#all of my fics and I had some other editing to do besides! it'll be even quicker for you!

[muffinlance]

Wait, what’s going on with Embers???? That fic has been on my read later list since 2021, what’s happened with it???

Brief overview, then I'm likely never touching this topic again, because this is not a Drama Blog:

Context: Embers is a super old AtLA fic that was written during the early fandom days, read widely at the time, and was the origin of the widely-used fanon name of "Wani" for Zuko's ship (kind of by default that it was one of the first popular fics to give his ship a name, I think?), even though most fic writers don't seem to realize it's from there anymore.

"What's Going On": I used to include a link in all my stories to it, because I believe in crediting other writers for borrowed elements, and I was using "Wani" in all my fics. But BOY did I not want to be sending readers that way anymore, so I've adopted a new name for Zuko's ship, and removed all Embers links.

None of the criticisms about Embers itself are new; I'm assuming they date back to when the fic was being written, because this isn't an "it aged badly" thing, this is an "actually yeah this gets worse the longer you think about it and I shouldn't have ignored my bad feelings just because some of the worldbuilding was interesting" thing.

An Incomplete List of Why I Made the Change:

I don't actually like the story that much anymore, and don't want to rec it

I tried to re-read it recently to see if some things were as bad as I remembered and it turns out they were So Much Worse Oh Yikes. More specifically, the treatment of Katara and Aang and their respective cultures has... rather a lot going on. One example: The Fire Nation and Air Nomads are both given multiple backstory elements in an attempt to make the average Fire Nation soldier's participation in the genocide/war in large part the fault of the Avatar and the Air Nomads themselves, and also fully justified from the Fire Nation perspective. And I do mean fully. One of its core tenants is "People from the Fire Nation (and only people from the Fire Nation) who don't follow orders Literally Die, therefore murdering pacifists and babies and continuing the war (and their regularly scheduled war crimes) is the only thing it is physically possible for them to do". I cannot emphasize enough how literal that is.

Also the name "Wani" means "Alligator" and is... objectively a pretty lame name for Zuko's ship? Where's the personality, where's the deeper meaning, where's the resonance with Zuko's themes? @tuktukpodfics initially thought I was calling the ship "Wanyi", and that's what I've switched to, because it is Objectively So Much Better. In their words: “Wànyī (萬一): Literally ‘one in ten thousand,’ ‘perchance.’ Used grammatically in Chinese to mean ‘what if’ or ‘just in case.’ I think a ship called ‘The Perchance’ is perfect for a boy clinging to false hope.”

TL:DR; I don't rec Embers anymore, because I don't actually like the story anymore, and there are things about it that get worse the more I think on them. I've removed links to it and renamed Zuko's ship to "Wanyi" ("The Perchance") because our boy deserves a ship name that reflects his character arc.

#for the record if you ever find something kind of rancid in my fics #do please let me know #EX: I've rewritten scenes to be better Actual Blind Rep for Toph based on blind reader feedback #and I'm debating how hard it would be to ignore/re-write the canon issues of Water Tribe sexism (for the Southern Tribe at the least) #because that is a common complaint I see from the people who's RL cultures the Water Tribes was based on #probably I can do more interesting things with that going forward #in other words justice for Hama and Hahn #at least the show itself made Hama excellently complex #anyways back to doing actual writing #please no follow up questions #though I will say anyone who wants to update their own fics to use Wanyi (or any other name): go for it! #all you need to do is plop your chapters in a word editor and find/replace the ship name! it took about 40 minutes to do literally #all of my fics and I had some other editing to do besides! it'll be even quicker for you! #let's sink the Wani #avatar the last airbender #atla #Zuko

[joeyscherryjubilee]

Like Calls To Like (Aemond x OC) 2nd Snippet

Author's Note: Hey! I got such a lovely response to the first snippet I posted of my fic so I've been writing some more and I think it'll be good to start posting soon! I've edited another little snippet just to see what y'all think x

Warning: None (?) fluff warning I guess

Summary: Aemond is relieved to have you in his company once again and loves teasing flirting with you before dinner.

“Why are your brothers not here? They should have arrived with you.” Aemond murmured as he took a sip of wine, regarding his princess with a fond smile. 

She shrugged at his question. 

“I’ve barely seen them this trip, I’ve been with either you or Helaena and besides.” Laenyra said and huffed as she thought about it, the mutual isolation between the families. “They do not like you, Aemond.” 

“Hmm.” He hummed, looking over the chairs that lined the grand table and the feast his father had ordered. “And why is that, do you think?”

“Really?” Laenyra asked, an amused smile forming at his teasing question. “You really have to ask?"

“’Tis merely a question.” He teased and lent closer with a fiendish grin. “As to why my nephews do not hold me with the same reverence that you do.” 

“Reverence is it?” Her smile bloomed magnificently, dazzling Aemond.

“Yes. I dare say most of Westeros revere me.” He stated with simplicity like she was a fool for not knowing. His tone was so serious she would’ve thought him truthful if she didn’t know him so well. 

Laenyra laughed and Aemond almost fell to his knees. 

Gods he loved her so much.

“Tell me, dear prince. What does the entirety of Westeros revere you for?” She asked, moving to playfully shove him away, but he caught her hand with both of his and held it tightly to his chest. 

“I’m surprised you require an explanation, princess.” His tone was jovial and his eye alight with amusement. “I ride the largest dragon in the world, I am a skilled swordsman who many rightly fear.” 

“Is that all?” Laenyra teased and Aemond’s tone became more serious as his thumb stroked her palm. 

“Not at all, the main cause of such reverence is because one day I will marry the most beautiful woman in the world.” 

Laenyra’s retort faded on her tongue and she blushed furiously, struggling to find her words. 

Gods she loved him so much.

“This cannot surprise you, we made this promise to each other years ago.” He murmured with an insolent grin and Laenyra wished to kiss him. 

“You are silly.” She said, failing to find a more articulate word and pulled her hand from his grasp petulantly. 

Aemond boomed out an uncharacteristically loud laugh and all the heads in the rooms turned to stare at the two. 

“What in the seven hells is so funny as to make my miserable brother laugh?” Aegon demanded, delighted in something other than his aching head to amuse him. “He never laughs.” 

#aemond hotd #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond one eye #aemond targaryen #aemond x alys #aemond fanfiction #aemond imagine #aemond x oc #aemond x y/n #aemond the kinslayer #prince aemond #aemond x reader

[mjolnirswriststrap]

💠Aegon's Shadow 💠

Chapter 2 Masterlist

word count: 2,297

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THE LACK OF AEGON II FICS, ONESHOTS, HEADCANONS, DRABBLES, EDITS AND IMAGINES!

so i decided to write my own, maybe it'll start a domino effect, or no one will see it, prayers y'all

summary:  Lowborn reader needs to find a match, so her father doesn't have to pick for her.  Little does she know the decision isn't up to her, or her father.

there are no warnings for this chapter, just a little comfort THEN hurt from Aegon 😘

                              

Chapter One

    The feast was loud, deafening by all accounts. You didn't even know what you were doing there, at a royal wedding. Your father thought tonight was the night to find your suitor. He's a lowborn man, but still the son of the richest merchant in all of King's Landing's history, and you were meant to inherit it all. Your father, being a man of his time, agrees with the notion that women surely can't run businesses.

   That's the reason you're here tonight, at the royal feast, to find someone worthy of a shop's tiny fortune. Your father would never see you worthy, not as long as you lacked the right parts. Every man wishes for a son to carry on his familial line. You respected the traditions, but that's all they were to you, traditions. They hold no real meaning to you. You thrive off of facts, and actions of others, you think men get too caught up in tradition to see what's right in front of them.

   Speaking of traditions and being right in front of you, The Queen stands from her table in the center. The vibrating room suddenly hushes, waiting for their queen to address them. "Kings Landing, were proud to announce Prince Aemond and Princess Heleana…" Alicent's tight lined smile is telling. The Hightower family was partial to most, except things like the Targaryen family tradition. 

      Your eyes flash to the indifferent prince and sullen princess, you feel bad for a second, then realize a fool could see through this wedding. They would be King and Queen one day soon, dethroning Rhaenyra, and skipping past prince Aegon all together. The city wasn't blind, and neither were you, you could see the distant look on prince Aegon's face, like a mixture of sadness and relief. Saddened that his own family would sabotage his reign, relieved that he'll never be bothered with running the realms.

  Something inside of you told you to stop staring at the prince, but you could not peel your eyes away in enough time. His dark, sunken eyes were already staring right back. Terrified that you had disrespected royalty you put your head down, hoping your face would disappear in the crowd for Aegon.

  The Queen finishes her speech that you didn't even hear, and the guests make their way to two long tables. You sit beside your father and another lowborn girl, Kira; her father owns the Apothecary. A life filled with oils and salves has produced a beautiful young woman, your father owning all the produce and bread stands has done nothing but leave a little to be desired on your part. Who wouldn't take advantage of free food on every corner as a kid.

  Dinner was promptly served once the guests were all seated, a roast of some sort, you could recognize your father's potatoes and carrots, imported from Dorne. Of course, they would spend a fortune on this feast, to show their people how much this wedding means. You finished your meal quickly, as did others as they made their way to the dance floor. You'd thought, surely, enough time had passed, and you could look up to the table full of silver hair without being caught gawking. Half of the family was happy, so happy they couldn't see how all of this was affecting their three children. Alicent was securing her family's wealth, Otto's scheming is starting to pay off, and Viserys is just happy to be there, slowly withering away.

     You look to the rain cloud of a person, Prince Aegon, but he is no longer there, an empty chair stared back at you. Turning back in your seat, you play with a napkin, folding it in different styles till you run out of techniques. Everyone slowly left to the dance floor, whether they were dancing or talking business wasn't a factor, you were still sitting all alone on the night you were meant to find your husband.

     Your bright idea to find a suitor was simple, let fate decide. She had been on your side all your life, just one more night would be enough for you.  Every girl knows that in this world, the man they marry is not their decision, and it isn't up for discussion.  All the good Kings and Queens from before didn't begin their marriage loving each other, and some never do. On the other hand, you are not a queen, and never will be. So, you can see yourself finding plenty of time to work towards finding a relationship based on love.

 Your untrusting father couldn't find it in himself to let you decide for yourself. That's why he's walking up to you alongside a short chubby lord, who's at least double your age. "Y/N I would like to introduce you to Lord..." your father's words faded away as you saw Prince Aegon, as he makes his way to the large doors that you were seated next to, he catches your eyes on him again. he furrows his brow in an almost confused expression, but still continues towards the door.

   "Would you like to dance my lady?" the short lord reaches out his hand and interrupts your line of vision. Standing, you look up to them, saddened that your father thinks fat means ugly, he thinks this guy is in your league. "Do you really think of me as that beastly father? And I'm not a lady!" you say to both men quite loudly. You see the prince stop in his tracks and snap his head towards your disruption.  Rather than have any common decency for the royals, you stormed out of their wedding, not caring if your disrespect gets your lowborn head chopped off.

  Prince Aegon watches the encounter, shocked at your outburst, first you dare to let him catch your prolonged gaze, now you show complete disregard for where you are feasting. No matter how bright your eyes were, your actions were more than punishable. He sees you slip out of a back door, leading to the gardens.

  He looks to the knight, standing just behind him. The second he looks away, Aegon bolts for the door, following you into the gardens. He finds you sitting under a large tree, hiding with your back to the party. He stands where you cannot see him, like a predator watching his prey.  Aegon is known for playing with his food, all the realms know it, especially you, a young woman living in King's Landing.

   Aegon expected you to be crying already, overwhelmed by everything he just witnessed. He was surprised to hear giggles from behind the tree, he circles the tree, not catching your eye as he stands in front of you, a small black feline with grey stripes is curled in your lap, swatting away at your hand. One good scratch, a pointed finger, and pouted lips saying "Hey! That's not berry nice" was enough for Aegon to forget your transgressions. He would never let you know that.

   "You don't look upset at all for a girl with no suitor options." Aegon says, breaking you from your trance on the strange looking kitten. Standing, dropping the kitten, you curtsey, "Your Grace, please forgive me." Aegon waved away your worry with a smile, but not your fear of what he could do. "You should tell me about what happened there. I might pity you enough to go light on your punishment." He says with a serious look. In reality, he just wanted to know more about you. Of course, he could know every detail about you with a snap of his fingers, but he'd prefer your tales come from your lips, not some maester or knight.

   "It's my father, Your Grace." You say looking into his eyes for the third time that day. Aegon is monotoned, still not comprehending why you're the only person, besides his mother and grandfather, to ever stare him in the eye. "Go on." He lets you continue, staring right back into your eyes. "He's been trying to find a suitor that's worthy for a month, worthy of our money, not of me. I turn them all down because they're either too old or too ugly. He's never once brought me someone my age. I know my size makes the lords turn their heads, my prince. My father sees me as a beast. I'm his only living child, I know he wants to secure our house, but I'll never be a lady. I'll never be enough for the handsome lords in that room." you say, pointing behind you. You were used to this kind of self-talk, no tears welled in your eyes as you spoke, no quiver in your voice. Your face showed no emotion, you were tired of this life, you'd lived with these facts for a month. Turning down old scary men puts your life into perspective quickly.

  Aegon somehow understands your rambling, actually feeling bad for you, which surprises him. He silently offers you a hand. Placing your shaking hand in his, he starts dragging you to a corner of the garden. Your veins run cold, terrified that Aegon is going to do to you what the servant girls whisper about in Flea Bottom. Surprisingly, you both come to a stop in front of a large tree with soft green leaves and light purple blooms.

  "Would you call this tree beastly? Would you say it's not worthy of respect because it doesn't look like that peach tree? or that willow?" Aegon says, acting as if he knows something you don't. You stand there not answering, afraid you'll say the wrong thing and offend the prince. Aegon continues at your silence, "This tree is big, but it's also strong, and breathtakingly beautiful in the summer, even more beautiful than the ripe peaches or long-haired willows." he finishes still holding onto your hand.

  "Please forgive me, your grace but did you just compare me to a tree?" you say smiling. You stayed silent as the prince worked over the thoughts in his mind. “No, I was only suggesting that size has nothing to do with beauty, your size has nothing to do with your beauty.” Aegon says. “Do you think I'm beautiful, my prince?” You ask before thinking, frozen at his proclamation, his hand finally starts to burn a hole into your palm. With that question, you altered whatever was happening between you at that moment. “I… I don’t even know your name, my lady...” Aegon stutters out, dropping your hand quickly, not being able to confirm or deny your accusation.  Aegon knows what his family would say, specifically his younger brother and he liked you far too much to ruin your virtue and reputation for a night of satisfaction.  

       You know Aegon sleeps with everything that walks, so his reaction made you shatter from the inside out. First your breath was pulled from your lungs, then your skin got hot. Tears filled your eyes for the first time that evening, thinking even a man whore couldn't find me attractive enough to lie. You stare at Aegon for the last time, letting him see the tears he caused. He built you up so high in minutes, only to let you get the wrong idea. The mean, lazy prince actually being nice to you? He must've been teasing you the whole time.  

You begin to walk backwards towards the party, back to the room of people that didn't even see you, back to your matchmaking father. “I’m not a lady.” You say, turning around, quickly making your way back into the door you previously escaped from. Once you’re inside you see a tanned skin knight with dark brown hair making his way towards you. He floats past you like you weren't even there, swinging the door to the garden open quite forcefully. 

       You spot your father leaning over one of the tables, pointing towards you with a smile on his face, without thinking you run out of the already opened large main doors. You keep running, and running till you reach Blackwater Bay. You search left and right to see an empty beach, signaling that you are safe to go into the water. You strip yourself of the dark red dress, leaving you in only your white linens. You wade through the water till you’re hip deep, and then you just let yourself float, float away from everything. The seas are healing, you know that. You donate all of your salty tears to her, for as long as you were wet with seawater you weren't really crying. You float for as long as your tears fall, once you collect yourself you rise to a wading position and realize how far you've floated, at least 50 meters from shore. You start to swim your way back when you see a cloaked figure standing beside your dress in the sand. You quickly start swimming back, hoping this stranger doesn't steal your nice dinner dress. As you make it to shore and start crawling through the shallow water, you notice the figure has already disappeared. In their stead, a small black kitten with grey stripes. Weird, you think, it looks exactly like the one in the garden. After lacing your dress up and grabbing the kitten you walk through the gate, starting your long walk home.

#aegon the second #aegon ii targaryen #aegon x reader #hotd #hotd x reader #aemond one eye #aemond targaryen

[murdockbarnes]

Hormones - B.B.

pairing: bucky barnes x fem!reader

summary: bucky will help you kick your hormones' ass any day

wordcount: 975

warnings: this fic is centered around periods and pcos, so obviously those serve as warnings. mentions of puke, ridiculous amounts of fluff, soft bucky, because he is a warning in every way

A/N: i'm having one of the worst periods i have ever had and so, this fic is completely self indulgent. i don't know yet if i want to make this thing into a small series or not, but i am definitely considering it!

any feedback would be greatly appreciated. have a great day!

*not edited, all mistakes are mine*

"she gave you the key for emergencies, it's ok barnes," he reminds himself, finally fitting the key into the lock and twisting. he is met with a dark apartment and complete silence upon opening the door.

he tries calling out your name, but there's no answer, which only serves to make him even more concerned. cautiously, he sweeps his eyes over the kitchen and living room, before finally going to your bedroom.

the bedroom's dark too, so he uses the flash on his phone as he makes his way to the bed. bucky can see the silhouette of your body under the blanket but you're not moving. concerned, and with his heart going a million miles a minute, he peels back the corner and flashes the phone torch directly onto your face as he shakes you awake.

"fucking hell, barnes!" red, swollen eyes meet his concerned ones as the snarl rips its way from your throat at the bright light. "get that shit away from my face."

if he hadn't been so relieved that you were alive, he would've died from that look alone, bucky thinks as he puts his phone away.

"i was concerned! you haven't come out of your apartment for a whole day and you wouldn't respond to my texts, and now i come here and you look like death! what the hell is going on? i'm worried about you." the bed dips as he lays beside you, gently tugging the blanket away from your face again.

imploring blue eyes meet yours, adorable worried expression on his face that you had absolutely no business finding as adorable as you did. turning away from him, you answer him.

"you don't wanna know, barnes. it'll ruin this whole neighbours-who-fuck-on-the-downlow thing."

"well maybe i wanna know," bucky stands his ground. "trust me, i'm man enough to know it. i wanna know what's got you in such a state, honey."

one look at the gentle look on his face and you were already melting. fuck james buchanan barnes and that stupidly, insufferably, adorable face of his.

"it's my period," you declare with a sigh.

"i didn't realise they could get that bad," he says with a small sad frown.

"it's always like this. i have pcos and each and every period is accompanied with migraines and nausea and photosensitivity, along with all the other usual jazz."

"oh, honey," bucky wraps an arm around you, bringing you closer and snuggling you. "is there anything i can do to help?"

"no, it's fine. i took some pills. you can go, it's no use being stuck around me while i'm like this."

he just scoffs and tightens his arm around you. "absolutely not. i am, first and foremost, your friend. i am not leaving you alone like this. now go back to sleep. no buts."

knowing how stubborn he could be when he wanted to, you gave up and felt the tiredness creeping it's way back in. you fell asleep easily, what with your eyelids getting heavy and a dull ache throughout your whole body.

bucky eventually fell asleep, but was jolted awake when you dove for the large bowl next to your bed around 3 a.m. and started puking. he rubbed your back through it and helped you clean up. after that display, you were sure he'd be gone when you woke up. so it's safe to say that you were surprised when he was still there when you woke up, staring at you with a soft smile, handing you water and gatorade because "you need energy and electrolytes, i googled."

after, he helped you shower, ever so patient, drying you off carefully with a towel. this felt... strangely intimate. so very different from every thing you two have ever done before. that was not a thought you wanted to ponder yet.

you drifted in and out of sleep while he sat next to you in bed working on his laptop. you stared at him silently for a while, bathed in the late afternoon sunlight, eyebrows furrowed and the tip of his tongue poking between his lips in concentration. a strange, warm feeling was blooming in your chest, unfurling further and further every second, a gentle smile taking place on your lips.

your quiet moment of staring was brought to an end when he noticed you were awake. after asking if you were feeling better, refilling your water and are you sure you don't need any more heating pads or painkillers?, bucky finally resettled next to you. his hair was fluffy and soft and unruly, and he was wearing a worn and loose t-shirt and pyjama pants, expression soft and unguarded. it was a sight you got to see very rarely, so you savoured it as much as you could, the warm feeling in your chest returning full force.

