.

You rolled your eyes. I guess it made sense, if his uncle already knew that Kylo was going to be in class, and Kylo was under house arrest over the summer.

Did you read all the books for class? You wrote in his notebook. Kylo quickly wrote back before sliding the notebook to you discreetly.

Not Midsummer Night’s Dream. I didn’t feel like reading a play. 

You decided to turn away, with a shake of your head, and keep reading ahead. If you finished the book early, you could get a head start on the essay. 

Once Mr. Skywalker announced the class finished for the day, you tore a piece of paper and used it as a bookmark for where you’d left off in the book before stowing your stuff away into your backpack. 

“I’m skipping tomorrow, sorry Kylo,” Phasma said as she and Sami turned to face the two of you. “I’m gonna help Jordan set up.”

“Jealous. I guess I’ll see you there,” Kylo responded. “What about you, Sami?”

“I’m gonna come, I can’t let you two suffer alone,” Sami said, checking her phone. You felt your phone buzz, and you picked it up from the desk, unlocking it to see a message from Rey.

Can we talk tonight? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever, the text read. You smiled before typing onto your keyboard.

Yeah! I’ve been meaning to call you. You sent the message as the bell rang, and the four of you rose from your seats. Like usual, the four of you walked together, travelling with the crowd like a school of fish all headed for the entrance of the school, relieved the school day was over and the weekend was almost here. You and Kylo departed from Phasma and Sami before heading to Kylo’s car, deciding to sit in the parking lot for a while before heading home. Kylo pulled out a cigarette as he leaned against the hood of his car. You did the same, watching as people scrambled to their cars. You felt so disconnected from everyone now, you realised. When you were dating Shawn, you were a part of the popular crowd, everyone knew and liked you, and you had plenty of friends. Now, you were beginning to become an outcast. But, as you watched Kylo smoke his cigarette, you couldn’t help but be thankful for that. Even though people like Rey, Finn, and the others were genuine people, a lot of the people Shawn had been friends with weren’t, and Kylo’s crowd was a hell of a lot more accepting than any of them. In four days, you’d made amazing new friends, and you couldn’t help but be thankful.

“What?” Kylo asked when he caught you staring at him. Your face flushed from embarrassment, and you turned away, looking out at the crowd of students before smiling. 

“Nothing. I’m just really grateful that you guys just kind of took me in,” you said.

“We used to be great friends. Besides, I figured you would appreciate friends who understand more. Not to be dramatic, but none of us have had it easy. It just makes it easier for us to connect to each other,” Kylo explained before tossing the cigarette butt on the ground and stomping it out. 

The two of you got into the car and silently drove home. Something you noticed- that you weren’t quite ready to tell Kylo- was how at ease Kylo made you. Though the torrential waves of emotion coursed through you normally, any time you were near Kylo, the sea inside you was calmed, and you felt like you could actually enjoy life for a few brief moments. 

When the two of you pulled up to the cul de sac, you saw the two old men sitting on the porch at the Skywalker house. One was obviously the older Mr. Skywalker, chatting away to the man next to him, who you recognized as Mr. Kenobi. Kylo pulled into the driveway and let out a sigh. 

“Great, now I get to be asked a lot of questions,” Kylo said with a huff, pushing his black hair out of his face before shutting off the engine. You stepped out of the car, closing the door behind you as you waited for Kylo to get out so you could say goodbye.

“Well, hello (y/n),” Mr. Kenobi called out as he noticed you. You smiled and walked over to the other side of the car in order to properly say hello.

“Hello, Mr. Kenobi! How’ve you been?” you asked, smiling up at the two old men.

“I’ve been well, enjoying my retirement. You’ve been hanging around this rascal, I hear?” he responded, nodding his head at Kylo. You could tell Kylo was annoyed, as his knuckles turned white around the strap of his backpack, but he held it in as he gave a small smile to his grandfather’s friend.

“Kylo’s been kind enough to offer me rides, and we have some classes together. We’ll actually be working on a project in English together,” you responded, continuing to smile at the men. They both nodded and smiled back.

“Well, we don’t want to hold you up for too long,” Mr. Skywalker said. “We’ll see you at dinner tomorrow, (y/n).”

“I can’t wait! See you tomorrow,” you said before waving goodbye to everyone, making eye contact with Kylo one last time before heading home. 

When you got inside, you went to your room immediately, pulling out your phone and dialing Rey’s number. As you stepped into your room, you closed the door behind you before dropping your backpack on your floor and plopping onto your bed. You waited as the phone rang, and soon, Rey picked up.

“Hey, (y/n)!”

“Hey! Sorry I haven’t really talked to you guys recently, I’ve been...dealing with stuff,” you responded. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. I was getting worried about you and just wanted to check in,” Rey responded. 

“Well, I’ve certainly been better,” you started, the tone of your voice taking a turn. “I’ve somehow been able to cope with everything that’s going on.”

“Did you ever find out what happened?”

With a sigh, you tried to collect yourself as you felt that deep pang in your chest. You trusted Rey, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that the emotions were still so raw inside of you, but you relented. If you told at least one person in your friend group, then it would get spread around between them, so at least you wouldn’t have to tell the story more than twice.

“Yeah Apparently he and some of the guys in the soccer team went to Corellia for a party. The person who sent me the picture said that he’d seen Shawn with this girl all night, and apparently asked Dylan about them, who said they’d been talking for a month before this,” you said, trying to hold in your tears. You weren’t going to sob, but your tears definitely filled your eyes, threatening to spill and break your streak of having not cried all day.

“Oh, (y/n), I’m so sorry. Have you talked to Shawn?” 

“No, and I don’t plan on it. I know that all he wants to do is ask me to take him back, but it isn’t happening. He can go have that girl from Corellia for all I care,” you said, wiping away tears from your eyes before they had the chance to fall down your cheeks. 

“You’re probably right. He’s always been really self-absorbed, he probably doesn’t even really think he did anything wrong,” Rey stated. As much as it hurt to hear, her words did ring true. Though you’d never thought it in the year the two of you had been dating, Shawn was incredibly selfish. “Anyways, do you want to come over tomorrow night? Rose, Kaydel, and Jannah are coming over, we’re gonna watch some movies.”

You felt bad, as you thought about rejecting Rey’s offer, but you were so excited for tomorrow, there was no way you could miss it. After all, you had accepted that offer first.

“I wish I could, but I’m staying with Sami Martinez tomorrow night. I’m sorry,” you said, your voice truly apologetic.

“It’s okay! That’s something I wanted to talk to you about to,” Rey said. Instantly, you knew where this was going, and you felt a pang of anxiety run through you. You knew this conversation was going to happen with one of your friends sooner or later, might as well get it over with. 

“What’s that?” you asked, trying to feign innocence, but probably failing. 

“You’ve been hanging out with Ben Solo a lot, and it has us all pretty worried. I get that you might want to piss off Shawn, and that’s totally valid, but I don’t think hanging out with Ben is the best way to do that,” she said, making you want to sigh heavily. Before any of this was over, you were probably going to hear the same spiel from a million other people.

“Look, Rey, I appreciate you guys looking out for me, but Kylo has been nothing but nice to me all week. Besides, we used to be really good friends. I don’t think he’d do anything hurtful to me,” you assured her.

“That’s not really what I’m worried about, (y/n). He might not intentionally hurt you, but he might influence you to be a different person that you aren’t. He hangs out with bad people, and does a lot of bad things himself. I just don’t want you to be influenced by him to do those kinds of things too.” 

The sentiment really pissed you off, admittedly. You knew people felt that way about Kylo, that much you’d expected, but to basically be told you were easily manipulated? That was frustrating. If anyone was likely to manipulate you, it was Shawn, and in fact, he had manipulated you. After all, he’d convinced you that you were just like him. You didn’t want to be the same person you were when you were dating Shawn.

“Listen, I’m going to keep hanging out with Kylo. I love and respect you guys, so I’m asking you to do the same for me. I’m not going to be a drastically different person because I’ve been hanging out with Kylo. I’m going to be a drastically different person because I’m not dating Shawn anymore. Believe it or not, I don’t want to be the same person I was with Shawn, because that person was too dependent on her boyfriend. So, I’m going to keep hanging with Kylo and all of his friends. They’ve been nothing but good to me all week, and they’ve been really accepting. You guys are still my best friends, but I’m asking you to please respect my decision,” you said, trying to keep calm as best as you could. 

There was silence for a few moments, as Rey processed what you said to her. Then, there was a sigh.

“Okay, (y/n). Just, please be careful,” Rey finally answered. “I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

“Bye,” you said before hanging up. Once you did, you grabbed the pillow closest to you, wrapping onto it as tears began to fall from your face, made from a mixture of rage and sadness. You loved your new friends, especially Kylo and Sami. They didn’t judge you, included you in conversation, and made sure you stayed positive. You were so happy to accept them into your life, welcoming the change they brought, but that couldn’t change the fact that you were afraid to lose your old friends. You’d been friends with them for so long, and you trusted all of them deeply. You knew that once you and Kylo began to feign your relationship, a lot of them would probably view you differently. Even though they barely understood what you were going through, you still loved them. You just worried that everything to come might end the friendships you’d enjoyed for so long.

You stared out of the window, the blinds open, giving you a perfect view of the clear sky. As you looked around the cul de sac from your window, you noticed Kylo standing outside, smoking a cigarette as he leaned against his car. Then, as if he could sense you watching him, he turned his head, making eye contact with you. He waved at you, giving you his signature half-smile. You waved back a little unenthusiastic, but you tried to smile back. You saw Kylo look back down as he pulled out his phone. Not long after, you heard your phone buzz, and you picked up your phone, unlocking it to reveal a message from Kylo.

You okay?

You thought about whether or not to be honest as you stared at the keyboard, trying to think of what to say. In the end, you settled on a simple white lie.

Yeah, I’m fine.

#kylo ren #kylo ren fanfic #kylo ren fanfiction #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren x you #high school au

[chrisevansgoodgirl]

Hello I need more Natasha smut thanks

Anon! I’m sorry this took so long, like legit, it’s been a year. But I wanted something to write about and it just took me forever to come with something I love. The thought came to me one day as I was sad, dramatically on the floor instead of my bed, as I often like to be, lamenting over the fact that I am not a ballerina. Really, it’s a daily thing for me, I am constantly upset about it, so, of course, this followed.

i present to you soft!ballerina!reader with my fav three avengers.

So, I want you to picture a good world after endgame. Everyone’s alive, the avengers are a full swinging team.  The o6 are on earth but have a lot more time on their hands bc the team has grown. Natasha has a lot of time to walk the streets, observe a good and peaceful world she helped create.

She sees you leaving your studio, dressed in pink tights, a black leotard, and combat boots. You have a huge dance bag slung over your shoulder, you’re clumsily pulling your hair out of a bun as you walk down the sidewalk. Nothing more comes from this sighting. She spares only a second to think about how much she did not miss the pain of ballet.

