#and I’ll say arriving fifteen minutes late with Starbucks | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chaoticneutralwriter · 4 years

Text

Jamais Vu

A remedy, a melody A memory that only I will have If we stop here Would it be better to just turn everything off?

guardian demon!Jimin x reader

genre: supernatural, romance, comedy, angst, fluff

word count: 13.5k

related works: see Masterlist under guardian demon!Jimin

Continuation of Second Act: Temperance

A/N: IT’S HERE!! AHHHHHH TT-TT This chapter, we’re finally heading to the concert! :O what other sorts of things can possibly happen here...? 👀 👀 LOLL As always, thank you so much for all of you guy’s patience and the endless love and support i’ve been getting through your asks! I really truly appreciate you all for sticking it out for this story!! 💖💖💖🥺🥺🥺 As always, I hope you enjoy!

Tag: @cherryjiminiee @kokobaekkie @breathebangtan @itsadoozie @thatshylatinagirl @chiminieboi @azulamakesmeblank @sectumsemptae @awkwardwookie @aduky @poisonseashell @shortannoyingginger

“Hey Y/N, we’re here.” A hushed voice along with a gentle nudge stirs you from your half-slumbering stupor. Blinking, you sluggish look around, mind beginning to catch you up on where you are and what’s happening as you hear the car doors open. It takes a minute but you eventually get your butt into gear, taking off your seatbelt and exiting the car as well to round to the back where your friend, Rosa, and the Uber driver were unloading your luggages.

You hastily make to grab yours, the last of it and place it onto the four wheels before pulling up the handle.

“Thank you so much for the drive.” Rosa thanks the driver, a fairly elderly man who’s been nothing but sweet and accommodating to the both of you despite it being nearly the ass crack of dawn.

“It’s not a problem. You two have fun on your trip; take care and be careful okay? There’s been too many horrible stories about young women traveling alone lately.” He says it kindly, almost like a grandfather to their granddaughters and even though you’re so tired, you can’t help but to smile in return.

“We will sir. You take care driving out there too.”

He nods before waving you two off as you and your friend shuffle onto the island. When he pulls away from the curb, you hear your friend take a deep breath in before exhaling. Turning to her, you catch her eyes and she grins at you, white teeth peeking out past the tops of the neck pillow she has on.

“It’s really happening.” She says, a little breathless — nervous yet excited.

You nod, her giddiness, although self-contained (you had a feeling it was because it’s so early and she’s mindful to the people who aren’t as awake yet i.e. you), is still contagious, the smile on your own lips stretching a bit wider.

You both head on inside, rolling your luggages along until you come upon the many self-checkin kiosks placed in the large terminal. The process was thankfully made easy with no need to send anything off; the trip was short and thus, Rosa and you have settled on just having one carry-on case and a crossbody handbag (or in Rosa’s case, backpack) each. With that done in no time, the next thing on the list was finding your correct gate, go through security and then finding the nearest Starbucks to ingest as much coffee as your body will allow you to.

Contrary to Jimin’s advice on getting as much rest as you can, you felt like you hardly got any sleep at all. Your restlessness was caused by many things — nerves from flying out for the first time with a friend, navigating your way through a city you’ve never been to until now, the excitement of not missing out on seeing a BTS concert when you were so sure you wouldn’t be going, it all felt so surreal to you, even as you’re strolling through the airport amongst many other people who bustle along with you, either arriving from a flight or off to catch one like yourselves.

But rising above everything, like a tumultuous wave ready to crash down on you, was your guardian demon. It should be no surprise really as it seems he’s constantly occupying your thoughts nowadays, a permanent resident and not paying rent though you think this time around, you can forgive it. The worry you have for him had remained firmly in the back of your mind, festering and growing until it too, joined in with the other thoughts keeping you tossing and turning that night.

Jimin told you that he would be meet you at the gate in spite of just coming out of a two-day coma from a near death experience; something that you can’t process at all. Even though he’s reassured you that he would heal in time, the very thought of the slight chance he could be putting up a front didn’t sit well with you, made worse that it’s more likely than not. Before you know it, the anxiety is eating at you and already, you’ve caught yourself doing double-takes for the fifth time, mistaking someone else for him. It’s embarrassingly made you prone to spacing out, so much that an officer at one point had to nudge you along because you were holding up the line during the screening process.

Thankfully, you make it through without further incident (though your cheeks are red and you kinda want to curl up in a corner somewhere but that would probably get you sent to an interrogating room under suspicious behaviour).

“Oh hey, I see our gate.” Rosa’s voice breaks through your thoughts, forcing you to take in the overhanging sign indicating that and the fairly empty seating area. Beyond the large windows overlooking the runway, the sky is still dark, the barest soft orange hues peeking through along the horizon. You’re about an hour and a half early for your flight, glad that the ample time you’ve given yourself arriving to the airport was used well because you weren’t in a panicked rush in finding your gate and risk missing your flight. Furthermore, you now have the leisure to do the next thing on your list — finding some food and caffeine.

“I think most of the cafes and other eating places are just a little further down that way.” Rosa comments, stretching her neck to peer down the long pathway before turning back to you. “Do you want to stay here and I’ll go grab us something or…?”

You smile, shaking your head. “No I’ll come with. I think I need to keep moving around to stay awake at this point.”

You choose to leave out the fact that you’re also feeling a little too fidgety, your anxiety not allowing you to stay put.

So the both of you wander further down the terminal, taking advantage of the moving walkways when they come and eventually come across the duty free stores, some luxury brand boutiques, and of course, the cafes and eateries. There’s a decent amount of foot traffic here despite the early hours, though you suppose you shouldn’t really be surprised — the airport only ever gets busier so to some, this might be considered ‘quiet’.

“Which place? Starbucks, A&W’s… I see Second Cup too. Is that a Mcdonald’s?” Rosa lists out loud before audibly gasping at the prospect of seeing the faint traces of the trademark ‘M’. You squint your eyes too, trying to make out if it was indeed your potential elixir of life and can’t help the snort that escapes you.

“It’s a McCafe, which is close enough so let’s go.”

Rosa giggles, falling into step beside you as you both make your way over. Fifteen minutes later, you’ve got a muffin and a medium ice coffee in hand. The shock of the cold drink in your system has you feeling more alert but the effect doesn’t last long nor does the caffeine (you swear it’s actually making you sleepier). You walk around for a while longer, looking at things you can’t afford and nibbling on your chocolate muffin before you lose your appetite halfway eating through the top half. Stuffing the remaining into your crossbody, you continue to follow after Rosa, your conversations kept light by the underlying buzz for your upcoming travels and yet you feel like you’re not all really there yourself.

“Hey, Y/N….Y/N?”

“O-Oh! Yeah sorry?” Your gaze snaps back to Rosa, unaware that you had become lost in watching people pass by the shop you and Rosa were in.

Your friend chuckles, giving you a wry smile. “You were spacing out hard fam. I think you need to take a nap.”

“Hey, have pity on me. I am not a fully functioning human-being any time before 12PM, at most.” You reply defensively in half truth. In the end, it’s decided that you should both head back to your gate to wait out the rest of your time there. The seating area has become fuller when you arrive, at least in terms of an early flight which thankfully means you still have no trouble in finding a place by an outlet to hunker down until your boarding time an hour later.

You practically sink into your seat, the exhaustion encompassing you like the flannel blanket you should’ve brought along with you just as a yawn threatens to tear your mouth open.

“Oh my God, we need to board soon before I just pass out right here and miss the flight entirely.” You say around it, stretching your arms before you cross them to get comfortable.

“For real, but luckily you have me to haul your ass onto the plane. It shouldn’t be too long now…” Your friend remarks, taking the seat beside you. She peers out at the runway, the sun already rising and daybreak beginning to light the sky an azure blue but even that isn’t enough to pull you from teetering over the edge of sleep again. You fall into companionable silence, Rosa occupying herself with her phone while you begin to drift in and out of a haze, a confusing seesaw between staying awake and drifting off. You don’t notice how the time pass as when you’re nudged gently on the side, you find your friend grinning at you like a Cheshire Cat.

“We’re twenty minutes from boarding fam! Watch my stuff for a second while I go use the washroom? I don’t want to have to go while we’re 5000ft off the ground.”

Your astounded expression pulls a laugh from her, no doubt picking up on your lack of time awareness but nonetheless, you smile with a nod, voicing your own desire to probably do the same after she’s back so please hurry, the ice coffee needs to be drained from your bladder too. She takes off in a brisk walk, beelining straight to the overhanging sign indicating the facility and make to stretch out your arms and crack your stiff joints. Lifting your gaze, you scan the sitting area, noting the few people sitting ahead of you with their heads buried in their phones or other electronic devices, some having taken up the seat facing the large windows, and there are even those looking like they’ve spent the night here as they lay curled up on multiple seats, oblivious to the world around them as they rest.

You wish you could be like that, but you’re plagued with a restlessness you can’t drown out no matter how hard you try. You breathe a heavy sigh, shoulders heaving as you think how even though your flight is a fairly short one, you get the feeling that it’ll be twice as long in your mind and that’s something you’re not looking forward to.

“Maybe I should’ve grabbed a pack of Xanax or something….” You grumble to yourself, rubbing your eyes with your hands.

“I don’t think you’ve got the health insurance to cover that sweetheart.”

You jumpstart in your seat, nearly jostling both yours and Rosa’s carry-on luggage over as you whip your head to the side. Your gaze catches the back of his head, and you wouldn’t have known any better had it not been for the unmistakable smooth lilt of his voice. He’s sitting on the other side of the bench from you, back to back, one seat to your left so when you twist just slightly, you would’ve caught sight of his side profile. To your dismay and surprise though, the lower half of his face is hidden by a black surgical mask, the rest by his black ball cap.

“Ji—!“

“Eyes forward cherub, don’t want to draw attention.”

Your mouth snaps shut, heat warming your cheeks when you realize how much of your elation at seeing him came through your voice. You heed his advice, partly because he’s right but also to hide your struggles in fighting off the wide smile threatening to break out on your face. Plus, this way it feels like you’re suddenly in a spy movie, meeting up with a contact incognito.

“Could’ve sent me a text to let me know you were here…” You say afterwards.

“I could’ve, but where’s the fun in that?”

You scoff quietly, rolling your eyes at his playful gibe but you’re not bothered by it at all. You’re glad Jimin’s here, his presence having some sort of immediate effect on you and your previous uneasiness, which now, has calmed to something manageable, like the invisible shadow following you has disappeared and you no longer have to keep looking over your shoulder to make sure it doesn’t sneak up on you. You finally have breathing room however, there’s still something that lingers persistently.

“So…H-How are you feeling…?” Your question comes out far softer, more hesitant than you had intended and you bite your lip. There’s a drawn pause, one that felt too long for you and makes you all too aware of the heavy pounding of your heart. Unconsciously your fingers begin to tug at the ends of your loose cardigan sleeves, nervous all of a sudden and just when you open your mouth to fill in the void, Jimin replies.

“Do you really have that little trust in me cherub? I’m kinda hurt…”

 “N-No! What I meant was—!”

“Relax I know, I was just pulling your leg.”

A huff of air leaves you, a little on the exasperated side as you’re frozen midway in fully turning to face Jimin, subtly be damned (you think you’d never make for a good spy anyways). You know he’s trying to reassure you and it would’ve worked had you not picked up on the way he downplays the seriousness of the question, deflecting with humour and banter. He’s clearly intent on not worrying you so much but it only serves to do the opposite. It makes you want to turn around to gauge his expression, see for yourself if he’s really okay.

“Hey,”

The call of his voice tears you from your train of thoughts, head naturally turning towards him and you’re a little surprised to see dark obsidian eyes staring back at you. You’re lost in their depths, how they hold you captive in a gentle but firm way and instantly it’s like the whole world melts away and it’s just the two of you. Then, they turn up slightly at the corner in a way where you can already imagine the soft smile he has on beneath the mask, it sends your heart racing once again as you wait with almost bated breath for what he has to say.

“I’m okay, really. I promised I would be didn’t I?”

Your teeth pulls at your bottom lip, eyes darting off for a second before they come back to his. You take him in as much as you can, searching for anything that might give way to his front but it’s either he’s concealed it so well that you can’t tell or maybe perhaps he really is okay like he says. Jimin was already a hard person to read, but with that face mask on, it’s even harder.

You sigh, relinquishing.

“Then…Can you also promise me you won’t push yourself?”

His eyes crinkle a bit more but you’re determined to remain steadfast in your conviction. Jimin sees it as he tilts his head before nodding in agreement.

“Okay, I’ll try not to.”

You shoot him a pointed look, one that makes him chuckle and raise a finger to tap on your nose, so quickly you didn’t get the chance to lean away. You blink, flinching back in a delayed reaction but cheeks warming just the same.

“Will it convince you if I told you I’m not going to teleport there and that I’ll actually be on the flight with you?”

That makes you straighten up, eyebrows shooting into your hairline.

“You are?”

“Well, I figured it’s the best solution to the two problems we have; I don’t have to strain myself like you said and we’ll be in close proximity to each other, enough that in case anything goes wrong, I can step in without any issues.”

You nod, seeing his point and honestly even asking yourself why you hadn’t thought of that before until you furrow your brows, zeroing in on him again.

“Wait, you haven’t been recognized yet have you?”

“Of course not, I got this on for a reason.” He gestures to his face, indicating the face mask and baseball cap but that only makes you cock your head back, chin tucking in with an extremely dubious look scrunching your face. There’s absolutely no way this ‘disguise’ of his worked, in fact, he’s playing right into the ‘obviously-a-K-Pop-idol-leaving-for-a-flight’ airport look. It makes you cast shifty eyes around you suddenly — maybe you should actually turn around and pretend you’re in a spy movie again.

“Jimin that’s hardly a disguise! And you can’t tell me you haven’t taken it off at least once to do airport security checks. Are you using your cloaking spell right now? Don’t tell me you are.” You resort to frantically whispering to him as you sink a little lower in your seat.

“I’m not right now, but I did use a couple of enthralling spells here and there, nothing too taxing though so relax. Just enough that I get by with no incidents.”

You suppose that’s as good as it’s gonna get with an answer so you choose to not pry any further. Rubbing the bridge of your nose, you let out one last sigh.

“Alright… Just stay out of trouble.”

“I should be telling you that.” He chides back, getting up with a stretch. Jimin reaches down to grab his denim jacket and black duffle bag (Louis Vuitton, you’re not surprised at this point anymore) sitting on the seat beside his. Your eyes can’t help doing a full sweep of his figure; fitted black t-shirt tucked into dark wash jeans, held by a belt cinched around his waist. You feel like a troll next to him in your sweats and oversized t-shirt (that you double up as a sleep shirt too, you literally just threw on a bra before you left that morning).

“Where are you seated?” You ask after getting over Jimin’s unfaltering immaculateness (you swear the apocalypse could be happening and he would still be dressed in designer brands).

“Business of course.”

You nearly choke.

“B-Business…?!”

“Ah, I should really try to snag another cocktail at the lounge before we start boarding soon.” He says offhandedly, dark eyes drifting off in thought and then redirects them to you. “I’ll be in touch cherub, even if you might not see me. Still, stick with your friend and don’t have too much fun now you hear?”

He’s striding off with a finger wave salute before you can get another word in, but not like you can you think, absolutely stunned speechless. You don’t even notice your friend making her way back to you, just as the attendant at the front desk to your gate announces pleasantly that you would all be boarding soon and can those with special needs, young children and the elderly begin to line up to board first.

“Hey, what’s up? You look…kinda pissed? More alive but pissed.” Rosa laughs good-naturedly. “Some bastard try to pull a fast one on you?”

You exhale a wheeze because she’s not too far off with that statement so you don’t necessarily deny it, almost ruefully replying, “Yeah…I guess you could say that…”

She lets out another laugh, grabbing your hand to tug you out of your seat when the attendant calls for your section to begin lining up. As you gather your things and begin to make your way, you ironically think that your friend wouldn’t be laughing if she had known she, and by way you, have been robbed first class seats.

Oh well, you think, you can’t be too mad because as they say, beggars can’t be choosers. And besides, you have a lot to be thankful for in that moment and you’re not just talking about the round trip to seeing your favourite band play. So with a little more pep in your step since you first arrived to the airport, you eagerly board the plane.

What you had planned was to use the flight time to catch up on as much rest as you can before landing where you know it’s going to be a whirlwind of hopping from one place to another.

Unfortunately for you, your ice coffee kicks in despite having emptied your bladder only fifteen minutes into the flight. You significantly feel more alert so your attempts at getting comfortable against the window were futile. Even when you shut your eyes, you’re very much still conscious and aware of everything going on around you, especially the loud droning of the plane’s engine. You don’t know how people get used to it, let alone make it as part of their white noise to help them sleep.

What you do know is that it’s not easy as after a few more minutes of shuffling in your seat, you give up on any hopes of getting any decent sleep and instead, settle for just closing your eyes, earphones on with your old iPod touch cycling through BTS albums — might as well drown out the plane engine with some good music.

You zone in and out for the entire four and a half hour, which felt like it went by in a snap because next thing you know, you’re startled by the chime of the PA going off.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, we are about ten minutes away from landing and — …”

You pull off your earphones, winding the cord to tuck your iPod away into your crossbody as you gaze out of the window, watching the clouds drift like oversized cotton candy through the clear blue sky, sun blazing on overhead. You’re glad that it seems like the weather would be perfect for the concert, which means there won’t be any pains in traveling around by foot. Bonus is that sunnier weather always puts you in a better mood.

Rosa seems to share the same sentiment because when you turn over to her, she’s staring out the window too, eyes practically sparkling and way perkier now that she doesn’t have to hold back. She grabs your arm, giving it a squeeze, silently conveying her excitement and you grin back at her, wiggling a bit in your seat as you both eagerly watch the wing of the plane dip, swooping down lower until it breaches the sea of white below and you get your first glimpse of the city.

You land without a hitch, even having some passengers clapping much to your amusement but in general, the lively buzz just adds to the atmosphere. You gather your belongings, double checking to make sure nothing is left behind as you wait to join the queue in the aisle to exit the plane.  “So it’s close to eleven-thirty right now, which gives us a good amount of time before doors open to let us into the stadium. Should we find our hotel to drop off our things and then go find something to eat? Or should we drop off our things, head to the venue and then see if we can find a place to eat near there?” Rosa asks, tapping her phone so that the airplane mode is turned off.

You contemplate, humming before you say, “How hungry are you? Because I don’t really have an appetite right now but if you want to eat after we drop off our things first, we can do that.”

“Oh, I’m pretty good too so we drop off our things, head to the venue, then eat?”

“Yeah, sounds good to me!”

After struggling to get both of your carry-ons down from the compartment without giving yourselves a head injury (luckily your seat neighbours were kind enough to lend you a hand), you and Rosa wheel off out of the plane, down into the ramp. For a split second, you catch yourself glancing back one last time, eyes searching for that familiar shadow but the pace in which the masses move easily sweeps you up, not allowing you to linger for too long less you want to hold up traffic. However, you recall his words, assuring you that even if you might not actually see him, he’ll be close by to still be able to help you out if you need it. So you continue on, exiting out into a terminal in no time thanks to bypassing the need to go to baggage claims, telling yourself that everything’s fine and there’s no reason to fret.

You’re here to see BTS damn it; your faves, your ultimate and you can’t waste this golden opportunity by overthinking on things.

 “Okaaay…” Rosa starts, not unlike a ranger about to take their scouts on a rigorous hike while teaching them survival skills. “Let’s grab an Uber and head on over to the hotel. You have the address right?”

“Oh, yes!” You quickly pull out your own phone, pulling up the text file as Rosa opens the Uber app on her phone. She’s typing the address into the destination bar when you hear someone call out to you.

“Um, excuse me?”

You and Rosa both look up, wide eyed like rabbits caught out in the open and turn to see two other girls staring back at you, no older than you are but what caught your attention immediately was the firefighter red cushion that’s shaped like a heart clutched in one of their arms, only this heart had a funny little face on it — two beady eyes, straight brows and round, yellow plush lips. A familiar face.

Tata.

Your eyes light up, you hear Rosa gasp softly beside you and in an instant, the mood shifts. You’re no longer confused from not recognizing the pair, instead it’s like running into old friends again if the way they smiled back just as widely was anything to go by, a knowing look on their faces.

“Are you..—?”

“ARMY?”

“YES!”

“YES!!”

You barely stop yourself from escalating in volume but your newly formed group had already drawn a couple of judgemental looks in your directions. Cheeks warming yet pleasantly aching from the grin, you wave frantically in an attempt to quiet the excited chattering that has exploded, your initial task forgotten in favour of acquainting yourselves with your new found friends, comrades gathered here for a common purpose and love for one particular group.

Rosa lets out a surprise squeak before falling into more of a hush, a sheepish smile playing on her lips and everyone sort of follows suit, still giggling.

“Oh my God this is so wild!” One of the girls laughs, “Are you guys staying somewhere close by the venue?”

“Yeah, actually we were just about to grab an Uber to head over there.” Rosa replies, flashing her phone with the app still open but address only half completed.

“AirBnb or did you somehow grab a hotel?” The other asks you, adjusting her backpack and making a few keychains jingle. You get a flash of a Cooky enamel chain glinting in the light.

“Yeah we’re staying at this hotel.” You showed them the official website page and she gasps.

“Wow! You’re lucky, that’s so close to the venue! Literally everywhere I go I keep hearing how everywhere is fully booked, even the AirBnbs around the area.”

“Where are you guys staying?” Rosa asks, after she’s copied down the address from you.

“We got an AirBnb that’s a little bit further away from the venue, like a ten minute drive? Not so bad but we’d definitely need to Uber to and back.”

You make a sound of understanding, picking up on the implication that it’ll be more money spent but that’s just what comes with these things. However, an idea comes to you.

“Hey,” You speak up, getting the attention of the party, “We can… split rides for Uber to your place if you want to? I mean, we’re all heading out anyways so we might as well right? I think it’ll be cheaper that way too.”

Rosa nods at your proposal, jumping in to add, “Yeah! Uber has a feature for that, I can definitely set up a second trip.”

The two girls glance at each other in a wordless act of debate, shortly reaching an agreement of sorts when one of them shyly turns back to you and Rosa with a timid smile.

“If you don’t mind? That would be really great actually.”

“Of course not! Save money when you can right?” Rosa says exuberantly, dispelling any remaining doubts to the two as their smiles widen again. So with a few taps, you make the necessary adjustments to your ride and now you’re all heading out to meet your driver in a merry band of four.

During your wait, you finally realize you haven’t made any formal introductions to each other (which, upon bringing it up, causes a round of laughter) but at least now, they know yours and Rosa’s names and you know them as Sam and Megan. Conversation flowed easily between the four of you, quickly getting acquainted with each other and by the time you and Rosa are getting dropped off first at the hotel, you’ve all followed each other on Twitter, Instagram and gotten everyone’s backstory on becoming fans of BTS (and of course, biases and bias wreckers).

“Hey, hey I got this, don’t worry!” Rosa says, trying to bat away Sam who had stepped out of the car as well to help you unload your carry-ons in the trunk. Megan follows suit after placing her Tata cushion and duffle bag in the backseat.

“No! This is the least we can do for sharing the ride!”

“It’s not even that heavy, it’s okay!”

Everyone fusses until it eventually turns into a group effort, even if what Rosa said was true. It makes you all giggle in the end at how silly it is but no one seems to mind.

“Thank you so much for the ride again! We should try to meet up at the venue!” Megan suggests to all of which you nod in agreement.

“Yeah! We’ll be in touch then since we have each other’s handles.” You smile back as Rosa closes the trunk. You go to shuffle onto the sidewalk, ready to see the other two girls off when Sam, wide eyed, suddenly lets out a loud gasp.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” She says quickly, darting into the back seat to grab her backpack to rummage through it, you and Rosa watch on curiously. After a short while, she triumphantly pulls out two baggies and already you see the goodies in them — self-printed photo cards of a member, fan art stickers, post cards, and a handmade purple bracelet. What’s more is that she hands them to you and Rosa, making you and Rosa squeal simultaneously.

“I’m handing these out at the venue and I wouldn’t want to run out before seeing you guys again.”

Immediately, you’re thanking her profusely and after another round of bidding each other later, you and Rosa head inside to the lobby of the hotel. It’s nothing fancy to be of note, but thankfully, it’s not sketchy either. The interior is quite simple yet spacious, the decor all in warm tones that matches the lighting, the accents emphasize on a deep mahogany wood. Off to the side, closest to the windows overlooking out onto the streets, is the lounge, the only area where it’s carpeted while the rest of the hotel is tiled, curtains drawn up and out of the way with an array of long couches and chairs surrounding coffee tables. The flat screen tv hanging on a single panel of wall space that perfectly divides the windows in half is set to a local news channel, displaying the weather and traffic around the city.

You and Rosa roll your carry-on towards the front desk, standing behind a few people ahead of you. It’s actually quite busy with lots of people coming in and out or taking up space in the lounge but all of it doesn’t surprise you because you have a sneaking suspicion as to why. Almost on cue, the group at the front begins to walk away, keycards in hand and bags full of BTS merchandise hanging off or stuck to their travel cases. Rosa nudges you but you’re already nodding with a grin on your face to show that you’ve noticed.

Checking-in was an easy process, what with both you and Rosa only needing one room with two beds to share. So you scurry off to the fifth floor, locating room 517 and as soon as you get the keycard on the door, you fling it open, rushing into the room with a bounce.

“Lemme change my outfit real quick! I feel like a slob and I can’t be looking like this in front of my boys!” You gasp, throwing your case onto the ground to open it.

“Oh shit you’re right. I need to put on liner or something! Can’t show my face like this to Jin.” Rosa says, doing the same with her carry-on case to pull out her little make-up pouch.

You grab your change of clothes, rushing to the bathroom and it felt like you were doing a quick change routine by how fast you managed to switch out everything. Looking in the mirror, you can’t help the grin on your face as you check yourself over. You’re wearing a black t-shirt with BTS’ logo taking up most of the front of the shirt while on the back lists all the members names in white text. It’s an old shirt, unofficial merchandise too but you’ve worn it the previous time you were lucky enough to go to their concert so you feel like it’s only right to bring it out again. After deliberating on a French tuck or a full on tuck, you decide to go with the latter, stuffing the ends into your distressed skinny jeans.

Satisfied, you step out to find Rosa already decked out in her concert gear that includes an RJ shirt over black cargo pants and RJ headband. She’s carefully applying lipgloss in the vanity and it prompts you to grab your own make-up bag until the both of you are crowding around another for the mirror. Once you’re done applying liner, some lip tint and other touch ups, you turn to Rosa.

“‘Kay, I’m good to go!”

She turns to you with a grin, grabbing both of your light sticks that’s set out on the bed, presenting it to you like it’s an Oscar. You can’t help letting out a boisterous laugh but take it from her anyways.

“Let's get it!”

You grab your bag, emptying out the things you wouldn’t need and leaving only your wallet, cellphone, charger bank, and keycard in. Stepping out, you make sure the door locks itself properly before you and Rosa start heading towards the elevators.  “So the venue is like… a ten minute walk from here, do you want to Uber it or walk?” You point out, pulling up Google maps as a reference.

“I’m good for walking because we’ll make it five if we power walk.”

Turns out, she’s right. Apparently Rosa’s enthusiasm sparks to double yours which you’ve completely underestimated because before you know it, you’re walking alongside other concert goers and then you see the first of the banners and then…

“Oh my God…” Rosa whispers beside you, absolutely vibrating but you nod, sharing the same sentiment.

There are banners with each members faces on it hanging from the flagpoles lining the walkway towards the stadium. Around on the grounds, there are canopies of tents selling official concert merchandise, light sticks and a giant wall poster with BTS at the centre, dressed to impress as always, giving the fans the opportunity to take a commemorative photo. It’s like a little marketplace for the fans — there’s so much to look at and so much to take in that it makes your heart pound but along with that, there are lines.

Oh the lines.

You gulp just looking at all the different lines leading to different activities and booths, how they seem to stretch for miles and miles, twisting and curving like one giant serpent. You can’t even begin to imagine how early some people must’ve arrived here in order to be the first twenty in line. Honestly, it makes you sweat a little, but somehow, you’re determined to embrace this madness, swept up by the hype and the fact that you may never get this chance again.

“Okay, what do we do first?” Rosa asks, “I’m really not about to try for that merch line but I really wanna do the photo booth. We didn’t get to do it last time right?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking too.”

“Okay! Photo booth line!”

So without a second thought, you and Rosa speed on over to the set up, racing to find the back of the line. You find it curving halfway around one of the buildings that was a washroom with vending machines posted out at the front. Once you made it, you and Rosa buckle down and play the hardest game known to any fan — the waiting game.

It wasn’t so bad you think, you and Rosa basically spent time catching up on things you didn’t get to talk about in the early morning, talk about which songs you’re looking forward to see live and even getting interrupted every once in a while by kind fans handing out freebies. Time is lost amongst the shared laughter, swept away in the electrified thrum of other people’s combined energy and you soak it all in, loving the feeling even if your cheeks ache from having smiled and laughed so much. You shuffle and move along with the line, at times, zoning in and out or simply watch what’s going on around you (you think it’s amusing how every time the venue staff would announce a round of items that were sold out, the awaiting crowd would groan or yell in anguish altogether; it resonates with your soul).

Soon, you find yourself within the winding barricade part of the line, thirty people deep and close enough to hear the squeals and squawks people are making when they first enter the photo booth.

“I’m totally gonna be like them when I go in, just completely lose my shit at holographic Jin.” Rosa points out, grinning.

“I’m just so excited to finally do it! It’s just too bad we can’t get any merch but at the same time, I’m pretty much too broke to afford anything.” You reply. Rosa nods solemnly in agreement.

Another half hour later, you’re finally at the front, waiting for your turn and you’re absolutely besides yourself, rocking on your heels to try to restrain from combusting. It’s hard to do because Rosa is bouncing in her spot which makes the monitoring staff giggle. You shy away a little, even though you know they’re probably used to it by now but your embarrassment doesn’t last long when two of the three booths become free and you’re given the go ahead along with Rosa. You’re laughing all the way in from hearing Rosa’s gradually fading scream.

Drawing back the curtains, you enter in the little room, brick red in colour with one ottoman bench fit for two people. On the wall in front is a touch screen with seven squares, each displaying a members face on it and all you have to do now is choose who you want a digital picture with.