"you didn't have to do this, y'know," you broke the silence, his fingers tangling in yours. "i'm sorry you had to see all that, i must look terrible," you said with a light laugh.

"of course i did. i wanted to." bucky holds eye contact, making sure you know that he's being sincere. he squeezes your hand reassuringly before continuing, "and besides, what are friends for? i'll help you kick your hormones' ass anytime you want."

his cheeky smile was met with an eyeroll and a grumbled out thanks. he only laughed and wrapped his arms around you, bringing you closer to his chest, pressing a small kiss to your forehead. he only tightened his hold when he felt your lips curl into a smile in his chest, one of his own taking over his face.

as bucky kept holding you, tangled in your blankets bathed in the late afternoon sunlight, a familiar warm feeling blooming in his chest, he knew he wouldn't trade it in for the world.

#ara writes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fluff #marvel x reader #mcu x reader #james buchanan barnes

[suchalonelysunflower]

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

💘Is there any posted fic you want to rework/re-edit/re-write?

💎why is writing important to you?

📡why is writing and sharing your writing important for fandom? (If I may give my take: because you are not scared to go into heart breaking hard stuff and angst and portray people with flaws.)

Hi love!

✨: Looks Red Tastes Blue for one. I had that concept worked on for months and it's just like I imagined it and I wish it got more credit than it did. I still love it so so much and the people that loved it as well mean so much to me

💘: None that I could think of really. The old ones are cringy and with poorly grammar, but they still show my progress and growth so I wouldn't change a thing

💎: cause it saved my life. it's my therapy and my escape. it's what I always wanted to do. I have a voice and a message and an outlet. I help myself and I hope it helps others as well. it's my own little thing and I adore it. I have met so many amazing people because of it. it's me

📡: I agree with your take and you have no idea how much it means to me. I embrace the heartbreak and I like giving it a new meaning besides all the angst. it might be my way of just letting it all out, but I truly believe that pain must be felt, heartbreak, sadness, having your soul torn apart, it's part of life and it's so so beautiful to be able to just feel and let it evolve into something even more beautiful. There's a song that claims "after the storm, the sun comes out" and I live by that. and even if some of my fics don't have a happy ending, you'll know that it'll be okay. endings don't need to be happy for them to turn into new beginnings.

Ask me anything!

#littledrummerangie #angie of mine #suchalonelyask #sunfloweranswers

[thebreakfastgenie]

😅💋🍦🍷, if you haven't answered them already!

Thank you!!! Seriously I know I keep reblogging these but I need the entertainment. I've spent the whole day either napping or having no energy to do anything like I can't even focus on watching anything. I'm not even like for real sick either I mean I don't have a cold or anything but something is fucking wrong with me!! Anyway!

😅 What’s a story or scene you’ve created that you’re a smidge embarrassed exists?

I've been writing fic on and off since I was fourteen, okay? I'm not ashamed of it, but I am embarrassed by it. I've written NCIS (infused with teenage angst), Supernatural, and Hamilton (not embarrassed by that though because the writing was good). I would have said my abandoned destiel high school AU but I reread it recently and you know... it's not bad, all things considered. There are things I've started writing and never posted that are more embarrassing than anything I've posted. I did write an NCIS fic back in the day where Gibbs's canon love interest for a while, Hollis, straight up tells Jenny they should be together instead and Jenny is all no, it won't work.... that's embarrassing. It's only on fanfiction.net, though. Everything I'm embarrassed about on my AO3 I have the attitude of, well, I know better now.

I'm not embarrassed they exist but I am embarrassed by how rushed Wonderful and Six More Weeks are because I wanted to finish both by midnight on those days and I had, like, work. I don't edit fics once they're posted besides fixing typos, but if they continue to bother me I might do some minimal edits.

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

Neither? I don't write a lot of them, because with MASH I'm happy being a gen writer right now, and in my other fandoms, I've mostly ended up with ships that already have a first kiss. Josh/Donna, for example. My original ship, jibbs, were exes, so any kiss I wrote wasn't technically their first. I did write a Kirk/Spock first kiss once, to slot into the Starfleet Academy Shatnerverse book (I never posted it). When I was writing destiel, I don't think I ever actually wrote a first kiss, but I was into the idea.

If I do jump into writing shippy MASH fic I'm almost certainly going to start with hawnk, which also already has a canon kiss, though perhaps it's not their first...

🍦 What’s the sweetest fic you’ve created so far?

Uh...sweet... have I written anything sweet? It's probably 'Til Death (Un)does Us Part, a silly fic I wrote about Kirk and Spock trying to get remarried after Spock came back from the dead.

I do have a note that says "write a fic where Hawkeye and Radar eat waffles and nothing bad happens" so someday maybe it'll be that.

🍷 Do you drink and write?

I try to because I always think it will loosen me up and help with my perfectionism, but I always get too sleepy before I get anywhere.

[rjalker]

A review frrom six hours ago for my one (1) pern fic:

Tumblr post.

FF.net

It's an interesting idea - it's always seemed bizarre to me that when Pern was down to one queen and in desperate need of dragons they didn't even try to get some of the greens laying. And it's carefully avoided later on in canon - does Mirrim's green chew firestone and fly in the main wings? How about Kai's?

This is a bit confused, though. How can the green have a pregnancy to abort if she's so young she hasn't learned to chew firestone yet? And it's all got rather a ring of those "and everyone clapped" Facebook fantasies. Nobody's even considered that a green might want to not chew firestone before, but five minutes later it's being treated as if it's a lifelong goal for everyone in the Weyr. It would be a lot more interesting if you addressed that no, not everyone is going to instantly think it's a wonderful idea.

not to like, be a snob, but it's very amusing that I read all of the Pern books before looking for any fic (which I still haven't done but that's besides the point) but then this person clearly has NOT read the book this is set in and therefore has none of the context, but expects me to supply it...even though that's not what fanfiction is for.

I clearly stated the names of the characters in this in the setting, so this person had to have known it's about a book and characters they don't know yet.

Like. Maybe try reading the book in question? Knowing about the characters in the fic? The context they are living in?? I promise you they're all acting exactly the way they would if these writers weren't classist misogynists lol....

And what do you know, one book later, this is exactly what happens lofl.

So now I have to go "I recommend reading Dragonheart and coming back to this fic so you'll know the context of this story".

This is like reading fanfiction for a series you know nothing about and then complaining that the fic doesn't make sense lol.

The reply I sent:

Hey, thanks for the review -- though I recommend reading Dragonheart and then coming back to this fic so you know who the characters are and the context, I promised myself I wouldn't write /any/ fanficiton for Pern, but this one was just held out on a silver platter and I literally couldn't stop myself lol. You can read Dragonheart (and all the other Pern books) for free on the web archive, archive (dot) org, and I just edited a whole list of links to each book in my profile here, though I'm not sure how long it'll take to update… Anyways lol, I promise these characters are reacting the exact way they would in canon, if you've only read stuff with the characters from the 9th pass, you're missing out on a lot, some of it less horrible than you'd think given this series' track record. Pretty sure FF won't let me send a link in a PM, so here's a sneaky link for Dragonheart: archive (dot) org (forward slash) details (forward slash) dragonheart00todd

#Rjalker reads The Dragonriders of Pern #The Dragonriders of Pern

[jakesimfromstatefarm]

notoriously yours | jay park

✰ summary: jay park is a rich kid. it’s safe to say he has everything every broke college student on his campus could dream of and more. but the one thing he doesn’t have, which money definitely can’t buy, is a girlfriend. and his friends won’t see of it. literally.

so what happens when his friends bet him to date someone for more than three months? what happens when jay decides that fake-dating someone would be easier than actual dating (because god forbid Jay–the campus’ notoriously known fuckboy–decides to commit to something once in his life)?

and what happens when that someone is you, his childhood best friend he hasn’t spoken to in years..who has absolutely no interest in being in his life anymore?

✰ pairing: jay park x y/n [ft. members of enha]

✰ genre: fluff, comedy, angst | fakedating!au, college!au, childhoodbestfriends!au, (kinda) e2l!au

✰ warnings: cursing, nothing suggestive but jay's a fuckboy so slightly suggestive themes, mentions of parental neglect/leaving, it's hella long (and i thought my last fic was long)

✰ wc: 14.7k (how did i get it this long oh lord)

✰ author's note: picture creds go to original owners/editors! peep that edit of jay that lowkey inspired this entire fic 👀also this took me so, so long bc i lost motivation half way thru and bc college is a thing,,,so i honestly don't know how to feel abt it so pls bare with me :')))) ALSO the dividers are weird bc idk how to add more than 10 pics for the dividers so pls excuse those ٩(× ×)۶i hope u guys enjoy!! <333

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Jay Park is a rich kid.

Jay Park has enough to buy every textbook he needs for his courses without having to look up the free versions online. Jay Park has enough to bribe his professors to let him pass every class with a perfect 4.0 GPA (but because the boy has morals, he doesn't). Jay Park has enough to afford a car to drive to his furthest class from his dorm building instead of walk or bike like every other college student, meaning he also has enough to afford a parking spot on campus (those things aren't cheap!).

Jay Park walks around your school's campus like he owns the place (and considering the amount of money his family has donated to the school, he practically does), looking like he just walked out of your local coffee shop's newest fashion magazine. His blonde hair is never seen untouched, his attire usually consisting of an undoubtedly high-end all-black fit, accessorized with multiple earrings and rings that probably cost more than all the overpriced textbooks you had to rent out this semester. It's safe to say that everyone knows Jay Park.

Bottom line is, Jay Park has everything.

Well, his friends beg to differ.

In their eyes, Jay Park has everything but a simple factor in the equation of love (or whatever love is to the minds of a couple of 19 year olds): commitment.

So yes, it's safe to say that everyone knows Jay Park. Because everyone knows he's the campus' rich fuckboy. (What's a college fanfic campus without one anyways?)

Jay doesn't go unreminded of this by his friends, to the boy's annoyance.

Jay is aware of this on a Sunday afternoon, in his dorm building's first floor lounge, where he and his said friends are having a study session.

They're doing anything but studying.

In fact, no one has any books out or anything. Not a single laptop in site.

"You don't think it's the slightly bit concerning?" Jake's words are muffled as he continues munching on the fried chicken that he spent majority of this study session debating if he should have it delivered through UberEats or not.

"I really don't, no," Jay shrugs as he continues mindlessly scrolling through his Instagram feed. They're having the same argument conversation that they've revisited multiple times over the course of their friendship, one that Jay has been lectured on too many times for his own good. He thinks his friends could become his new parents if they really tried.

"Look at it this way, okay. You're about to graduate college in a couple of years, into the big world. Like the actual, adult world. And that means you'll have to settle down. Which you can't do when you. have. no. commitment!" Jake punctuates each word with a single clap of his hands, desperate to get his point across.

Jay simply rolls his eyes. He looks over to Sunghoon, who's minding his own business, not bothered by the same topic he's heard over and over again. His eyes tell Jay you're on your own, in response to his blonde-haired friend's look of despair.

Jay thinks that maybe he should get new friends. Yes, that's the only solution here.

"My love life," Jay reaches across the table for a drumstick from the greasy tub seated in Jake's lap until Jake swats his hand away, "is none of your business. Also, ouch."

"Uh, it kinda is. Because of you and your reputation around campus, it kinda affects us, your best friends. How do you think we look, hanging out with the guy who's known to ghost every girl in existence after one night with them? No offense to you," Jake deadpans to him. Jay mentally reconsiders the term best friends.

Tough love. Jay tells himself it's tough love.

"Yes, because every girl totally hates Jake Sim, the teacher assistant of a physics class who volunteers at the pet shelter every Sunday and brings their pet golden retriever to campus every two weeks," Jay rolls his eyes at his Australian friend.

Jake sighs. "Okay, then I'm coming from a place of worry for you."

Jay groans. "Again, none of your business!" This doesn't stop Jake. He comes from good intentions, really, but Jay wants nothing more than to stuff the kid's mouth with some of that chicken to shut him up.

"What are you gonna do if one day you meet someone you like, genuinely like, and you screw yourself over because you've never been in an actual relationship before? A real, committed one. Like one that lasts at least three months."

"You don't think I can last three months in a relationship?" Jay questions the boy currently taunting him.

"Honestly? No. What's the longest relationship you've been in?" Jake cocks an eyebrow at his friend across from him.

One month and two weeks. But Jay's smart enough to not say that out loud.

"I can so last over three months," Jay mutters more to himself than Jake.

Jake laughs at that, pausing to take another bite of the drumstick in his hand. "Jay, I am willing to actually bet you. Bet that you wouldn't be able to." He leans back on the couch, the ball now in Jay's court.

Jay freezes, looking up from his phone, narrowing his eyes at Jake.

"Forget it, Jake. He's not gonna agree even if you offered him money," Sunghoon finally perches from beside him. Well he's not wrong. It's not like Jay is exactly in need of more money, per say.

"What kind of bet are we talking here?"

Sunghoon's right. Jay doesn't need the money, but he does hate being wrong. Even if it's over something as stupid as this matter.

Caught off guard by the blonde's answer, Jake blinks blankly at him and takes a second to think.

"Hmm..what about...what about if you can date someone for at least three months, and I mean an actual, committed relationship, then I'll do all of your physics homework next semester."

Jay's eyes sparkle at that. If there's anything he despises more than commitment, it's physics.

"And if I win, you have to buy all of my textbooks," Jake sits back from the edge of his seat with a smirk lying on his face.

Jay pauses to think about it. I mean, what does he have to lose? A couple hundred dollars over college textbooks? No. Because he just simply won't lose.

And maybe he'll learn what it'll be like to actually be in a committed relationship for once. Maybe he'll finally learn what it's like to actually devote yourself to someone, open up to them. He shivers at the thought. Never mind. He'll warm up to it. Baby steps.

Nonetheless, what could go wrong? Even if he does lose, at least his money would be going somewhere productive––towards his friend's education. Jay was probably gonna use that money on something useless like a blanket that resembles a tortilla (a burrito blanket, he calls it)––something he doesn't necessarily need, but must have, he would argue.

"Fine. Whatever, okay. Deal," he grabs Jake's extended hand in front of him and shakes on it.

Jake's impressively smiling at the boy as Sunghoon lets out a sigh, in disbelief with the two guys he calls his best friends.

Jay concludes that this will be easier than his Introduction to Photography 101 course he took his freshman year. How hard is it to find someone to date the Jay Park? Surely, everyone will be lining up once Jay switches his FaceBook relationship status from "it's complicated" to "single".

Turns out, it's not as easy as his class where all Jay had to do was take pictures of a pretty sunset, slap a VSCO filter on, and call it a day.

He comes to this realization on a Wednesday evening, as he's seated at one of the many study tables lined in the middle of the campus' library, staring down at his phone's dry iMessage app, with his laptop and blank sheets of scratch paper scrambled across the entire table, as an attempt to look half as studious as the other students studying in the facility.

Turns out, being known as the campus' fuckboy who ghosts every girl on campus isn't a good thing when it comes to wanting to find a real relationship.

He comes to this realization after failing to receive a single text back to the many ones he sent out throughout the first half of his day. The ghoster gets ghosted. Oh how the turn tables.

Jay groans dramatically as he tosses his phone on the hard surface of the table, earning himself a harsh shush from the librarian filing books in the aisle beside him.

He sheepishly smiles back as an apology, directing his attention back to his open laptop screen, where his untouched calculus homework stares back at him––his mind preoccupied with the looming threat of Jake's bet. Not that it was threatening in any way, per say, but Jay just hates losing. And from the looks of things, it's safe to say that Jay won't be celebrating any victories anytime soon.

Jay thinks he should just change his identity and just transfer to some boarding school in Switzerland. Yes, that's a much better solution than admitting defeat to Jake.

Jay sighs as he lies his head on the table, figuring he might as well just write the check for Jake's textbooks now. He wonders how he got here in the first place. Not how he got into the bet, and definitely not how he's sitting in the middle of the library, having yet to start his calculus homework due at 11:59PM tonight (he should really start that).

But no, he wonders how he gained the reputation as the campus' playboy. To be fair, his friends (mainly Jake), are constantly reminding him of his notorious habits. But how did they come a habit in the first place?

The idea of being in a relationship is nice, sure, but the commitment that comes with it? The idea of being dependent on someone? It's scary, vulnerable, and one that Jay can't picture for himself.

Maybe some people just aren't meant to be paired. Maybe some people, like Jay, like being independent and are meant to stay that way.

But Jay also likes affection. He likes the fleeting, warm feeling he gets every time he finds himself under someone's sheets. He likes the short-lived comfort he receives from someone else's touch, even though he knows it's going to cease to exist the second he steps out of those bedroom's doors. He just likes affection, simple as that.

That and he's a 19 year old teenage boy with needs, what did you expect?

And so what if he likes the idea of affection minus commitment? Is that so bad? Apparently it is, to people like his friends and the entirety of his school's campus, at least.

At this rate, he might as well pay someone to date him.

Wait. Jay lifts his head off the table's surface in realization.

He might as well pay someone to date him.

There's no harm in that, is there?

He wouldn't have to endure through an endless amount of dates to find someone he clicks with, then continue going on dates with said clicked person, all while trying to develop an actual, serious relationship.

He'll win the bet, get his physics homework done for an entire semester, and some lucky girl out there will be making profit for the small price of hanging out with Jay Park for three months.

And lucky for him, Jay knows the perfect candidate for this scheme.

Simple as that.

Just as long as said perfect candidate says yes.

And as long as Jake and Sunghoon don't find out. Or else Jay might really have to move to Switzerland after all.

You love your friends, you do.

Hana and Heeseung have been there for you when others haven't––they were by your side when you knew no one entering high school, and they were still by your side when you were all graduating said high school. Needless to say, you're eternally grateful for friends like them.

But right now, in this moment––with you seated in the middle of the campus' library, trying to write your essay, as your two friends blabber on and on about the most recent gossip across from you––your two friends could be your villain origin story.

But again, you love your friends, you do. So you don't have the heart to tell them to leave. You've managed to naturally tune out most of the conversation, anyways, for this––your friends coming to hang out while you're trying to study––is no rare occurrence by any means.

"Oh yeah, Jay Park texted me last night."

You hate how your brain's filter suddenly turns off at Hana's words.

You hate how your ears catch the sudden mention of Jay Park's name.

You hate how the thought of Jay Park gets to even occupy a single brain cell of yours.

You hate how you even know who Jay Park is. Well, knew.

Past tense. Because up until eighth grade––when Jay decided to just suddenly pretend you didn't exist––he was attached to you like a koala to a eucalyptus tree.

And if you had asked past Y/N, ideally, Jay would've never left your side. Ideally, he would've never left you to fend for yourself when entering high school. Ideally, he would've stayed your best friend through out all four years of high school and ideally, you would've eventually told him how you really felt about him after growing up with him all your life. And maybe it would've lead to a completely different story. But for the sake of this fic, we don't live in an ideal world.

So yes, if it wasn't for his attendance at the very same university as you, you would've forgotten about the boy who brought you the painful memories of your childhood.

And since the universe clearly doesn't work in your favor, avoiding Jay Park's existence like he's the plague would have to suffice. And it works.

For the most part.

Until some people, bring him up uninvited into your conversation. Like now, for example.