Two weeks later, she’s walking down the street again, it’s purely a coincidence that she sees you. You’re with a few friends, smiling and laughing, and she likes the sound. Soon, Natasha is walking past your studio every day at that time. She’s discovered that you leave Wednesdays and Fridays at that time, but earlier on Saturdays and Sundays and later on Mondays and Thursdays. Sometimes, you’re there on Tuesday, sometimes, you’re not.

You notice her around the 7th time, not that you hadn’t noticed her, she is stunning, of course. But this is when you start to make yourself a little more available, you linger on the sidewalk, pretend to text on your phone. Sometimes, she sits on a bench on the street, other times she’s at a tiny table on the patio of a small coffee shop you try not to frequent, as a coffee addict.

You’d always known who she was, but about a month in, your classmates start to notice her too. You worry they’re going to be bolder than you and steal her attention, especially since she’s never spoken to you or looked directly at you, as far as you knew.

So, one day, you walk across the street where she’s sitting at her table. She doesn’t even bat an eye, almost like she wanted this from you, or at least expected it. You sit across from her, grab a napkin from next to her coffee cup, write your number, then leave without a word.

She texts you two agonizing hours later and asks you to go out with her that night. It’s this fancy restaurant you would have had to save up for if it had been you paying. She’s there in a skintight, low cut black dress, you opted for a tiny pink dress that barely covers your ass. She’s sweet, asks you lots of questions, and you like to make her smile so you always answer in detail. You thought after her second glass of wine, she would get handsy or a little flirtier, she didn’t. She walks you home, says goodnight, and you have to wait four more days until she wants another date.

After that, she expresses interest in your dancing. You start showing up at the studio an hour early so she can come and watch you. Those days, she leaves when others show up, but never fails to reappear so she can walk you home.

One morning, she’s late, but you guys aren’t exactly…a thing, so it’s not within your rights to text and interrogate her on her whereabouts. You wait, preparing yourself for the possibility that she just might not show. She was still busy after all, not everyone was peaceful, the world still needed the avengers. But eventually, she walks through the door and you pull away from the barre to greet her.

She makes a disapproving sound and you scurry back. She directs you to continue dancing and makes her way to the wall across from you. There’s something darker in her eyes, you’ve never seen her like this so you don’t argue. Her eyes follow your legs closely, every once in awhile, glancing up to meet your curious stare. You’re finished with your combination but you don’t move.

“Turn,” she tells you, “to do the other side.”

You listen, but you’re not really sure why. Part of you worries you don’t even remember what you were just doing. She would remember though, she was a great dancer, and ballet is a hard habit to break, especially when it’s taught to you the way it was to Natasha. Not that she’s ever told you, but her history with ballet was common knowledge.

You startle when you feel her arms around your hips. She’s never really this touchy with you. After your third date, she had a cab drive you home, and she set you on her lap the whole drive and kissed you. But she was gentle with you, slow, and you didn’t want to push her.

She shushes you then her hands start to glide up. Your breath catches when her fingertips are directly under your breasts, but she merely skips your chest all together and touches your shoulders, running her nails down your arms.

You shiver, glancing back at her.

She uses two fingers to firmly push your jaw back. “Face the wall. Don’t make me tell you again.”

“I want to see you,” you feel inclined to say.

She slaps your ass, just a small swat, but hard enough to deliver her point. “You have to be a good girl then.”

You’re wet. Just like that. Her low voice in your ear, her gorgeous body pressed against your back, you can’t help yourself.

She slips the straps of your leotard down and rolls the fabric down to your waist. The cold studio instantly hardens your nipples.

You’re squirming, rubbing your thighs together impatiently, until she warns you to stop. But she’s taking forever, you wanted her since your first date. How does she expect you to be as slow as her? “Nat, someone could come in.”

“And?”

You’re not sure how to answer.

“So you want me to stop?”

“No,” you gasp. “No, please.”

She finally grabs your breasts and you shudder, melting into her completely. One hand is holding the barre, the other desperately squeezes her thigh.

Natasha tweaks your nipples painfully, you’re mewling and begging her not to stop. She figures you like it rough then, and she doesn’t stop. She wants you to slip, to press your thighs together or try to take, but you became aware of her game quickly.

You keep your mouth shut through all her teasing, at least until she tears your suit down to your hips. “Natasha, please.” You want to see her, kiss her, touch her.

She spins you around, lips crashing down on yours. She presses herself against you, walking you all the way to the wall. Her hand slides between your legs and you nearly fall to your knees.

She wraps an arm around the small of your back to keep that from happening.

“Can I touch you?”

She’s staring at you, eyes light and smirk wicked. “Of course.”

You tug the button of her pants undone and slide your hand down the front of her lace panties. She’s so wet, you just wish you could taste her. This was you, all you, you had this effect on her body and that made you feel powerful, beautiful.

The zipper of her jeans is scratching the back of your hand, but you don’t stop. You rub her clit just as fast as she does yours. You’re both moaning, gazes locked, frantically grinding against the other’s hand. Until you both come, which is almost simultaneous, which you’re thankful for because you lost all sense of reality with your orgasm.

Okay! Stop here if all you wanted was Natasha! I know it just says Natasha, but I can’t help myself. When I asked for filth, there was a certain trio x reader I didn’t get that I was really surprised not to get! So…I apologize, I’m a bi thot.

Holy fuck, that gif. he is fucking beautiful.

She’s nicer after that. Sometimes, she stops by your apartment before class and fucks you there instead. When she does accompany you to the studio now, it’s often to help you. She’s improved your arabesque tremendously.

Sometimes, she fucks you after she walks you home. In the seclusion of your apartment, Natasha tears your clothes off like they are nothing. You start wearing simple bodysuits then, the kind with the clasps, not the expensive leotards made for dance.

You like her, and you know she likes you back. But she doesn’t want to be exclusive. Says she’s just not wired that way, that she’ll let you down. You’re, in a way, relieved. You like Natasha and you didn’t want to lose her, but you also felt…young, too young to commit to only having sex with one person for the rest of your life.

What Natasha doesn’t know is that she isn’t the only Avenger that walks that street. You have classes there, not only the ballet kind. College was your time to truly explore all you could and though you were a little aimless as far as a major went, you wanted to dip your toes into everything. Mostly, art. Dance was expected, theatre was inevitable, but painting was new.

Steve Rogers likes art and you like Steve Rogers. Your campus was in the midst of art week, huge displays everywhere, when you met him. You sort of walked right into him because you were texting Nat and were completely distracted. He was stunning in person, you’d seen enough pictures, but even those couldn’t prepare you. You couldn’t walk away, there was just something pulling you back every time you thought you should.

You didn’t ask why he was there, you also didn’t pretend to not know who he was. There was just no time for that. You simply asked him what his favorite exhibit was. You also may have called him captain, but that’s whatever. Long story short, he was teaching you to draw at least three times a week in the evenings after you went home and changed to meet him at his favorite restaurant. He knew you danced, but of course, he never tried to see you at the studio, just made you promise you’d invite him to any shows you were in.

He likes to sit next to you, touch your forearm as you draw, kiss your neck to distract you, and pretend he needs to be that close to see what you’re doing. He’s your teacher after all, right? But that’s only now, in the beginning, it was totally friendly.

It changed almost three torturous months in. He went outside to take a call and you, like the absolute disaster you were, dropped your purse and his sketchbook. The book conveniently opened up to a page of you, but your curious fingers did the turning and found more. He had been drawing you since the day you met and you weren’t entirely sure how to feel about it. Flattered, grateful that clearly, he liked you back. But it was almost overwhelming, is this actually how he saw you? And frustrating! If he liked you, how could he just keep it bottled up?

But you had to go, your hour-and-a-half session every Tuesday was ending. It was time for your study group so you gathered your things in one arm, his things in the other, and headed out. He was just finishing his call, noticed you, and, if not a tad frantically, took the sketchbook and pencil case from you. Before he’d even hung up, you rolled onto your toes and kissed him. He was surprised, frozen, and couldn’t hang up the phone.

Not until you were both interrupted. “Are you kissing someone?!” Steve jerked back, turning away as he cleared his throat. “I will talk to you later, Tony,” he growled.

You had your fingers pressed to your lips, trying to smother your laugh.

He turned back to you with narrowed eyes as he shoved his phone in his pocket.

“I’m sorry—“

He didn’t believe you for a second. “Oh, you sound it.”

You bit your lip, eyes lowering. Maybe you shouldn’t have been so forward. He was old-fashioned.

He took one of your purse straps from your shoulder and slipped his sketchbook inside.

You turned up to him, eyebrows pulling together.

“You saw them, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t mean to—”

“Almost full, I need a new one anyway.”

He was giving you his sketchbook and you swore your heart was going to beat out of your chest.

He matched your grin with his own, one hand taking your hip to reel you in for another kiss. A real kiss, one where you were both moving against one another. He pinned you to the brick wall next to the exit and kissed you despite all the traffic going in and out. And you had stupidly thought he would be the kind of man who didn’t like being so public.

So, he likes being touchy. You like wearing skirts. It became a routine, buried in the back of the restaurant, hidden in a booth. Every time he’s praising you for what you’ve drawn, he likes to slide his hand up between your thighs and you like to not wear underwear, just to be helpful. He likes to make you come and then lick his fingers clean, eyes locked on yours the whole time.

Unlike Natasha, he comes to you at night. She is your sun and he is your moon. He is also irregular hours, frantic fucking, desperate and whispered words as you’re both coming down, gentle touches when he’s trying to leave you–which only works 1 out of every 5 times–and sweet promises that you would see him soon. If only because he is utterly and undeniably addicted to you.

However, he tells you the same, and again, you embrace it. He kisses you, tells you that you’re beautiful and amazing, but he can’t be your boyfriend. He’s not steady enough for you. You’re glad. You can’t hurt Steve, you can’t hurt Natasha, it’s the last thing you would ever want to do. You promise him you understand and kiss him until he’s not frowning anymore.

Then he rips off your clothes as he pushes you to your bedroom. He always starts on top, closing you in with his huge arms, pounding into you because you can take it, staring deep like he’s looking for something. You hold onto him because he likes that, likes when you claw hard enough to draw blood. He says the filthiest things to you, and sometimes, neither one of you can bear to break away until he just shuts his damn mouth. Sometimes, he takes advantage of that and you have to cancel both on Nat and skip class—it’s only happened three times though, and those times followed bad missions so you decided to just be glad that he wasn’t pushing you away.

He cuddles as long as he can, either until he’s restless, you need to go, or he has another job to do. He never talks to you about the other marks on your body, love bites or fingerprints not left by him, instead, he leaves the same right next to it. And you don’t tell him to stop because you really don’t want him to. Nat is quiet on that end as well—she can’t say anything, it would cross the boundaries she made herself.

You’re a perfectionist, it’s a terrible habit that leads to obsessing at times. There’s a little dance area you created, just a portable barre and five cheap, long mirrors stuck to the wall. Steve commented on it before, but nothing that caught your interest. Not until he’s in your apartment and has yet to get you naked, but he’s still looking at you with that look.

Natasha had been there earlier that morning, wouldn’t stop fingering you until you begged her to give you a break. When you finally regained use of your legs, you were still tired. You put on your bodysuit, your wrap skirt, and then you were on your way to the beginning of your day.