Your finger moves as if on its own, right towards —

You stop.

It takes a second for you to realize where they hover, a hair’s breadth from his picture.

Jimin.

No…Not him. Not…

You shake your head, ridding the thought and this odd feeling that overcomes you in that second. You chalk it up as it finally hitting you how all of it seems so bizarre that you’re here to see BTS’ Jimin when all this time you had a literal clone of him manifested as a demon meant to protect you. It’s tripping you out, which is why it takes you a hot minute to get your head in the game, so to speak.

This is BTS’ Jimin — vocalist, dancer, model idol and member of BTS, the biggest boy group in the world right now. Park, nation’s angel/fairy, Jimin.

Totally different.

You repeat the words in your head like a mantra, convincing yourself before breathing in deeply. Then you press the icon, submit yes and watch with a rapidly beating heart as a countdown begins, the screen switching to the live selfie camera and on one, Jimin appears as if entering the booth. Your eyes dart up to the space he should be instinctively but you quickly chastise yourself, drawing back to the screen in front of you as you hear him speak a few lines. Even as a digital hologram he’s breathtaking, soft honey blonde hair swept off his forehead and dressed in a black suit that fits him so well that it’s almost criminal. He strides to sit beside you and you reel a bit, quickly trying to orient yourself on the seat in the screen and his figure, barely catching a few words in Korean that initiated the first photo take.

The countdown begins and you get into position, smiling towards the screen but within those three seconds, you catch sight of yourself and him; the way he leans into you, a soft smile adorning his lips and in that moment, your heart squeezes and you falter as the camera shutter goes off.

You blink, stunned but you can’t stop to process the feeling so you push it back as Jimin prompts for a second photo, this time holding his hand to form half a heart which you’re meant to complete.

This is BTS’ Jimin.

You hastily follow, almost stubbornly so as again, the countdown begins and you force a smile, angling yourself to look half as flattering as Jimin.

This is BTS’ Jimin.

The shutter goes off again, he says a few more sweet words before he walks off screen and you’re left to choose between the two pictures you’d taken to have printed.

You grimace as you scan them over — neither one of them are satisfying to you.

“I think your photo looks cute!” Rosa exclaims, looking over yours before giving you a nudge on the shoulder with a teasing glint in her eyes. “You two look good together.”

You nudge her back, taking the photo from her and stuffing it into your crossbody. “Stop, before some sasaeng overhears.”

Rosa cackles loudly, throwing her head back. “Oh please, a bitch can try to run up on you or me. I will fight.”

That pulls a laugh out of you but somehow, you have no doubts about it. Clicking her phone, Rosa checks for the time and with a glance, you’re shocked to see that you’ve already spent a good three hours around the venue. And a chunk of it was just waiting in a line.

“‘Kay now should be a good time to grab something to eat.”

At the mention of food, your stomach gurgles and churns in response and you’re surprised it’s only then that you feel the ache of not having eaten anything sufficient since six in the morning.

“Yeah, I’m starting to feel it now. Where should we go?”

Rosa hums, straining to look around as you come to the borders of the stadium grounds. She turns her head from one side of the street to the other and you follow her, spying a few familiar fast food chains by their company colours.

“I think we should grab something that we can take on the go, it’ll be easier in case we spontaneously decide to jump in a line again.”

You snort, not arguing with the idea but the thought of getting into another lineup is…. You’re gonna have to think on that after eating a sandwich or something. Your head cocks a little at that.

“How about a sandwich then? That’s pretty easy to carry around, and filling too.”

Your friend considers the idea and then nods, “Yeah, I can do that.”

It wasn’t hard to find a place that would meet your requirements of a delectable sandwich as the concert venue was situated very closely to the downtown parts of the city. It was only a matter of how far you’re both willing to walk, which is…not very far. You and Rosa both agreed that it would be in your best interests to stick around the venue because on your way to picking a spot, you chance your first look at the one lineup you and Rosa probably dreaded the most, outright feared.

“God is that—?”

“…Yeah….” The words come out short but heavily in a resigned sigh. Like with any other lines you’ve seen so far, this one stretches just as long with the only difference is that you can at least pinpoint exactly how and when it started. You easily spot the makeshift camp ground fans have created, tents of varying colours dotting along in the empty parking lot, peeking out from over the heads of those currently waiting in the queue for GA. Now your stomach churns uneasily for a different reason.

“Let’s hurry and get in before the line gets any longer!”

The both of you rush into action, entering the closest fast food establishment for the sake of not dallying but perhaps you think all in vain because it too was crowded with people, specifically other concert goers. At this point, there’s no escaping the wait anywhere and Rosa seems to realize too as she gives you a wry smile, moving to stand at the end of the formed line with you following suit. Another twenty minutes later, you and Rosa are dashing out, a bag in each hand containing your sandwiches, extra snacks and bottle of water. You’re out of breath when you finally reach the end of the line, ready to sit on the sidewalk and eat. To your pleasant surprise however, you find some familiar faces.

“Oh my God! Sam, Megan!” Rosa exclaims, wide eyed as the girls glance up from their phones respectively, wide smiles appearing on their faces when they see you and your friend. They envelope you in a hug each and you fall into conversations, all centred around what you’ve done so far in the venue, showing the pictures you took and freebies you got. It goes on for a while until you can’t stand it anymore and as politely as you could, informed that you must devour this sandwich now or else you would keel over. The first bite you took was nothing short of heavenly and it’s like a ravenous monster has been awakened because you think you downed it all in ten seconds flat.

Regardless, it does the job of filling your stomach with something so that it doesn’t end up eating itself but you somewhat had the thought before to try and portion it out, knowing you had a bit of a wait to get through before doors officially open. Within that time, you had also finished your bag of chips, sharing amongst the group and drank your fill of water. Hydration has always been the one thing everyone emphasizes the most when going to BTS’ concerts but you still struggle to find that balance between getting enough water and having too much water because who would want to have to go to the washroom in the middle of a concert? Plus, any water you don’t finish before security check you would have to throw away anyways.

You end up holding back on chugging your entire bottle, stopping when you felt like your bladder won’t explode any time soon but that means you’ll have to accept that the rest would be given to the trash.

Finally after some time, you’re startled from your stagnant position when the line ripples to life. You perk hearing the muffled bass of songs you’ve grown to love and know word for word despite the different language. Megan is the first to stand up, all of you at one point resorted to sitting right along the sidewalk edge, tip-toeing to see what the commotion was.

“I think doors are opening! The line looks like it’s moving now!”

The news has an immediate effect, the rest of you springing to your feet just as the people in front of you start shuffling forward. A surge of jitters tingles along your spine as you move along, inching closer and closer to the entrance. Not only does this mean you’ll be finally getting into the arena, but it also means that the concert is well on its way to starting soon. You catch yourself in time from bumping into the person in front of you when the line suddenly stops right on a bend. You think nothing if it until you hear murmurs of a commotion and see people actually leaving from their spots.

“What’s going on?” You ask, concerned.

“I think there’s a confusion between lines?” Sam answers, peering around the many bodies in front of you. You do the same, trying to worm your way through this broken telephone game until you hear someone raising their voice.

“Left side of this line is for GA!! This line is for seats!!”

“Ah shit!” Rosa curses, turning to Sam and Megan. “We gotta bounce then. Enjoy the show girls!”

“Bye!! You too! Now go, go!”

You wave hastily before Rosa is pulling your arm and you both go running to the newly formed line beside the one you were just in. You’ve made quite the jump, even if you are a bit aways still from seeing the front entrance. But it’s almost like it doesn’t matter because the line continues to move and before you know it, the doors are right in front of you.

“As soon as we get through the security gate, we’re booking it.” Rosa says, determined and fired up, even doing little stretches as if she’s getting ready to do a 100m sprint. You don’t argue with her though, chewing on your lower lip at thinking about how many people must already be in the pit, how your chances of getting a good spot is dwindling lower and lower with every people let in. Slowly, you grow more anxious and now you’re antsy to get your ass in ASAP because like hell, you’re going to be stuck with an awful view!

You swear it takes everything in you to remain as calm and collected on the outside as you can once it’s your turn for the security check. You present your crossbody, showing them the inside, dispose of the water bottle in the growing bin, pull up your ticket on your phone for verification and once you’ve given the all-clear—

“Go, go, go, go, go!” You take off, following the herd as your only means to finding the path to the concert pit, glancing over your shoulder to make sure Rosa is behind you (she is with a big goofy smile on her face). You hear the echoes of numerous excited voices bounce off the walls and they increase in volume, easily intermingled with instrumentals and growing clearer, more distinguishable as you approach. When you finally pass through the entryway, you feel your breath hitch.

The crowds are already gathered at the edges of the barricade, singing along to the music video being played on the large screens. Above and all around you, the seats are being filled by more fans, their light sticks twinkling to show their numbers. You rush to join in with everyone, coming to the space furthest left at the head of the stage, just a row or two behind others, brandishing your own light stick to switch on. With the app, you sync it up, right when Rosa joins you.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE HERE AHHHH!!” Rosa screams, waving her light stick crazily and falling into the fan chant. You laugh, not caring how loud you might be. You spend the next remaining minutes dancing, singing, and screaming, immersing yourself in the energy all around you. Rosa pulls you in for selfies, taking commemorative videos every once in a while. It helps pass the time and as the final notes of the music video fades out, the lights dim and the screams are louder than ever. All eyes are glued to the intro VCR, your heart’s pumping in your ears as you feel the rush of adrenaline increase. You’re blown away by the visuals and you can’t help but to scream whenever the sight of any of the members appear (and this is all before they’re on stage dear god).

The video fades to black, transitioning into a new track as the spotlights light up one by one to the beat until it swells into a climax as extravagant stage props are revealed and the pyrotechnics are going off. You truly lose all sense of inhibition when from the floor of the stage, seven figures emerge. You don’t know if you’re shaking from the force of your scream, the screams of a thousand people around you reaching a whole new level of pitch and intensity, or from the booming stereos that begin to blast their title track.

They were nothing short of incredible, you’re starstruck at how coordinated they were, all the while maintaining such stable vocals, not to mention look absolutely stunning in their stage outfits — sparkly black suits with varying gold accents that decorate their shoulders or as lapels, giving off very princely vibes. And you’re witnessing all of this with your own two pair of eyes. Never have you ever been this close to them before where you seldom rely on the big screen camera in front of you and you’re having trouble on where your eyes should be, so captivated by their aura and charisma.

So you find yourself screaming names left and right when you’re not shouting the fan chant. The first song comes to an end though it doesn’t mean that the energy doesn’t carry on as after a moment’s pause, the next song starts up, another hit single everyone recognizes and loves. When the lines of the first verse starts, the boys start making their way down the catwalk towards the thrust stage. As they move, so does the audience, all eager to keep their eyes on them no matter what. It’s hard to fight the wave so you can only go with it, forced to shift from your original spot to something a little less than favourable. You’re still too far up the main stage that the only thing you see is their backs and try as you might, half the time a phone is blocking your view.

It’s a struggle but you make do with the large screen and when there’s a song this hype playing, it’d be a crime to not do anything besides dance and cheer at the top of your lungs. And that’s what you love about their concerts; the moment you step into the arena it’s like you’re transported into another world, a place where you can let loose and for once be happy, blessed and thankful.

No more worries, no more what-ifs.

You’re going to seize this moment as if it’s your last.

When the song comes closer to the end, the members gradually make their way back to the main stage, waving to the crowd as they go and you swear Namjoon had returned your wave, dimpled smile on display. You can’t help the squeal that comes from your mouth.

When the last notes end, you finally turn to assess your surroundings, the crowd once more shifted but thankfully you spy Rosa not far from you so you maneuver yourself to her. She greets you ecstatically.

“DID YOU SEE JIN?! HE HAD PURPLE HAIR!! I’M GONNA DIE!!”

 “I KNOW!! AND NAMJOON WAVED AT ME!!”

The two of you fangirl until the VCR is done and the melodies of another song bubbles over the speaker. Once more, the attention of everyone in the arena draws towards the main stage and from there, it starts all over.

You work up a sweat dancing and singing along to the songs, breathless in the best way possible. You were enjoying the concert through and through, the only issue you have was your throat beginning to burn a little more than usual from all your screaming and the sea of people you’re currently swimming in is getting a bit more pushier. But the night was still young and though you’ve been dancing nonstop for four song straight, there was nothing stopping you when the spotlights turn into a warm golden yellow, the ones along the ground turning green and the first notes of possibly your favourite song starts to play.

From the floor, Jimin’s figure rises up, voice as light as a feather filtering through the building and instantly, you’re entranced.

Before, you had been unsure of how you would react to seeing the original Jimin on stage, the apprehension nearly smothering you as you waited but like a spell, as soon you laid eyes on him, singing and dancing so gracefully, so effortlessly, you knew that this was someone else entirely different. Now dressed in a flowing silk shirt embroidered with crystals that twinkle endlessly in the spotlight, he has singlehandedly rendered you speechless as the rest of the thousands watching him. Your eyes were glued to him, heart swelling with emotions as you watch him in his element, nailing each step and note and like caught in a siren’s song, you itch to be closer. Scanning around, you try to find an opening you can squeeze through, anything.

You see a space, big enough for you to stand in and without even thinking twice you surge forward, weaving as best you can before the chance disappears. You bypass two people, grazing their shoulders but shrinking in on yourself pays off because your view is even better than ever. Now you’re a row away from the metal barricade and when you focus back on Jimin—

You’ve heard many times that photos don’t do any of the members justice, not even a fraction of how they look but being this up close, you think it’s the understatement of the century. You’re stunned, mind going blank like it has trouble processing the fact that there is a human being that exists in this world you’re living in that is beautiful beyond words and his name is Park Jimin and you’re currently staring at him, in person.

Being this up close, you can see the details of his movements, how every part of his body from the tips of his fingers to his toes is adding something to this choreograph to make it that much more fluid or powerful. You see the rings on his fingers glint as he brings it up to run it through honey blond hair, strands falling so delicately and softly against the thin sheen of sweat against his forehead, it has you mesmerized. And then you see the beginnings of a secret smile, one that starts in his eyes before stretching over his lips as he sings those sweet words. You don’t stop yourself from swooning loudly because you’re not the only one who’s affected. The song ends all too soon, Jimin backing away to be lowered down on the stage but not without throwing another smile out towards the audience, gaze so full of love for the people around him as he sings the last notes and you feel like you can finally breathe properly again.

You find yourself laughing, half in disbelief and giddiness, smile so wide thinking that that performance was closer to a spiritual experience more than anything.

BTS’ Jimin is truly something else.

So caught up in it all, you fail to notice that, at some point, you’ve lost your friend Rosa, only after when you turn your head, ready to gush about Jimin and finding that she’s no where to be seen. You had the mind to look, but it’s difficult for you less you want to lose your newly obtained good spot. Besides, the lights darkening makes it even harder to distinguish her. You leave it for now, as the next song starts up; if you can’t find her by the end of the concert, you can always call her. With that settled, you return your attention back to the next member performing.

You’re thankful for the relatively slower songs, allowing you to the time to recover and more importantly, keep the crowd controlled to a rhythmic swaying. You hate to admit it, but you really wished you had bought another water bottle even if they did cost you an arm and a leg in the arena. Your throat aches uncomfortably, making swallowing hard even if it’s a knee jerk reaction in an attempt to quench your thirst. The most you can do now is refrain yourself by simply mouthing along to the lyrics but it’s a lot easier said than done. You still catch yourself shouting the fan chants when the timing comes up even when you sound like a dying cat (but who says no to the Kim Namjoon?!)

Perhaps a poor decision on your part because then comes the medley.

You feel it in the crowd before the track even kicks in, like the tides pulling back in a telling sign that a tsunami would follow and you have no choice but to ride it, too deep into the sea of bodies to put up any sort of resistance. You’re forced to move as close to the thrust stage as possible, everyone trying desperately to grab the boys’ attention as they walk along the edges. It pushes you until you’re on the left side of the catwalk behind two rows of people now, much to your chagrin but you don’t linger on it long, too immersed in the heavy beats of the song that makes you dance with reckless abandon.

Your spurt of energy doesn’t last you long as you quickly tire, heart hammering as loud as the bass in your chest you feel like it would burst through your ribs, and what’s worse is that every ragged inhale and exhale of breath agitates your scratchy throat. The t-shirt you’re wearing is too damp for your liking, clinging to your skin and does nothing but add to the heat already surrounding you. You slow yourself down, fighting off a dizziness the overcomes you, like you’ve accidentally stood up too fast and your shoulder collides into someone. You get shoved back and though there wasn’t any real strength behind it, you stumble, barely catching yourself. You think a couple of toes have been stepped on but you think it’s collateral damage at this point, too preoccupied with trying not to succumb to this moment of weakness.

Breathe, relax, you’re fine!

You blink rapidly and as if out of sheer willpower, it begins to subside, the dark hazy border clouding your vision seeps away. You remain in your spot for a while longer, making sure that it goes away completely and once you’re sure, you focus back in on what’s happening. You’ve been moved way farther back into the crowd than you had thought, maybe about ten steps away from reaching one of the sides of the catwalk. You’re surrounded on all sides by jumping bodies, the high of the atmosphere showing no signs of stopping and with the boys still partying it up on the stage, it’s all it takes to pull you back in.

Literally nothing will stop you from seeing this concert to the end.

“Everybody say—!!” You think you hear Jungkook scream and you can’t help laughing but join in to the chorus of thousands of others singing along. The song tapers to a simple beat, the main instrumentals dying off a bit so that you could really hear the echoing voices and see the way members egg on the audience. It gradually builds again, you realize it’s a remix in place of the original song that seems even more hype than should be possible. It’s gearing up for a drop you know would have the whole arena lose their mind over as the boys travel back towards the main stage. You naturally follow the crowd, always vying to get a better view just as the music picks up and everyone starts jumping in place again.

You’re torn from trying to see the actual stage or the big screen, so keen on keeping your eyes on them until the song comes to an end. You’re out of breath once more, shoulders heaving in effort and the foggy feeling creeps back again. The stage lights dim until the only source of light you have is the big screen playing the next VCR. You distantly hear the dreamy soundtrack, a mere muffled sound against the ringing in your ears. You try desperately to make it pass, along with this dizzy spell and you shut your eyes in hopes of doing so.

It was meant to be for a moment; just like the first time it happened, you had expected for it to pass easily, only… it doesn't.

It’s like your body decided to shut down without notice, going numb before you even had a chance to fight it.

It all happened so fast.

When you become conscious again, you’re extremely disoriented, vaguely aware that you’re not where you thought you would be — on the ground, trampled with a concussion and causing a whole scene by having a team of on site paramedics surrounding you (and if you’re being honest, you’re thankful that it’s not the case because you would rather take the concussion, unconscious and all than having to see thousands of people and all the members of BTS remember you in that way).

Vision clearing a little more, you slowly start to piece the shapes and colours that come together until you recognize them as eyes…

You…You know those eyes….

Time seems to slow until you’re taken back to the night you first met eyes with a pair of crimson ones. You remember how vibrantly they gleam against the dark, burning so deeply into your soul that you had dared not breathe. Those eyes stared at you with an intensity that had frightened you from the power they hold, yet you learned that they can shine with mirth, twinkle impishly, soften in tenderness, become the moon and hold endless stars and galaxies that had you wanting to see more.

But now, they stare back at you, pupils shaking in an amalgamated storm of emotions so palpable you wonder if the stars had burnt out and the world was no more.

Distress.

Panic.

But above all, fear.

“Y/N….? Hey Y/N, can you hear me?”

You blink, rousing from your daze, the faint smell of lavender intermingling with burnt wood enveloping you like a warm blanket— a comforting and familiar scent. You turn to get a better look at the owner of this voice but all it does is throw you in for another loop.

Jimin is staring down at you, wide eyed in alarm. The black surgical mask he’s wearing is pushed down, revealing full lips parted in a way that can only be described as holding his breath, bracing for the worst. The hoodie he has pulled over his head makes it hard to get a good look at him, the orange cast of the light above almost intensifying the shadows over his face that it has you squinting, wanting to discern his features, wanting to confirm that it’s him but his voice alone should’ve been enough.

“Ji…Jimin…?” You wince at the croak you just let out, voice completely shot and sore but you need to know if this is real or not, still feeling so out of sorts. Gently, you’re being propped up into more of a sitting position and something touches the bottom of your lip.

“Drink…”

As soon as you get that first sip of the cool liquid, it’s like you come to life again, grasping at the bottle to gulp down more like you’ve spent the past hours in a desert rather than in a concert arena.

“Slow down cherub….”

A bit spills over, trickling down your chin but you don’t care, the feeling is welcomed against your hot skin. After having your fill, you pull away to take a deep breath, finding the strength to support yourself though you feel the solid arm behind you linger.

“Wha — What happened….Where..?” You mumble, bringing a hand to press to your forehead, to yourself or to him you’re not sure.

“You blacked out, probably from dehydration. I had to get you out before you got seriously hurt.”

“Out…?”

The word belatedly registers with you but when it does, your gaze whips around you, taking in your surroundings for the first time. You’re outside, on the side of the building that acts more like a back alley meant for delivery trucks and it’s secret employees-only side doors that more or less, lead to the dumpsters you see farther down the way. It’s dark out, the night air much cooler now and distantly, you hear the cheers and the thumping of the bass, the concert still going on.

The concert!

A gasp flies from your lips as you spring to your feet, so fast your world spins and you would’ve toppled over had it not been for a hand to steady your shoulders.

“Y/N! What are you— “

“I-I have to get back! The concert—!” You sputter, cutting yourself off from a cough that tears through you, making you duck into the crook of your elbow in hopes of quelling it. Your feet falter in trying to figure out which way you should go but that wasn’t the only thing holding you back.

“Wait, just hold on a second—!”

You’re tugging against his hold on your wrist, eyes watering from the force of your cough but all you hear is the waves of excited screaming and the start of a new song which rings more like the tolls of a bell signalling time is running out. You become more frantic and frustrated — at him, at yourself. All at once, these tumultuous thoughts surge forward, consuming you in their urgency; you’re blowing it, completely throwing this chance away, couldn’t even do this one thing right, why couldn’t you just hold out?

It was all a waste. You really don't deserve any of this.

“Let go of me! I need to—!”

“Y/N! STOP!”

You’re jerked back quite suddenly, firm hands taking hold of both your shoulders until you feel your back pressing into the rough brick wall of the building. Your mouth parts, a retaliation ready at the tip of your tongue but you’re cut off with a hard shake.

“Are you out of your mind right now?! What do you think you’re going to accomplish going back in there in your state?!”

“Can you just lay off?! I’m fine!”

“You can barely hold yourself up! I’m not letting you put yourself in danger!”

“I DON’T CARE!”

“Y/N LOOK AT ME!”

His voice snaps you out of your frenzy, the sheer volume of it able to pull you out of the spiralling decent into your own madness — you don’t think you’ve ever heard him shout before. The revelation makes you pause and it’s enough for you to finally become aware of what’s in front of you.

At some point, his hoodie had fallen off, letting you finally see him. He’s everything you had remembered seeing, still so utterly beautiful in that otherworldly way that it’s almost heartbreaking. Your mind can’t help but to replay those images of him on stage, so ethereal and mesmerizing until they shift, melting away altogether to what you see in front of you — raven locks replacing the honey blond, slightly more disheveled against his forehead, strands sticking to a light sheen of sweat that makes the bruising stand out more against paler skin, and stormy blue irises for a subdued scarlet, the faintest glow barely visible behind those eyes that look at you in such a pained way.

It’s a sobering sight, one that has your heart clenching.

This isn’t BTS’ Jimin.

No, he’s —

You’re slightly out of breath but you realize you both are, his exhales fanning warm against your lashes. You see Jimin’s eyes search yours, not really sure what he’s trying to find in them but you don’t want to know, too afraid of that answer. After a tense moment, he asks, a single question falling from his lips in a disquieted whisper that resonates above the cacophony that surrounds you, inside and out.

“Why….?”

Why…. It tumbles around in your head chaotically with no signs of reaching any conclusions, the thoughts disjointed and fragmented for your mind to even begin processing. It dredges up feelings you’ve unconsciously tried to bury, way more than you had imagined and it becomes too much for you to handle right now, much less put into words. But perhaps above everything, you can’t find it in you to face any of it.

You break eye contact first, turning away from the intensity that has you feeling more vulnerable than it should.

“I....You—….” You struggle to form the words past the trembling in your voice, hands balling into fists until they dig crescents into your palms, on the precipice of breaking down entirely from experiencing so many heightened emotions in one night that you just want it to end. “Forget it…Please, you— you wouldn’t understand….”

You don’t look up to see his expression, won’t dare to but you feel the way his hold tenses, going rigid until slowly, his fingers begin to slip away, touch barely brushing the tops of your forearm before they recoil completely. And then you feel his warmth leave you as he steps back, feet heavy and you miss the way the glow in his eyes extinguishes, leaving nothing more than an empty, dark abyss.

“You’re right…. I wouldn’t…” He rasps, the resignation palpable and your heart squeezes again without your permission. Your guardian demon doesn’t say anything more, the silence threatening to suffocate you but you’re moving before it has the chance to, pushing away from the wall even though your steps hesitate.

You feel like you should say something, guilty conscious tugging you to hold you in place, the words I’m sorry sitting on the back of your tongue but when you swallow, what comes out instead is, “I…should go…”

You run without looking back, ashamed.

A coward.

You find your way into the arena following the sounds of the cheering crowd, rising continuously in crescendos. You have no sense of how much time had passed, the lack in any distinguishable song playing makes you sprint and when you burst through the entrance, the entire place is bathed in violet and magenta as the white lights of people’s cellphones twinkle all around you like a sea of constellations in a galaxy.

“This is gonna be the last song for tonight, love you guys, let’s go.” Namjoon says, a bittersweet smile on his face as the music begins to play and everyone cries out again in recognition. You’re left bewildered, not wanting to believe that the concert is coming to a close already and after a brief moment of stunned silence, you force yourself to move, rejoining the crowd in the pit. You walk, wanting to immerse yourself again and finding a spot on the farthest side of the stage, closest to one of the big screens displaying the members. All around, people are singing along to the uplifting lyrics of the song and you do as well, but it’s like your body and mind are on autopilot, completely numb.

Your thoughts are running rampant inside, the fight still fresh no matter how much you’re trying to take everything in around you, commit them to memory before…

Before what?

Before you lose this small piece of happiness you’ve ever known? Or are you afraid of losing the feeling it brought you, when watching these seven amazing men who share their music that heals the hearts of so many no longer bring that sense of comfort and joy to you, but instead remind you of sad, distant memories full of unspoken words, yearning and regret.

You can almost feel it already happening.

The song comes to an end, continuing on in an instrumental loop as the members gather up to do one final bow at the thrust stage, hand in hand. Afterwards, they disperse, each taking their time to wave and interact with the fans from all corners of the stage before leaving through the lift at the main stage. You catch sight of Taehyung on the catwalk waving and gesturing cutely, Hoseok who’s eyes are glued to the far off seats, grin broad and waving enthusiastically to make sure that the fans there are not forgotten, Jin who makes a show of following the camera to blow kisses into it for everyone to see….

And then your eyes wander unconsciously, searching for him, for Jimin who’s ever the sweetheart, is running to the farthest left of the stage he can reach, right in front of where you’re standing to greet the fans there. He's radiant, a stunning smile stretching over his face so wide in a way that makes his eyes turn into crescents but you know no doubt that they sparkle in pure happiness as they look out to the fans, like he’s trying to memorize each and every face of the people who made all his dreams come true. Jimin waves to as many people as he can, blowing kisses here and there and occasionally gesturing to those to not cry and smile.

You watch on fondly, but your chest begins to ache uncontrollably in a way you don’t think is because he’s beginning to make his way back to centre stage, ready to leave. He walks languidly, like he’s trying to draw out as much time as he can while his eyes still remain focused out onto the fans and in that moment, he looks your way.

You’re not even sure if it’s just your mind playing tricks on you but you see him so clearly. With the softest smile gracing his lips, you lock eyes, his gaze so warm and adoring and as cliche as it sounded, the world slows and you see him mouth something that makes the breath catch in your throat.

I love you.

He reaches out a hand to wave one last time before he’s turning away, screaming those same words again into the microphone to let the whole arena know and with that, the boys are lowered down. The music fades, there’s a final huzzah as a massive lit up panel with the band’s logo rises up to take up centre stage and like a movie, the credits begin rolling on screen, signalling the official end of the concert. People around begin to disperse, intending on leaving to beat the rush of traffic while there are some who remain in their spots to watch the extra practice footage the boys took.

You are the latter, however your attention is not on the clips rolling, rather you are lost amidst a turmoil of emotions as your mind seems to be stuck on replaying that moment with Jimin. You’re not sure why, can’t understand the affect it has on you when logically you know this isn’t the first time you’ve seen something like it. It’s almost a bit absurd until you realize….

For the split second it happened, you had wished for raven hair and deep ruby eyes.

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puppywritings · 5 years

Text

torn

pairing: lee jeno x male reader x na jaemin word count: 2534 description: when you, a new trainee at sm entertainment, capture the interest of both jeno and jaemin, you find yourself torn between them. requested by: anonymous masterlist

First and foremost, the reason you moved to Korea and auditioned for SM Entertainment was to follow your dreams; to sing and dance, as you had always loved to, and to bring joy to as many people as possible through art. When you received the news of your acceptance, the things weighing on your mind mainly consisted of excitement to improve and learn, and anxiety about the pressures of being a trainee. However, there was something else tugging at your heart, excitement and anxiety all rolled into one: the prospect that you would likely bump into the members of NCT.

NCT were your favourite musicians, your role models. You had been following them since their debut, and you wouldn’t dispute the notion that you were their number one fan. In particular, the Dream unit had caught your eye from the beginning, due in part to the fact that you were around the same age as the members. You had, to put it lightly, completely fallen in love with the group. They were your main inspiration for moving to Korea and pursuing a career as an idol, and you could hardly fathom the idea that you would be training and working in the very same building as them.

Of course, you worked hard to stop them from consuming your thoughts entirely. You had more significant things to busy your mind with; working on your vocals, taking care of your body, getting to know your fellow trainees. In fact, you were so preoccupied in your training that you sometimes went a whole day without thinking about the members of NCT. Wondering how far away they were, whether they were just a few rooms away, whether they had passed in the corridor and heard you singing, whether you might see them in the cafeteria later. You knew you would become very busy, but you never could’ve predicted these levels of intensity. You were definitely up to the challenge, though. The mental and physical stimulation left you shining, and you could feel yourself grow.

