#Sorry it's been a hot minute since i've last drawn

[yeoosaangg]

Three || Kinktober - Day 14

pairing ▸ hwang hyunjin × lee felix × f!reader

now playing ▸ 3 - britney spears

⤷ ❝three is a charm, two is not the same. i don't see the harm, so are you game?❞

genre ▸ non-idol au, bfs!hyunlix, smut

warnings ▸ threesome, double penetration, throat fucking, gagging, drooling, dumbification, multiple orgasms, overstimulation

--------

You stare at the couple in front of you in disbelief. They weren't serious were they?

Y/n: Sorry, what?

Hyunjin: We want to have a threesome.

They're deadass serious.

Y/n: Why me?

Hyunjin: You're the only switch we know that's single. And we trust you a lot.

You sigh, running a hand over your face. This was a lot to process in the last fifteen minutes they've been at your place.

Felix wasn't even focused on your conversation. His attention was drawn to the way you were spreading your legs, thighs looking so tempting.

He wants to ride them.

Y/n: Fine. Let's do it.

They widen their eyes.

Hyunjin: You're agreeing?

Y/n: Obviously. It's been awhile since I've had sex, anyway.

Felix: Thank you, Y/n.

Hyunjin: What he said.

You chuckle, asking them to wait while you grab a couple contracts. They look at the documents like they've been served.

Hyunjin: What's this for?

Y/n: Tells me your kinks, limits, and gives me proof of your consent for what'll happen in my bedroom tonight. It's also a waiver about safety and potential injuries.

They admire your organized arrangement skills. This gives them an insight to how much you've prepared for your nightly meetings.

Felix: Um... Anal fisting?

Y/n: If it's not for you, cross it out.

You hand them pens and they get to work. They double check just to make sure they didn't miss anything and handed you the signed forms.

You look them over and highlight their similar choices. You smile and add them to the file cabinet in your study - you'll just organize it later.

Y/n: Great! Follow me.

They follow behind you and get confused when you pass your bedroom. You chuckle, opening the forbidden door with the key around your neck.

They gawk at the decorated guest room - no, sex dungeon - you have in your apartment. How the hell did you manage to build it?

Y/n: Ta-da! Welcome to The Devil's Pit where all your disgusting fantasies come to life. Look around and see if there's anything you like.

Felix's mouth waters at the sight. He rubs at his nipples through his shirt while looking at a wall of toys.

Hyunjin palms himself at the sight of some floggers near the back of the room.

Y/n: Don't worry about the toys, by the way. I gift the used ones to everyone I sleep with and replace them with newly bought ones.

You smirk when Felix eyes the pet play section.

Y/n: Like what you see, kitten?

He involuntarily mewls at your petname, covering his mouth in embarrassment.

Y/n: How cute.

Hyunjin: That's fucking hot.

Felix: Can I try them on?

Y/n: Be specific.

He points to the ears and tail combo - excellent choice.

Y/n: You need to be prepped first.

He clears his throat, rosy cheeks burning even more than earlier.

Hyunjin: He's already prepped. Wanted to be prepared just in case.

You smile and gesture to the bed. Felix does not waste time and sits on the edge of the sheet covered mattress.

Hyunjin grabs the ears and tail, walking over to you.

Y/n: Get naked.

Felix quickly strips himself of his clothing and let's you perch him on his lap.

Hyunjin: This is making my cock hurt, but in a good way.

Y/n: First threesome?

He nods, watching you carefully take the small plug out of his boyfriend's ass. He gasps when you stretch Felix's hole open with your fingers, grabbing the tail from him.

Hyunjin: Lix and I've been together since high school. Only just recently have we talked about exploring our kinks. Then we talked about threesomes, leading us to today.

You hum, nodding as you focus on the blond on your lap.

Felix arches his back and moans when you slowly insert the cold plug inside of him. He calms down when you massage the meat of his ass so he can get used to the bigger size.

Hyunjin: I might just cum watching this.

Y/n: That happens.

Hyunjin: You've done this before?

Y/n: Mhm. Threesomes, orgy parties, sexual massages. Though, that was mostly in the beginning stages of exploring my sexual likes and dislikes.

Felix yelps when Hyunjin smacks his ass.

Hyunjin: So pretty, baby. All worked up over someone else ruining your innocence.

Felix: Ears please.

The older boy chuckles and clips the ears onto a few strands of hair on his boyfriend's head.

Y/n: Have you ever bought yourself these, kitten?

He shakes his head, loving the way you knead his body with your soft fingers.

Y/n: They're all yours now, cutie.

Hyunjin can't take it anymore and gets naked himself. His red tip was leaking so much at the sight of his boyfriend looking so obedient.

Usually he's a bratty sub.

Felix: Can I have him in my mouth?

Y/n: Of course.

Hyunjin shoves his cock down his pretty boy's throat. The fact that he's taking it like a good boy has him spilling down his throat quicker than anticipated.

Y/n: You must have an amazing mouth on you, kitten. Want to show me just how good you can make me feel?

Felix nods when he slides off his boyfriend's cock with a pop. He crawls off and helps you out of your clothes - with permission of course.

Y/n: And you-

Hyunjin tilts his head and listens to you attentively. It's interesting to see since he's stated in the contract that he's a hard dom.

Y/n: If you want to take control over me, you're gonna have to do a lot better than that. I don't submit to just anyone.

It's almost like you just helped flip a switch in him as his cock hardens once again. He grabs your hair and forces your mouth onto his throbbing dick.

You moan, Felix starting to suck on your clit. He rolls his tongue around and slides up and down your folds. He wants to make you cum.

Hyunjin abuses your mouth and grins when you relax for him. He got you to submit, with help from his boyfriend whose face is buried in your cunt.

Felix's small fingers work you open, his knuckles disappearing into your gummy walls with determination to make you squirt.

Your moan is muffled when you cum all over Felix's face and fingers. He cleans everything up, loving the way you taste.

He's never been with a girl before, let alone sexually. He's always known he was bisexual but never got the chance to explore that.

But he does, in fact, love Hyunjin more than anything in this world.

Hyunjin: I'm gonna cum again, fucking hell.

He shoots another load, but down your throat this time. He moans when you swallow each spurt while his cock is still in your mouth.

Felix: Did I do a good job, Y/n?

You pull away from Hyunjin and nod down at the pretty boy.

Y/n: You did so good, kitten.

He smiles and preens at your touch. He kisses your palm when you caress his cheek.

Y/n: So, how are we fucking?

They look at each other, not knowing what you mean. You chuckle, pulling Felix up and onto our thigh.

He unconsciously starts to rock his hips back and forth, making his earlier fanstasies come to life. Your thighs are so warm and big, he's a whining mess.

Hyunjin: Maybe I'm doing something wrong. He's usually a bratty kitten.

Felix gasps and moans, not used to Hyunjin calling him that. They're still getting used to adding more to their sex life.

But he fucking loves it.

Y/n: I have something you don't - experience. The more you guys get used to your dynamic, the easier it'll be for Felix to become an obedient little pet.

He whines at your filthy words, humping your thighs even harder. He's about to cum.

Felix: I wanna cum. Please let me cum.

You coo, smacking his ass cheek and massaging the sting away.

Y/n: Beg Hyunjin for it.

He pouts but turns to his boyfriend who raises a teasing eyebrow. He's going to love this.

Felix: Don't wanna. He's a big meanie.

Y/n: Is that so? Then I guess you can't cum.

You stop his hips from moving and he whines, throwing a little tantrum. He's only ever a brat with Hyunjin because he doesn't give in right away to his wants.

Felix: Daddy, can I please cum? Want to feel so good on Mistress' thigh. Feels so good. Please, please, please!

Hyunjin chokes at being called Daddy. His boyfriend has never called them that since they started having sex.

Y/n: Look at that, kitten. His cock loved the sound of that. Call out to him again.

Felix: Daddy, please! It hurts so much.

Hyunjin: Fuck, baby. Go ahead. Ride her thigh and cum for Daddy.

You remove your hands so he can move again. Felix grabs onto your shoulders and roughly humps your thigh until he's a babbling mess.

You grab his cock and use his momentum to help him cum all over your bodies. You lick your hand and they both moan while looking at you.

Y/n: Again, how are we going to fuck?

They forgot about your earlier question. They truly don't know how to go about this.

Y/n: Do you guys trust me?

They both agree with you immediately, making you smile. You'll make sure their first threesome is one they'll never forget.

Y/n: Lay down on the bed, kitten.

He does as told, silk sheets engulfing his frame.

You climb over him, aligning the tip of his cock near your pussy. You sink down, taking all of him in. He has such a big dick for a sub, it's surprising.

He was gasping at the new and unfamiliar feeling of your gummy walls swallowing his cock whole. He's never had such an overwhelming sensation around his cock.

He's practically a virgin with how he's never fucked anyone. Hyunjin's the one that he's been with.

Y/n: You've really never had sex like this, kitten?

He shakes his head, tears streaming down his face. This was exceeding his expectations more than he'd thought. He never knew someone could get so pussy drunk.

Hyunjin: You take him in so well, Y/n. Makes me a little jealous it ain't my cock inside you.

Y/n: Which reminds me. Get the lube in that dresser over there.

He does as told and watches you lean over Felix, asshole on display for him.

Y/n: Open me up and fuck me. You can control our pace with your thrusts.

His jaw was basically on the floor right now. He can be inside you at the same time as Felix and have complete control over both of you?

Sounds like heaven.

You kiss all over Felix's face, hoping to distract him from the overstimulation. He's never felt so good and you're not even moving.

He can't wait until Hyunjin mounts you.

You roll your eyes to the back of your head when Hyunjin shoves a finger into your asshole. He works you open until three fingers are stretching you to perfection.

Y/n: Add more lube and shove your cock into me, please. Felix is getting impatient.

He removes his fingers and cimbs over you. You arch your back a little more as he slowly sticks his throbbing dick inside you.

You scream at being so full and double stretched out. Hyunjin waits a few after bottoming out.

Felix: Daddy, please move. Want to cum inside Mistress so bad.

Hyunjin: Me too, kitten. But she'll be in pain if I don't wait a bit.

Y/n: I'm a sado-masochist, Hyunjin. I'll be fine.

That makes both of them feel some type of way, but they push it aside and focus on the moment.

Hyunjin starts to set a pace, watching both of you squirm underneath him.

Y/n: Oh, fuck! Faster, please.

Felix: Yeah, Daddy. Please move faster.

And who is he to deny both of you?

He snaps his hips at an insanely quick pace, it has both you and Felix seeing stars.

Felix was lying on his back, no energy to even move anymore while you try your best not to collapse on top of him from being fucked so good.

Hyunjin: Look at you two, such pathetic little sluts. Is my pace too much for you both?

Y/n: So much. But so good.

Felix can't even talk anymore, drool pooling down the side of his face. He was officially deep in a new head space, one you're all too familiar with.

Y/n: Aww, look at your boyfriend. Think he'll meow for us?

An immediate response to your words makes Hyunjin cum deep into your ass. Felix keeps purring when you rub your nose against his pulse.

You feel him twitch inside you, cumming deep into your warm cunt. Hyunjin doesn't let up until after you squirt all over them.

He carefully pulls out from you, grabbing two plugs. He shoves one in your hole; he wants to keep their cum inside you for as long as possible.

Felix whines when you lift yourself off and lay down next to him. You flinch when Hyunjin shoves another plug into your leaking cunt.

Hyunjin: My bad.

Y/n: S'okay. Come lay down.

He gets on the other side of Felix, kissing all over his fucked out face.

Hyunjin: Is he okay? Did we do too much?

You shake your head and rub soothing circles on Felix's pelvic area.

Y/n: He's in what we call sub space, or in his case, kitty space. He'll be fine, but I'm guessing it's his first time?

Hyunjin nods and coos at Felix's cute noises.

Y/n: He might be like this for a while. So it's best to take care of him until he comes back from it. What about you, are you okay?

He hums, looking at you with a happy smile.

Hyunjin: Yeah. Thank you for this, Y/n.

Y/n: No problem. Though, you did a horrible job in keeping me submitted to you.

Hyunjin: Cut me some slack, I'm new to this.

You laugh, running your fingers through Felix's hair. He purrs again, closing his eyes so he can sleep. His heart feels warm and content.

---

a/n: yall ain't gonna believe when i say i wrote all these fics in the last fifteen minutes... we'll see how far i get before sleep eats me alive. thanks for reading ‹𝟹

#stray kids #skz #stray kids smut #skz smut #stray kids lee felix #skz lee felix #stray kids hwang hyunjin #skz hwang hyunjin #skz hyunlix #stray kids hyunlix #hyunlix #hyunlix smut #skz hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #hyunjin #lee felix #skz felix #stray kids felix #felix #hyunjin smut #felix smut #hyunjin stray kids #hyunjin skz #felix stray kids #felix skz #kinktober #kpop kinktober #felix x reader #hyunjin x reader #felix x you

[quidfree]

hi, hope you’re doing good! you mentioned bnha canon so I’m curious: what’s your opinion about the *thing* that happened? do you think it’ll be permanent or it will be undone somehow? how would you like to see it unfold? thanks in advance, love reading your thoughts :)

lol i just spoke abt this w @swisseroni who follows canon better than i do so i can answer this w the usual caveats re: my lack of manga readership. read below cut bc im feeling nice re not spoiling some innocent who somehow hasn't heard yet

to begin with i should say that honestly i dont think bakugou is dead. mainly bc i don't think horikoshi has the balls. bakudeku's dynamic is p much what sets bnha apart from every other generic shonen in its genre, and without bakugou as foil i don't think izuku would be compelling enough as a protagonist. plus he's the beloved fan fave and all that.

if he survives, it will doubtless be very stupid. swiss was saying izuku will probably develop his 201829th quirk to save him. i've also seen something about nitroglycerin starting hearts or whatever.

if he dies, what a dumb way to do it!

seriously though- i really don't get the thought behind this whole thing. to my understanding we've literally Just had a whole dramatic 'bakugou dramatically sacrifices himself to save midoriya bc of his character growth and prompts midoriya's jokerification' moment when he got stabbed by shigaraki the LAST time. what's to be gained by having it repeated? nothing about the status quo is affected apart from canon getting even more grimdark. same q w bakugou dying now- what is going to be gained from? izuku getting more angsty as well? it's so narratively pointless.

i guess you could harp on about the innate tragedy of bakugou dying once he's realised his character arc or something, but 1) again, could have done that last time and 2) i don't even think he has, because surely we could get more interesting shifts in bakugou than just a willingness to recognise izuku's personal worth. i'd much rather see how bakugou's trajectory into pro-heroism is affected by his evolution.

also wow has it been a hot minute since any other character did anything meaningful in canon. todoroki honey i'm so sorry your plots have all been absorbed by not one but two of your adult relatives who treat you like shit.

anw you also asked how i would like to see it unfold! again i dont follow the manga much so grain of salt and all, but if i was writing the implausible bakugou survival i think i'd make it so it Was midoriya's godmode quirk that did it, except at the cost of midoriya over-extending his quirk in this grand act (he can wipe shigaraki out while he's at it, i'm feeling generous) so that he winds up quirkless again. i think it'd be the only way to make midoriya less exhaustingly OP so he has anywhere to go from here, and it'd also rid us of this very drawn-out shigaraki melodrama. bakugou could have some kind of serious physical set-back too, for funsies.

funniest possible take on this from swiss: bakugou dying so uraraka can get narrative relevance being deku's grief-support.

#qui parle #qui repond #anon #bnha #bnha spoilers #bakugou #midoriya #horikoshi and pacing man. venn diagram but it's just two circles. #i grow weary of this welcome to my dark twisted fantasy era #if bakugou is dead i will stand Very corrected but i just do not buy it.

[sunshinexlollipops]

Hello! Hope not to bug you, I just read acw for the first time and WOW. It was by far the most beautiful, intricate work I've ever read in my life. Really, you are a novelist. I noticed that it hadn't been posted in about 3 years and I was wondering if it was orphaned? Just curious, no hate! Absolutely love your works, thank you!

help there anon!

sorry my notifs always get fucking eaten on this app and I'm inept too which doesn't help, bUT I just wanted to say that in general, ACW isn't abandoned!

I know it's been a hot minute since I have written anything but I've had a lot go on since the start of 2020, as you can imagine. not only in the world but personal life. and it just carried over into 2021. and 2022. and now into 2023. however, I am A LOT better now than I was at the start.

not trying to personally dump because there's just too much to summarize on this app, and some things I'm just not comfy sharing, but I got diagnosed with things like ADHD and depression, and not only am I working on treatment/management with my psych and therapist, altogether it's been a process of adaptation after knowing why my brain do what it do.

slowly I've been getting back into creating. bc I didn't. for all the time I was gone, I didn't produce really...anything. writing, art— nada. I've made some good progress esp since late 2022 when I started to come back to some things, but it used to be I wouldn't even read fic, watch movies/shows, engage with things... I was basically in a massive depressive episode. so I've been slowly reconnecting with art and in turn just that side of me.

I'm sure people who follow me/pay it mind (and it's okay if you don't lol) have seen recently I've been making and posting art I've made since I got back from LA a little bit ago.

I haven't drawn or been artistic like that in a long while. and while I've created things here and there, it was usually for someone else/social things I was doing. I struggled even with that, so it probs happened altogether less than 10 times over the last few years... this is the first I've just been creating and enjoying myself since then.

there's a lot that is still changing for me. and there's some major things shifting behind the scenes for me still that are playing out. I still intend to finish ACW, I'm just having to handle myself, and overall, I'm coming back into what used to feel like second nature.

so apologies for the wait. in a way, I kind of have been stuck with y'all during the hiatus. I got as much out of it as y'all did, lol. but I'm hoping with this continued improvement, and once things settle a bit more on my end, that writing will come back to me more and more. I've been able to do things here and there, so I'm hopeful.

also, another issue is google. my old acct ran out of space so anything I have made is completely locked up. I can't even EDIT my old docs. it's bad. I've tried to free shit up but it's like google replaces what I delete somehow and I'm always at my limit. so that's been a hassle in and of itself and I am working around that too.

fingers crossed this ship finally leaves the harbor I've docked it at for some time. I love ACW. I see what y'all write. and I know I don't often respond to comments but I read them. I see them. and I'm honored my story has had the impact and love that it has. ACW legit is one of my most beloved works by both myself and its readers. so thank you for that.

but I hope everyone does know that even if it may take me a while, I plan to come back and complete it once I'm properly able! and thank you for your understanding and patience w me. 💕

#acw #amidst a clash of worlds #luffy asks #anon ask #nature isnt healing i am

[autumn-foxfire]

Nah the way Shouto is drawn with his eyes going puppy dog when he says hes glad Dabi was observing him closely too makes it definitely feel like hes glad Dabis obsessed with him too not just dad as someone pointed out coz it means this is Hori giving justification exposition why Shoto can do it alone coz they have a connection. The people whom blame can be put on isnt VICTIM FAM when he says US its HEROS. Shotos got into this weird cultlike concept of unified hivemind heros being an US. Also

Add that to his resolution of make Toyanii eat hot udon and eat with him and you know he wants a brotherhood and just wants to stop his brother and make him take responsibility for his crimes. On the other hand Horikoshi expositioning what some construe as response to antDabi JP twitter calling Shoto mediocre, Shoto acknowledging he has low ambition till he got resolve to stop his bro only proves one sad fact- wants to be person he admires like Deku told Toga but his only resolution is fam-hero Those JP twitterati henceforth got the ball roll on how Shoto genuinely isnt cut out to be a real hero like the person he admires or like how Deku and Bakugo are moving with a "professional goal" in mind because he needed that personal connection of blood to make supermove. Honestly being the Family Hero is important to show hes a great abuse victim but it just destroys the characters overall motivation towards being a "reassuring hero". Like sorry dude you wouldnt save his soul if he was Ending Also to clarify- its not because hes doing the same thing as Deku for only his brother(thats why I throw in unforgiving Bakugo) but when he was talking big about being reliable like All Might he did minimum to step up and improve his game, minute its like he can eat hot udon with Toyanii after so many years and can save him coz e projects on him, he goes the full effort mode that was completely lacking in his original goal. With a goal, All Might and Hawks went plus ultra to protect all citizens

I THINK this is all the same person. However I'm an idiot and I'm not sure, I hope it is though T-T

As another nonnie said, I can't really judge until I've read the chapter myself and to be honest, I don't really want to so I won't. I've been hearing mixed opinions on the matter last chapter with Shouto though.

I'm not sure how I feel about the blame being put on the heroes either. The ranking system causing a divide in heroes, yes, but the current heroes fighting with their lives to protect the innocent from people like Dabi? That doesn't feel the right answer either. The only person Dabi should be angry at is his father, who is ultimately responsible for his own actions despite what might have led to it and even then Dabi shouldn't be lashing out the way he is at world and saying he should direct his anger at a certain group of people feels more like encouragement, even if Hori didn't mean to come across that way.

Did Shouto really say in this chapter he had low ambition? Since when was that true? Shouto was inspired by All Might the same way that Deku and Bakugou originally were and while over time that became twisted by his desire to become a hero unlike his father (unknowingly following the same path his father did in terms of isolation), he managed to turn that thinking around with some guidance from Deku and remember the true reason why he wanted to be a hero.

He has the same ambition as the other two??? I don't know where this complaint is coming from personally.

Also I think it's a bit disingenius to say Shouto is only saving Dabi because he's his brother unlike Deku is for Shigaraki because Deku also has a personal connection to Shigaraki now and that's also his reason for reaching out to him. It's only after seeing Shigaraki's "inner child" that Deku attempted to try and reach out to him. He needed the same prompting that Shouto did, even if it wasn't the same.

Then there is the issue I've had with the prospect of redemptions for them to begin with is that these students seem to have lost any of the personal feelings they should have about the villains in order to be positive about saving them. My point is all the students suffer from the issue that they're being put on a pedastal, especially by the fandom, for reaching out to villains even though it's only a conditional offer for those who they're connected to.

But I'm getting into a rant I've already shared on my tumblr many times so I'll drop it here.

#bnha manga spoilers #bnha critical #thanks for the ask!!

[the-shouji-kingdom]

My two favorite boys hanging out

#my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha #mha #midoriya izuku #shoji mezo #Shouji Mezou #art by OP #deku #Shodeku #Sorry it's been a hot minute since i've last drawn

[delaber]

Coming Home

Note: The fic no one asked for but I still wrote because I had to. Pretty sure this will be my last Rafa fic. It’s been a ride. Thank you!

Words: 7.7K

It was one of those blisteringly hot days where all you wanted to do was to laze about in front of a fan with your feet up and eat popsicles in the hopes of cooling just a tiny bit down. The sun was scorching and there was little to no wind at all, making it close to unbearable to be out of the shade for more than two minutes at a time - but unfortunately, you found yourself stuck in the middle of a very sunny lawn at Nat's garden-themed birthday party. Several times during the day, you had caught yourself looking jealously towards the enticing pool area at the end of the lawn but unfortunately had to settle for self-administered time-outs in the shade under various palm trees that were lining the garden.

At one of said time-outs, the birthday girl Nat approached you with a huge smile and two drinks in hand, "oh, there you are!" She exclaimed happily as she reached the same tree as you and handed you one of the piña coladas she was holding, "I've been looking all over!"