He likes that you’re a ballerina, likes to see how passionate you are about it. He can relate. He likes to see you in thin layers of light pink and he especially likes taking them off you. And today, he clearly appreciates the extra exposed skin, you’re still dressed for practice because you were being lazy when you got home.

You say nothing as you walk over to the wall. You start with a few stretches, slow and simple. You don’t look at him because that’s the best way to get what you want from Steve. If he thinks you’re not paying attention to him for a second when he wants you to be, he will gladly steal that attention.

He likes your legs, likes to watch them move, so you go through your favorite combination, a lot of tendus, rond de jambes, and developpés. After you complete the opposite side, you hear him walk toward you, but you continue. You bring your outer leg up to the barre, leaning away.

Steve catches you, pressing his chest to your back. His arms wrap tightly around you and you set your head to his shoulder to look up at him. One hand reaches out to your raised leg, his fingertips gliding up slowly until you shudder against him. He grips your thigh and pulls it back indelicately, other arm guiding you to face the barre.

He curls both hands around your waist, you feel heat pool between your legs at the sight. His hands are massive, a fact hard to ignore when he gets them on you. He bends you over the barre, one hand pressing against your back to keep you there. You feel him against your ass, hard and greedy as if you’ve been teasing him for hours.

He pulls the tie loose on your skirt and it slides to the floor. His fingers find the clasp against your pussy and you whimper his name, a plea to hurry the fuck up. But he won’t, you know that. “You’re so wet.”

“I want you.”

“Is that what all that was? You were putting on a show for me?”

“Did you like it?”

He unzips his pants then grabs your ass hard. “I did.”

You wait patiently as he moves his clothing out of the way. He takes your hips in both hands, the tip of his cock pressing against your pussy. As he begins to push into you, you grab the barre hard. Your legs are shaking until he’s pressed flush against your ass. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been, him inside of you always makes you feel so fucking full and complete.

He thrusts hard, the barre moves because you’re dragging it with you. He watches your breasts move in the mirror, hands touching your ass, your clit, or your clothed torso. When he’s close, he grabs you by the neck and pulls you up straight. “Watch your pussy, baby doll, watch how good you take my cock.”

You’re so fucked then, legs threatening to buckle but he always catches you so you don’t mind. At the end of the night, he carries you to your bed, kisses your face a dozen times, and promises to text you tomorrow.

If you weren’t such a freak, you’d stop there. But when have you ever done what you’re supposed to? You were in two relationships of absolute freedom. Until you were in three.

Carol found you in a record shop. She was more forward than her friends and wasted no time letting you know she was interested in you. That same night, she took you to some dive bar and you were wearing this tiny skirt and a slinky shirt. She locked you in a restroom stall where she draped your thighs over her shoulders and ate you out until you were crying and couldn’t stop shaking.

She introduces you to her best friend, Maria, but not the others and obviously, you’re thankful for that. The bar is your usual spot, where she sits you on her lap the entire night. She drinks but never too much, as she wants to take care of you completely, so she lets you drink. You don’t get wasted often, but it’s a comfort knowing no man will try to pick you up if you’re on her arm.

When it’s time for a change of scenery, it’s at her apartment. You figure it’s too risky to have three regular sexual partners knowing where you live, especially since Steve and Natasha sometimes came to you mindlessly, an apology text as a preface before they explain they weren’t thinking and just had to see you. It makes your heart beat faster so you never tell them to stop.

Carol, on the other hand, likes you to come to her. Which makes things just a little easier.

You’re not sure she’s ever seen you in a pair of pants, it’s merely an inconvenience for you both since you know she’s either going to end up with her fingers in your pussy or on her knees in front of you.

She knows about the ballet and likes to “help” you stretch. 🙄 You shouldn’t complain, she really does aid your flexibility,  but it’s never with pure intentions. She’s started taking your clothes off before you even start your routine at this point, that’s always how it ends anyway. She starts at your feet, as she knows how obsessive you are about perfectly pointing your toes, then your hips, by the time you’re onto legs, you know that’s because she’s getting impatient.

On occasion when she brings out the strap, she loves laying you down, pressing one leg flat to the floor, lifting the other until your foot is on her shoulder and fucking you hard. And claims she needs to do it again because you can’t only stretch one side. Other times, she’ll have you face the wall, one leg as high up as you can get it, her arms wrapped right around you as she fucks you from behind. Sometimes, she’ll have you in bridge position where she eats your pussy until you literally can’t use your legs a second longer. Carol’s definitely creative when she gets you alone and undressed in her apartment.

She’s the one you’ve had to splurge on a lingerie collection for. God, she loves you in lace. She loves to see you so soft, she loves taking every scrap of clothing off of you, and then giving it to you so hard. She likes to tie you up; sometimes, wrists and ankles to each bedpost, sometimes, just your arms. It’s always a workout in itself to be with Carol, at least that’s what you tell yourself on the rare occasion she tempts you out of going to ballet.

The first night you stay at her apartment, she takes you out again. She had been on a mission for the past two weeks, as was Natasha, so you’d had a lot of time with Steve, but it was switched now and he was off on an assignment. Under your black leather skirt and old band tank top, you’re wearing a lacy pink one-piece. When you get back to her place, you push her onto the bed and undress for her.

You can tell by the look in her eye, you are so in for it. She grabs you, forces you onto the bed, facing down, and ties you up. She drapes herself over you, whispering in your ear about how sexy she finds you. She doesn’t push the lace aside, instead, she pushes into you with her strap, the lace added this weird sensation that you don’t necessarily dislike. But she doesn’t go too deep, in fear that she will damage her new favorite article of clothing, it’s little more than a tease. But you know better than to demand anything from her when she ties you up.

From there on out, since you decided to leave the pink suit at her place, every time she tells you to be at her place at a specific time, which is always before she’s set to be there, you’re meant to be wearing it and waiting for her. This was new for you, you’d never been with a partner so controlling, even Steve and Nat were just simple control freaks, dictating your orgasms, your positions, and your smart mouth.

But Carol was on a different level, a level without fear. Nat and Steve were holding back, Carol clearly wasn’t. Your favorite scene is when she gets home, lets you know, and tells you to meet her in the living room. She’s already undressed then, sitting on her couch and watching TV (😉😘, thanks anon (x)). 

The first time, you aren’t really sure what she wants from you, so you get onto the floor, crawl your way on hands and knees to her pussy, and lick and suck until she’s coming. But she still says nothing, doesn’t touch you, so you do it again. You don’t stop until your jaw is sore and your thighs are slick with your own aching need.

You’re pouting and she’s smirking, so you know this is her game. You stand up, sit on the couch between her legs, and take her right hand. Easily, you slide your pussy onto two of her fingers, then you take her left hand and place it over your breast. You never lose your hold of her hands and you pretend like that doesn’t matter. You fuck her fingers with no assistance from her and keep her hand squeezing your breast, you even let your ass grind against her pussy, which is soaking. You’re loud and desperate, but when you glance at her and see she’s staring at you, you know you’ve won this round.

That doesn’t happen again, you’d simply shocked her by being so forward. Future scenarios require you to be a brat. You whine and demand that she pay you some attention, but she doesn’t, so you get mouthy, or you start to touch yourself and don’t listen when she tells you to stop. Later, she’ll spank you until your ass is sore, but that’s okay with you.

It’s not always just about sex. She can be the sweetest sometimes. The bar crowd teases her endlessly for it as she’s gone around telling everyone “her girl” is fucking smart and so talented. Maria’s the worst, but once, she took you aside and told you she doesn’t mean a word of it and she’s just happy you make Carol smile so freely.

She also visits you in between classes, gives you coffee or food, talks to you about the rest of your day. You ask her what she’s going to do, and sometimes, she’ll even tell you. But sometimes, she’s going on a mission and she’ll spare you the details because she knows you worry.

You know she sees the marks too, the ones left by Steve and Nat, but pretends she doesn’t because it’s just not the way this is going to be. They’re all busy and you have the kind of life that not one can fit into completely but that the three of them can. You’ve been working on that speech for the day they finally find out. You presume it will be your first show as all three have demanded to know when it is because nothing could keep them away.

lol, where did this even come from? Can I tell you who’s to blame? This beautiful gif maker, avengercarol. as soon as I saw the third gif, I knew what I was going to do. this post, like it, reblog it (x)

#natasha romanoff smut #steve rogers smut #carol danvers smut #steve rogers x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #carol danvers x reader #my writing

[heyyyharry]

He Said, She Said

(from ‘Couple in Flat 102’)

…in which Y/N invites her boss to her wedding, and Harry’s childhood best friend wants to be in his life again.

wattpad link

Warning: I haven’t proofread this because I’m exhausted, so ignore any mistake you may find and don’t call me out please 😂

.

"Jack Coleman!"

"Miss Davis, you can't—"

Rose raised a hand to tell Kate to shut up, causing the poor assistant to back away in fear. The younger girl headed straight to the VP office, expecting to see Jack behind his desk. But as soon as she burst into the room, it wasn't him that she saw. It was Maria.

The last time Rose met that woman was at her twenty-first birthday party. Just like Jack, Maria's family did business with Rose's father, so Maria was invited by default even though she wasn't friends with Rose. But Rose didn't really care since she couldn't keep track of her birthday guests anyway. What she did care, was the fact that she saw Jack flirting with Maria after Y/N had left, and them leaving the Davis' mansion together.

Maria had never actually done anything mean to Rose, but Rose hated her still because Mr. Davis kept comparing Rose to her. And the way Maria treated Rose like an immature little girl was only adding fuel to the fire. Jack wasn't the nicest to Rose, yet he cared about her in a way because they'd grown up together. So she couldn't accept the fact that Jack and Maria were now...something to one another.

"Oh, why are you here?" She closed the door, crossing her arms to mimic the Latina who had risen from the chair.

"Can't I come to see my boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" Rose scoffed as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Wow, Jack Coleman's got a girlfriend? Is the world coming to an end?"

"Problem?" Maria lifted an eyebrow, receiving a shrug from the younger girl.

"Nope." Rose laughed wryly. "It's just...odd."

"Aren't you supposed to be on the plane to Paris by now?"

"Did Jack tell you?" Rose's eyes widened at Maria's unexpected question, yet she wasn't very stunned, because she knew how words could spread nowadays. One person knew, the whole world knew.

"Your father did," Maria said with a smirk. "Imagine being such a brat that your own father has to send you away."

"I got a scholarship, you uncultured swine!"

The Latina lifted her shoulders and pursed her red lips, slightly amused by the dumb insult rather than be pissed about it. Ignoring that attitude, Rose narrowed her eyes and walked straight to Jack's desk to pick up the white envelope she saw lying there among the piles of papers. Maria tried to reach for it, but Rose turned away quickly so she could open the invitation.

"Ooh, he's invited to Y/N's wedding," she exclaimed, turning to smile enthusiastically at Maria. "You do know Y/N, right?"