Though you felt wonderful, to an outside eye it would certainly look like you were pushing yourself too hard. You stayed in the practice room for hours after everybody else had left, and most days you were the first to arrive too. Dancing alone as the clock crawled towards midnight, it was only natural that you would gather a little bit of attention from people passing through. Inevitable though it may have been, you weren’t any less shocked when you spun around mid-practice to find that somebody had stepped inside the room. The fact that the figure was none other than Lee Jeno only intensified your bewilderment.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised with wide eyes. “I knocked but you didn’t hear me.”

“Right,” you panted, your eyes darting around the room. “The music... it was loud.” You were already sweating from the exertion but you felt it had increased tenfold. Jeno was here. In the same room as you. Speaking to you. He had seen you dance.

“What are you doing here so late?” he asked you, a slight frown on his lips. You were unsure whether to read this as curiosity or concern, but you tried not to dwell on it. You’d had the biggest crush on Jeno for years, and at this point in your career, you didn’t need it to intensify and interfere with your training.

You cleared your throat, hoping he couldn’t sense your anxiety. And, beyond that, hoping your appearance wasn’t too sweaty and unappealing. You pointedly avoided turning to the mirror behind you; you didn’t need your self-consciousness to rise. “I just wanted to get some extra practice,” you explained.

“I don’t think you need it,” Jeno told you sincerely. “You’re doing really good. I was watching you for a while... I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh! Um. No, that’s okay.” Every ounce of your energy went into preventing yourself from exploding on the spot. You knew that your cheeks must be burning - you could hardly even believe you were in this situation. “My name is Y/N, by the way.”

He walked forwards, extending his hand which you shook gently, almost flinching at the thought of him having to make contact with your sweat-coated palms. “Jeno,” he returned.

“I know,” you responded instantly, before cursing yourself. Was that a creepy thing to say? You really hoped you hadn’t made anything awkward.

Jeno only chuckled. “Right.” Daring to look up at his face, you saw his signature smile and crinkled eyes. You could’ve melted on the spot. He continued to speak, saving you from forcing out a response. You were thankful - you genuinely didn’t think you could utter a word. Lee Jeno was less than a foot away from you. “You should go home and rest soon,” he advised you. “Exhaustion won’t do you any good.”

You nodded, your heart swelling. Jeno didn’t even know you, yet he spoke with such care. That was just his nature, you knew. He had immense kindness within his heart.

“I’ll see you around,” he said with a smile before departing. You waved, which was all you could manage. As soon as you heard his footsteps retreat, you collapsed against the wall, sinking down to the floor. That was far too much excitement for your heart.

The following morning, as had become routine at that point, you were present in the practice room long before any of your fellow trainees. Most of them were currently either rousing from their sleep or tucking into their breakfasts. You, on the other hand, had risen whilst it was still dark outside, and had abandoned breakfast in favour of a speedier option; a protein shake and a granola bar.

You were yet to begin your actual practice yet, and were still performing some stretches when you heard a knock on the door. As you turned, the door was being pushed open, and you were surprised to find that Jeno had paid you a second visit.

“Jeno!” you exclaimed, your heart beginning to pound right away. “Hi.”

“Hey, Y/N,” he greeted you with the smile that had never failed to melt your heart. “I had a feeling you’d be here early.”

“Oh yeah?” You gave him a wobbly smile, trying not to give away the way your mind raced at the implication that he’d been thinking about you.

He confirmed with a nod. “You seem like the type to overwork yourself.” If he weren’t Lee Jeno, you would’ve rolled your eyes at this. “Anyways,” he continued, “I have a spare frappucino if you want one.” He lifted the tray of drinks in his hand.

"Oh! Sure.” Jeno had bought you a frappucino. Was your life even real at this point? No, you tried to rationalise. He just happened to have a spare one, and you just happened to be there. He probably would’ve given it to the first person he saw.

Jeno took a seat on the floor, placing the tray down in front of him and taking out one of the drinks. As he slurped his drink loudly, he motioned for you to join him. Breaking out of your trance, you quickly complied.

“So, what’re you doing here so early?” you tried to make conversation. You were immensely thankful that he had arrived before you had the chance to get all sweaty and gross. You’d hate Jeno’s only impression of you to be dirty and tired.

“I have some things I’m working on,” he answered vaguely, leaving you wondering about all of the possibilities. Though you were incredibly busy, you were still keeping yourself up to date on NCT’s activities. Jeno went on with a frown, “I was supposed to be meeting Jaemin, but he hasn’t shown up.”

You accepted his answer with a nod. “Thanks for the drink.” You were incredibly grateful. Though the nearest Starbucks was just around the corner, you couldn’t say you frequented it, merely because it was so much more convenient to visit the cafeteria in the building.

You were startled suddenly, almost jumping out of your skin when the door flung open and a voice called out, “Hey! We were supposed to meet fifteen minutes ago!” Looking up, you saw Jaemin stood before you, and you hoped to death nobody had heard the squeak you emitted.

“Oh,” Jaemin spoke seconds later, directed towards you rather than Jeno this time. “I didn’t see you there. I’m Jaemin.”

“This is Y/N,” Jeno spoke before you could. “I just stopped by to see him before we met. I must’ve lost track of time.” With the earnest look in his eyes, you didn’t know if it was possible for anybody to be annoyed at him.

“Hi,” you smiled nervously at Jaemin. Starstruck as you were upon being introduced to Jaemin, thoughts still ran through your head. Jeno had lied, right? He had told you Jaemin hadn’t shown up, yet he was the only who had missed their meeting time - and he had done so to spend time with you.

“You gave him my Starbucks?” grumbled Jaemin, looking betrayed. Jeno simply shrugged in response, completely void of regret.

“I’m sorry,” you apologised quickly, feeling rather panicked. “I didn’t know it was yours. I can pay you back for it, if you want me to?”

Jaemin dismissed your offer with a wave of his hand. He turned to you with a smile, rather different from the irritated demeanour he carried just moments previously. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind buying drinks for cute boys.”

Your choking splutters at this sudden compliment was drowned out by Jeno’s defensive “You never buy me drinks!” and you were incredibly thankful. They bickered for a few moments before Jeno turned to you.

“I guess I’d better go, Y/N,” he told you with a sigh. He extended his arm, patting your knee twice before standing.

“I’ll see you around, Y/N,” Jaemin waved. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too,” you returned weakly as the boys departed together.

Surely you were imagining things. Surely Jeno and Jaemin hadn’t just been flirting with you. You threw yourself into your practice. If you let your mind remain idle, you knew you would get stuck in these thoughts, which definitely wouldn’t do you any good.

***

You did your very best to ignore the attention that the other trainees threw your way in the following weeks. It was understandable, you had to admit. The quiet, rather withdrawn trainee who doesn’t seem to do very much other than work, suddenly seemed to be friends with Jeno and Jaemin, two members of one of Korea’s most popular idol groups. You were bombarded with questions: When did you become friends with them, how did you guys get so close, what on earth is going on between the three of you? Honestly, you wish you had the answers.

Everything had happened so fast. After your initial meetings with the boys, you found yourself running into them quite frequently, and it rarely felt like a coincidence. Soon enough you had exchanged numbers with them, you were eating lunch with them most days, and even spent time with them at their dorm. It was thrilling, especially at the beginning of your friendship with the boys. You began to grow less starstruck as you got to know the boys and grew more comfortable around them, though.

One thing you had noted was that you seldom seemed to spend time with only one of them. If you made plans with Jaemin, you would happen to run into Jeno while you were out. If you made plans with Jeno, you happened to get a message from Jaemin, asking to make plans at the exact same time. One thing you were consistent with was relentlessly pushing away fantasies that tried to run riot in your mind. Of course, it was utterly ridiculous that Jeno and Jaemin were both crushing on you, and were fighting for your affections. It was difficult to quell these thoughts, though, as this seemed to be exactly what was happening.

***

It had taken a lot of persuasive effort on Jeno and Jaemin’s part before you agreed to spend the night at Jeno and Jaemin’s dorm. Not only were you incredibly busy, but you were also sick of the other trainees pointing and whispering. You theorised that they had noticed the heart eyes that the two boys were constantly sending your way. It was growing difficult to miss. You still enjoyed their company, though. It went without saying that you were crushing on them both.

The night wouldn’t be anything special, just a casual night. You would watch some movies, and eat takeout. Nonetheless, your excitement had been increasing all throughout the day while you anticipated it. This feeling remained all the way into the evening, when you were sat between Jeno and Jaemin, nestled under a blanket. Jaemin had chosen the movie. A horror film, one you hadn’t seen before. You had to admit, you were being rather brave.

“Just hold my hand if you get scared, Y/N,” Jaemin advised you, puffing his chest.

“Or you could hold my hand,” Jeno offered. “I’ve been told I have very nice hands.”

Jaemin shook his head. “I’m sure he’d rather hold my hand.”

“I don’t know,” Jeno rebutted. “I think he’d enjoy holding my hand.”

“Well-”

“Listen,” you interrupted with a sigh, “There’s something going on here. Right?” You weren’t met with a response, only sheepish looks from both Jaemin and Jeno. You put your head in your hands with a groan. “Can we just talk about this?” Your voice was muffled.

“We both really like you, Y/N,” Jaemin spoke, and you lifted your head.

“I figured,” you mumbled with a nod. “You don’t have to act like children, though. I’m not a toy. You can’t fight over me like this.”

“You’re right,” Jeno sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Jaemin apologised.

The three of you sat in silence for a few moments, while you built yourself up to speak. “I like you both too. I’m not going to choose between you or anything. I like it when it’s the three of us, and I don’t want to sacrifice the bond we all have.”

“So, we just pretend this conversation never happened?” Jaemin suggested.

“I don’t know,” you shrugged. “I don’t want to. Like I said, I really like you both.”

Jaemin shook his head. “I don’t know where we can go from here, Y/N.”

“I don’t know if any of us can really have a relationship right now,” Jeno spoke up. “Because of our careers.”

“Then maybe we just see where things go,” you proposed. “No labels. Just the three of us, hanging out.”

There was quiet while the boys considered your words. “That sounds okay to me,” Jeno agreed, while Jaemin nodded alongside him.

“Great,” you beamed. You turned to your left, pressing a kiss to Jeno’s cheek, before going to your right and kissing Jaemin’s temple. “Now, can we finish the movie? I need to see how it ends.” Jeno hit the play button, and Jaemin took hold of your hand. You were feeling pretty damn lucky.

#jeno #jaemin #nomin #nct #nct dream #nct imagines #kpop imagines #nct x male reader #jeno x male reader #jaemin x male reader #nomin x male reader #kpop lgbt #kpop mlm #kpop scenarios #kpop requests

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timelock97 · 4 years

Text

Game Changer

Chapter Eleven: Return to Galar

Word Count: 4441

Warnings: Language probably

_________________________________________

“You know, flying to Florida is normal, but this is just too much plane for me,” Ginny whispers to me, trying not to wake her boyfriend who had only recently fallen asleep. She sets her head on my shoulder in annoyance. “How much longer do we have until we land?”

I poke at the screen in front of me, a few screens in I get the schedule time. “About forty minutes,” I whisper.

She groans again, and I see over her head that Aaron had woken up, immediately tugging her away from me and under his arm in hopes that she would relax. “I just wanna be there,” she whispers gently, Aaron playing with her hair as he dozes off again.

I giggle, hands finding my phone to see the time. The background photo is of Leon and my Pokemon back in Galar. He was kneeling on the ground next to Scorch, who had recently evolved into Raboot after defending Fritter and Daisy from a Theivul. Fritter is sitting on Leon’s shoulder, Daisy on Leon’s bent knee, and Ivy is sitting on the other side of Leon. I lean my head back against the headrest, silently agreeing with Ginny who had finally relaxed into Aaron’s side, I was ready to be off this damn plane.

When we finally make it to the ground, I remind them about what we would be going through. The process went through better than last time, and we were able to get checked back in and head to the Galar terminal.

“Do you two want to grab a bite here or wait til we get to Galar?” I ask as we get closer to the Starbucks that indicated the terminal.

“How long til we have to be on the plane?”

“We have time,” I tell them as they pause to check their tickets. “Believe me, we do.”

Ginny makes a face, “But out flight leaves in fifteen minutes?”

“Do you want food-”

“Yes but-”

“Okay,” I grab Ginny’s hand, pointing at the Starbucks, “Believe me when I say we have time. Let’s grab a sweet or something then we can head to the terminal. Promise.” I hum moving to stand in line. They are still tense,and reluctantly agree. Once our pastries are in hand, I motion them to follow me, and I don’t miss the nervousness in their voices.

“(Y/N), that’s employee’s only!”

“It’s not,” I giggle, pushing the door open a bit.

“We are going to get in trouble, and we missed our flight-”

“If you trusted me you would know I know where I am going.” I rebuttal, walking inside and stepping into the small terminal. I turn and see Steven perched behind the desk. “Long time no see, Steven!”

His head snaps up, smiling. “The champion’s fiancee! Oh, and friends too? Nice, nice.” He shifts some papers behind the desk. “We are, I think, just waiting on the Chairman and his assistant then we are flying out.” He shuffles behind the desk before motioning us forward. “Kabu and Milo are already on the plane.”

“What were they doing in London?” I ask, handing over my ticket and passport as I glance at Aaron and Ginny who have gotten closer to us and gathered their tickets and passports.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Aaron mutters, making Steven look up. “But aren’t there multiple flights?”

“No, we do one incoming and outgoing. It just makes it easier. So we put a general time for departure and give multiple to the airport so we can come in and out. And Kabu was visiting his family out in Kanto and Milo had a wedding for a cousin in Brighton.”

I nod as I move to the side and Ginny and Aaron get checked in, after a minute a squeal pulls me from my thoughts as I turn and get embraced by Felicia. “Oh, Felicia, how are you?”

“Good, good. Ready to be home, actually. I’m off for the next few weeks after today-”

“Lucky,” Steven complains, but he gives her a playful smirk as she smacks his shoulder.

“That one just got back from having a few weeks off so hush!” She giggles, then notices the other two. “Are these some of your friends? Hi, I’m Felicia.”

“Ginny, and this is Aaron.” She giggles, shaking Felicia’s hand. The room is filled with mild chatter as I notice the door open.

Chairman Rose is dressed in jeans and a floral button up while Oleana is still dressed for business. Rose smiles when he sees me, “Ah! (Y/N), how are you?”

“I’m good, Rose, how are you?” I smile, walking over when he motions me over to hug him. I give him a quick squeeze before turning and giving Oleana a small smile. She only nods her head in greeting.

“Chairman, Ms. Oleana, why don’t I check you in, then we can all fly home. Felicia, can you take (Y/N) and her friends down to the plane?”

“Yup, c'mon you three, let’s go!” Felicia calls as she begins walking into the open doorway that leads down to the small plane. As we walk, I can feel the nervousness in the air from Ginny and Aaron. “Are you all excited to go back to Galar? I know these two are new, so what are you all excited for?”

“Uh, we are just generally excited,” Aaron comments as we get to the end of the tunnel to the flight of stairs taking us down to the airfield. “Wait, are we on a smaller plane for this flight?”

“Yes, but it’s due to us having a small airport in Galar more than anything else. If we have large groups of people coming in from anywhere then we tend to have several flights in and out.” Felicia continues as we make it onto the airfield. She ushers us to the plane, offering to take our bags to slip under the plane.

I glance up and let out a laugh as Milo pokes his head out of the main door. “Hello, Milo!”

“(Y/N)! I didn’t realize you would be back in Galar yet.” He walks down the steps quickly, going to help Felicia before pulling me into a hug.

I giggle as I hug him back. “Yup, back until the end of August. Then I’ll go back for a few months then move back here permanently.”

“Lee’s been talking about how excited he is about you moving out here” Milo muses, rubbing the back of his head when Felicia thanks him. “And who are these lovely people?”

“Milo, these are my friends Ginny and Aaron, guys this is Milo, he is the gym leader in Turrfield.”

“It’s nice to meet you all! I hope you enjoy your time in Galar. I think we should load up though, from what they told Kabu and I we were only waiting for a few more people.”

I nod, motioning for Ginny and Aaron to follow, “Yeah, Rose and Oleana are the last two then we will be on our way!” I smile as I settle next to Milo, motioning for Ginny and Aaron to sit in front of me. I turn and look over at Kabu, only to find him asleep. “It’s weird to see Kabu in normal clothes,” I whisper, making Milo laugh and Ginny and Aaron look back to see the same thing.

“Yeah, he was visiting family in Kanto, his nephew was having a kid.”

“Cute,” I smile, sitting back into my seat as Rose and Oleana enter the plane as well as the pilot, Steven, and Felicia. Felicia gives her usual speech, which causes Ginny to look back at me nervously. I give her shoulder a squeeze in reassurance before the plane begins to take off.

“I’m gonna catch a few winks before we get back, lots of work I have to do before bed.” Milo whispers, making me laugh.

“You’re fine, I have some paperwork I have to finish so no worries.” I smile as he shifts his ball cap forward and slouchs in the seat. I start to dig in my bag, looking for my clinical paperwork when I notice Rose looking at me. I give him a soft smile before fishing out the paperwork and placing it in my lap to fill out, why did I leave this for last minute?.

The pilot coming over the speakers pulls us all out of our own thoughts, “Well folks, we will be landing soon. Please righten your seats, put your lap trays up, and buckle your seatbelts!”

I smile, shuffling my papers into a neat stack before propping my lap tray back up.

Milo peeks out from under his cap, giving me a small smile.“Looks like we are almost home.” He lets out a small yawn before pushing it back and lifting his window shade to show off the late sunset. He leans back a little, allowing me to lean over and look out. My eyes find the island with ease, oranges and pinks decorate the sky and clouds as the sky is slowly becoming darker the closer we get to the ground. I glance at Aaron and Ginny between the seats and see that they have also leaned over to the window to watch as well.

The plane lands easily, and I can already see people waiting by the building, and a few Corviknight taxis waiting off to the side. Once the pilot gives us the okay we are all standing and stretching our legs as the stairs are rolled up to the door. This gives me time to talk to Kabo and pack my papers away into my bag.

“Good to be home?” I tease the man, who gives me a soft smile.

“Indeed, it was nice to see my family, but it will also be nice to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

I laugh, “Yeah I can understand that.” Before I can continue, the sound of the door opening causes everyone to fall quiet. A smile etches onto my face as we are told to get out of the plane and gather our luggage.

“Welcome, back! We hope your trip was wonderful, but we are glad to see you home.” The woman smiles, I sadly can’t place a name to her, but I can only assume it was due to the time I had arrived last time too. We all slowly file out, Chairman Rose and Oleana getting their luggage first before bidding everyone goodbye and heading to a taxi. Milo hands me my suitcase next, allowing me to step back and wait for Aaron and Ginny to get theirs and enjoy the sounds of the wild Pokemon exploring the neighboring forest.

Once everyone had received their luggage, the pilot, Steven, and Felica say goodbye and head over to the building. Kabo and Milo also say goodbye from heading off to the two remaining taxis. I let out a small sigh, had Leon forgotten again?

A sigh falls past my lips as Ginny nudges my shoulder. “So, what do we do now?”

“Well,” I pull my phone from my pocket, checking to see if I have signal or not, nothing. “I am going to pop inside and see if I can borrow a phone.”

As if on cue, I notice a taxi flying over, and I raise an eyebrow as it lands. The man that climbs down from the Corviknight waves as he walks over to us. I smile, suddenly recognizing the man. “Long time no see, the Champion got my name from the Dragon Tamer to come give you and your friends a lift to where he was at. Couldn’t get out of the meeting he was in or else he would have been with me.”

“You got Margo with you?” I ask, smiling as I go to shake his hand again.

He smiles widely, “Sure do, my girl is the best in the business. Who are your friends?”

I take a step back as he grabs my luggage and grabs Ginny’s as well. “My close friends of Arceus knows how long Ginny and Aaron.”

“Pleasure, the name is Gus, been a taxi driver since I was seventeen.” He starts walking, causing the three of us to follow. “And have had the same Corviknight since then too, my girl and I are inseparable.” I smile as he places the two in the trunk, offering to take Aaron’s after.

My attention moves up to the Pokemon perched on top. Margo looks down and coos, making me smile. “Hey girl, you been behaving?” I tease, making her call out.

“She never behaves, you should know this.” Gus laughs, motioning for us to enter. He shuts the door behind us before asking, “The Champ said that you can decide where you want to end up. I am going to assume the apartment-”

“I would, but I don’t have a key-” I stop when he lifts a key from his pocket, making me laugh. “Only Lee would give you a key to give me.” I reach over and take it from his hand. “Know the address?” I ask, which he nods, climbing up onto the top.

Ginny leans over to me, “Is Leon just really trusting or is that just how the people are here?”

“Oh yeah, the people here are pretty friendly, but also Raihan had this guy pick us up the last time I was here, Margo came down and greeted me and everything which is unusual for her according to Gus.” The taxi lifts from the ground, making Ginny grab Aaron in surprise. “I think you will want your know out, cause the view is my favorite.

It’s fun to see the excitement in their faces as they look out the window. Ginny snapping a few photos as we grow closer to Wyndon.

The taxi lands in front of Leon’s apartment building. Once fully landed, Gus hops down and lets us out of the cab. I stand and stretch once I am far enough away from the taxi. Gus bids us goodbye and the three of us head inside and into the elevator.

"Holy shit,” Ginny whispers as I get the door open to the apartment. It looks the same, minus a few dents in the floor and scattered bowls on the ground.

“Why does one dude need an apartment this big?” Aaron mutters as I set my bag down.

“He has the room so he can let his Pokemon out into the apartment, and before you ask, yes the floor can handle the weight.” I reply, moving into the apartment a bit to get out of the doorway. The sound of a small thud deeper into the hallway catches my attention, forcing me to take a few steps forward. My eyes find a silhouette in the hallway, tail wagging in the dark. “Is that my Ivy girl?” I coo, kneeling down as she comes running down the hallway collapsing into my lap, whining and nuzzling into my stomach. I run my hands over her back and rub her ears.

“Is that the Leafeon you were telling us about? The one who helped you out with the Onix?”

I nod, motioning for her to kneel next to me, Aaron following alongside her. I gently move Ivy from my stomach, rubbing her back, “Ivy, these are some really good friends of mine, can you say hi?” Ivy lifts her head and looks at the two of them. She stands before flopping into Ginny’s lap making her look at me like she was the happiest person in the world.

“I’ve been blessed,” Ginny whispers, leaning down to cuddle the ball of fluff in her lap. Aaron pouts next to her, making me laugh as he places a hand on her back and pets her.

The three of us stay like that for awhile until Ginny’s stomach growls, making me laugh. “Alright, how about we head down to my favorite restaurant here in Wyndon. It’s a little curry hole in the wall.” I stand and pat my leg so Ivy follows me, “C'mon, I will show you to your room then we can go, yeah?” They nod and follow me down the hall, I push open the door and motion them inside.

We head back out onto the street, walking and letting them look about and ask questions. I answer the best I can as we walk, until Aaron stops me.

“Uh, (Y/N)? Is that Leon over there?”

I raise an eyebrow but follow his line of sight, seeing Leon dressed in his champion uniform and cape looking down at his phone, hand resting on a pokeball. I shake my head and point at Ginny and Aaron. “Stay here, I’m gonna go scare the shit out of him.” They nod as I walk over to him. I place my hands up and slam them onto his shoulders before screaming out a “Boo!”

Leon jumps and nearly throws a pokeball at me, once he sees me he has me trapped against his chest and tickling my sides. I scream out a laugh as he holds me up. “You little minx-”

“Shouldn’t you be using a pokemon-”

Leon pinches my sides again, making people look over fondly as I giggle and squeal. Once I beg for him to stop he finally does, only to spin me around and kiss me gently. When we pull away I let out a small giggle. “What are you doing-”

“I was going to ask you the same thing. We were going to go to the little curry place you showed me-”

“Oh, that’s what I was trying to find. I couldn’t figure it out from the tower, I can do it just fine walking from the apartment…”

I lace my hand with his to drag him along behind me, “Getting dinner?”

He laughs, “You could say that. I have to pick it up for the meeting I was in. Speaking of, sorry I couldn’t come to get you from the airport-”

“Don’t worry about it, Gus made sure we were all taken care of.”

Ginny smiles, hugging Leon once we are close enough and Aaron hugs him as well. “You look different-”

“Work,” he laughs, fixing his cap as we walk into the alleyway to the curry restaurant. Leon gets his to-go order first. Saying a quick goodbye and see us tonight before slipping out the door.

We eat, probably too much, but by the time we leave and explore the shops around the area it is about 10:30 at night. We settle back into the apartment and the two of them go to hide away into their room to settle for the night.

I sit on the couch, feet up on the coffee table while I wait for Leon to come in.

At about midnight, the door finally unlocks. I turn my head to the side and watch as Leon enters and tosses his cap onto the counter. His eyes lock with mine, sighing softly. “What are you still doing up?”

“Still on my time, and I wanted to wait up for you.” I move my feet from off the table. “How was the rest of the meeting?”

He shrugs, walking over and flopping onto the couch next to me before laying his head in my lap. “Long, they were talking about some of the challengers and how they want to change the age that people can do to get into the gym challenge. Blah blah blah, boring stuff.” He mutters the last part and shuts his eyes.

I take time to run my fingers into his hair and detangle it, causing him to hum happily. “Wanna go get ready for bed?”

He sighs softly, “Yeah, we should.” He stays where he is lying though, his eyes still shut. I run my hands over his chest next, watching as his lips turn up into a little smile. “Feeling me up, love?”

I laugh, shaking my head. “C'mon, Champ. Let’s go to bed.” I pat his chest before nudging him to stand. He sighs but moves up to a sitting position. I stand and help him to do the same. It’s like deja vu once we make it into his room. My shirt flies across the room, one of his shirts goes over my head, bra in the corner, Leon dressed in only a pair of sweatpants.

Leon moves over to me, grabbing my hip and pulling me into him, pressing a kiss firmly onto my lips. I sigh gently, moving my arms around his neck as he leans down and lifts me into his arms and carries me to his bed. We continue kissing, Leon laying me down on the comforter, hands resting on my waist. When he pulls away, he sighs. I can see the bags under his eyes.

“Why don’t we go to bed, bubs. In the morning we can spend some time together while we play tour guide.”

Leon sighs, but nods, rolling off of me and helping us get under the covers. He flips off the light before tucking me into his side and cuddles me into his side. “(Y/N)?”

“Hmm?” I lift my head and look at him.

He sighs and kisses my forehead. “I’m glad you’re home. I love you.”

“I love you too.” I whisper, fingers grazing his chest as I slowly fall asleep.

Leon’s bright idea was to help GInny and Aaron catch a Pokemon of their own, letting them have the full Galarian experience. So the first week home consisted of showing them around Galar, camping. We spent some time in the wild area in between, resulting in Daisy evolving into Toxtricity after battling.

Ginny excitedly pointed out a Deino while we were out there, whispering about how she desperately wanted one to me, which I knew since the final evolution was her favorite Pokemon. It didn’t take long for Leon to call up Raihan and see if he had any eggs since battling the one in the wild area would have been a bad idea. Too high of a level for her to tame and respect her. Thankfully, Raihan was willing to help and supplied us with an egg. Ginny squealed in excitement upon receiving it, making Raihan tell Leon and I when we asked if there was anything we could do as payment to tell us that her reaction had been payment enough.

“I want pictures though, when it hatches.”

It ended up hatching while we were visiting in Circhester, shortly after Aaron found a Snom that decided it wanted to be his partner. I had laughed so hard when I had turned to look at him and see why he was taking so long to catch up to everyone, only to see Aaron with a Snom on his trying to burrow into the hood of his hoodie while he was desperately trying to get it out.

When I finally had to start working, I let Ginny and Aaron use a rented Rotom phone so that they could get a hold of us and let them wander around Galar without us. Every couple of hours I would get a text with some sort of picture and or message about where they were, besides the wild area since their Pokemon weren’t high leveled.

Friday had come around quickly, and I planned with them to head to the wild area for their last few days so they could continue to bond with their friends.

Ginny was helping me cook while Aaron and Leon were keeping the Pokemon entertained. I can hear her sigh next to me, and I catch her leaning down to pet the top of Deino’s head before passing me a few ingredients. “Gonna miss Denio, huh?”

She sighs sadly, “Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did-”

“(Y/N/N)…”

I laugh, nudging her side, “You know you can, shoot. What’s eating at you?”

“I was wondering, what will happen toDenio and Snom after Aaron and I leave?”

I hum, stirring the curry. “Well, if you don’t plan on coming back here, then Leon and I will work on finding them new trainers, there is a program for it.”

“Oh,” she sounds sad, making me look at her.

“Gin, you know that it will be the best option. We don’t want them in a box for the rest of their lives-”

“No, no, I understand.” She stares off, down at her baby. “Uh, Aaron and I were thinking of moving here-”

“Really?” My excitement is evident in my voice, making her giggle.

“We have a long way, since Aaron has another year of school, but I got offered a job from a friend of Milo’s. She’s the mom of the owner of Flapple’s Bakery in Turrfield. Asked Aaron and I about what we did for a living and then wanted to see some of my artwork. Offered me the position on the spot.”

“That’s amazing, Ginny!” I whisper, hugging her into my side.

She giggles before pushing me off of her softly, “And she said I could start immediately. The money will be weird transferring from whatever the currency is here to ours, but I am really excited.”

“What about Aaron?”

“That’s even better, a guy who works at the Monostoke trainer school overheard our conversation and said that the athletic teacher at the end of next year will be retiring and offered him the position as long as he sends him how he is doing so far in school and how he does for his student-teaching. He even said that he would help teach him all the pokemon-related activities when we arrived.” I can see the smile on her face, this was her future.

“Have you talked to Leon about how to become a Galarian citizen?”

She laughs, “Actually I was hoping you would know.”

“Nah, Leon had to take care of everything. Just pointed to the places I needed to sign.”

She shakes her head as she laughs harder, “Only you.”

We stand in silence for a minute, the two of us watching the boys joke around and have fun.