"When was the last time you guys talked anyways?" Heeseung mindlessly asks as he reaches across the table to grab one of the many snacks you usually bring to your study sessions.

"Uh..like a few weeks ago. Give or take. Whenever you threw your house party. Can't say there was much talking involved however," she teasingly says with a giggle and wiggle of her brows.

Heeseung's rolling his eyes as you scoff and chuck a nearby crumpled piece of paper that was once one of your many essay drafts at her.

She bats it away right as it's about to hit her face as she laughs. "Doesn't matter anyways. He ghosted me the next morning, as he does with everyone else. Telling you this now," she extends a finger right at you, "stay away from Jay Park. That kid's just bad news."

You nod in response, mentally telling her she has nothing to worry about.

Been there, done that.

College. Ah yes, the very concept of spending four years of your life imprisoned on a campus where you'll be tearing your hair out from stress and spending all your life's savings just for a laminated sheet of paper with a golden stamp at the end of it all. We live in a society.

Because of said college, and all the weight that comes along with it, you had adapted a strict daily schedule in order to not completely lose your mind. It's a simple schedule really, one of a typical college student who's just trying to get by everyday with as little mental breakdowns as possible.

Wake up, get ready, go to class, go to the library to do your homework, walk all the way across campus to get back to your dorm, shower, then sleep. Oh and eat, of course. And maybe if time permits, be an actual social being and socialize.

It's gotten you this far into the college life without dropping out so, you conclude, you must be doing something right.

Sometimes, if you're feeling nice to yourself, you'll tweak the schedule a bit to fit in some exceptions. Maybe squeeze in a little trip to the bubble tea shop that's on the other side of campus, or maybe get dinner at that one dining hall that you don't usually go to because of the unncessarily long lines (but because they serve ice cream, you go anyways). It doesn't matter what the exception is, you still plan it out to fit into your schedule somehow. Everything is planned out.

Sometimes, however, the universe disagrees with your schedule, to your demise. Such as today, for example.

Because what you didn't expect for today was for a particular blonde-haired boy who you haven't spoken to in almost six years (but who's counting?) to approach your table in the library––a table you were sure no one could find you at, as it was quietly tucked away in the back corner, right next to the Astrophysics shelves. Because who browses the Astrophysics aisle for fun? Actually, maybe Jake Sim would. Anyways.

You definitely didn't anticipate a visit from the boy you've been actively avoiding, so you definitely didn't expect the first words coming out of his mouth when he sees you for the first time in six years to be:

"Fake date me."

You blink up at him.

Yeah, definitely not expected.

But you only let it phase you for a split second, until you feel a slight annoyance beginning to bubble up deep inside of you.

"Wow, hello to you too Jay! It's been what––half a decade? Yeah I've been pretty good, thanks for asking!" The sarcasm is practically dripping off your tongue.

You don't know what runs through Jay's mind, but apparently it isn't common sense––or the ability to read the room. Because next thing you know, he's sliding the chair across from you out from underneath the table and making himself at home.

And he's smiling right at you.

Curse him and his smile.

But no, you're not giving into it.

Not yet, at least.

"What do you want?" You deadpan at him when he makes no sign of making the next move.

"A girlfriend," he deadpans right back at you, as if he was casually telling you what he wanted for dinner. As if you two were close-knit friends that could approach one another without any proper greeting. As if you two had kept your friendship all these years. As if you two even had a role in each other's lives.

"Can't help you there," you scoff, deciding to not even question his lack of manners on top of his uninvited presence.

"Aren't you gonna ask me why?"

"Well gee, seeing that the first few words you decided to say to my face for the first time in forever were a demand, a demand to date you no less, then....no," your monotone voice says as you keep your eyes focused on your laptop screen, not daring to look at the boy across from you.

In the Introduction to Sociology course you took your freshmen year, you had learned of one important term: interactional vandalism. Textbook definition being: "ignoring signals of disinterest in a conversation, leading it to an offense."

Your definition being: "are you oblivious or just plan dumb, read the room!"

This was interactional vandalism, alright. Whether Jay's truly oblivious or just trying to annoy you until your head explodes (it's really the former, but you're convinced it's the latter), he takes your signals of disinterest and tosses it right out of his head to continue the conversation.

"I'm stuck in this stupid bet with Jake--do you remember him? He bet me that I couldn't date someone for more than three months and I figured having someone fake date me would be easier than actually dating someone, right? That's where you come into the equation," he proposes as he leans back in his chair, as if he had just finished a sales pitch to a prospective customer looking to buy a car.

You couldn't believe this. You're 98% sure this has got to be a prank. You're mentally preparing for a camera crew to jump out from in-between the library's aisles any moment now and scream into your ears that you've just been punk'd!

The remaining 2% of you, however, wouldn't put it past the two boys to get themselves in such a situation. The last memory you had of Jay and his friends were pretty much their childish selves back in middle school. And by looking at the current scene unfolding in front of you...it's needless to say they haven't changed much.

"Again, can't help you there. Ask one of the many girlfriends I thought you had." Ouch.

"But Y/N, you've known me all your life--"

"Up until you dropped me a few years ago but sure, let's call it that."

"--and convincing other people is gonna make me look--"

"--desperate? Yeah."

"C'mon, Y/N. What do you have to lose anyways?"

"Uh..my dignity? Pride? Self-respect? Sorry Jay, not happening," you turn your attention back to your unwritten essay in front of you, mentally checking out of this conversation. This would be a good time for that camera crew to jump out now.

"Look, no one else is gonna do it, Y/N." Jay has always been stubborn, you suppose. But so are you.

"Yeah, because you've managed to push every being of the opposite gender away from you. You gave yourself this reputation in the first place," you give it to him straight. It's not like you had a relationship with him to uphold anyways––Jay himself broke that friendship years ago.

Jay hates that you're right.

You're always right. He remembers how he used to always go to you for advice and clarity on the world's biggest problems. Granted, the world's biggest problems to him at the time equated to what he should dress up as for the fifth grade Halloween party, but still. A tough decision, for the mind of a ten-year-old.

You abruptly stop typing and begin putting your laptop and textbooks away as you huff in frustration. There's no point in trying to get your work done now. The longer you stay arguing with Jay, the bigger your headache gets. The longer he continues to occupy any part of your brain, the bigger your headache gets.

Getting up from your seat, packed and ready to slam your head into your pillow, you turn to the blonde one last time.

"Look Jay. We went on our separate ways years ago. If you weren't so notoriously known around campus and my friends would stop talking about you, I would've long forgotten you. I'm sorry you're in this situation, really. If I were you, I'd just tell Jake I can't do it. Or don't, I can't tell you what to do. Just don't get some innocent girl involved in whatever stunt of yours this is."

Jay stares at you, mouth agape, as you find your way out of the library and through the main doors. By the time he comes back to his senses, he realizes how he looks plain stupid––standing in the middle of the library, the look on his face screaming befuddlement, to say the least. Jay quickly makes his way out of the building, in hopes of convincing you one last time.

Jay catches sight of your figure already half-way down the walkway that connects the library to the main quad of your school's campus. Geez, you walk fast.

Not fast enough to outrun Jay's legs, however. If Jay running after you through the middle of campus in order to convince you to fake date him doesn't show how desperate he is to win this bet, I don't know what will.

"Wait, Y/N!"

You groan to yourself before turning to face the boy who can't seem to take a hint and leave you alone. You stare at his out-of-breath state as he heaves up and down from the slight jog he had to endure to get to where you are. If you're humored by him chasing after you, you do a good job of hiding it.

He meets your unimpressed state before stating his final proposition: "I'll pay you. Five hundred dollars."

You nearly stop breathing.

Now this catches your attention––after all, you're but a broke college student who's just trying to survive. And preferably not by feeding yourself instant ramen cups every night.

And so, naturally, you begin rethinking about the opportunity presented in front of you. You narrow your eyes at the boy as you weigh your options.

The first problem being, it's Jay Park––the bane of your very existence. You spent the last few years of your life pretending he didn't exist...for good reason. Not only did he do you dirty when you were merely a couple of 13-year-olds, but you just didn't want to be involved with someone like him. Someone known for his nature, someone who left your own current best friend ghosted. And not that Hana herself would care, for she has called herself the "female Jay Park", but you're sure this would be breaking some rule in the girl code handbook. Plus, if you agree to this, you'd be betraying 13-year-old Y/N, the one who decided to never speak to nor think of Jay Park again––which by now you've failed, but you get the gist.

Second problem being, three months is a long time. Three months is practically the rest of this semester, and did you really want to spend the rest of the semester tied down to the label of being Jay Park's girlfriend? There would have to be some negative connotations that came along with that title, right? No offense to Jay, but being his first girlfriend since, what, high school could make you come off as..naive, for lack of a better term. As if the only person you could settle for was Jay Park. As if you barely had any standards for yourself. Again, no offense to Jay.

Needless to say, if your school's debate club had to argue on why you shouldn't be doing this, you're sure the negating side could win with these two reasons alone.

But before you're rejecting the boy currently standing in front of you one last time, you find yourself mentally listing rebuttals.

First of all, you'd be getting paid. And again, you're merely but a college student living the stereotypical broke college student life––burdened by the costs of tuition, textbooks, and midnight McDonalds runs for when you're out of aforementioned instant ramen cups. Five hundred dollars could provide you with more than enough chicken McNuggets to last you the semester, and maybe some more to treat yourself to an online shopping spree.

Second of all, it's not like you were going to do anything better with your next three months anyways. It's safe to say you were too busy being a diligent student to actually look for anyone to date, per say. And if anything, having a fake boyfriend might actually be helpful in your case. Your mom would be off your ass about how you're still single, for one. And two, your friends (though it's really just Heeseung) would stop trying to hook you up on blind dates with guys that you would choose Jay Park over any day (and that really says something).

Third of all, it's Jay Park. As much as you despise the kid, you still know him. He's not a complete stranger to you, no matter how much you try to deny it. It could be worse, it could be a complete rando asking you to date him. At least you two have some sort of history, which would take care of the typical small talk and getting to know each other bit of this equation. And truth be told, you'd be lying to yourself if you said you weren't a tad bit satisfied by the fact that Jay chose you, of all people, to pull off this stunt with him. You don't know if it's the nostalgia of your childhood memories rushing back to you, but it reminds you of the endless schemes you two used to plan behind your parents' backs all the time. Granted, your childhood schemes––such as the both of you faking sickness so you could skip school together––don't even fall close to being in a fake relationship with one another, but still. It's the thought that counts.

All of those reasons plus, Jay isn't the worst to look at. He may have a spoiled reputation, but at least he has his looks going for him, you'll give him that (you're still secretly wondering when and how did he get his glow up, but don't tell him that).

And so by the guidelines of a college student's logic that states the pros outweigh the cons, you come to the overarching conclusion that maybe, this won't be so awful after all.

"Five hundred?" You ask, just for clarification. Jay's immediately nodding at your words. You continue to ponder on your thoughts as he stares at you hopefully.

The silent atmosphere of your campus heightens the tension so much, you swear you're in one of those overdramatic pausing scenes that occur too many times in k-dramas.

You sigh, then nod.

"Okay," you're internally praying that you won't regret this decision. "I'm in."

The next time you see Jay is at 12:17PM on a Friday afternoon, as you're exiting the doors of the lecture building that's home to your awfully long Capitalism in the Western World class.

You're going down the steps of the building, mentally deciding where and what you're going to treat yourself to for lunch––as the three hour lecture you had just attended drained all the life and energy out of you––when you hear the slight call of your name.

Turning to the source, you're met with a waving Jay, leaning against the passenger's side of his car, parked in front of the lecture hall building you were currently leaving.

Great.

You walk over to where he's casually waiting––he's unaware of all the stares he's attracted from fellow students leaving the same lecture as you. Can you blame them? It's not everyday you see a sleek, black BMW that probably cost more than your tuition pull up in front of your Friday afternoon lecture. It's not everyday you see Jay Park waiting for anyone outside of his said sleek, black BMW that probably cost more than your tuition.

"Hi," you simply let out as you plant yourself in front of him, not sure whether or not to question him why are you here? Surely, he wasn't waiting for you?

"Hi," he smiles down at you. There's a beat of silence. "I was waiting for you."

Bingo.

"Oh. What are you, my chauffeur?" You raise an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Maybe. I am your boyfriend, after all," he says into the air, loud and clear, as if he wanted people to hear. Well that is the point, you suppose.

But still, all you want to do is smack the smirk right off his face.

Before you have time to put your next question into words, he answers it for you.

"I'm taking you out for lunch," he declares as if you have nothing else planned for the day. Well, to be fair, you didn't have anything else planned for the day. Except for your usual library run. But you figure the library could wait.

"Oh, like on a date?" You raise your eyebrows teasingly at him as you get into the car, Jay holding the door wide open for you. "Is Jay Park treating me to lunch as a date?"

Jay fights the scowl (or is that a smile?) growing on his face as he bends down to meet your eye level from inside the car. "Don't flatter yourself, princess. We've got fake lives to live."

"Call me princess one more time and you won't have a real life to live," you flash him a sarcastic smile and slam the door in his face.

Jay meets his own shocked reflection on the passenger's side window.

Cute.

"When you said you were taking me out to lunch, I expected like...I don't know...the diner on campus. Not whatever this is," you mutter to Jay as the two of you are brought to your table by a waitress at an upscale sushi restaurant, one that is undoubtedly out of your usual budget, but for sure an upgrade from your dining hall's pizza you were planning to have. You should've figured as much, the drive here was a little more than out of the way from campus, and who are you kidding, it's Jay Park you're eating with.

You stare down at your current outfit, which consisted of a hoodie you've owned since your junior year of high school and leggings that you threw on without second thought this morning––because you didn't exactly wake up and decide I'm going to go to a fancy sushi bar for lunch today!

"Why are we here anyways?" You ask him when you're both settled in your seats and the waitress walks away after listing the chef's specials for the day.

"Oh, they have killer dragon rolls here, you have to try it," Jay tells you nonchalantly as his eyes rake the menu in front of him, blocking your view of him.

How dense can one be? Your hand snatches his menu as you stare into his unamused eyes.

"No, Jay. I mean, why are we here? It's not like anyone's around to see us put on a show anyways."

"Oh. I figured," Jay's quick to grab the menu back from out of your hands as he continues, "that we should sit down and establish how exactly we're going to deliver this performance. After all, you're stuck with me for the next three months."

Again, smacking the smirk currently resting on his face would satisfy you beyond relief. Just once.

"If I drop out halfway through, do I still get $250?" You tease, leaning back.

"Ha ha. Funny. No," he narrows his eyes at you from across the table. "It's all or nothing."

You dramatically huff to make a show just for his annoyance.

"Worth a try. But sure, let's solidify this. What's the game plan?" You sit up in your seat, leaning over the table as if the two of you were hosting a secret meeting.

"It's simple really," Jay mirrors your actions, face leaning in close to where yours is hovering over the table. "Just pretend to be deeply in love with me for three months, and try not to actually be charmed by my cunning looks."

If someone gave you five dollars for every time you've already rolled your eyes at him today, you wouldn't even need to be in this deal for the five hundred dollars.

"Wow, smooth. Can I just remind you you're the one paying a girl to be in a fake relationship with you because you're just not competent enough to find an actual girlfriend?" You lean back, arms crossing over your figure.

Jay, unfazed, laughs, tongue briefly hitting the inside of his cheek. "Touché."

Your eyes go back to the menu in front of you as a silence falls over the table. Because you're not a loaded trust fund baby who comes to fancy five-star sushi restaurants for lunch on a daily, you don't recognize half of the entree names on the menu. You spot the dragon roll Jay suggested, but seeing that a basic California roll is less expensive, your natural broke-college-student-instincts figure the California roll shall do.

"Okay, in all seriousness," Jay begins as he puts his menu down. "It's simple really. We'll just go on weekly dates and post cute pictures of each other once in a while and a little after three months, I'll just say it didn't work out. I'll give you the five hundo and boom, we move on with our lives."

It's clear Jay's put some thought into this. Safe to say he's put more effort planning this out than the amount of work he's been putting into his classes. Someone's got their priorities straight.

You're impressed to say the least––you figured Jay would just be the kind to go with the flow and wait for the situation to unfold on its own and maybe blow up into flames. But seeing as he was just as serious about winning this bet as you were with making five hundred dollars, your doubts about this entire situation were slowly withering away.

Don't get it wrong, though, you still despise him. To an extent, at least.

"And don't worry about the dates. I'll pay on your behalf, as the loving, doting boyfriend I am," Jay finishes with a wide, cheesy smile you can't help but return a growing smile back at.

"Well then, as the loving, doting girlfriend I am, I shall gift you coffee, breakfast, all that fun couple stuff, whenever you please. Or maybe unannounced, if I'm feeling nice," you figure you should pitch in as much if he's paying for all your dates. And deep down, you find the idea kinda cute. But don't tell anyone that.

"Wow, look at us. We should become Dispatch's couple of the year already!" Jay exclaims, earning himself a small giggle from you, which pleases him to say the least. He thinks that maybe when this is all over, he'll hopefully make a good friend (well, for the second time) out of it.

And you're thinking that maybe the next three months won't be as bad as you initially had thought.

As the two of you delve deep into a debate about who would be the better significant other to each other, the waitress comes over to take your orders.

And because you're laughing and Jay's brightly smiling at you from across the table, you order the dragon roll.

The second time Jay takes you out––this time he gives you a heads up to get ready––it's at a, once again, high-class steakhouse.

The third time, you insist on the on-campus diner that's popular amongst the student population. Partially because you feel bad for the amount of money he's spent on you (even though he couldn't care less), but mostly because if you have to put on another fancy dress to just eat an overpriced meal that doesn't even fully satisfy your hunger, you might lose your mind.

And by this third time, Jake is aware of this newly blossomed relationship.

"Three dates! I didn't know you had it in you, going on three dates with the same girl!" Jake excitedly exclaims as he jumps into the empty spot on Jay's dorm bed and shoves his phone's screen into Jay's face.

The smaller screen displays Jay's most recent Instagram post: an image of you sitting behind your too-small-to-be-this-expensive-steak and smiling right into Jay's camera––a memory that brings a smile to his face:

~ ~ ~

"C'mon! We said Instagram posts would be a part of the deal! How else can we convince people we're dating?" A pout rests on Jay's face as he stares at you from across the table in the middle of the extravagantly decorated restaurant he picked out for your second date. You remember your eyes bulging out of their own sockets when you saw the "$$$$$" rating Yelp gave the place when you searched it up earlier.

"Okay, okay! One picture," you give in, already slightly annoyed that you were here instead of the comfort of your own bed, where you could be rewatching your favorite Netflix show for the third time. But because you made a deal and because you're desperate for money, you had to follow through––so here you were.

You flash an unconvincing smile to Jay's camera, which doesn't satisfy him, to say the least. "At least pretend you're somewhat enjoying this date," he frowns at you.

You sigh, until a thought crosses your mind and a smile grows on your face. "Only if you get me boba afterwards."

He narrows his eyes at you, but then meets your smile. "Sure, whatever you want. But only because I've been craving some mango milk tea lately."

"You're a fruit milk tea kind of guy? Sorry, but I might have to fake break-up with you," you tease as you take a sip of your overpriced drink to go with your overpriced meal.

Jay scoffs, feigning hurt by placing his hand over his heart. "Ouch. But before you break up with me, let me get this Instagram post in."

"Wow. Your priorities are so straight," you roll your eyes at him, eliciting a cheeky smile from him as he watches you through his held up phone screen.

"3,2,1."

"Hey, I wasn't ready! That was like mid-laugh!" You reach over the table to grab the phone, but not quick enough for him to put his phone back into his pants' pocket.

"Nope, nuh uh," he laughs as you quickly sit back down into your seat, not wanting to cause a scene in an establishment as proper as this one.

"It's fine. It's a good picture, you look cute," he casually lets out, unaware of the blush rising to the surface of your cheeks, thanks to the fact that you were suddenly interested in playing with the left-over food on your plate.