"Sorry," you smiled at your best friend and accepted the cocktail she was offering you, "I needed to cool down for a bit," you said while fanning your hand in front of your face

"Ooh, great idea - make room for me," Nat too stepped under the shade of the palm tree and immediately started fanning her top, "Jesus Christ, it's hot today!"

"Well, you were the one to insist on not having gazebos for your party," you shot your best friend a small smile, "it ruins the aesthetic," you mimicked her words from a few days ago with a laugh.

"Oh, shut up!" Nat let out a chortle, "I clearly made a terrible decision."

"Yeah, you should always listen to me and Diggs," you chuckled while having a sip of your tropical drink, enjoying how it slowly seemed to lower your core temperature as soon as the cold liquid hit your oesophagus.

"Hey, speaking of; have you seen him?" Nat squinted her eyes while shooting her phone a glance, "he's not answering any of my texts."

"I talked to him over by the snacks a little over an hour ago," you pointed over your shoulder, "he said he had to take off for a bit."

"He had to take off?" Nat furrowed her eyebrows, looking directly at you with disbelief written all over her face. From her expression alone, you could tell what was going through her head; as Nat's long-term boyfriend, Diggs knew exactly how important her birthday was to her. "That's seems a bit out of character..." she mumbled sadly.

"Aww, don't worry - he'll be back in a bit."

"What was so important for him to do on today of all days?" Nat sounded crestfallen.

"Come on Nat, what kind of an errand could he possibly have to run on his girlfriend's birthday?" You rolled your eyes.

"...But he already got me a present," she fiddled with the shiny new bracelet around her wrist.

"Maybe he's getting you a surprise," you shrugged mysteriously.

"Really?" The sad look on Nat's face was quickly replaced by wide eyes accompanied by a broad smile, "A surprise?"

"Don't tell him I said anything!" you laughed.

"Well, did he tell you what it was?"

"Nope... He probably knew we'd end up having this conversation," you chuckled.

"Slick bastard," Nat muttered under her breath before her voice returned to normal, "well, I hope he gets back soon. Of course I'm excited about the surprise but I don't want him missing out on the party."

As if on cue, a loud clanking noise coming from the shrub-embedded gate at the other end of the lawn had both you and Nat whip your heads around; Diggs had stepped inside the closed-off garden with a huge smile plastered on his face, stopping as soon as his feet hit the soft grass. He scanned the area for the birthday girl, and when his gaze finally landed on Nat, you watched how his face immediately turned soft as their eyes met across the lawn.

"Ah, there he is," Nat sighed happily as she took in her handsome boyfriend.

"...yeah, but he's empty handed," you added with a sigh after a quick scan for a birthday present in his open palms.

"Oh, you're right. Must be something he can stow away in a pocket..."

"Or something that's too heavy for him to carry alone," you added.

"Either way I'm just glad he's back," Nat said dreamily and send Diggs a small wave to which he replied with a sappy smile and a wink.

"Ah, I'm third-wheeling so hard right now," you gagged and with a grin turned your back towards Diggs in the hopes of making it less awkward for yourself.

"Yeah, sorry babe," Nat was biting her lower lip, trying to contain herself as she gazed at her handsome boyfriend over your shoulder.

"You look terribly confused all of a sudden," you laughed as you took in Nat's furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah, he's just... standing there - why is he not moving?"

"What? He's standing completely still?" you arched an eyebrow, looking at Nat who still wasn't sparing you a glance.

"No, he's... looking for something on the other side of the hedges. And he's talking to someone - I think?"

"On the phone?"

"No... - oh wait, looks like he brought someone along."

"He brought someone?" you repeated curiously, "who?"

"I don't know. I don't recognise him..." Nat looked confused as she squinted her eyes, trying to focus on what was happening at the other end of the lawn. Then suddenly, her face changed, "- hey, is that...? No - wait... - Oh my god! It is!" She finally whipped her head around, looking directly at you with huge eyes, "he's here."

"...Who is?" you looked at her confused.

Nat didn't have time to answer your question before a male voice that you didn't immediately recognise rang from behind you, "Ey yo, Nat!"

"I'm sorry..." Nat whispered, "- but I have to..." she shot you a pained look before she moved past you with a squeal as she briskly walked away from the shade under the palm tree.

Confused, you spun around and scanned the lawn for Diggs and his mystery companion. Diggs had put on one of his more colourful outfits, and your eyes were immediately drawn to him and the smug smile he was wearing as he took in Nat who was now running at full-speed towards a sharp-dressed man to his right.

"Rafa!" Nat exclaimed loudly as she fell into the well-dressed man's arms, "you're here! I can't believe it!" she squealed.

The mere sound of his name made the hairs on the back of your neck stand while the blood quickly drained from your face. You instantly felt your throat go dry and your head dizzying as Nat's words rang in your ears. Rafa was here? Rafa as in Rafael? No, it couldn't be...

You adjusted your gaze slightly but sure enough; there he was. In the middle of the lawn in a tight embrace with your best friend. None other than Rafael Casal.

That. Fucking. Prick.

"You're kidding me..." you mumbled under your breath.

What the fuck was he doing here?!

You immediately felt your heart rate increasing and your palms getting sweaty as you took him in. He had grown a beard and cut his hair short, making the area above his forehead strangely lonely without its familiar swoop of hair that he had been so fond of back when you had known him. Your eyes travelled across his face that was plastered with the toothy grin you had once loved, and down to the strong arms that you had once known every vein of. There weren't any tattoos on his arms that you didn't recognise but he had definitely built more muscle mass since the last time you'd seen him.

You had to admit that even though you were more than regularly annoyed with him, he looked good - he just didn't look like Rafa. Not your Rafa at least. He looked more man than jokester, a ghost of the boy you'd once called yours.

When the tight embrace in front of you finally ended, Rafa straightened up and looked over Nat's shoulder, his green eyes immediately piercing through you. He did a quick scan of you from the tip of your sneakers to the top of your head, and if it hadn't been for the fact that you knew that you looked good in your new dress, you might have grown flustered under his intense stare - but you didn't. He could stare all he wanted and meanwhile use the opportunity to think about what he had let go of - what he was missing out on!

He looked you up and down a few times and when his eyes reached yours, he sent you a tentative look and a careful smile that you didn't reciprocate. After all, pretending that Rafael Casal meant absolutely nothing to you was something you had perfected over the years.

When he finally realised that your face would remain stone cold and without the smallest trace of friendliness, he quickly looked back at Nat and sent her a broad smile as she began mumbling something to him about how he was the last person she'd expected to see today.

Meanwhile, you used the opportunity to march over to Diggs and pull him aside; "what the hell do you think you're doing?!" You hissed at him, your voice so low that only he could hear.

"Oh, I'm just watching my best friend and my girl reconcile after years apart," he smirked, his eyes still locked on the two friends talking excitedly in the middle of the lawn.

"Don't get smart with me, Diggs!" You said through gritted teeth, "why the fuck didn't you tell me that he was coming? You know how I feel about him! He's a snake!"

"Jesus Christ," Diggs rolled his eyes, "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. If you'd known that I was picking him up at the airport, you would've ended up faking an excuse to leave before I'd returned."

"And with good reason! You know what he did! I don't want to talk to him!"

"You need to resolve this shit between the two of you," he shrugged, "You need to learn to be in the same room as him. It's been way too long already, and it cannot go on like this forever."

"Oh, watch me!" You huffed childishly, looking over at Rafa's dumb smile as he said something incoherent to Nat.

"Bruh..." Daveed cocked his head and sent you an unimpressed look, "He didn't come to mess with you. He came for Nat... He misses her."

"- but," you tried to interject but Diggs immediately cut you off: "- And before you say anything -" he continued, "- look at how happy she is!" he gestured to Nat who had now gone back to hugging Rafa tightly, "I know that her loyalty to you dictates that she has to hate him or whatever, but she has clearly missed him too. So if you can't do it for yourself, please just behave yourself for Nat."

A guilty pang hit your chest when you looked at Nat's happy smile, and you realised that she had cut off all contact with Rafa for your sake. "For the record; I never told her she couldn't talk to him," you mumbled.

"I know," Diggs nodded, "that's just how good of a friend she is."

"Alright... I'll behave for Nat," you sighed with a slight scowl before you quickly continued, "- but I'm not going to talk to him! No way!"

Diggs shot his hands in the air in a surrendering manner, "hey: normal, regular behaviour is all I'm asking for! You can ignore him for all I care - just be civil."

You didn't answer Diggs but instead continued to scowl as you watched Rafa and Nat having a giggle about something. The sound of Rafa's obnoxiously loud laugh swimming in your ear canals made your stomach go annoyingly warm, and for a millisecond you actually wished that he was laughing at something dumb alongside you instead of Nat - or at least you wished for it until you reminded yourself of what he had done, and the familiar anger towards him soon returned.

"Aw, come on," Diggs let out a laugh when he saw your angry face. He gave your shoulder a playful shove before he put his arm around you, "let's get you a drink - you look like you need it."

"Yes, I need it!" you groaned as he led you away from Nat and Rafa, "- and a big one too 'cause my dumb friends had my nemesis fly in from New York behind my back."

Diggs laughed a little at your miserable tone of voice, "cheer up," he chuckled, pulling you a little closer, "...and to be fair, I did the inviting. Nat had nothing to do with this."

"God, you're the worst," you mumbled as you reached the self-service bar, "I cannot believe you'd spring this on me after what he did!"

"Come on. It's been three years," Daveed shrugged and smiled down at you before he pulled out two clean glasses.

"That's easy for you to say when you weren't implicated in it," you mumbled sourly without looking directly at him.

"I may not have been directly involved, but you know I still got caught up in the middle," Diggs sent you a short look before he poured both of you a drink, "- and I still am."

"How?" You said incredulously, "I literally never talk about him."

"Exactly," Diggs shot you a sideways glance as he screwed off the cap of a tonic water, "you never talk about him. It's forced."

"It's forced? Since when is not talking about your asshole of an ex-boyfriend forced?"

"I know you miss him," Diggs said softly and sent you a careful look.

You forced yourself to scoff as you accepted the gin tonic from him, "I have no idea what you're talking about! I literally could not care less about Rafael at all," you looked across the lawn and immediately caught Rafa's gaze that was aimed directly at you. His eyes were huge, his gaze soft and longing. You thought to yourself that he looked as if he was the one who'd been wronged all those years ago. As if you were the one who had disappeared off to New York before royally fucking everything up. Which you absolutely weren't!

-

Rafa had been annoying as hell all night! Whenever you were no more than a few milliseconds away from letting down your hair and forget about the fact that your nemesis was attending the same party as you, you could hear his annoying foghorn of a laugh in the group of people next to you. And although you were trying your absolute best to avoid him completely, he still seemed to be all over, somehow always within a ten-foot radius from you, his cutting-torch-like voice constantly poking at your eardrums.

You were successful in avoiding him up until around midnight when you unfortunately were careless enough to lay down your guard for a few seconds too long, not realising that he had approached you at the self-service bar while you had been looking around for a lime for your drink. "Hey," you heard a low growl behind you as you were cutting the citrus into wedges.

You didn't have to look up from the table to know who the voice belonged to. "Rafael," you said neutrally while screwing off the cap of the tequila bottle you were holding, pouring up a couple of ounces of liquid without sparing him a glance.

"Hmm... Ra-fa-el," he repeated slowly, dragging out the name and smacking his lips as if savouring how it rolled off his tongue, "you know what? I don't think I've ever heard you call me Ra-fa-el before."

With your gaze still firmly placed on the tequila-filled glass in front of you, you arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything as you continued working on the cocktail, desperate to not give in to his antics.

You could feel his gaze burning on your skin, his eyes following your every move as you poured Cointreau into the cocktail glass and quietly waited for him to leave you alone again. He didn't budge, however, and when he realised that you intended to keep your silence, he quietly asked, "...How are you doing?"

"Great," you said and pressed your lips firmly together.

"Good..." Out the corner of your eye, you could see his head bopping up and down as he took you in, "I - uhm - I always liked you in green, you know," he grinned cockily. You knew he was just acting this way to get your attention but annoyingly enough; it was working for him. His comment made you dart your eyes towards him, shooting him an unimpressed sigh that he reciprocated with a careful smile, anxious to see if his compliment had tugged at your heartstrings. But even though his words had made your head dizzy and your diaphragm contract considerably, you still managed to keep a straight face as you took him in. His gaze was soft and satisfied, and a strange feeling hit your guts when you looked into his green eyes for the first time in over three years. Seeing the familiarity of his overly confident gaze made you realise that he hadn't exactly turned into the destructive villain that you had made him out to be after he had moved to New York three years ago. Behind the masculine beard and the buzzcut, the jokester with the soft chin and the long quiff was still in there. Your Rafa was still in there, and for a tenth of a second it made your heart ache as you wished for a time that he had long ago ruined.

He had clearly realised that you were checking him out because slowly, yet surely, his smirk grew considerably while he maintained eye-contact. It made you furious! He. Did. Not. Have. The. Upper. Hand. Taking in your angry expression, he shifted the weight on his feet while giving out a low chuckle, "I guess what I mean to tell you is that you look good. Like really good! - even when you're fuming."

"You look old," you stated flatly to make him stop feeling so overly confident.

To your dismay, however, he wasn't the least bit hurt by your comment but instead spluttered happily and let out a loud laugh, making the crow's feet around his green irises dance around as his eyes squinted tightly together in amusement. He looked irritatingly handsome, and it made you even more annoyed with him; he wasn't supposed to be amused by your low blow, he was supposed to be devastated!

You chewed your bottom lip as he annoyingly confident ran a hand through his beard and took you in with his forever playful smile. The fairy lights surrounding the self-service bar caught something shiny around his wrist as he caressed his chin, and you recognised the piece of metal immediately. It made you scoff, "you really still have that?" You nodded towards the golden band around his arm that you had given him for his 25th birthday some years ago. Even though it had been quite expensive, you'd figured that he had thrown it out long ago.

"You're kidding me?" He said incredulously, furrowing his brows and fiddling with the shiny links around his arm, "of course I still have this! It means a lot to me, I wear it every day!" He sent you a tentative smile, once again checking to see if he was so lucky that his words had defrosted you.

He wasn't.

"What?" He asked with an amused twinkle in his eyes when he took in your unimpressed face, "I swear; It's one of my most treasured possessions."

"Rafael... Just..." You let out a small sigh and folded your arms across your chest, "- just drop the pleasantries and tell me why you're really here," you demanded, "I highly doubt you're here to small talk."

"Aw come on - I'm just here for Nat's party. I didn't come to stir shit up. I promise!" He looked at you with honest eyes, still with a trace of a smile on his lips.

"Then why are you attacking me at the drinks table?" You were surprised to hear how steady you managed to keep your voice when it felt as if your entire body was shaking.

"I just wanted to say hi," he shot you a careful look, taking in every movement of your facial muscles, "You've been avoiding me all day."

"Wonder why," you clicked your tongue against the roof of your mouth, looking away from him.

"I know it seems like an unnecessary question but are you still angry with me?" He asked, his smile still in place but suddenly a bit stiff.

"I was angry at first. Now I don't really care about you anymore," you smiled overly-sweetly.

"Yeah okay," Rafa's stiff smile faltered a bit and it looked as if you'd finally managed to knock him slightly off his course. This probably wasn't how he had imagined the conversation to go. It was a nice feeling to see him slightly panicked. "Ehm..." he smacked his lips, "would you like me to leave?"

"Yes," you breathed, but even you could hear the thickness of the lie in your throat. Even though you were keen on keeping your distance to him, you were still terribly curious as to why he had passed you up three years after your horrible break-up. After all, it had ended in lies and angry tears.

His smirk turned amused, and he could barely hold back a triumphant chuckle when he spoke, "I can tell you're not being serious," he tilted his head to the side.

"My God, you are insufferable!" you said through gritted teeth, "just tell me why you're here!"

"Well..." he licked his lips before he slowly stated, "Sofía's pregnant."

He had barely finished pronouncing the word pregnant before you felt the blood immediately drain from your face. "You're... having a baby?" You breathed and blinked a few times, bracing yourself for his answer. After everything that had happened, you couldn't believe that the mental image of Rafa with someone else was still able to make your stomach ache horribly, and you were immediately reminded of the fact that you hadn't left him because you had fallen out of love with him.

"Am I having a...-? Oh God no!" He laughed when he understood, "Sofía as in my sister! My sister is pregnant! I'm about to be an uncle. Tio Rafa."

You felt a wave of relief wash over you when his words finally settled, and the blood quickly returned to your cheeks making them unbearably hot. "Well, congratulations then, I guess," you mumbled, trying to conceal your flustered face.

"Thanks!" He smiled proudly and put on a goofy expression.

"I still fail to see what your sister's pregnancy has to do with me."

"Well, you see..." he licked his lips, "Sofía and her boyfriend are constantly talking about baby-stuff, and who in their lives are important to them, and insurances, and dying wills, and things like that - and I guess it kinda made me think about stuff in my life too," he gave out an awkward shrug, shooting you a careful look, "you know... Unresolved matters and so on..."

"...and then you thought about me?" You scoffed.

"Yeah," he nodded carefully, "I miss you."

"Rafael..." you closed your eyes and sighed in disbelief.

"Oof," he winced and it made you open your eyes and look at him. "- could you stop calling me that?" He looked pained, "It's - it's weird!"

"Well it is your name, isn't it?"

"I know, I know... Hearing it from you is just - it's just weird..." he mumbled while rubbing his neck, "only strangers call me by my first name."

"We're practically strangers."

"We are?" He looked taken aback.

You shot him a sideways glance, "yes, we are Rafael," you sighed and watched how his nostrils did an involuntary twitch at the sound of his given name.

He merely grunted while shooting you a weird look.

"What?" You asked incredulously, "you don't agree?"

"No. No, not at all," he shook his head, "I know you."

"Not anymore you don't," you turned back to your drink, stirring it a little just to give your shaking hands something to do.

"I know every freckle of your body..." he said quietly, his voice so full of emotion that it made your heart ache. "I know why you have a scar on your left knee," he continued, "I know all your guilty pleasures. What makes you tick. Your likes. Your dislikes. Of course I realise that we didn't end optimally but you can't pretend that we don't know each other," he ran a hand through his beard.

As soon as the words had escaped his mouth, you shot him an angry look, "we didn't end optimally?!" You hissed at him, "well, it was your fucking choice to end it that way, wasn't it?"

"Ah, so you are still mad at me," He stated flatly, taking in your expression.

You managed to turn off some of the fire you felt in your eyes before you spoke, "No I'm not, Rafael. As I said, I don't care about you at all," you said coldly, "Is that all? Can I go back to my best friend's birthday party now, or are you in the mood to ruin yet another one of my nights?" You shot him a deadpan look.

"I can't force you to talk to me," he said quietly, his eyes huge with disappointment.

"What do you even want to talk about?" Your voice was laced with frustration, "it's been three years! I've moved on - I don't need this, Rafa!" You wanted to smack yourself when you realised that you had let his pet name slip.

"I just want to apologise. Properly..." he said quietly while awkwardly rubbing his elbow, decent enough to let the use of his nickname slide.

"Apologising is not going to change what happened."

"I know... but you still deserve a proper apology from the guy who hurt you."

You gave out a scoff but didn't say anything.

"Look," Rafa continued, "can you please just give me ten minutes alone with you? Some place quiet. Ten minutes and I swear, I'll never talk to you again if you don't want me to. I just want to tell you how sorry I am. I think we both need it."

You weighed the pros and cons. Maybe it would actually be good for you to get some closure so you could finally forget about him? You decided that you might as well try. It'd be nice to stop thinking about him for good. "Fine! You have ten minutes and not a second more!" you said sternly, "but let me be very clear about one thing: I am not doing this for you!"

"I know," he nodded slowly, and followed you to a deserted bench a little away from the rest of the party.

He sat down next to you with a content sound, "Cig?" he asked while holding out a crumbled package.

"I quit," you pushed the package away, your fingers briefly brushing over his. It made him smile slightly but he quickly concealed it by clearing his throat.

"Good for you," Rafa nodded while lighting a cigarette for himself, taking a long drag while looking at you. "So..." he said quietly, "I hear that you finally landed that job you used to work so hard for."

"If you just wanted to smoke cigarettes and small talk, we didn't have to go all the way back here," you crossed your arms.

"Tough crowd," he laughed, "come on. Just humour me for a bit... I miss talking to you."

You scoffed, "you have nine minutes and fourty-five seconds left, Casal."

"Nine minutes and fourty-five seconds," he nodded in agreement, "so... that job of yours - congratulations! Your hard work finally paid off, huh?" He tried again.

"Have you been stalking my linked-in?" You said sourly.

"Nah, Diggs gives me little updates," Rafa chuckled awkwardly, "-or he did for a while at least. Up until about a year ago when he got real angry with me," Rafa clenched his teeth tightly together, looking uncomfortable.

"Diggs got angry?" You said in disbelief. Out of the two, Rafa was definitely the hot-headed one.

"Oh shit, yeah!" He nodded with a laugh, "I know it's hard to believe because it's such a rare occurrence but that just made it so much scarier! For a second, I thought he would punch me in the face!"

"Well, that should teach you to keep your abnormally large nose out of my business," you scoffed slightly.

"That's what he said too," Rafa chuckled, "-and that if I wanted to know how you were doing, I should give you a call myself," he sent you a small smile, "- but I knew you would have my balls in a wrench if I suddenly called you up out of the blue."

"Correct."

He smiled, "yet here we are. Talking quietly without screaming at each other. My balls free as ever."

"You're lucky I left my wrench at home today, Casal."

He let out an amused snort and took another drag of the cigarette, "yeah, I can't believe my luck this evening," he smiled without looking at you, "hey, while we're on the subject of updates; I - uhm - I also want to let you know that I heard about your dad. I was very sad to learn about his passing."

You felt a sharp pain in your chest, and you held your arms a little closer to your chest, "Diggs told you about that too, huh?" You mumbled, unable to look Rafa in the eye. Even though little over two years had passed since your dad had died, thinking about him still hurt.

You felt Rafa nod beside you, "Yeah. He called me right after it happened... I know your dad meant a great deal to you. Meant a great deal to me too to be honest..." he sighed.

"I know..." you thought of the special bond the two men had always shared. Even long before you and Rafa had fallen in love, your dad had hoped that you would end up together.

"I was seconds away from flying home to see him off at the funeral, you know - but given how you and I ended things, I didn't think you should deal with me on top of losing your dad..." he shot you a sideways glance.

You decided not to tell Rafa about how you had woken up on the morning of the funeral, wishing that he had been there. Wishing that everything had magically gone back to normal overnight. Instead, you merely mumbled, "you should've come. My dad would've loved that... He always liked you."

"Yeah, I liked him too," Rafa nodded, "I still think about him every time I hear a terrible joke or see someone in a Laker's shirt."

"Oh god, all those fucking shirts," you groaned and thought of the hundreds of basketball shirts that your dad had had stacked neatly away in his closet. You couldn't believe that you had completely forgotten about them.

Rafa chuckled, "what did you end up doing with them? I imagine that you donated them in your dad's spirit."

"Naturally," you nodded and felt yourself uncross your arms for the first time since you'd sat down. "My mom kept one, and the orphanage got most but we auctioned off the rarest ones and gave the money to charity. That was what he wanted, you know."