“I never thought this would ever be my future, I know my parents will think I didn’t think before deciding but, I am really excited for this.”

“My best friend is going to live in the same country as me. I’m so freaking excited.”

We laugh, and I smile as Scorch runs into my side and hugs my leg. Excitement filling my soul, I smile at the possibility of a great and better future.

_________________________________________

A/N: Good day! Hope you all are doing alright! Let me know what you think!

Masterlist

#cg writes #champion leon fluff #champion leon #champion leon x fem!reader #pokemon swsh #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon leon #pokemon shield leon #pokemon sword leon #dandeleon #dande

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cravingcrazewriting · 5 years

Text

“I didn’t get your name.”

Connor Murphy leaned against the counter, watching absentmindedly as the waffles in the machine baked. The day was going by so slowly and he wanted more than ever to go out for a smoke break.

"Connor! Can you pour me a cup of coffee?" Alana, one of Connor's coworkers, called from afar. Connor grumbled and trotted over to the coffee machine.

"Yeah, here's your coffee.." he replied, pouring some freshly made coffee into a cup and handed it to Alana, who gave it to a customer. He checked the time. Only an hour left until his break. Thank christ.

"Uh, e-excuse me?" a voice asked, causing Connor to turn around. Apparently someone had gone to his side for a change. This guy was clearly new.

"Hello, welcome to All Star Diner. What can I get you?" He asked nonchalantly, pulling out his notepad and pen.

"Can I, can I get the B-Breakfast Delux, please?" Connor didn't bother looking at his customer, he simply marked the checkboxes and asked, "What'd you want for a drink? Water, milk, coffee, juice? We have some Pepsi products too if you're in the mood for those."

"C-coffee is fine, thank you," Connor nodded and checked that off, murmured something about it being done in about fifteen minutes, and went to prepare the meal. He calmly flipped the waffle out of the machine and onto a plate, then gave it to whoever ordered it. He grabbed more of the mix and started to make another for his customer, then went to make coffee next.

"Evan, pal, how you doing?" A new person had taken a seat next to Evan, as Connor had just learned. "What'd you get to eat?"

"Uh.. The B-Breakfast Deluxe?" Evan said, but he made it sound more like a question rather than a statement.

"Awesome. Hey barista guy! I'm ready to order!" Said the other, slapping a hand down on the counter.

Connor sighed and turned around. Evan turned his gaze to him, it looked more curious than anything else, and Connor flushed out of embarrassment, mainly because of not having his meal done. Evan had dirty blonde hair and tan skin, he wore a blue polo that was covered by a dark blue jacket that was unzipped, and khakis. The other guy had simple brown hair and brown eyes, and wore a red shirt and a blue jacket, and jeans.

"What'd you want to eat?" Connor took out his notepad, and the brown told him he wanted the same thing as Evan.

"Your meal will be ready in a few minutes," Connor told Evan, turned back around, and finished the blonde's meal. The meal consisted of eggs, pancakes, and toast.

"Here you are," he said tiredly, setting the plate down before doing the same with his cup of coffee.

Evan offered him a small, nervous smile, "Th-thank you. It looks d-delicious!"

Connor could feel his cheeks start to warm up for a bit, and he froze for about .2 seconds, before leaning against the counter and tucking his long, curly hair back behind his ear. "You know, I uh, made it myself." He told him, purposely lowering the tone of his voice that'd probably cause strain later on, but he didn't really care. Whenever he had a chance to boast about his talents, he'd take it, and this time was definitely not an acceptation.

He received a giggle from Evan, who had already taken a bite out of his eggs. "I w-wouldn't ask for a better uh.. chief? Server? Barista? Ah, what I m-mean is, it's really, r-really good!"

Connor laughed, which surprised himself because he never laughed. God, that guy was cute. He wasn't head over heels for him, he just thought he was cute. Connor didn't believe in 'love at first sight', and one guy for sure wouldn't change that.

"No problem. Now, would you like to pay now, or later?" Connor asked, ready to hand over the bill in a moments notice.

"L-later please," Evan decided.

"Okay. Can I have a name?" Connor just wanted his name. Sure, the brown haired guy said 'Evan' but that could just be a nickname or something.

"Evan," he told him, short and simple.

Connor nodded and acted like he wrote it down. Alana then came over, and handed Connor the other meal for the brown haired guy. He huffed and gave it to him, before returning to the blonde.

"So Evan, got a job somewhere?" Connor grabbed a sponge and turned the sink on, before grabbing a plate and started to wash it.

"Well, I u-used to work at Pottery Barn, but uh, now I work p-part time at Starbucks while I'm attending college," Evan said, taking small bites out of his eggs.

"What're you going to college for?" Connor set the plate into the dishwasher and grabbed another plate.

"Uhh.. I'm t-trying to get my Master's Degree in P-Photography. What about y-you?" He explained, continuing to eat his eggs.

"I'm gonna get my Master's in Astronomy, then a Minor in Writing. It's only like, my first year though," Connor shrugged, doing the same thing as before with the now clean dishes.

"Oh! I'm in m-my first year too!" Evan exclaimed. "I w-wanted to do something nature wise but I d-didn't find anything appealing.."

"Nature eh? Why don't you tell me about it?" Connor set a plate down.

And that was how Connor Murphy found himself fuming over Evan, who talking quickly but enthusiastically about his vast knowledge of nature, and how much he loved it, and how he fell from a tree last year ("You fell out of a tree? That's the saddest fucking thing I ever heard." "I-I know." "Still, it fucking sucks that it happened to you.") Connor recalled the time he stole his father's telescope to stargaze, which Evan replied with never knowing what his dad was like since he left at a young age. Connor decided to avoid that by telling him about Astronomy, which Evan happily listened. He was more of a listener than a talker, Connor noted, so all he had to do was keep talking, easier said than done, but having them both talk about their passions helped them open up. They talked for almost an entire hour.

When it was time for Evan to pay and leave, Connor wrote his number on the bill, hoping that the blonde would like to continue talking to him. Once he was gone, he didn't see the bill crumpled up or a rude note, so he took it well and got the money left behind.

Unfortunately, a few days later Connor didn't get a new text from Evan or anything. He didn't want to come off as whiny, but it wasn't like he had a way to make the first move. He decided to go to Starbucks and get a Frappe to mope.

However, when he arrived, he didn't expect Evan to be working. But it was too late to turn back since he was the next in line.

"W-welcome to Starbucks, h-how may I help yo-you?" Evan stuttered, and when he went to look at Connor, he almost immediately recognized his face.

"I'll have a Viente Carmel Frappe, please," Connor pulled out his money.

Evan nodded and started to punch in the order, before stammering, "I-I'm sorry I didn't t-text you, I just don't k-know your name and it-it'd be weird if I didn't know and y-your name tag didn't say anything either so-"

"I get it. I really do," Connor assured him. "I thought you thought I was like.. weird or whatever.."

"You're a-awesome.." Evan said softly, blushing lightly.

"No, I'm Connor," he blushed but grinned, setting the money down on the table.

"Huh?" Evan titled his head.

"That's my name. Connor. You uh, need it for the cup," Connor explained.

"Oh. Oh! O-okay, here's your change, b-by the way," Evan rushed, quickly handing Connor his change. "Your, your drink will be r-ready in a few minutes."

"Thank you," Connor smiled, took his change, and went to the the waiting area for his drink, playing on his phone while doing so.

Soon, his name was called. When Connor retrieved his beverage, he saw a small message scribbled on it.

'You have a nice name, I really like it. Anyways I should give you my number just in case

(***)-***-***

Evan <3'

Connor found himself grinning. The world was finally on his side for once. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

#dear evan hansen #deh #connor #connor murphy #evan #evan hansen #treebros #convan

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blessed-but-distressed · 5 years

Text

#FindEmmaSwanAFriend

Feeling left behind by her more successful, settled friends, Emma Swan moves to Scotland on a whim. Sure, she’s winning at Instagram, but something is still missing from her new life. Fortunately, her friends back home are on it. #FindEmmaSwanAFriend goes viral. Enter Killian Jones, reluctant columnist, who is on the hunt for his newest subject, and may just have found her. CS AU

also on ff.net and ao3

Tagging: @katie-dub , @wholockgal , @kat2609 , @whovianlunatic, @optomisticgirl, @ladyciaramiggles, @the-lady-of-misthaven, @emmaswanchoosesyou, @ilovemesomekillianjones, @biancaros3, @cigarettes-and-scotch-whisky, @ms-babs-gordon @ab-normality, @andiirivera, @fangirl-till-it-hurts, @onceuponaprincessworld , @natascha-remi-ronin and whoever else asks me.

A/N: Yep. It’s been forever. And to add insult to injury, this is only Part 1 of 2. But umm... yay content?

***

SOS. My boss is wearing a powdered wig, and a guy in US flag speedos and nothing else just spilled punch down my dress. ES

What's this? A damsel in distress? Sounds like a perfect opportunity for a certain bearded gentleman to swoop in. One with cocktail knowledge and combat experience. Where is dear Rambo tonight? KJ

Don't call him that. And he's in Belfast, doing research. You know, like academics are supposed to do? ES

Ah, yes. Research. I've heard of it. KJ

That's it? No daring rescue plan? We have a code T here. ES

Code T? KJ

T for Transparent. As in, my dress. From being soaked through with punch by that asshole. Am I painting a clear enough picture? ES

I assure you, the image is extremely vivid. You might've led with that. Where is this damnable affair taking place, again? KJ

***

Emma

It wasn't that Emma was ashamed of where she came from. Not exactly. Recent election results aside, she had to acknowledge she hadn't ended up teaching American History by accident. Even when her country frustrated her, you had to admit, it was never boring. It was just...

She'd never been a foreigner before. Not really. A week in Cabo. That time Mary Margaret had forced her to third-wheel on a couple's ski trip to the Laurentians. Because that wasn't awkward at all.

But if she'd thought her American-ness would be a novelty in Scotland, she'd been seriously deluding herself.

Between the onset of summer vacation, the Instagram-worthy architecture and the enduring appeal of Jamie Fraser, there had never been more Americans in Edinburgh than there were at that moment. The Outlander Effect, they were calling it.

And Emma couldn't exactly miss them. They were everywhere, and not just herding en masse down the Royal Mile. On the bus. Crowding into the Jinglin' Geordie on Open Mic Night. Talking group assignments in the Starbucks line. Hell, a lot of her own students came equipped with homegrown accents, her class allowing their studies to mesh seamlessly with the syllabus back home.

Most encounters were pretty jarring. Like listening to your own voice played back on a recording.

Do I really sound like that?

She hoped not.

Did it really take me that long to figure out it isn't pronounced Edin-burg?

No comment.

Do I really have trouble translating common anglicisms?

Only sometimes.

Usually when they came out of the mouth of someone like Will Scarlet, and she couldn't tell if he was using some highly localized Derbyshire dialect, or if he was just fucking with her.

Sure, Killian tried a little too hard to sound like some kind of dashing 17th-century buccaneer most of the time, but at least it was still recognizable as a form of English. With Will though, she could never really be sure.

Still, after nearly a year, she liked to think she had a handle on things. She could order a 'Laphroaig' without completely mangling it, and knew enough to keep an umbrella on her person at all times. And if and when her cravings for American snack foods struck, they were being plenty satisfied by her local Sainsbury's, who kept one shelf fully stocked with all of the Twinkies, Peanut Butter Cups, and Lucky Charms a girl could ever wish for.

So when her Head of Department was looking for volunteers for their annual Fourth of July barbecue, Emma had to admit she did try to get out of it.

It was her own fault, really. It was summer. She should've been sunning it up in the Algarve with the rest of her colleagues, day drinking, and returning her skin tone to a less deathly pallor. Instead, she was the sucker who'd been roped into teaching Summer School classes to a revolving door of international students, who were keen to let some of the school's reputation rub off on them, without the three or four year commitment. Every three weeks a new lot arrived, and Emma's life descended into Groundhog Day as she repeated her lectures anew, reliving the same debates and excuses on a constant loop.

So she only had herself to blame when the department head went looking for warm bodies, that hers was the only one still lingering in the corridors.

"Great!" her boss said, clapping her hands together. "Don't forget to wear something festive!"

Festive.

There was no way this wasn't going to be a disaster.

***

The damsel in distress line might've rankled her, but she had to hand it to the guy, he came through.

Fifteen minutes after she'd barricaded herself in the bathroom after The Fruit Punch Incident she was summoned curbside, arms still determinedly crossed over her chest, to where a black cab sat idling, an incorrigible Englishman leaning against it holding up a leather holdall.

"Does Elsa know you went through her closet?" she asked, eyeing the bag.

"Who do you think paid for the cab?" he grinned.

Emma really needed to send that woman a fruit basket or something. Did people still do that? Send fruit baskets? Elsa would know. She probably went to one of those fancy Swiss finishing schools, where you learned shit like that.

The bag even smelled expensive as Killian handed it over, his eyes dropping for the first time to properly take in her ruined outfit, and lingering.

"Don't even say it," she warned, as he fought to suppress a grin.

She was never wearing a white sundress again. Ever.

"If anyone could pull it off..." he began, but a warning finger cut him off.

The picture of innocence, he raised his hands and stepped away. Which was precisely the moment Emma realized they were not, in fact, alone.

"In a spot of bother, milady?" came the cheerful greeting from the figure still wedged into the backseat of the cab, waving at her.

Robin. Attractive single Dad Robin, with the Oxbridge accent, criminal mastermind father, and good sense to keep his eyes averted.

"What the hell?" Emma hissed under her breath, whacking Killian in the shoulder. "Are we charging admission for my humiliations now?"

"Easy, lass," he said, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him. "I was out with Robin when you texted. I was hardly going to leave him on his own, now was I? Not very good form."

She glanced back to where Robin sat, whistling to himself, then back to Killian. "Oh, so now you're the honorable one?"

"What's this?" he scoffed. "An attack on my character? And after I've orchestrated such a dashing rescue? A fair maiden in distress and I'm on the spot."

The indignation would've been a little easier to swallow if his grin hadn't been quite so… wolfish.

"Yeah, right," Emma said with a roll of her eyes. "Like this isn't making it into your column."

He didn't deny it. He didn't need to. Just offered her a clumsy wink, and motioned to the building before them.

"One good turn deserves another, don't you think?" he suggested, and Emma's stomach dropped. "How does one merit an invitation to an exclusive gathering of expatriates, exactly? Do they check passports at the door? Make you recite the Pledge of Allegiance?"

He held his prosthetic over his heart, and affixed a solemn expression.

"Wrong hand, asshole," she said, grabbing his wrist and tugging his hand back down by his side.

"Probably for the best," Killian shrugged. "I confess I don't actually know the words. Does the School of Rock version count?"

"You seriously want to go up there? You know they're celebrating their independence from the English, right?"

"I'm a journalist, Swan. An arbiter of truth. Would you really deny me the materials I need to make an honest living?"

"You're a hack," Emma grumbled, clutching the bag of clothes to her chest.

"Aye, that I am," Killian agreed, dropping his voice at least an octave. "But a rather dashing one, don't you think?"

So this is how Killian Jones got what he wanted. The ol' razzle dazzle.

It wasn't entirely ineffective. With a huff of annoyance, Emma walked over to lean by the window of the cab. "What do you say, Robin? Want to see my countrymen cut loose and fight about politics?"

He tilted his head, considering her offer. "Do you really put marshmallows in your sweet potatoes?"

"Different holiday. But yeah, we do."

"Alright then," he said, gathering up his belongings where they were strewn across the back seat. "I'll be there presently."

Rapping her knuckles against the side of the cab, she turned back to Killian, who was looking unbearably pleased with himself. Even more than usual.

"Lead the way, lass" he declared, with an exaggerated bow.

"It's a little too late to play at being the gentleman, don't you think?" Emma pointed out.

"Oh?" he asked, his gaze unnervingly direct. "And why is that, Swan?"

If he was trying for intimidation, then he really didn't know Emma well enough. Instead, she simply turned to lead the way back up the stairs to the front stoop, bag swinging by her side. "I'm just saying…" she replied in a sing-song voice. "A gentleman wouldn't have looked."

***

When Emma pictured a Fourth of July barbecue, she pictured hot dogs, hyperactive neighborhood kids with water pistols, and sunshine. The Edinburgh version was something very different.

For one thing, it was not a family affair. For another, she doubted you could even really call it a barbecue, when there was no grill in sight. And unfortunately, for Emma, the party was still in full swing when she returned after her costume change, all of her dreams for a quick getaway evaporating along with the last of the punch.

If anything, the numbers had swelled with a sea of Uncle Sams and Lady Liberties spilling out into the garden, wine glasses in hand. If Emma hadn't already realized the gross pay disparity between educators and administrators, the garden would've really sealed it.

You couldn't swing a Heriot Row townhouse on Emma's salary. Hell, you couldn't even swing a Heriot Row parking space on Emma's salary. Yet somehow, the university muckety-muck who'd been bullied into hosting this little soiree didn't seem to have that problem.

At least the booze was free.

Emma looked longingly over at the refreshments table, but gave it a wide berth. The last thing she needed to do was ruin her borrowed sweater. It was a little on the tight side, but she did appreciate its fuzzy warmth. Even as she wondered if Killian had purposefully picked out the preppiest sweater he could find, or if she was just cursed.

"Hey," came a call from her left. It was a guy in a Captain America outfit, with none of Chris Evan's dimensions. "Ivanka, right?"

Emma looked down at herself, wondering if that was the name of the designer. "I'm sorry?"

"You're dressed as Ivanka Trump, right? Nice."

He was gone before she could deny it, and she glanced back to the gilded mirror in the hallway in alarm. With her hair recently straightened, she had to admit to a passing resemblance. If you squinted.

Oh god.

She had to find the boys and get them out of here, before she was pilloried as a Republican infiltrator.

She scanned the crowd, but the only person in a leather jacket she saw was channeling Maverick from Top Gun. Frustrated, she headed out into the garden, where she spotted Robin, cornered amongst the shrubberies by a very determined looking woman in a Wonder Woman costume.

Was Wonder Woman even American, technically?

Whatever the debates on her true origin, Emma had to admit the woman pulled off the look, even if the cleavage spilling out from the neckline of the outfit was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. She was fully fixated on Robin, her fingers trailing up and down his arm, laughing at one of his anecdotes.

As she walked by she shot him a questioning look, in case he needed an assist, but he just gave a wink, and started in on a new story.

Hot Single Dad Robin still had it. And something told her he wouldn't be up for any plan that involved cutting out with her early.

Heaving a sigh, she liberated a Coors Light from an icebox and took another turn around the garden.

"Ivanka?" Another woman asked, her look practically accusatory.

"Elle Woods," Emma blurted out. The sweater was baby blue, not pink, but it was the best she could come up with on the fly.

Hurrying away from that interaction, she rounded a pillar and finally came upon her quarry, sitting alone on a bench beside a gurgling water feature.

"And here I thought you'd be the life of the party," Emma said, snagging the space beside him. She gestured towards where Robin was getting half his face mauled off by Wonder Woman. "Was every other member of the Justice League taken?"

She was rewarded with the ghost of a smile, but his gaze was still fixed ahead, not really seeing, as he rolled an unopened bottle of Budweiser between his fingers.

"You okay?" Emma asked, taking the bottle from his hand and removing the cap with a well-placed tap against the side of the bench.

"Where'd you learn that little trick?" he asked, ignoring her question as he accepted the open bottle.

"A bus shelter in Framingham, Massachusetts." It was more detail than he was expecting, and she nearly laughed at the sudden brightness in his eyes. "It was my first beer. You kind of remember stuff like that."

"You has your first beer in a bus shelter in Framingham Massachusetts?" He repeated it back, like there was something especially weird about that.

"Yeah. I was 14, and in between foster homes. Stole a six pack from the Stop and Shop after the clerk told me off for browsing the magazines. And then some old army vet at the bus shelter showed me how to take the cap off against the side of a trash can."

He furrowed his brows. "You're trying to get me to open up by revealing things about yourself. Which you never do."

"Maybe," Emma offered, taking a swig of her beer. "Is it working?"

He took a long sip on his own bottle, made a face, and then settled it back into his lap. "You mentioned a brush with the law, as a teenager. I'm assuming that wasn't for underage drinking at bus stops?"

Emma grimaced. "Not so much. Possession of stolen goods, with intent to sell. I got lucky. The watch I had on me was worth just shy of $500. They knocked it down to a misdemeanor and I got probation."

"You stole a watch?"

"No, my skeezy boyfriend stole a case of watches. I just happened to be wearing one when he called the cops to frame me while he took off to Canada with the rest."

"When he what?! Please tell me this wanker is dead in a ditch somewhere." Emma had to admit, she didn't mind his tone. Like he might go out and finish the job, if need be.

Emma shrugged, picking at the label on her bottle. "Probably. I never saw him again after that."

"So that explains it," Killian huffed.

"Explains what?" Emma asked, preparing to get defensive.

"Your Walsh fellow's appeal. I'm guessing he wasn't the larcenous type?"

Oh. Not even remotely.

"Yeah, he was the kind of guy who washed out his jars before he put them in the recycling. He was kind of the anti-Neal."

"That was his name? Neal?"

"Neal Cassidy," Emma sighed. "And yes, like the writer. He had it changed when he was 18 as a Fuck You to his Dad."

"Well, he sounds like a right tosser."

Emma snorted. "Yeah, pretty much."

"And not all that clever, if he thought losing you for a case of watches was an even trade."

That had Emma looking up, sarcastic retort on the tip of her tongue. But instead of making fun, Killian's expression was deadly serious, eyes meeting hers directly. Like he actually meant it. Emma's gaze flicked back to the label on her beer, nearly entirely peeled away by this stage, and fought to keep her face level.

"You think so?" she asked, her words coming out less jokingly than she intended.

"I do."

It was the answer that had her looking back up again, a frown forming. "Killian, I-"

"You're worth at least two cases," he added. "Maybe three. I mean, what are we talking here? Cartier? Rolex?" His eyebrow was raised again in that familiar roguish way.

Emma let out a breath, and extinguished the tiny flame that burned somewhere inside her stomach. Friends, she reminded herself. They were friends.

"You're hilarious," Emma replied deadpan. "And if we're going to continue sharing, I really need something stronger than this," she said, tipping back her head and draining the last of her bottle.

"When I was looking for extra chairs earlier, I think I saw a wet bar in the study. Fancy a dram?" Killian asked, rising to his feet.

"Oh, so you're journalistic snooping does come in handy sometimes?"

"More than sometimes," he said with a grin that would fell a lesser beast. And suddenly Emma wasn't so sure the flame was truly out.

Later, she still couldn't recall whether he'd held out a hand to take her empty bottle, or to help her up. All she knew, was as they moved from the garden back to the party proper, she had Killian's hand in hers.

***

Reasons Not To Push Killian Jones Up Against The Nearest Wall And Have Your Way With Him:

1. Hello, work event. Have some goddamn professionalism.

2. You're wearing Elsa's clothes. Don't make this weird.

3. You like him, and never talking to him again would suck.

4. He would definitely allude to it in his column, and you would have to emigrate. Again.

5. Graham. Oh, fuck. Graham.

***

The upstairs study was everything you'd expect from an overpaid university administrator. Soft red leather furnishings. Framed certificates covering an entire wall. A solid oak desk that could, hypothetically, bear the weight of two people at once.

And, oh yeah, the promised wet bar.

Emma was not, nor had she ever been, a cheater. And even if she and Graham were still only in the "getting to know you" phase of tentative texts and PG-13 cocktail hours, she knew betraying that would still be a shitty thing to do.

So when Killian offered her the glass of whisky, she didn't do what she wanted to do, which was down the lot and drag him towards her by the collar. Instead, she sat on the red leather couch as far from him as possible, and held the glass in front of her like a shield.

"Reminds me of your jacket," he said with a smile, letting his hand glide against the upholstery. Emma's skin still tingled from where his hand had gripped hers, so unused to foreign contact.

She took a gulp of her drink, and let it burn down her esophagus in penance for her crimes. Only once she'd regained sufficient control of her hormones did she speak.

"So, are you going to tell me what's been up with you?

"Up with me?" Killian replied, his oh-so-innocent look oh-so-unconvincing. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Oh, I don't know," Emma said, rolling her eyes heavenward. "The sudden phone emergencies. The brooding. The black eye. You've been different lately. Kind of… subdued, for you."

In answer, Killian drained what was left of his glass, and turned to face her. "Perceptive, aren't you, Swan?" He didn't sound happy about the fact.

Emma shrugged, taking another sip. "You can't kid a kidder."

He considered that, finger tapping absently against the side of his glass. "Perhaps not. Very well then. The truth: The magazine is broke."

It wasn't what Emma had been expecting. What had she been expecting? A secret drug habit? Abusive new girlfriend? Fight Club?

"Broke?" she repeated.

"Utterly. But instead of accepting the inevitable, and bowing out gracefully, my brother, well-intentioned idiot that he is, decided to take what was left in the coffers and make a few wagers."

Emma's heart sank into her stomach. "He didn't."

"Oh, he did. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, apparently. Lost the lot. Bloody prat. Thought he'd come back a conquering hero. Instead he's having to dip into his own savings to keep the whole operation afloat until he can find a way to pay back his bookie."

That explained the black eye.

"And no one knows about this? Don't you have accountants or something?"

"There is a fellow, Tim, who's been covering for him. Let him take out the entire balance in the first place, didn't he? So now he feels equally culpable. So there's Liam. Tim. Me. And now you."

"Elsa doesn't know?"

"Not in so many words. She isn't bloody stupid though. He's been decidedly distracted on the homefront. Probably thinks he's having a mid-life crisis or an affair or something stupid. Would be easier to just tell her, but the problem is, he knows if she finds out about it she'll feel obligated to help."

"Well, that would be a good thing, right? No more, uhhh…" Emma waved a hand over her eye.

"Well, when Elsa's parents died, they left her a good deal of money. Most of it went towards the house, and setting up her sister in New York, but there's enough left to get Weaver off his back. Problem is, my brother's pride would never let him accept it. And then there's the matter of Elsa's aunt."

"Elsa's aunt?"

"She owns the magazine. And let's just say, she's not quite as err… understanding as Elsa can be. If she gets word of it, there'll be criminal charges."

"Fuck."

"Fuck,' he agreed, leaning forward in his chair to pour himself another whisky.

"And you've just been carrying this all around on your shoulders for what? Months?"

"But what magnificent shoulders, wouldn't you say, Swan?" The grin was almost leering, but not in a good way. More in a defense mechanism kind of way.

"Don't do that," Emma chided, leaning over to smooth the wrinkle above his brows with her fingers. "Just be you."

"And how is that?" He asked, with a look of such genuine curiosity that her hand paused somewhere in the region of his jaw.

"Same as me," Emma shrugged. "A little fucked up. A little scared."

She leaned forward then, and placed a kiss on that same spot above his brow.

Maybe it wasn't where she'd wanted to kiss him five minutes ago, but it felt right. She heard him inhale sharply underneath her, but she didn't immediately break contact. Not until his face relaxed, and his arms came up to wrap around her waist.

She let her head fall onto his shoulder, and his on hers, breathing each other in. Comfortable fucking silence.

Only when her phone started chirping in her pocket did she pull away at last, steadying herself on his shoulders. "You're going to be okay, Killian Jones. You and your fucked up family."

The grin was wry, but it was real.

"You going to get that?" he asked, ducking his chin down to where they were practically intertwined. Probably best not to add vibration to the mix.

She fished the phone out of her pocket, and checked the caller ID.

August.

He never called. He sent ten page letters typed up on his pretentious vintage typewriter, but he never called.

With a look of apology, she peeled herself off of Killian's lap, and hit accept.

"August? Is someone dead?"

"Em! Where are you?" Wherever he was, he sounded cheerful. And just a little bit drunk. Well, it was the Fourth of July.

"Where am I? I'm in Scotland, where I'm supposed to be. How much have you had to drink?"

"Nooo," he corrected, words slurring a little. "I mean, where right now? Someone in your department told me you were at this party. But no one remembers seeing you. Are you here?"

Emma's stomach lurched. "Party? You mean, in Edinburgh?"

"Of course, in Edinburgh! The party I'm at, it's at… hang on," his words muffled as he conferred with nearby partygoers, "17 Heriot Row?"

Oh. Fucking. Fuck. Fucking August and his fucking surprises.

"I'll be five minutes. Stay right where you are."

Feeling the color drain from her face, she ended the call, and tucked her phone back into the pocket of her borrowed jeans. "We need to get downstairs. I need to-" She looked around for a mirror, but there were none in the vicinity. Of course.

"Lass?" He had her by the elbow, holding her still. "What has you all a-flutter?"

Emma pinched the bridge of her nose. "You remember I mentioned my friend August?"

"Knee still creaks when it rains, August?" The boy did have superior recall. "Novelist August?"

"Yeah. Anyway, he's downstairs."

#cs ff #cs au #findemmaswanafriend #look who's back from outer space?#cs au ff

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doomedhowell · 5 years

Text

Two Strangers Drinking Champagne In An Airport

Summary: Dan and Phil in an airport terminal drinking champagne out of plastic cups with a bunch of those airport TV screens in the background with all the flights cancelled.

Genre: AU, Fluff

Word Count: 5,252

Trigger Warnings: swearing, drinking champagne

A/N: So, this is my @phandomreversebang fic! I’m really happy with how this turned out and had a lot of fun writing it. This fic goes to this artwork done by @pine-tree-gi, I hope you like it! And thanks so much to my awesome beta @deferredmomentum! :D

Dan knew that it was a bad idea to book a flight during the middle of December when it’s snowing so heavily. His mother even warned him to book a flight earlier. But, of course, Dan thought it would be just fine, that he would be able to get to America on time without any problems.

His family has been planning this trip for a couple weeks now. They’ve been wanting to go America and spend Christmas somewhere warm. It’s unusual, but still… Dan’s quite excited. It’s different. But, good. Plus, he hasn’t seen his family in a couple months due to his busy schedule as a radio host at the BBC.

After all, the only reason Dan is able to make the trip with his family in the first place was that the BBC has finally given him some time off for the holidays.

Dan makes it to the airport, luckily without any troubles getting there with a supposed storm coming.

Finally, he can relax for a little bit before his flight takes off. He decides to grab a coffee from Starbucks, before heading over and taking a seat in the waiting area in Terminal. He’s prepared to wait for his flight. Unfortunately for him though, the airport is pretty busy. Dan is assuming it’s because of the holidays, and Christmas nearing. As long as there aren’t any screaming children around, he doesn’t mind the wait.