"Yeah." Maria nodded, looking through the glass wall to watch Y/N who was sitting at her desk and talking on the phone. "I've talked to her once. She's really nice."

"Jack's not going to the wedding, is he?"

"How do you know?" Maria chuckled, a bit confused. "He said he got plans that day."

"Plans?" The sarcastic tone in Rose's one-word question made Maria's face contort. She didn't know what was so funny about that, but she started to feel like there was more than she'd been told. "How naive can you be?" Rose snorted, shaking her head. "He just made up an excuse to not attend the wedding, because he's in love with her."

"No, he's not. He said she was just an employee to him."

"And you believed that?" Rose dropped her jaw, hand on her chest, but of course, she wasn't actually surprised. "Come on, Maria. I'm sure anyone in this building can see the way he looks at her. Did you know that he gave her a wedding dress?"

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know!" Rose faked a gasp, eyebrows pulled together as she clicked her tongue. "Poor thing. He did, and he was with her the night you two met. She went back to her prince, so Jack must find a frog to take her place."

"You little—"

"What? Are you gonna hit me?" Rose stepped forward, batting her eyelashes. "If you don't believe me, ask your boyfriend. Imagine being so dumb to think you're the first choice."

"Hey, love, I—Rose?" Jack was frozen at the door and the two girls turned around to look at him. Judging by the looks on both of their faces, he could tell something had happened when he wasn't there. "What are you doing here?" He asked Rose, knowing every single problem would always come from her.

"I came to take you out for lunch to say goodbye, since I'm leaving on Wednesday...but since you're—" She paused to glance at Maria, who was giving her the death glare "—busy. I'll come back tomorrow." Without waiting for a reply from the older man, she marched straight towards the door, stopping when she got to him and making sure she was just loud enough for the three of them to hear. "Congrats on getting the wedding invitation. I heard only their close friends and family are invited. It's lovely how she also invited her boss."

Then Rose strutted out, not forgetting to flash Maria one last smirk before she left, and it drove the older girl crazy. Jack shut the door right after and asked Maria to tell him what Rose had just said to her. But the first thing that got out of her mouth was, "you gave Y/N a wedding dress?!"

"Y-Yeah, but it's a long story. You see, Rose tried to—"

"Did she go with you to Rose's party?" Came another question that got the man sweating in his suit. This time, he was unable to reason for himself, so his girlfriend went on, "I was right...You were in love with her."

"No."

"That was the weakest no I've ever heard, Jack."

Jack scoffed as his forehead puckered in irritation. "Did Rose say something? That little girl enjoys pissing everyone off, why must you care?"

"Because she wasn't wrong!" Maria raised her voice, pointing a finger outside, to Y/N. "I did see the way you looked at her when we ran into her and her fiancé. But you promised me there was nothing between you two."

"Because there was nothing!" He exhaled sharply. "I haven't spoken to her outside of work for months now, ever since we got together. I'm happy with you."

"Are you?" The girl crossed her arms, sounding a bit hurt as she asked him, "then why don't you wanna go to her wedding?"

"I told you I would be busy that day."

"I know when you lie, Jack." Maria let her arms fall down to her sides as she stared at him, bottom lip trembling. "I just didn't think it was because of her."

"Would it make you happy if I accepted the invitation?" He asked after a moment of silence. And she nodded without saying a word. "Okay, fine. I'll attend her wedding then."

"I'm coming with you."

"Are you serious?"

"I am, Jack. Why's it a problem if you take your girlfriend with you to a wedding?"

"Because like Rose said, they wanted close friends and family only. I can't just take anyone."

"We're going to the wedding. That is that." Maria huffed and picked up her bag to head out, but Jack grabbed onto her elbow the second she attempted to pass him. Looking into her eyes, he said, "how are we going to work for the longterm if you can't trust me on things like this?"

"You need to earn my trust then." Just like that, she yanked her arm away, and left the office without saying goodbye.

.

.

.

Y/N had been waiting for a reply from her boss about the wedding invitation she'd left on his desk. She'd texted him to ask for a confirmation, but he left her on seen so she assumed he hadn't got time to check his schedule for that Saturday yet. Y/N told herself to be patient and wait until he got back from lunch with a client to come speak to him in person. However, when she was riding the lift down to the HR department, the door first opened on a different floor.

Jack and Y/N froze once they saw each other, and both wondered why they were even surprised since they worked together after all. Staying silent, Jack walked in, not a single smile or a simple 'hello', and the atmosphere inside the small lift now became way too uncomfortable. Y/N struggled to initiate the conversation, she didn't know how to start and what to say. So when a loud ding rang through her ears, she knew the time was up for her. The lift finally arrived on the fifth floor, and she took a quick glance at Jack before the door opened and she had to go.

However, the door didn't open.

She waited for five seconds, and started to feel something strange. Her boss, probably the calmest man she'd ever known, seemed just as worried as she was. Then what she feared the most finally happened.

The lights all went out.

Y/N screamed as she collapsed onto the floor at once, causing Jack to jump in shock. Without pause, he flopped down by her side and grabbed her shoulders to make sure she knew he was there with her. But the girl was too frightened to even flinch. She was shaking, really shaking, and he knew it wasn't as simple as her being afraid of the dark.

"Do you have claustrophobia?" He asked. His voice was soothing yet she was still scared. She couldn't speak and constantly nodded her head to confirm that it was true. And without saying a word, he sat down to hold her, pulling her into his arms so her head was resting on his chest. He stroked her hair and told her that the power would come on soon so they would get out in no time.

After a moment of him stroking her back, he felt her relax in his arms and even though she stayed strangely still, he felt her breathing go back to normal. Jack pulled out his phone to call his assistant, but unfortunately, his battery had run out. Frustrated, he asked Y/N to use her phone and contact someone she knew. Since her battery was at two percent, she could only send one text to two most recent contacts, Harry and Jack's assistant - Kate. Then her phone, just like Jack's, died in an instant. What are the odds of two people getting trapped in the same lift with two dead phones at the same time? It must have been fate.

"Kate will see that text, I'm sure she will," Jack whispered into Y/N's hair and loosened his grip on her so she could finally breathe. But as he pulled away, she suddenly spoke.

"Can you...hold my hand?"

.

.

.

"Can you hold my hand?"

Harry's eyes grew wide at his flatmate's unexpected request. Her cheeks were turning red because it was embarrassing to ask him such a thing, knowing how uncomfortable it would make him feel. However, she had no other choice. She was scared, and he was the only one there who could help her.

Harry was frozen, tongue-tied, gawking at her like a fool as they were both sitting on the floor side by side. And because of his reaction, Y/N thought he didn't hear what she'd just said, so she tried again, sounding a bit agitated this time, almost like begging, "can you please hold my hand? I—I'm afraid of being trapped in a small space."

"What are you? Five? Are you afraid of the dark too?" Harry snorted, probably assuming she was just messing with him. However, the look on her face said otherwise. She seemed genuinely anxious, so much to the point that made him worried as well. With a sigh and a bit of hesitation, Harry's trembling right hand took her left as their fingers intertwined. All of a sudden, his face turned scarlet, and seeing him shy made her feel a bit at ease.

"Is this your first time holding a girl's hand or something?" She giggled, raising an eyebrow at a mortified Harry.

"No..." he mumbled and looked away to avoid her gaze. So she shifted closer, tightening her grip on his hand, eyes bored into him.

"You're blushing, H."

"I..." He furrowed his brows, trying not to look her in the eyes. "I don't usually do this...with the other girls."

"How so? You've kissed them and had sex with them and all."

"Yeah but...It's just." He took in a deep breath. "Hand-holding is...intimate. You know...uhm...you don't want intimacy with someone you're only having sex with..."

That was very true. And now Y/N was trying hard not to show how elated she was, still she ended up with such a wide smile that her jaw hurt. Even though she'd asked him to hold her hand, that still meant something since he knew hand-holding was intimate and agreed to do it nevertheless.

"Maybe one day you'll find someone you like so much you just want to do this all the time," she told him with a timid smile.

Harry didn't reply, he scoffed and rolled his eyes instead. Honestly, Y/N was hoping that the person would be her, because for her, it had always been him. She just couldn't tell him that, at least not yet, or maybe he wouldn't ever have to know.

.

.

.

⌲ Wifey: traped in lift w Jacvk

When Harry received the text from Y/N, he shot himself out of his chair, two fingers pinching his forehead as he tried to call her, but apparently her phone was dead or there was no signal at her place. Those awful misspellings let him know that she was having a panic attack, and he felt his stomach clench because he wasn't there with her, but Jack was.

Now Harry was in a cold-sweat. What was worse than his fiancé getting stuck in a lift with another man who was in love with her, was the fact that she was afraid of confined space. He had an important meeting with his boss in thirty minutes, so he couldn't leave, but he couldn't reach Y/N either. All he could do at the moment was pace back and forth in his office, trying not to think of the worst scenarios that could happen.

A knock on the door managed to pull Harry away from his anxiety as he told the person to come in, assuming it was Josephine coming to brief him on the main points of the meeting later. And he was right, it was the CEO's assistant, but it wasn't Josephine. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he saw the blonde standing at the door, and for a second he thought he was having hallucination.

Olivia didn't look so surprised to see him. Instead, her pink lips curved into a smile, so he assumed that was not a coincidence that she was there. "What are you doing here?" He asked, eyebrows pulled together.

"I'm here to talk to you?" she casually said.

"How did you know I work here?!"

Olivia lifted an eyebrow at her childhood best friend then released a sly laugh as she said, "because I work here too, Haz."

Haz. Nobody had called him that since the day she left, so it was rather odd to hear it again from the person who had come up with the nickname for him.

"You work here?" He scoffed, thinking she was joking, but Olivia had never looked more serious.

"I'm Mr. Davis' new assistant? Josephine quit already. Hasn't anyone told you?"

No. Nobody had told him, or they had but he didn't pay attention because he'd been too preoccupied with his wedding in a couple days. The news came as such a great shock to him that he couldn't even move from where he was standing anymore. Olivia, on the other hand, managed to keep her calm as she flashed a smile and apologized that he had to find out that way.

"I thought you were working for your dad?" He looked at her again, still very confused.

"I quit." She gave him a shrug. "When I talked to Y/N at the lunch with our fathers, she told me to do what I wanted because life was short. So I listened to her and applied for another job." Then the girl marched towards Harry. He watched her put the folders in her arms down on his table, and without warning, she pulled him into a hug. "I can't believe now we get to work together and see each other everyday. We can finally be friends again."

Harry was still startled so it took him a couple seconds to realize what was happening and held onto her arms to push her away. Hurriedly, he came to shut the door of his office, not wanting people to see them and make up false rumors like they had when Rose came to see him.

"You can't just hug me like that Ollie. If people find out that we..."

"Used to fuck?" She laughed. Her choice of word made him blush but he didn't think much of it because she had always been vulgar. It was just weird to him because he was getting married soon. "Relax, Haz. The last time we had sex, we were still teenagers. You're getting married anyway. Who cares about some fling you had when you were fifteen, sixteen, right?"