"Jay! Delete it, I'll let you take another one," you whine from your seat, imagining just how bad a candid picture of you could be.

"Ugh, fine. Ever so picky." He playfully rolls his eyes at you as he takes his phone out and opens the camera app as you prepare yourself.

"Okay, how's this?" Jay turns the phone screen to you after he takes a few snaps on his phone.

"I approve," you grin at him as he goes through the pictures himself, unaware of the smile growing on his face.

"Okay now delete the first one," you point your finger at him, narrowing your eyes at him.

"Okay, okay! Bossy," he laughs as he raises in hands in surrender.

When Jay gets home that night, he recovers the image from his Recently Deleted folder, telling himself it's for the sake of the memory.

Obviously.

~ ~ ~

"It's not that big of a deal," Jay mutters from his spot as his eyes go from the Instagram post to his Exile and Belonging in Modern Literature reading that's due tomorrow, bright yellow highlighter in hand. Typically, you'd find the reading buried deep at the bottom of his school backpack. But because Jay ran into you this morning and because he complained to you about the amount of work he's fallen behind on and because you had threatened him to do his work or else you're not going on another date––a fake date that is––with him, he figured he should at least get one reading done and annotated, despite his strong dislike for highlighters (they hurt his eyes, okay?)

What he doesn't know, however, is how your threat was completely full of bluff––but don't tell him that.

"It is so a big deal, for you at least!" Jake hops off the bed and lands on the wooden floors of Jay's dorm room so hard, Jay winces and sends a mental apology to the poor person who lives below him.

Jake suddenly gasps. "I have to meet her, Jay! As your best friend, it's practically mandatory that I meet her."

Jay opens his mouth to protest, but not before Jake interrupts him once again. "Oh! We can bring Sunghoon too, it'll be so fun! The best friends meet the girlfriend."

Jay can't think of anything worst. Jay imagines that bringing you to meet his best friends would just intimidate you out of dating him––fake dating him, that is. Obviously.

He stares at his friend in agony then back at the reading in front of him––the one Jake said he'd come over to help annotate, but the intention completely left Jake's head the second he heard about Jay's recent dating life.

"You don't have to meet her," Jay says pointedly. "Plus, you already know her."

Jake frowns at his friend's excuse. "Yeah, but that was in middle school! This is different."

Jay's hands shuffle through the reading's pages in front of him as he realizes there's no way the two of them are going to finish the assignment at this point. He supposes he'll have to save death by blindness from highlighters for another day and hope you still agree to go out with him.

Jake suddenly gasps in realization.

"Oh my gosh! Childhood best friends turned college sweethearts," Jake says so dreamily, he might as well plaster heart eyes on. Hopeless romantic, this one.

Before Jay can argue, the piercing sound of three loud knocks echo through the small room, followed with a:

"Jay, are you in? It's me!"

Jay stills at the sound of your sweet voice. He whips his head to Jake, who is also frozen in place.

But the widened-eye boy is quick to come to his senses––unfortunately quicker than Jay himself––because the next thing Jay knows, Jake's eyes are lighting up and he's running to the door, ignoring Jay's screaming whispers through this seething teeth that were somewhere along the lines of Jake––stop, I swear to god if you open that door I'm gonna fucking--

"Y/N!" Jake swings the door wide open, revealing an overly excited him and a frozen Jay half-way to the door, as if he was about to grab the very boy welcoming you in. It's as if we're living in a Sims game and the player clicked pause on this very moment.

Jake's eyes are wildly going back and forth between you and your supposed boyfriend, as if he was waiting for Jay to run over and smother you in hugs and kisses...or something couple-y like that. Jay wouldn't know.

"Uh––hi," you're awkwardly standing inside the room now, a relatively large paper brown bag resting in your palms as you look around for a surface to place it on. Jay makes his way to you without a second thought, quickly taking the bag out of your hold.

"You seemed stressed out earlier, so I figured I could bring you some food as a little pick me up. I didn't know what you liked, so I kinda just got a little of everything from the dining hall. Nothing fancy," you're rambling, but smiling so excitedly at him, Jay doesn't know what to say.

Instead, his mouth slightly drops open as he stares at you in awe, mostly because he's not used to being on the receiving end of such spontaneously generous actions––all while Jake's still excitedly looking back and forth between the two of you, as if he was expecting a marriage proposal to come next.

"Oh wow. Thank you. Really," Jay, still touched by your simple act of kindness, softly says as he places the bag on the limited amount of empty space on his desk surface––the rest of it is covered with his untouched textbooks and unfinished assignments. He wonders if you did this out of playing your role or just because you wanted to. He internally hopes it's the latter. "Seriously, you didn't have to do."

"Nah, don't worry. I wanted to," you shrug with such a genuine smile that Jay realizes he actually missed your smile.

Despite having seen you during your brief run-in this morning when you were fetching your morning coffee, Jay realizes he missed you. The two of you haven't been seeing each other recently because of your busy schedule and if Jay didn't realize it before, he's now sure he missed your company and presence around.

Weird.

"Well, you two have fun! Sunghoon needs me for something," Jake suddenly chirps from his place near the front door, halfway through with putting his shoes on already, breaking the comforting silence that fell between the two of you.

Jay frowns. "But you said you were free all da––"

"SUNGHOON IS CALLING BYE!" And before Jay can even register what's happening, Jake's out the door without another word.

"Er..sorry about him, he's...weird," Jay scratches the back of his neck as he returns to his spot on his bed, mentally setting a reminder to yell at Jake later for leaving the two of you alone. Jay doesn't know exactly why, but he's nervous at the fact that you're here in his room. It's not like you two are complete strangers––or whatever you guys were before––anymore. "Good job on your part, though. How'd you know Jake was here?"

"Oh uh, I didn't"," you let out an awkward laugh. "I just felt like doing it."

Heat rushes to Jay's cheeks and he's not sure 1) what this newfound feeling is and 2) how to respond, yet again.

Having expecting you to leave after dropping the food off, Jay's taken by surprise when you take your shoes off and come over to his bed to look at the pile of work he's spread out.

"Is this everything you have to do?" You question the stressed-out boy as you flip through the various assignments, readings, and essays he put off in the past week.

"More or less," he groans. This is no rare occurrence by any means––Jay being behind in his work––but this time, Jay realizes he may actually be in deep shit, considering he has no idea where to begin.

Right as Jay's expecting a scolding from you, he looks up to meet a look of sympathy on your face. "Well, I mean, I'm pretty much done with my day. I can try to help, I recognize some of these readings from last semester."

Jay thinks to himself that the universe has sent him an angel through the form of you.

"Really? Wow, you were't kidding when you said you'd be a good girlfriend," he sends you a surprised look.

"I'm just being nice, Jay. A concept I'm sure you're not familiar with," you remark back at him, causing his forming smile to grow into a laugh.

"I can too be nice! Need I remind you of who's paying you $500, covering all of our dates AND giving you rides to class everyday?" He remarks pointedly at you, a teasing look resting in his eyes as you're reminded of the first of many times he's come to pick you up before class:

~ ~ ~

You're late.

This never happens.

But then again, your life's been a series of unexpected occurrences lately. Such as the fact that you're currently known as Jay Park's girlfriend, for one.

You're scrambling out of bed once you take one look at your phone and realize shit, you're already late for class. Throwing on whatever articles of clothing your eyes land on first, you're already mentally groaning at the fact that you'll have to skip breakfast and run across your campus to get to said class.

Curse your professor for hosting her lecture at the furthest possible building away from your dorm. Curse the architect who decided to make your campus so large.

You're running down the steps outside of your dorm building's doors when you're abruptly stopped by a familiar sounding cough. You look up from trying to gather all your belongings together at once to meet the gaze of the source of the sound––Jay.

"Wow, you're a mess," he smirks as he gets up from the spot on his car he was leaning against to make his way over to you.

"Gee, thanks! Good morning to you too," you flash him a sarcastic smile before your default frown quickly makes it way back onto your face.

"Aren't you gonna ask me why I'm here?" He grins as he grabs hold of your backpack to sling it across his own back as the two of you walk towards his car.

"Why are you here, Jay?" you sigh, your sarcastic tone hard to miss.

"To give you a ride to class, of course!" He's beaming at you, as if he's a pre-pubescent teen who just won their first girlfriend a prize from the arcade's claw machine.

Oh. That explains the car, you figure. Deep down inside, you're relieved that you'll no longer be bursting through the lecture hall's doors as a sweaty mess––a result of having to run across campus to get to class.

Determined to not let your satisfaction completely show, you resort with a little smile directed towards Jay as he opens the passenger door for you.

The second your enter Jay's car, the strong scent of coffee hits you, and your attention is targeted at the two small cups of coffee sitting in the cupholders of the car.

"Breakfast?" Jay asks as he enters through the driver's side and reaches into the backseat to whip out a small pastry bag. A small, deliciously smelling, pastry bag.

Okay, well. You suppose you could drop the annoyed act now.

Your eyes widen with joy as you grab the bag from him and open it to reveal your favorite breakfast sandwich. He's been taking notes, you'll give him that point.

"Okay, you win. Thank you," you grace him with a soft smile before taking a bite into the glorious gift in your hands.

"Of course, I was just feeling nice," he grins at you as he starts his car. "But don't get used to it." His tone is serious, but his smile directed towards you says differently.

And the fact that he still showed up to drive you to class the next morning.

And the next.

~ ~ ~

"And need I remind you who has to date your dumb ass for the $500 in question?" Your eyes narrow at the boy who can't seem to get that damn smile off his face.

Jay sticks his tongue out at you, ending the conversation. Really Jay? What are you, five? Well, mentally––probably.

You're looking around his minuscule dorm room for a place to sit down, and Jay can't help but feel embarrassed now that you're here, in his messy single studio room that pretty much reflects how Jay treats every other responsibility of his oh so hard life: neglected.

"Uh...here, you can sit on my bed," Jay immediately offers as he moves to the side to make room for your presence––and it isn't much, considering the university only provided him a twin XL bed which is definitely not built for two grown college-aged kids.

If you told yourself a few weeks ago that you'd be shoulder to shoulder on a bed belonging to the guy you cringed at the very thought of, you wouldn't have believed yourself. You wouldn't have believed yourself if you said you were actually glad Jay let you stay instead of kicking you out after delivering the food. Huh.

Weird.

"You know, this kinda reminds me of when we were kids. I always carried us through those horrible multiplication tests in the fifth grade," you wink at him as you settle in the spot next to him, hands grabbing hold of the papers in his lap.

Jay let out a laugh, nudging your shoulder with his. "Hey! The twelve times table is hard, okay?"

You roll your eyes at him––a habit of yours he's noticed whenever the two of you are together, but more recently, he thinks it's been more out of fun than annoyance.

He wonders why.

When Jay had first brought up the idea of bringing you as his date to his father's company dinner, you had expected a fairly fancy five-star restaurant with a formal dress code––for you've become accustomed to Jay's lifestyle. Turns out, your expectations can continue to be exceeded. Because what you had expected to be a simple dinner with a few other business men and women turned out to be an entire party, hosted in a hotel whose interior resembled something close to a castle (Or what you assume a castle looks like, as you've never personally been into a castle yourself, but this hotel is close enough).

Your eyes sparkle at the extravagant columns and diamond chandeliers hanging high above you, and Jay smiles at the expression on your face; like a little girl being brought to the amusement park for the first time ever.

"Wow, this is...wow," you mutter as you drink in the scene in front of you: people dressed in formal attire likewise to yours and Jay's, mingling and drinking what you imagine to be beverages that cost more than your entire life's worth.

Jay laughs from behind you, "Yeah the company goes a little...extra when it comes to these company dinners."

You scoff as you look up at him. "Oh really, you don't say?" You look around and you're suddenly aware of the many people surrounding the two of you and the attention you've acquired ever since entering the building.

"Jay, people are staring." You shuffle closer to him, your voice lowering down to a whisper.

"Well, it's not everyday the son of the company's CEO brings his girlfriend with him, so...looks like we'll be the talk of the party tonight. Smiles on," he winks at you, and you just know he's loving the attention the two of you are receiving right now.

"Jay Park? Is that you?" You hear a warm voice call out from behind the two of you.

The two of you turn around to meet the owner of the voice, a middle-aged woman dressed in an evening gown that matches the pattern of high-end brands you've been recognizing ever since arriving.

"Mrs. Lee! It's so nice seeing you again," Jay cheerily addresses the woman as the two of you bow in greeting.

You internally giggle at the thought of your Jay being so picture-perfect in the eyes of his father's co-workers.

"This is Y/N," he continues, his hand finding its way to your back, protectively resting it there as you go to introduce yourself. "My girlfriend."

You swear you feel goosebumps rise from where he's lightly touching you, and more so when he introduces you as his girlfriend.

You tell yourself it's just your nerves. Yes, that's it, you're just nervous. I mean, you're in a room filled with people who could easily pay off all your college loans with just a snap of their fingers, who wouldn't be nervous? Right? Right.

"Y/N! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you!" Mrs. Lee excitedly exclaims as you turn to Jay with a slightly confused look plastered on your face. He mirrors your expression as he shrugs, moving to stand behind you completely, bringing his hands to rest lowly at your hips.

His hands feel like feathers on the thin fabric of your evening gown, so light, so delicate, as if he's unsure if he's crossing a line. It leaves you wanting more, wanting to naturally lean against him and his warmth. You quick to shake the thought of your head as Mrs. Lee chirps up again.

"Jay's father is always talking about how you've been keeping Jay pleasantly busy nowadays! Good thing too, about time this poor boy settle down for someone as beautiful as you," the woman rambles on as you feel a blush creep up on your cheeks at the thought of Jay talking about you to his dad. If only they knew.

"We should probably go find our seats, I think the dinner is beginning soon," Jay says from behind you, saving the two of you from having to listen to Mrs. Lee's story of how she's known Jay ever since he was five years old and seeing him grow into this mature, loving, young man is so amazing. Oh look! I have baby pictures.

Yeah, he was more so saving himself from embarrassment.

The two of you bid your goodbyes before Jay gently uses the hand on your back to maneuver you through the crowd of socializing business moguls.

"She's not wrong, you know," you feel Jay dip his head so he's speaking near your ear, his warm breath tickling your earlobe, as the two of you make your way through the large foyer room.

"Hm?" You hum in question, turning your head up just enough to be able to make eye contact with him as he responds to your look of confusion.

"You look beautiful tonight," he says, eye contact not breaking once. You freeze in your steps.

You stare back at him in silence. Oh.

Your mind is panicking as it flips through your mental book of responses, unsure of what to say back. But because your mind is cloudy from staring at a put-together Jay in a dark navy suit to match your dress (mixed with the nervous butterflies in your stomach––have they always been there?), the only sound that's able to leave your lips is the small stutter of a:

"Huh?"

Wow Y/N, you had one job. A simple "thank you" could've sufficed! And you went with "Huh"?

You felt like a fifth grader who just learned from a friend of a friend of a friend that their crush likes them back.

"U-um. Mrs. Lee. What she said about you. You look good, really," somehow your nervousness made its way over to Jay now––his eyes flickering from yours to anywhere, anything, else in the room––the awkward tension growing tenfold each second.

Goddamnit Y/N, this is just Jay you're talking to, get a grip.

You're knocked back into reality when he slightly nudges your back to continue making your way to the main ball room, where the dinner is being held.

"Is that a compliment from the Jay Park?" Your smirk can't be seen by Jay, since he's still trailing behind you, but he can definitely hear it through your tone.

"Don't make me take it back," he chuckles, his words felt against your neck, leaving behind a tingly sensation you're not sure why you're feeling. You're glad he's behind you, so he isn't able to see the blush creeping onto your face for the second time tonight.

Jay gives a small nod to the people behind the check-in desk stationed at the entrance as the two of you waltz right into a large ball room lined with countless circular dining tables. So much for a small business dinner.

As the two of you approach one of the tables placed at the front of the room, you notice a familiar figure seated next to the seats reserved for you and Jay.

"Y/N!" Jake exclaims as he gets up from his seat to greet the both of you. "I'm so glad you made it, Jay was so excited to bring you tonight. Deadass would not stop talking about it."

Jay lets out a noise that falls somewhere between a cough and a goose being strangled, his widened eyes warning his talkative friend to just shut up. He's silently cursing the company for always seating his and Jake's family at the same table for these events.

"Aw, is that so? He's lucky he's cute or else I wouldn't have agreed," you grin, winking at your assumed boyfriend sitting next to you.

"Hey, YOU were the one excited to come! I recall a certain someone's face lighting up when I suggested we go shopping for tonight," Jay immediately retorts.

"Only because you were buying," you giggle, causing Jake to laugh as well.

"Damn, Jay. Tough," Jake jokingly adds as you laugh alongside him. The scowl sitting on Jay's face expresses the opposite of what he's feeling right now: warmth filling him up from the sound of your laughter and the image of you getting along so well with his best friend.

"I'm gonna get us some drinks, you two have fun making fun of me," Jay narrows his eyes at the two of you as he gets up from his seat. You bid him off with a smile before turning back to Jake.

"No but really though, this boy would not stop talking about you coming tonight. Then again, he doesn't really ever stop talking about you," Jake nonchalantly says, not knowing how much he was exposing his friend to you right now.

You raise an eyebrow up in response, "Oh really?"

"Seriously! I don't know what you did to him, Y/N, but this Jay I've been seeing recently is new. He complains a lot less about life nowadays, especially on the days he sees you," he leans back in his chair as his comment brings a smile to your face. Little does he know.

You stretch your neck up to find the boy in question and spot him right as he's returning to your shared table, two drinks in hand. You lock eyes with him from across the room and without a second thought, you're giving him a genuine smile that he's immediately returning.

Your heart beats faster at the view.

You wonder why.

It's 3:07AM when you hear the first ding.

You're not 100% sure as of why you're awake at this hour on a Tuesday night––perhaps a combination of your restless thoughts and feelings not letting you sleep plus the typical stress that comes hand-in-hand with the life of a college student.

It's 3:09AM when you hear the second ding, and you brush it off, assuming it was just Heeseung spamming you with memes again––something he does often when he also can't sleep (you found this out the hard way).

It's still 3:09AM when you hear the third ding, and at 3:10AM , you finally reach over and decide to acknowledge the being who's bothering you at this godforsaken hour.

Jay [3:07AM]: Y/N

Jay [3:09AM]: hi

Jay [3:09AM]: r u awake rn

Y/N [3:10AM]: unfortunately so

Y/N [3:11AM]: why are you up

Jay [3:11AM]: come outside

Y/N [3:13AM: jay it's 3am

Jay [3:13AM]: ye and? don't tell me ur a college student with a curfew

Jay [3:14AM]: plus im alrdy waiting for u outside so u have no choice

Jay [3:15AM]: :)

You groan at your bright phone screen currently illuminating your dark dorm room.

You ponder the consequences you may have to suffer tomorrow if you stay up any later than you already have. But considering the fact that you're probably just going to stay awake lying in bed for god knows how long anyways, why not?

(And you would like to point out that this decision has nothing to do with the fact that you haven't seen Jay in a few days and that maybe a tiny, tiny, tiny, part of you may have missed his presence. Nothing.)

And since that logic is obviously valid (you really gotta work on justifying your life choices), you're suddenly grabbing a hoodie from your closet and hoping it'll be enough to keep you, who's merely in an old band t-shirt from high-school and pajama shorts, warm.

The breeze hits your skin the second you open the doors to your dorm's building, and you're met with the view of Jay's sleek, black BMW that probably costs more than your tuition. He waves at you from the driver's seat, motioning for you to get in.

"To what do I owe you the pleasure at this hour," you deadpan at him with a stone-cold voice as you enter through the passenger's side door, hoping your tone was enough to hide the fact that you're giddy at the fact he invited you out at 3AM in the morning. Like a high-school girl sneaking out of her house to meet up with her bad-boy boyfriend that her parents dislike.