It doesn’t take very long before more seats are being filled in the waiting area.

A rather tall man with black hair sits down in the chair next to him, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in starting any conversations with Dan, not that it really bothers Dan anyways. He’s an awkward person normally around strangers, so he prefers not talking to strangers unless he absolutely has to.

It isn’t until about fifteen minutes later, when the stranger next to him finally starts speaking.

“So, where are you heading for the holidays?”

Dan blinks a few times as he looks over at him. “Huh?” The stranger surprising him.

“Sorry about that,” the man chuckles. “I was just curious. Are you heading anywhere for the holidays?”

“Oh, well… yes. I’m going to be heading to Florida with my family,” Dan tells him, sitting up a little more in his seat so that he can talk properly. “That’s where we’re spending the Christmas holiday.”

“Really? No way. That’s where I’m heading as well!” The man exclaimed excitedly.

Dan can’t help but smile a little, the stranger’s excitement being infectious. “Wow. That’s really weird. Where are you staying? If you don’t mind me asking, of course,” He certainly doesn’t want to come off as creepy or invasive to this person he literally just met. He’s just curious, that’s all.

“Disney, of course. My family and I go to Disney whenever we can. There’s no better time to go to Disney than during the holidays. It’s magical,” he replies with a smile. “Oh, by the way… my name is Phil.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Phil...” Dan reaches over and shakes Phil’s hand. “Dan.”

“You as well, Dan,” the man, Phil, gives him a friendly smile. “So, how long are staying in Florida?”

“We’ll be staying until New Years,” Dan tells him. “We’ve never really planned something like this before. It’s our biggest family holiday yet. Luckily, my job is letting me have a long holiday off. It’s been real busy.” He’s honestly shocking himself, he’s never this talkative towards strangers that he’s just met. But, for some odd reason… he feels like this stranger is just easy to talk to. He’s not intimidating. It also helps that he’s very nice.

“It’s good they’re letting you have the holiday off. Where do you work?” Phil asks.

“The BBC. I host a radio show,” Dan smiles proudly.

Phil’s eyes widen in surprise, suddenly realizing who this stranger actually is. “Wait a minute, this is crazy! I thought that you looked familiar but I couldn’t place my finger on it. You’re Dan Howell from the BBC, aren’t you? I listen to your radio show all the time. I do try to watch whenever I can but sometimes it’s almost impossible with how busy I am. I prefer watching than listening though, if I’m being honest.”

Dan blushes. “Wow. I can’t believe you actually listen to my show,” he says.

“Why not? You’re on every morning, and I enjoy listening to you. Very entertaining,” Phil grins.

“Thank you. Really, that means a lot to me to hear that from one of my viewers,” Dan grins back at him.

Phil can’t help but chuckle. “We’re both going to Florida for Christmas, and I watch your radio show. Coincidence, huh?” He looks over at Dan.

“Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” Dan leans back.

A half an hour passes by. Dan has mostly been talking to Phil for the most part, getting to know him and even learning about his family as well. Dan truly enjoys talking to Phil, but now he’s starting to get bored of waiting. There’s still a half an hour left of waiting before they board their flights.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,”

Dan frowns as he looks over at Phil. “What is it?” He asks.

Phil stands up from his seat and looks up at the flight bookings. “The flights are cancelled?”

“What?” Dan instantly stands up from his seat and looks up as well. “You can’t be serious right now,”

“I-I know it was going to be windy outside today but I didn’t think that it would affect the flight,” Phil says. “There’s no way this is happening right now.” Phil groans and runs a hand over his face, frustrated.

Dan shakes his head and without a second thought, he walks up to the desk, wanting answers immediately. “Excuse me, they’re saying that the flights are cancelled. Is this true?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so sir. The flights are now cancelled due to the storm,” the lady at the desk confirms.

“Fuck,” Dan mumbles, running a hand through his hair. “Is there any other available flights for tonight?”

“No, sir. The storm is going to get worse, and we won’t be having anymore flights go out tonight. I’m sorry. I wish I had better news to give you,” she says, and Dan can tell she feels genuinely bad.

“When is the next available flight I can get?” Dan asks, hoping for any positive news. “If possible.”

“What flight has been cancelled for you? Maybe I can help you,” she says.

“Florida,” Dan tells her. “If there’s any way you can get me the best available option, that would be great.”

Luckily, the lady is able to help Dan book another flight for the next morning. Dan’s relieved about this, although he knows as soon as he tells his mom the news, she’s not going to be happy.

“Hold on a second,” Dan turns around and he instantly spots Phil, waiting for him. He waves him over, and watches as Phil grabs his bags and heads over to them. “Do you want the good news, or bad news?”

“What’s going on? Is there any news about the flights?” Phil asks nervously.

“They cancelled the flights due to the storm,” Dan informs Phil. “There’s no more available flights tonight, but this kind lady has offered me a plane ticket for tomorrow morning. You should get one too.”

“Yes, of course. When’s the next available flight?” Phil asks. “The sooner, the better.”

“There are available flights for the morning. I’ve already got one. I figured you’d probably want one too,” Dan informs him. “I also thought that it would be a good idea to book another one before anyone else starts asking about cancelled flights.”

Dan and Phil finally get their flights taken care of. It’s more stressful than Dan would have liked it to be, and he’s frustrated. He thought for sure today was going to go smoothly. But, it’s not going smoothly, and now he has to call his mom and tell her the news that he’ll be arriving later than planned.

“At least we were able to book new flights,” Phil says, trying to lighten up the situation.

“Yeah. I’m glad we were too. But, my mum is going to be so upset with me when I tell her that I’ll be late. She specifically told me that I should have booked flights days before this. I mean, I really wasn’t trying to prove her wrong or anything. I just... wanted to work a few more days before leaving for the holidays,” Dan sighs with frustration and runs a hand through his hair. “Fuck, I need a drink!”

Phil frowns as he stares at Dan, and then he looks around. He smiles when he spots the champagne bar. “Hold on a second. I’ll be right back,” he says, before walking away from Dan.

Dan blinks a few times as he watches Phil, and then decides to pull out his phone and call his parents. He’d much rather tell her the news now than get an earful from her when he arrives in Florida.

“Dan? Hello sweetheart, are you on your way here?” His mom asks when she answers the phone.

“Oh, Good. I’m glad you got your phone working,” Dan chuckles.

“Yes, we have managed to get it working. Why are you calling? Aren’t you supposed to be on a plane?”

“Yeah, about that. It’s a funny story actually…” Dan chuckles nervously.

“Daniel, what is going on?” His mom asks, worry in her voice.

Dan cringes at the use of his full name. “Mum, look, I’m not got to be able to make it on time,” he says. “Before you say ‘I told you so’ just know that I no idea there was going to be a massive storm.”

“Goodness, Daniel. Your flight has been cancelled, hasn’t it?” She asks, sighing.

“Yes, it was cancelled. But, it’s going to be fine, okay? I was able to book a flight for tomorrow morning. So, I’ll be there tomorrow. Don’t worry. We’ll still have plenty of time to spend together,” Dan assures her.

“Dan, you should take this as a lesson and listen to your mother next time. Mother knows best,” she says.

Dan rolls his eyes. “I was waiting for that part,” he mumbles.

“Well, I’m glad you’re safe. Take care of yourself, Daniel. We’ll be here waiting for you,” she says, sighing.

Dan smiles a little. “Thanks, mum. I’ll see you soon. I promise. I’m sorry about the delay,” he says.

“That’s alright, dear. It’s not your fault. I’m glad they cancelled the flights while a storm is happening, otherwise, I would have been up worrying about you all night,” his mom chuckles.

“Hey. Dan?”

Dan looks over when he hears a voice and blinks a few times when he sees Phil standing behind him, and then he raises his eyebrows when he realizes that Phil has two glasses of champagne in his hands. “Mum, I’ve got to go now. See you soon,” he says, before hanging up on her. “You seriously went and bought two glasses of champagne? Are you crazy?”

Phil grins. “Why not? Nothing else better to do since our flight’s been cancelled,” he says, handing Dan one of the glasses.

Dan takes the glass, and then he stands up. “What are you planning on doing for the rest of the night?”

“I’m not quite sure yet,” Phil replies, taking a sip of his champagne, then sighing. “Might just go home, come back in the morning for the flight. My apartment isn’t that far from here, actually. I doubt I’ll get any sleep tonight, but what other choice do we have?”

“Yeah, I think I might do the same thing actually,” Dan chuckles. He looks up at the departure board and sighs when he sees all the cancelled flights. “This is really fucking depressing.”

“That’s what the champagne is for,” Phil says, chuckling.

“You’re right about that,” Dan clinks his glass to Phil’s before they both take a drink of their champagne.

This is not how Dan expected his night to turn out. He should be on a plane right now to Florida but instead, he’s still in the airport drinking champagne with a cute boy he just met.

Of course, Dan’s not upset by any means about the cute boy part. Talking to Phil has been the best part of his holiday so far. He’d much rather stay here, talking to Phil, than leave to be with his family.

Before they know it, the bottle is empty and the champagne is already starting to kick in for Dan; as he’s been the one that’s been drinking most of it.

“This fucking sucks,” Dan complains as he slouches in his seat, his now empty glass in his hands.

Phil looks over at Dan and raises his eyebrows as he watches him curiously. “You said that already,”

“Well, it’s true. It sucks, Phil,” Dan huffs. He goes to take another drink, but whines when he realizes that there’s no more champagne in the bottle. “And now we’re out of champagne! This is the worst night ever.”

Phil laughs, and reaches over to gently take the glass away from Dan. “Uh, perhaps that’s a good thing,” he says. “I think you’ve had enough champagne for tonight, Dan. You must be a lightweight.”

Dan quickly sits up, ready to protest. “Hey, that’s mine! And… you can never have enough champagne, Phil!” He tries to take the glass back, but Phil stops him. Dan pouts as he stares at Phil, and then smiles. “You have pretty eyes. Like, really pretty eyes. Did you know that?”

Phil chuckles and shakes his head. “I think it’s time to go home,” he says. “You’re in no state to be driving so I hope you don’t mind coming home with me for tonight. We have the same flight tomorrow anyways.” He walks over to return the champagne glasses.

Dan gasps, instantly thinking that Phil’s gotten sick of him already once he leaves.

Luckily, Phil is back within’ seconds before Dan can have a total breakdown.

“Oh, thank God! I thought you’d left me!” Dan cries, throwing his arms around Phil.

“Dan, oh geez-” Phil grabs a hold of Dan to steady him, and then he slowly helps Dan stand on his feet. “Wow. You have a couple glasses of champagne and you’re practically drunk You really are a lightweight. And, I wasn’t leaving you, Dan. I just told you that we were going to go to my place tonight.”

Phil eventually manages to get an Uber to pick them up at the airport, only struggling slightly with lugging Dan and getting their luggages to the car. They finally make it to Phil’s apartment.

“Dan, wake up. I’m sorry but I can’t carry you up to my apartment,” Phil says as he shakes Dan awake.

Dan grunts, and it takes him a few seconds to wake up. He blinks a few times before looking at Phil. “Wha- Where are we?” He slowly pushes himself up.

“My apartment. Can you walk? I don’t think I can carry all of our luggage up by myself,” Phil says.

Dan rubs his eyes tiredly. “I can walk,” he mumbles.

“Okay, come on,” Phil gets out of the car, and helps Dan out. He hands Dan his luggage and grabs his. “Thank you.” He says to the Uber driver before shutting the door. “Alright. We’ll take the elevator.”

“That sounds nice,” Dan yawns, and then he reaches down and grabs his luggage, and then he starts following Phil into the apartment building. “Remind me to never drink champagne at an airport again.”

“Partly my fault. I would have never given you champagne had I known you were a lightweight,”

“I’m not a lightweight,” Dan argues.

“Please!” Phil laughs. “You should have seen yourself after just two glasses of champagne, Dan.”

“How about this? Let’s never speak of this again, especially not to my mother,” Dan says.

“I don’t think I’ll ever meet your mother so I think you’re good there,” Phil assures Dan.

“I mean, who knows at this point? You’re taking me to your apartment right now. Next thing you know, we’ll be walking down the aisle and getting married!” Dan gasps, and throws his arms around Phil’s neck, squeezing him. “Phil, doesn’t that sound lovely? A wedding. Oh, we would make a damn good couple.” Dan tries to lean forward to kiss Phil, but Phil quickly pulls back before Dan has the chance.

“Dan!” Phil yelps in surprise, and quickly pushes Dan back so he doesn’t have another chance to try and kiss him again. Phil normally wouldn’t mind being kissed by a cute boy like Dan, but Dan’s drunk, and Phil doesn’t want to take advantage of him. “Heavens, the champagne is still getting to you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Dan whines, pouting. “My head hurts.”

“I promise it won’t take long before we get to my apartment,” Phil chuckles at the younger boy.

Finally, the two boys make it to Phil’s apartment. Phil shows Dan the guest bedroom, and he’s not surprised when Dan instantly crashes onto the bed and passes out. It’s been a long night, after all.

Phil sighs as he stares at Dan for a moment, before walking over and tugging at Dan’s shoes. He finally pulls Dan’s shoes and socks off, and then he grabs the blanket and gently covers Dan up. He smiles, wanting him to be as comfortable as possible while he’s a guest in his apartment.

Dan sleeps soundly throughout the night, and Phil’s kind of glad because he’s not sure how well the night would have went down had Dan chosen to be awake. They both probably would have been miserable, and now Phil has the pleasure of waking Dan up for their early flight to Florida.

“This should be fun,” Phil mumbles tiredly when he walks into the guest bedroom. He looks up and chuckles when he sees Dan sprawled out on the bed. Phil sleepily drags his feet over to the bed, and then he reaches down and shakes Dan a few times until he wakes up. “Sorry bud, time to wake up.”

Dan blinks a few times as he stares at Phil, his expression full of clear confusion.

“I know you’re probably confused. I’ll explain everything later. Get dressed. We’ve got a flight to catch. Hopefully nothing goes wrong this time,” Phil says, before walking back out of the bedroom.

Dan groans and allows his head to fall back onto the pillow.

Slowly, everything starts coming back to Dan as he gets himself ready. Dan feels absolutely horrible, and he knows that he has Phil to thank for everything he did last night, otherwise he has no idea where he would have ended up. Either way, he hopes he would have come up with a good plan B without Phil.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty,” Phil grins when he sees Dan walk into the living room.

Dan looks up and Phil and glares at him. “I’m too tired to yell at you,” he says. “Oh, sorry about last night.”

“What are you being sorry for?” Phil asks curiously.

“You know, like… drinking too much champagne and everything. I’m sure I was annoying,” Dan says. “Despite what I said… I know I’m a lightweight. I should have known better than to drink champagne.”

“That’s alright. I’m the one who gave you the glass in the first place,” Phil shrugs his shoulders.

“Thanks for not leaving me drunk at the airport too. Lord knows what trouble I would have gotten into,”

“It’s alright, really. I didn’t mind. It was… kind of entertaining,” Phil smiles.

Dan groans. “Please tell me I didn’t do anything super embarrassing. I only remember bits and pieces!”

“Well… there was one incident,” Phil says, remembering Dan trying to kiss him last night. “I’m not mad, but… you totally tried to kiss me, and it was hilarious. You were talking about weddings, you know?”

“Hold on, I tried to kiss you. Oh, shit. I’m so sorry!” Dan covers his face with his hands.

Phil laughs as Dan becomes more embarrassed. “Don’t be sorry,” he says. “You didn’t kiss me at all, but you certainly tried. It was cute. I just didn’t want to take advantage of you while you were drunk.”

Dan looks up at Phil. “Thanks. Most guys wouldn’t have done that,” he says quietly.

“Well, I’m not like most guys, am I?” Phil shrugs his shoulders, and he jumps down onto his feet, and he looks up at Dan. “Do you want to have anything for breakfast before we leave?”

Dan shakes his head. “No, thanks. I’ll probably just grab something at the airport or eat on the airplane,” he says. “Besides, I wanna get there early to make sure everything is set. No more cancellations.”

Phil nods. “Good idea. We should head out now then,” he says. “Let me just quickly grab my bags.”

Dan and Phil both finish getting ready, and they grab another Uber to get to the airport.

Dan’s honestly surprised that Phil is still sticking with him, even after the disaster that happened last night. Phil doesn’t have to stay with him, yet he chooses to. Dan would have thought that Phil would be annoyed by him at this point, considering Dan spent the night as his apartment after getting drunk on champagne.

“Well, here we go again. Round two,” Dan speaks first as they enter the airport together.

“Good news. Seems pretty normal so far,” Phil says as he scans the airport.

“Yeah, let’s just hope that it stays that way,” Dan mumbles, glancing around. “I cannot wait another day. My mum will kill me if there’s another cancelled flight. She’s already giving me shit for not leaving early.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m definitely getting an earful from my mum about this,” Phil says.

“I guess that does kind of make me feel better,” Dan smiles as he looks up at Phil.

Phil rolls his eyes playfully, though that doesn’t stop the smile from forming on his face.

After checking in, Dan and Phil head over to the waiting area and take their seats beside each other. Luckily, it’s not a long wait. It’s about a nine hour flight. It’s still pretty early in the morning, so Dan hopes that they’ll make it to Florida still even if it’s late at night.

Dan’s also glad that he and Phil got seats next to each other on the plane, so hopefully that will make the nine hour flight less boring. At least he’ll have someone to talk to. Plus, Dan doesn’t know when he’ll get to see Phil again after this so he’s enjoying the time he has left with the man.

“You sure you don’t want any champagne while we wait?” Phil asks.

Dan’s eyes widen instantly at Phil’s question. “Are you crazy? After the events of last night…?”

Phil laughs at Dan’s reaction. “Don’t worry Dan, I’m just kidding! It’s too early for champagne anyways,” he says. “I just wanted to see what your reaction would be.”

Dan sighs and shakes his head fondly at Phil. “You’re crazy,” he chuckles, and leans back in his seat. “So-” He bites his lip as he looks over at Phil again. “Do you think we’ll see each other again after this?”

Phil raises his eyebrows. “You mean you haven’t gotten sick of me yet?”

Dan grins. “You know, I was worried you were getting sick of me, especially after last night’s fiasco,”

“No,” Phil chuckles. “Really, it wasn’t that bad. I’ve dealt with worse. If anything, it was entertaining, and made what could have been a terrible night really fun. I hope we can hang out again after the holidays.”

“Well,” Dan sits up again. “We’re both going to be in Florida. Maybe we can find a day to hang out before heading home. I mean, as long as you’re okay with that. I don’t want to interrupt your family holiday.”

“You wouldn’t be,” Phil shakes his head. “After I tell my mum this story, she’ll want to meet you.”

Dan groans and buries his face in his hands. “Please don’t tell her anything embarrassing about me!”

“Well that won’t make the story as fun then,” Phil pouts.

The wait is about forty five minutes before Dan and Phil board the plane, taking their seats.

Dan spends most of his time talking with Phil on the plane, though he does manage to watch a movie. Dan decides on watching Jurassic World, a movie he hasn’t gotten a chance to see yet.

When they finally arrive in Florida after a long flight, Dan exits the plane and finds his mother waiting, and his brother as well. Dan smiles as soon as he spots his family, and quickly heads over to him.

“Daniel!” She exclaims excitedly, instantly pulling her son into a hug. “Oh Dan, I was so worried…”

“Mum,” Dan laughs, hugging her back. “I was fine. It was just a cancelled flight.”

“Because of a storm,” she pulls away from the storm and looks up at Dan. “You had me worried all night, but I’m glad you’re here now. You’re safe with your family. How was the flight?”

“Thanks, mum. I’m glad I’m here too,” Dan smiles, surprised that she doesn’t immediately bombard him with the classic ‘I told you so’ line. Dan looks over at his brother. “Hey, bro. Haven’t seen you in awhile.” He pulls his brother into a hug. When he pulls away, he quickly looks around and is instantly relieved when he spots Phil reuniting with his own family as well. Dan’s relieved that Phil hasn’t completely left yet. Dan still has to get his number, after all. “Hey, mum. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

“Oh?”

Dan smiles, and then he leads the way over to Phil.

Phil looks over and grins when he sees Dan. “Couldn’t leave without saying goodbye?”

“Well, how are we supposed to make plans later if I don’t have a way to contact you,” Dan chuckles.

“You’re right,” Phil nods. “Mum, this is Dan. He’s the one I was telling you about last night.”

“Wait a minute…” Dan crosses his arms against his chest. “You were already telling her about me?”

“Well, I didn’t say much about you. Not really. Okay, I couldn’t help myself. It was hilarious,” Phil giggles.

Dan rolls his eyes, and then he looks over at his mum. “Mum, this is my friend Phil. We met last night before our flights were cancelled, and… he’s also the reason I had a safe place to sleep.”

“Phil, it’s lovely to meet you. Thank you for taking care of my son. I’m sure he was a lot to handle,”

“Mum!” Dan complains. “You just met him and you’re already embarrassing me.”

Phil laughs, and looks over at Dan’s mum. “Really, it was no problem. There was champagne involved but that was mostly my fault. I really enjoyed Dan’s company. He made the night a lot less boring.”

“So, I guess this is where we part ways then,” Dan says.

“Unfortunately. But, not without exchanging numbers first-” Phil says as he pulls out his phone, and then he exchanges numbers with Dan. “You better text me later once you’re home. I want to know you’re safe.”

Dan can’t help but smile at that. “Don’t worry, I will. See you later?”

“Definitely,” Phil nods. “See you later, Dan. Have a good holiday with your family.”

Dan watches as Phil loads his stuff into the car with his family’s help. Dan waves to Phil as Phil gets into the car. He sighs as he watches drive off. Then Dan turns to his own family, and blinks a few times when he sees the two staring at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are you sure you two just met each other? Sounds like you two are…”

“Mum!” Dan’s eyes widen.

“What? I’m just saying. He’s a nice boy,” she smiles. “I wouldn’t be upset if he comes around again.”

“Well, uh, I apparently I was talking about weddings last night so don’t be surprised if we do end up getting married,” Dan chuckles and shakes his head. “Come on, let’s get going. I’m exhausted.”

“Sounds like you had a wild night last night,” Adrian snickers.

“You don’t even know,” Dan mumbles, shaking his head. “It was a night I’ll never forget.”

One Week Later;

It’s been a week now since Dan has arrived in Florida for his family holiday, and since the interesting night he met Phil. He’s spent a majority of his time catching up with his family and relaxing by the pool. Dan’s also been texting Phil quite a lot. They’ve been making plans to see each other before the holiday ends.

“Do you have everything ready to go, Daniel?”

“Yeah, mum. I have everything ready,” Dan says as he grabs his bag. “This is what I’ve been waiting for.”

“Well, we agreed that it would be nice to spend some time together before doing the fun things,” she says.

“I understand. I’ve just been dying to go to Universal Studios,” Dan says. “Especially to see Harry Potter.” Dan looks up the second he hears the doorbell rings. He gasps, and runs through the living room. “Wait, don’t get it!” He shouts when he sees Adrian heading towards the door. Dan nearly trips over his own feet before he finally makes it to the door.

Adrian bursts into laughter before heading towards the kitchen, leaving Dan to open the door.

Dan takes a deep breath before reaching over and then finally opening the door. He nervously looks up and smiles widely when he sees Phil and his family. “Phil!” He greets. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“You as well, Dan. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you since we’ve been texting,” Phil says, before pulling Dan into a warm hug. They pull away from the hug, and Dan allows Phil and his family into the beach house. Phil looks around before looking back at Dan. “This is where you’ve been staying?”

Dan chuckles, and nods. “Yeah. Might as well be comfortable if you’re going to be on holiday, right?”

“You do have a good point,” Phil agrees, nodding. “So, you excited for today?”

“Hell yeah,” Dan grins. “Do you know how long I’ve been dying to go to Harry Potter at Universal?”

“From what you’ve told me through texts, I’m guessing a long time,” Phil chuckles. “I’m very excited too. It’s going to be so much fun with both of our families going at the same time too.”

“I’m just still surprised you haven’t gotten sick of me yet,” Dan blushes.

“Dan, why on Earth would I get sick of hanging out with a fun, cute boy?” Phil asks, smiling. “You honestly haven’t given me a reason not to like you yet. So, I think that I’ll keep hanging out with you. As long as you’re okay with that.”

Dan rolls his eyes playfully at Phil. “Oh, please, of course I’m okay with that, you big doofus,” he says, throwing his arms around Phil and hugging him tightly.

Dan has no idea where this friendship with Phil will take him, but… he’s excited, to say the least.

#phandom reverse bang #phandomreversebang #phanfiction #phanfic #phan #au #fluff #christmas #firstmeeting #strangerstolovers

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storibambino · 5 years

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If It Ain’t Broke Ch. 2

A/N: Here we are for chapter 2. I went back and changed some things because inspiration changed so I apologize for the delay guys. Please enjoy it! Thank you so much again to @wakanda-inspired for this request. This is 9,528/30,000 for the challenge that apparently I’m still doing.

Still no beta so all mistakes are mine

Pairings: ErikxNakia OkoyexW’Kabi, T’ChallaxOroro(Storm) featuring our merry band of BP characters

Warnings: None

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 - It’s a Secret

“How is it I’ve never heard of any cousin?” Nakia asked over the speaker on her phone.

“None of us had until about this time last year,” Okoye responded. Okoye followed Nakia in her own car on their way to meet the mechanic T’Challa suggested, “None of us ever saw it coming.”

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

“Eh, it’s not really my story to tell. It’s the building on the left. You can pull up to the garage,” Okoye stated quickly and hung up.

The shop was a fairly large black building with ‘Golden Jaguar Repairs’ written ornately above the doors. Nakia pulled up to the open garage doors and hopped out to meet Okoye at the door of the lobby area. Okoye threw the door open and called out to signal their arrival. Quite the feat over the music playing throughout the area. Heavy bass and playful strings were the only response until a man dressed in a black coverall with gold detailing to match the rest of the décor emerged from a side door. He swaggered over to greet them, rag in hand.

“Wassup General,” He nodded to Okoye.

“Stevens,” Okoye responded politely but Nakia noticed a tightness in her tone, “This is Nakia. She is the woman T’Challa called you about.”

Nakia extended her hand but the man didn’t take it.

“No offense ma, but I’m covered in grease and I would hate to dirty up those lovely hands of yours,” he said with a wink.

Nakia pulled back her hand and crossed her arms over her chest, regarding the stranger. Okoye only rolled her eyes.

“The car is why we’re here,” Okoye interjected.

“Yeah, yeah you can follow me to the office Princess to get this paperwork done,” Erik said and gestured for Nakia to follow.

Erik led Nakia to his back office while Okoye stayed in the lobby. The office was decorated much like the rest of the building. There were papers strewn all over a spacious mahogany desk, spilling onto the floor. Two black leather office chairs are the only other furniture in the room. Nakia took a seat in one of the chairs while Erik stood behind the desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a few forms then handed them with a clipboard and pen to Nakia.

“Your filing system is a little unorthodox for someone’s that ex-military,” Nakia while eyeing the forms.

“You got jokes I see. The price just went up,” Erik shot back.

Nakia held up her hands and laughed, “I’m just saying. You might want to invest in a file cabinet.”

“I have several out in the garage and behind the front desk but that’s not your business is it?”

“I guess not,” Nakia went back to read over the papers.

“Who told you I was ex-military?”

“You did. The general joke was kinda obvious,” Nakia smiled to herself but didn’t look up from the documents.

Erik took a step back and looked the attractive woman up and down. He took in her soft features and deep brown skin. Her beautiful hands made quick work of all the signatures needed and her eyes scanned the pages effortlessly.

“All these say is I’m leaving my car with you and a payment agreement. You haven’t even looked at my car.” Nakia said finally looking up from the papers.

“True. I didn’t need to look at it to know you need the works,” Erik sat down next to Nakia and took the paperwork, “I could hear you coming from a mile away, princess.”

“I am no princess.”

“Car like that. You’re someone’s princess that thing is a work of art.” Erik clapped his hands and stood up swiftly, “Let’s go get a look under the hood.

Fifteen minutes later Erik had pulled the car into the garage, looked under the hood, and was currently under it checking oil pans or something else. He moved quickly and with precision, jotting down notes here and there. Nakia and Okoye stood nearby chatting idly about their plans for the rest of the day and trip. Okoye kept one eye on Erik at all times. Which Nakia noticed but kept to herself.

“Ok Ms. Nakia I’m all finished with your assessment,” Erik slid from under the car and stood to face the women.

“What’s the damage, sir?” Nakia responded.

“Don’t call me that. I might like it,” Erik gave her another wink.

Okoye cleared her throat rather loudly.

“All work no play General,” Erik gave Okoye a brilliant smile, all white teeth and a bit of gold, “Back to you. You need brakes, spark plugs, ya transmission flushed and a whole gang of other shit. She’s pretty but her personality needs some work.”

“So it’s scrap metal?”

“I ain’t say all that. All she needs is some love and she’ll be rollin’ smooth. I can get started first thing in the morning,” Erik finished.

“What time?” Nakia asked.

“I usually roll in here bout 7. I don’t have any others to finish myself,” Erik answered.

“Ok, I’ll be here.”

“Excuse me?” Erik and Okoye answered in unison.

“I want to be here while you’re working on my car,” Nakia responded nonchalantly. She looked between the two of them for a moment before Okoye pulled her off to the side asking Erik it excuse them.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Okoye pressed.

“I’m getting my car fixed,” Nakia deadpanned.

“I mean with him. Why would you want to spend an entire day here? With Erik.”

“I will not leave my dead father’s car in the care of a stranger without being observant,” Nakia stated. Okoye didn’t budge, “I’m curious. That’s all Ye.”

The nickname wasn’t fair. Nakia only used it when she didn’t want Okoye to ask any questions about her actions. Like when they went on their first joyride or got into their first fight. It was always ‘That’s all Ye’ and she would immediately back off. Okoye studied her for a few more seconds then sighed and walked back over to Erik who wasn’t eavesdropping at all.

“Y’all settled up then?”

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Nakia answered. Okoye stayed silent. The two women headed toward the open garage door.

“How you gonna get here?” Erik called out, “I got your car ma.”