It wasn't just the fact that they had sex. Harry also knew that it had been more than sex to her. So he wasn't sure how it was going to work if she insisted on them being friends again. The last time they tried, he almost lost Y/N, and all of those flashbacks showed up as warning signs that accepting her into his life again would be an awful idea.

"We should focus on work." He cleared his throat and hurried back to his desk, telling her to take a seat. "Can I see those stats from our sales department please?"

Olivia rolled her eyes but she pulled a chair to sit down in front of him anyway. She opened the folders on the table and began to talk about the problems she saw in the numbers on the reports, yet Harry could barely keep her words from rushing through his other ear. He pulled out his phone, letting the girl continue speaking as he typed down a short text to Jack's assistant, Kate. Now he was glad that he'd asked for Kate's number the last time Y/N went out with her in case something happened and his love needed him. And she probably needed him now more than ever.

⌲ Jack and Y/N are stuck in the lift. Come help.

Then he pressed send, and tried to pay attention to what Olivia was saying to him. In the meantime, all he could do for Y/N was hope that Kate could see his message.

.

.

.

"Kate, where's Jack?"

Kate hurriedly pulled off her sleep mask and threw her legs off the desk when she heard that voice. Maria was standing in front of the girl, hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow as if to wonder why Kate looked more like she was on a vacation than she was at work.

"Mr...Mr. Coleman is having lunch with a client," said the assistant as she combed through her hair quickly with her fingers. "He should be back at 2PM."

"It's 2:44 now."

"Traffic?"

Maria rolled her eyes, sighing as she told the assistant that she would wait for him in his office. Just as she was about to walk off, however, Kate's phone on the desk buzzed with a new text message. Maria had a feeling that it could be Jack, so she lingered at her spot for a while, waiting for a reaction from Kate as she read the text she'd just received. Immediately, the blonde jumped out of her chair.

"Mr. Coleman is trapped in the lift!"

"What?" Maria widened her eyes as she stole the phone from the assistant. There were two new messages.

⌲ Jacks-BIGGEST-CRUSH: traped in lift w Jacvk

⌲ Harry: Jack and Y/N are stuck in the lift. Come help.

"Jack's biggest crush?!" Maria asked between gritted teeth when Kate snatched her phone back and quickly hid it behind her back. The blonde was obviously terrified. She kept her head down and mumbled, "it's only a joke...Please don't tell Mr. Coleman. He'll fire me."

Maria felt her chest tightened. It might be a joke, but every joke started with the truth.

"Why are you still standing there? Go get help!" She raised her voice at Kate, causing the girl to jump and hurriedly ran out of the room. Maria told herself not to worry too much because she knew Jack was a decent man, but a part of her couldn't fully trust the girl he was trapped with. She barely knew Y/N, and her being engaged to this guy named Harry didn't change her history with Jack, whatever it was. Maria had never thought one day she would let Rose's words get to her, but this time, maybe Rose was right after all.

While the others were freaking out and trying to get the lift to work again, Jack and Y/N sat in the dark, letting the silence drown them in but their hands refused to let go of one another. It was so quiet that Jack could hear his heart beating in his own ear and the sound of blooding rushing through his veins. He took a quick glance at the girl, she was staring at the ceiling, probably trying to focus on the lightbulb so she wouldn't pay attention to her own fear.

"Wanna listen to music?" He suggested, making her smile. She finally turned to look at him.

"Our phones are both dead," she said.

"Oh, right." He chuckled, feeling her grip on his fingers loosen a little bit. And he knew he shouldn't feel like that, but he was slightly disappointed. He was twenty-seven, a grown man, but why was he blushing while holding hands with a girl like a seventeen-year-old boy? It was rather embarrassing, and he was glad it was too dark in the lift for her to see how red his face had become.

"I don't usually have panic attacks," she said after a moment. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"It's okay. My sister has claustrophobia too," he said, lips pressed into a small smile. "Don't worry. I'm kind of used to it. She always listens to classical music when she has panic attacks, it helps."

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows but she was grinning from ear to ear. She didn't understand him honestly, one second he was cold and the next he was warm. But honestly, it wasn't the first time she'd dealt with someone like him, and she really wished that someone was there with her now.

"Did you see my wedding invitation?" She asked at last. "I put it on your desk."

"Yeah, I saw it. You could've handed it to me in person you know."

"I know, but I was scared."

"Of me?" He chuckled, making her laugh.

"You've been acting like a stranger to me lately." She rolled her eyes. "Ever since you got a girlfriend."

"Right." Jack nodded, but she probably didn't notice that his smile was fading fast. "About my girlfriend...She uhm...She wants to come with me to your wedding. Is that alright?"

"Sure! That'll be great!" She said without any reluctance, and honestly the fact that it didn't bother her at all kind of hurt his feelings.

"Does Harry know you invited me?"

"Of course. We don't do things without telling the other," Y/N said. The way she smiled killed Jack a little bit inside. "The first time he held my hand was actually in a lift. We were also trapped like this."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh." She giggled. "That was also the first and only time I was glad I had claustrophobia."

"You must love him a lot..."

"I do. But I'm sure you feel the same way about your girlfriend." Jack stayed quiet though he put on a beam. He knew she couldn't tell he wasn't half as happy as he tried to be. "I can't believe I'm gonna be married in a couple days!"

"Neither do I," he mumbled, but the underlying meaning of his words wasn't the same as hers. "Are you nervous?" He asked.

"Nope." She shook her head fast, eyes lit up with a smile. "We've been living together since we were students anyway. I always knew he was my person."

Silence took over for three seconds as neither of them made an effort to maintain the conversation. Y/N was staring at the lightbulb again, secretly wishing it would come on if she kept looking at it. Meanwhile, Jack couldn't take his eyes off her. He felt fire burning within his ribcage, that was the feeling he'd been avoiding while avoiding her. He'd been getting better, thinking about her less. But somehow life had to push him into that situation to be in that lift, holding her hand. Now all of his efforts had gone down the drain. Now he was feeling the same way about her as he always had. What was worse, was the fact that now he was also in relationship, with someone who could be good for him.

"Y/N..."

"Hmm?"

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I...I think I..."

In a blink of an eye, the power went on and Jack was cut off at once. The door opened right in front of them, revealing Kate and Maria standing on the outside looking in. Y/N was too happy that she'd been saved so she completely forgot that she was still holding Jack's hand, and he didn't notice either. It was only when they both stood up and Maria raised an eyebrow at Jack that he immediately released Y/N's hand.

He stepped out first, the younger girl followed right behind. As Kate pulled her friend into a hug, saying that she was sorry she hadn't seen the text earlier, Jack went in to kiss Maria on the lips. However, that kiss didn't feel right to Maria; in fact, it didn't feel anything at all.

When they finally broke apart, Maria turned to Y/N, who was still beaming because she was now too happy to stop. "Congrats on your wedding by the way," Maria said, leaving Y/N a bit taken a back. But Kate knew what was wrong so she kept her eyes on her feet, hands gripping onto Y/N's arm.

"Thank you. Jack said that you were coming too."

"I am." Maria turned to smile at her boyfriend, one hand on his shoulder, the other on his chest. "We can't wait to be there."

"Great! I'll put both of your names on the list!" Y/N clasped her hands together in excitement. "Sounds pretty fancy but it's actually just a small dinner."

"We'll be there," Maria repeated the same thing she'd just said, and apparently only Kate could tell how that woman actually felt about the wedding and Y/N. As Maria turned to leave, she told Jack to come along, but instead of following her, he turned to ask Y/N how she was feeling now. Y/N might not notice, but Kate had, and she swore she had never seen Maria so mad before.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me," Y/N said, receiving another smile from her boss.

"Try classical music," was the last thing he said to her before walking away, and only the two them knew what he actually meant.

.

.

.

"If you'd called me, I would show up in a second and kicked the door down," Layla said while filing her nails, legs resting on Y/N's lap. Y/N only laughed at her best friend as she shook her head and said that was exactly why she couldn't call Layla.

"Besides, my battery was at two percent."

"And you wasted that on a text to Harry?"

"Hey! I indirectly helped her out of there!" Harry shouted from the kitchen, making his fiancé dissolve into laughter as Layla furrowed her eyebrows.

"Clean those dishes, Styles!" She shouted back. "Finish your job and you can talk to us!"

"I feel sorry for Niall."

"What did you just say?"

"I said Niall's a lucky man!"

Layla turned to look at Y/N, who was covering her mouth as she was trying so hard not to laugh any louder. "Can I hit your husband?" She joked, making her best friend's beam grow bigger.

"Yes, but please spare his face. I need him to look his best for the wedding."

"Speaking of your wedding..." Layla trailed off as she sat up straight. She parted her lips to say something, but the doorbell interrupted her at once. Y/N told her friend to wait for a bit as she rose up and stalked to the front door. She wasn't expecting any guest that night, but the one standing right outside was beyond her wildest guesses.

"Olivia?"

"Hi! I'm sorry I didn't say a word about coming over but I wanted to surprise you!" The blonde pulled Y/N into a hug and quickly pulled away as she lifted the bottle in her hand for the other girl to see. "This is for you and Haz, as a thank you for your advice the other day."

"Oh, yeah, Harry mentioned you got the job..."

"Yes! It's all because of you!"

"Y/N, who is this?" Layla walked out, throwing an arm over her best friend's shoulder as she squinted her green eyes at the stranger.

"This is Olivia, Harry's friend from high school. Olivia, this is my best friend Layla."

"Ahhh." Layla breathed out a soft laugh. "The original home wrecker."

Olivia's face went blank and Y/N nearly choked. She nudged her best friend, chuckling nervously as she said, "Layla's only joking."

"No, she's not," said Layla. As Olivia opened her mouth to speak, she jumped right in, "about the venue, you need to make the decision right away so I can find another one."

"I mean, we have to, right?"

"What's wrong?" Olivia questioned, seemingly curious.

"Oh, the venue we wanted just doubled the price."

"Why did you ask?" Layla scoffed, crossing her arms as she leaned against the doorway. "It's not like you're invited."

At that point, Y/N was too tired to try and stop Layla from saying things like that, so she just stayed quiet and let Layla be...Layla. Olivia, however, seemed a bit too elated when she heard that news.

"How about I get you one for free?"

"What?" Y/N's mouth fell open, but her best friend didn't seem so impressed.

"In return for what? Her husband?"

"Layla!"

"What?"

Olivia laughed, telling Layla how funny she was but it sounded more like sarcasm than a compliment. "I just want to help. I don't want anything in return."

"That's so great. I'll talk to Harry about it."

"What?!"

Ignoring her best friend tugging on her arm, Y/N told Olivia that she would consider the offer and let her know as soon as possible.

"Great!" Olivia exclaimed, clapping enthusiastically. "I gotta go now. See you guys another time. Say hi to Haz for me."

"Say hi to Haz for me," Layla mocked the girl once she had disappeared into the lift, then followed Y/N back inside, slamming the door behind her. Her mouth was wide opened when she grabbed her best friend's shoulders and looked straight into Y/N's eyes. "Do you want me to slap you?!"