"Ah, what an icon," Rafa sighed, "well, you should be proud of him and the work he did for the community. He was a great man. A proper role model for the bay."

You nodded in agreement while scanning Rafa. It was nice to talk about your dad with someone who knew him but who hadn't seen him fragile and sick. Someone who didn't think of him as his diagnosis, and you realised that for the first time since his passing, things actually seemed fairly back to normal. Sitting side by side with Rafa actually felt welcome and normal. Maybe you'd grant him a couple of minutes more of your time.

Rafa's eyes skirted away from you, and he nervously cleared his throat before he continued, "Uhm... not that it matters but did you - did you ever tell him about what happened between us?"

"My dad? No..." you shook your head with a sad sigh, "he loved you like his own son, and I didn't want to break his heart. So I just told him that we couldn't make the whole long distance-thing work."

"Oh, right... Thanks," Rafa nodded.

"I didn't do it for you."

"Still... I'm glad he didn't get to know that side of me. I'm not so sure he would've liked me if he'd known the truth about how I broke his daughter's heart."

"I'm not so sure either..."

"I - I hated myself after, you know," He looked over at you with a pained expression after a couple of seconds of silence, "I have never regretted anything more in my entire life."

"What? Not going to the funeral?"

"No. You know... What I did..." he said sheepishly.

"Oh..."

"The minute I woke up I - I wanted to undo everything," he looked at you pleadingly, "I felt so fucking terrible. Still do. I can't even think about it without wanting to stab myself. It is without a doubt the worst thing I have ever done, and I am so sorry for the pain it caused you," he said softly, "please understand that I didn't do it because I didn't love you. It wasn't because you weren't enough or something like that. You were perfect to me. I take full responsibility for the fuck-up, and I am so, so horribly fucking sorry!"

"Rafa, it's..." you gulped, the words somehow stuck in your throat. You were having a hard time acting as if his words meant nothing to you.

He carefully put his hand on top of yours before he continued, "do you think we would've been able to work around the long distance if I hadn't...?"

"Please don't..." you whispered and sent him a soft yet warning look, "I don't want to talk about what might've been."

"No, no of course not..." he nodded quietly, "I just - I can't believe it's been three years... Fuck baby I've missed you so bad," he carefully moved his thumb over the back of your hand and searched your face with furrowed eyebrows, "You have no idea of the relief I felt when I finally saw you today," he said quietly.

"Don't do this..." you closed your eyes and whispered.

Rafa continued as if he hadn't heard you, "I know we didn't work out the way neither of us pictured it but that doesn't mean you weren't the best thing that's ever happened to me..." he sounded desperate, and you couldn't look at him. The words he was saying was making you want to fall into his arms, "...I never should've let you go."

"Rafa," you sighed and summoned all your strength and looked into his glossy eyes, "you didn't let me go," your voice barely a whisper, "I broke up with you."

"I know, I know," his voice was oozing with pain, "but I hope you realise that I would've done everything to win you back. I would've come back to California if you'd only asked me to. Fuck the record deal."

"There was a reason why I didn't ask you to come back," you shot him a glance in warning, "you know that."

"Still, I should have done... something."

"You did exactly what I asked of you."

"Yeah... I stayed the fuck away from you," he mumbled. You could tell that he was replaying your last tearful conversation in his mind before he heaved a big gulp of air and glanced over at you with a valiant look in his eyes, "but I've come back to remind you who I really am."

"You don't have to remind me of anything... I remember who you were. What we had."

"Then let me be that guy for you again," he looked at you pleadingly.

"What's the point when you're still 3,000 miles away?" You sighed, "It's not as if we'll happen upon each other at the supermarket and go out for spontaneous coffees."

"Could be," he said with a small shrug, "I - uh - I'm moving back," he nervously ran his fingers through his short hair, "I want to be close to Sofía and the baby - and you."

"You're coming home?" You gulped. You couldn't believe him. Was this a good thing?

"Yes," he breathed, "And I want to try things out with you again. Please give me another chance..." his fingers moved from your hand to your knee. You briefly considered his words while you felt his thumb caress you through the green fabric of your dress. Right now, you were fighting hard to not give in to his embrace and the familiar set of lips in front of you, but you weren't sure how you'd feel about it come morning, so you remained poised.

He sensed your hesitation, however, and carefully put his forehead to yours "come on, baby," he said quietly and softly kissed your cheek, his lips warm against your skin.

"I don't know," you gulped as you involuntarily closed your eyes and breathed him in.

"It's okay," he said with whispered words, the stubble on his chin rough against your cheekbone, "you don't have to give me an answer right away," he gently kissed your jawline while his hand travelled from your kneecap to your fingertips, clearly desperate to remind you of what you could have back if you only agreed to let him in again.

"Rafa, I don't know," you said quietly although it was becoming harder and harder to remain steadfast and ignore his burning lips on your skin.

"Just consider it," he kissed the corner of your mouth, "I'll crawl. I'll beg," he whispered and pursed his lips against yours, "I'll do anything," he moved his body closer to yours, "just consider it," he whispered and placed a particularly gentle kiss to your already buzzing lips, "please baby."

You couldn't help yourself any longer and you involuntarily twitched your lips against his before you felt yourself being completely engulfed by him. The passionate kiss you shared was soft and bittersweet, reminding both of you of what had been.

His hands were caressing your neck and hairline and he hummed into your mouth as he savoured the feeling of finally having you kiss him back. "Fuck I've missed this," he gulped when he broke away and put his forehead to yours, his hand still on your cheek, "does this mean you'll at least consider it?"

"I'm still angry with you," you whispered without really answering his question.

"I know, love..." he caressed your cheek, "I was stupid," he searched your face, "it was a stupid mistake."

"Don't reduce it to a stupid mistake, Rafa," you whispered.

"Poor choice of words," he mumbled, "what I mean to say is that I hope you can forgive it," he placed a soft kiss to your jawline, "- forgive me."

"Even if I did forgive you, how do you expect me to ever trust you again?" You said quietly, and you knew that you couldn't dance around the elephant in the room any longer. "Rafa you had another girl's lips wrapped around your dick not even twenty-four hours after crying in my arms at the airport," you said with a heavy heart and watched him cringe his face at the harsh truth, "twenty-four after you'd sworn you'd do anything to make our relationship work despite the distance."

Rafa was still wincing when he spoke, "not that it's any excuse at all but I was exhausted and drunk and heartbroken," he croaked, "I had just left the love of my life behind in California... and this other girl was suddenly there and she got me high as balls and she-" he sighed without finishing his own sentence, "trust me when I say that it was the worst night of my life," he closed his eyes in a sad attempt at holding the tears at bay.

"Well at least you got a nice blowjob out of it." You smiled humourlessly, "I just wound up with all the lies you threw in my face."

"I never lied to you..." he mumbled, "I came clean as soon as you confronted me."

"How big of you!" you scoffed.

"Baby... I didn't tell you because I was so embarrassed," he gulped, the tears now evident under his green irises, "I wanted to throw myself off a cliff! I knew that if I told you, it would be the definite end of us," he looked at you with huge, bloodshot eyes, "I couldn't do that."

"I need you to understand that the worst part of it wasn't that you cheated on me. The worst part was that you pretended that nothing had happened at all," you couldn't tell whether the tears you felt in the corners of your eyes were from being angry or sad, "Imagine how dumb I felt when Diggs finally broke down and told me what you'd done," you said and Rafa suddenly couldn't hold back the tears any longer either.

"I wanted to tell you. Trust me, I wanted to," he sobbed.

"You had three weeks to say something to me for fuck's sake!"

"I'm so sorry," he whimpered.

"We facetimed every night for three weeks and you didn't say anything! You made a complete fool of me!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" his eyes fixed at his own feet.

"Rafa, look at me!" you said in a harsh tone of voice.

Immediately, his red eyes found yours. He looked as ashamed of himself as he possibly could, "I was a coward," he whimpered, "-and I knew didn't deserve you."

"Then what makes you think you deserve me now?" You said coldly.

"I have spent the last three years trying to forget about you and what happened but no matter what I do, you still linger in the back of my mind. Even after all this time you're the only one I can ever see myself with. I always return to you. On sleepless nights, you're dancing on the back of my eyelids. I see you in other girls when I pass them by on the street. You're in all my poetry. All my songs. I think about you constantly. Maybe I don't deserve you but I at least had to try."

"Rafa you broke my heart," you looked him dead in the eye and he visibly gulped, "you betrayed my trust and you did it in the most despicable way I could ever imagine. It's been three years and I still cannot believe that you of all people would do that to me. You were my ride or die."

"I can still be that," he said desperately, clinging on to the last bit of hope he had in him, "I'm still that guy! The guy who cheated on you that wasn't me! I wasn't myself! I'm aware of the agony it caused, and trust me: I've learned from my mistakes," he looked at you resolutely before he whispered, "I'm still your ride or die."

His words made your stomach hurt and you felt the heat rise throughout your body as your throat clenched tightly together. You felt suffocated and stood up from the bench so fast that black spots distorted your vision. "I can't do this!" you said desperately, "it's too much!"

"Okay," he gulped, looking up at you with desperation written across his face.

"I have to go back to the party. Nat expects me to be there for her."

"Alright," he gulped. He was having a hard time concealing his obvious disappointment.

"Don't look at me like that!" you whimpered, "what did you expect? That you could shed a few tears and everything would be alright again?"

"No, of course not..."

"Then don't look so fucking disappointed! You're making me feel like the bad guy and I haven't even done anything!"

"I know," he gulped.

"Yet you still think a drunk conversation erases everything? That I will take you back just because you're feeling sorry? You obviously don't realise the damage you caused."

"Then tell me!" He too stood up from his seat, "I want to make things alright again," he pleaded.

"I don't need you to make things alright again! I was doing just fine before you showed up!"

"Okay, I'm sorry," he sheepishly picked at his own elbow, "I just thought that maybe you felt the same way about me."

"I don't want you back!" You said roughly.

As soon as the harsh words had escaped your lips, you could see the heartbreak on his face; his cheeks paled, his lips quivered, a single tear left his right eye as he looked away. He ran his hand over the corners of his mouth, unable to look directly at you, "right," he said as a fresh set of tears formed in his eyes, "I'm sorry... I - uh - I had to try,” he sobbed although he was fighting to hold his voice steady, “I - uhm - I don't know what to say…”

"Don't say anything..."

"...so this is it?" His eyes found yours, "...for good?"

You nodded slowly but didn't say anything.

You watched how he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly without any words escaping him. He looked flustered, panicked almost when you turned around and stepped away from him. You could hear him panic-shift around behind you but he still didn't talk. He had probably expected you to take him back with open arms - anything but this!

Good. He deserved to fry a little.

And maybe you'd call him tomorrow. Just maybe.

#Rafael Casal #rafael casal x reader #Daveed Diggs #blindspotting #rafael casal fanfiction #rafael casal imagine #Bay boys

[streetlight11]

Deep Scar

Summary: He used to be the popular kid in high school where everyone has a crush on him. He always gets Valentine's Day gifts be it presents, chocolates, homemade brownies, etc. He somehow brought his name to college where there were people who still finds him attractive. What happens when he bumps into a girl who treated him a lot different compared to others? Will he find out the truth behind her behaviour?

Theme: college au, childhood schoolmates but with a bad past

Genre: a little angsty, fluff ending though

Warnings: mild swearing (literally just one word), slight mention of harassment but nothing too crazy

WC: 4.6k

Pairing: Han Jisung x Fem!Reader

a/n: Hey hey :) I've had this in my google drive for quite sometime so my writing might not be so good here but bear with me. P.S the words in italics are his flashback, and hannie might sound like a jerk at one point but this doesn't portray him in real life because irl he's an absolute sweetheart :') Anyways, enjoy reading!

Coming to campus every morning only to find gifts and plenty of love letters in his locker has been becoming a daily routine for Jisung. Although he has never actually reciprocated any of them, he must admit that he did love the amount of attention that’s been drawn to him since back in high school.

He was the popular kid in school where he was known for his intelligence, charming personality and of course, his good looks.

Back in high school, girls would often slot in their confession letters in his locker almost everyday. Every Valentine’s Day, his table would be filled with chocolates and homemade brownies specially for him.

But all of those gifts would eventually be passed to his close friends for them to finish it for him.

Even now when he’s already in college, words spread around the campus of his status back in Saebom High, making everyone in Hankuk College know about him. Despite this new set of attention that was being directed towards him, he managed to make friends with a few people that he trusts.

Some of them were his classmates in college, some were his friends from music class, and some were his good friends back in high school. 

That day was no different as he walked down the hall to go to his designated locker, only to find a pink paper that had been folded into a cute little heart.

“Another love letter? Dude, at this point you should really date one of them so that this whole shenanigan would stop.” Chan said with a soft chuckled as Minho and Jeongin nodded in agreement with the elder boy. Jisung rolled his eyes as he unfolded the paper and read the confession, that was pretty much the same as the other notes he received.

All of which, never got reciprocated simply because Jisung believes he hasn’t found anyone that peaked his interest yet.

After about 5 minutes, he slammed his locker shut as the four boys began to walk down the hall, not missing the constant shy giggles and whispers from every direction. Jisung simply walked with his charming smile plastered on his face, making some girls feel their heart flutter in their chest.

Just when they had made a left turn, a figure smaller than them came crashing straight into Jisung’s shoulder, causing both individuals to stumble back a step from the impact.

“Watch where you’re going, dumbass.” The girl who was rubbing her shoulder said as she locked eyes with him firmly. Jisung was slightly baffled as no other girl would even dare to look at him straight in the eye.

“Excuse me?” He said, his voice clearly confused but the girl simply rolled her eyes at him, slightly annoyed.

“You heard me. I don’t have to say it twice.” 

“Do you even know who I am?” He asked, slowly starting to feel anger boiling through his veins.

“Do you think I care?” She taunts.

“Other girls would be scrambling away by now.”

“Oh, how exciting. Next time, wear side goggles so you can watch where you’re going.” Was all she said before she shoves past him to continue her journey down the hall to go to her class.

Everyone in that hallway was surprised with their little interaction. Some of them even snickered at her for behaving that way in front of him. As far as he knows, all the girls in school never dared to speak to him in person, nor would they even look at him straight in the eyes for they would either run away in embarrassment, or their face would turn flushed red.

Jisung tried not to think much of it as he continued his walk to his class.

During lunch, the boys had gathered at their usual table. However, Hyunjin and Seungmin were running slightly late this time. They were just a few bites into their meal when Hyunjin’s voice caught everyone at their table’s attention.

“Hey guys! Is it okay if our new friend joins us? She just transferred here so me and Seungmin offered her to have lunch with us.”

At the mention of a female, Jisung whips his head around, only to lock eyes with the same girl he bumped into just a few hours prior.

“You again? Try not to miss your mouth this time when you eat.” She said as her gaze locked on Jisung, leaving him speechless.

Hyunjin and Seungmin exchanged glances at each other in confusion but decided to just carry on with lunch as they ended up sitting with her. If she weren’t too direct, Jisung could almost agree that she was acting quite the opposite towards Hyunjin and Seungmin. Maybe with the others as well. She seemed genuinely friendly and almost effortlessly bright with them. 

If he was being honest, it almost upsets him that she treated him like an outcast as compared to the rest of his close friends. Days slowly but surely became weeks as she started to grow visibly close to Hyunjin and Seungmin probably because they were her classmates.

It was a Friday evening and they all decided to go to a pool bar where they had pool tables for people to play and also have light drinks if they wanted to.

They rented out two tables for themselves as they divided into two teams.

“Y/N! Join our team!” Hyunjin called as Y/N giggled, only for her to catch Jisung staring at her from one of the high stools beside the bar.

“I’ll join if he does.” 

She said as she nodded her head towards Jisung, only for the others to immediately drag him to Hyunjin’s pool table. The game soon started as Hyunjin served first. She seems to surprise them everytime she serves because all her shots were smooth and almost effortless. It was as if she’s done this multiple times.

“Wow, how are you so good at this?” Seungmin asked as she smiled at him, only to answer his question.

“I guess I’m pretty good at aiming.”

The boy giggled as they watched Hyunjin score a ball. All the while, Jisung was silently watching her by the side. 

Not in a creepy way but more like in a confused way. After they finished their one hour at the pool bar, they left to get dinner but she decided to call it a day for her and that she needed to go home to feed her starving kitty.

The boys bid her goodbye as she left, only for Changbin to question his friend.

“Jisung ah, you cannot tell me you’re not the slightest bit intrigued by her…”

With that, Jisung frowned as his mind came swirling back to all the times they’ve hung out with her and gotten to know her better. From all the mean comments tossed at each other like they were flat bread, to the time where she seemed genuinely concerned when Jisung nearly got run over by a speeding truck.

“No… No I’m not.”

Only he knows that it was a total lie but he wasn’t going to admit it to his friends. 

His ego was too high for him to easily admit that after all these years of girls trying so hard to win his attention, all he needed was Y/N to come into the picture and that was all it took for him to finally fall for someone.

Nobody needed to know his true feelings for her. He didn’t think it would be much of a big deal so he opted to keep his feelings to himself. It was another week into April, when Chan decided to invite them over to his apartment to hang out and chill on a chilly Saturday. Chan of course included Y/N in the list, hence the reason why she was currently standing outside his apartment door.

She was wearing a brown fitted crop top, her favourite denim ripped skinny jeans, a bomber jacket and her white converse.

She was greeted by Chan as he opened the door wider for her to enter.

She made it inside only to find Felix and Minho challenging each other in a game of Mario Kart Race. Hyunjin, Seungmin and Changbin were busy playing Call Of Duty on their phones. Jisung, Jeongin and Chan were in the kitchen, cooking up some hot kimchi stew.

Y/N took off her jacket as she went to snuggle in between Changbin and Hyunjin, watching them play an intense game of COD.

She was just laying her head on Changbin’s shoulder when he jerked forward, making her body shake as he turned to Hyunjin and high fived him after winning first place. Just then, he noticed the sad pout on her face at the loss of warmth, making him giggle as he sat back down to let her rest her head on his shoulder again before he whispered.

“Sorry baby.” She giggled as she pinched his abs, making him squeak. He laughed as he corrected himself.

“I’m just kidding.”

She smiled as she nuzzled into his shoulder while they were all occupied with doing their own things. A few minutes later, the 3 boys from the kitchen came back to the living room with the pot of kimchi stew and a rice bowl. 

However, Y/N didn’t miss the subtle frown on Jisung’s face when he saw her leaning her head against Changbin’s shoulder.

The 9 of them began eating diligently as they fit in almost any possible topic they could think off. After they finished their meal, she offered to wash the dishes since they were all busy. Chan told her not to trouble herself but she insisted on helping him.

She was scrubbing the second last bowl when she heard Jeongin’s voice calling from the living room.

“Noona! Come join us after you’re done washing the dishes okay? We’re gonna play truth or drink!”

“Okay Jeonginie.” She sang in a sing-song tune as she could hear some of them chuckle in the back.

As promised, she joined them after she was done with the last bowl, only to sit in between Minho and Seungmin. They went in a circle starting from Chan. It was in a circle until it reached her, only for Changbin to eagerly raise his hand.

“Oh! Oh! I have a good one!” Changbin said as his inner corner of the lips curved up into a cute smile, making her giggle.

“If you could go back to your past, what is the one thing that you would choose not to do?” His question was good. It was theoretical but good.

Suddenly, her eyes just instantly found Jisung’s soft brown ones as she told them her answer.

“The one thing I would choose not to do? Probably allowing myself to think that whatever people said to me was true.”

The guys started to frown as they asked if something bad happened to her back then but she simply shrugged them off and told them to continue the game. It went on until it was Jisung’s turn, only for Y/N to speak up.

“I have something I wanna ask him.”

This came as a surprise for the others but they let her do the honours anyway.

“Do you remember the girl who confessed to you back in high school?” She said. His eyebrows began to link together as he frowned at her sudden question.

“Huh?”

“The one where you rejected her confession by humiliating her in front of the whole school?”

“What are you talking about?” 

“Think harder.” She said.

Suddenly, memories start to flood in his mind like a flash flood.

“H-Hi. I made these for you. I hope you like cupcakes. I k-know a lot of other girls do this for you too, b-but… I-I just thought maybe I should give you something too. I- umm, I like y-you Han Jisung.” The girl confessed as she held out the box filled with her homemade cupcakes that she took time to bake for him the night before.

She bit the inside of her cheeks nervously as she diligently avoided his gaze. Just when she saw his arms reaching out to her thinking he was going to take the box from her, he forcefully smashed the box down making it slip out of her hands.

The students around them began to laugh as Jisung lifted a brow at her.

“Did you really think I’d accept your confession? Look at you. Who would date a girl who ties their hair in pigtails, have her tummy sticking out of her uniform shirt and constantly push the bridge of your spectacles up every 5 minutes? Have you seen yourself in a mirror? Nobody will ever fall for you.”

With that being said, he kicked the metal box away to reveal the fallen cupcakes as he went ahead and stepped on them like it was an insect.

The whole school laughed at her as she ran to the girls bathroom and locked herself in there as she cried her heart out. She was only 13 so it was slightly depressing for her to go through this terrible rejection.

Not only did he reject her in cold blood, he also humiliated her in front of everybody in the process. However, what made her even more upset is the fact that he didn’t seem to feel the slightest bit of remorse for saying those things to her.

That memory was as clear as day as he winced at the thought of how immature he was back then. Nevertheless, he didn’t forget the question he got from Y/N as he went ahead to answer her.

“Yeah… Yeah I remember…”

“Do you remember what you said to her?” Her voice softened as she kept her eyes on him while the rest of them had their eyes trained back and forth between Jisung and her.

“I said… I said she should look at herself in the mirror and that no one will ever fall for her.” 

The boys were shocked by how harsh he was to that said girl. Y/N could only smile sadly to him as she slowly continued. 

“Do you feel bad saying those things to her now?” 

Without much thought, he replied something that broke her heart.

“Why should I?” With that, she tried to hold back her tears as she looked at him dead in the eye before saying these next few words.

“Looks like you’re still that same cocky bastard huh?”

She soon got up from her seat on the floor, only to grab her things to leave when Jisung stood up to grab her wrist, stopping her from taking any more steps further.

“What are you talking about?” He asked, now genuinely confused as to what was going on.

“You’re really dense for someone as arrogant as you.” A scoff left her lips as her eyes bore into his, hoping he understood what she meant. After what felt like forever, Jisung finally realized as it was as though his life just flashed before his eyes.

“Wait… that was you?!” His voice was loud as it was laced with confusion and slight disappointment.

“And what happens if I say yes? Are you gonna ask me if I’ve looked into the mirror and realize that no one will ever fall for me?”

Her words stinged like venoms as he winced yet again but this time, at how hurt she seemed. She didn’t realise this but her tears were no longer held back as a few droplets rolled down her cheeks.

“Your words hurted me back then. So I tried to ignore it and move on. But when you said your answer just now, I realized that maybe you really are just an arrogant jerk.”

She finally pulled her arm out of his grasp as she left without sparing a glance to the others. Jisung has never felt so utterly remorseful, today was the first time. He mentally scolded himself for saying those words back when he was young and immature.

He has never felt so fucked up before, this was definitely the first.