The second you enter his car, you're instantly comforted by the warm air blasting through his vents and his playlist softly playing in the background. Jay's pajama pants and messy hair give you more than enough information to know that he probably just rolled out of his own bed as well. You don't know why, but your view: Jay in his oversized hoodie with his unkept hair in front of your dorm building at 3AM on a Tuesday night, gives you comfort in weird ways you can't explain even if you tried.

But it's obviously just your cloudy, 3AM mind not thinking straight. Obviously.

"When I can't sleep, I go on drives around campus. It helps clear my mind," he says, looking over at you to give you a quick smile before starting his car. "Plus, SnapMap said you were still awake, so...figured you'd wanna join."

"Oh so what, you're my stalker now? You're not driving to the woods to kill me now, are you?" You tease, an eyebrow brought up. Jay lets out a laugh from beside you as he begins to drive further into your campus.

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see," he throws you a wink before reverting his gaze back to the road, mindlessly driving to wherever the road decides to take him.

A comfortable silence falls in between the two of you as Jay continues to drive endless routes around your campus. You look over to the boy driving next to you and take in his features––you don't know what changed, but you no longer feel the same anger or annoyance bubbling within you when you're around him. You're not sure when this changed, but you figure it's just the effect of desensitization. After all, you've been spending so much time with him, you're bound to get used to it. Right?

"Why were you up?" Jay finally asks after a few minutes of just the two of you silently basking in each other's presences.

"Ah, you know. The usual. Endless thoughts running through my mind, stress from school, nothing new," you sign, giving him a soft smile followed with a shrug.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

You answer him with silence as you search your head for the answer.

"I don't know. This is kinda weird, isn't it?" You don't know why you get a sudden surge of confidence, but before you can stop yourself, you find yourself rambling on. "If you had told me a month ago that I'd be here driving around with you when it's nearly 4AM, I would've laughed in your face."

Jay doesn't know whether to laugh or scoff. "Is the idea of hanging out with me that unappealing to you?"

You give him a serious look back. "I mean, up until a month ago when you needed me for whatever this game is, you literally pretended I didn't exist."

Oh. Awkward.

You freeze at your own words, mentally screaming at yourself for letting the words leave your mouth. Why, why, why.

"Y/N..." Jay says after clearing his throat after a few seconds of silence.

"No it's fine, it was a joke," you awkwardly cough and direct your attention to anything else around you right now. The view of your campus' buildings zooming by. The clicking of Jay's blinker when he switches lanes. The quiet roaring of his car's engine. The nervous tapping of his fingers against the steering wheel.

The rest of the ride is excruciatingly silent as he exits the main road and into an empty parking lot of some administration building made out of glass that has too many floors for you to count.

You don't know why you feel your heart beating in your throat as Jay puts the car into park––why you feel uneasy. You slightly turn towards him in your seat, hoping to pick up any sign of well...anything from him.

You don't know why you feel a twinge of guilt––it's not like what you said was necessarily wrong. If you were being honest, you were slightly bothered by how the two of you seemed to silently agree not to mention your past all this time. You were always one to seek answers, to seek closure. You couldn't help but bring it up––Jay was your best friend during those years. For him to just wake up one day and pretend you were nothing to him hurt you, and you couldn't help but still wonder what in the world you did to initiate his actions.

"I'm sor–" You're interrupted with his timid voice, as if he was almost afraid to speak.

"I'm not good with people." He's nibbling on his bottom lip, fingers nervously picking at a spot on the steering wheel.

You're opening and closing your mouth, unsure how to respond. You're 100% positive you look like a fish right now. Good for you.

"I don't know why. Jake calls it commitment issues but in order to have commitment, people have to stay in my life. And people just...don't. They're all bound to leave at some point. So what's the point of putting in effort into relationships if they're just going to leave you at the end?"

You're stunned by his sudden confession, not having been prepared for such a heavy topic to arise between the two of you. Up until tonight, your interactions had always been light-hearted and easy––you guys got along well. You didn't know this is how he felt all along.

But you knew where he was coming from.

You knew what Jay had gone through as a child––his mother having left him and his dad when he was young. You remember when your parents had told you the news at the young age of 13, and you remember the pain and sorrow you felt for your then friend. All you wanted to do was go to him and comfort him, but he had already cut you out from his life by then.

"Or maybe I'm the problem. My dad barely acknowledges my existence because he thinks giving me an allowance is all the parenting I need, my friends probably only stick around because they feel bad for me, you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for the bet, and, fuck, I'm literally known as the campus' fuckboy," Jay continues, falling deeper and deeper into the hole he dug himself.

He hates this, he hates opening up and feeling vulnerable, so he doesn't know why he's doing it now. He doesn't know why he feels comfortable voicing out his fears and worries when he's around you. But he does know it's a new feeling––one he doesn't know how to deal with.

"Jay," you lace your voice with as much comfort as you can provide. None of this is his fault, you want to tell him. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything," he says with a hint of bitterness and you can't tell if it's directed towards you or the topic at hand.

You're completely turned in your seat now to face him––despite the fact that he refuses to meet your gaze, afraid that looking at you is gonna bring out the most vulnerable in him. "You can talk to me. Talking about it makes it a lot easier. I'll always be here for you, as a friend."

Jay doesn't know what it is or why, but something in him snaps at the sound of a certain word falling out of your lips. Friend. Friend.

Friends don't make his heart beat nervously whenever he's around them. Friends don't keep him up at 3AM in the morning, pondering about his feelings for them. Friends don't provide him with this new, warm comfort he's become accustomed to whenever he's around you.

Deep down, Jay knows you didn't mean to add fuel to the fire. But because he's strong-headed, stubborn, and hates how vulnerable he feels next to you, he unleashes his emotions without thinking about the destruction coming along.

"It's none of your business, Y/N. Forget I said anything. You're just a toy for this stupid game and when it's all over we can go back to our own lives and forget this ever happened."

His sudden words cut deep, but they hurt him more than you. The second the words tumble out of his mouth, he's hit with the feeling of instant regret washing over him, and the lump forming in his throat restricts him from finding the right words to take them back.

The silence that falls between the two of you this time is different. It's a cold silence. A loud silence.

Jay feels his walls coming back up around him––the ones you managed to get through––and all he wants to do is apologize but he's terrified. Terrified of seeing your reaction, terrified of losing you again. For the second time.

You tell yourself he doesn't mean it. You tell yourself that he's just enduring more pain that one should ever receive.

But you also tell yourself that this wouldn't be the first time Jay leaves you in the dust.

You tell yourself that you're foolish for ever believing a friendship, or more, could come out of this act at the end. That you're so naive for feeling those stupid, stupid butterflies you've started to notice in your stomach whenever you see, or even think of, him.

"Okay," you begin with a firm tone. You're hurt, but you refuse to show it. You won't let him hurt you for a second time. Not again.

"Just...find me when you need me. As your fake girlfriend or just...me. I'm still here for you," is the last thing you say before un-clicking your seatbelt and leaving his car, beginning your walk back to your dorm hall.

Jay is unsure about many things in life. He's unsure about what he wants to do in the future, he's unsure of where he's going to settle in life, heck, he's unsure about what to have for lunch tomorrow. But he's sure about one thing.

That he's wearing his heart on his sleeve right now, and it's all because of you.

That you've become this new lifeline and he has to choose between holding onto you or drowning.

When Jay wakes up the next morning, his first gut instinct is to get ready to pick you up for class. But today's different. Jay doesn't know where the two of you stand now, especially after last night.

Jay doesn't know how to deal with this combination of unknown emotions he's been feeling lately. They didn't come out of no where, by any means, he realizes. They've been slowly growing over the past month of seeing you so often––like a plant he's been watering overtime, not expecting it to bloom into a flower so suddenly––but he figured it was nothing more than just enjoying the company of a friend.

Until he realizes that the term friend just doesn't suite you anymore––not to him, at least. And that scares him. It scares him that you've made him genuinely smile more in this past month than he ever has in his 19 years of living. It scares him that when he's around you he can't comprehend his own thoughts, his feelings. It scares him that you make him vulnerable, that you've changed him. That you've managed to make the walls that he's spent so long building and polishing to crumble with a simple tap of your finger.

In a perfect world, Jay would have already told you all this––he would be unafraid of how you would react, unafraid of your rejection, unafraid of losing this growing relationship with you. But alas, we don't live in a perfect world. And so when Jay drives to class that day, he drives right past your dorm building.

"Where's Y/N?" is the first thing Jake questions when he enters Jay's car that morning, confused by your absence, having been used to you being in the front seat every morning when Jay goes to give Jake rides to class as well.

"I don't know," Jay mutters, unemotional eyes focused on the road in front of him, not interested in continuing a conversation that involves thinking about you.

Jake hesitates as curiosity gets the best of him. "Did you guys get into a fight or something?"

Jay's hands tighten around the steering wheel of his car. "Or something. Let's just leave it at that."

There are a few beats of silence before Jake speaks up again.

"Well, I guess this works out because I wanted to talk to you about something."

Jay continues to stare straight ahead of him, focusing on just trying to get by without mentally beating himself up at the simple thought of you.

The simple thought of you and your smile. Your witty remarks. Your stupid eye rolls. Your laughter. Your kindness. So much for not thinking about you.

"I'm calling it off," Jake's words catch Jay off guard.

"Huh? Calling what off?"

"The bet. I'm calling it off. I don't care about the textbook fees I'll have to pay next semester. Look, fight or not, you and Y/N are good for each other, everyone can see it. And I really don't want this to end up being one of those messed up teen TV shows where the girlfriend finds out the entire relationship was based off of a stupid game and then they break up and the boyfriend falls into eternal sadness and regret. And I don't wanna see you sad, dude. So yeah! Congrats," although he's admitting defeat, Jake's beaming widely, just content with the fact that his best friend has finally found happiness through the form of you. "You win."

But Jay feels like the opposite of a winner. Because even though his only intention coming into this was simply winning the bet, his life isn't as simple as it was a month ago. Because he discovered something much more valuable than some stupid textbook fees or five hundred dollars or getting his physics homework done for an entire semester.

Something he's scared he's already lost.

You.

⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺

The next time you see Jay is at the same time and place as when he first ever appeared to pick you up––at 12:17PM on a Friday afternoon, as you're exiting the doors of the lecture building home to your awfully long Capitalism in World History class. This time, however it's different.

Because this time, it's one month later, and Jay Park is no longer a forgotten side character in the story of your life. This time, you're frustrated because it's been three days since you've last heard from Jay. And because it's been three days since you've last heard from him, you can't focus on anything else, and because you can't focus on anything else, you're falling behind on every other aspect in your life. Jay's somehow managed to become the center of your life without even having to be present.

Well, up until now. Up until you go down the steps of your lecture hall's entrance and look up to be met with a figure leaning on a car you're far too familiar with. You freeze in your steps as you make eye contact with the boy you've been thinking about non-stop for the past month three days.

Your mind tells you to walk away, to just follow your flight instinct instead of fight, to just go back to your normal life. But here's the thing. Ever since Jay's made his way back to your life, it's been far from normal.

And if you're being honest, you had no interest in going back to your normal life. Normal's overrated anyways. You find your legs bringing yourself over to him, your heart leading the way.

"Hi," you simply say, planting yourself right in front of him.

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?" You already know the answer, but you want to hear him say it.

"Waiting for you," Jay doesn't hesitate in answering you. This time will be different, he tells himself.

"I can walk myself home, thanks," you state, but your actions tell differently, as you make no sign of moving from your spot in front of him.

Jay's mind contemplates telling you everything. About how he regrets that friendship-breaking decision he made that one fateful day in the eighth grade, about his true feelings, about how he first suspected these feelings when he was 11 years old and saw you in your fancy get-up for the sixth grade dance but put it off as a little crush, and about how the same feelings grew into something so, so much more in the present. But seeing that putting all these thoughts into words would involve more than one functioning brain cell (which is all he's convinced he has in the moment, for the view of you staring up at him, looking like that, has his brain short-circuiting), he settles with:

"He called it off. It's over. The bet."

"Oh."

Silence.

Okay, Jay. This is your chance. Say it.

"Is that it?" You lift an eyebrow, awaiting for more explanation. When it doesn't come, you slightly nod and start backing away. "I'll see you around then."

Is that it? Do the two of you just go back to your respective lives now? How can Jay do that, when he doesn't even recall what his life was like before you entered it––and especially when he has absolutely no interest in going back to that life?

Fuck it.

"Y/N!" He stands up straight, a newfound confidence taking over. This time will be different, he tells himself. Because now, he knows what he wants. For sure.

You turn towards him, to see him already making his way towards you, stopping in his steps when he finds himself close enough to you that he can't concentrate anymore.

"I'm sorry for ditching you in the eighth grade. I'm sorry for ignoring you since then. I'm sorry for dragging you into this stupid mess and for pushing you away and I'm sorry for calling you a toy. Because it's far from truth. I like you. A lot. And––and I'm scared. I'm scared of what this means for us, because I just keep messing things up and all I know is that I don't wanna wake up tomorrow and realize you're not in my life anymore and––"

"Woah, woah, Jay. Slow down," you look up at him, the corners of your lips threatening to curve up into a smile. "You're an idiot, you know."

Jay's never really confessed his feelings to anyone before, per say, so he doesn't really know what to expect. But he's watched enough Netflix rom-coms in this lifetime (which is still not that many) to know that hearing the words "you're an idiot" isn't what you're supposed to hear after pouring your heart and soul out. Surely not, right?

"I––I'm not sure how to respond to that," he quietly says, searching your eyes for a sign, for anything. You giggle at his sudden shyness as you grab both his arms and look at him right in the eyes.

"It's okay. I get it, if anything, I'm also scared. But you somehow got me wrapped around your stupid finger, and I hate it," you smirk at him, your hands slowly making their way up his arms to circle around his neck.

Jay's hands naturally fall at your waist as he lets out a breathe he didn't even know he was holding as he returns your smirk. "Well, I could say the same about you. And I also hate it, for your information."

"Hmm, is that so? I guess it cancels out then, right?" You smile at him as he's pulling you in so close, your head turns cloudy.

Jay grins at you, his eyes holding so much joy and endearment as they quickly flicker down to your lips before returning to your own eyes. "I guess this only means one thing then."

"Mm, and what's that?"

And before Jay can answer––and because your life's been anything but normal lately––you make the first move this time, moving your head up to close the small gap between the two of you.

His arms instinctively tighten around you as you capture his lips with your very own, and Jay swears he's about to lift off into space right now. He's on cloud nine, and he makes no plans to touch the ground ever again.

The kiss quickly becomes fervent, all the pent-up tension that the two of you had for one another finally finding its way out, all the words that were previously left unsaid finally expressing themselves. You don't even care if you're being judged by the conservative faculty members of your school right now, or by the looks of fellow students walking past the two of you.

You try your best to keep yourself from smiling as he continues to press his lips against yours, his hand moving to hold your chin, guiding your mouth with his.

Before you find yourself getting carried away, you step back to take a breath, resting your forehead against his chest as his hands rest against your back. He smiles at the sound of you giggling against him.

Jay takes a step back to take one look at you and realizes, in this moment, that change can be good. And he's willing to undergo this change. As long as it's with you.

⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺

The next morning, you bounce down the steps of your dorm building's entrance to meet the wide, bright smile of your ex-childhood-bestfriend-turned-fake-boyfriend-turned-real-boyfriend waiting for you in front of his car, small pastry bag in hand. You smile back at him.

Jay drives you to class that day.

And everyday after that.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ :

✰ let me know what you think! if u made it til the end, mwah :') <3

#finally finally finally #im so sorry this took so long #anyways #enhypen #enhypen imagines #enhypen fics #enhypen scenarios #enhypen oneshots #enhypen jay #jaypark #enhypen jay park #park jongseong #jay park #enhypen fluff #enhypen angst #enhypen x reader #enhypen jay fluff #enhypen jay angst #enhypen jay fic #jay park x reader #enhypen jay imagine #enhypen jay oneshot #jay fluff #jay park fluff #iland #iland jay park #iland jay #iland imagines #jay #kpop

[headoverheelsforramsey]

May I Have This Dance?

Book : Open Heart (set post book 3)

Pairing : Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Meera Bose)

Summary : Ethan's daughter has a request and he has no way other than fulfilling it.

Category : Fluff

Warnings : None

Rating : General

Word Count : 1481

A/N : Look who is back from the dead. 🙈 Honestly I am so excited to post a fic after literally ages! Anyways this is just some pure fluff which was in my drafts forever and I could not take the time out to sit and edit. But it is finally here. This fic introduces Ethan and Meera's daughter, Avantika or Ava for short and also features their son Ishaan who was first seen in this edit.

Happy Reading Guys! ❤️✨

"Mom, I need to talk to you!," Meera's 11 year old daughter, Ava said sitting down on the breakfast table. "Yes sweetie, go ahead," Meera said, putting slices of toast on her plate. 

"You know about the dance on Friday right? And how Jacob has asked me to it," Ava looked down as her cheeks turned red. Meera took a few minutes to recall what her daughter was saying. 

Being the inquisitive, talkative and outspoken child that Ava is, she chatters away all day and to remember something out of the innumerous things she says was quite the task. 

"Ahh yes darling, I do remember, we bought the dress last week, didn't we?" It finally strikes Meera as she puts down a glass of milk beside her plate. 

"Yes. But mom, it's not about the dress."

"Then what is it Ava?" Meera sits down facing her daughter. 

"I don't know how to dance." 

"Ahh what rubbish! You do know how to dance, sweetheart, you looked so gorgeous when you danced back in the play last year." 

"No mom, not that dance! Grownup dance. How you and daddy danced in your wedding photos and videos." 

"Ohh I see. Hmm I feel you need a little bit of assistance," Meera said in her most serious tone. 

"Yes mom, I want to dance like you. Will you teach me when you come home from work?" Ava's blue eyes lighting up with excitement. 

"Oh honey," Meera kneels beside her, taking her face in her hands. "I have so much work at the hospital today. I'll be stuck there all day! Why don't you ask daddy to teach you instead? He has the day off."

"You sure he'll teach me how to dance like you?" Ava questioned scrunching her nose, and doubting her dad's skill. 

"I promise. Well after all daddy dances well too," Meera  said, placing a kiss on Ava's cheek. 

"Kind of, but not better than you," Ava giggles and Meera shakes her head.

"Moooooom we are late," Meera's older son Ishaan rushed down the stairs. 

"How many times do I have to tell you to wake up on time? You are not leaving without breakfast, young man." 

The next fifteen minutes passed away in a frenzy, as the three of them bustled about the house getting ready for school. Meera waved goodbye to the kids and kissed their foreheads for good luck. Ishaan scoffed but Ava went in for a hug. 

As soon as the kids left, Meera took a moment to herself, she let out a long sigh steading her mind and body.

"Damn being a mother was tough," she thought to herself, "but it was so rewarding." She picked up the family picture Ava had drawn from the coffee table and looked at it wistfully. 

Glancing at the clock Meera realised how late she was. She finished the rest of her coffee and got dressed to get to work. She woke Ethan up with a kiss, "Good morning handsome." 

"Good morning, Rookie," Ethan smiled. 

"How was the shift last night?" 

"Good and calm. Nothing interesting happened. You are off to the hospital, aren't you?" 

"Yes," Meera pressed her lips to his. "Goodbye Ethan," Meera said, getting up. 

Ethan clutched her arm, "stay please, Rookie," he said brushing away the loose strands of hair and kissing her once again. 

"It's been sixteen years Ethan and yet your reaction remains the same every time we have to work different shifts," Meera laughs, tracing her husband's features with her thumb. 

"It might become sixty years, yet it'll keep being the same." 

"So cheesy Ramsey," Meera said, making both of them laugh aloud. "I gotta go, you go ahead and get the much deserved rest, okay?" She pulled Ethan into a final kiss before getting up. 

"Text me when you reach?" 