"What is it?" Harry finally walked out from the kitchen, looking confused when he saw an annoyed Layla shaking his startled bride.

"Your dumb wife's considering inviting your ex to the wedding."

"She's not his ex."

"Same thing."

Harry scrunched up his face, eyes shifting between the girls as he questioned, "are you guys talking about Olivia?"

"Yes, genius." Layla finally let go of Y/N to cross her arms. "Tell him, Y/N."

"Well, Olivia offered to get us a venue for free. We can't just take the venue without inviting her, right?"

"What happened to the old venue?"

"They doubled the price." Y/N played with the hem of her shirt as she gave him a shrug.

"Well, I mean..." Harry sucked in a breath. "As long as you're happy, I don't mind who's gonna be at our wedding. But are you sure you're okay with this, love? I'm also fine with paying double—"

"No!" She grimaced at him, hands on her hips. "We're saving money for our honeymoon, remember? Besides, Olivia being there isn't gonna change anything. Even if she interrupts the wedding with a heartfelt speech about her undying love for you, she still can't take you away from me."

"Aww, baby." Harry quickly walked towards his girl and kissed her passionately on the mouth. For a second there, the couple got too carried away and only remembered Layla was standing right next to them when she cleared her throat.

"I can't stand either of you cheesy idiots." She chuckled, shaking her head. Y/N pulled away from Harry to wrap both arms around her best friend's waist. She laid her chin on Layla's shoulder and then came the sweetest voice she had ever faked, "don't you worry, this time I'll let you punch her in the face if she turns out to be evil."

"I'll punch you in the face," Layla said, pointing at Y/N. "And then you." Then at Harry, before pointing to the door. "And then that bitch. All of you will get punched for not listening to me."

Despite Layla's grumpiness, Y/N continued to nuzzle her shoulder. "I know you love me," she said, this time, making Layla stick out her tongue in disgust.

"Fuck you," Layla said, rolling her eyes. "But yeah, I love you."

When she playfully pecked Y/N's on the cheek, Harry marched over and tried to come between them two. "Hey, hey, hey, back off. That's my wife," he said with an attempt to keep a straight face, but failed miserably as Layla pushed his shoulder away.

"She's my wife now. You back off, Harold," she said, wrapping both arms around a giggly Y/N.

.

.

.

Olivia's first day at work had been mediocre. She had to run back and forth from the CEO's office to her desk every five minutes, and her attempt to be friends again with Harry was heading straight down the toilet because he refused to speak to her besides anything work related. If she hadn't got paid for being there, she would've said her first day had been terrible. So obviously she didn't expect her second day to be any better. But surprisingly, it did get better.

"Who's the handsome guy?" Olivia asked, holding the pile of papers to her chest as she saw a tall brunette dressed in a blue suit walking out of the CEO's office.

"Jack Coleman," said one of the girls sitting behind her. "In this place, Harry may be our prince but before him there was also Jack."

"He used to work here?"

"He used to intern here," said the gay guy sitting two desks away. "That was a couple years ago, now he's the Vice President of a big enterprise. So fucking hot. He comes over once in a while to talk to Mr. Davis. He said hi to me once by the way."

"Oh have you heard about him and Y/N?" The chubby girl in the corner spoke up, making all three heads turn to look at her. Olivia was the only one in shock to hear that name.

"Y/N? Harry's fiance?"

"Yeah." The girl nodded fast. "She's his assistant or something."

"They used to date, or at least sleep together," the gay guy spoke, shaking the pencil in his hand. The news made Olivia's jaw fall.

"What?" She gasped, looking back and forth between her co-workers. "They slept together while she was dating Harry?"

"Don't listen to him," the first girl interfered. She was the oldest and also seemed like the most decent one out of them three, yet Olivia supposed people who commented about other people behind their backs weren't exactly nice people. But then again, she was taking part in all that he-said-she-said, so she wasn't really proud of herself either. Had it not been for Harry, however, she would've turned a deaf ear to all of that gossip.

"Y/N isn't like that." The oldest girl shook her head at the other two besides Olivia. "I think you guys are just jealous because neither of you can get Harry."

"But Harry said Jack and Y/N got stuck in a lift yesterday," the gay guy said. "My friend who worked there said they were holding hands when they were found. Who knew what might've happened in there?"

"I bet they're gonna get divorced soon and he'll end up with me," the chubby one exclaimed, making the other two roll their eyes.

"Yeah, keep on dreaming, sis," said the guy. "He turned down a hottie like Rose Davis. The last thing he would want is you."

"Please. I've got a vagina, I'm much more qualified than you, sis."

As the argument went on among those three, Olivia carried the papers back to her desk, then sat down just in time Harry walked out of his office. He saw her looking, and finally pressed his lips into a smile, not knowing that one smile had made her whole day a thousand times better. And now she couldn't stop thinking about everything she'd just heard from her colleagues. After all, rumors were just rumors, right? However, there was no smoke without fire.

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles writing #harry styles series #flatmate!harry #harry styles fluff #boyfriend!harry

[stylesgalaxy]

mastermind; chapter 12

I sat drumming my fingers against my mouth in my Wednesday art history class. I was once again in the aisle seat near the back.

Since the party, when Harry walked in on us as Zayn was leaving I hadn't talked to either Zayn or Harry. To be fair, it has only been a few days, but I usually talk to them regularly within a few days.

Zayn hasn't said anything because he was giving me my space—I know him enough to know that. I wasn't saying anything to him because I'm giving him his space.

I haven't spoken to Harry because I needed some time away from him too. But Harry usually sees me more than Zayn does, because he has no concept of boundaries and personal space. It's been four days since I've last heard anything from Harry. He hasn't texted me, he hasn't said anything to Julia about me and he hasn't stopped by. To not hear from him the first two days was normal, but now it's been four fucking days.This type of behaviour coming from someone who I had to get a new job for to stay away from, was quite concerning.

At first I thought he wasn't feeling well, but if that was true then he would have stayed over at our apartment. Harry loves being babied and given attention to, things he doesn't get in a house full of boys but gets plenty of from me and his girlfriend.

Then I thought he was having issues with Julia, maybe they were going through a rough patch? But I inconspicuously asked Julia about it and she said they're fine.

Which left me with terrifying conclusion: he found out.

I don't know if it's true, but as embarrassing as it sounds, I quite literally broke down in tears at the thought that he found out I loved him and is now avoiding me.

There was an empty hole in my heart these past few days with his absence. I felt like I couldn't function. Who was I going to make silly jokes with? Who was I going to save the planet with? Who was I going to have lunch with on Wednesdays? Who was going to make sure I studied for art history?

The only reason I ever tried to stay away from Harry was because I didn't want to get too attached from him. It seems like when I chose to stay away, the distance was tolerable. But when it was his choice to stay away, the mystery behind it mixed with my paranoia was unbearable.

I began fidgeting with my phone, debating whether or not I should send him a text.

hey, where are you?

No, that's too demanding. I erase the the text and type out another one.

i saved you a seat at the same spot we sat at last time :)

That should be fine, right? But what if he doesn't want to sit next to me? What if he truly is avoiding me and I'm forcing him to sit next to me? So I draft another text.

are you coming to class?

My thumb hovers over the blue arrow to send it right when I see him making his way up the steps.

I throw my phone in my purse, sit up and smooth my hair. My shirt got a little lopsided so I adjust it just in time before he glances up and his eyes meet mine. I hold my breath for what feels like a century, waiting to see his reaction. When he gives me a small smile I can feel my entire body collapse in relief.

"Hey," he says, squeezing past my knees again to take the seat beside mine. I should sit in that one next time if I come earlier so he doesn't have to.

"Hey," I squeak back in response. I watch him as he shrugs off his jacket, dropping it in the empty seat next to him and begins unpacking what he needs for the class. When he's settled he glances at me with a slightly questioning gaze. I give him a shaky smile and force myself to look away.

Don't say it, Aria. Don't say it, don't say it, don't say—

"Have you been avoiding me?" I blurt out unintentionally. Fuck.

"I-I what? No?" he croaks.

"You have," I frown. His answer and the guilty look he possesses tells me everything I need. Quietly, I ask, "Why?"

He bites his lips and doesn't meet my gaze, he really doesn't want to answer.

"I..." Harry starts and I feel awful for putting him in such an uncomfortable position but I'm also very curious. It was definitely about what happened at the party. Did I make him uncomfortable then too?

"Is it about what happened at the party?"

He nods. I conceal my shaky breath.

"I just," he starts again. "I felt bad... So I thought maybe I'd stay away for a bit."

He felt bad?

"Felt bad? Harry, what do you have to feel bad for?" I think I know what he feels bad for and had he not been avoiding me, I would have chewed him out for talking to Zayn the way he had that night. But because he avoided me and I got a taste of what it's like to not have Harry in my life anymore, I was trying to do anything I can to prevent that.

"I... you know... I shouldn't—"

"Look, I forgive you."

He looks up at me in confusion, meeting my eyes for the first time.

"You do?"

"Yeah. I know how much you don't like Zayn and I know you feel very protective of me when he's around and I hate that you do that... but I can understand how seeing me in that... situation, could make you angry. So I forgive you. I'm sure Zayn does too."

Harry continues staring at me the nods in relief. "O-okay. But, um, Aria? Why were you crying—"

"Let's just never talk about that night again, okay?" I say interrupting what he was saying. He nods solemnly and we both look to the front as the professor starts the presentation.

Slowly, Harry and I fall back into the comfortable atmosphere we had built around each other. As the minutes tick by it gets easier and easier to be ourselves again without a cloud of awkwardness hanging over us. I've never had this happen so quickly with anyone else and I'm thanking my lucky stars that it happens with Harry. I almost don't even notice how close we get to one another when we lean to ask a question or whisper a joke.

Harry leans again but this time to look at my laptop screen so he can copy down something he missed. His curls tickle my temple so I turn a bit to avoid it when I realize how close his face is to mine. He's looking at my screen so he doesn't notice me—at least he won't unless I keep staring. I take in the soft hairs that curl around his ears, his thick eyelashes and the slope of his perfect nose. His eyes blink a bit before he glances down at his notes and jots something down quickly. When he looks back up he's chewing his bottom lip. I slowly turn my head back around so he doesn't notice it. Harry finishes copying down everything he needed and straightens back up in his seat, his warmth leaving my side.

"Thanks," he mutters.

"No problem," I whisper.

We happily chatter on our way to The Red Spoon. Harry and I go over some pieces we saw in art history and what our favourite ones were. At the cafe, we take a seat at our previous booth and immediately I pull up my menu. Scanning the items listed, my eyes briefly flick up to see Harry browsing his with pinched eyebrows.

After a couple minutes there are three things I know I definitely want to try.

"Have you decided?" Harry asks.

"Uh... yeah," I answer, not sure which one I should say I want.

"What were you thinking?"

"Um... the Tuscan Grilled Chicken sandwich?"

"Sounds amazing. So we'll split that and how do you feel about splitting the Mac and Cheese?"

A relieved smile spreads across my face. "Great," I answer, happy that I'll get to try two of the three things I wanted and that Harry is still comfortable splitting our meals.