A few days went by, Y/N hasn’t talked to either of the boys, not even Hyunjin and Seungmin. Every time Jisung tried to reach out to her, she would always successfully avoid him. It has been almost 2 weeks since they last talked to her as the boys agreed to go release their stress by going to the downtown club.

They had booked a booth for all 8 of them as they sat in there with some girls coming back and forth to try and get laid with either one of them.

Just then, Jisung’s eyes seemed to scan the room only to see a familiar figure dancing freely on the dance floor. He frowned as he rubbed his eyes to make sure they weren’t playing tricks on him.

He double confirmed that it was in fact Y/N, as he got up and left the booth ignoring the boy’s calls.

Right when he was about to reach the dance floor, he saw her deliberately get dragged through the sweaty, intoxicated humans and towards the back door. He followed them close behind as he saw her struggling to free herself from the man’s hold.

The minute she was out the back, the man pushed her against the brick wall as he attacked her neck forcefully.

“Stop!” She begged.

The man ignored as he started to caress her waist and moved up.

“Stop it!” She tried again as tears started to roll down her cheeks desperately.

The minute she managed to put a distance between herself and the man, the metal back door swung open harshly only for her to lock eyes with Jisung as he rushed down the steps, only to land a solid punch to the man’s jaw.

The man fell to the ground drunkenly as he struggled to stand back up.

“What the fuck man? Get your own girl!” The man said as he grabbed Y/N’s wrist and was about to pull her when Jisung roughly shoved him off again.

The man threw a few drunk punches to Jisung and soon they were both in a fist fight. The two males were starting to have blood clots and bruises all over their bodies and faces when Hyunjin and Changbin came to stop the fight.

“Jisung! Jisung! That’s enough!” Hyunjin yelled as they both grabbed Jisung by his arms and pulled him back.

“Don’t ever touch her again.” Jisung growled as the man stumbled back into the club.

Y/N frowned as she visibly hugged herself, only to see Hyunjin and Changbin give Jisung a subtle nod before they both went back inside, giving privacy to Jisung and Y/N. Once they were alone in the dark alley, that’s when she spoke up.

“Why did you come? Afraid someone might fall for me?”

“You clearly weren't comfortable with him.”

“So what? Why do you care? It’s not like he would fall in love with me. Who am I for someone to even like me? Right?”

Jisung frowned as he called out her name softly but she was quick to intercept.

“I didn’t go to Hankuk to get back at you for what you did to me. Never in a million years did I think I’d even see you again. But now that you’re standing here in front of me, that very day comes back to haunt me again. Because of your words, I have been so afraid of falling for someone, even just a tiny crush. That’s what you did to me Han Jisung and I don’t think I can ever forgive you for that.”

With that being said, she turned in her heels and left. Jisung stood there like an idiot as he cursed himself for letting her walk away yet again. 

If this happened back in high school, he would probably laugh at her. But now that he was actually starting to like her, he has never felt so upset and disappointed. This was probably even worse than a break up.

She refused to speak to him for days after as she avoided everyone in the friend group.

It was a gloomy Friday night as she was laying on her couch sideways, watching a sappy romantic movie to drown her sadness. She was wearing a loose sweater that made it look like a dress on her. Her calf high socks and a pair of shorts she always wore to sleep.

She had just thought about what she could get for supper when there was a knock on her door.

“Who the hell comes at a time like this?” She thought to herself as she went over to her door and opened it without checking the peephole first. She almost stumbled as she locked eyes with the same pair of brown orbs that she’s been trying so hard to avoid for the past few weeks.

“Jisung? What are you doing here?” She asked, genuinely shocked at how he knew her address.

“Y/N, can we talk?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Please just hear me out. I don’t need you to say anything, I just need you to listen.”

She fell silent for a moment before she opened the door wider for him to enter. Once inside, he followed her to her living room, only for them to sit 3 feet apart. She urged him with a slight nod as he took a deep breath and soon began.

“Look. I know whatever I did to you back then was horrible. It was my ego talking. I didn’t know any better. We were so young… How could I possibly feel bad at the time when all I thought was to reject you?”

Just then, she cut him in by saying something that made him rethink his choices.

“You’re telling me that everything you said to me meant nothing to you just because it wasn’t you who received it?”

“I… I wasn’t thinking. I was young-”

“Bullshit. Even a 5 year old kid knows what’s nice and what’s hurtful to say to others. Don’t pull the young card on me.”

“Y/N please-”

“Get out. If you’re still gonna be the same arrogant, highly egoistic jerk then get out. You’ve said things that left a deep scar in my life and here you are saying it doesn’t mean anything? Get out.”

“Y/N-”

“I said get out!” She finally screamed as her chest was heaving, her tears streaming down her face in anger but she didn’t care. She got up as she dragged him to the door, while he tried to fight back. The minute he was out, she slammed the door behind her only to lock it as she found herself sliding down the door, only to sit on the wooden floor.

Her cries were soft, but they were filled with so much pain. On the other side of the door, Jisung could hear her cries as he too kneeled on the ground with his hands against the door.

He could hear her loud and clear as he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. He couldn’t bear to say a word to her as he remained quiet.

The next morning, Y/N woke up suddenly wanting to get herself breakfast to clear her memory from last night. She got out of bed, took a warm shower, got changed into her sweatpants, a big hoodie and a cap. She unlocked her door and had just taken a step outside when she jumped at the slight of Jisung seated on the ground beside her apartment door.

Since he was a light sleeper, the sound of her door opening, woke him up as he quickly got on both feet.

Before she could re-enter her apartment, he pressed his palms against the door to prevent her from closing it as he spoke up softly.

“Y/N, please, please let me explain.” He begged as she wasn’t sure why but she decided to let him in. Once he was inside, they didn’t even bother to go anywhere further into her apartment as he stood by the door and began to explain himself.

“Y/N, please listen to me. I know what I did was bad. At the time, I didn’t realise how humiliating it was for you. But now that I’m an adult, I realized that my actions were extremely horrible and I would never, ever do that to anyone now.” He paused before he continued on.

“I know that whatever I said and did back then, I can’t take any of it back. And I don’t blame you for not forgetting or forgiving me for it. I admit that I deserve this from you. All I ask is for you to give me another chance to start over. But I understand if you want nothing to do with me.” He said with a tiny hope laced in his voice although he wasn’t so confident that she would forgive him this time.

She knew he felt guilty for whatever he did back then so it wasn’t wrong for her to give him a second chance right?

“How would I know you’re not just acting this way to set me up for humiliation again?” She asked.

“Would I say all those things and bring my ego down just to prove that I felt like utter shit after everything you told me, only to humiliate you even further?”

“Nobody knows what your ego is capable of.”

“If my words won’t convince you, would my actions do?”

“What if you do it, only to leave and tell on me to everyone else?”

“I can’t seem to get your trust now, can I?”

“Try being in my shoe and you’ll know.”

“Y/N please… I know I left a deep scar on you emotionally and mentally back then, but please… I beg you, please just… let me start over. I need you to trust me just this once.”

“Fine. But if you abuse my trust, I’m never speaking to you again.” 

“Believe me, you have no idea how fucked up I felt that night at Chan’s.”

Right after he finished his sentence, he didn’t waste anymore time as he reached up to cup her face in both hands and soon kissed her. She instantly melted against his body as he pulled her closer by the waist. His kisses were so gentle, as if he was afraid he would break her again.

His touch was soft as he slid his hands under her shirt only to draw random patterns onto her waist.

Just then, he pulled away from her lips but it was so addicting he couldn’t help but peck her lips one last time before he spoke up.

“I’m really, really sorry Y/N for everything back then. I couldn’t help but feel like complete shit after that night when I found out that was you. You don’t have to forgive me, I totally understand.”

Y/N just smiled as she gently tangled her fingers in his hair at the nape of his neck before she spoke up.

“Would I have let you kiss me if I was still mad?”

He remained quiet as she then continued.

“Besides, I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself so please, don’t take advantage of this.” She warned gently.

Jisung kissed her for slightly longer before he pulled away and whispered against her lips.

“I promise.”

With that, she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest while he snaked his arms around her smaller figure. 