“You’re picking me up. I’ll be ready at 6:30. Okoye texted you the address. Don’t be late.”

Nakia didn’t look back to confirm Erik agreed to her terms. However, she didn’t need to in order to know he would be at her door the next morning.

At her door, he was indeed. Well, not technically her door but the door of one of T’Challa’s many properties in which she was staying at the moment. He insisted a luxury condo was better than a hotel and she was not about to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with him openly.

Erik was inexcusably chipper at 6:30 in the god damn morning. He greeted her with coffee and a chocolate chip muffin.

“I don’t drink coffee,” Nakia said through a yawn although she took the cup.

“I know. That’s mine princess. I got tea for you in the car,” Erik gently slid the cup out of her hands and stepped aside so she could exit the condo. She didn’t quite glare at him but it was damn close. A smug little smile and nod were all he offered her then followed her out and let the door shut behind them. Neither of them worried about locking the door. Shuri installed automated locks and biometrics on all the Udaku properties.

Outside Erik’s truck was waiting. It was exactly what Nakia had expected, black on black with gold details. As she slid into the front passenger seat she noticed the body was reinforced and the glass bulletproof. Maybe not exactly what she was expecting after all. Erik got in and gestured toward the lidded paper cup in the holder closest to her. She took it and sampled the tea he brought for her, lavender chai. It was perfectly (but not too) sweet and complemented the muffin well, of course, none of his business.

“This isn’t from Starbucks,” Nakia stated plainly.

“Nah. That shit is terrible. I got a spot around the way I like,” Erik kept his eyes on the road and Nakia kept hers on him, “I can show if you like.”

“How did you know I like tea opposed to coffee?”

“I’m observant,” He quipped and flashed his too pretty white and gold smile.

Nakia didn’t respond just kept a calculating stare at his profile, enjoying her gifted breakfast. Erik reached down and turned on the radio. Nakia braced herself against the impending bass but was greeted by horns and keys.

“Jazz?”

“Jazz,” Erik confirmed.

“Jazz?” Nakia repeated.

“I grew up in Harlem for the most part,” Erik shrugged, “So yes, jazz first thing in the morning is good for the soul.”

Nakia made some non-committal noise and sat back in her seat. By this time she had eaten half of the muffin she the other half she sat on the center console. Erik picked it up, taking a large bite and mumbling something about crumbs in his whip. The rest of the ride passed in an easy silence. They arrived quickly at the shop, Nakia memorized the route for future use.

Erik pulled into one of the bays at the far end of the garage. Erik disappeared into the office leaving Nakia to wander around alone. She went to her father’s car, her car now. The last piece of him she had with her in the physical world. She ran her fingers along the hood. Anyone else looking at the car would think the custom paint but Nakia knew better than that. There was the faintest scratch on the hood near the grill.

When she was a little girl her father would take her to sit by the water on Lake Shore. He would lean against the hood while she sat on the car listening to the waves and counting the clouds. On those evenings fights were rare but not completely eliminated. On one warm summer afternoon, she kicked the hood in anger. She had begged her mother for converse with little studs in the toe and she got them for her, one of the last gifts she received from her before she passed. Naturally, Nakia wore them every day. The fight was started small but snowballed when he asked her not to wear the worn shoes anymore. They were old and a proper little lady should have new shoes.

How could he ask, no how could he tell her that she had to throw away all she had of her mother left? Of course, the shoes were not the only part of her mother she had left, but when you’re fourteen your logic isn’t exactly rational. When she kicked the hood of her father’s prized car she meant it. All she did was leave a small scratch and severely bruise her toes, which caused another argument. She touched the scratch again and smiled fondly.

“I can get that out for you,” Erik startled her from her memories.

“No,” She answered a bit too quickly. Erik raised his eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Nakia began to explain herself but stopped. She hadn’t noticed Erik enter the room but now she looked at him and a smile spread across her face, “Those are adorable.”

“Hush,” He scowled at her from behind is gold frames, “I was doing paperwork.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me. I’m just saying I think the glasses are a good look.”

“Yeah, yeah. Have a seat and don’t touch my shit,” Erik had donned a pair of navy coveralls and gestured to a workbench near the vehicle. Nakia took a seat and Erik got to work raising the car on a lift and examining it piece by piece, “You sure you wanna chill here all day?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Nakia glanced around the garage again, “Where are your employees.”

“It’s just me.” The hush was heavily implied.

Hush she did, for a while anyway. She texted Okoye and let her know she was ok and she definitely did not need to come and get her. After asking more and more invasive questions Erik shooed her away into his office. While in there she checked her email. The contact she’d reached out to for files on Erik had gotten back to her. The files were thin but it was a start. She spent the next two hours or so doing research on the man in the other room.

Erik came and got her right around when she finished her snooping, “Ordered us some lunch. Should be here in a few.”

Nakia followed Erik back out into the garage area. The tires were off her car and various tools were strewn about. She took up her previous seat on the workbench. Erik went back to his work sliding under the car to finish something she couldn’t see. She watched him for a moment analyzing his body language, looking for an opening. Leaning forward she decided on a plan of attack.

“Tell me, Erik. How does someone go from Special Ops, a SEAL no doubt, to a mechanic in Oakland?” Nakia asked from her perch on the workbench near Erik’s feet.

“I came home. After the…incident my pompous cousin offered to welcome me with open arms. Be a part of the family business, Thanksgivings, and all that shit.” Erik rolled out from under the car and looked up to Nakia, “But it didn’t feel right. All this time I thought I wanted revenge or some proverbial piece of the pie. I guess what I really wanted was for them to see me.”

“You wanted a family,” Nakia leaned down to meet Erik’s eyes. They were a little glossy but she didn’t mention it. She wasn’t expecting this level of honesty from the man. She was looking forward to some form of mental chess before getting any kind of emotional realness from him, it was refreshing but it felt far too intimate for what she needed to accomplish.

“Yeah, I guess now I got one. They are a complete pain in my ass but mine all the same,” Erik said before standing up. Nakia leaned back to give him room.

“I’m sure they would say the same about you,” She smiled and eyed him closely as he wiped grease from his hands. Erik didn’t return her smile.

He drew his eyebrows together and tilted his head to the side slightly, “So tell me Nakia what’s an active CIA operative doing in my shop?” Nakia’s mouth fell open, “You ain’t the only one with friends.”

Nakia quickly regained her composure, “I’m here because while visiting a friend my car broke down. That same friend was kind enough to suggest you, his cousin, for the repairs.”

“Does your friend, my cousin, know why you’re really here?” Erik was playing a very dangerous game and he knew it.

“Friends in high places I see,” Nakia responded, avoiding a direct answer.

“Low places too. Why didn’t you tell him?”

“That isn’t your business is it?” Nakia dropped her façade for a moment and became serious, “I couldn’t, not yet. Question is: Are you gonna tell him?”

“Nah, like you said it ain’t my business but watch yourself things like this get real messy real fast”

“You worried about me? I think that’s cute,” Nakia teased.

“I protect my family,” Erik said looking at Nakia directly, “By any means.”

Before Nakia could respond there was a loud knock followed by the voice of a man announcing delivery. Erik’s demeanor changed and he smiled at Nakia again, “I hope you like Thai.”

Nakia nodded and watched him leave to get the food. She had so many decisions to make. Could her mission be compromised? How much did Erik know about her? Could she protect her friends? More important at this moment was a different question. How did Erik know she loved Thai food?

Tags: @ovoxosavage @therevolution-willbelive@mamipeachy @wakandas-vibranium @wakandan-flowerz@texasbama @randomwordprompts @bartierbakarimobisson@maya-leche @theultimateblacknerdwithglasses @great-neckpectations @kumkaniudaku @blackgirloneshots@soldierandawar @babygirlofwakanda @to-the-water-ixazaluoh@sithlordslut@thorsthot @stevesthot@thattinycookiemonster @killmongersaidheyauntie @sunigyrl@daytimeheroicsonly @unholyxcumbucket @melaninmarvel@skysynclair19@pocmarvelworks @wildaboutchrisevans @non-stop-imagines @alanastormborn @tutufufuface @killmoncoochie@chefjessypooh @inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @bakarisangel

#black panther #okoye #nakia #erik stevens #erik killmonger #alternate universe #fluff #mcu #mechanic!erik #oakland #storiesbystori #iiab #marvel fanfiction

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kimnamjooonz · 5 years

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Blank Space - Episode 5

Don’t Hurt Yourself

Introducing In This Episode:

This little shit you may or may not know:

(I heard his name’s Chris Evans, I’m not so sure)

Joe Alwyn, you may know him as the king of Taylor Swift’s heart:

General awesome human being Emily Blunt:

Magneto aka Michael Fassbender:

Todrick Hall as Lucas Williams:

And Chace Crawford aka Nate from GG:

Songs that inspired this episode:

Don’t hurt yourself - Beyonce

''When you hurt me, you hurt yourself. Don't hurt yourself. When you diss me, you diss yourself. Don't hurt yourself.''

Finally, the big day had come. She was finally meeting her cast-mates and she couldn't wait. The mystery will finally be over. ''Are you ready?'' Taylor asked and Morgan nodded. ''Okay, be nice, don't be arrogant but also don't be intimidated by them. Just be normal. Remember that when you get back you'll have to chose an assistant.'' Taylor had sort of improvised a 'casting' to be Morgan's new assistant and the call had got hundreds of applicants. Taylor had chosen only twenty to be interviewed by Morgan herself. ''I'll be here around two. The read through starts at eleven. I doubt they kept us there for more than two hours. We're busy people with tight agendas.'' ''If you're late I'll entertain them, okay?'' Morgan just nodded and left. Twenty minutes later she was arriving at the studio. After getting the indications from the security guard outside she knew exactly where to find Damien and the rest of the cast. When she got to the room she just saw one more person: a tall blond guy that Morgan recognised as Joe Alwyn, of Billy Lynn's fame and known by the locals as the inspiration for many songs in Taylor Swift's latest album, something that Morgan was never in a million years going to mention in front of him. But she was confused. As long as she knew Joe wasn't shortlisted to be her co-star. Or maybe he had got another role. ''Hi!'' he greeted her with a big smile. ''You're Morgan Llewellyn, for two weeks I was looking forward meeting you.'' he shook her hand. ''I had no idea I was meeting you but I'm glad I'm doing it. You were brilliant in Billy Lynn's.'' ''And you in Macbeth.'' Morgan looked at him with a questioning look. ''Yes, I saw the play two years ago. I had no idea you were Lady Macbeth until I saw it in your IMDB profile and then I remembered that I had seen you before.'' ''I'm glad you liked it. I enjoyed being in there, that's for sure.'' she stopped talking and looked at him. ''Do you know the rest of the cast?'' He shook his head. ''I just knew that you were in it. By the way, I'm not your love interest, I'm your brother.'' She found that awesome. Snogging Taylor bloody Swift's boyfriend in front of the camera for everyone to see wasn't something she was looking forward. ''So, you're Simon Hathaway.'' she grabbed the iPad from her bag and skimmed some of the script. She had read it all, that was why she knew she had a fair share of kissing scenes with whoever that was her co-star. ''Indeed. I auditioned for the lead role but apparently Timothee Chalamet was better.'' Morgan's interest sparkled even more if that was possible. ''So is it finally Timothee?'' ''That's what everyone's saying. But you never know. Expect the unexpected. At the end of the day even Ryan Gosling can show up.'' ''Bloody hell'' she squealed. ''Or Reynolds'' ''I met Ryan Reynolds once and I stared at him for half an hour...'' he laughed. They were giggling for a whole minute until the door opened again and both of them almost broke their necks because of turning so fast towards the door. Morgan almost had an stroke when she saw Michael Fassbender walking in. But she dissimulated her reaction under a face of simply curiosity. Joe mumbled 'Magneto'. Luckily Michael didn't hear that. He simply smiled at them both. ''So, Joe Alwyn and Morgan Llewellyn, this is getting interesting. I knew that Damien was not going to disappoint me.'' He shook their hands. Morgan was in cloud nine, she couldn't believe she was shaking hands with THE Michael Fassbender. ''Nice to meet you'' Morgan and Joe said at the same time, laughing about it then. ''So...'' he looked at Joe. ''Are you Morgan's mysterious co-star?'' ''No. I'm just her brother.'' ''So you aren't either'' said Morgan looking at Michael. ''No. I'm your mentor. Phillip Monaghan, at your service.'' Morgan was even more curious about her co-star. Who the hell was he? Joe told her to expect the unexpected. Well, maybe she was getting Tom Hiddleston or Chris Evans. Morgan stopped thinking before she hyperventilated. ''So, we still have to find who is Elena Fitzgerald, the good girl that everyone is going to hate and Alexander, my co-star. Do you know who may that be?'' she asked Michael. ''No idea. I heard that Spiderman was playing Alexander. He looks fifteen, I don't see him as your love interest. I was betting all my money for Stan but then I heard that he was filming in Greece.'' That took Morgan by surprise. She hadn't heard about Sebastian in weeks, since that drama night. And then she had landed the lead role in a movie so she had started to see him in a different way: as a potential co-star not as a celebrity crush. But she had no idea that he had been filming in Greece, like the Greek God he was. ''He finished with that'' said Joe out of nowhere. ''A couple of days ago, I saw it on his Instagram.'' Now Morgan was more confused than ever. Could someone tell her once and for all who the hell was the guy she'll have to snog several times during the next two months? Suddenly the door opened again. ''Am I late?'' a woman asked. Morgan looked at the door only to find Emily Freaking Blunt right there. It was hard for her not to fangirl. ''No. You're one minute early'' said Morgan with a big smile. ''Hi, I'm Morgan Llewellyn.'' ''I'm Emily Blunt. I really wanted to meet you. Apparently everyone is talking about you these days.'' Morgan did her best to look humble and not proud of herself. ''I'm still not used to'' she shrugged her shoulders in a very convincing way. At exactly eleven o'clock Damien Chazelle turned up. Everyone was very attentive. ''I think I have...'' he looked at the room. ''...almost everyone. Where the hell is my Alexander?'' ''Late.'' said Morgan rolling her eyes. ''But maybe for a couple of minutes.'' Damien seemed to agree with her and relaxed. They remained in silence for the longest ten minutes of Morgan's life. No one dared to say a thing. Damien looked ready to snap. ''I'm going to call this idiot'' he stood up and left. ''Do you think something happened to him?'' asked a worried Emily. ''Whoever we're talking about.'' All of them shrugged their shoulders. Joe was scrolling through Instagram to see if it was any sort of information about anything. And he found it. ''Guys... we can discard Timothee. He just posted a picture of himself relaxing at Central Park with his dog. No one would be this calm if he's running late to a read through.'' Everyone agreed with Joe. ''I know Tom.'' said Emily. ''He may look silly but he's really serious and responsible. It's been twenty minutes already.'' After a while Damien was back, looking tense. ''He's not answering or reading his texts. I'm starting to worry.'' ''It's been just half an hour.'' said Joe. ''Maybe he's stuck in a traffic jam. You know, we're in New York. This kind of stuff happens.'' ''Or he's stuck inside an elevator'' Morgan was using all the logic she had. ''It's also possible.'' ''Or locked inside the bathroom at Starbucks'' Michael said. ''Or maybe he's not back from Greece yet'' said Emily, clearly believing that Sebastian Stan was their cast mate. Apparently everyone but Morgan knew about Sebastian filming in Greece. Which was weird because she was the only person in that room who had been his avid fan. ''Maybe he got lost into the Minotaur's Labyrinth'' Joe was clearly joking with that one, mentioning mythology and everything. ''That's in Crete not in Athens'' Morgan thought out loud. ''Maybe he tried to climb Mount Olympus and Zeus stroke him down with a lightning.'' Emily and Michael glanced at each other. There was no way that Morgan and Joe were being serious. After all, they were just kids. God forbid that Tom Holland had got the lead role because the immaturity was not going to be contained. And Sebastian Stan was no better. He may be 36 but he didn't act his age and was as silly as Joe and Morgan, if not more. When Damien got back in the room Morgan and Joe immediately stopped giggling. ''Okay, he left me on read, can you believe it?'' he looked really pissed. ''So, he ghosted you!'' yelled Morgan, very spontaneously. ''Exactly!'' he looked at the four of them as if they were the only people with common sense left in this world. He left again, muttering some bitter thoughts. Morgan completely understood him. She may have been joking with Joe for the last ten minutes but she was starting to get really pissed. Who was this disrespectful piece of trash that apparently didn't care at all about his co-stars and their timetables? And ghosting the director was just stupid at its best. What the hell was wrong with him? ''At least we know he's not dead.'' said Morgan. ''He had enough energy to leave Damien on read. A person who's lying dead at the side of a desert road can't do that.'' Everyone agreed with her. But also all of them wanted to kill him and leave his body on an empty road. ''It's been an hour'' said Emily, getting impatient. ''This is not proper either from Tom or Sebastian. I don't know Sebastian personally but both Margot Robbie and Alison Janney told me that he was just the most professional and nicest guy you could ever meet. Trustworthy to the core.'' That was what Morgan knew. She had been a fan of his not only for his looks but because he seemed to be a genuinely nice person, always attentive with his fans, giving good advice and being a sunshine. He was a really special celebrity, one that cherished every single good thing that happened to him an never took anything for granted. It was unlike him to make his colleagues wait for more than an hour and ignore the director. ''Maybe he's going through a rough time for some reason'' Michael guessed. ''Or maybe it's not Sebastian'' said a thoughtful Morgan. ''We're probably getting his name into this and he probably has no idea.'' It seemed a reasonable explanation and everyone seemed to agree with it. ''Do someone has any kind of embarrassing anecdote to tell so we can pass the time?'' asked Michael after a pause of ten minutes. It was clear that the question was directed at Morgan and Joe, who were the younger ones, and the chances of them going through embarrassing stuff was high. ''I auditioned for Spiderman'' blurted out Joe. ''What?!'' Morgan was really surprised. She had heard of many people that had auditioned for that movie, even some famous and insufferable Youtubers. But she had never heard about Joe Alwyn. ''I don't need to say that I didn't get the role. Anyway, Tom Holland's flawless in it. 'I don't wanna go Mr. Stark...' ugh, it got me in my feelings.'' Morgan didn't say anything but she agreed with him. She had cried with that goddamned scene in Infinity War. ''That was not embarrassing but it counts'' said Michael, who was apparently the judge. ''And you Morgan?'' As if running a Sebastian Stan thirst account wasn't embarrassing enough, thought Morgan. And it was even worse to spend a whole night listening to Beyonce songs and planning revenge after learning that he had a girlfriend. No, that wasn't embarrassing. That was absolutely pathetic. And there was no way in hell that Joe Alwyn, Michael Fassbender and Emily Blunt were going to know about it. ''Well... I auditioned for Game of Thrones.'' she follow on Joe's example and shared an story about a failed audition. ''Really?'' three different voices asked. ''Yeah. I auditioned for Arya and Sansa. I was sixteen when I auditioned and even though they liked my acting I got rejected because I didn't look like the characters. I was too tall to be Arya and they needed someone more naive looking to be Sansa. I was told that I was too 'husky'. ''Husky?'' asked Emily, a bit lost. ''Yeah, I was compared to a dog. But they were right The expression I had on my eyes was really violent. After that I spent more than a month walking around my house with a mask trying different expressions only with the eyes. I drove my mum crazy but I mastered the technique.'' And it was true. Everyone in the media was mentioning Morgan Llewellyn's big, dark blue and expressive eyes. ''Woah, it's true that if someone look at your eyes at a certain angle and with the right lights, they look kinda purplish.'' said Michael. They were five minutes examining Morgan's eyes from different perspectives. And the asshole of their co-star was still missing. When they were waiting for an hour and twenty minutes they were starting to freak out. Michael was the only one who was trying to control de situation. ''We are actors. We know everything about techniques to relax.'' And they genuinely tried. At least for five minutes. ''To hell with this.'' said Joe, standing up. ''I can't relax. I'm going to Starbucks and drown with caffeine. Someone wants anything from there?'' ''No. But I'll go with you.'' Morgan really wanted some fresh air to cool down her head and not thinking about killing her co-star in cold blood. ''This idiot ruined everything'' complained Joe when they were on the way to Starbucks. ''I had my day planned. I had promised my girlfriend to spend the day with her. She's never at home as she is in a World Tour. We had one free day to be together but... this unnamed idiot ruined it.'' Morgan nodded after Joe's little rant. ''And I had to choose a personal assistant and now I'll certainly be late. I swear, that if he appears, he's getting a piece of my mind.'' Of that Morgan was sure. She was going to give a reality check to her co-star, no matter if he was Sebastian Stan, Tom Holland or anyone else. ''I'm not confrontational...'' Joe admitted. ''...but I'll stand by you, nodding. Is that okay?'' ''Yeah, I can take that''. They didn't waste my time choosing beverages. Michael and Emily had asked them to bring just capuccinos. Joe left with a pink frapuccino. And Morgan with three cups. ''Why do you need so much coffee?'' Joe asked her, a bit impressed and wondering if she was not going to blow up between the caffeine and the anger she had. ''I'm drinking only this two'' she pointed at two simple lattes. ''This is for out co-star.'' Joe grabbed the drink from Morgan's hands. ''Pumpkin Spiced Latte with two pumps of caramel...Gosh, you want to kill him, this is disgusting.'' ''Well, some people drink this thing for real.'' When they got back to the room Emily and Michael were still there, looking grim. Of course there was no sign of that idiot. An hour and a half late. He should be fired from the production. ''Nothing?'' asked Joe, giving Emily and Michael the capuccinos. ''Only Damien looking like crazy. And I don't blame him, poor thing. It's not his fault.'' said Emily. Michael was glancing at Morgan's extra drink. ''Llewellyn, if you bought that disgusting thing for our co-star, let me tell you that you are brilliant.'' Morgan didn't say anything and just smiled. And time went on and on. They had all finish their drinks (Morgan the two of cups) and the idiot was still missing. They were starting to wonder if he was going to show up at all. ''I just, cannot take it anymore.'' Morgan stood up from the chair and started pacing the room. The caffeine was making its effect and she was ready to blow up. ''I cannot believe it. An hour and forty five minutes. I'm talking to Damien right now and he's telling me the name of that disgraceful piece of shit. And I swear that if I have to run through the whole of New York searching for him, I'll do it and then I'll bring him by the hair if I have to.'' Morgan was in the middle of her rant when the door opened again. She had always thought that her first encounter with Sebastian Stan would be something straight out of a fairytale or a romance movie. But in real life things worked quite different than in her wild fantasies. When she saw Sebastian Stan walking through that door she just wanted to punch him in the face for making them wait for an hour and forty five minutes. They looked at each other's eyes for five seconds before Sebastian looked somewhere else. Looking at Morgan Llewellyn's dark blue eyes had the same effect as looking at a Basilisk. He just wanted to run as far from this woman as possible. In ten seconds she had scared the hell out of him. ''Where the hell were you?'' she hissed. Sebastian looked at his cast mates. All of them had hostile expressions but not as angry as Morgan. Morgan was trying to calm down a bit. Maybe he had had a problem and couldn't make it on time. He was human, those things happened. But if that was the case he'd had told Damien about it instead of ignoring him. Damn, her fangirl feelings were getting the best of her and she was trying to justify Sebastian when he probably had no justification. She was wishing for everyone's sakes that he had some decent excuse. Sebastian knew it was his fault but Morgan Llewellyn's demanding tone wasn't making things easier. He wondered if she was that irritating on a daily basis or if it was just because she was pissed. ''Sorry, sorry'' he lifted his hands on the air. ''I just couldn't make it on time. I'm so sorry.'' he looked at all his cast mates. By the way they were looking at him, they were demanding an explanation. ''I was on a date an I ran late'' he lied and immediately regretted it. But the damage was done. Emily's face was stony, Michael looked ready to snap, Joe had a really brooding expression but it was Morgan the one that looked absolutely livid. So, there was the explanation. And it made Morgan the angriest she had felt in weeks, maybe since that drama night and now she had the chance of set the record straight. ''That was the excuse of the century'' she said with sarcasm, without a hint of intimidation. ''So, your date was more important than being respectful to four people, without counting Damien, who you ignored. But, of course, your date was more important and we had to just suck it and wait. Emily has kids, Joe has a girlfriend who's in town only for a day, Michael and I have pretty tight agendas.'' Sebastian wanted to say something but she didn't let him. ''We've been nice enough to get you coffee! It's still there but it's probably cold.'' she hissed the last words and then she calmly sat down again. Joe had been nodding the whole time, Emily was looking at Morgan with admiration and Michael seemed to be a bit entertained. ''Pumpkin Spice Latte?'' even though Sebastian wanted to send Morgan Llewellyn to Pluto at that moment, he had to admire her wicked sense of humour. Everyone knew that only basic people liked that drink. ''Are you allergic?'' she asked with no emotion in her voice. ''No.'' he didn't know what to say. Morgan had left him completely numb. In their battle of power Morgan was not only winning but she was toying with him. ''So you drink it'' she hissed. Sebastian could notice a venomous spark in her eyes. Michael couldn't keep it together anymore. So, Morgan had made sure that Sebastian was not going to die with the beverage and then had made him drink it. A million of thoughts were running through his head, all of them concerning his co-star. He had no absolute idea how he was going to do to work with her for the next three months. He had to act as her freaking love interest, pretending to be in love with her. He'll need his best acting abilities to make that believable and for what he could see, Morgan too. Someone give them an Oscar already. ''Finally, you're here'' Damien looked at Sebastian with a hard expression, but he shook it off in a moment. ''At least you're alive. And I have my Alexander and my Meredith. You look perfect together, you'll set the screen on fire.'' It was undeniable that Sebastian and Morgan were incredibly attractive people. But by their faces, 'Alexander' and 'Meredith' were whatever but couple goals. Sebastian could swear that he could feel the negative vibes towards him that she was producing. The other three had apparently stopped being hostile towards him because they were having so much fun with his and Morgan's silent show. This next months were going to be a war. It was the most awkward read-through any of them had ever had. Everyone was exhausted and irritable, especially Morgan and Sebastian. In Morgan's opinion, he had absolutely nothing to complain. This situation had been his fault. Damien insisted for more than an hour before giving up and letting them go. ''Before we start shooting, there's a couple of scenes I want to rehearse. We're doing this tomorrow. And if you...'' he pointed at Sebastian. ''...do something like what you did today one more time, you're out and I'm bringing Ryan Gosling. Understood?'' ''Yes.'' Morgan didn't say anything but Sebastian could see a contented look in her eyes. Before he could even notice, Morgan had said goodbye to everybody (except him, of course) and was running towards the exit. He wondered how could someone run that fast with heels that high. Emily and Joe said goodbye to him in a cold tone before leaving. Only Michael seemed to have enough pity for him. ''Why did she react like this?'' Sebastian asked him. They both knew who he was talking about. Honestly, Michael had no idea. But he knew that Morgan liked drama and exaggerating stories. ''She had an audition'' he blatantly lied. ''I think she missed it. That's why she was so upset, you can't blame her.'' Sebastian felt a bit guilty. Only his wounded pride didn't let him feel as sad for her as he would normally feel. After saying goodbye to Michael he texted his friend Chace to meet. After the hellish day he was having he needed to talk to someone.

Morgan got back to her apartment half an hour later with a somber mood. Taylor didn't ask what had happened and why she was late because they had other things to worry about: there were twenty people there waiting to be interviewed by her and become her new personal assistant. She wanted to get over it really quickly so she tried to keep the interviews short because her patience was running really low. She blamed Sebastian Stan for this. After 19 applicants, none of them convinced her. She had dismissed them all with a nice smile and an 'We'll call you back if there's any news'. ''You only have one more to go. If you don't like him, I'll call new applicants tomorrow.'' Taylor softly said, knowing that Morgan's mood wasn't the best. Taylor called the latest applicant, a young man, who looked really shy. He reminded her of Todrick Hall, that amazing Broadway performer Morgan loved. ''Hi!'' she greeted him with a smile. She didn't know why but he had improved her mood a little. At least she had smiled for the first time in hours. ''Hello, Miss Llewellyn, I'm Lucas.'' he said, nervously. He felt as if he was doing an audition for America's Got Talent. But Morgan seemed nicer than Simon Cowell. ''So... Lucas...'' she followed the process she had had with the other 19 applicants. ''Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you from... How old are you... anything you want to tell me.'' He was more nervous than ever. He had never had job interviews to be the personal assistant of a celebrity. ''I'm Lucas I'm 21, from Harlem. I want to be a filmmaker, I got in the NYU and I work at McDonalds and Taco Bell so I can pay it. And... that's my story.'' Interesting. So, he was someone with big dreams an ambitions, the kind of people Morgan valued. ''So, you'll be a filmmaker. That's great.'' ''I wish I can dedicate myself totally to this, because I love it. But... I'll just need more hours in the day'' he shyly smiled. He knew that it by some miracle he got the job with Morgan he'd be as busy as before but much better paid and he'll have a better boss than those exploiters from the food chains. ''I understand. Before landing this role I was more or less in your situation, without actually getting into a drama school yet''. It was weird for her to talk about this. All those experiences were like a past life for her. ''You really want this job, don't you? Morgan wasn't asking, she was making an statement. ''I think it's a much better option than McDonalds or Taco Bell. To be honest, Miss Llewellyn, I have nothing to lose and a lot to win. I don't have experience at being an assistant but I learn fast and for sure, I'll give my all to this job.'' Morgan didn't need much persuasion. She knew perfectly well that it was Lucas the one she wanted as her assistant as she had connected with him. More than an assistant she wanted someone she could be friends with. ''Okay,'' when Morgan started speaking Lucas was sure that she was going to dismiss him and he'll never hear from her again. ''...what you'll have to do as soon as possible is send McDonalds and Taco Bell to hell. You're probably underpaid and miserable there and you deserve better. You start tomorrow at eight as we'll have to be at the studio at nine.'' Lucas couldn't believe his own ears. He thought he was just confused or he had misunderstood Morgan's words. ''I'm sorry, Miss Llewellyn, but I don't understand.'' ''Oh, sorry. I wanted to say this all day... Lucas Williams, you're hired.'' He wanted to do a celebratory dance. Never in a million years he could have imagined getting this job. It was a dream. He was going to work with Morgan Llewellyn, the newcomer that everyone was talking about and for sure she was quickly becoming an A-List celebrity. If she wasn't already. He couldn't wait for getting home and telling his parents and siblings about this. ''Thank you so much, Miss Llewellyn. This means a lot to me. I'm not going to disappoint you, I swear. I'll give my everything.'' ''First of all, call me Morgan. Apart from that, I won't be your boss. We'll work together, as a team. I have a feeling that it'd be great. You have to promise me that in the in the future you'd cast me in your films.'' ''That's be a honour'' Lucas still couldn't believe that this was happening to him. ''Lucas, if you need help with any NYU project, just ask me. You know that I work with Damien Chazelle, Michael Fassbender, Joe Alwyn and Emily Blunt...'' she purposely eliminated Sebastian from the list. ''...and I'm sure that if you need advice of any kind, they'll be helpful.'' Lucas was in shock. The fact that he was going to meet an Oscar winner director was about to make him cry. ''I... Morgan, I'm really thankful for this opportunity.'' he had the brightest smile on his face. ''By the way, what are your favourite types of coffee?'' ''Cold Brew when it's hot...'' Lucas was typing all of this in his phone. ''...and Latte when it's cold. A simple one. Under no circumstances Pumpkin Spice.''