"You got it boss," Meera does a little salute before heading out. 

Ethan sat on the couch with a book in his hand when his daughter walked into the living room. "Dad, I need a little help." 

"Yes baby, what's up?" Ethan said, promptly putting down his book and giving his undivided attention to Ava. 

"You know about the dance on Friday?" Ava continued to inform her dad about the grim problem she was facing at the moment. 

"Hmm that's a serious problem, I see," Ethan nodded in agreement. 

"So you'll teach me how to dance like mommy?" Ava's eyes glittering like the stars of the night. 

This made Ava smile and Ethan swore she had the same infectious smile like her mother. 

Ethan let out a laugh, "see mommy is the best in business, I am nowhere near her, but I'll try my best."

Ethan got down on one knee to get to Ava's height. "May I have this dance, Miss Ramsey?" he said, his blue eyes meeting the ones of his daughter. 

Meera came home after a busy day at the hospital, still on the phone with Dr. Rosario. She walked into the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. "I completely understand doctor. Let's continue the treatment and we'll circle back in three days?" 

Meera emptied the glass waiting for the response from the other side. "Yes, sure I'll keep you posted," she said and ended the call. 

Massaging her temples she put her phone down, the sudden silence of her home contrasted to the entirely chaotic day she had at the hospital. 

Moments later she heard one of Ethan's favourite classic waltz music from somewhere in the house. Meera couldn't help but follow it. 

What she saw through the little gap in the living room door overwhelmed her heart. Her husband and daughter : dancing. Ethan sure was having trouble crouching down to Ava's level but he didn't leave her hand. 

Tears formed in Meera's eyes as she saw them slow dancing and swaying to the music. Ava looking up to Ethan's tall figure with complete adoration and admiration in her eyes and Ethan looking into her mini version with so much love and warmth. Their orbs sharing the same hue of blue. 

She brought out her phone and captured this priceless moment. Ishaan walked into the room,"mom you are home." He hugged Meera from the back. 

"Shhh, look at them," Meera said in a low voice. "Oh my god, I swear I have never seen Ava so stressed about a school event," Ishaan giggled. 

Meera's eyes gleamed with mischief, "what do you say, we go in there and show them who the better dancing duo in the house is?" 

"Yes! That's going to be so cool" 

"So may I have this dance Mr. Ramsey?" Meera said, taking his hands in hers.  

"You got it."

As the music started building up towards a crescendo, Meera entered with her dance partner. As someone who takes dance classes, Ishaan danced impeccably compared to any other fourteen year old. They did a series of complicated steps, and twirls, and finally ended with a dip. 

As the music ended, the mother-son duo gave a dramatic bow, to Ethan's applause. Ava was not particularly pleased. 

"That's not fair mom. It's me who needs help and you are here showing off your moves with Ishaan!" 

"Listen little sis, see I told you are adopted, dance clearly runs in the fam." 

"Hey, hey that's enough banter for today," Ethan stepped in between the siblings. 

"Yes. Since I am here now you don't need to worry, get hold of your dance partner and follow my lead." Meera said, making the face of her daughter light up. 

"But before that I am very hungry," Ishaan declared, flopping down on the couch. 

"Ohh me too," Meera followed suit. 

"Me three," Ava joined in. The three of them looked at the head of the family. 

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose, "I swear you all have inherited this from your mother. And I haven't been able to say no to that face for the past twenty years." 

"That's 'I am calling for pizza right about now' in dad's language," Ishaan smirked. 

The next few hours are spent blissfully as the Ramsey family continues dancing for the rest of the night.  

Later much into the night Meera comes out from the shower to find her shirtless husband sipping champagne on the bed. 

"Holy Moly," her jaw dropped on the ground. "You like this, Rookie?" Ethan said, handing her a flute of champagne. 

 "You bet I do," Meera smiled. "But are you asking me to drink on a work night? What has happened to you Ramsey?" 

"One flute won't hurt," Ethan got up and played yet another classical waltz from his phone. "So, may I have this dance, Dr. Ramsey-Bose?"

"Now? In a bathrobe?" Meera questioned. 

"Yes to now, no to bathrobe," Ethan cleverly twirled his wife out of the robe as the music mixed with Meera's infectious laugh filled the bedroom.  

Thank you so much if you have read till here, it means the world to me. Hope to see you go on other different adventures with me, Ethan and Meera, till then sending love and hugs your way! ❤️

Taglist : @starrystarrytrouble @mm2305 @charisworld @choicesfanaf @potionsprefect @genevievemd  @shanzay44 @little-flowers-on-heaven @schnitzelbutterfingers  @coffeeheartaddict  @gryffindordaughterofathena @chemist-ana @adiehardfan @custaroonie @ireneadlerisseggsy @takemyopenheart @natureblooms24 @mainstreetreader @izzyourresidentlawyer @a-crepusculo @quixoticdreamer16 @starryeyedrookie @barbean @theblueestonedpendant

+ @openheartfanfics & @choicesficwriterscreations

Please let me know if you want to be added or removed. 💜

#playchoices #choices : stories you play #pixelberry #pixelberry choices #choices fandom #choices #choices stories we play #choices stories you play #open heart fandom #open heart #open heart fanfic #open heart f!mc #open heart fic #open heart fanfiction #ethan ramsey #ethan x meera #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan freaking ramsey #ethan jonah ramsey x mc #dr. ethan jonah ramsey #ethan jonah ramsey #dr. ethan ramsey #meera bose #dr. meera bose #Ishaan Ramsey #Ishaan Alan Ramsey #Avantika Ramsey #Avantika Naveen Ramsey #choices fic writers creations

[geniusgub]

BAD DAY//MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER

word count: 3k

warnings: body image issues

before we get into the writing i just wanted to say that i’m not, in any way, criticizing mgg’s body in this fic. it is never my intention to make others feel bad about their bodies. i have plenty of experience w that and it feels awful. if anyone has a problem w this fic then please let me know. thank u.

i collapse onto the couch after a long day of cleaning the house, blasting music and dancing around while i have time alone. the house has been in need of a serious cleaning and when i woke up this morning with the energy to be productive, i didn't let it go to waste. the dishes were washed, all the laundry washed and folded and put away, rugs vacuumed, trash put on the curb, bathrooms scrubbed down, and mirrors cleaned of scuffs. and by dinner time, i've finished and feeling accomplished.

matthew has been away at work all day and was only able to spare me one text around lunchtime to tell me that he might be later than usual. i responded with a text that was far sweeter than it needed to be, professing my love multiple times and adding a slew of cute emojis. days that run long typically mean bad days, and bad days mean a very upset boyfriend. that never ends well.

when matthew doesn't arrive home by six, i send him a text to let him know that i'm going to order chinese food for the both of us, and that he can eat when he returns home. i get nothing in return.

i watch tv while i wait for the food to arrive and only half pay attention to whatever is on the tv. my only thoughts are of my boyfriend and how horribly his day must be going. the food arrives and i put it away for later so that neither of us have to eat alone. i take my place on the couch again and wait anxiously for the door to open.

surely enough, the front door swings open and matthew comes stomping in. i hear his backpack hit the floor and then his keys following, and then the door slams closed. he doesn't come into the living room where he know i always am when he gets home, and instead goes rushing up the stairs and presumably to the bedroom. surely enough, the door slams shut a second later.

a heavy sigh falls from my mouth. i shut the tv off and go to pick up the things he had thrown onto the ground. i give matthew a moment alone to collect his thoughts and once i've tucked away his keys and hung up his backpack, i make my way up the stairs and to our bedroom.

i knock on the door softly before entering, my heart breaking at the sight before me. matthew is sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, arms trembling and shoulders shaking. i can hear him sniffling softly, fighting back tears. he looks so helpless and so broken and in the five years that we've been together, i don't think i've ever seen him like this after a day at work.

i close the door gently behind me, and when the door clicks, i see matthew flinch slightly. "hi, sweetheart," i whisper, walking a few steps closer. "can i do something for you? can i help?" matthew hesitates with his answer, sniffling before nodding a tiny bit. "yeah? okay, what can i do?" i move to sit next to him now, a few inches away. i know he won't give me an answer when he's in this state, but sometimes, just asking helps. so i just sit and wait with him as he fights off his tears.

"you can cry, you know?" i whisper. "you can cry if you need to. don't hold it in." matthew shoulders start to shake even more, his hands sliding up and into his hair. he tugs on the strands, letting out a strangled sob for the first time. my heart absolutely breaks, and i reach forward to place a hand on his back, stroking up and down the fabric of his tee shirt. "baby, i'm here right. it's okay. you're okay."

he reaches his hand back and clutches my hand, tugging on it, but not lifting his head. i scoot closer, but as soon as our legs are touching, matthew's other hand starts pulling at my thigh, trying to get me even closer. so i move to stand in between his legs, pulling his hands out of his hair so he won't give himself a headache.

and once his hands are away from his hair, he grabs my waist and pulls me right into his lap, tucking his face into my neck. this is the time that he finally lets himself go, sobbing into my shoulder and holding my waist as tight as he possibly can.

"oh, my love," i coo, brushing my fingers through his hair and running my fingers up and down his spine, "i've got you. i've got you. just let it out. i love you so much."

he hiccups and trembles as he cries, and cries, and cries. i rock him back and forth just slightly, hoping the movement will bring him some sort of comfort and tranquility. and i'm not sure how long we just sit like that, holding each other as i whisper sweet nothings into matthew's ear. but eventually, his cries slow down and he's just shaking in my arms, clutching my sweater.

"can you look at me, baby? it's okay, i've got you," he lifts his head slowly, staring at me with bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks, pretty lips pouting and nose scrunching up as he sniffles. but i give him a smile, raising my hands to wipe the tears off his cheeks and brush his hair off his forehead. "hi, my love."

matthew's lips quirk up in the slightest but they don't stay that way. "hi," he whispers, voice cracking.

"so do you wanna talk about it or go do something else?" i keep touching his face, wiping the new tears away and letting his nuzzle his cheek into my hand.

"something else, please." he says.

"okay, that's fine. are you hungry? do you want dinner? it's in the fridge, i can go heat it up."

"no, no, i'm not hungry." he shakes his head, turning his head to place a kiss on the palm of my hand. "i think i wanna go take a bath, if that's okay?"

"of course that's okay. you do whatever you want. do you want me to come or do you wanna be alone?" matthew just shrugs in response. "okay, well, why don't you go alone and i'll come by in a little while?"

"yeah, okay," matthew nods and slowly ushers me off his lap, dragging himself into the connected bathroom. he closes the door behind him and i hear the water running a few seconds later.

i can honestly say that i've never seen him so upset, at least not in recent times. he's had his fair share of breakdowns over the years but this feels different. he's been upset over a bad day at work or not getting a role, but i can't recall a time when he cried that much.

i go downstairs and, regardless of what matthew said, heat up the food i ordered. i know that he doesn't have time to eat on busy days and usually tears through the fridge and pantry when he gets home. he didn't do that today so i can only imagine how hungry he is.

i leave the food in the microwave so it will stay hot and then head back upstairs. i knock gently on the bathroom door, waiting for a response that i never get. "matthew?" i crack the door open just the tiniest bit but don't poke my head in. "is it okay if i come in for a few minutes?"

i hear the water sloshing around before he hums. "mhm."

i enter the hot bathroom and close the door behind me. matthew's legs are pulled up to his chest, forehead resting on his knees and arms wrapped protectively around himself. i sit down beside the tub and reach over to run my fingers through his damp hair.

"sweet boy," i coo softly, "i know you said you don't wanna talk about what's making you upset, but i think it'll help. i don't wanna force you, but i wanna help you feel better." he leans into my touch when i trail my fingers down his cheek, almost purring like a cat.

"m'dizzy," matthew murmurs so quietly i barely even hear him.

i furrow my eyebrows at him, cocking my head to the side. "you're dizzy? from the heat in here?" i jump up and open the bathroom door so some of the heat can travel out. "did you drink enough water? have you eaten enough today?"

matthew shakes his head no, sniffling yet again. "no."

"no," i repeat, defeated. "well, i heated up the chinese i ordered and i left it downstairs. so maybe you can jump out of the bath and come eat and you'll feel better? sound good?"

i stand and hold matthew's towel out for him as he slowly climbs out of the bathtub. i watch him carefully, making sure his dizziness doesn't overcome him. not that i could do anything like catch him if he fainted. he’s too tall and i’m too short. i pull the plug on the drain and usher matthew back into the bedroom.

i watch in careful silence as he pulls on pajama pants and an oversized sweatshirt, scrunching up his nose in the most adorable way. and once he's dressed, he turns to me with his shoulders hunched forward, almost like he's waiting for me to tell him what to do and where to go. i've been doing it since he walked in the door so i suppose he's too far gone that he needs me to continue.

i give him a small smile and grab onto his hand, leading him down to the kitchen. i point to a barstool in a silence instruction to take a seat, and retrieve our food from the microwave.

"so," i state as i sit down and dig into my fried rice, "i finished the next chapter of my book today! it's not the best writing i've done so i'm gonna do extensive editing on it, but at least it's done. i've been stuck on this chapter for weeks and i'm just relieved that i can move on."

"i'm sure what you've already written is amazing," he half heartedly, stabbing a piece of chicken before pushing it off his fork again.

i keep talking about my writing process, and observe him as he plays with his food and doesn't eat anything at all. i've finished my food in ten minutes and matthew hasn't eaten anything. he responds every now and then with short sentences or one word answers, and doesn't lift his head much.

i throw out my containers and fill up a glass with water and ice, placing it beside matthew's hand. i sit on the barstool beside him, facing him instead of forward. "you haven't eaten anything, sweet boy. you need to eat. did you eat anything today?" matthew ducks his head even further down and shakes his head no. i resist my urge to sigh. "okay, can you tell me why? i made breakfast for both of us and i thought you ate."

"no," he shakes his head again. "i don't- i just don't wanna eat."

he's never acted like this before and it's truly heartbreaking. he doesn't seem like the man i feel in love with and he's even a completely different man from the different man he is when he's upset. this is a new version of my boyfriend that i hope makes a one time appearance.

matthew takes a long breath and pushes around his rice before starting to speak. "last week, on set, i had a fitting for outfits for the episode we filmed today. and the kevlar vest that i've been using for years didn't fit. it was too small. so i," he hesitates, and then tilts his head a little towards me. i instantly bring my hair up to his wet hair and start scratching his scalp, "i just, well, this past week i just decided to eat less and hope that i could fit into the vest today. but it didn't work. it was still too small and it looked absolutely horrible. i looked horrible. ugly."

and yet again, my heart breaks for him. i've never really heard of matthew having issues with his body, except for the off comment that he didn't look good in an outfit or that it didn't flatter him. nothing to this extent. but i've had my fair share of body image issues over the years and matthew has always been quick to remind me that i'm stunning, regardless of whether i'm wearing an extra small or a large.

"i'm sorry you feel this way, love," i drag my hand back to the nape of his neck and play with the short hair there. "and i know exactly how it feels to not fit into clothes that you used to fit into. but you've helped me realize that we don't keep the same body every year. our bodies change as we get older. remember that red dress you really liked on me? it doesn't fit me anymore because i'm not as skinny as i was when we met. but i got a new one that suits me better. it's okay for your body to change and there's nothing wrong with it. you're beautiful no matter what, or handsome, if you'd prefer that."

matthew nods, wiping his cheeks when he finally lifts his head. "i just looked so bad today."

"i'm sure you didn't. i always tell you that i look horrible in outfits you think i look good in. everyone is always really hard on themselves and that's natural."

he drops his head again and let's go of his fork, letting out a heavy sigh and resting his hands in his lap. but i stand, moving his hand away and sitting down on his lap, placing my hands right on his ribs. "when you filmed season twelve, you started to work out more. remember?"

matthew nods. "yeah, of course. what does that have to do with anything?"

"you thought that you would put on weight in muscle, and that's exactly what happened. your shoulders got broader, your thighs got thicker. and you know what?" i lean forward until our noses are touching. i manage to get a tiny smile out of him when i give him an eskimo kiss, our noses rubbing together. "i absolutely loved your body before and after you started working out. you know how much i love your thighs. they're sexy, baby. i know that me telling you things like this doesn't really help but i love your body, no matter what it looks like. what your body looks like doesn't define you."

"really?" he gives me the most adorable puppy eyes. "you like my, you know, my body?"

"i love your body, matthew," i move my hands down from his ribs to his stomach, slipping them under his sweatshirt and placing them on his bare skin. "i love everything about you." matthew lets his head fall forward and presses his forehead into my shoulder as i let my hand continue to roam his skin. "i'm not gonna force you to eat if you really don't want to, but i don't want you to starve yourself either. so i'm gonna go, okay? i'm gonna go sit in bed and you can either eat or not and not feel pressured by me staring at you, and you can join me when you're ready."

i place a kiss on matthew's nose before retracting my hands and heading back to our bedroom. part of me wants to hold him down and force him to eat all of his food and another part of me knows that letting him make his own decisions is the right choice. forcing him to eat when he feels badly about his body is the worst thing i could do. it could make him spin even further out of control and that is obviously the last thing i want.

so i curl up under the duvet on my side of the bed and flip the television on, skimming through the channels until i find some random romcom that i watched with matthew years ago. i leave that on and start scrolling through my social media.

just a few minutes later, matthew comes wandering into the room and closes the door behind him. when he walks towards the bed, i notice he's holding his pint of fried rice in his hand, and while i would normally not support eating in bed out of fear of getting the sheets dirty, i make an exception for this.

he gives me a weak smile as he climbs in beside me, instantly tangling his legs with me. i roll over and rest my head on his chest, bringing my arm around his stomach, resting my hand in his sweatshirt pocket. i try my hardest to ignore it as matthew scoops rice into his mouth slowly. i can tell it's a little bit of a chore for him to be eating, but nonetheless, i'm proud of him for doing it, even if he only eats a few pieces of rice.

"we watched this movie a long time ago. one of our first dates, right?" matthew mumbles.

"mhm," i nod against his chest, "we watched this in your house in the living room and ate pizza and complained about the acting."

"i love you," matthew randomly confesses, leaning down to press his lips to my forehead. "thank you. i don't know what i'd do without you."

"well, you'll never have to find out because you're stuck with me," i quip, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "and i love you too. a whole lot. and i love your tummy too. i think i might love your tum more than i love you. no offense."

#matthew gray gubler #matthew gubler #mgg #gublernation #criminal minds #matthew gray gubler fic #matthew gray gubler fanfiction #matthew gray gubler one shot #matthew grab gubler x oc #spencer reid #dr spencer reid

[moshymosh]

Remember me- A Night To Remember

When the love of your life suffers from a disease that affects their memory of their life with you, what do you do? Will you spend your last days with them, trying to get them to remember you? The life you had, or would you give up and let them forget you?

Summary- Dr. Spencer Reid felt his whole life change when Agent Y/n L/n joined the BAU. She came in like a cool summer breeze changing everything Spencer knew about love and his capacity to care for someone so much. Y/n came to the BAU with a tragic past, her only goal was to save lives and make the world a safer place for everyone. She meets a skinny shaggy haired doctor, which causes her whole life to change, much like Spencer, will she fall in love or will her tragic past or even her job prevent her?

Pairings- Dr. Spencer Reid x f!reader.

A/N- This is a notebook inspired story, this story will be told and wrote like a chapter book. So some of the endings will not always make sense. Also I don't claim go own Criminal Minds or the Notebook, this is solely for entertainment purposes and for enjoyment. Some of the lines are from the notebook movie, again I don't claim to own either fandom/tv show/ movie. I try to make Y/n as vague as possible so shes more inclusive so if there is any descriptive things that don’t apply to you feel free to ignore them. Also just putting this out there as the story progresses Maeve is still alive and well, she is a good friend of Spencer and Y/n’s. There will be graphic content and sexual scenes in later chapters, warnings will be added as they go. Also if you want to be tagged send me an as or comment here, also send requests I'm down for making little fics. I know this part is a little weird, but there will be a -A Night To Remember part 2

PS- Please don't post my fics anywhere without my documented consent, thanks -Karma (MoshyMosh)

Warnings- some mentions of guns, violence and some minor crime talk, the usual for criminal minds. (I’m bad at writing case talk, please don't hate me.)