Ever since then, Jisung did everything he could to redeem himself for what he did to her back in high school. She slowly began to fall for him as she gave him a solid second chance and she could see how genuine he was now whenever he did something nice for her. Even if he didn’t say it out loud, she knew that he really tried his best to win her heart. And it worked.

~~~

#stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #stray kids han jisung #stray kids han scenarios #skz han jisung #skz jisung #skz jisung scenarios #skz jisung imagines

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

We Met Within This Screen [chapt. 6]

[Donnie x reader]

sfw, chapter 5 here

Come on, save it, save it, Donnie chanted to himself later that night, at home and tucked away in his room trying to figure out how to neutralize the situation. He paced along his bed back and forth, phone in hand as he wracked his brain thinking about how he'd get her to let it go. He could tell her that she was...overtired? Go the stereotypical route and say it was just her eyes playing tricks on her? Try to play it off as human teenagers messing around on the roof?

She'd gone to bed already. He hated that he couldn't pursue the subject until morning, her morning, but by then, he'd be tired. When she woke, he slept. But he needed to get it resolved as quickly as possible, so he reckoned it was time to pull an all nighter. Luckily, that wasn't anything he wasn't used to.

He figured he'd get the preliminaries out of the way so he could get right to it when she eventually texted back.

"Good morning

I know you're not awake yet but I figured I'd get an early start today.

I want to know, what exactly did you see last night?"

He shut his phone off and set it down on the bed, fingers rubbing his temples. Depending on her answer, this would either be difficult, or near impossible.

The rest of his time was spent just waiting around for her to finally wake up, dodging all his brothers and trying to occupy himself with something. He was fiddling with the radio he kept on the floor next to his bed when his phone notified him of a message. Turning the volume up, some old-school rock played softly. He didn't always keep music on when he worked, which was what he was doing felt like, but something needed to fill the silence. It also made it feel more casual to have the radio on, for both himself and for whoever might stop by his room.

"Good morning to you too

That was...sudden??"

How nice it was to read those words coming from someone who wasn't his family. Not that they said it like that often anyway, but the small gesture hit differently.

"I'm just really curious about what you said you saw."

Curious? Not quite. More like dying to know, and not because he fancied himself some cryptid hunting.

"That's fair I guess

But don't laugh, ok?"

"I'd never, [y/n]"

"Well

Okay

They were big

But no like not the overweight kinf, not even just 'tall guy' kind of big

kind*

You know?"

Yeah, I aware. I'm 6'8" and have a giant shell on my back.

"They?"

He was hoping she'd only seen one of them. Maybe it would have been easier, but, of course, that wasn't the case.

"I think there were two

Idk it just looked really weird, it was dark but the silhouette from the light made them look bulky, I don't know what it was"

Lips pursed tight, he looked up from his phone, and all of a sudden that music in the background was suffocating. He quickly reached over and shut it off. He needed to be able to divert all of his attention to one thing. Except, even though he should have been spazzing over her spotting them (even if just for a split second), a concern crept up in the back of his mind that made him scoff at himself. The need to know was too great.

His eyes fell on his scaled, three-fingered hand as he typed.

"Did it scare you?"

Perhaps it wasn't what he should have been focusing on. But he was. He knew she hadn't seen much, but what if she quipped that it was frightening, or gross, or…?

"I don't know, Bo

I guess it was kind of freaky

Uh, do you actually believe me? That I saw something?"

"'Freaky?'" he repeated to himself in a whisper, brow ridge furrowed. What was I expecting?

He had to shake himself of whatever was going on in his head at the moment, because there were more pressing matters at hand. Like what he was going to answer her question with. Theoretically, he could go two routes; one, invalidate the experience and try to walk on the line of telling her that it was not real without making her feel crazy. And then probably get mad at him. Or two, go along with it, if he didn't have the heart to do that to her. The answer was already here; he let out a deep sigh. Two, it is.

Nothing could make him want to make her feel that way, even if it meant he'd have to put in a little extra effort in fixing his mistake.

"I wouldn't doubt your judgement, [y/n]."

"Thanks

That makes me feel a lot better

You're a really good guy, Bo :)"

Freezing, he sat and stared at the screen before slowly taking the phone away from his face, lips moving, but no sound coming out. He had no idea what to say; all he could focus on was the fact that the girl he undeniably liked thought he was a good guy. And that, presumably, it meant she might have liked him as well. Big on the "might", he realized as the logical part of his mind took over once again. Regardless, he licked his lips and got to preparing a worthy response. He didn't want to come off as flustered as he felt. Donnie was aware he was not particularly suave—he took solace in the fact that she couldn't see his face or hear his voice. He contemplated on acting a bit more "cool guy" than he actually was, but wanted her to like him for him, not a facade. Which was a major contradiction to all that he had done up to that point, but the least he could do was be the person he was on the inside!

"You there?"

"Sorry, I got distracted…

You really think so?"

"That I think you're a great guy?"

"Well...yes."

"Totally. 100%"

His heart was going, he was stammering to himself, and a new feeling enveloped him. He was no stranger to the different emotions; he'd gotten familiar with many of them. Because though he didn't always show it, he had a lot of feelings. These, he felt most viscerally. But he had to get back on track. If he could push last night's incident under the rug, all would be well. More well than it already was, considering.

"Thank you, [y/n]

To be honest, I've never had a friend like you

So, do you want to talk more about what you saw? I know I'm switching tracks quickly, it's just very….interesting."

It was a jarring and awkward subject change, he knew that, but he desperately wanted to get it out of the way. The sooner, the better.

"I suppose

You seem pretty interested in it"

Maybe she wasn't hanging onto the experience like he'd thought she would. There were so many tales of people seeing inexplicable things and becoming enraptured by the experience that he guessed he should only expect the worst, but it appeared that she was not so obsessed. Crisis averted?

"Not too much, I was just wondering

We can forget about it."

"Oh, I'm not going to forget about it, Bo"

There it is, he thought, not surprised.

After thirty minutes of attempting to throw her off without coming off as suspicious himself, he had to take a breather, reorganize his mind. Only to come back and find that she had to go take care of things, and that she'd talk to him later. He'd done as much fixing as he could; at that point, it was as good as it was going to get. The thought of being looked for by his unknowing friend loomed about in the coming weeks as they did their patrols, when they would pass by her residence, and the times that he snuck off to stop by himself. Sometimes accompanied by Mikey, but he tried to keep it as solitary as possible. Soon, watching her on her balcony from that roof became part of his routine. He vaguely thought sometimes that watching her like that could be considered creepy, but that ship had already sailed.

For the third time in the last month he was there yet again, on the same roof, watching the same balcony, watching the same girl. Sometimes they texted, sometimes they didn't. The times he wasn't talking to her as he sat there were the times he daringly crossed the threshold onto the fire escape. There were only a few instances of that. But did he still feel out of his mind doing so? Yes. The window only looked into part of the living room and kitchen, but he felt scandalous to do it. Most of his time there was spent only with his shell against the wall next to the window, just out of sight. He could always hear her faint but noticeable footsteps coming and could easily vault the railing and climb up or drop down. She couldn't get past his keen hearing unless she knew to tread lightly.

Mikey was with him once again, this time out to look for scrap rather than patrol. He'd been buddied up with his younger brother more often ever since their talk that night in Donnie's room. They only stopped by because they were already out and had a viable excuse.

"Does she know about us? Like, me, Leo, Raph..." rambled Mikey, curious, as he practiced one of his new moves with his skateboard. He kicked up onto the ledge of the roof and skidded before hopping off, tucking the board under his arm. "You guys have been together like, what, two months? And she doesn't even know your name."

Fiddling with the strap reaching around his shoulder, Donnie replied matter-of-factly to hide the embarrassment that was ailing him at the thought, "Okay, for starters, we're not 'together'. And secondly, she hasn't mentioned voice chatting in a while."

"And?" He got back on his board, zooming by Donnie.

"My name? It just hasn't come up," Donnie shrugged.

"Call her, then!" Mikey smiled, still preoccupied with his board and trying out his new tricks. Donnie gave a light scoff and shook his head. His brother passed behind him where he sat leaned against the water tower.

"I don't want to just call her out of nowhere, Mikey, she might be asleep."

He also didn't want his brother there when he did.

"You gotta not be so shy!...oh, look, in the window. Right there. See? She's up," he quipped with a small smirk. The curtain was drawn, but the light had turned on at some point, and they could see her silhouette moving past. Donnie looked over his shoulder to say something but felt a hand slip into his pocket on the other side, stealing his phone right off of him. He was fast, but Mikey was faster in jumping into his board and gliding all the way to the other side of the roof with the fussy turtle hot on his trail.

"Mikey, quit it!" Donnie barked, lunging toward him for the phone.

"You'll thank me later!"

The two wrestled for the phone, Mikey holding it just out of reach as he tried to navigate the screen without dropping it.

"Come on," grunted Donnie as the tussle led them near the edge, where Mikey held it precariously over the alley below. His glasses were jostled off his face when a stray hand bumped them, causing them to fall amongst their feet. Squinting, he partially knelt down and searched for the pair while still looking at his brother and his phone, trying to stretch his arm long enough to snatch it. "Really?" he groaned, "just give me the phone!"

Donnie slung out his staff and used the other end to whack his wrist from underneath just as he pulled away from the edge, losing his grip on the phone. Mikey tried to catch it but it bounced off his hand, going right over the side of the roof and plummeting down into the alley.

Mikey froze. Donnie finally found his glasses.

Laughing nervously, Mikey turned back to him, "Whoops…"

When he didn't immediately find the phone on the ground, Donnie knew what happened. He looked over the edge, and there it was, sitting on the pavement in the alleyway. The building wasn't incredibly tall, but enough to do some major damage. He'd have to switch for one of his spares if he didn't want to deal with a busted-up screen.

"I don't need your 'help', Mikey, so leave it alone next time," Donnie said and gave him a narrow-eyed look, huffing as he leaped down to retrieve it.

Mikey may have been insistent, but he knew then it was time to stop. All he wanted to do was help. For his shy, flakey brother to come out of his shell (no pun intended). Donnie, at that time, had the biggest shot out of all of them for something unique and good. He hadn't yet worked out the logistics of how to bridge the gap between the two, but it was a calling of his to help him along.

Donnie watched for people from behind a corner before creeping out to get the phone, which was face down on the concrete. No doubt cracked to all hell if not completely shattered, though it did have a case.

But as he got closer, he heard a voice. From the phone.

He picked up the phone timidly and shot a glance up at the roof, where Mikey was peeking over the edge in apprehension. Without a word, Donnie activated the taser in his staff, pointing it at his brother and zapping it briefly. He flinched and retreated out of sight.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Bo?" she asked again, tone riddled with confusion. "What was that?"

"Uh, yes—hol—hold on, please," stammered out donnie, flying around the corner and pressing flat against the wall as a group of laughing people passed by the alley. "Just one second," he said nervously. Above him, Mikey was rapidly motioning for him to get up there, eyes wide and body trying to stay low. Baffled, Donnie gestured back at him, mouthing at him to keep his pants on for one more minute while he made his way up.

"Hey, what's going on there?" she inquired, concerned.

A street cat abruptly skittered out from between his legs from the dumpster he stood next to, and he had to stifle a startled yelp. He hopped up onto the nearest fire escape, trying to control his breathing. "Hey, hello…[y/n]," he half-chuckled, distracted by working up the building one-armed as he kept as quiet as possible.

"What was all that? And who's 'Mikey'?"

There was suddenly a shout—Mikey's shout—and his stomach did a jump. He sputtered as fast as he could, "I'm sorry [y/n] but this really isn't a good time, and I mean it really isn't," he pulled himself up onto the roof, and there was Mikey, fending off men clad in black, "so I have to go, but—"

"Don, dude! I need help over here!" cried his brother, sliding out of the way as a sword was jabbed towards him. He countered with a harsh uppercut to the man's chin, sending him stumbling backwards. The blade fell to the concrete with a clank.

"'Don'? Bo, what the hell?! Who is with you? And—"

Donnie jumped into the battle, a mix of nine or ten armed men with swords other weapons, and Mikey trying to stave them off, swinging his chucks with nothing short of reckless abandon. But he still didn't hit himself with them.

Ending the call, he secured the phone in his pocket. He wailed the guy closest to him in the side of the head with the heavy staff, then kicked him in the chest. The man fell to the blow, and Mikey ducked underneath the length of Donnie's weapon just in time as the two came together. Stray bullets flew past them, some colliding with their shells as they spun around for protection.

"How was it?!" Mikey yelled over the clamor, breathless. Donnie sidestepped from the rapid hit he sent towards the human to his left.

"What are you talking about?!" Donnie loudly questioned, flummoxed of what could have been going on in his brain during a fight. "We're kind of in the middle of something here!"

"Your phone call!"

"Yeah, the hell's the talkin' about, Don?" a gruff voice cut through the jumble.

Both of the boys whirled around to see their older brothers there, weapons drawn.

"Oh, right. As soon as I saw those bad guys coming, I let them know," said Mikey casually to Donnie, throwing his fist into the face of the man coming up behind him. "You know, standard biz."

With the rest of the team there, the fight was over twice as fast. Some groaning in pain and some unconscious bodies littering the area, along with their weapons. Leo finished the last one and sheathed his swords, eyes on their tallest brother while Raph kept watch around them. Donnie swallowed as Leo approached him.

"Don, you said you were going out for scrap metal," Leo stated.

In the background, Mikey grabbed his skateboard and was going to try to kickflip over one of the knocked out guys, but Raph yanked the board from him, growling. He checked all of the men to make sure they were down and would stay down.

"We were...just on our way back?" Donnie answered. Nearby, there was a small pile of scrap he'd collected, though definitely not enough to justify being out that long.

"So you stopped at your friend's place?" Leo deadpanned, crossing his arms. "Didn't you think that this could get her in trouble, too? Her apartment's right there, dude!"

Mikey budded in and corrected him, "Ah, we stopped by [y/n]'s. And nah! It's all good."

Donnie's face twitched. "Of course I thought about it! That's why I've only come here three times since, and only thirty minute intervals!" he bit back, throwing his hands up. The rest of his brothers all looked at him and his specificity. "I'm not naive, Leo."

The leader pushed past the both of them, signalling that it was time to leave, and they followed. Not before Donnie got what little metal he had collected and put away his staff, tucking the stuff under his arm. Raph joined alongside Donnie as they ran. "What's with all the secret' stuff, Don? First, ya hide it to begin with, then, ya make out like you were done, and now you get jumped by Foot guys by her place when you shoulda been gettin' scrap!" he said. "How were we supposed to cover for ya if you're lyin' even after we let you off?"

"Technically, I did get some!" Donnie remarked. He held up a piece of the scrap for him to see, and Raph snorted. "But..."

Well, his question would be a little harder to answer.

Next block was the nearest manhole, where each turtle swiftly jumped in, knowing by heart (and years of wandering) most of the sewers and the way back home. In some tunnels was Mikey's telltale graffiti, but it was scattered throughout the place enough to not be a giant arrow to their hideout. In the last portion of the run was the tunnel they always slid down, and once they were actually home, Donnie knew what was coming. Master Splinter was already waiting for them by the time they arrived.

"Uh-oh," Mikey said upon seeing him, sinking behind his brothers. Raph pushed him back up front.

Dropping the scrap in his arms, Donnie squeaked, "That's not good." He quietly cursed how high pitched his voice became when he was nervous.

"Yeah…" Leo cleared his throat, looking down at his hands clasped in front of him. The situation had an awkward tension for everyone in it, save for Raph, who was immune to it by then and Splinter himself. "We took care of the soldiers," he added more seriously. "Got out of there before too much attention was drawn.

"The police may be able to handle them from here, but it will not make a dent in the Shredder's forces," explained Splinter, grave as he paced along the line of brothers. "He owns the city. Until I say so, there will be no venturing to the surface. You are all lucky to be unharmed."

"That ain't it," Raph piped up. "But they'll be bringin' the big guns, next time."

"Oh, I am well aware."

"Um...of which thing?" the nervous turtle questioned, exchanging glances to Raph and then Mikey.

Splinter raised his brows knowingly, and that was all it took for Donnie. The floodgates of his signature anxious chatter opened. He grabbed the edge of Mikey's shell and pulled him over into the spotlight with him, "I met someone over an online game and we started texting after a few weeks, and—and Leo found out and I said I would stop, but we never told you," he gestured toward their brother in blue, who refused to make eye contact, "so I told her that it was through and then Mikey somehow convinced me to go back on it," he sucked in a breath, and Mikey grinned uncomfortably, "and then we started talking again and I don't know why, but I went back there to her apartment building and it was just…stupid."

There was a cumbrous pause. Donnie was stiff as a board, Mikey couldn't look at any one thing too long, Leo stood in his polite but awkward stance, and Raph started to whistle.

As poised as ever, Splinter spoke. "I know."

All four pairs of eyes shot to their father.

"What?"

"Uh..."

"Huh?"

"Wait."

They expressed their collective confusion at the same time, and Splinter chuckled. Donnie wanted nothing more than to be able to retreat into his shell, but that was physically impossible. "Nothing gets past me, especially not you and your nervous habits, Donatello. You are scratching that spot on your neck again, son."

Flinching, Donnie pulled his hand away. He'd be damned; Splinter was right.

But unbeknownst to them, there had been spectator of their fight on the roof that night.

————————————————————————————————

shh do not think too deeply about this my children

a/n: haha plot device go brrrr

i need to finish this cursed fanfiction

#tmnt #tmnt donnie x reader #tmnt Donatello #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2016 #tmnt 2014 #tmnt bayverse #tmnt x reader #tmnt donnie #donatello #donatello x reader #tmnt donatello #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt michaelangelo #fanfiction #tmnt fanfiction #writing #tmnt leo #tmnt raph #tmnt mikey

[hermannsthumb]

I've read fics where Hermann disapproves of PDAs but what about the reverse? As in he's so stunned at winning the most amazing man in the Shatterdome (6 phds, literal rockstar, gorgeous Newt) that he deliberately provokes contact and shows of affection. Just to show off to people and send a clear back off signal. And Newt just dotes on him obliviously.

ok this one is another super old prompt and when I was writing it this week it KINDA got away from me. but I hope everyone enjoyyyys. partially inspired from conversations with @k-sci-janitor 👀 totally sfw, except for one brief reference

anyway, a fic about hermann being all affectionate with newt and also discovering what relaxation is 

——————————————-------------------------------------------

The day after the world doesn’t end, Hermann brings Newt breakfast in bed.

Honestly, it surprises Newt more than the whole world not ending thing. Up until the previous evening, after all, Newt was pretty damn sure the guy absolutely hated him, and that if Hermann was gonna do something as out of character as bringing him breakfast, it surely meant he’d spat in it first. Or maybe poisoned it. If hated isn’t the right word, Newt would say Hermann at the very least barely tolerated. And then the whole sharing the neural load thing happened. And, after that, hugging, not once, but twice, and then falling asleep in bed together. And now Hermann’s perched on the edge of his bed (which they shared while they slept) and handing him a plate.

“You had quite the busy day yesterday,” Hermann says kindly. Hermann has never spoken to Newt kindly before. Atop the plate are two pieces of toast, a soft-boiled egg, and a mug of coffee. The coffee and toast (Newt notices) are exactly the shade he prefers. He wonders if Hermann picked up on it before or after the whole mind-melding thing. Before wouldn’t surprise him—Hermann has always been weird about noticing details like that. The egg, however, is something purely Hermann in taste. “I imagine you could use a nice spot of breakfast,” he adds.

Newt shoves his glasses on and blinks at Hermann groggily. He struggles to sit up, partially tangled in his sheets, and then takes the plate. A little bit of coffee sloshes down onto one of the slices of toast. “Are you wearing my sweatshirt?” he says.

Hermann smiles and looks down at the ragged old MIT sweatshirt he’s tossed on. He may have a few inches on Newt, but he’s still one skinny motherfucker, and it hangs almost comically off his frame. “I am,” he says. “I poked around in your closet, I hope you don’t mind. My clothing was in a rather sorry state.”

Sorry state is an understatement for both of them. Newt’s surprised they haven’t been formally ordered to burn the shit they wore to the bone slums yet. Blood, dirt, and kaiju guts aside, Newt’s, at least, reeks to high heaven with sweat. “No worries,” Newt says. He picks up the coffee and blows on it. He wonders where Hermann got coffee that smells this good. It’s been hard to find anything decent and non-instant on the base these days, and (thanks to limited rations) chain shops like Starbucks cost an arm and a leg for even a small. He also wonders what people thought when they saw Hermann strutting around the base with bedhead in a sweatshirt that obviously wasn’t his. Newt almost wants to blush on his behalf. Scandalous.

Before Newt can so much as take a sip of the coffee, Hermann is suddenly unbuckling and shucking off his grey slacks. “Dude!” Newt yelps, flushing bright red to the tips of his ears. Hermann blinks at him innocently. “What are you doing?”

It’s not so much that Newt is upset as it is that it’s so wildly out of character for Hermann that he feels he owes it to Hermann to act at least moderately scandalized. In all his years of knowing and working alongside Hermann, he’s never so much as seen Hermann’s bare wrist before. Now he’s in Newt’s goddamn bed flashing calves, and thighs, and neatly-pressed little white briefs… Hermann rolls his eyes and tosses the slacks (unfolded!) onto Newt’s desk chair. “Making myself comfortable,” he says. “Would you like me to stop?”

Does Hermann iron his underwear? It would be at odds with the rest of his clothing if he did, which is usually in various stages of frumpy to outright wrinkled, but Newt can’t think of how else it would look like that. He wonders if Hermann’s stitched his name on the inner waistband. It seems like the kind of thing Hermann would do. Newt suddenly realizes he’s been staring at Hermann’s briefs (and, worse still, considering how cute Hermann looks in just them and Newt’s sweatshirt) for an uncomfortably long time, so he quickly shakes his head and drags his eyes to Hermann’s face. One of Hermann’s eyebrows is quirked up. Newt hasn’t been subtle. “No,” he says. He clears his throat. “No, dude, you’re—all good.”

He chokes down a too-hot sip of coffee to have something to do with his mouth.

Hermann smirks.

The bedcovers are drawn back. Hermann slips under them and drapes an arm across Newt’s chest, his hand curling protectively over Newt’s hip. With his other hand he snags Newt’s coffee from his grasp and takes a sip. Newt watches his jaw and throat work as he swallows it, a funny feeling blooming in the pit of his stomach. The mug is handed back over, Hermann’s fingers brushing against Newt’s, which make Newt feel even funnier. “Newton,” Hermann declares. “I think we ought to have sex.”

“Oh,” Newt says. “Can I finish my breakfast first?”

“Certainly,” Hermann says.

Newt’s heart pounds as he spreads a little packet of margarine across one of the pieces of toast; he can feel Hermann’s eyes on him, never straying once. Hermann’s hand draws little circles on his hip. Newt drops his toast twice to the plate before he can successfully take a bite, and even when he does, he doesn’t taste it. Hermann’s fingers dip under the hem of his t-shirt. Newt swallows his toast. “Why?” he says.

Apparently it’s the right question. Hermann nods, like he’s pleased Newt has asked. Like they’re talking theories or something. “I came to the conclusion while I fetching your coffee,” Hermann says. “It occurred to me that I wouldn’t have gotten up at seven in the morning to get coffee for just anyone. Then, of course, there is the whole drifting business—”

“You realized you wouldn’t have done that for just anyone too, huh?” Newt says with a smile. Hermann’s hand on his hip stills, and his cheeks go pink. Newt’s relieved to have gotten some ground back here. “Hermann, that’s sooo romantic.”

“The world was at stake,” Hermann sniffs.

“It’s okay,” Newt says. “I won’t tell anyone the great Dr. Gottlieb has feelings. So, what, you realized you have a big ole crush on me?”

Hermann takes the unfinished piece of toast from him and sets it down on his plate. He pulls Newt’s glasses off, kisses him soundly, and then puts Newt’s glasses back on. His mouth tastes like toothpaste. “On the contrary, I’ve always suspected it,” he says. “It’s just that now I have the time to confirm it.” He reaches up and strokes at Newt’s hair. “We have the time for lots of things, now, Newton. Whatever we’d like.”

Newt finishes off his coffee quickly, not even caring when he burns his tongue, and then tosses the remainder of his breakfast to the floor. His egg spills onto the massacred skinny corduroys he wore yesterday. Whatever, Newt’s burning them anyway. “God, get overhere already, man,” he says, tugging at Hermann’s borrowed sweatshirt. He needs to help Hermann confirm his crush or whatever, pronto.

--

It’s a few days before Newt and Hermann finally drag themselves out of bed and to the lab to tackle what little work remains for them to do—cataloguing what are apparently the last kaiju samples known to man (Newt), recording and backing up their drift data (Newt’s solo drift, and then their joint data), drawing some random scribbles on the board and pretending they’re important calculations about the possibility of the Breach reopening (Hermann. Okay, whatever, maybe they are important). Unfortunately, the delay isn’t for any sexy reasons, as much as Newt would’ve liked it to have been. The events of the last day of the war caught up with them pretty quickly after that morning in Newt’s bed, and they mostly just slept, ordered out dinner, popped ibuprofen for their various aches, and avoided medical at all costs. (Rumor had it the medical staff on base were looking for him and Hermann so they could do some brain scans. Apparently drifting with a kaiju brain is potentially dangerous, who knew.)

A rancid smell washes over them the second they push the heavy lab doors open, and Newt spots several hunks of kaiju organs rotting away on his workbench. Hermann clamps a hand to his mouth. “Oops,” Newt says, turning to Hermann sheepishly. He can’t help but cower as he does. He and Hermann got along swimmingly the past couple days—it’ll be sad to see all that hard work go down the drain over this. “Guess I forgot to clean up the other day. In my defense—we were kind of busy.”

But Hermann doesn’t snap at Newt, or thump his cane on the ground, or call Newt an idiot, or even look annoyed; he lowers his hand from his mouth and laughs. Albeit a terse laugh, but still. Newt gapes at him. “We were rather busy,” Hermann concedes. “So long as you clean it up in the next ten minutes, I—what, Newton?”

“Nothing,” Newt says, quickly. “I’m gonna—um—deal with it now.”

Hermann disappears from the lab while Newt is digging around in the storage closet for extra heavy-duty trash bags. When he comes back an hour later, he’s holding a cardboard tray of small plastic cups, and Newt has just hefted his last spoiled sample into the lab’s airtight biohazard bin (a bit mournfully, if he’s being honest, since he’s sure there’s still more to learn about the kaiju from them). Newt squints at the cups in the tray while he rips his messy disposable work gloves off. “What’s that?” he says.

“Iced coffee,” Hermann declares.

The gloves slap, wetly, into the biohazard bin, and Newt lets out a low whistle. “Dude. No way. From where?” He’s not sure when he gave off the impression that the way to his heart was good coffee, but maybe it’s true. Then again, Hermann could probably win him over with a cup of lukewarm tap water. Not because Newt is desperate or anything. He just really likes Hermann.

“A little shop a bit away from the base,” Hermann says. “I took the bus.” He draws back his chair and sits down with a soft sigh, setting his cane against his desk. Then he draws out a small brown paper bag from his parka pocket. He tosses it to Newt; Newt catches it with one hand. “They had these funny little cakes on sticks. I thought you might like one.”