''So, Damien Chazelle called you out?'' was the first thing Chace asked Sebastian once had finished with the tale of his long day. He had avoided to mention Morgan Llewellyn. He refused to do that. He had had enough of that irritable woman only with the hour they had spent together and he didn't want to think in the three months with her company that lay ahead of him. And he knew that it was a matter of time before Chace mentioned her. ''And it wasn't the worst part of the day.'' They were both sitting in table near a window in a random Starbucks. It was a miracle that any of them had been recognized by eager fans yet. Although, it'd be a relief for Sebastian to meet one of his fans after his experience with Morgan. ''Yeah, your cast mates probably wanted to exterminate you.'' by some reason Chace was finding this situation funny. ''Honestly, man, I don't know why you lied. If you'd told them that you were going through a mental breakdown, they would have understood and no one would have called you out, not even Damien. Talking about cast mates, did you finally meet Morgan Llewellyn?'' And there was the question Sebastian didn't want to answer. ''I did and she's... a nightmare. She shouted at me for quite a while and I'm pretty sure she hates me now.'' This time Chace laughed in front of his face. ''I can't imagine why'' he said with sarcasm. As much as he loved his friend, Chace was of the opinion that Sebastian had got into this mess by himself. ''But she probably doesn't hate you, she was just mad at you for being an irresponsible liar. And yesterday she wasn't a nightmare when you were drooling over her Instagram pictures and you said you couldn't wait to work with her. And you have a girlfriend, that's wild.'' ''That was before meeting her in person'' Sebastian cheeks were a bit red. ''She's drawn all of my energy.'' Chase looked at him with a side smile. Yeah, maybe Sebastian's pride was a bit wounded but there was another reason why she had drawn his energy and probably Morgan was unaware of it. ''Tell me one thing and be honest. Is she as pretty as in the pictures?'' ''Pictures don't do her justice. She's absolutely stunning, even when she was shouting at me. She's a real daydream but her personality is just... explosive.'' ''A nightmare dressed like a daydream'' Chace mumbled with dreamy tone. ''Are you quoting Taylor Swift now? Please, Chase shut up.'' but it was Sebastian turn to talk. And once he started with the Morgan topic he was not going to stop. ''But, who is she? She showed up out of nowhere. Two weeks ago no one knew who she was and now she's everywhere. How did she do it?'' ''Have you checked her IMBD profile?'' Sebastian just shook his head. ''Let me do it...'' Chace just spent a couple of seconds typing something on his laptop. ''Here we have her. Name: Morgan Llewellyn. Birth Name: Not Specified... well, that's weird. She goes by her stage name but we can't know her real name.'' Sebastian was starting to imagine that Morgan was some alien sent from Saturn on the body of a beautiful woman. Or maybe everyone in Saturn were as beautiful as Morgan. ''Date of birth: 13 of December, 1992...Born in Caernarfon, Wales... blah, blah, blah... she's mostly an stage actress. Shakespearean. Worked with Ian McKellen, member of the Royal Shakespeare Society, started studying drama at age 12 at the Royal Cardiff College of Music and Drama, starred in many plays at the Globe Theatre since she was 16. That's pretty much her.'' ''I went to the Globe Theatre too.'' he mumbled. ''Yeah, when you were at college'' Chace corrected him. ''Morgan was there at sixteen, when she was probably still in high school.'' ''I have more than forty acting credits.'' he defended himself, as if this was some sort of competition between him and Morgan. ''Yeah, but Morgan is ten years younger than you and she has booked her first lead role in an important production. When she eventually reaches your age, she'll double your credits.'' ''Whose side are you on?'' Sebastian angrily asked. Apparently Chace was the latest one to jump on the Morgan Llewellyn Support Group. ''I'm just stating facts. By the way, what were you doing at her age? The Covenant?'' ''We were doing The Covenant. Both of us. It wasn't just me who was into that mess.'' no matter how many years passed he was always going to be reminded of doing that movie. He wished that Morgan never learned about that. ''Okay, you won this round. But it's fun to roast you.'' He didn't say anything because he was too busy Googling Caernarfon in Wales. The place Morgan was born. Or created. Maybe she was a scientific experiment created to make his life miserable. Or she was brought out of a cauldron by some witches. She had, for sure, a witch name. ''What a pretty place'' he was looking at the pictures of the town. A cute coastal village with a mediaeval castle. ''I can't believe that this fairytale town produced the spawn of the devil.'' Chace knew why Sebastian was bothered by this situation and it wasn't Morgan's fault at all. He knew Sebastian too well not to notice that he fancied her. And Morgan had called him out and shouted at him. And he had a girlfriend. No wonder he had had a mental breakdown that very same morning. And that was before meeting her in person and realising she wasn't the nice and gentle woman he was expecting but a hard headed explosive nightmare. And he still had more than three months in her company. Poor Sebastian. ''Don't look at me like that, Chase.'' Sebastian was a bit bothered of Chase's judging expression. ''You know that my relationship history is basically trash. And you don't have to worry, I don't fancy Morgan anymore. Happy?'' Of course that Chase didn't believe him. ''I thought that finally you had met a nice girl, who's not an actress, and you were pretty excited of getting to know her better. But now, apparently, you want to go back to your old habits but this time not with a B-list actress from a TV show but with Morgan Llewellyn, who's everywhere, has a brilliant career ahead of her, she'll be covering Vogue in the next months and she'll be the Taylor Swift of the acting industry. You're dead.'' Sebastian thought that Chase was just overreacting. Yes, he had thought that Morgan was attractive but nothing else apart from that. Now, he didn't know if he even liked her. ''I'm not dead.'' he confessed. ''I'm pretty much alive. Believe me when I tell you that I want nothing to do with Morgan apart from acting with her.'' Chase knew this wasn't his business but he just hoped that he meant what he had just said. ''Are her eyes really purple?'' he asked, a couple of minutes later when he was reading a Vogue article he had just found that talked about Morgan Llewellyn's 'impressive purple eyes.' ''No. They're just really dark blue.'' he remembered the sensation of looking at those eyes. It was like looking at Medusa, who turned you to stone when you looked at her eyes. ''But it'd make sense if she had purple eyes. That'd confirm my theory that she's the reincarnation of Thanos.'' Both of them laughed with that.

#sebastian stan fanfiction #Sebastian Stan #sebastian stan x ofc #sebastian stan imagine #marvel #MCU #MCU fanfiction #Bucky Barnes #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #sebastian #joe alwyn #emily blunt #chace crawford #michael fassbender

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chungledown-bimothy · 5 years

Text

Trust Me: Chapter 3

Hello again! Here’s some plot progression, introduction of our favorite dramatic boy, and shameless moxiety coffee shop au to make up for the last chapter! <3

Chapter One Chapter Two AO3 Chapter 4

Warnings: brief mentions of a dead body, wounds, and torture. light swearing

Word Count: 1604

Tag List: @spookyingarbageisland @ren-allen @ccecode @emo-sanders-sides-loving-unicorn @ilovemygaydad @bloodrops-blog @funsizedgremlin @raygelkitty @roxiefox23 @thomasthesandersengine

Virgil rolled over and groggily grabbed his phone, cursing the day he made his ringtone "Na Na Na" by My Chemical Romance. It was a bop, but absolutely unholy at… oh god. It was 3:12 am and his phone was ringing. He cleared his throat before picking up.

"Hullo?" He winced and prayed it wasn't an important call he started on such an embarrassing note.

"Mason, it's Chief Sanders. I know it's early, but we have a body. I need you at 25th and Lincoln ASAP. I'll keep everyone away from the scene, keep it clean for you." Well fuck.

"Thank you, sir. I'll be there soon."

Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the scene. It would have been ten, but, even at 3 in the morning, parking in San Francisco was a nightmare. When he arrived, he saw that Sanders had kept his word; the scene was taped off, but other than that it was completely undisturbed. Not for lack of trying by the local media- he had no idea how those leeches knew to be there. Officers were trying to keep them out of earshot, but one voice called out to him, and stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Detective! I know you can't ignore someone as fabulous as I am; what happened? Whose body is that?" Ignoring the anxiety attack he could feel trying to break through his well-built defenses, he strode over to the reporter.

"What's your name, and who are you with?" Virgil demanded.

"Roman Prince, SFGate, at your service!"

"Here's the thing, Roman Prince, SFGate. There is nothing 'fabulous' about standing over a dead man's body, desperate for a tidbit of information you can spin into some fairy tale to get a byline. At my service, eh? Then get away from my crime scene and stop hovering like the vulture you crime journalists are. And if a word of this gets out, I will personally see that you don't write another word in this city." With a glare at the crowd of reporters, he turned on his heel and went to examine the scene.

Virgil had seen more dead bodies than he cared to count, but he'd never seen anything like this. Turning on his phone's voice recorder and putting gloves on, he began taking notes.

"Victim appears to be male, mid twenties. Shallowly buried in leaves from the shoulders down, possibly mimicking the parental act of tucking a child in to bed, or possibly indicating remorse. Bruising and lacerations consistent with the victim being punched in the face repeatedly. Clearing the leaves away reveals the vic wearing slacks and a white t-shirt. No socks or shoes. The shirt is clean; however, there are clearly deep wounds underneath the shirt. I will not disturb the shirt on scene.

Ligature marks on his wrists and ankles, and wounds up and down his arms. If I didn't know and better, I'd say someone took a giant cheese grater to his left arm in particular. Consistent with the torture theory, and it seems that this victim endured even more than the last one. Opening his mouth, there's a piece of paper. Red puzzle piece and 'fascist' on it." Virgil paused the recording and swore under his breath. As he went to resume, a tech handed him a piece of plastic. "The victim had ID on him- name of Kyle Ren, twenty three. Otherwise empty pockets- the killer left us this. He wanted us to know who the victim was- confirming that this is primarily about the victim, not the crime itself. I will withhold any more speculation until I have more information. This concludes my on-site analysis."

Putting away his phone, he briefly discussed evidence collection logistics with the tech team before leaving the scene, planning to grab coffee on his way back to the station to review the file from the last body. His anxiety had other ideas, however. As soon as he got into his car, he started shaking and got lost in memories.

"Hello? I know you've got, like, that whole 'loner' vibe going on, but not only am I your partner, we both know that I am far too fabulous to ignore."

It was Virgil's first week at the BAU; the culmination of years of busting his ass to prove everyone wrong. It's just his luck that the man who sauntered into the office like he owned the place, wearing a leather jacket and aviators with a Starbucks tea in his hands, was his partner.

"The name's Remy, boo. Remy Wake." Taking a deep breath, Virgil turned around.

"Virgil Mason. Not your 'boo'."

"Oh my god. I did not come here to be attacked."

"Just to get on my nerves, then?"

"You are, like, literally the rudest. I cannot work like this."

"That makes two of us, babe." Virgil sneered.

"Mason! Wake! My office. NOW." Their supervisor, Aaron Hodge, called from across the room. They shuffled in, embarrassed, and took a seat when Hodge indicated for them to.

"You are both incredibly bright young men. I'm sure I don't need to recount why I called you in here. What I do need is for you two to sort out your issues. I have never seen two agents more suited to be partners than you two. Wake, you have outstanding interpersonal skills, but your attention to detail and ability to read between the lines is less than ideal. Mason, you more than make up for your lack of people skills with an uncanny knack for seeing through lies and finding connections no one else sees. I firmly believe that the two of you can be the best pair of agents the BAU has ever seen, should you put in some work outside of your cases. Do you understand?" They both nodded, and he dismissed them.

"Hey, uh, Remy, I'm sorry about my attitude earlier. I, uh, I'm kind of terrified, to be honest, and lashed out- no friends means no one to disappoint."

"I get that. I came at you with my armor up too, girl. Let's squish the beef and start over?"

"Sounds great, boo." With a wink and an eye roll, respectively, Virgil and Remy went to get coffee and better acquainted.

Virgil emerged from the memory still in his car. He checked his phone; it was 4:55. He'd been out of it for about 45 minutes. Swearing, he turned on the car and headed to the coffee shop near the precinct. He'd heard it was amazing, but the owner had been having some sort of family crisis, so it had been closed since a couple of weeks before Virgil arrived in the area. It opened back up the previous day, and it was all anyone at the station was talking about.

Miraculously, he found a spot right in front of We Hart Coffee.

"Good morning! Welcome in!" Virgil cringed at the too-peppy voice as he walked up to the counter to see that the source of the voice was an attractive man in his late twenties, by Virgil's estimation, with brown eyes and curly brown hair.

"Morning. Can I get a large Americano?"

"Sure thing! Wait, I think I know you. You moved into an apartment complex in the Outer Sunset about a month ago, right?" Virgil's senses went on high alert. He looked closely at the man, trying to place him and failing.

"More like three weeks, but yes. Have we met?"

"I thought so! I live next door to you! I'm so sorry I couldn't say a proper hello when you moved in; my mother died, so I went to be with my brother for a few weeks. My name is Patton, and I own this place!" Virgil relaxed, no longer concerned. Something about Patton made him feel safe, like he could trust him, a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, and glad you weren't alone to grieve. I'm Virgil. Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand, which Patton excitedly shook.

"Oh my, I should start your drink. I get so excited about meeting new people, I completely spaced. I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, no worries. How much do I owe you?"

"Absolutely nothing. It's on the house- consider it a 'welcome to the complex' gift."

"You really don't have to."

"I want to. It's important that where you live feels like home, not just a place you sleep and keep your stuff."

"Okay, then. Thank you." Virgil acquiesced, putting a ten dollar bill in the tip jar when Patton turned around to make his drink.

"I hope this isn't too forward of me, but… I wrote my number on your cup. Maybe we could get dinner or something sometime?"

"Oh, I, um, thanks. Maybe?"

"Oh no I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I don't even know if you are attracted to men at all! I'm so sorry, Virgil."

"No, no, it's not that. I'm definitely gay. I just… am awkward, and I've got a lot of stuff going on right now. But, uh, I really appreciate it, and I'll text you, if that's okay?"

"Whatever makes you comfortable. The last thing I want is for you to feel in any way pressured or obligated or anything."

"Thank you, Patton. I've gotta get going, but since we're neighbors, I guess I'll see you around?"

"For sure! Have an excellent day, Virgil!"

"You too." With that, Virgil headed out the door, added Patton's number to his phone, and left to meet with the coroner about the new body.

#sanders sides fan fic #sanders sides fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction #prinxiety #moxiety #my writing #logan sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #logince #analogical #logicality #sanders sides #trust me

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folerdetdufoler · 5 years

Photo

sunday was like…a half day. i woke up for breakfast but then went back to bed. i went back through my tweets and apparently i was woken up in the middle of the night by girls being loud in the hallway, so maybe i was just trying to sleep off my grumpiness. i didn’t wake up again until housekeeping came by, and that was enough to knock me out of heaven (bed).

i went to meet haidee at KB for second breakfast. it was one of my grosser walks, because it was raining and warm out, so i was either getting wet from the outside or sweating through my layers on the inside. on top of literally dripping on my stool at the cafe, i was trying to save a seat for haidee too, and that was making me sweat double time because i always feel like no one believes me when i say “i have a friend coming.” like, i have friends? really? hmmm. anyway, she arrived and we got caught up.

and phew, i thought my saturday was rough with all of the walking? haidee’s saturday, starting late friday night, was…not good. ugh. i felt so bad that she went through so much, and that i couldn’t be there to help fix it or let her escape from it. it’s frustrating that she was subjected to a lot of very bad decisions made by other people, and doubly so that my first instinct was to try to fix it, even though none of it was my fault. i wanted to publicly rant on her behalf, shame others for their bad behavior, but that wasn’t going to fix anything either, so we just unloaded and commiserated for a few hours, and tried our best to figure out how to handle that sort of thing going forward. in the very least, it was good to talk, rather than let the disappointment fester in silence.

since i was in the neighborhood i had wanted to make a quick stop at nissen to see the bench in the light, and make haidee take another picture on the bench with me. but siv actually walked into the cafe and chatted with us briefly, explaining that the convention was still running late and the safaris hadn’t wrapped up at the school on time. i was relieved then that i hadn’t dragged haidee up there, nor gone on my own, so we stayed inside and waited for her other friend (i want to call her vee but i also know that that is wrong) to arrive. i ordered an iced mocha and cinnamon roll, which, because i’m obsessed with myself, seemed cute since it was isak’s regular order in mondays. i started drinking iced mochas when i kept seeing kaylee rave about them, so that’s what made me choose it for isak, and a cinnamon bun is a cinnamon bun. [bread pun]

at some point nadège was walking past with her tour group and she ran up to knock on the window and in that moment i understood how isak was feeling right here:

haidee’s friend showed up and we all crowded into isak’s window for a bit. then i excused myself to go meet jenn in grünerløkka. i can’t remember who told me about it first, whether it was mo back in january or haidee in june, but retrolykke came highly recommended, so we met there. on the barista’s recommendation jenn had tea and i had water, because my “caffeine headache” wasn’t going away so i was probably just dehydrated. we sat outside because it was still kind of warm and i’m glad we did because i probably would’ve spent all of my money if we were sat anywhere near a shelf in that joint. we traded stories about our saturdays and i got the run down on the movie i missed. then, unable to hide it any longer, i let loose my deep desire to ride the ferris wheel at the christmas market. maybe i played it cool, but that’s unlikely. we had a small window before we had to meet haidee for dinner, so we cleaned up and zipped over there.

cheers to the people who let you indulge in your secret wishes, who help you buy a ticket and climb into the bucket with you. cheers to the young girls in our bucket (is there a different word for it? gondola? whatever. it felt like a bucket swinging from a giant’s hand) who probably thought we were weird but weren’t too afraid to ask jenn to take their picture. cheers to oslo and its shit weather, which it still wore beautifully. this bitch looks great from any angle.

after the ride we wandered around the market because haidee reported her event was (newsflash) running late and they were still waiting outside. i was getting another low, so i had to stop to get something to eat. what i should’ve done was just stop and chomp some tablets, but my mind was foggy and i was with someone else so i was like obviously we need to get gløgg first. i stared down the candy apples by the register, which would’ve been the next smartest choice for fast-acting sugar, but i ordered a goddamn pølse instead, and we proceeded to make dick jokes for another fifteen minutes while i housed it in like, five bites.

now, i need to explain something that i think has just been rolling around in the back of my mind since february, but i’m mildly obsessed with the idea of pølse as a party food, a common snack. i don’t know why, of all the norwegian things i’ve encountered, this sticks out for me, because…it’s a hot dog. americans eat hot dogs all the time. it is not an unfamiliar concept. but after seeing marlon eating one at the club i’ve projected that onto every possible party situation in my head, from a tiny gathering in a home to a giant dance floor with lasers shooting out across a crowd. and it just makes me laugh? and i feel like i need to explain why or how, but i actually can’t. just…dick jokes aside, ordering a hot dog was funny to me, and i wanted to experience that hot-dog-in-da-club feeling, so maybe that’s why i went with protein and slow carbs instead of straight sugar. i prioritized my sense of humor over my health, and while it was dumb it made me laugh and tasted good. that doesn’t explain my obsession with pølse but i think it tells you a lot about me.

okay so after that…we took shelter in a KB because it was still raining and we were still waiting and i was still low. then i finally got smart and started eating my tablets. we made our way over to ett bord where we were picking up haidee, but they were still finishing up. jenn sat at the table outside and narrated what was going on inside because i refused to turn around. i was hoping, like a child who hadn’t learned what object permanence was, that if i didn’t see anything, then nothing was happening. or if the people inside didn’t see me, then i didn’t exist. but i don’t think it worked. ragnar came out to say hi to jenn, and that was cool to see him again. we scooped nadège and haidee and i tried to escape unseen, but fuck…like a minute later we ran into three italians and walked with them up to the intersection. that’s what the blurry photo is, nadège and rocco, federico and jenn in front of them. at that point i was ready to just give up, because like, of course i was going to intersect with these people eventually. i was literally visiting places related to the show and convention. i don’t know why i thought it was avoidable, why i had shaped my trip around trying not to see these people, while also putting myself directly in their line of fire. i’d met henrik and lisa and there were the italians and i had a goodie bag in my backpack and you probably wouldn’t actually believe me at this point if i said i didn’t attend the convention. my desire and my shame shuttled me around the city, working together, telling me you can’t have your cake and eat it too. so i took a picture of it.

i was able to relax though, through dinner with jenn and haidee at olivia. we ended up at the wrong location (tjulvhomen instead of aker brygge) because i decided to ignore jenn’s directions (nice) but they were pretty empty so we just stayed. since i had already caught up with both of them i took this opportunity to let them talk to each other, which left me free to shove every strand of linguini known to man into my face. you only get a photo of my dessert, which marks the first point in time that i stopped eating long enough to actually take a picture.

it was interesting talking to both of them about the movie because they were literally in the same room, watching the same thing, but had such different interpretations and responses to it. on top of that, being in a room filled with the skam fandom must have shaped their viewing as well. even though i didn’t experience any of it, the discussion alone was a great reminder of the variety of perspectives in the fandom and what happens when a fandom is the lens through which you view the world.

we of course talked about skam and fandom, but we also got to talk about our personal lives a bit more, and i think this was the first time i was in a completely non-skam-related place, which seemed to free us a bit from reference points that kept your subconscious attached to the show or cast (at least it did for me). i had spent my day avoiding it, and but now i was actually distanced from it without any effort, and it felt like a really positive development. especially as i’m attempting to be a better person in general, able to establish and maintain relationships that aren’t based precariously on a singular, mutual fixation. i want to be able to be friends with people because they’re good people and a joy to be around, not just because there’s this one thing we can talk about. now here’s a joke line because i always undercut my serious emotions with humor: look ma, we talked about something else!

then jenn had to get to a party, so we had another navigational ~experience~. we dropped her off there and haidee and i decided to head home. our days were short but like, emotionally very long, so we were done. that didn’t stop us from standing on the sidewalk in the rain, talking for another hour though. we kept hugging to say goodbye and then talking some more and hugging again and talking and ok for the last time now because there are puddles inside my shoes kiss kiss squeeze i’m not crying it’s the rain i swear. i’ll see you in september, okay? promise.

i finished the day as it started, with a very wet walk. the market was empty, so i let myself take the kinds of photos that i am too embarrassed to take in public, the ones where you stand wherever you’d like for optimal angles and don’t care about anyone else around you, don’t worry about being in their way, or worry that they can tell how many pictures you’re taking, or worry that they’re judging how poorly your shots are turning out. ugh, it’s amazing that i can function as a tourist full stop. please sir, would you mind emptying out the city so i may experience it without the anxiety of my human existence? tusen takk.

whatever. i got to the hotel, asked for a new room key (at some point that evening i lost my room key and my ruter card, rip), returned to heaven (bed) and promptly shit my pants again when i saw the announcement on twitter about the bloopers.

the motherfucking bloopers. the man, the myth, the legend. the rumors were true.

#for the record i have never literally shit my pants #i have a 100% success rate with using a toilet #but it's the only turn of phrase i can think of when i try to describe my very physical uncontrollable reaction to certain things #like what is this #what is happening #am i shitting my pants #or am i just so obsessed with a show that the mere hint of news causes me to lose control of my bodily functions?#kerryinoslo

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parkapetrs · 6 years

Text

in the middle 05 | college!peter parker x reader

summary: in which you and a shy awkward boy named peter parker waltz in the gray area between friends and lovers

word count: 2.6k

warnings: language, physical assault scene

PARTS: 01 02 03 04 05

05: shifting

“What the hell is going on?”

Ned was the first to speak. While the rest were left slack-jawed and frozen, he was unbothered and composed. Eyes darting between the quiet Peter and MJ, he pointed to the latter accusingly, “I thought you said she was on a date.”

MJ glared at Peter. “I thought you said she was on a date.”

“Jesus. That was the date with me, morons.”

A date?

“Oh,” said the both of them in unison. Facing MJ, Ned demanded, “Why didn’t you lock the door in the first place?”

“All you do is complain—“

Cutting her off, you exclaimed. “Are you gonna pretend like I didn’t just walk in on the three of you doing God knows what?!”

“That’s enough!” Peter boomed. Exasperated, he pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly. His eyes were shut tight. “Look, I-I need you to leave.”

The room fell silent. Tears were threatening to prick your eyes—you’d never heard Peter yell before, and now he was yelling at you.

“Excuse me?” You croaked.

“No. No. Not you.” His hands were on either side of him, clutching the edge of the couch until his knuckles turned white. “MJ and Ned. Please leave. I’ll talk to Y/N.”

Neither MJ nor Ned met your eyes as they passed you on their way out of the apartment. Peter hurriedly threw on a random shirt that he pulled out of his backpack. He limped to the open window and drew the blinds close.

The two of you merely stared at the other from opposite sides of the room.

You couldn’t tear your eyes away from his swollen ones. His limbs were decorated with bruises and scratches, and his bottom lip bled from a cut. There was no slowing your mind as it desperately tried to make sense of the sight before you.

Oh God, Peter was one of those stoner kids that got into fights over a missing gram of crack. No, no. He was attacked on his way to Addington and now, it’s partly your fault. Are he and MJ dating?!

“Y/N,” he said slowly as if saying the wrong word could set off a bomb. “I-I don’t know what you want me to tell you.” He admitted.

“What happened to your face?!”

“Punched. Kneed,” he said almost automatically. Rehearsed. “Kicked several times. It still hurts like a bitch.”

Unamused, you simply glared. “But why though?” You knew your eyes were boring holes into him, but maybe that was just what you wanted.

There was a silence as Peter opened his mouth to speak. His lips made an ‘o’ shape to form words but nothing came out. He was obviously shaken under your scrutinizing gaze. The troubled look on his face made you want to take your question back, but the ball was in his court and you needed to see what he’d do with it.

Finally, when he realized you meant business, he settled. “I was mugged. Th-They took all my things, okay? I didn’t stand a chance but I had to at least… fight back…”

You shifted your eyes to his backpack on the floor, which was very much present and looked just as spick-and-span. If anything, it appeared even fuller than the last time you saw it yesterday. Peter was definitely bluffing, but for what reason?

“You’re lying. You have your bag.”

“It’s a spare I keep at MJ’s for emergencies.”

“Bold-faced lie,” you repeated. You knew you were on the verge of exploding; one sudden move could easily tip you off the edge. “Why won’t you just tell me the truth?”

“I—“ His leg shook as he unconsciously tapped his foot.

Before you knew it, you cut him off with a ramble. Words were spilling incessantly from your lips but you couldn’t get yourself to stop.

“You don’t trust me—I get it. But all I‘m asking is an explanation. You bailed on me without saying anything. I have every right! I’m not gonna judge if you dealt; I just wished—“

“WHAT?” Peter looked completely gobsmacked. “Let me stop you right there. Dealt? Deal what? Do you think I mess around with drugs?”

You blinked. “Well, how else could you explain this?”

There was a dumbfounded expression on his face. When he didn’t say anything, you continued. “The loaded backpack… the current state of your face… why else would you get beaten up?”

The laugh that escaped him was not the response you were expecting. It was your turn to feel dumbfounded. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just… that’s the last thing I’d ever do. Ever,” he said in a dignified voice.

“Is it MJ then? Are you—Are you together?”

“What? No!” His tone was impatient. He closed his eyes for a while to regain himself, and when they opened, they were soft. Pleading, but sincere. “Y/N, look. There are things I can’t… yet explain. Not right now. Trust me, I wish I could tell you.”

Feeling apologetic and small, you walked over to him. “Okay. I get it. Truly, I do. I’m sorry for the outburst. I hope I didn’t overstep.” Your words hung in the air. There was a tug on your heart egging you to say what was on your mind. Before you could even stop yourself, you were staring right into his eyes and asking,

“But I have to know. Are you okay? I mean—are you safe?”

It wasn’t that you cared for Peter a lot. He was just a friend—a friend of a friend, in fact. Your friendship hasn’t even reached that level of concern. At least, you didn’t think so. But there was something about standing so close to him, almost feeling his breath, that made this moment feel personal. It felt yours.

Why did he have to call it a date?!

The tough expression on Peter’s face softened and got replaced with a fonder look. He was looking at you in earnest. “Yeah. I… I promise you I’m out of trouble.”

You reached a hand to cup Peter’s cheek, feeling his warmth radiating. You swore you saw him jolt from the sudden contact. Your finger grazed a cut on his cheekbone.

“You can open up to me. I do want to understand you.”

His lips curled up into a smile that reached his eyes.

A moment passed until the door flew open, causing you and Peter to spring apart. “Are you done here? I really need to pee!” MJ stormed in only to sprint to the bathroom.

Peter’s eyes were fixed to the ground and his ears were burning red. When you were sure MJ was out of earshot, you said to him, like adding insult to the injury, “Were you going to take me out for coffee today? Or on a date?”

He winced at your words like he’d just been slapped. He was looking everywhere but at you, refusing to meet your gaze.

“I’m really sorry about that! It was an easier way to hurry things up… Um, I needed MJ to let me go soon before you arrived from your ‘date’”—he said, making air-quotes—“so I could go pick you up at school.”

“Oh.” was all you said after his word-vomit. “Of course.”

He groaned in annoyance. He brought a hand up to his face, muffling any further sounds. Defeated, it was all he can do before saying, “Y/N, can’t getting coffee be a date to you?”

“Oh. Of course,” you repeated, but this time, the words were dripping with suppressed glee and excitement.