Here's the dress I was using for inspiration. Also here are the roses. If the links don’t work, here’s a link to the inspo board on Pinterest.

Previous part | Next Part | Masterlist

Y/n walked into the bullpen a package clasped in her hands. Y/n saw JJ talking to Derek and glanced around, making sure Spencer wasn't around before she walked over to the pair. "JJ I need a favor, " Y/n said softly, holding out the newspaper-wrapped package. "Give it to Spencer when I'm- uh not around?"

JJ and Derek shared a small smile after JJ took the package from Y/n and watched her go over to her desk and begin to set her stuff down. Y/n tilted her head at the small bouquet of yellow red-tipped roses sitting on her desk. Y/n smiled softly and pulled the notecard from its holder. Her eyes were drawn from the notecard to the three bags of gummy bears behind the roses.

Y/n let out a giggle and shook her head with a small smile on her face. She then looked up to JJ with a look of confusion but brushed it aside and sat down as she began to pull the card from its envelope.

'Will you go to the FBI ball with me?-SR xx'

Y/n giggled and slid the notecard into her blazer pocket and grabbed one of the bags of gummy bears, opening it as she left the bullpen to go to Garcia's bat cave.

Spencer smiled as he saw Y/n's reaction to his gifts, turning back to Rossi and Hotch, as they all stood in Hotch's office. "I think she liked them." He said excitedly. "Thank you." Spencer said before he left Hotch's office.

JJ saw Spencer walking back to his desk. "Spence!" she called for him as she began to walk over to him, Derek trailing behind her.

Spencer turned and looked at JJ, confused, seeing the package in her hand. "Looks like pretty boys got a crush." Derek said with a chuckle, nudging Spencer's shoulder.

Spencer took the package from JJ, pulling the notecard from under the emerald green ribbon that was decorating the package. Spencer looked up at JJ and Derek, confused before he opened the envelope and pulled out the card to read its contents.

'I love Walt Whitman, you saw and remember how I like my coffee, here's my favorite book of poems. Remember them- F/I L/I x'

Spencer put the notecard down and went to untie the ribbon when he looked at his desk to set the ribbon down and saw a note on the back of the card.

'PS- you once told me a statistic on recycling and I took it to heart, hence the newspaper. It's recycled.'

Spencer chuckled and carefully unwrapped the newspaper so it can be reused before he pulled the book from the wrapper. Spencer opened the hardcover and saw the copyright page.

"A first edition?" Spencer asked in disbelief.

Y/n and Garcia walked back in the bullpen, Y/n looked over to Spencer and smiled at him before she popped a gummy bear into her mouth.

"Okay guys, the FBI ball is next Wednesday. We just got a case, let's meet and discuss." Hotch said from the second floor.

Y/n followed Penelope to the meeting room and found a seat as the others filed in after.

"Ok, guys this case is in our very own home." Garcia started talking, throughout the meeting Y/n and Spencer took turns glancing at each other.

"Ok L/n you're with me, we'll set up here. Reid and Morgan go check out the first crime scene. Rossi, JJ, and Prentiss go to the recent scene." Hotch said as he closed his file.

"Y/n." Hotch said once everyone left and they began to set up the evidence boards that they had wheeled into the room.

"Yes sir?" Y/n asked, looking over to Hotch as she finished putting up the final picture on one of the boards.

"Did you like Spencer's gifts?" he asked, handing her some more things to put on the board.

Y/n smiled to herself as she hung the things he handed to her, "Yes, I did. Though, I can't wrap my brain around what those yellow roses are supposed to symbolize. They have multiple meanings such as friendship and/or falling in love." she said as she turned around and placed her hands on the back of a nearby chair. "Does that mean his note is 'go to the ball with me as friends.' or 'go to the ball with me because I'm falling in love with you.'?"

Hotch chuckled and shook his head with a smile. "Don't overthink it like Reid did." he said

Y/n shook her head with a laugh before she smiled up at him. "I think just because you said that I'm going to do just that."

Their friendly banter was interrupted by Hotch's phone ringing. "Reid, what did you find out?" Hotch asked as he answered and put his phone on speaker, Y/n listened alongside Hotch to what Reid was telling them. Y/n looked over to the map on the board, mentally putting points on it.

"I think I know where the unsub's comfort zone is." she said, moving away from the chair she was leaning against and began putting the points she envisioned onto the map for the team.

"Reid, Morgan tell everyone to get back here." Hotch said before he turned and looked at what Y/n was doing as he hung up the phone.

After a few days if run around by the unsub they managed to track him down. Y/n went into the warehouse with her gun drawn as she led a few SWAT members in.

"Thomas McDonald!" Y/n shouted, her gun drawn on the man who was holding a knife to the throat of a girl he recently kidnapped. "Put the knife down, and let the girl go."

Soon the team came in and the unsub backed down. They quickly arrested the man and the victim was given medical treatment. Y/n took a deep breath when she stepped out of the warehouse, Y/n shook her head to shake loose her thoughts before she looked at the woman sitting on the back of the ambulance.

"Agent L/n?" a medic called over to her, she looked over to the source of the voice. "She wants to speak to you."

Y/n walked over to the woman and sat next to her. "You saved my life." the woman said, grasping Y/n's hands.

"It wasn't just me." Y/n said as she rubbed her thumbs over the back of the woman's hands, turning her head to nod towards the team. "They all helped." Y/n whispered to her. The woman hugged her tightly causing Y/n to gasp in shock. Y/n hugged the woman back and began rubbing her back in a comforting manner.

"Thank you so much." The woman said. Y/n continued to rub the woman's back, not knowing Spencer was watching her comfort the woman.

"L/n." Hotch called out to her, causing Spencer to look away, as Y/n looked back to Hotch. She excused herself from the woman's embrace and came to join the team, standing beside Spencer. "You did a really good job of defusing the situation, " Hotch said earnestly, causing Y/n to let out a small sigh of relief. "Let's head back to Quantico and debrief."

Y/n and the team headed back to Quantico and began to work on writing their reports. Y/n sighed and rubbed her eyes for what she felt was the thousandth time, everyone had finished and went home. Spencer looked over at Y/n who yawned and rolled her head, stretching out her neck.

Spencer stood and began to grab his things. "Y/n go home, it'll be there tomorrow." he said to her as he walked past her desk.

"Oh! Spencer, yes I'll go to the ball with you on Wednesday." Y/n said as she smiled at him. Spence smiled back at her and nodded his head before he turned and continued walking to the elevators, leaving Y/n behind in the empty office.

The sun rose on the Monday before the ball. Y/n groaned as she lifted her head from her desk as she heard her coworkers enter the bullpen, she rubbed her eyes sleepily as she turned her head in their direction.

"Y/n did you sleep here last night?" Penelope asked as she walked in beside Derek.

Y/n stretched and yawned as she looked around. "I uh- must've fallen asleep after I finished my report." Y/n said as she rubbed her eyes again. "I remember putting my report on Hotch's desk and sitting back down to gather my things and I fell asleep."

Spencer walked in behind JJ, carrying two to-go coffee cups, smiling at the sleepy Y/n at her desk. "You slept here." Spencer stated, walking over to her, holding out one of the cups to her.

"No, I just decided to wear yesterday's clothes and not brush my hair." Y/n said sarcastically before she took a sip of coffee.

"Ouch, Y/n's got bite in the morning." Derek said with a chuckled to which Y/n gave him a death glare. "Oof meow." he said, gesturing a clawing motion with his hand.

Hotch walked in with a chuckle overhearing their conversation. "L/n, JJ, Prentiss, and Garcia why don't you girls take the day, go do girl things." he said with a smile. "Just keep your phone on you."

JJ and Emily looked at each other in disbelief as Penelope squealed and did a happy dance. Y/n saluted with a sleepy look as she sipped her coffee again.

"Rossi, Reid, and Morgan, we all have tuxs to get for Wednesday." Hotch said. Spencer watched as Y/n gathered her things into her white messenger bag before she stood, slinging it onto her shoulder.

"Spencie, thank you so much for the lifeline this morning." Y/n said as she raised her cup in his direction.

"Y/n! Let's go, we've got dress shopping to do!" Penelope shouted from the door to the bullpen, causing Y/n to cringe at the loudness of her voice.

Y/n turned around and motioned her hand in a lowering gesture. "Penny sweetie, too loud." Y/n whispered as she walked over to her, and slung her arm around Penelope's shoulders after she switched her coffee cup to the other hand. "Let's go bitches." Y/n said with a laugh as they walked to the elevators, to go shopping.

Y/n sat in the dress shop, watching JJ, Emily and Penelope come in and out of the fitting rooms, trying on different dresses. Y/n turned her head as her eyes glanced go the burgundy she had her eyes on.

"Girl, go get it." JJ said as she watched Y/n, the dress she decided on, hanging over her arm.

Y/n looked back to JJ, biting her lip. "Should I?" she asked as she began playing with her fingers.

"Oh hell yes." Emily said adjusting the dress she was trying on in the mirror.

Y/n nodded her head in determination, before she stood and walked over to the display her dress was hanging on, flagging down an employee for help. Y/n waited by the dressing room as she watch the employee take the dress off the display for her to try on. Y/n walked behind the curtain after the employee handed it to her.

Y/n stood in front of the mirror inside the fitting room, as she ran her hands down the tulle bodice. She took a deep breath and turned to exit the small room.

"Oh my God!" All of the girls said when they saw Y/n in the dress. The burgundy tulle of the skirt flowed around her perfectly.

"Does it look ok?" Y/n asked softly as she adjusted the sleeves, turning around to look in the mirror behind her.

"Yes, you do." JJ said as she came up behind her, rubbing her shoulders affectionately. "Look if you do your hair up..." She said as she demonstrated showing Y/n what she meant.

Y/n bit her lip as she looked at her reflection as JJ held her hair up. Emily came up behind the pair and smiled, leaning over Y/n's opposite shoulder.

"You know I wasn't sure about you at first but I've changed my mind about you now." Emily said as she draped a necklace she saw on a display on Y/n's neck. "I saw this necklace and I thought it was perfect." she said as she looked up from the necklace on Y/n's chest to her reflection.

JJ stepped away from Y/n and Emily, and went to look for a necktie that matched the color of Y/n's dress for Spencer to wear. JJ dragged Penelope into the search after they both paid for their dresses and accessories. Y/n smiled at Emily when she stepped away. Y/n went back into the dressing room to change back into she came into the store in. Emily took the necklace she found for herself and the one she found for Y/n, along with her dress, and went to the register to pay for her items.

Emily waited for the girls by the door of the shop. Y/n stepped out of the dressing room, the dress she was getting, draped over her arm as she gathered her bag from the couch she was previously occupying. She went to the register to pay for her desk, smiling as the woman put her dress in a dress bag before she stood next to Emily by the door, waiting for Penelope and JJ.

Once all the girls were ready they walked out of the shop and out to their cars. "Hey girls, why don't you guys take your things home and then come back to my apartment for some drinks and take out?" Y/n asked when they all reached their cars that were parked near each other.

"You got a deal sister. I'll bring the wine." Penelope said giddily.

Emily chuckled and shook her head as she hung her dress in the back of her car. "I'll bring face masks." she said with a wink to Y/n.

"JJ, what are you bringing?" Y/n asked, watching the woman in question put her dress in her car.

"I'm bringing my love and support." JJ said as she opened her driver's side door, putting her purse inside of the vehicle. She turned to the girls, leaning back against the back door. "I will bring the steamy emotion-filled, romantic movies."

"Bring magic mike, please." Penelope said, giving JJ a pouty face.

Y/n laughed with a shake of her head as she watched the girls get into their cars and begin to leave. Y/n loaded her things into the back of her car, careful not to wrinkle her dress in its bag. As Y/n sat in her car about to leave the parking lot her thoughts turned to the roses she had Penelope take to her home while they were on the case.

She began to drive home, her thoughts now turning to think of what Spencer was doing.

#karmawrites #moshymosh's masterlist #mgg x reader #remember me #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine smut #spencer reid x reader smut #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #matthew gray gubler x reader #moshymosh writes

[nightsofthefilms]

Why I Love Stony!

In my experience of fandom, fandom pairings, shipping culture, etc. None so far has affected me with their connection, their interest by many others, and the overall outpour of content, as Stony (Steve Rogers/Tony Stark).

That being fics, fan-art, edits, or just manips. The love that the fandom has for the two, and other creators, is just wholesome and beautiful!

Stony has always intrigued me as a lover of Marvel. More or so, astounded me the number of times that these two have shown a deep care and love for one another. That it surprises me that Marvel still hasn't made them canon.

There are various ways they could've, and it's a bit frustrating some of the fics that I've read, that are good and seem like logical solutions. But maybe one day they'll be canon, and it'll be glorious!

Anyways, continuing. I'll try to quit pining. 🙄

I've said this before, and it's just how I've seen it. That, many other pairings, like Stucky or IronStrange (No hate, again just my opinion!😳🥺) have always felt, to me, were created by the addictive nature of Head-Canon Ships.

Even more despairing, these ships were simply made by one thing in common: Hate towards Stony. Which is surprising, to say the least. Considering the fandom world is, and should be, about Love, not Hate!

Now before everyone comes for me 👀, it is the sad truth. Many pairings suffer from this. Fans of ships (Like Stucky) have chastised and begged for them to become canon. With no real reason, other than that their childhood friends, and they share some sexual tension.

And Stony is no different when it comes to this problem. But... they also are.

Let me Explain: Steve and Tony have moments here and there where they share some belligerent sexual tension, and yes, they have a strong friendship. So they don't seem that different from Stucky, right?

Furthermore, Stucky fans, who were originally Stony, had left the fandom after the MCU's portrayal of the characters were antagonistic. But here's the thing. If you look beyond the surface level of their arguments, you'll see the care there. And to Stony fans, you'll see the love there. Their relationship/friendship is layered, and has depth. It's not simplistic like most MCU pairings.

Stucky fans argue that Steve and Bucky's romantic relationship, comes from their time back in the '40s, and how Steve moved literal heaven and earth, to protect Bucky. In Cap's trilogy, I might add.

So, they do have a point. And they have a bit of evidence. Yet, that's it. They have nothing else to prove Stucky's existence.

Sure they could go and find some more evidence/content from the comics or other types of media. But it's almost pointless, as the relationship they share in the MCU, is not the same everywhere else. Mainly Because Steve's relationship with Tony is front and center, in all the others. Steve and Tony's friendship is a lot more stronger than Steve and Bucky's, anywhere besides the MCU.

Now Stony still had their moments. Like the wood-chopping scene in Age of Ultron, or Tony commenting about Steve's rear-end in Endgame, etc.

But that's pale in comparison to the quips, and moments they have with each other in the comics. Or any other media, like Avengers Assemble ("Arsenal isn't your father's greatest creation. You Are!" - Steve to Tony), Avengers Academy (Where Steve and Tony actually go on a study date), or Square Enix's: Marvel's Avengers (Where Tony completely becomes lost without Steve. So much so, that he keeps a jacket of Steve's, hanging in his room.).

Stony goes beyond the MCU and always has. No matter what media you look at, Stony shows up someway, somehow.

So I don't consider Stony head-canon, if even Marvel knows about them. Hell, if anything, the actors clearly ship the two as well. I mean, have y'all seen RDJ's Facebook?!

Regardless though, Stony has always felt like the most persistent in my head. I don't know why it has. It's just one day... they clicked. I'd could go on and on, as to why I think Stony is superior. But I'm pretty sure I already have.

And this new project, that'll be given to you guys soon, is a product of my admiration for the ship. It was once a fic on ao3, but I've since deleted it, as it was going nowhere. But I've gained some ideas, and it feels cohesive and strong!

And so, I hope you guys are excited and thrilled when I give you: The SuperHusbands!

#stevetony #stony #marvel’s avengers #marvel #ma stony #avengers assemble #ship: stony #Spotify

[mistaeq]

Caught in his fangs, freed in his claws.

Chapter 1.

TW // blood will be implied, kinda non-con relationship, vampires, werewolves, spooky things.

DISCLAIMER! EVERY IMAGE IN THIS FIC IS EDITED BY ME AND MATCHES THE DESCRIPTIONS IN THE FANFIC.♡

So. This is Dora's interactive halloween fic. What do I mean with "interactive". You choose your ending! Yay! At the end of every chapter, I'll give the reader a choice to make. You don't have to necessarily tell me your choices, you'll just have to keep them to yourselves and remember them as you go. Both endings will be posted - four, counting the not nsfw ones -, since the choice will be based on how many answer "A"s and "B"s you personally gave. But still, if you want to, you can share with me your choices! It'll be funny to know how would you behave!

Lord Higashikata x neutral!reader / Butler Nijimura x neutral!reader [depends on your choices <3]

WORD COUNT: 2.3k

Once upon a time, in a kingdom... a young creature who was nothing more than a duchess/duke, was sitting in a carriage, waiting for their destiny to come. This is not about a princess/prince, no knights galloping on a noble steed, but the story of a pure, untouched creature who was sold to save their family. This was deeply illegal. This is why from the day they were born, their parents never declared their birth at the government. They were noble people, god dammit. They would have never let such a shame fall on their surname's fame, on their dynasty, on their family's reputation. So they waited, living their misery in secret. They waited until their eighteenth birthday to sell them to someone who they knew would have never aged and would have never died, in the meantime.

You had heard of this person. He was a Count, mercilessly buying people to gain pleasure from them. To be satisfied. Almost like a tribute, almost like the Minotaur myth. It sounded just like this man could never be without someone beside him, pleasuring him. But you spent eighteen years of your life with your parents by your side, reassuring you about the fact that this person would have treated you well and properly, and he would have given money to your family after every year of your life spent with him. He had never had the chance to ask for something like that before... but since your family had promised you to him since the very start, since the day you were born, he asked for them to make sure you made it to him as a virgin.

Did this mean... he wanted you to have your first time with him...? He wanted you sexually, someway? Maybe making sure you were untouched just for him? These were the questions that were bugging you all the way towards his castle. The carriage felt always colder, and you stared at the coachman, hoping he would someway reassure you. "Excuse me...? Do you know anything about the man I'm being brought to...?" as you asked, the carriage stopped, and the man turned towards you, clearing his voice. His cyan eyes looked so deep, they were cutting through you as the sharpest sword ever.

"You mean my uncle, Lord Higashikata, I figure." what a deep voice, you felt the goosebumps it caused creeping up behind your spine. Lord Higashikata? At least now you knew about his surname. The surname you maybe would have taken.

"Y/n Higashikata..." you murmured, just to hear how your name would have sounded with his surname, slightly whispering and fighting hard against the tears that were forming in your eyes. Your parents had made you use to this thought. But all you would have wanted, watching all the lovebirds flirting and kissing in the streets, you realized you would have rather chosen to slowly fall in love with someone, rather than being forcibly paired with that Count. Meet someone, make friends, spend time together... passing time making you fall in love. This is what you craved. But you would have never found it now. It was too late. Maybe.

It took waking up from your daydreaming, to notice that the coachman who was talking to you, had no body at all. Or better, he did have a body... but it was driving the carriage, while the thing that was talking to you was his head only, held up by a single hand of his instead of being on his neck. "What the heck?" you almost shouted, terrified, as you curled up against the carriage's seat. "What... what are you..." your voice broke, as the man put his head back on his driving body with a sarcastic laughter. Your eye fell on a notebook, which was right beside the coachman. It had a name on it. Probably his. "Are you possibly... Kujo Jotaro?"