“Cake pops?” Newt says.

“I presume,” Hermann says. While Newt inhales the little chocolate-dipped cake pop (which is so good, oh my God, Newt hasn’t had dessert that didn’t come from a vending machine in plastic shrink wrap in years), Hermann adds, “I wasn’t sure what sort of iced coffee you liked, so I made sure to get a variety.”

“Sick,” Newt says, spewing crumbs on his shirt. “Um. But, like, why though?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Hermann says. “I suppose I wanted to do something kind for you.” He carefully slides a straw out of its paper wrappings and pokes it into the lid of one of the coffees. Once he crumples up the wrapper and tosses It into his train bin, he grips his cane, and uses the handle to nudge Newt’s desk chair towards him. “You worked awfully hard cleaning the laboratory.”

Newt preens a little, even as he privately wonders why Hermann’s acting so weird. Well, nice. But nice is weird for Hermann, so they’re basically the same thing. Is this part of his whole deciding whether or not he digs Newt thing? Newt just assumed the awesome morning they spent together would be proof enough of that. Then again, Hermann’s pretty thorough. “I guess,” Newt says. “It was kind of my mess, though.”

Hermann pats at the empty chair with a smile. Hermann’s smiles are so rare—crooked, and stupid cute—that Newt’s heart gives a painful little twist at the sight of it, and he realizes he doesn’t actually give a shit about why Hermann’s being all weird, actually. “You’ve earned a break,” Hermann says. “Besides, I’d like to spend time with you.”

Newt’s too stunned to argue with that one. When he sits down, Hermann inches their chairs together until their knees are touching.

--

They don’t necessarily fall back into their usual habits by the next week, but the better ones they’ve picked up (being a little kinder to each other, a little more patient, a little more respectful, and also the fact that Hermann can’t seem to stop touching Newt) all but fall into the background as Newt throws himself into his work with renewed determination. Unfortunately, his desire to get it all done as soon as fucking possible speaks less to his awesome work ethic, and more to the fact that he’s just not sure what else to do with himself now, and he likes that work gives him the excuse to not think about it. Hermann said they have all the time to do whatever they like now. Well, Newt likes working. He knows working. Relaxation is a foreign concept to him, and it was a foreign concept to Hermann up until recently. While Newt is toiling away over his decaying kaiju samples in the lab, Hermann is out—

“Where?” Newt says.

Hermann gives Newt the most serene smile Newt’s ever seen cross his face. “I took a bath,” he says. “It was very nice. I bought some nice soaps, and lit some candles, and looked online to see how to do one of those mud masks. It was very relaxing. You ought to try it.”

“Try bathing?” Newt says.

“Yes. Well, no. I mean taking a bath. Is there something you’re not understanding?”

Newt tries to imagine Hermann with a mud mask on his face and cucumbers over his eyes and fails miserably. Hermann hates messes. He would never stand for mud, let alone on his skin. Where’d he even find a bathtub? Did he break into the rangers’ locker room again? Aren't candles banned on base for being a fire hazard, anyway? “Yeah,” Newt says. “Pretty much all of it.”

Hermann shakes his head with a snort, and Newt catches a whiff of something floral and fragrant—his fancy new soap or oil, he guesses. “I’m not surprised. You know, Newton, you are awfully tense.”

Hearing that from Hermann of all people, the king of having-a-massive-stick-up-your-ass, is probably the funniest thing that’s ever happened to Newt. He laughs out loud and plunges a bare hand into his kaiju sample with a gross squelching noise. “Sure, dude.”

He’s almost too engrossed in his sample to feel Hermann sidling up behind him and setting a hand at his waist. He definitely feels Hermann nose a kiss behind his ear, though, and the hot flush that spreads down across his neck from it. Newt’s hand goes sweaty around his scalpel. One thing he definitely wasn’t expecting from a post-no-apocalypse Hermann is how free he is with affection in any and all forms. “Give it a rest, love,” Hermann murmurs. He nudges at the heel of Newt’s boot with the end of his cane. Love? “Why don’t we head back to my quarters and watch a film? You can pick.”

“But.” Newt fidgets. “I have—my sample—”

Another little kiss. The soapy-oil smell is stronger now. Newt thinks it might be lavender. He wonders if the mud mask left Hermann’s skin all soft. “It won’t be going anywhere, Newton.”

Newt sets down his scalpel.

When they they pass by a group of LOCCENT staff in the hallway, Newt makes to drop Hermann’s hand (which Hermann had laced together with his own before they left the lab), but Hermann holds fast, maybe even faster than before, and looks at him with his stupidly sweet set of big eyes. Newt waits until they round the corner to say anything. “Sorry,” he says, lamely. “Um. I thought—you wouldn’t want—” Hermann continues to stare at him. His iris is still ringed red like Newt’s. “I just mean I know you’re weird about stuff like that. Public stuff.” Hermann has been a closed and tightly-bound book for as long as Newt’s known him; he can’t imagine that would suddenly change and he would start broadcasting his emotions far and wide in the course of a week just because he’s a little less stressed.

Or, you know. Maybe Newt’s totally wrong on this. “Ah,” Hermann says. He nods, very seriously. “Yes. I have been considering that as well. I see no reason to hide recent developments in our relationship.” He squeezes Newt’s hand. "In fact, I see no reason to not be quite, er, proud of them. You’re quite the catch.”

Newt remembers the stolen sweatshirt. Maybe Hermann wearing it out to get them breakfast was more calculated than he realized. “So if I made out with you against the wall right now you wouldn’t be mad?” Newt says.

“Well,” Hermann says, inclining his head to his door, "seeing as my quarters are right there, it seems a rather unnecessary inconvenience.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Newt smiles as Hermann leads him in. “Can I really pick the movie?”

“Within reason.”

#newmann #maria's fanfiction tag #esperata

[pixie88]

Rory Bear

A/N: Those who play Lovelink know Rory O’Brien. He recently when grey on me, I miss him so decided to do a FF especially for him! He is one hot dad, who looks like Chris Evans. This might be a one shot piece or I might continue I’m not sure yet.  Let me know if you would like to be tagged or untagged!

Find my other Rory O’Brien FF HERE on my masterlist under Lovelink - One shots.

Comments always welcome!

Word count: 2317

WARNINGS: ⚠️ NSFW & Fluffy fluff

Disclaimer: Characters are property of Lovelink.

Pairings: Rory x MC - Laila

Enjoy!

It's been two days since I've heard from Rory while he was washing his car. I don't want to bother him, I know he's busy with work and Amy. So, I get dressed and take Winnie for a walk. It's a sunny winter's day, we spend an hour in the park playing fetch before I grab a hot chocolate from the food van in the park.

We are nearly home when I hear my phone, I pull it out of my bag and the screen lights up.

*Lovelink - Rory has sent you a message*

[Hi Laila, How are you? I was thinking about our last conversation and I have my answer, but I want to tell you in person.]

I reply once I get inside.

[Hey Rory, I'm fab thanks you? How is Amy? Oh ok, I'm glad you've have come to a conclusion.]

[I'm not great tbh. Amy is fine, she has an art show at school tomorrow night.]

[Oh no, what's wrong? Aww, bless her! Has she made an art piece?]

[I've missed you! I was thinking would you be up for coming? My mom and dad will be there too. So, I understand if it's too much too soon. Yeah, she's done a drawing of you.]

[I can't say I haven't missed you. Oh, are you sure you want me to be there if your parents are? Is this your way of getting me to the art show? Because it's working.]

[Yes, I want you there and so does Amy after you helped her at her dance recital she wanted to do something to say thank you. If it means you'll come then yes haha.]

[Fine, I'll come, but only because I'm curious about this drawing. Plus, I want to see you and Amy! What time does it start?]

[Thank you so much Amy will be so pleased about you coming! It starts at 6 pm but I can come and pick you up at about 5.30 pm?]

[Just Amy? Ok, 5.30 is great. Can't wait to see you both]

[I'm super excited to see you too! Great, I'll see you then.]

(He wants me to meet his parents? Does that mean he's ready to move on? I guess I'll find out tomorrow)

~*~*~*~

The next day I drop Winnie round to my neighbours house. I'm just finishing up. I decided on a blue blouse undone slightly and black jeans with knee-high boots.

Ding Dong!

He's here! I open the door, Rory smiles "Laila, you look beautiful!"

"Thank you! You look handsome yourself. Ready to go?" I ask.

"Aww, thanks. Yeah, Amy is in the car"

"Great, let's go!" We walk over to the car and Amy smiles brightly at me as we approached the car.

Rory opens the door for me "Such a gentleman"

He smiles "Only the best for you" 

He seems different from the past two dates lighter and more confident. He closes the door.

"Hey, Amy how are you?"

"I'm ok thanks. Are you?"

Rory gets into the car.

"I'm great thanks Amy" Rory starts the engine. It's not long before we arrive at the school.

When we get inside, Rory waves at an elderly couple I'm guessing are his parents. They make their way over to us "Rory, Amy and who might this be" the elderly lady says.

"Mom, Dad this is Laila. She's my date, Laila and Laila this is my mother Philippa and my father, Albert"

"Hi, nice to meet you both!"

"Rory you didn't tell us you were dating again! I'm so happy for you" Philippa says.

"She's beautiful too," Albert says.

"She is," Rory gives me a look that sends butterfly's through my body.

I smile.

"Laila, come on I want to show you my drawing!"

Amy grabs my hand and leads me to her drawing "Amy, this is beautiful!"

"I added Dad on to it. The love heart is you two falling in love"

"Oh wow! What's the rainbow for?"

She smiles "Nothing, I just wanted to add a rainbow"

"Oh ok! Well, it's better than any rainbow I have ever drawn!" We laugh as Rory and his parents appear behind us.

"Do you like it, Daddy?"

"Amy it's amazing, but I thought you said it was a drawing of Laila?"

"It is! There is Laila and there is you and that is you falling in love!" Rory blushes.

We look round at all the other art pieces Rory comes up behind me as I'm looking at a paper mache volcano. I feel his breath on the back of my neck "Are you ok?"

I turn "Hey, Yeah I'm fine you?"

"Laila, I'm sorry about Amy's picture"

"It's cute," I smile at him.

"Well, we have 5 minutes to ourselves can we talk?" he asks.

"Sure"

"On our last date you said you didn't think I was ready to move on," he says.

"I did and I also said you needed to think about what you wanted"

"Yes, you did," he says.

"So, Rory have you figured it out?"

"I did...Laila, I've had a long hard think about it and I'm ready! My walls are coming down for you!" He gives me a cheeky grin.

"Are you sure? I don't want to push you into something you aren't ready for!"

"Laila, I'm one hundred percent positive" His arms wrap around me, and he pulls me in tight.

I giggle "Rory!" I wrap my arms around him "You're like a bear! Rory bear!"

He laughs "Is that my new pet name?"

"It will be!" I laugh.

We de-tangle ourselves from each other Amy runs over excited "Laila, Daddy come on they're announcing the winners" she drags us over to where her teacher is on stage.

"Evening, parents and students I am proud to announce the winners from Falcon class. Third place goes to Isla Johnson. Well done Isla!"

We clap little Isla as she steps on stage to accept her award.

"Second place goes to Amy O'Brien, Well done Amy!"

Amy's face lights up as she turns to us "Yes! I got second place!!"

"Well done Amy!" Rory beams at her.

"Go claim your award! Amy!" Albert tells her.

She runs on stage and accepts her award. She comes back off stage, and we don't even hear who wins first place.

"This calls for a celebration! Why don't Grandad and I take you out for dinner sweetpea?" Philippa asks.

"Yes, please!" she turns to Rory.

"Daddy, can I go? Please?" Amy asks.

"Aren't Laila and I invited?"

She laughs "Daddy, you and Laila should have some time together!"

"Yeah, we'll watch Amy for a few hours. You two go and enjoy yourselves" Albert offers.

Rory looks at me with a look I have never seen from him before "Are you sure?" he asks.

"Of course! We love any chance to spoil our grandchild" Philippa says.

"Ok, but make sure you behave for Nanna and Grandad. OK?"

Amy smiles "Deal! Bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, sweetheart!"

Amy takes her grandparents' hands and leads them toward the exit.

Rory turns to me "Do you want to come back to mine? I could cook us dinner?"

"Ok, sounds perfect!"

We make our way to his car, and he opens the door for me "Thank you!"

He winks, closes the door, and gets into the driver's seat "Amy likes you"

I smile at him "She's a lovely kid! You did a brilliant job!"

He blushes "Thank you, Laila. You know when her Mom died, I thought how am I going to do this by myself and get it right?"

I take his hand "Well, you smashed it!"

He lifts my hand to his lips and places a small kiss against my knuckles.

10 minutes later we pull up to his house, he comes round to my side of the car and opens the door "You know I will expect you to open every door I go to walk through now" I laugh.

"It would be my pleasure!" He winks. He takes my hand and entwines his fingers through mine as he leads me to the house.

He unlocks the door and I step inside with Rory close behind as soon as the door shuts, he presses me against the wall his lips claim mine.

His kiss is full of passion, want, and desire. I'm pressed against the hard wall and his muscular body. I wrap my arms around him, his hands come under my thighs, and he lifts me up.

He starts grinding against my core "Rory" I feel he's stiff against me.

He moves us away from the wall, his lips never leaving mine. He guides us upstairs, kicks open a door and we fall onto his bed. He pulls away a little "Laila, I want you! I'm ready"

I giggle, "I kinda figured that"

His eyes are alight with desire "If you don't want this..."

I cut him off, he gets the hint. He moves from my lips and down to my neck and back up to my ear, his lips brush against it "You're so beautiful!" his hands start to unbutton my blouse his lips feather kisses against my chest.

I push off his suit jacket, pull his sweater vest up over his head and I grab his tie and pull him down towards my lips. He groans as his hand dips into my jeans, he brushes against me and I can't help arch off the bed. I yank his tie off and begin to unbutton his shirt.

I become breathless at the sight of his toned body. I flip us, crash my lips to his and work my way down his breathing shudders as I pepper kiss over his chest down to his abs "Laila!" I unbuckle his belt and he shifts helping me get him out of them.

I trail kisses up his inner thigh I pull him free of his boxers. He's hard I take him in my hand and circle around the tip he bucks up "Ah, ah, ah! Rory bear!"

He hisses in frustration "Christ...Laila!"

I work my mouth against him. His hand tangles into my hair moving me to his rhythm.

"Laila, you have to stop," he pulls me up onto the bed next to him, he moves to hover over me. He pulls off my boots and jeans in one swift manner.

His tongue invades my mouth, his taste still lingering there. His lips kiss along my purse line, my collarbone to my breast he unclips my bra and tosses it to the floor.

His lips cover my nipple "Crap Rory!" He moves to my tummy nipping as he goes definitely hard enough to leave bite marks. His hands pull at the waistband of my underwear until they are gone. He pulls a silver packet out of the bedside cabinet draw.

"Laila, it's been a while so I might be a little rusty" he lifts my legs his mouth finds my centre.

He moves my folds apart with his tongue I cry out unable to hold back a moan "Rory bear, you definitely have......not forgot how to do that!" I clutch his hair and move my hips wanting more.

He works against my clit "Nice to know I haven't lost my touch!" He doubles his efforts I'm barely holding on!

I pull him up to my lips he pulls away enough our lips aren't touching, but his forehead is against mine "Laila, are you sure this is what you want? Me? Everything that comes with me?"

"Yes! I want all of you!" This is all he needs to hear.

He rips the foil packet open with his teeth and rolls the condom on. He brushes his stiffened member against me and pushes past my entrance filling me. His lips forcefully captures mine, he groans. Each thrust he draws out slowly then thrust back fast and hard, I can't get enough of him!

My nails dig into his back, he hisses "God Laila!" His lips move to my pulse line every nerve ending feels electrified with each thrust, touch, kiss I can barely hold back a moan. I flip us both to his surprise "Whoa!" He screams.

"I need a bit of control too!" I start to move my hips riding him.

"By all....means I'm.....willing to....let....you take ohh god....the reins!" He struggles to get his words out.

His hands grasp my hips, and he bucks to match my rhythm "Ooooh Rory bear!"

He smirks "You know I love....this neeew pet name!" He groans.

He sits up placing his hand on the back of my neck, pulling me to his lips. He catches my lip between his teeth as he pulls me tight against his bare chest, "I can't..."

His lips brush against my ear "Let go, Laila! I'm barely holding on myself!" This is all it takes to send me falling over the edge. Rory shudders as he finds his own climax.

We are both panting barely catching our breath. He smiles up at me "Laila, that was...wow just wow!"

I smile "It was amazing!"

He pulls me into a soft kiss we are interrupted by the sound of his phone.

I collapse onto the bed next to him while he reaches for it. He reads the message "Everything OK?" I ask.

He turns to me with a cheeky smile "Just my Mom, she's going to have Amy for the night!"

"Oh?"

He lay next to me "You know what that means?" He smirks.

I try to hide a smile (I know exactly what it means by the smile on his face) "What does it mean?"

"Round 2" he pulls me onto him.

"HEY! You promised to cook me dinner!"

He smirks "We'll order in...After!"

He starts laying kisses along my pulse line, and we get lost in each other embrace again.

I’m tagging you because I know your a Lovelink fan lovely @khoicesbyk​

#lovelink #roryobrien #rory x mc #ludia #ludia lovelink #lovelink fanfic #rory o'brien #rory o'brien fanfic #smut #fanfic

[riseofarmy]

01 | YOONGI KNOWS BEST

i can do this all day 01 | yoongi knows best

author : @riseofarmy

pairing : kim seokjin x original character

words : 1938

i can do this all day masterlist

previous chapter

DARLING

Yoongi squints his cat eyes and looks into my own from the folds of my jacket, but doesn't make a sound. Good boy. It's like you can read my mind. I stand still for what feels like an eternity, tuning out my heartbeat to check for any unusual sounds.

The one time I hadn't checked if other people were following, some whackjob had managed to tail me. If it hadn't been for Yoongi's soft hiss - something he only does around strangers - I wouldn't have even known I was being followed and would have led the creeper straight to the Han inheritance.

Just thinking about how close I had been to losing the treasure sent a shiver through me.

So thanks again, Yoongi. You and your hatred for social interaction saved our asses.

In acknowledgement of my mental gratitude, Yoongi pokes his head out of my jacket again and looks around. We were right in front of the entrance to the old Han tomb, which was embedded in a small hill among the Mount Ilsan forests. The tomb itself was made of light grey stone and extended into the mound, with the open entry leading to a locked door.

I pause under the entry for another minute, patting his soft, black fur and gathering my wits. It had taken me over a year to move back to Daehan-Minguk, but now that I was here it felt like my plan finally had a shot at success. The one thing I needed to make all my wishes come true was inside my tomb, and all I needed to do was get my hands on it.

The magic lamp.

"We'll go find it one day, Darling," my dad had said to me one day, when I was still too young to know how evil people can be. "Then I can treat your mum like the queen she is to me."

But first, I needed to get in.

I walk through the entry, where I'm faced with an imposing set of double doors made of the same grey stone I assume is used through the whole tomb. Yoongi nuzzles my hand when I bring it to my neck, where a small drawstring bag hangs; inside is the key my father gave me as he told me about the tomb.

It was a strange-looking key, with teeth poking at five angles rather than just one, but it clicks perfectly into the lock, and I nearly slump with relief. A part of me had been worried that perhaps after all I did to get here, the key wouldn't even fit, that my dad had made some sort of mistake.

There was no need to fear though. Stone grinds against stone as the doors are drawn apart by some ancient mechanism, and I step through.

If I didn't already know about the Han family, I could learn everything I needed to just by looking around.

Within was a long hallway, and in each of the small rooms branching off was the burial chamber of a different Han. The whole tomb was lit by the afternoon sunlight streaming through yellowing windows and all of the chambers were basically dripping in gold, studded with gems and draped with silks, all covered in a layer of dust.

As expected, the Han were filthy rich, even in death.

It was a little bit sickening to see when I had to slave away as a labourer for two years just to have the money to get to Daehan-Minguk. I tell myself that I would come back here one day and take away from the dead what they couldn't use anyway, but not now.

Right now, I have to go to the oldest tomb, the one which held Han Jinsoo and Han Euntaek. Everyone thought Euntaek started the Han empire, but the real brain behind the operation was his wife, Jinsoo. Despite having to pass credit to her husband for all her work, she built the most successful merchant business in Daehan-Minguk, and it was in her chamber that the real treasure was hidden.

I make my way to the foot of her tomb and find the brick with Jinsoo's name written on it, exactly where my dad said it would be. Before I can have second thoughts, I press it hard. For a stomach-churning second, nothing happens, but then I hear stone grinding again and the floor between her tomb and Euntaek slides apart.

Alright. Everything's going according to plan.

Yoongi pokes his head out to examine the dank, earthy smell coming from the steps the lead to the underground room. It had taken me so long to get to right here, and not once was I nervous. I knew this is what I had to do the second my dad told me about it, but now that I'm here...

No, I can't have second thoughts. I have to see this through to the end.

With a pat on Yoongi's head to gather my courage, I stride down the stairs, my heart already beating more erratically as I get closer to my dream. After the stairs is a long, winding passage that got darker and colder the further I went, but one last turn later, I'm faced with... more gold. What a surprise.

It's kind of pretty here though. I can't figure out how, but light streams into the room even though we're underground - it's just bright enough to set the looming heaps of coins alight with a soft orange glow. It wasn't dusty like the upper chambers, but I could still tell that no one had been here since it was last locked up.

Yoongi accidentally flicks my face with his tail as he wiggles out of my jacket and onto the floor. He walks alongside me as I explore the rolls of silk leaning against the walls, the chests filled with sparkling gems and-

Hang on. Where is it? Money, more fabric, diamonds... Is that the old royal crown? More gold, more gems...

I can't find it.

Even after searching for another hour, digging through the coins with a bored Yoongi clawing at my back, I can't find the lamp. Oh hell no. This is not happening right now. I can't have come all this way for it not to be here.

Panic grips me for a moment and I drop to the ground, running a hand over the hair that was just starting to grow out again. Come on Darling, think!

Dad said the old Han tombs were within the Mount Ilsan forests. He had given me the key, said to go into Jinsoo's chamber and press her name at the foot of her tomb, that the room I'm looking for would open. He told me everything he knew about the Han magic lamp...

Which means someone else has already come and taken it. But that can't be right either - Dad was the only one who knew about it, and I was the only one he told. There's no way someone could have just stumbled on the tomb either - it was set within jungle-like forests in the crook between two mountains, and the nearest town was hours away.

"Miaaaanngg." Yoongi butts his head against my legs, wrapping his tail around an ankle in the way he does when he wants to show me something.

"Not now Yoongi. Show me after I find the lamp, okay?" But he doesn't give up, pouncing on my foot with a newfound vigour and even attempting to bite my shin.

"Alright alright! Have it your way you utter goose." Finally satisfied, leads me to a chest I had already looked through and elegantly settles himself next to it. Unbelievable.

"Thanks Yoon, but I've already checked that one." I don't know if cats can look unimpressed, but he manages to do just that at my response. I take a step away from him, but he lets out a loud yowl and starts batting at the ground.

Where Han Jinsoo's name is inscribed in the stone.

"Yoongi!" I pick him up in a tight snuggle, pressing kisses to his head as he pretends not to enjoy it. "I'm sorry baby, I'll never doubt you again, I swear! I'll get you a whole cat palace for yourself."

With Yoongi snug in my arms, I stare at Jinsoo's name on the brick. I guess she only wanted the lamp to be taken by someone who needed only that - if I hadn't known the lamp existed, I would have been distracted by the never-ending rooms of gold.

Maybe it was important to her, too, when she was alive.

A wiggle from Yoongi prompts me to lean down and press the brick hard. This time, instead of any sort of door opening, the brick next to it pops open to reveal a hollow space filled only with-

The magic lamp!

I pick it up gently and nearly start crying with the relief that finally, finally, it was in my hands. Eleven years. That's how long I've coveted this lamp, and now...

A shit-eating grin creeps on my face as I examine it.

The body of the lamp was made with intricately hammered gold and the shade made with glass that fades from purple to clear. There was a peculiar jewel set into the gold - it's a deeper, velvety purple in the shadows, but a softer, lavender when the light hits it right.

Yoongi looks disgusted when a deranged cackle bubbles in my throat, but I didn't care. I felt a little deranged, drunk on the power this lamp gave me, this tiny lamp worth more than everything in this entire tomb put together.

"Yoonie-baby. Are you hungry? I bet you are. You want me to give you something yummy to snack on?" Yoongi simply drapes himself over a particularly soft roll of silk, ignoring me pointedly as if to say 'where in this room are you going to get food for me from?'

I stick my tongue out at him (even though he doesn't see it) and I stare into the gem in the lamp. "I'll show you. I wish that Yoongi had something to eat."

Nothing happens.

I wait for a minute - maybe it's dusty from not being used? - and then another, but still, nothing happens.

Just as I think to try again, though, the lamp starts to get warmer in my hands, trembling as if there was something inside. It gets so hot that I want to drop it, but it's like my fingers are glued to the gold. Not just my fingers are stiff though, my whole body seizes up and I can't move no matter how hard I will myself to.

Yoongi hisses at the lamp as it suddenly lights with a flame that flickers white and lilac. The flame doesn't stay within the glass shade - it grows until it shoots up to the ceiling, spreading across the surface and then back down the walls to cover everything in the room.

The fire morphs into a thick, purple smog, and just when I think I might choke on it, the smoke gets sucked back into the lamp.

Just like that.

It all happens so quickly that I might have imagined it, but the air smells different now, less earthy and more like jasmine. My fingers unstick from the suddenly cold metal and let it fall to the ground. I follow it down, letting Yoongi jump into my lap as he yowls and butts his head against my quivering hands.

And then, a voice.

"Man does it feels good to be out of there!"

i can do this all day masterlist

next chapter

[cata-linaa]

Hello, how are you? Okay, well not gonna lie it's my first time requesting anything, so I would like to request a match-up. If possible. :) If I have any mistakes you are more than welcome to correct me or tell me to do it again.

I am 20 years old, female and from Germany. I study medicine, am in the 2nd year. I can speak five languages and am currently learning Icelandic - I don't know why to be all honest- and love to read and draw in my free time. I am also in a MMA club, it's my fourth year now -it's a miracle that I'm still alive, hahaha- and I've played football for seven years. Because of the pandemic we are not allowed to participate in any sports, so I'm rather at home and studying. I also love volleyball, not gonna lie, I've watched HQ because of it. I never played volleyball professionally but I would like to. The adrenaline when I play with some friends is indescribable! To my personality, well I am really "direct", if something doesn't add up in my mind I would not hesitate to tell my opinion. I am a really good listener and give amazing advices, in my 20 years I've been through a lot, my mind is like a 70 year old person's. Due some traumatic experiences, I've developed depression and its best friend anxiety. Even though I have the feeling that I have no friends -which I have but, I don't know how to explain, it's more like you try to keep the friendship up, ya know?- I have depression and anxiety right next to me as my friends, they come and go to check up on me can't deny their effort for that. Damn, I wrote a lot. However, to the last things, I have brown hair and hazel-green eyes. If you want to know anything else -which I don't think- Hahaha.

I wish you a nice day! ❤

hello hello! sorry this is so late, my life is VERY funny, and by funny i mean I’m a piñata, and life is a blindfolded child with their older sibling’s metal baseball bat. But i’m hopefully going back to my semi-sporadic schedule, maybe posting once every week or two, or if i’m feeling extra inspire-y i’ll do more :)

yo anon you’re legitimately one of the coolest people ever from this description alone my smoker lungs could never do sports tf i’m jealous-

anyways, are you ready…. to…..RUMBLLLLLLLEEEEE?!!!

i match you with… 

HAJIME IWAIZUMI (27) ATHLETIC TRAINER (woooooo!!)

Lucky lucky you!!! (this got very long I got carried away-)

Listen, I can already TELL this one is gonna be a good one

You’re a polyglot? He could listen to you speak all day, he would even try to help you learn another language with flash cards, even if he has no idea, you’re you, it’s important! 

He can’t draw, but he sits at the kitchen table with you nevertheless, and has some fancy art paper and materials for you (because you deserve it) and some 8x11 printer paper and a 12 pack of colored pencils he purchased form the local corner store. He often wants to draw you, the warped ms paint-looking drawings are quite charming, and you find yourself keeping them in your bag, or on your desk. 