A waitress comes over and we tell her our orders, Harry makes sure to ask for an extra plate and an extra bowl again for us. While we wait for the food, I open up my laptop and start skimming through my notes to refresh our memories and make sure Harry didn't miss anything. Turns out, I was the one who missed a couple important things so I quickly added those in and took out some other notes we thought were irrelevant.

Something was bothering Harry. Not during the three hours we talked and did some work. It's when we're on our way back to campus that I noticed something was really on his mind.

"Something bothering you?" I ask him a few seconds after his smile fades from something I said and he gets somber.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. It's nothing," he tries to brush it off. I smile lightly, and bump his shoulder with my own.

"Come on, you can tell me," I say softly. He chuckles before he gets serious again and shakes his head.

"No, I shouldn't. You shouldn't have to worry about my problems."

"Why? We're friends now. I care about your problems."

I feel like his eyes are staring into my soul as he contemplates what to say to me. I'm not used to Harry being so serious, the only times we've seriously been serious around each other was when at least one of us cried. Or nearly cried.

"I know," he says eventually. "I know you do, and I'm grateful to have a friend like you who I can talk to when things bother me. And who I know can help me."

"So what's the problem?"

"Um, well... you see..." Harry stumbles across his words and for a frightening moment my gut seizes and I think he's going to tell me he knows I love him and we can't be friends.

I gulp and patiently wait for him to gather the courage and speak out, "My father wants to have dinner again."

"Oh," I startle. "Um, that's a good thing, right?"

Having never had issues like this with my parents, I never know how Julia or Harry feel when their parents want to do something ordinary. See for me, my parents wanting to have dinner with me was not a big deal. But for Harry and Julia it is and I never know if it's the good kind or the bad kind.

"Sort of..." Harry shuffles. We're standing outside the building my next lecture is in and it's getting pretty chilly but I don't dare suggest we go inside where people could hear Harry talk about this. If the freezing cold is where he is comfortable, it's where I will make myself comfortable too. "He wants to meet my girlfriend."

Oh.

His girlfriend.

"Um, ha-have you spoken to Julia?" I stutter.

"I don't know how to bring it up," he mumbles staring at his shoes. "She didn't want to see her own father, much less mine. Who even I don't like seeing."

I pause to think, and then ask, "When is this dinner happening?"

Harry meets my eyes then looks away in guilt. "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Jesus, Harry!"

"I know, I know!" He runs his hand through his hair in frustration. "There isn't a lot of time to convince her to come with me..."

Feeling the pressure he's under, I begin sweating. "Can you postpone the dinner?"

"I don't think so. My father is very busy—it took us days of going back and forth to set up dinner for tomorrow. I don't think he'll be free for a while. And... I don't really want to make it seem like I'm not, you know, trying?" he mumbles unsurely.

"Why didn't you ask Julia right away? Why did you wait until the very last day?" I ask in frustration. Julia is going to freak out. Harry is the longest boyfriend she's ever had which means she's never had to meet a boyfriend's parents before. She's already pretty detached from her own family, so meeting Harry's is literally going to freak her the fuck out. Maybe I can speak with her and—

"I-I guess I was kind of hoping... that, um, you'd, um pretend to be my girlfriend?" Harry's voice got so high pitched near the end but I didn't notice due to my eyes nearly bugging out of their sockets. Harry is nervously biting his lip and rubbing the back of his neck, actively not making eye contact with me.

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask.

"Aria," he says with a dragged out sigh.

"No, I'm serious. I don't think I heard you correctly because to me it sounded like—"

"I asked you to pretend to be my girlfriend for dinner tomorrow with my father," he repeats gruffly.

"Oh, so I did hear right..." I stare at him in shock, trying to process this. Literally what is happening? "Why—um, why are you asking me to do that?"

Harry's face turns bright red, probably redder than mine. He scans the area around us before carefully meeting my gaze.

"It's just that, um..." He sighs deeply and frowns at his shoes. "I know it's bad to say this but I'm going to be a nervous wreck tomorrow and you're better at helping me relax and calm down than Julia is..."

I gulp. This is such shit. For fuck's sake! I know how much this means to Harry and I would drop everything to be there for him tomorrow. I could pretend to be his girlfriend for one night, no matter how sad that would make me after but the only thing is: I can't. Not when his real girlfriend is my best friend! That's like cheating. We'd be going behind her back and she would be livid if she found out I pretended to be Harry's girlfriend in front of his father.

"Aria?" Harry questions. I snap out of my thoughts.

"I don't think that's a good idea, I'm sorry, Harry," I whisper.

He blinks rapidly before looking away in hurt.

"I'm sorry but it's not right. You have to take Julia, she's your girlfriend," I say. When he doesn't move and I still can't see his face, I gently place my hand on his shoulder. "Harry—"

"Don't Aria, I get it. You're right, I know you are. It was a stupid thing to say," he grumbles.

"It's just that your father is going to see you again and one day he'll see you with Julia, we wouldn't be able to keep lying. And it's not a good idea to start mending your relationship with your father over lies. I'm sure that if..." I falter. The more I talk the more Harry cringes and begins to look angry. Not angry at me but angry at himself. "Harry, you don't have to feel embarrassed or anything with me—" I try to comfort him again but he pulls away almost aggressively. It seems like that wasn't the right thing.

"Aria, please! Let's just stop talking about it, okay! I clearly didn't think it through. It was a stupid fucking thing to say, so let's just forget it!" he shouts. He's taking the rejection horribly. My mind races, trying to figure out how to fix this. "God, I'm so fucking stupid. I can't believe I even suggested it... I'm so sorry," he apologizes softer. His voice cracks and just as I see his eyes water he spins around and begins walking away.

"Harry, no!" I grab his arm, forcing him to stay put. He tries to shake me off and I know it's because he's mortified and I am too, but I just can't let him leave so hurt. "I won't say anything about it, don't worry. I'll forget this ever happened," I soothe. His breathing evens out slightly. "Just... let me help you still?"

He's still for a moment then glances back at me in confusion. The whole point was he wanted my help and even though his idea was not the best, it didn't mean I couldn't help him, right?

"Look that's all I want. I just want to help you. Had you still been single, I'd happily agree, but you're not so we have to think of something else," I reason as calmly as I can.

Harry sniffs and then rubs his nose with his index finger. "What do you suggest?"

"It's not the best idea, I'll admit..." I drift off realizing how stupid my idea actually sounds. It can work, I know, but it still sounds ridiculous. "You could, uh, you could text me?"

Harry shoulder's drop and he looks at me in disbelief.

"What?" I laugh to ease the tension. "Okay, I know it sounds absolutely lame, but it's the safest thing."

"So I should just pull out my phone and text you when he asks me a difficult question?" he deadpans.

"No, you use your clever thinking skills and come up with a witty response. If you feel like you're about to do something stupid, then you text me and I make sure you don't."

"Is there nothing else?" he asks desperately. "I need you to, like, physically be there."

My heart swells but I ignore my heart at this time, choosing instead to reply with sarcasm to bring us out of this awkward tension.

"Oh of course there is," I say. Harry's eyes light up. "I'll drop my resume off at the restaurant you guys are going to." Harry rolls his eyes but I see a smile tug on his lips. "Keep in mind this is probably a high end restaurant seeing as your father is fucking rich but that's okay."

"Okay, I get it—" he says.

"I'm sure they'll hire me on the spot even though I have no waitressing experience and I'll—"

"Stop, stop, alright, I understand!" Harry chuckles as I continue.

"I'll complete orientation and training by tonight so that tomorrow they'll let me wait on your table. And then I'll refill all of your drinks about seventy-six times to make sure I'm there—"

"Stop it," he giggles covering my mouth with his hand. I continue to mumble nonsense through it until he covers his hand with his other hand. I stop and look at him with wide eyes then we both start giggling childishly.

"I really think it could work you know?" I say after we calm down.

"Go to class, you goofball," he smiles, pushing me towards the doors of the building.

***

Sooooo what do we think? Please let me know, and thanks for reading! I will be updating every Saturday now.

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#mastermind

[longhornfabrays]

Let’s Play || Self-Para

Who: Quinn Fabray

Where: The Fabray Family’s place in Austin

When: April 29th, 2020

Notes: Quinn sneaks off to her parent’s apartment in Austin to stream for her secret channel like usual and thinks about what she has done.

Quinn unlocked the door to the apartment and sighed out of anger as she closed the door. Today was definitely not her best day. She should’ve felt happy for Finn and Marley. They were overcoming the unexpected and figuring out how to raise a baby together. It was good. And she shouldn’t have tried to get Rachel to say she wasn’t happy about any of this; whether she was or not. The blonde just didn’t want to be the only one semi-furious about all this. She really had no right to be. She knew that. And yet...

She was hurt a little bit. Not that she wanted to be in any of their shoes. She didn’t want to be single and pregnant with her best friend’s boyfriend’s baby. Or in a relationship with someone who was expecting a baby with her best friend. It was more the fact everyone was suddenly happy and moving forward in some way with their lives. Even if they were all young, it seemed like people were getting serious about things and she was at the same place she had been for years. Sure, she was working on her degree and she had this Twitch thing that no one but her family knew about, but really where was anything else going?

This date coming up with Sam was going to be the first big relationship move she made since Kyle. She still had to set things up and make sure he still wanted to even go with her. If those texts she sent were spoken about... she knew it could hurt things. And maybe that would’ve been a good thing. The young Fabray would definitely deserve it. She really was the Ice Queen, wasn’t she? A little laugh escaped her. She hadn’t thought about that nickname since high school.

How was she supposed to show her face at that karaoke thing? At least to Finn and Rachel. And how was she supposed to act? It was all such a mess that she caused for herself. She knew that. A lot of alcohol was going to have to be in her blood to even have fun, but that was going to be a worry for the next day.

Making her way through the apartment and turning on some lights, she ended up in the room where she streamed her games every Wednesday night. She was a little late, which she tweeted, InstaStoried, and whatever else about on the BeautyQueenGames social medias. Her followers were of course understanding and waiting patiently for her to start up a stream. She really didn’t feel like doing any of this after the day, but she didn’t want to let her fans down. 

She went to her mirror and put her hair up into a top bun before taking out one of her many masks she wore for this. She started this just so people at her high school wouldn’t find out it was her playing these “nerd games” online. And then it stuck. This wasn’t her scene and it was getting harder and harder to hide. Especially when most of the people she spent time with would’ve loved to know she played these games too. Maybe she should just come out with it. Her fans were dying to know what she actually looked like. But, for now, she was going to stay hidden behind her mask and keep living the easier life she apparently was in.

She sat down in front of the set up she had done and turned on her Playstation 4 so she could stream Overwatch. She needed some to release a little anger tonight. Quinn got everything set up and started before waving at the camera like she always did. “Hello, my lovely royal subjects and welcome to another stream. Today, we are going to play some more Overwatch while I try to perfect the skills of Echo and start getting this week’s loot boxes. For those of you who are on my friend’s list, you are more than welcome to join me in a group. I’ll wait a little and we’ll switch on and off like usual so everyone can hopefully get a chance to play. Let’s get started!”