"Why even bother asking. Does my head scare you, young creature?" Kujo's deep voice answered in a melancholic way, as his back relaxed against his seat. "You'll see way better shit than this, in that castle. My uncle did this to me. He's the only one who can fix me, so that I have to be loyal, if I want my reward." what? You didn't know why. But your instinct told you to investigate. The more you knew about your future husband, the better it would have been.

"Lord Higashikata did this to you...?" your soft voice asked, even if you already knew the answer. "Is he evil? Possessive?"

"Are you asking to know whether you have a choice without dying or not?" your breath hitched. Dying? What kinda man was he? And if you parents promised you to him as soon as you were born, how can he be as young as they said he looks like? Now that you thought about it... you had heard of this man wanting young boys and girls for his own pleasure during a time which was located way before your birth.

"Why hasn't he been killed yet?" when this question left your lips, you thought you were nuts. How could you let yourself ask such a thing to the Count's coachman? "How old is he...?" you immediately tried to cover up your last question with a new one, which anyways bugged you a lot as well. Jotaro shrugged.

"Nobody really remembers it precisely apart from him and his advisor. I think he's around two hundred..." No way you heard what you just heard. Were you gonna marry... an elderly man? But no, come on, two hundred years isn't even considered elderly, it's basically... dead? "You know..." Kujo continued. "...Vampire stuff." Oh. OH. So that's what it is. Vampire. Great, good to know your family had been planning to sell you to an edgy bat for eighteen years so far. Now, if possible, you were twice as terrified as before. You didn't dare to ask any more questions to the coachman, considering he sometimes even sounded pretty pissed at the thought of solving your doubts himself.

The jacket you had taken off while you were in the carriage, returned on your shoulders as it stopped in front of the scariest view ever. A castle, a giant, castle, where the only light available to make it clearer to your sight, was the moon. It wasn't even full, that night, so that there wasn't a great light to dispose of. Great. You waited for some seconds, as the coachman opened your door out, interrupting the whistle lingering in everyone's ears, when it all suddenly gets too silent. Only then, you had the occasion to notice two things. The first one, was that Kujo was ridiculously tall and muscular. The second one, way more scary, was that the carriage, since the beginning of your road, had been carried by... nothing. You swallowed, as your gaze decided not to stare at that too much. This counted for both Jotaro's muscles and the lack of horses. "Just get to the main door. Someone will be waiting for you."

His deep voice then left you, all alone, as he took his place back in the carriage, and you could swear you heard him murmur something on his way back, on the line of "This is the nth youngster that I bring for him... I feel like Charon." Seriously? Charon? Was he implying he had just brought you - and many others - to basic hell? You huffed and held back your tears, a true miracle. No need to cry now, this won't bring you back home, not that you're this much eager to see the two people who sold you to a vampire murderer. And probably an old man, too. Your feet moved, shyly, to the main, giant, iron made door. A short, smiling, reliable-looking guy, and a tall, muscular, serious-looking sentry, were waiting for you. You decided to talk to the short one first, as you noticed the white part of his right eye was black, instead. Plus, the iris of that eye was red, whereas the left one was blue.

"Uhm... hello?" you murmured, trying to smile the best you could, as your breath suddenly hitched at the feeling of the cold tip of something sharp against your neck. You didn't dare to move your face, or the blade would have wounded you. But you turned your eyes toward the taller sentry, the golden wolf decoration attached to his double-breasted jacket almost blinded you, as it reflected the moonbeams. You swallowed. The blonde, braided haired sentry didn't even think about backing off. Until...

"Keicho." the shorter guy talked, putting his hand on the sentry's. "You don't wanna slice our Lord's betrothed, do you?" he giggled. The man, Keicho, was it, backed off, and retracted the weapon from your neck. Now that you had a good sight of it, it looked like a long, heavy arrow.

"No, I don't." the sentry hid the arrow behind his back, right where it probably was before, since you didn't even notice it until he attacked. "I apologize, Koichi." wait. For real? Koichi? Keicho and Koichi? Like Tweedledum and Tweedledee? Keicho and Koichi? You avoided giggling about this. The last thing you wanted was getting your head threatened to be cut off again. The little guy just nodded, and gestured you into entering the door. He would have followed and guided you. To keep on following Kujo's reference, Koichi would have been your Virgil in that hell. Keicho remained at the entrance of the castle. As a sentry, he was required there. He was, anyway, the most normal one you had met so far. Almost. ALMOST.

"So... Y/n, if I'm not mistaken?" the short one asked, his smile not abandoning him. He looked like a pacific person. You nodded. "Good, good. You're talking to Lord Higashikata's advisor. I stay by his side when he needs so, and he requested me to welcome you myself, since..." he smiled, to probably reassure you. The corridor looked neverending. "...you might have noticed Keicho isn't the most graceful man on Earth." Lord Higashikata's advisor... you're sure Kujo spent some positive words about him, previously, but you remembered none of them. You could just think you probably agreed, so far. "You're a special guest. Not like all the other people I've witnessed disappearing during my career." disappearing? Oh dear God. "You're a virgin, he mentioned that to me. Such a fresh creature never happened to him before. Higashikata Josuke wants to marry you." oh... Josuke. You now had found out his name, too.

"Do I have any hope of escap-" as you pronounced it, Koichi grabbed your arm.

"Don't say it. Just don't." his voice didn't sound menacing or threatening. Just... scared. Scared or hopeless. As if his smile was just a way to hide a deep, stressful story. "Accept it the way it is. Just fall in love with him or... force yourself to do so. Or else, you'll die." the way he switched from this sentence, to a toothy smile, totally hurt your heart. Koichi was broken inside, yet you could just watch this happening and vaguely imagine your destiny beside that vampire. Old vampire. Probably. "Anyways..." he huffed. "It's all straight through this corridor, you're almost at the end. Just get the last door in the middle, at the end. The only door." Koichi bit his lip. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you like this... but I just heard some sounds... I'm afraid Keicho's fighting with the Lord's snake." oh great. Higashikata has a snake, you thought to yourself as the small guy left you alone in the corridor.

Great. Charon brought you to hell. Virgil brought you here, a step closer to Lucifer, who you saw in Josuke. What's next, a Beatrice? You almost chuckled, thinking it was so absurd you could have woken up right now back in your bed at home and be unimpressed. You felt a sudden goosebump, all of it in a single instant, but couldn't even have time to process what you felt, that you heard a loud sound of a door being angrily closed. "Guh! Shit..." what? Was there someone at the end of the corridor, now? You thought, processing the sight of someone lying on the ground, quickening your steps to get closer enough to see who it was without being suspected of something or attacked. There was, in fact, someone. It looked like a young guy, a long - almost waist long - grey braid coming from his hair, which were black on the top, was now squished to the ground, the double-breasted jacket was similar to Keicho's, as you noticed it had the same golden wolf shaped decoration on his chest. His skin, though, was much different from the usual. Flesh colored, yes, but grayer. Way grayer, as if it had no saturation at all. You saw him trying to stand up, planting a hand on the ground to lift his chest up, but he fell back down. You could notice that his right hand, the one he used to help himself, was covered by a crimson glove.

As you looked at him struggling, you knew there was only a thing to do. You would have...

a) ...helped him to stand up. You couldn't look at someone struggling without helping.

b) ...been careful and waited for him to stand up, to see if he was really harmless.

#dora is back #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #diamond is unbreakable #jojo part four #jojo x reader #higashikata josuke #josuke x reader #nijimura okuyasu #okuyasu x reader #kujo jotaro #hirose koichi #nijimura keicho #halloween #halloween fic #interactive fanfic

[goldenavenger02]

Peter Parker's Day Off

This story is for the @friendly-neighborhood-exchange and my giftee is @avengersincamphalfbloodstardis so I hope you like it!

Before anyone draws comparisons between this and the fic @marvelous-writer posted a few weeks ago, we've already gotten it worked out, so go read her fic after mine!

Editing and cover credits go to @clover-roseee!

And now, on with the story!

Peter groaned as he woke up, and tried to force himself awake as Morgan jumped the end of his bed again. "I'm up, Morg, I'm up," he replied as rubbed his eyes, forcing himself to sit up. His body and head felt heavy, and he had that general sick feeling, so despite how much Morgan's excitement tended to rub off on him, it didn't this time. In fact, Peter wasn't even sure how he could be excited when his chest was tight and his nose was so stuffed up.

Morgan didn't seem to pick up on how he was feeling, though. "Come on, Petey!" she instead insisted, before hopping off his bed and running out of his room. "Daddy's making blueberry pancakes before we go to the zoo!"

The trip to the zoo had been planned for weeks, and Pepper had even taken a day off to come with (which was a rarity in itself). May had gotten held up at the hospital, too, so it was perfect timing that he stayed with the Starks for the first week of spring break; but while he really wanted to see Morgan lose her mind over lions, tigers, and birds, he still couldn't shake the sick feeling from his body.

"Come on, Petey! Daddy's making blueberry pancakes before we go to the zoo!" She insisted before running out of his room, singing about the trip.

Grabbing his bathrobe off of his closet door, Peter wrapped it around his shoulders and tried to regain some body heat before shuffling down the stairs. The smell of pancakes hit him as he went into the hall, and he knew immediately that his senses were in overdrive.

When he finally made it to the dining room, Morgan was going over some facts she had learned about lions for a school project and Pepper was looking at the news on her phone, but looked up when she saw Peter sit at the table. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" she asked, upon seeing his pale face, and the thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

Peter started to respond, but instead let out a harsh cough into his elbow. That was enough of a reason for Pepper to get up from the table in search of the thermometer. Meanwhile, Morgan got up from her chair and ran into the kitchen area. "Daddy!" she exclaimed, "Petey's sick!"

Flipping the last few pancakes on to the large serving plate, Tony cleaned his hands with a dry washcloth and turned the stove off. Then, once that was done, he turned his attention to Peter and, with Morgan tagging along behind him, made his way over. "See!" Morgan repeated. "He's sick!"

"Yeah, I definitely see what you're talking about." Tony ruffled Morgan's hair before placing a hand against Peter's forehead. "And that's definitely a fever." He sighed before looking down at his daughter. "Sorry, Morguna. Looks like the zoo is gonna have to wait for a few days."

"But we have to go, Daddy!" Morgan fought back. "Mommy took the day off and everything!" Just as it looked like that Tony would have to deal with a tantrum at eight thirty in the morning, Pepper came back in the room with the ear thermometer and gently inserted it into Peter's ear. "Mommy, we have to go to the zoo!"

"Morgan's right," Peter agreed, receiving an enthusiastic grin from her. "I mean, you did take the day off to go with her to the zoo…"

Pepper looked skeptical. "I don't know. I don't feel comfortable leaving you here by yourself."

"Then how about Mr. Stark stays with me?" Peter proposed, taking a moment to cough into his elbow. Pepper, in return, placed a hand on his back. "You guys can send us pictures, and it'll feel like we're right there with you."

Pepper looked to her husband. "Tony? Are you okay with this?" she asked, as the thermometer beeped. She took it out and sighed when the reading revealed Peter had a temperature of 101.8. "Staying here with Peter?"

"'Course. I've got the spider kid, you two go have fun," Tony insisted, before leaning forward and kissing his wife's cheek. "Like he said, just send us lots of photos. Maybe let Morgan feed a giraffe while you're there, too."

Pepper broke apart from the kiss, and went over to grab her tote bag with her sunglasses, camera and Morgan's change purse full of nickels and pennies. "Alright, try and have a good day," she said, after slipping her shoes on. "Feel better, Peter."

Morgan ran up and hugged Tony tightly, and did the same to Peter before heading outside to the car, with Pepper following closely behind. When the car pulled out of the driveway, Tony turned to the resident sick kid. "So, how does crashing on the couch and watching some Star Wars sound?"

"Can we watch something else? I'm regretting getting Morgan obsessed with it," Peter spoke as he stood up from the table, trying to force the sudden headache that was building behind his eyes.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you want," Tony insisted as Peter shuffled over to the couch and grabbed the remote. "We should probably get you some Tylenol, though."

Peter nodded, starting to scroll through Netflix. Since Morgan preferred Disney+, he knew he would probably find something he wasn't sick of on there. But his vision was going in in and out, and starting to get spotty, and he was fighting every bone in his body in order to stay awake.

Suddenly Tony appeared beside him, and Peter distantly wondered how he did it. "Here," he said, pouring three white tablets into Peter's right hand, and swapping the remote for a bottle of blue Gatorade with the other. "Take that, and go to bed, kid. I'll find something to watch, you look exhausted."

Dropping the pills into his mouth and washing it down with a swig of Gatorade, Peter wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his bathrobe before doing what he was told. Tony's taste in movies was often better than Morgan's or Pepper's anyway, so he let himself relax and, feeling a blanket being draped over him, allowed the music of whatever Tony had picked lull him to sleep.

•••

"So, what do you wanna see first?" Pepper asked her daughter, as the two climbed out of the car doors. They had spent a little over half an hour driving, and Pepper already had the online map on her phone all ready and set-up. Knowing her daughter, though, she'd probably want to see more of the cuddly animals first, before going to see the creepier ones.

"Hmm…" Morgan hummed and tilted her head as she thought. She definitely wanted to go see the lions, but she was also wondering if they had a penguin exhibit, and maybe a snake one, too. "I dont know! Can we go see the dolphins? Please?"

"Sure." Pepper smiled and gently grasped her daughter's hand in hers, before they made their way inside. "And then we'll go feed the giraffe, like your dad wanted to. Sound good?" She verbalized the plan, trying to make it stick in Morgan's head, but, in reality, she was just wanting to spend some much needed time with her daughter. It was always a rarity when she was able to take time off, and she wanted to make the most of it.

Morgan nodded, but the period of silence was broken by her stopping in front of the snake exhibit. "Mommy, look!" she shouted, bouncing on her heels giddily. "Can we look at these first? Please?"

"Of course." Pepper nodded, took her camera out of her bag, and watched as one of the exhibit employees, per Morgan's request, placed a boa constrictor around her shoulders. "Say cheese on three, sweetie!"

•••

When Peter woke up on the couch, he felt like he could barely breathe through his nose, and could feel the intensity of the pressure in his head. Then, sitting up, he glanced around the room, before trying to peer into the kitchen. "Mr. Stark?" he asked, the stuffiness having apparently spread to his voice with how nasally he sounded. "Are you here?"

"In the kitchen!" the stay at home dad called back. Sighing and flopping back on to the couch, Peter re-covered himself with the blanket Tony draped over him, before he heard a "Shit, that's hot!" and the man himself appeared in the doorway. "Okay," he announced, as he walked over to his sick kid, "I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

Peter smirked. "What's the bad news?"

"Bad news," Tony explained, as he set a plate of soggy charcoal-coloured toast on the table, "is that I burnt your toast, and put too much butter on; so, it's kinda ruined now, kid."

Peter chuckled, as he sat up and, despite how terrible the toast looked, took a bite from it. 'At least Tony tried,' he thought. "And the good news?" he asked.

"The good news is that I ordered soup for later—don't look at me like that!—and that I did manage to make sure your Gatorade stayed cold," Tony said, as he set the half-full Gatorade on the coffee table, right beside where the plate previously was. Then, he had taken a seat near the sick teen's feet and patted his knee. "But, it doesn't matter now. How're you feeling, Pete?"

Peter sat up a bit to place the soggy toast beside the Gatorade, and laid back down against his pillows. "My head still hurts," he muttered, trying to warm himself up as he buried himself beneath the blanket, "'nd I've been kinda feeling sick. There's no other medicine I can take, right?"

Tony shook his head. "'Fraid not, kiddo. And, even if there was, I don't wanna give you mixed medications and have to take you to a hospital, so it's not gonna happen."

Peter groaned.

"But, what I can do is let you see all the pictures Pepper sent me of Morgan." Tony smiled as he pulled out his phone, and swiped on over to his 'Messages' section. "There's even one of her holding a boa constrictor, if you wanna see it."

Peter shook his head, remembering his very bad experience with a snake from years ago. "I think I'll pass on that," he said, before sitting up and glancing over Tony's shoulder. "But is there one of her with a penguin? Or a giraffe?"

Tony nodded, as he passed the phone over, and adjusted the two of them, so Peter was leaning against his side, with his head on his chest. "Oh, yeah," he replied. "Third and fifth one in. My personal favourites, though, are the ones with the sloths and otters."

In response, Peter yawned, and, after scrolling through all the photos, gave the phone back to Tony. He was getting exhausted again, and assumed, as he buried his head into his mentor's chest, that Tony had moved on to watching the videos Pepper had sent him, so he shut his eyes and allowed Morgan's excited squeals to lull him back into a peaceful sleep.

•••

"Alright, honey," Pepper said, smiling, as she fished Morgan's change purse out of her tote bag, "you can pick one thing out from the gift shop, and then we're going to head home." She held her daughter's hand as they approached the small gift shop, located back at the entrance. She was thankful she hadn't lost her daughter when they were visiting the exhibits, but if there was one place where she would lose her, then it was definitely the gift shop.

Morgan took her change purse from her mother's hand, and looked up at her, pleadingly. "Can I get something for Petey, too?" she asked with her adorable, wide eyes. "He's sick and we can get something to make him feel better!"

"Nothing fragile," Pepper negotiated, "and nothing made of glass. Otherwise, you can go nuts and get whatever you want. Deal?" She held her hand up for a high five.

"Deal!" Morgan exclaimed excitedly, as she returned the high-five. Unfortunately, Morgan was five, and that meant she was still rather small, so the high-five ended up being one of those off-beat ones, where they missed each other and ended up mostly slapping the air instead. Pepper still smiled, though, and watched as Morgan made a B-line for the stuffed animals.

'That's a good idea,' she thought to herself. 'Peter would probably prefer cuddling one of those instead of a rubber snake, anyway.'

•••

"Daddy, Daddy, we're home!" Morgan announced, a little over forty-five minutes later, before she slipped off her shoes and bright yellow leather rainjacket at the door. Then, she had resumed running into the kitchen, where she wrapped her arms around her dad's legs. "Mommy and I saw penguins, and sloths, I got to hold a snake!"

Setting down the knife he was using to chop up the peppers and celery, Tony had then dried his hands with a washcloth, before turning and giving his full attention to his daughter. "That's great, Morguna," he replied, as he kneeled down to her level and planted a small kiss atop her head. "But you'll have to tell me everything when Peter wakes up, okay? He still doesn't feel so good, and he needs a lot of rest to get better."

"Okay!" Morgan agreed, happily, before she pulled a grey and white ovaloid object out of her little purse. "We got him a penguin!" She exclaimed, enthusiastically bouncing on her heels once more. "Do you think he'll like it? I hope he likes it!"

Tony nodded, as he ran his hand through his daughter's messy brown hair. "I'm sure he'll love it, Morguna."

"Now, go wash your hands, okay?" Pepper said, as she came up behind her daughter and gently nudged her towards the bathroom. In response, Morgan did as she was told, and Pepper took that chance to heave the groceries up on to the counter, and started putting them away. "Morgan insisted we get juice pops for Peter," she explained, as she opened the freezer and stuffed the box of popsicles inside. "How did things go at home today?"

"Pretty good. He's gotten a bit better since you guys left, but he told me he was feeling sick, so we'll have to keep an eye on him tonight."

"Alright." Pepper smiled and put up the last of the groceries before turning to her husband. "I'm gonna sit in there till dinner is ready." She planted a quick kiss against Tony's cheek before sitting in the armchair that was beside the couch Peter was asleep on, and started to go through some files on her laptop. Days off were always a rarity for her, so she wanted to transfer the photos to her phone, so she could look at them while she was at work.

She looked up when she heard a rustling noise, only to see Morgan come in with the stuffed penguin and put it under Peter's right arm before climbing on the couch and curling up next to him. Watching as Peter unconsciously wrapped his left arm around Morgan, Pepper smiled and waited until her daughter's eyes closed to take a picture.

She'd be thanked, later.

#mcu #morgan stark #my own writing #spider-man #tony stark #pepper potts #sick fic #friendly neighborhood exchange #avengersincamphalfbloodstardis