You in turn, give him a portrait you drew over the course of a while to him as a part of a birthday gift, and he brings it wherever his job takes him, pressed neatly in a clipboard or notebook, he sometimes brushes his fingers over the lines drawn by you as if it was strands of your hair

Imagine this real quick: medicine??? Being an athletic trainer??? those studies are kind of similar, so y’all would meet in class hypothetically in the weird idea bank that is my head

Iwa is a complete sucker for interesting features in someone, green eyes? He will melt, and thinks about your eyes and how they light up when you smile, when you look at him he genuinely loses his train of thought and starts to lose his cool and stutter a little bit, oikawa teases him a lot about it, you two are close and 

it’s a match made in hell when you two go party together, and you guys have to get Iwa to come pick you guys up (i feel like every writer on here has made a post about this very scenario, its just canon at this point)

When you had your football games, (idk what position you play but i hope you mean the soccer kind of football bc thats what i’m imagining) he’s always at the edge of his seat on the side of the field, if you score a goal/block a goal he stands up and he’s cheering for you, or even better, when you look at him, he has the most supportive look In his eyes, and smiles at you, and shit, the other team knows they can’t stand a chance now. 

When you’re doing MMA, he finds that SO HOT PLS- 

Forbid if you ever get hurt while doing sports, he will run to your sides where he is watching you and make sure everything is okay, because he can’t have someone else go through that, not on his watch ouch lmao sorry

you two often play sports together in the park or something, maybe a morning run or two to keep yourselves active during the pandemic (can you tell i’ve barely ever even thought about athletics i’m so sorry) 

You guys definitely have one of those friend groups where you do shit like climb a mountain or do a bootcamp for fun and post it on social media

The two of you look GOOD in athleticwear together. 

strong people are his absolute weakness, both physical and mentally

When he sees you caught up in a rant, even if its about something serious, a part of him smiles, since that passionate energy is what attracted him to you in the first place

when you told oikawa that he looked ugly in the outfit he picked out, Iwa laughed so hard he couldn’t fucking BREATHE for like ten minutes

On a more serious note, when you’re not feeling your best, he stops everything to make you feel better. One call and he could be on the next car ride, bus, train, or flight home, ready to tell you that you are loved and valid. Everyone loves your presence, he reminds you, and if your’e comfortable with it, he invites oikawa and the rest of your friend group for a self-care/movie night, just to show you just how much everyone wants to be around and how they and him will just show up to you, no matter what. 

He’s your safe space, and wants to spend every part of his life with the thing that matters most- you. 

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu #haikyuu headcanons #sea.matches #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #iwa chan #iwaizumi #hajime iwaizumi #iwaizumi fluff #iwaizumi x reader #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuuu matchup #hq iwaizumi #hq #iwaizumi x y/n

[soulsdontbreaktheybeeend]

Red Lights, Red Leather Part 1 | Joker x You

Inspired by my first business trip since March. The universe meant it more than well-intentioned by letting me stay at this hotel.

Summary: Due to a business trip, you’re staying at a hotel in Gotham and meet the infamous Joker on your first of three exciting nights there. It’s basically hotel sex okay. SMUT.

Sorry for the long introduction, but this really happened and I did not want to keep it from you. It fitted so well with my imagination that I would have loved to turn around and Joker would have been there. Also here, have an actual picture to imagine things better, hehe.

Words: 3,414

The door fell into the lock behind you. Your travel bag hit the shelf next to the wardrobe.

You were grateful for the fact that your colleagues didn't want to explore the city on a big scale that evening.

Usually you inspected every hotel room before you made yourself comfortable, but on this day the journey was too exhausting. Strenuous small talk accompanied you for more than six hours by car ride with two of your colleagues. With a big sigh, you dropped onto the double bed of your hotel room.

To your amazement the mattress bounced remarkably strong. By now you had moved into countless different hotel rooms and spent the night in their beds. Many of them were either just too hard, or already so worn out that it was difficult to get out of the ditch. But this one was different. The feathering awakened your curiosity to explore the room more in detail.

You noticed that the furniture was a mix of brighter wood and red leather. A typical hotel room carpet with a strange pattern underlined the atmosphere in red as well. The headboard of the bed was a huge circle, also covered with red leather. An armchair with a high backrest was located between the bed and the two big windows with curtains that were white, but red on the outside.

You couldn’t help but scoff at the type of establishment. It definitely matched the name of the hotel. The letters "Ruby" shone in a bright red above the entrance in front of which a red carpet was laid out. At that moment you were glad that you had seen a family with children in the entrance area when checking in. Otherwise, you would have thought that this hotel only belongs to another more particular scene.

After you took a look at the time and you were up on your feet again, you decided to take a quick shower.

Your jeans and shirt landed on the shelf next to your travel bag before entering the bathroom. Inside, on the left side, your fingers found a light switch. Your eyes squinted and blinked in surprise when no normal or usual white or warm white light illuminated the bathroom.

The room was not half as bright as usual.

Your eyes shot up to find a small round lamp on the ceiling. Your eyes slowly got used to the red light, while your gaze fell on yourself through the large mirror above the sink. You stood in the middle of the room and looked at yourself in the mirror in your underwear. The combination of the remaining light of the hotel room shining through the half-open door into the bathroom and the reddening of the light of the ceiling lamp in the bathroom flattered your skin noticeably.

Red and turquoise tones drew your curves in a sensual appearance. As your gaze lingered on your body and you removed your underwear, you felt a pleasant warmth on your skin. Your insightful look wandered back to the ceiling lamp...

An infrared lamp?!

You pulled an impressed pout towards the lamp and climbed into the shower tray. The hot water soothed the muscles that had become tense during the long trip. The sweetly fragrant hotel shampoo and shower gel additionally calmed your senses.

After your refreshing shower you decide to step outside the hotel to have a smoke. Too lazy to put on underwear, you slipped into your ripped jeans and top without any.

The elevator took you from the fifth floor down to the lobby. The red leather furniture was also to be found there. The floor seemed to be made of black granite. The way to the exit led through a long corridor with the same floor and high red plant pots on the left side.

As soon as the sliding doors opened automatically for you, you took a deep breath of fresh air. Goose bumps graced your arms for a few seconds as the cool air hit your still warm skin from the shower.

 While you were rolling your tobacco in your paper, two guys stopped at the hotel entrance. One of them walked in, the other one yelled after him, "dude, don't go in there!"

You didn't think much at first, so you lit your ready-rolled cigarette and pulled out your mobile phone, checked it for messages and let friends know that you had arrived safely.

After a few minutes the guy came back out of the hotel. Overly upset, he told his buddy in indignation that they wouldn't let him use the toilet. While you could prevent a look at them by continuing to look at your mobile phone, you couldn't completely block out their conversation.

“I asked if I could use the restroom. Then he asked for my room number, so I said 214. He checked that and told me that room 214 was unoccupied; that I was lying to him. I told him I just need to use the restroom real quick, but he told me to leave the hotel now.”

The other was amused by his story. They had walked a few steps and were now a few feet away from you, then suddenly came to a halt.

"You know what, man? If you don't let me use the fucking toilet, I'm gonna piss on your wall, you fuck."

Your gaze bored into the screen of your cell phone at his words, while you were texting a friend about what was happening and you heard a certain sound that made you realize that he really moved from words to deeds.

Afterwards they went on as if nothing had ever happened. You put your cell phone in your pocket, took a last drag of your cigarette and thought to yourself once again…

I hate people.

 “What a society, huh.”

 You startled at the words of a raspy low voice, while you were putting out your cigarette in the ashtray beside you. As you cast your eyes upwards, you searched for the owner of the calm voice. Your breath hitched in your throat when you saw Joker standing a few feet away from you. He leaned against a tree at the side of the road in a relaxed position. When your glances met, his eyes bored into yours with a confidence that left you speechless at first. Due to the fact, the only thing you came out with was a baffled sigh.

He led his cigarette to his mouth and took a puff. His eyes did not let go of yours. Not even when he took slow steps towards you. You couldn't resist his gaze for a short time when you felt the desire to look up and down at him.

He stopped right in front of you and leaned forward. You felt your body automatically try to catch up the distance by leaning back, but your mind decided not to move and embraced the welcomed closeness. His arm stretched out beside your hip to stub out the cigarette in the ashtray.

He was a bit taller than you, but when he bent down to the ashtray, his head was dangerously close to yours. You squinted in his direction and observed his green curls, breathing in his scent.

You suspect every move he made was planned in some way for something, and whatever it was, it worked. You were immediately drawn to him.

As he slowly moved back, you finally answered him. "It's like I always say... I hate people."

“Me, too.” He simply chuckled.

The mixture of his calm voice and his playful gaze put you in a comfortable but also exciting mood.

“Oh yeah?” Lifting your chin up, you asked him cheeky, “and how have you handled it so far?”

He elegantly swung his hips from side to side and looked up at the night sky, as if weighing whether you could bear his relentless response. His mouth formed a pout - your question was bold too. You could take it.

“I’ve murdered a few of them.”

Your eyes widened. You couldn't hold back and snorted and at the same time put one hand in front of your mouth. What else did you expect but an answer of this kind?

“Yeah, I've um… heard of that.” For a second your thoughts shot to a scenario where this encounter might not end well for you.

“And yet, here you are, still standing right in front of me. Talking to me like I'm not the person I am. Like I never committed the things you heard about.” He stepped even closer to you. “You think you can tell me why that is?”

Your heart started racing and you felt warm. He sure knew how to build up tension.

You looked down at the floor to catch a glimpse of his penetrating gaze. Yet you could not truly escape. He was so close that nothing could relax you for a moment. On the contrary. Your gaze went down over his red suit trousers and down to his chic shoes. That only made you more aroused than you admitted you already were.

Your gaze wandered slowly from his ankles, over his crotch to his painted face back up. Your eyes grew heavier with desire from every inch you absorbed from him.

“I think I'd like to elaborate on that in a more private place.”

His eyes were already undressing you when he casually answered, "after you." With his arm he gestured the way to the hotel entrance. A devilishly cheeky grin lay on his lips.

You looked him straight in the eyes and lightly returned his grin. You licked your lips and turned towards the entrance.

__

You held the door open for him and he confidently walked into hotel room 522. You put the door in the lock and turned to him.

You saw him from behind, inspecting the room. You noticed how his gaze paused briefly when he saw the armchair with a high back. Even if you couldn't see it, you could have sworn he was smirking.

His gaze finally turned to the headboard of the bed. You could now see his profile and you realized that your hunch was right. He was grinning.

"Oh, would you look at that!” He stated, as he stretched one finger towards the bed. “My, what a gigantic headboard. I wonder if it's just design or if someone thought of something more functional." His smirk widened.

“What do you think?” He asked you your opinion.

You were still standing at the entrance of the room. You loved how playful he seemed and at the same time it drove you wild. Wild about him.

"First of all, I think it works even better this way." Your fingers hit the light switches on the wall next to you, turning off the main light.

In the next second your fingers pressed another light switch. A dark red light filled the room. The only light source in the room was now only the atmospheric lighting behind the headboard of the bed. It set the headboard even more in scene.

Joker drew an impressed face, which again turned into this devilish grin, as he said, “and what comes after ‘first of all’?”

“Second...” You walked slowly towards him and stopped a few inches before him, your fingers playing with the collar of his jacket whilst you looked seductively up at him. “I think this suit goes really beautifully with the decor of the room.”

“Mmm. You really do, huh?” He had you confirm his question before he grabbed your wrists and fixed them with one hand behind your lower back. It made you arch your back, your breasts pressed against his chest.

"You are very greedy. Has anyone ever told you that?” The look in his eyes made you weak, especially your legs.

You shook your head no.

“No one had ever managed to make me behave like this before.” You admitted in a soft voice, biting your lip as your flat palms slowly moved down from his collar on his upper body.

Your confession further fuelled your actions.  Your hands left his body and moved on to your own. You took a few steps back, only for him to have the opportunity to take a better look at you. Your hands played with the hem of your shirt, pulling it up to reveal your belly but not yet to allow him to catch a glimpse of your breasts.

You did not know where your self-confidence came from, especially with the knowledge of who was facing you. But for some reason, it only spurred you on even more. Joker enjoyed your little show, but his patience was limited. He reached for your shirt.

“Here, let me help you with that.” He purred.

Impatiently he pulled the shirt over your head. Your vision was restricted by the hair that fell into your face when you tried to find his gaze. He took care of it. When he brushed your hair out of your face and put his hand with grip on your neck; your view of him cleared up. Your eyes grew heavy with lust at the sight of him noticing you weren’t wearing a bra. You had never seen such lust in anyone's eyes before.

You had tried to play his game of seduction, but now at the latest you started to lose. How could someone do that to you, just by looking at you?

His grip on your neck tightened, using it to pull you towards him. His fingertips clawed into your neck, while his thumb slipped over your lower lip to your chin to open your mouth. You could not restrain a faint moan from his action. Your eyes still stared into his. Joker's eyes fixated the movements of your mouth. He moved even further towards you before he bent a little and searched for your tongue with his own.

 His lips did not leave yours, when he started to walk you to the bed. The back of your knees giving way when they hit the edge of the bed. You began to fall, but he stopped you from doing so.

“Mm-mm. Get up on the bed, sweetheart.” He almost whispered to you. His voice sounded so deep and raspy.

You followed his instructions, before both of you got up on the mattress. The bouncy mattress and his leering eyes made it difficult to keep your balance. Joker pressed you against the headboard with your back. The only support you needed now was himself. The leather on your back felt pleasantly cool on your hot skin. But the short refreshment did not last long for he started to kiss along your neck, his green curls tickling the area between your breasts.

Joker slid further down to allow his tongue access to your nipple. He licked around it and inhaled sharply just above your nipple, producing a cooling breeze which made you shiver. He flipped his tongue up and down before he sucked your nipple into his mouth and nibbled on it. Your arms automatically wrapped around him, one of them holding the back of his head in place. Which showed him that you more than relished his touch.

You felt his tongue and lips alternately dancing their way down your body.

Your breathing got heavy when you saw him kneel down and felt his hands on your jeans. He loosened the button and pulled down the zipper. He groaned deeply when he discovered that you were not wearing anything underneath it either. He looked up at you with this smug grin he wore so well, before pushing the fabric aside; his lips placing a kiss on your mound of Venus. Your head fell back against the headboard of the bed in anticipation.

“Mm. It's like you and me were meant to happen, don't you think?” He purred against your core and grabbed at your ass before pulling down your jeans.

“Or maybe you were just-” Your attempt to tease him failed when you felt his wet tongue licking right at your clit. Speechless, your further words turned into moaning. Your left hand clapped against the leather behind you, your right hand dug deep into his curls. It drove you crazy even further to feel that smug grin against your folds.

You dared to look down. The sight made you lose your mind. His face between your legs, lapping and licking at you; one of his hands reached to his crotch, freeing himself and beginning to stroke his erection firmly.

Both of your arousals grew when your gazes met in the dimmed red light. Joker licked a long stretch along your torso up to your neck, whispering in your ear, "you taste so good, darling."

Loving the feeling of his hot breath against your sensitive area, you held his head in place. He started teasing you by rubbing the tip of his hard length along your clit.

“I'm dying to find out how you feel.” Did he murmur in your ear before he entered you. Curses left both of your mouths.

Your fingers dug deep into his curls yet again, while you lifted your left leg, putting it around his waist. He reached for your thigh in unison to support you. At the same time, it allowed him to push deeper into you. His hard cock explored other angles in you that made you moan his name in pure pleasure.

It wasn't long before he grabbed your right leg, lifted it and you wrapped it around him. He was so deep inside you, each thrust gave you this slightly painful and sweet feeling that made you fly higher in delight.

His one arm wrapped around your lower back to maintain the rhythm, while the other supported himself on the top of the headboard.

With this new position he began to push harder and faster into you. His breathing became faster as well, his grip on the headboard so tight that his ankles began to turn white from the pressure.

“Oh my god, Joker!” You could only whisper his name.

“Mm. You feel so warm, so tight around me.” He groaned. “I want you to be a good girl and cum all over my cock.”

His deep voice in combination with his in that moment slow, lustful deep thrusts robbed you of your senses.

Your head fell against the top of the bed once more. Your back no longer benefited from the coolness of the leather. It had turned into a slippery matter long ago. Sweat was dripping from your back against the material. Joker's blows became faster again. Both of your arms reached up behind you to the headboard. One hand was placed right above Joker's, you grabbed it firmly. He grunted in response.

Now that he had one hand free, he led it to your mouth. Joker let you suck his thumb, and you did him nothing more than this favor at that moment. He watched your lips close around his thumb, his eyes heavy with lust; he was close.

The thumb you just felt on your tongue, now spoiled you on your clit. Both your moans grew louder and faster. You soaked up every sound he made. He sounded heavenly.

The extra stimulation brought you to your peak. Your fingers clawed into his, you arched your back and clenched around him. He cursed as he came inside you, grabbing your waist again to hold you steady. His forehead pressed against the crook of your neck as he came down from his high.

You slowly loosened your legs that were wrapped tightly around him, and he slipped out of you. You were wobbly on your legs, but that didn't bother you in any way. You put your arms down and ran a hand through your hair. Joker now leaned with both of his hands against the leather behind you, holding you captive in between.

He leaned in and kissed you passionately. Your senses overwhelmed by the feeling of his tongue against yours and what had happened this night.

You looked straight into each other's eyes, both of you still panting, enjoying the feeling to the full.

  “How many nights are you staying here?” He asked you in anticipation.

You answered curtly, "two more."

He grinned slightly impishly and leaned against your ear.

"Good. Room number 522. I'll remember that one."

@daydreamhustler​ @jokerownsmysoul @lynnesm @illusionsinmyhead @life-or-something-like-lt @jokerflecker 

#idk how i finished this tonight of all nights with those pics going around #holy shit #um yeah so anyways let me know what you think and if you wanna know how they'd get it on at two other places in that beautiful hotel room #souls writes #joker x you #joker x reader #also let me know if you wanna be tagged in the other 2 parts

[roboticonography]

I've always wondered, in FWNL, how Steve and Peggy part when she leaves to go to school, and what Steve thinks of Peggy forging a new path in a new world. Any insight you might have?

So I know that you sent this ask approximately a billion years ago, but here’s the thing: I liked this prompt a little too much.

Because in FWNL, Steve and Peggy leave things on an uncertain note when she leaves for school - in part because of everything that’s going on in Steve’s world that he can’t talk about.

But I couldn’t stop thinking of how they might have said goodbye, if things had been a little different. So here’s what I came up with, which is basically an AU of an AU.

=======

The Nearness of You

The night before she’s due to leave, Steve takes Peggy to a free movie night, at a park in his neighbourhood.

He knows a lot of people would give him low marks for being cheap and unoriginal, but the only person he wants to impress doesn’t seem to mind.

He meets her at the subway station, because she wants to try navigating on her own.

Right on time, she ascends the stairs, elegant, unhurried. Her simple wrap dress is the green of summer grass, with a pattern of sunny yellow flowers; her shoes and her handbag are the same glossy red as her lipstick. It’s a combination of colours that shouldn’t work, but on Peggy, it’s perfect.

When he asks if she had any trouble with the train, she arches an eyebrow and reminds him, “I used to live in Brooklyn, you know.”

And it’s true that she walks with the air of someone who belongs there. But then, she’s like that everywhere she goes—in stark contrast to Steve, who couldn’t blend in with a crowd if his life depended on it.

On the way over, they pass an ice cream shop that Steve has seen mentioned online. It’s supposed to be good, and the line inside is short; on a whim, he suggests a detour.

The place happens to be next door to a donut shop, and the two have conspired to make donut ice cream sandwiches.

Something Steve has always admired about Peggy is her enthusiasm for eating. Since her return, he’s been making mental lists of foods in the new century that he wants to introduce her to. A donut ice cream sandwich hasn’t been on his radar, until just this moment.

He watches Peggy spend almost a full minute ogling them in the freezer case before concluding, with a profoundly sad sigh, “I don’t think I could manage it.” It’s the same wistful look she used to have during the war, when talking about meat and milk and real chocolate, not the chalky clay tile issued by the army.

“Let’s split one,” he offers. “You pick.”

After further and even more intense deliberation, she selects a decadent red velvet cake donut, with a cream cheese ice cream centre.

They decide not to risk eating outside; the sun is going down, but the evening is still sultry, and neither of them are in the mood to race the clock. They find a table by the window.

Steve is so busy watching Peggy smooth the softening edges of the treat with her tongue that he lets his half melt down his arm all the way to his elbow.

He blows through their entire supply of napkins trying to wipe off the sticky mess.

He thinks she’s amused; it’s still a little hard to tell sometimes, but he’s gradually remembering how to read her face.

“Aw.” He frowns comically. “Now no one’s gonna want to hold my hand.” 

He means to be cute and flirty, but he can tell by the way her expression changes that he’s caught her off guard, maybe embarrassed her a little. 

Changing the subject quickly, he asks, “Are you all packed for your big trip?”

“Yes. It’s remarkably easy, when you don’t own anything. Which reminds me, I ought to give you back your books.”

“That’s okay. You hang onto them.”

She doesn’t look pleased. He thinks he knows why: she doesn’t like owing a debt.

“You might need some of them for school. I’ll get ‘em back the next time you’re in town,” he adds.

“All right.” She takes a bite of the ice cream sandwich and it falls apart in her hand, half of it dropping straight down the front of her dress. “Oh, hell.”

Steve goes to get more napkins.

“There’s really no dignified way to do this,” she observes, one hand delving into her décolletage. He catches an eyeful of milky skin and ivory lace before it occurs to him to look out the window instead of staring like a caveman.

“I like your dress,” he says, because things weren’t awkward enough already.

Peggy grins. “Now that I’ve drawn attention to its best feature?”

He grins back, but says only, “Green’s a nice colour on you.”

“Thank you.” She dabs delicately at her neckline. “I rather think so too.”

Another thing he’s always admired about Peggy: her way of accepting compliments by agreeing with them. As if she arrived at the same conclusion ages ago, and has just been waiting for everyone else to finally catch up.

*

When they get to the park, he sees couples unfolding colourful blankets or matching beach chairs, pulling out bags of snacks and bottles of water. He wishes he’d planned a little better. He has to settle for spreading his windbreaker on the ground so Peggy won’t get her dress dirty. There isn’t enough room on it for two of them, but that’s fine; after such a hot day, it’s nice to lean back on his elbows and stretch out in the cool grass.

The movie is an animated feature about the secret lives of toys. It seems good—people in the audience are laughing—but he’s completely lost. He spends all his time either gazing at Peggy, or looking blankly ahead with a keen awareness of her body beside his.

The sky above them fades into shadow.

He doesn’t realize he’s dozing off until Peggy gasps. He startles awake just in time to catch her face in profile, lit up, staring raptly at the screen. His heart feels weightless, suspended in his chest.

She turns, as if sensing his gaze. “Are you laughing at me?”

He tries, and fails, to wipe the dopey smile off his face. “No, ma’am.”

She fake-glares at him, nudging his knee with her elbow before turning back to the movie.

The next time he wakes, it’s because she’s shaking his shoulder gently.

He sits up, slightly groggy. The film’s end credits are rolling. People are packing up, chairs in hand, sleepy children on their shoulders.

He can’t believe he fell asleep in the middle of a date. He’s lucky she didn’t just go home and leave him there. 

He rubs his face briskly, trying to wake himself up. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” Her eyes and her mouth have gone very soft. “You must have needed a rest.”

There’s so much he wants to tell her, in that moment. But all he can do is nod. “How’d you like the movie?”

She smiles, cheeks dimpling. “Brilliant.”

He helps her to her feet, then scoops up his jacket. He’s about to put it on when she stops him with a hand on his arm.

“Hold still.” She bats at his back. “You look as though you’ve been rolling in the grass.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It does.” Her hand slows, softens. “Under the right circumstances.”

Steve can’t think of anything appropriate to say to that.

They make their way to the edge of the park, walking slower than usual.

Her hand brushes his. He thinks it might be an accident, at first. The second time she does it, he takes hold of her fingers—loosely, giving her plenty of ease to slip away.

She steps closer, presses her palm firmly against his. 

They hold hands all the way to the entrance to the subway, where Peggy lets go to fish her fare card out of her handbag.

He offers to see her back to SHIELD.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She’s clearly pleased. “It’s got to be out of your way.”

The truth is, his place is a five-minute walk from where they’re now standing. “Maybe a little,” he concedes.

“You can ride along until I have to transfer.”

“Deal.”

On the train, they sit shoulder to shoulder—at Steve’s size, it’s impossible not to. After a couple of stops, he drapes his arm over the back of Peggy’s seat. It’s mostly to give her more room, though of course that’s not the only reason. If it’s not okay, he’s sure she’ll let him know.

One more stop passes.

“We should do this again,” he suggests. “When you’re back in town.”

“I’ve no idea when that will be.”

“That’s okay. It’ll keep.” 

He’s not sure exactly what it refers to, but Peggy nods, as though what he’s just said makes perfect sense. 

And then she leans into his side, and they make the rest of the trip that way, quietly together.

In the station, the silence between them turns awkward. It’s a lousy place to say goodnight: it’s crowded, the air is humid and stale, and there’s a busking saxophonist whose enthusiasm far outstrips his technique.

Steve settles for a cavalier, “Text me when you get home, yeah?”

She gives a dramatic, full-body sigh. “Must I?”

He chuckles. “I don’t need a whole message. Just proof of life. An emoji is fine.”

“Is that the… smiley face thing?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll give it a go. But I won’t promise anything.”

As her train screeches its approach, he hugs her, one arm across her shoulders. She slides a hand around his waist, presses her face to his collarbone; her breath, through his shirt, is warm on his skin. Her hair is raw silk, and smells like springtime. His eyes are closed. He thinks hers are, too.