The stream lasted the usual two hours and she said her goodbyes to her viewers. She promised to upload some content on her YouTube page giving updates on her Animal Crossing island and she got off for the night. She made sure everything was off before taking off her mask and sighing as she looked at her phone. She took a deep breath as she texted Sam. She wanted it to be clear that this date was going to be different for her. For them. Maybe that was a bad idea, but it was the only thing she could think of doing. 

She then made herself something to eat, got on her pajamas, and watched a movie before just heading to bed. She’d get up early and make her way back to the school and to her classes like normal. Until that night. When she was supposed to be Quinn Fabray and be the girl everyone expected her to be. She groaned as she buried herself into the bed and tried to think of anything else.

#sp;let's play #quinn;self

[writingsofawonderer]

Rivalry — Part 3

Word Count: 2.2K

Warnings: Strong language, mild violence

A/N: Hey, guys! I’m sorry this update took so long. For some reason, it was really hard for me to write. It’s also mainly just filler. Part 4 will be up much faster, I promise.

Masterlist

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

The next week dragged by for the both of them. After their fight, Olivia had decided to just go home. She didn’t feel like sitting across the table from Calum while the only thing she could think about was what he’d said. She needed time to process.

It hadn’t taken Cara and Jessie long to figure out that something was bothering her. Pretty much as soon as they got home from the bar, they were questioning her. At first, they assumed that Calum had said something that had pissed her off. It took a while for her to convince them that he hadn’t; and even longer for her to get them to leave her alone.

She knew her best friends would be able to help her figure out what to do, but she wasn’t ready to tell them yet. She didn’t even know how she felt about Calum, or his announcement.

The whole time they’d been hooking up she’d been putting her energy into not developing feelings for him. Now that he was admitting that he had feelings for her, she was left playing catch up. She knew that she was attracted to him, and she knew that she liked talking to him, but she wasn’t sure that was enough.

Oliver would lose it if he found out that they had spoken. She couldn’t imagine what he would do if he found out that they were dating. She thought back to what he’d said that day on the field. She wondered if her brother would still think the woman Calum was sleeping with was a whore if he knew that it was her.

Her Monday and Tuesday were pretty busy, so she didn’t really have much time to think about Calum. Wednesday, though, was fairly slow. She found herself reading some of their text messages and thinking about what their interactions had been like before they started seeing each other.

She hadn’t really known what to think about him. He had seemed pretty cocky, but not arrogant enough that he was an ass. She didn’t know why Oliver hated him, just that he did. Olivia tried to make a point of not letting other people’s opinions influence her, but she knew that her twin would think of her befriending him as a personal wrongdoing, so she’d kept her distance.

After Cara and Luke had been together for a few months, Cara had begged Olivia to go out with them and his friends, which meant being around Calum. During the first few outings, they hadn’t really spoken. In fact, she wasn’t sure that more than two full conversations before they’d started hooking up.

On Thursday, while out getting coffee, they ran into each other. They’d snapchatted a little bit over the past few days, but had yet to talk. Olivia saw him before he noticed her, and couldn’t help the way her eyes swept over him. There was a tired smile on his face as he spoke with the woman behind the counter. He was wearing a loose black tank top and grey sweatpants. He noticed her pretty quickly after he turned around. As soon as his gaze landed on her, he stopped walking.

She gave him a nervous smile and waved at the chair across from her, offering him the seat. He hesitated, but ultimately decided to take it. He sat and licked his lips; he seemed as nervous as she was.

“Hi” She started chewing her lip, not really sure where to go from there.

“Hi.” He cleared his throat. “Look… I’m sorry about the other day. I know you don’t want to be any more involved than we are.”

“No, I- I just… These past few months I’ve been putting all of my energy into not developing feelings for you, Calum. I figured you were doing the same.”

“It’s not like I didn’t try.”

“I just need a little bit more time to process, okay? I know that I want to keep doing whatever this is, but I don’t think it would be fair to you unless I know where I want this to go.”

“Okay.” He sighed. “That makes sense. I can wait.”

“Thank you.”

They didn’t say much else to each other as they waited for their drinks. When they called Olivia’s name, she, somewhat regretfully, left him with another awkward smile.

The next day, Violet accepted that she missed Calum, and not just physically. Their encounter at the coffee shop had been tense, and she didn’t want that between them. She missed the comfort that came with talking to and teasing him, and just being around him in general. It surprised her, but when she was in his presence she felt warm and content. Being near him made her surprisingly happy, despite all of the worry about Oliver finding out.

That morning, she decided to stop thinking about her brother—Calum was right. She needed to focus on what she wanted, not what would upset him.

So, after work, she went home and put on some nice lingerie and a short, low cut, form fitting maroon dress and went over to Calum’s frat house with Cara, who went to most of the guys’ parties.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Cara finally let out the question Olivia knew she’d been dying to ask. “So, who are you trying to seduce tonight?”

Olivia found herself letting out a nervous laugh. “What do you mean?”

“You’re wearing your maroon dress.”

“And?”

Cara gave her a pointed look. “You only wear that dress when you plan on making someone worship you. So, who is it?”

“You have to promise not to freak.” Cara nodded eagerly, and Olivia sighed before speaking again. “You know how I’ve been hooking up with someone..? It’s Calum.”

Cara’s head whipped towards her. “What?! You and Calum?”

“Yeah… but last weekend, he told me he wants more than a casual thing and I told him I needed to think about it and we haven’t really talked about it yet but… I think I want to see where it goes. I kinda miss him.”

“Oh, my god! Why didn’t you tell us? Jessie’s gonna flip.”

“The less people who know, the better. If Oliver found out he’d probably hate me as much as he hates Calum.”

“I know. We won’t tell anyone, Liv.” Cara put a gentle hand on hers and smiled. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re going to give him a chance. I think you two fit well together.”

“I hope so.”

As they pulled up to the house, Olivia could see that there was already a lot of people there. She sighed; finding Calum would probably be harder than she’d anticipated. She and Cara made their way to the kitchen, and were surprised to see that it was empty. They looked around a little more, but weren’t able to find either of the men they were looking for. A phone call to Luke told them that he and Calum had gone out for more drinks.

The girls decided to dance while they waited; it had been a while since they had gone to a party without Luke, so they thought it would be fun to have some girl time. Olivia also held the hope that it would ease her nerves. Now that she was there and would be seeing Calum soon, a mix of worry and anticipation was building in her stomach.

Olivia decided not to drink yet. She wanted to be sober when the time came. Cara, however, had no such qualms. Before they made their way to the dance floor, Cara insisted on taking a few shots. They easily lost themselves in the music. Olivia didn’t recognize any of the songs that were playing, but she let herself forget about her boy problems and was happy to be spending one on one time with her friend. They’d both been pretty busy lately, and hadn’t really seen one another that much.

Things were going great until she felt a pair of hands on her hips that pulled her backwards into someone who immediately started grinding their body against hers. She saw Cara’s eyes widen before she was spun around. Olivia took a step away from the person trying to dance with her, scoffing when he moved with her, his grip tightening as he leaned closer to whisper in her ear, “Where do you think you’re going? Too good for one dance?”

“Take your goddamn hands off of me.” She replied.

“I don’t think I want to. I like the feisty ones.” Olivia knew that his fingers were digging deeper into her hips hard enough to bruise, and bristled even more.

“Then you’ll love this.” Olivia lifted her foot and, with as much strength as she could muster, slammed the heel of her shoe onto her assailant’s foot.

She didn’t bother listening to the string of curse words that he let out. As soon as his hands were off of her, she shot forward and grabbed Cara’s hand, yanking her away from the man who’d grabbed her. “Are you okay?”

Cara nodded, wide eyes turning back to the, now very angry, men. The one Olivia hadn’t maimed balled his fists. “Who do you think you are? We were having a good time.”

“Maybe you were, but she wasn’t.”

“How would you know?”

Olivia narrowed her eyes, but ultimately decided that it wasn’t worth saying anything else. Any argument of hers would just be brushed off by them. Still holding hands, the girls started making their way away from the dance floor. In the hallway, Olivia shook her head. “I can’t believe guys like that.”

Cara let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t believe I just froze.”

“Hey, no. It was pretty quick. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Another voice interrupted their conversation. “Maybe she didn’t, but you did.”

Olivia sighed, recognizing him as the man whose foot she had hoped to break. “Just leave us alone.”

“One of you needs to make up for what you did to my foot first.”

It was hard to miss the suggestion in his tone. Olivia scoffed. “You’re disgusting. Neither of us is having sex with you.”

“Yeah, right. A girl who dresses like that and dances the way you were obviously wants it.”

“Not from you.”

His face twisted even more as his anger grew, and Olivia knew that they were treading the line between drunken harassment and a dangerous situation. Cara, who was very quickly sobering up, looked up and down the hallway. The few people that were near them weren’t close enough to be paying any attention, and Olivia doubted they would listen if one of them called for help.

“You little b-”

Cara gasped, relief flooding her face before she called out for the man who had just walked through the front door. “Luke!”

Her boyfriend’s eyes found them immediately. The stranger, not having noticed what the girls had, moved closer, grabbing Olivia by the elbow and giving her a rough tug. “Let’s go somewhere more private. To talk about this some more.”

She saw Luke drop the bags he was holding and rush toward them. A second later, Calum entered, his brows pulled together in confusion as he watched his best friend charge into the house. His eyes moved past Luke, landing on Olivia as she tried, and failed, to plant herself, and was pulled down the hall.

Just like what Luke had done, Calum dropped what he was holding and quickly came to her aid. She was only pulled a few feet before Luke was there, sliding in front of them to stop him. Olivia noticed that his normally friendly blue eyes were filled with rage, and an intimidating scowl darkened his face. He looked past the angry man in front of him and nodded to Olivia. “Everything okay, Liv?”

“Everything’s fine.” He growled. “Mind your business.”

She didn’t hear what Luke said because she was being pulled backwards and turned to face a concerned Calum. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and turned her attention to her arm. The area that he’d been gripping was an angry red she guessed would bruise. Calum followed her attention, and she noticed his entire body tense. After assuring that she and Cara were safe, he turned just in time to come face to face with her would be rapist, who was getting ready to walk away.

Without a second’s hesitation, Calum raised his fist and connected it with his cheekbone. He stumbled backwards, nearly crashing into Luke before falling to the ground. Calum, still visibly angry, spoke in a low growl. “Don’t put your fucking hands on her ever again. Or any woman, without her consent.”

Calum turned, softening when he saw the girls pressed against the wall. Luke stepped around the drunken stranger as he scrambled to get up, and pulled Cara into a hug. Olivia watched him press a soft kiss on top of her head before turning to Calum, trying to think of something suitable to say. Finally, she decided on a simple “thanks.”

❁❁❁❁

Taglist

@gosh-im-short

#calum hood #calum fanfic #calum hood fic #cal fanfic #5sos #5sos fanfic #footballer!cal #rival!cal #five seconds of summer #five seconds of summer fic