He doesn’t realize how long they’ve been holding one another until she pulls away, murmuring, “I’ll miss the train.”

Steve is afraid of what’s going to come out of his mouth if he opens it. So he just smiles, squeezes her hand once more, and lets her go.

After seeing her off, he takes the steps up to the street two at a time, and walks the eight miles home at a brisk clip. His heart is soaring. 

It won’t be easy to be apart, of course—but unlike during the war, there’s a timeframe, and an understanding between them. It’s easier to stay in touch. And it’s not like she’ll be on the other side of the world; she might even invite him to visit her, once she’s settled.

Her text arrives about an hour after he gets home. It consists solely and entirely of the letter S.

He waits, for several minutes, watching the typing indicator fade in and out of view. At last, the full message pops up: Safe and sound.

Get some rest, he writes back. Big day tomorrow.

He’s already put his phone back on the nightstand when it whistles again. No words—just a sleepy snoring face emoji.

To Steve, it feels like nothing short of a miracle.

#steggy #steve rogers #peggy carter #FWNL #FWNL 2.0 #robofic #7l14128sa

[nonbinaryresource]

hey im not sure if you'll be able to help with this but if you can id like some advice - I've been getting gender-related nightmares lately. they vary a lot, but its always me being one gender and wishing i was another. they're pretty bad and im really not sure what to do.

I’m so sorry to hear that! This sounds really not fun.

There are a couple things you can start working on to temper these dreams.

First, a short-term solution might be - if you’re able - to try different sleeping pills. Meds can react different for people, but some sleeping pills may just help lull you to sleep, while others may konk you out until morning. Melatonin is a good one if you have trouble getting to sleep and may be a gentler alternative to others. I also like a glass of barley tea before bed. Tastes good and does help me drift off to sleep. My mom uses drowsy Benadryl because it gets her to sleep fast and keeps her asleep most the night. Since Benadryl is an antihistimine, it actually blocks a neurotransmitter in your brain that leads to REM sleep, which means you’ll likely get less dreams - but you might also feel less well rested overall, as you’ll get more light sleep and less deep sleep as a result of not having any REM. But it might be worth it for you to take every once in a while. Tylenol PM is the one that basically just knocks me out until morning. I personally don’t like the feeling (I’ve compared it to a sudden coma striking me down - but I also don’t have a lot of nightmares), but I’ve suggested it to friends who were having PTSD nightmares before, and it konked them out good, too, and let them finally get some good night’s rest.

Long-term, what does your sleep hygiene look like? A big part of cutting out nightmares is implementing good sleep hygiene techniques. This means:

Going to bed on a schedule

Not exercising or eating right before bed (at least one hour between exercising and sleeping and 2 - 3 hours between eating and sleeping)

Exercising during the day/getting your body moving

Cutting out screentime 30 - 60 minutes before bedtime

Doing a relaxing activity before sleeping (a puzzle, reading - if you use an ereader only use it on nighttime mode, light stretching, self-massage, meditation, taking a hot bath or shower, journaling about your day)

Cutting out light in your bedroom while you sleep - a sleeping mask can be a quick and easy way to do this

Adding a gentle white sound machine or sound machine that produces relaxing nature/animal sounds and keeping it on throughout the night. A cheaper option could also just be to play some soothing (classical/instrumental would work) music overnight at a softer volume. The sound can not only help you get to sleep but can help you stay asleep, so they may help you stave off your nightmares as well

Lower the temperature in your room if you sleep with any blankets so you can stay a good temperature at night and not heat up too much

Try chamomile tea and/or lavender lotion to help you relax into sleep

I don’t know the science behind this one or how much stock to really put in it, but I have heard that wireless signals produce tones that we can’t outwardly hear but that can disturb our sleep, so it might be worth storing your wireless devices outside your room, if possible, while you sleep, and moving your router/modem if it’s stored in your room

As a final tie in to that list, it can help to stop and acknowledge the dream. Especially if you’re having trouble getting back to sleep, take a few minutes to actually physically write out your dream (keep a dream journal and a book light by your bed!). Then re-write the ending so it’s happier. This is hard when your bad dream is more psychological than physical in nature, but it could just be something as simple as re-ending the dream with, “And I realized that whatever I identify with at that moment is my gender, and I’m valid no matter what I look like or what anyone else says. I took power in validating myself and felt much more comfortable and confident.” Acknowledging the bad feelings brought up by a dream can help take away its power. It’s kind of like when you have a problem and you share it with your friend, and even though your friend couldn’t do anything to fix your problem, it feels better to have shared the weight and made it somehow lesser for yourself. And re-writing the ending to be happier can help you get a hold of the bad feelings and re-direct them to more peaceful ones, which can help you confront the nightmares in general as well as help you get back to sleep.

As well, a lot of nightmares are brought on by real life stressors - and it certainly sounds like yours could fall under this reason - so doing what you can to address these stresses during the day can also help temper the nightmares.

What are your long-term coping mechanisms for any negative gender-related feelings you experience? In the second part of this recent ask, I went over a whole lot of ways to mentally cope with any negative gender feelings or just stress brought on by questioning. I would suggest checking that out! Even if you’re not really struggling during the day, spending some time getting in touch with your feelings and fears and worries might help reveal something to you that you’ve been denying or reveal something is a larger issue for you than you’ve been saying.

Finally, one last thing you could look into trying is practicing lucid dreaming. Using lucid dreaming to confront nightmares may be something that’s more helpful with a therapist’s guidance, but it might be worth looking into on your own if that’s out of reach for you. I know a couple people who have practiced lucid dreaming on their own to at least moderate success. Lucid dreaming is already used in therapy to help treat recurring nightmares and PTSD.

Lucid dreaming is a form of dreaming where you are aware that you are dreaming and can therefore take control of the dream and what is happening to you. It can also help you regulate your emotions within a dream so the dream is less scary and powerful. It’s also a tool to let you re-visualize the path and end of the dream so you can cut out the bad stuff and end it in a way that you want it to end. At the very least, it gives you a more ‘physical’ way to confront the feelings in your dream. I put this one as a last suggestion because it can take a lot of practice to be able to lucid dream, much less do so effectively, and I would estimate it could be even longer-term than the other long-term solutions I have listed above.

I don’t dream much (or don’t remember my dreams, anyway), so I’ve never really given much thought myself into lucid dreaming, so I can’t suggest any particularly good places to start, but I do know when I was looking into a couple years ago, there was information on how to practice lucid dreaming pretty easily available on the internet.

I hope something here helps and you start getting some good nights of rest!

[gif of the drawn Chippy the dog, a small white dog with fluffy ears, laying on a blue pillow. In front of them is a picture frame facing them, labeled “Your picture”. Another arrow is pointing towards Chippy that says “Dreaming of you”, while above Chippy is a pink dream cloud that reads “Sweet Dreams”.]

~Pluto

#mod pluto #coping #sleep hygiene #sleep #sleeping #health #mental health #nightmares #mod tera #long post #Anonymous #ask #answered

[ao719]

Love is in the Heir

Love is in the Heir

A/N: This is from the Cordonians Gone Wild Universe created with @speedyoperarascalparty @leelee10898 , @cocomaxley and @riseandshinelittleblossom Thanks for the laughs ladies!

Summary: Anitah has a special Valentines Day surprise for Liam.

Cordonians Gone Wild Masterlist

Tag List: @annekebbphotography @carabeth @moneyfordiamonds @give-me-ernest-sinclaire @3pawandme @indiacater @ooo-barff-ooo @ownworldresident @tornbetween2loves @perfectprofessorherokid @stopforamoment @editboutique @wannabemc2 @zaffrenotes @enmchoices @lauradowning29 @lodberg @smalltalk88 @gibbles82 @heatherfilliez @drakesensworld @nikkis1983 @sweetest-marbear @classylady1234 @daniv2278 @jlouise88 @jared2612 @liamxs-world @notoriouscs @blubutterflyy @captain-kingliamsqueen @lynne1993

All of the girls were out to lunch at one of their favorite spots in the capitol down by the pier. They sat out on the private balcony and waited for their drinks as they chatted amongst themselves.

“You don’t look so hot,” Alicia quirked her brow at Anitah who was pale and clammy looking.

“I don’t feel so hot...” she stared off as she rested her head against her hand, leaning on the table.

“Why? What’s going on?” Pam asked.

“I don’t know. I hope I didn’t catch Maxwell’s stomach bug he had last week...I feel just...blah. I don’t even want to eat.”

Stephanie laughed. “Then why did you come to lunch? And yeah that stomach bug...” she trailed off shaking her head.

“Because...we always go to lunch. I didn’t want to miss it.”

Just then the waiter opened the door to bring them their drinks. The small breezy draft the door caused as it opened brought the scent of the foods from the busy dining room out to them and Anitah felt her stomach flip as she covered her mouth and shot up running to the bathroom, the other girls all looking at one another. She had texted Alicia a short time later saying she was going to the car.

“She’s sitting in the car...poor thing...”

“We should probably take her home if she’s not feeling well,” Pam replied.

“I’ll go with her, you guys stay here and make sure this one eats so she doesn’t murder anyone,” Genevieve chuckled pointing to Alicia who was now six months along in her pregnancy. “You can take my car to bring Alicia back to the palace when you’re done.”

They all nodded and Genevieve walked out to the SUV Anitah was in and slid in looking over at her. She had her head rested against the window, the back seat AC blowing directly on her face, her eyes closed as she breathed through the nauseas feeling.

Genevieve told Brad to head back to the palace and looked over at her. “Are you sure you’re alright? Do you need me to call Liam?”

“No, don’t call him. I’m fine...as long as I don’t smell...whatever it was I just smelled in there. I think I just lost all my meals from the past week.”

Genevieve laughed, “Oh my god! What if you're pregnant?! Your jet stealing days are over!”

Anitah slowly looked over at her. “I am not pregnant, Gen.” They stayed quiet for a moment, Anitah still looking at Genevieve, when her eyes suddenly went a little wider as she thought back. “I...am not...pregnant.”

“If you keep telling yourself that, it'll come true,” Genevieve laughed. “Oh my god, Liam's going to be so happy if he knocked you up!”

"No! I can't...be pregnant. We’re not even trying! It's just a stomach-“ Anitah stopped as she covered her mouth feeling her stomach flip again. Shit. Shit. Shit. “Brad!! Stop at the store up here!” Anitah yelled still staring wide eyed at Genevieve who was now laughing at her. The SUV pulled in and Brad turned to face the queen. “I’m not getting out, Brad. I need you to go in there for me.” He gave her a questioning look. “Brad, I need you to go in there and buy me a pregnancy test.” His eyes widened. “I can’t go in there and buy it myself, because then someone could see me buying said pregnancy test and this is how rumors start, Brad.”

“Oh...Of course, ma’am.”

She slipped him some cash and he turned to get out of the vehicle. “Brad, wait!” He turned and poked his head back inside. She handed him some more cash. “Don’t buy just one....get like...seven.” He gave her a curious look and then nodded.

A short time later Brad came back out to the SUV and got in reaching back and handing Genevieve the bag. She opened it up to see a handful of pregnancy tests but then slowly looked up at him and rolled her eyes.

“Fucking men. These are going to be useless if she’s pregnant!” She pulled out a box of tampons and a box of pads that were in the bag with the tests as she stared at Brad. “Honestly, Brad...how do you tie your shoes in the morning?”

“I...I’m sorry...I panicked.”

“Thank god you’re pretty, Brad.”

Once back at the palace Anitah and Genevieve hurried to her quarters and to the master bathroom. Liam was gone on a work related trip in Prague, not due back for a few more days, promising her he would be home for Valentines Day. Anitah walked in trying to hold her urge to go after drinking a bottle of water on the short drive back from the store, doing the ‘I have to pee’ dance. Genevieve dumped the paper bag full of the tests out on the counter as they quickly worked to open each package and prepare them for use.

"Shit!” Genevieve said. “We mixed up all of the instructions. Just...pee on them I guess?”

“Sounds good...ok, grab them because I really gotta go! We need to try and get them all in one shot!” Anitah hurried to the toilet and sat down.

Genevieve uncapped each test and handed them to Anitah one at a time and she handed the tests back to her when she was done. “Anitah, I fucking love you, but if I get your pee on my hand, we're gonna have problems.”

“That’s what sinks and hand soap are for, Gen. Is that all of them?”

“It doesn't make it any less gross...yep, that's all of them. Now we wait. Three to five minutes...because we don't know how long each of them take. Thank god we're pretty,” she chuckled. Anitah stood from the toilet and before she even had a chance to get over to the counter, Genevieve squealed. "Uhhhh, Anitah? We don't need three to five minutes...you're definitely pregnant!”

“Wh-What? What...what...it hasn’t been long enough!”

“Oh, it's been long enough...they are all positive. We have two with plus signs, three with two lines, and another two that say 'pregnant'. I'm no doctor, but I'm going to go ahead and say that I’m pretty sure that means that you're pregnant.”

Anitah walked to the counter and looked down. The tests lined up next to each other, all seven of them: Pregnant. Anitah looked over to Genevieve who was grinning wide. Suddenly she turned and ran to the toilet dropping to her knees as she lost her stomach again.

“Oh, sweetie, can I get you anything that won't make you vomit? Water, vodka- No, no vodka. Water then?” Anitah gave a thumbs up as her head was still down and Genevieve walked out to grab her some water.

She finally stood a short time later and walked to the counter, washed her hands, brushed her teeth and splashed her face with cold water. She glanced down looking at each test, some digital, some not, each one clearly saying that she was pregnant.

It had been a little over two years since her and Liam were married, so talk about having an heir to the throne had been much discussed amongst everyone, including her and Liam. After the wedding they had decided to take some time for just themselves before starting to try to add to their family, much to the chagrin of Regina, and some of the Cordonian people, who thought that they should have been trying as soon as their wedding night.

After the first year and half, Liam had begun bringing it up more, talking about ‘when we have kids...’ but they still were taking time for themselves. So this came as a surprise, because they certainly weren’t trying yet. But the more she thought about it, the more excited she got to tell Liam.

She knew how much he wanted to be a dad, to have a family, and she knew how happy he was going to be when he found out. Then she thought that she could tell him on Valentine’s Day when he returned home from his trip. A soft smile formed on her lips as she picked up one of the tests, her eyes glistening as she looked down at it.

Anitah had called the doctor first thing in the morning the day after taking the test and she went that afternoon to have blood work drawn and a confirmation ultrasound.

Over the next few days she had made plans and arrangements for her and Liam’s Valentine’s Dinner, making sure everything was set so she could tell him the news. It had taken everything in her not to spill it over the phone when he called her each night as she was terrible at keeping secrets.

The day of his arrival home Anitah was on edge waiting, hoping she didn’t blow the surprise before the dinner that night, because Liam could always tell when she was hiding something. She stood in the kitchen making lunch when she felt Liam come up wrapping his strong arms around her waist from behind.

“Hello, my love. I missed you,” he kissed her cheek.

Anitah could feel her heart start to race as she tried to make the stupid grin on her face smaller and less noticeable as she turned to face him, “Hi! I missed you too.”

He leaned down and kissed her, “Are you alright? You seem...tense.”

“Tense? Oh, uh...nope. I’m fine,” she flashed an awkward smile. She was not doing very well already and he hadn’t even been home five minutes.

“Ok...I planned a dinner for us tonight. They prepared a section just for us at your favorite restaurant so we can enjoy some privacy,” he smiled.

Her eyes slightly widened. They had to stay at the palace for her plan to fall into place. “No! No...I, uh, I thought...I thought we could just have...dinner here...”

“Love, I've already made the arrangements. They'll be expecting us.” He eyed her suspiciously. “Are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?” He stared at her for a moment. “Did you and the girls go to that restaurant while I was gone?” He turned and called to Bastien. “Bastien, can you call the restaurant and see if we need another NDA signed?” He shot her a look.

“No, Liam, we didn’t go there!” She peeked around Liam’s broad shoulder calling out to Bastien. “Not necessary, Bas!” She looked back to Liam. “I just...wanted to enjoy a night with you...here...” she again flashed him an awkward smile.

“Ok, if you really want to stay here we can do whatever you want.” He kissed her again when he felt something on his legs. He looked down and grinned to see Milo who came running up and jumping on him. “Hey, buddy,” he crouched down scratching behind his ears before he stood and turned back to Anitah. “I have some things I need to catch up on...real quick. I'll be in my study and then I'll meet you for dinner.” He looked over to Bastien. “Come with me, please, Bastien.” He kissed Anitah once more before turning and headed out to his study.

Anitah let out a breath of relief that he had left, knowing she wasn’t doing very well trying to cover anything up. She looked down at Milo who was staring up at her. “I almost blew it, Milo!” He cocked his head to the side. “Come on, we need to get you ready,” she smiled as she bent down picking him up.

Bastien followed Liam out of the royal quarters and Liam immediately started rattling off a list as they walked down the corridor. “I need you to first find where Brad is, and if you can't locate him, look in every single closet in the palace. I also want you to have the security feed checked for the time frame that I was gone. Check all flight manifests for the royal jet and Rashad's jet. She did something...I know she did,” he shook his head as his jaw clenched. Bastien smirked and gave him a nod as he turned and went to look for Brad.

Later that evening, Anitah got dressed in her red sheath, knee length dress, fixing her hair in loose curls. Liam had walked in a short time later just as she was coming from her closet.

“You look beautiful, my love,” he smiled.

“Thank you,” she flashed that awkward, nervous grin again and Liam continued to eye her suspiciously. They found Brad, and he hadn’t reported her doing anything sinister while Liam was away. They checked the security footage, and found nothing on that. And both jets flight manifests were clean. But he knew there was something.

“So, what are the plans for the evening,” he wrapped his arms around her waist. Even though he thought she was up to no good, he couldn’t help but notice how good she looked in that dress. He leaned down kissing her passionately.

“You’ll have to follow me,” she smiled. She laced her fingers through his and they walked from their quarters, down the grand staircase, and outside the palace to the hedges. Liam smiled as they made their way into the garden maze, their spot.

They had a lot of special memories in the maze, their first kiss, in Cordonia anyway, was there. The first time he told her loved her was there. And there were the countless nights they had spent out there at the center of the maze. They made their way through the paths and came to the center, the twinkling lights illuminating the table that was there, a red cloth draped over it going to the ground, set up for dinner for two.

“What’s all this, Anitah? Shouldn’t I be doing something like this for you?” He pulled her into a kiss as he smiled.

“Well...tonight is special,” she grinned. They took their seats and two of the staff members had brought out a glass of scotch for Liam and a glass of lemon water for Anitah.

A short time later the staff had then placed two dishes in front of them covered by silver lids and made their way out of the path, leaving the two of them alone.

Liam lifted the silver lid and let out a soft laugh. “A simple homemade tomato pasta,” he looked at her smiling. “Just like our first date at the Beaumont’s.” She nodded with a grin.

They sat there eating and talking over dinner, Liam telling her about his trip to Prague, and the closer they got to finishing, the more nervous Anitah became. She could feel her stomach starting to turn, praying that she didn’t lose it here, not now, not before she was about to tell him the news. She slid back her half eaten plate of pasta, not wanting to fill her stomach anymore. Once they had finished they sat there talking for a little bit longer before Liam took her hand in his from across the table.

“I have something for you, love,” he smiled. He reached on his pocket and pulled out a velvet box and handed it to her.

She smiled and opened it, inside a sapphire, diamond necklace, her birthstone. “Oh, Liam! It’s beautiful...” she trailed off and felt her eyes welling up. Not only was this her birthstone, but she was due in September, so it would also be their baby’s birthstone. The tears began to fall without warning and she couldn’t stop them even though she was trying to.

Liam’s eyes went wide. “Anitah? What’s the matter?”

She waved her hand in front of her face, “N-Nothing.”

He gave her a look and then tossed his napkin on the table. “Ok, seriously, what in the fresh hell did you do?! I know you did something, Anitah, but I haven’t been able to figure it out yet. You’ve been acting strange ever since I got home!”

Her tears started falling harder as she covered her eyes with her hand for a moment. “I...didn’t do...anything, Liam,” she cried.

He looked at her feeling guilty for making her cry. “I...I’m sorry, love. I didn’t mean...” he trailed off and stood from his seat to go over to her. He crouched down next to her chair and looked up at her. “Hey...” She grabbed the napkin from table wiping under her eyes and looked over at him. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

She nodded her head. “Yes, I’m fine. I just...really liked...the necklace,” she smiled.

He let out a soft chuckle before leaning up to kiss her. He brushed his thumbs across her cheek wiping her tears. “I’m glad you liked it.” He moved back to his seat, still confused, as she took a deep breath and reached down grabbing a box from under the table by her feet that was hidden from view by the long tablecloth. She pulled it out and handed it to him, her heart pounding.

He grinned. “What’s this?” He held it up to his ear and shook it a little as he chuckled.

“Open it.” He opened the box, and inside there was an envelope on top, underneath that, something wrapped in tissue paper. He picked up the envelope, smiling, and opened it, pulling the card out.

He cleared his throat, “Roses are red, violets are blue. Inside me, beats two hearts for you.” He looked at it curiously for a moment and then up to her, and she was grinning and her eyes were glistening with more tears at the same time. He looked back down to the card reading it again. Then he opened it, and inside was a picture, an ultrasound, with ‘hi daddy!’ typed on it inside of a red heart. His eyes went wide as he looked at it, his hand starting to shake, and he snapped his head up to her.

“You...you’re....you’re pregnant?!” He could feel his heart beating out of his chest as he stared at her and she smiled, nodding her head as the tears started to fall again. A huge grin formed on his face as he stood and moved over to her, lifting her from the chair and off the ground as she let out a tearful laugh, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pressed his lips to hers in a lingering kiss as he set her back to the ground, cupping her face to look at her, his own eyes now glistening. “When...when did you find out?”

“A few days ago.”

“I can’t...I can’t believe this,” he smiled before kissing her. “Anitah...” he shook his head grinning before he kissed her again.

“Why do you think I picked this meal for tonight?” She motioned to the pasta and Liam arched his brow shaking his head, not understanding. “Because, that night at the Beaumont’s, on our date, you told me your dream, your heart’s desire, was to have a family someday.” He softly smiled, amazed that she had remembered that after all this time. He picked her up and spun her. “Liam...” he stopped and looked at her, “if you don’t want puke on this suit and all over you, I highly suggest you stop spinning me.”

“Oh!” He set her down as they both chuckled and he cupped her face as he leaned in kissing her. “You just gave me the best gift ever, Anitah. I’m so happy. I’m more than happy, I’m over the moon, love. I know we weren’t trying, but...I can’t wait. I’m so excited.” He smiled wide and kissed her again. “How have you been feeling?” He asked as he brushed his hand across her cheek.

“I’m ok. A little nauseas, but other than that, I’m fine.”

“And the doctor? What did they say? Is everything ok?” He asked with a look of genuine concern.

She smiled placing her hand on his cheek, “Everything is ok. They only did the confirmation ultrasound.” They walked to the table, Liam picking it up as they both looked at it. “And that’s the baby,” she pointed to the tiny blob on the photo. She smiled as she looked up to see his face beam as he stared at the photo, his entire body swelling with pride. “We’re due in September.”

He looked over to her. “September...is that why you got all emotional with the necklace? Because it will be their birthstone too?”

She chuckled as she gave him a sheepish grin. “Yes.” He smiled as he wrapped his one arm around her pulling her to him and looked back down at the ultrasound, feeling his heart swell more and more the longer he looked at it. “You need to finish opening your gift,” she chuckled as she motioned to the box.

He set the picture down and moved over, unwrapping the tissue paper and pulled out a t-shirt, laughing as he held it up. “The man behind the bump.” He set it down and stepped back over to her wrapping his arms around her. “Thank you. This is truly the best gift I ever could have asked for,” he kissed her once more.

He took a small step back and looked down at her non existent bump and placed his large hand over her belly, grinning from ear to ear. He was completely amazed in that moment, unable to wipe the smile from his face. After a while they walked from the garden maze back to the palace, Liam still grinning wide from the news.

When they walked inside their quarters Anitah smiled. “One more thing...here, Milo!” She called the pup who came running down the hall and jumped up on Liam’s legs. Liam let out a hearty laugh when he noticed Milo was wearing a shirt that said ‘big brother’. He picked him up and scratched his head behind his ears.

“You’re going to be the best big brother, aren’t you? You can show them how to escape Brad!”

A couple weeks after their Valentines Dinner, Liam and Anitah were greeting their group of friends for their weekly dinner night, finally planning on sharing the news with them all. As they walked into the dining room inside their quarters they all looked curiously over at the grinning King and Queen. There was a tall slim bag placed at each table setting. They all sat at the table, Anitah and Liam standing off to the side, and they told them to go ahead and open the bags sitting in front of them.

The guys each pulled out a bottle of their favorite whiskey, the labels each reading about being promoted to uncle, Drake’s also asking him about being the godfather. Pam, Genevieve and Stephanie all pulled out bottles of their favorite wine, each label reading “You’ll have to drink a glass for me, because you are now an auntie-to-be!” Alicia pulled out a bottle of sparkling cider from Applewood, Anitah not wanting to give her alcohol she couldn’t drink, her label reading “I need an extra pair of hands to help me learn and grow. I know that yours will be the best ‘cause mommy told me so! Will you be my godmother?” The girls all flew up and over to Anitah squealing and pulling her into a hug, Genevieve being the only one who had known.

“Yes! I’ll be this little ones god mother!” Alicia said wiping her tears, Anitah also wiping hers as she pulled her into a hug. “God damn hormones!” Alicia cried.

“Tell me about it,” Anitah nodded in agreement through a tearful chuckle.

Drake and Rashad both shook Liam’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder with congratulations.

Liam and Leo looked from their wives, who were both wiping their tears, then back to each other. “Welcome to the ‘my wife cries over everything, and turns murderous when she’s hungry’ club,” Leo clapped Liam on the shoulder letting out a laugh. “Seriously though, congrats, brother.”

“Thank you,” Liam grinned wide. “So, uh, does...Alicia have, uh, random cravings? At weird hours of the night?”

Leo let out a guffaw, “Oh, it’s only going to get worse,” he shook his head.

“The other night, Anitah woke up out of a sound sleep, at midnight, wanting a smoothie from that twenty four hour smoothie place down in the capitol...” Liam looked at the other guys with a straight expression. “So, I had Bastien take me down to get her one because I didn’t want to ask anyone to go out that late. I brought it back...she took two sips and didn’t want it anymore...and then she cried because she said she felt bad that she asked me to go get one that late.”

Drake and Rashad stared for a moment before they both bust out laughing and Leo and Liam both stood there giving them a look.

“Laugh it up while you can boys, I have a feeling your time is coming,” Liam smirked.

#the royal romance #choices trr #trr #trr fanfic #trr liam #king liam #liam rhys #liam x anitah #squad #squadgoals #cordonians gone wild #cordoniansgonewild #cgw #trr au #valentines #valentines day #baby on the way