“Hey, why was Peter in the apartment the other day?”

It was the first time you mentioned it since that day, and although you had considered it to be water under the bridge back then, being in MJ’s presence after so long demanded some questions to be answered.

From her seat across you, MJ paused her typing. “You’re going out with him tonight, aren’t you? I’ll tell you when you get back—if he still hasn’t beat me to it. Which reminds me: you and him? Since when?”

You rolled your eyes, but her reply was better than being denied answers—as you were expecting—so you chose to settle with it.

“Since never,” you said. “We’re just getting coffee; it’s not a big deal.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” She chuckled, which earned her a kick in the shin.

A Friday night spent in the library never sat well with you, and by the time you emailed your professor your last paper, you were practically on your feet pacing back and forth, impatiently waiting for the email to go through. It was already quarter to ten. To make up for last time, you and Peter had agreed to meet in the nearest Starbucks at ten-thirty, when you were sure you’d be done working.

The nearest Starbucks happened to be a twenty minute walk from the library.

You hastily scooped all your belongings into your sling bag, said a rushed goodbye to MJ (who spent late nights there every day), and pranced out of the library. You checked your watch for the time: nine-fifty. You rationalized that you still had time to spare, so you made a quick stop at your apartment to get into a new change of clothes.

By the time you were done and running out, the time read ten-fifteen. You had changed into a dress which, admittedly, went a little too much for a simple coffee run. Maybe you did get carried away with ‘freshening up’, but you deemed yourself justified. After all, you were going out with Peter Parker.

Your phone chimed from a notification. It was from an unknown number.

Hey! I asked MJ for your number. Hope you dont mind 😅 you should text me when you’re close since I only live a few blocks from starbucks -Peter

It was a small gesture, yes, but you couldn’t help the blush creeping up your cheeks. He’d ask for your number. It wasn’t under the most romantic circumstances, but it worked for you. You hurriedly texted back an ‘okay!’.

It was already ten-twenty yet you were still within the university area. You were walking as fast as your freezing legs could take when you finally reached the outskirts of Addington. You’d heard of the back alley shortcuts that cut travel by a generous 10 minutes, so when you passed it, you didn’t hesitate to take the quicker route.

Now, you were a lot of things, but being a hypocrite wasn’t one of them. Everyone who knew you knew you hated tardiness. In fact, you would have berated Peter for it if he actually showed up last time. As a result, you desperately wanted to meet him on time tonight, even if it meant going through the darkest parts of Queens.

The back alleys were narrow passageways between the backs of adjacent buildings. The sounds of your sandaled footsteps echoed seemingly louder in the dark. You had just passed a group of boys who couldn’t have been older than you, gathered around a suspicious black bag of something. From the slur in their speech when they spoke, you didn’t want to know.

As you moved further, the alley grew increasingly darker and quieter. Sometimes, a stray cat would come out of a pile of trash, but other than that, you were the only living soul in there.

A few more minutes passed until the bustling sounds of downtown became audible. You could already make out the soft glow of some establishment’s neon lights. You stepped out of the alley where you spotted Peter’s apartment complex a few blocks ahead.

You decided to text him that you were close, but it was when you were about to hit ‘send’ that you felt two strong hands roughly pulling you back into the grimy alleyway.

“What the—“

You were pushed to the ground, your purse flying and landing a few feet ahead of you. Through the dark, you could make out two masked men scramble to your purse. Afraid of making noise, you watched as they rummaged through it. While they were occupied, you slowly moved backwards towards where you had come from, seeing the opportunity to make a run for it.

It wasn’t long until the sounds of footsteps came. Whipping your head around, you saw the silhouettes of two more burly men effectively blocking your only exit.

“Going somewhere, miss?”

You were trapped.

“There’s nothin’ here!” exclaimed one of the men, holding your purse up to show the group.

“She probably keeps it in her pockets,” said the other.

They both turned to look at you, chuckling as they saw your frightened expression. “Don’t be scared, little girl…”

You pleaded, “P-Please! Don’t come closer!”

You got up to your feet, your adrenaline urging you to make your escape. You ran as fast as you could towards the small crack of space they left, only to be pulled back. There was a sharp pain radiating from your lower back as it hit the ground.

“This is taking too long. Wallet, phone, now!” You were alarmed to see the two burly men who had blocked your exit earlier, now brandishing knives.

So you did the only thing you could do.

Scream.

Scream and hope to God someone hears you.

The odds were looking unlikely.

“Help! Please, anyone, help!” Tears were already streaming down your face while your heart beat wildly inside your chest. You were absolutely terrified.

“Shut up!” One man said, moving closer to you. “Stop moving!”

You were thrashing your arms around but the masked man had captured your wrists together, making you lose your hold on your phone. There was a loud ringing in your ears and a dull pain to your skull as your head met the concrete.

“Ow—! LET GO OF ME!!!”

Ring! Ring! Ring!

For a while, the whole world seemed to still around you. All five pairs of eyes landed on the mobile ringing loudly on the ground.

Incoming call: Peter Parker

Tears welled in your eyes. Your phone was no longer within your reach, as one of the men had managed to kick it further away from your grasp, along with the remaining hope inside you. The chances of being rescued were wearing thin.

Suddenly, your phone stopped ringing. And then, someone spoke.

“Found you. Fucking hell.” It was barely above a whisper, but you heard it in the silence. “Hey, you! She said let go!”

The voice was new and different and higher, unlike your current assailants’. You kept your eyes shut tight, still afraid and cowering.

The grip on you loosened and before you knew it, the masked man holding onto your wrists fell to the ground beside you, clutching his sides.

“You again? Bug off, Spider-Man. Actually bug off,” said one of them in a menacing voice with the other three breaking into laughter.

Spider-Man?

Through the dark, you could make out a flash of red and blue swinging around. From the ground, you could only watch the scene before you unfold. Spider-Man had managed to knock two men down, but the other two were a lot tougher with one of them still holding his knife.

You feel yourself growing weaker, the pain in your head getting the better of you. You close your eyes momentarily to regain control of your body. When you opened them again, Spider-Man was hovering over you, trying to shake you awake.

“Miss? Are you all right?”

His voice was muffled through his suit, but there was something familiar about it.

“Huh? Y-Yeah…” You blinked, still feeling a little disoriented. Looking around, you saw all four men webbed up against the wall. You must have passed out.

“Can you stand?” Spider-Man asked.

“I think so.”

You stand on your feet hurriedly which you immediately regretted, since you were now starting to feel lightheaded as a result. If it weren’t for Spider-Man, you would have fallen back to the ground. He had your arm securely draped around his neck as he helped you remain upright.

You looked down to where your hips touched and noticed a part of his suit looked darker than the rest.

“S-Spider-Man, you’re bleeding…”

And then everything went black.

A/N: and the plot starts to thicken! im thinking 2-3 more chapters left for this story. let me know what you want to see next in my next one! should i do a fic for tom holland or another peter parker? and what AUs do you want me to do? anyway, reblog to be tagged! and shoot an ask to be removed. as always, comments and reblogs and messages are highly encouraged.

PS, sorry for that assault scene! i understand the sensitive content so i’ve tagged the trigger warning. i wanted to avoid it, but seeing as this is a daily occurrence in the life of our hero, it was hard to go around it if i wanted to stay true to peter’s character!

@youllbemineandillbeyours @deadlyaffairs @melancholyandemotional @shockwavee @alexalltimelow @hbmoore1986 @missymariee @kharwreck @smexylemony @spideytaeh @tom-hollands-eyelash @curlypeter @ioikai @marco-hvittyvik @bigzaddyangie @woman-of-letters-legacy @punishblue @socially-awkward-xox @yourbiggestspiderfan @hollandshart @camilllaabeyo @panic-at-top @notunlimited @spidcr-man @tomhollandismysexuality @whostholland @angstyween @yungh0000d @everythingeverywherelistening @falalaholland

if you’re still reading, send a spiderweb emoji!

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markie-girl · 6 years

Text

Honeymoon Times

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Words: +5k

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“OMG! It's been a while since I've been here" you said with exciting hugging the guy next to you, "You've been here last year," he replied, "Yes, but it was for five days, for business and without you" you answered exciting, "Well, I hope you planned it right" he said smiling to you.

"Have you visit here before?" you asked after a few long seconds of silence. "Yes when I was young, but it's better to be here with someone who used to live here" he said winking at you, "Do you remember that we're going to meet my friends too? They planned a party for us" you mention to him,

"Does HE will be there too?" he asked. You could sense concern in his voice. "I believe so, he still is their kids' uncle," you said and quickly added smiling at him "He won't do stupid things since I told them to control him before"

"Yes, I don't want to start fighting him because he'll try to hit on my wife" he said holding your hand tightly.

"MARK! Don't worry, I'm already married to you and around them he'll behave" you snapped on him "besides Donna also invited others like James, Sara, Dave, Stefan, John and more people for you to meet for the first time" you said trying to relax him, "That's cool" he smiled to you, "They are all musicians too"

"Ok, so what we are doing today?" Mark asked changing the subject, "Well, first we need to get up from bed and then we'll walk to Oxford Street" you said, "Are we taking the Tube?" he asked, "No, we can walk there" you replied.

Mark looked at his phone searching on google maps. You wondered if he doesn't trust your familiarity with the area. "But according to google maps, it's thirty minutes walking" he said whining, "Don't you trust me? It will take exactly fifteen minutes top to get there" you replied laughing at his expression

"You’re the boss here" he said giving up, "I'm the boss, the boss, I'll make you feel this vibe… I'm the boss, the boss I am your stereotype" you started singing and laughing at the same time, "We said no K-Pop music for our honeymoon, that's including also C-Pop!" he said with fake anger in his voice, "But it's Yixing" you faked whining voice, "Same!" he said laughing.

"Should I put British ones?" you asked Mark since you needed some music this morning. "Could be better" he said and got up from bed to shower. You put the music on and looked at your suitcase to decide what you should wear until Mark will get out of the bathroom.

When you both were ready you left your hotel suite.

"So, how do we go to Oxford Street?" Mark asked intrested. "Let's put a timer, and I will show you how quick we will get there" you said proudly. Mark nodded pressing the 'start' bottom, "Let's go" you said and start walking straight until you got to Russell Square, and than turning left.

"Google maps says to go to the Tube" Mark stated suddenly, "I thought I lead the way now" you replied to him keep walking, "You are the boss" he said following you without understanding how you both would have gotten to Oxford-street, in the meantime you walked left through another ally.

"When will we arrive?" he asked making you feel like you were walking with a child. "well, we're going to see Oxford street in a two-three minutes maximum, so stop whining and keep going" you said laughing, "Ok, it’s been now five minutes since we started walking" he mentions, "If you'll keep stopping we'll never going to get there in ten or fifteen minutes" you said getting a little annoyed by his words.

You kept walking on the road until you saw the sign of "Tottenham" Tube, a few steps later you saw the "Primark" sign. "We are here," you said smiling, "I want to see the sign that said 'Oxford street'" he responded with devilish eyes, "Look up and stop the timer," you said pointing it at the sign of the street. Mark stopped the clock and looked to the sign you were pointing smiling, "How long?" you asked wondering if you made it on time, "Wow! 12.42 minutes" he said surprising, "You're such a dork sometimes" you told to him with a smile, "I am your dork, and you stuck with me forever" he said smiling

You laugh at his cheesy line and pull him close to you. Through the walking and talking, you stop at some stores and bought stuff that you wanted until you reached to the Big Bang. You took pictures of Mark and you then you went to the London Eye taking some pictures of the view and explaining Mark what he was looking at.

You suggest to him that it would have been better if you would have bought good sit tickets for musical and there is only one good place to do it but you both need to walk backwards, he nodded with silently in agreement.

"Don't worry, after we'll buy the tickets we can go to the British Museum and after that, we can relax all evening at our hotel suite" you said to him. You saw that he didn't like that long walking with bags after long flight with just four hours of sleep, even if it was business class, also you wanted to have more time with him although you might sleep early and he won't be able to see what you bought only for him, only for his eyes.

"Yes, it sounds like a good plan princess" he said smiling to you. You were about to enter to Starbucks again to buy hot chocolate because you had enough from all the coffee, until Mark pull you closer to him "enough with the coffee, you already drank four cups since we got up"

"I actually want hot chocolate, it's been a while since I drank it, and I just remember that we are in London and I love their hot chocolate with my chocolate-chip cookie," you said imagining the taste of them both in your mouth

"Ok, but that the last one for today, the next hot drink, if you want, will be tea, you know that caffeine isn't good for the health. Buy me one too!" he called when you were about to enter the store you sign him that you got his message and went to order it.

When you got to Leicester square, you discussed with Mark which musical you both should watch, which in the end was "Wicked". After buying good seats you walked to the British Museum, you told Mark that it will be better if you'll part your visit there since it's a huge place and even if you'll go twice you won't finish seeing all of it. He agreed so you only saw ancient Greece and ancient Egypt areas. Mark liked it very much and it surprised you when he saw the mummies it was so funny to watch him get excited and disgusted at the same time. That is why you took some videos of him and photos. When you arrived back to the hotel, you order dinner in your suite.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Time flew quickly and it was already the party day. You were worried about this since you knew that your ex-boyfriend, who also used to be your fiancé, was there too.

Mark, until not long ago, knew him only as your ex-boyfriend and you needed to tell him two weeks before your wedding since you ran off fast, or better took a flight to your original country. You texted your friends and asked them if he will be there for sure, still having a little hope that he may not show up. Sadly, they told you he would have been there, but they mention to you that they already talked to him and explained to him that you are married now so he is not allowed to do stupid things because if he will, they will kick him out of the party, and he agreed to it. You were relieved a little but still worried because it would have been the first time Mark would have faced him, knowing what happened in the past.

"Princess, are you ready to go?" he asked you touching your shoulder which made you jump a little "you are still worried I will kick his ass or you worried he'll do something stupid?" he hugged you from the back kissing your cheek "it will be ok, I told you I won't do anything to provoke him"

"I think you don't need to do it, it might be just by seeing us together and our rings" you said turning to him and hugging him "are the bags ready?" you ask changing the subject "there are supposed to be ten or eleven bags" you said.

"everything is ready, it's just my wife is so worried instead of having fun with her friends and her husband" he said smiling to you "also, I hope you're not ashamed of our marriage, I'm daring you to take off your rings, those ring symbol us as married couple so –"

"Do you really think I will take it off?" you said shocking "there is no way I will do it ever, he can go to hell if it bothers him, he was stupid and lost me" you said bravely and changed quickly subject "well, we do have to go now or we might get there late, have you called the reception to find us a taxi? By the way, you take five bags and I take five bags it's too heavy"

"Yes, and ok although I don't like the idea you carry it. Why did you buy so many things for the kids?" he asked very curious, you remember he never saw you buying so many kids toys, Disney dolls, kid clothes and costumes "it was really funny to see you buying kid stuff, I wonder what will happen when it will be our kids" he couldn't stop laughing

"The kids see me only on face time and once in a while I see them and give them a huge hug as their aunt that lives so far away" you said smiling "well, about our kids shopping I am pretty much scared to think about it, there is so many cute kids and babies stuff"

When you arrived at Henry and Donna's house, the kids run toward you greeting you. You almost fell down laughing at their reaction to you. "Kids! Let aunt Y/N get inside the house first, you can jump on her inside, come-on" Donna said and came to you "Y/N, get inside or else it will be hard to hold them for long, they missed you so much" she said smiling.

"Is that my little girl Y/N?" said a voice behind you "it's been a long time since we saw you last. You got taller and even prettier" the voice kept teasing you "oh, you brought a friend" you started laughing "Don't tease her too much Michel, we don't want to see her angry, this party if for her" said female voice to him

"Sara is right Michel, listen to your wife" you said laughing. Suddenly you felt someone trying to get your attention when you looked down you saw Lily. "Lily? Is that you?" you asked the little blonde-haired girl with blue eyes who were looking at you. She nodded and you took her in your hands "You grew up so fast, now you are a big girl," you told her kissing her cheek "Maybe you should call Daniel, Allen, Jane, Cooper, and Lia" you suggested "and I will give you the presents" she was so happy and asked you to let her down to go fast to the kids that were playing in the living room.

"Kids, you have to promise me you'll be nice to uncle Mark" you told them "he also has some of you presents" they were walking to him and pushing him to you say in a cute way "uncle Mark… auntie said you have presents for us" he laughs about their cuteness and says to you "I get it now when you said you can't resist their cuteness" you looked at him with knowing eyes saying 'I told you so'

After you and Mark gave the presents to the kids and they let you go without keeping jumping on you saying thanks and kissing you and Mark, you went to the kitchen to grab something to drink when everyone was outside at the BBQ waiting for the food to be ready, you could hear them talking and laughing including the kids, you were so happy that Mark felt welcome and could hold there without you. You turned on the water heater since you wanted to make a cup of tea, but you felt someone was behind you when you pour the water to the cup.

"Very not British of you not to put milk too" the voice said "you used to love it a few years ago" he kept speaking, you tried not to look at him or get close to him "are you scared looking at me? What's wrong with that guy? Why suddenly he has a ring?" you could smell the alcohol from him

"Henry said me that he told you," you replied still not looking at him, instead you looked at the cup. "told me what?" he replied, "He's not my boyfriend anymore" you said quietly, "what do you mean not your boyfriend anymore?" he was shocked now and starting to get angry.

"John he is my husband we got married a month ago, we are here for our honeymoon, why do you think we are celebrating here?" you talked back loudly towards him "Do you think we ever had a chance to get back together? Really? After we got engaged and you cheated me? John, a girl will never do that, a girl will never get back to someone that cheated on her when they were engaged" you said taking a breath "even if I wasn't married or having a boyfriend I wouldn't go out with you, you belongs to my past now. I am a different person, I've changed in those years that passed. I don't love you anymore it took me a year to get over you and gladly the moving from here was a good timing"

"But Y/N, I always loved you. I never wanted to let you go" he said to you, at this point you started laughing "What's funny?" he asked, you respond "well, I'm not going to talk to you about the past, I have a better life now. I have a husband who loves me a lot who cherish me, he's the only guy for me" at that moment he got closer to you, he caught you in his hands looking at you saying "Do you really think he loves you better than I am?" he asked "do you think he fucks you well as I used to?" he whispered to you

"Can you please stop arresting my wife, you should be really careful in what you're saying to her" Mark voice was behind him "and to be honest, cheating is not cool, so I suggest you won't do it to your next girlfriend" John took a step back and looked at Mark "Do you think you better than me?" he asked Mark, "I don't think I'm better than you" he said "I know I am"

At that point, John tried to hit Mark with a box. "HENRY!!! MICHEL!!! STEFAN!!! PLEASE COME FAST!!!" you screamed, you tried to hold John and pull him off Mark, but both of them were too strong each of them wanted to show how manly they are, a few seconds pass and the boys were in the kitchen separating Mark and John. You looked at Mark's face to see he if is ok, he has an injury at his face and you got angry, very angry. You hear someone, maybe Michel, murmuring that you're mad. You walked toward John, who was held by Stefan, and slaps his cheek so hard that if there were more people inside the house they could hear it

"How dare you to touch him? How dare you to leave an injury on his face? Unlike you, he has a carrier. You, on the other hand, started to perform with unknown and so-called band, I really hope for you that in this week and a half of MY HONEYMOON it will disappear or else –" you haven't finished the sentence "I better shut up for now and hope well for you" you turned to your husband hugged him and kiss him, murmuring things in Korean so no one there can understand you both.

The rest if the evening went well, the kids kept you and Mark busy, no mention of what happened before. Mark tried to reassure you he is ok, but you still wanted to punch John again. The boys talked to him after you left with Mark outside and put some ice on the punch he got. From time to time you talked to Mark in Korean to check if he needs something and he kept replaying you in English.

"Y/N stop talking to him in korean we want to know what you both talking about" Stefan said laughing, "She just checking if I'm ok, and I am" Mark replied "you can try to make her stop, but she's worried so she won't " he said and they both laughed, "wait, did I become the joke now?" you asked smiling to them "Maybe" Stefan said, "what's wrong if the wife is worried about her husband well been hoping his manager and his group leader won't kill her bringing him back with injury" you said, "She kind of right boys" stated Henry behind you "he still famous singer" he kept saying and you laugh "singer? More like a rapper, by the way, Mark I wonder what will happen if I told Jackson what happened" you said teasing him "then for sure he would be dead" all of you laugh so hard.

You decided to go inside the house to call your friend and tell her what's happened although you agreed with Mark no communication with friends and family out of England. When you were about to press call, Allen was next to you "aunt Y/N" he said quietly to you, "what is it, Allen? Is everything alright?" you asked him "Yes aunt Y/N, we just want you to read us a book or two before bed" you were amazed by his request "of course, I will bring tea and come to your room, is everyone in your room or at the basement?" you asked him "basement" he replied "ok, so choose a book or two and I'll come in a minute" he nodded and run away.

You made you tea and left the kitchen to reach the kids. They were already under the blankets talking to each other and waiting for you. "AUNTI" the said together and gave you one book of "The dinosaur who pooped a planet" you started reading that book, you saw that Lily and Allen were already fast asleep when you finished that book, you took the other book "The dinosaur that pooped bed" you started reading, before finishing reading you saw that everyone was asleep. When you raised your head you saw Mark looking at you with admiring eyes. You hushed him and leave the book on the table nearby and left the basement.

"Wow, you sure are a good aunt" he said to you, hugging you close to him, "thank you" you replied giving him a pack on the lips "let's go, I'm already tired" you said, "yes, that's why I looked for you", you hold his hand and went up. "Henry, Donna" you called "the kids are sleeping and I think we'll go," you said, "are you planning to go to the park this week? If yes so we can come with the kids" Sara said, "Yes, to Kensington garden maybe in two days not sure, but when I'll do I make sure to text you guys, thanks for hosting us, I missed you so much and you all welcome in our house anytime" after you and Mark said goodbye you left to the hotel suite and fell asleep immediately.

The days pass quickly, it was your last three days in London you showed Mark so many things and even went to Greenwich and you bought so many souvenirs for friends and family in Korea, one of the things you got there was a keychain that shows dates and years, futures and past. You and Mark decided to have a lazy morning in bed and sleep a lot because you both love to sleep. Throughout your sleep, you could hear the vibration of a phone, you opened your eyes and reached to Mark's side table to check his phone, but it was not his. "That's yours, put it on silence!" he murmured from sleep and turn to the other side. You laugh at yourself and took your phone you only saw the number but you did not recognize it so you decline the call. A few seconds later it started again, so you got up from the bed and went to the living room of the suit

"It's about time you will answer, I hope the marriage hasn't changed you" the voice said from the other side, finally you realize who you're speaking with "James, is that you?" you ask, "Finally you remember who I am" he laughed, "Omg James, so nice to hear your voice, have you change your number? How is lil Morris? And Rory?"

"Ya! Who are those guys you're talking about?" It was Mark voice coming from behind you "tell me!" he demands. "James, wait a second Mark woke up now because of you" you said laughing. You hear James laughing and turn to Mark, "its James you met him at Henry's house, Rory and lil Morris are his brothers, we're just good friends, and I think his house in LA is at the same area your parents live" you told him. You return to your conversation with James "so Jamie what do you want?" you asked, "just wanted you and Mark will go to the park for some chilling together and maybe writing a little bit" he said quietly the last part "so that's what you want" you said knowingly "I will tell you what I want, what I really, really want" you laugh "spice girls, impressive. And for your wish I will get back to you with a text, I need to talk to Mark first" you said "awesome, Cya later sis" he said and hang up.

"So what does he want?" Mark asked quickly after you hang up. "He wants us to go to the park for chilling and he wants me to help him write," you replied "But it's up to you if you want to go" Mark was thinking for short minutes "If you want too, it's already nine in the morning and I thought we'll have lazy morning, but I don't mind" he said smiling to you "also, what writing are you talking about?"

"In the past, we used to write some songs, but like weird ones, about one of his bandmate since he was fucking every 'hot' girl he saw" you said laughing and remembering those time. "Y/N, that’s weird," he replied with a disgusted look. "It isn't, Dave liked it and loved to sing it"

"Wow, I will tell Jaebum you're writing we'll see what he will do, since when won the lottery?" he asked laughing. "Almost a month ago when I said 'I do' and wore white"

Mark and you went to the part to see James. You made sure everyone know you'll be there so they can come up with the kids and have good times which became to be a huge picnic in Kensington Gardens. It was like in the old times you all were sitting together some were chatting about life and life's problems. Some were playing the kids. You, James, Mark and Henry were sitting close to each other in a circle, James with his guitar playing randomly on the guitar. James showed you what he and Stefan had started so you tried to keep it with him, after thirty minutes you all decided to leave it be and sing some of the old songs. You were there until mid-noon.

"It was fun, wasn't it?" you asked Mark while you were walking to your hotel through Oxford-street. "Yes, it was a great time, also seeing you really happy. I wished we could come visit here more often since you looked so relax" he replied to you, "Yes, I missed them, I grew up with them, I used to go with them to tours if I was in a break from studies" you signed, "Yes, that James guy is so weird but he's cool" he comments, "Cool? I wouldn't say so, but he is clever" you said and shut your mouth for a second, something was wrong with what you said and you could not tell what. "Clever?" Mark said trying to copy the British accent that split to you. "Sorry, I couldn't control it" you said laughing, "anyway, he is smart. I hope he'll find a good girl". Through your walking to the hotel you saw Starbucks store near the tube station so you decided to but yourself a drink "Mark, do you want something? I want hot chocolate," you asked, "Didn’t we agree only tea for you?" he answered "I haven't drink it in a few days!" you complained, "Well, I want iced Americano" he said not replying about the hot chocolate you want. You order first for Mark than for you. "I think that's the best vacation I've had, my beautiful wife and her hot chocolate, amazing city, nice company, good coffee and two weeks of freedom" he sighs, "I didn’t order hot chocolate, I order twinning breakfast English tea" you said taking a sip from your drink. "Really? Why?" he asked surprisingly, "because I lost the willing for it, also it does better if I'll drink tea" he gave you a peck on the lips and smile. "you don't have to look too happy"

When you were at your hotel room lying in bed watching some British Entertainment TV show while making out a little bit. "I don't think I'm ready to go back home" you said whining "I don't think I'm ready to share you again yet, but we do need to go back to reality" Mark replied you. "Do you think your fan will notice your ring?" you heard your worried voice asking "Well, I don't know. They might but I do wear rings and usually they are almost the same, some that my friends bought me before moving to Korea, but I will ask PD-nim what can we do" he said hugging you closer to him. "If it makes it harder maybe it will be better if you'll remove it" you said "That's never going to happen like I don't want you to remove yours"

At the Heathrow airport, you were sitting with Mark at the Starbucks sitting area, you order hot chocolate for you and some iced coffee to Mark. he wasn't happy that you drink it. "Don't worry, it's my last cup until next time" you said smiling at him, "I know, do you want to go to the first class lounge?" he asked you. "Yeah, I think it better for both of us, also we can talk in a little more private" he took your hand and went with you to the direction of the lounge.

"Y/N? is that you?" you heard a voice behind you and Mark, you turned around to see who was it. "Oliver? Is that you?" you asked trying to recognize the person in front of you and Mark, "Y/N! I'm so happy to see you, how are you? what are you doing these days?" he asked so fast. "Well, as you know I left long ago and my parents moved to the states for short time than to Korea for one year, the short story I was here to celebrate my honeymoon with my husband Mark" you said and introduce Mark to Oliver. They both shake hands. "Wow, congratulations! She is an amazing person, you won the lottery" he said, "I know, I love her so much. How do you know each other?" Mark asked, "Well, I'm a musicals actor, she used to see lots of musicals and used to see musical I was participated in, I think the first one was Wicked, right Y/N?" he said smiling showing his dimples, "Yes, then Rock of Ages with Shane Ward, are you still in touch with him?" you asked, "Yes, we hang out from time to time. I will tell him I met you and said 'hi', he will probably freak out, you must visit again soon" he said, "we'll do our best, I promise to the boys' children I will come again, by the way, where are you going? Where are your wife and kids?" you said, "How did you know that I have a girl and not just George? They started our family vacation in Barbados, so I'm joining them today" he said, "Oh cool, and for your question, once a fan always a fan. I do try to keep track with you on twitter" you said smiling. "That's your story with everyone? Should I get jealous?" Mark asked laughing, "Olly, we need to take a picture so you'll show Shane you saw me, we can make him a clip so he is more jealous. Mark says so because I was his fan too" you said explaining what Mark meant.

Mark took a picture of you and Oliver, then you took a picture all the three of you. Oliver and you made a short clip for Shane also a clip to Rachel –Oliver's wife, they announce on the airport that the boarding to Barbados is starting so you hugged Oliver and said goodbye inviting him to visit with his family in Korea and text you.

After Oliver went, you kept going with Mark to the lounge. "We need to talk about what will happened when we land" Mark said, "I know, you should talk to PD-nim" you said "I don't want anything to happen to you I think it will be better if I will leave alone, but I don't want you to go alone home" Mark said worried, "well, make PD-nim organize the car with bodyguards and I can go with my car at the parking lot" you said. Mark turned on his phone called his PD-nim telling him about what you agreed, "PD-nim said it's a good plan, and we should do it" Mark said, "Good, so I'll see you after a while at home?" you asked winking with a smile to him, "Yes, I still don’t like it" Mark said, "Oh, I think it will be better you ask him about the ring" you said, "I'm so happy that you want me to stay with the ring on, I know that it's because I ask you to do the same" he said, "Yeah, but I think men with wedding ring is really sexy, especially when that man is mine!" you said, "I swear I fell in love with you again now, but don't dare to look at other men" he said, "I have the pretty one, who cares about other"

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Note: Thankyou guys for waiting so long for it! I just want to thank @weirdsofagirls for helping me with grammar and been there for me while writing it! Love ya girl <3 and I appreciate it. You also should check her page, she’s writing an amzing fiction on EXO Suho!

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nebulous-frog · 6 years

Text

The Prince and His Helper

Summary: Dan and Phil work together at Disney World. Dan is Prince Eric's handler, and, well, let's just say you never see Phil and Prince Eric in the same place at the same time. Dan really likes Phil. He's been known to get a little jealous at the most idiotic of times, but his heart's in the right place.

Part Two is now up!

Word count: 2260 (this chapter- 17,212 overall)

Rating: G

Warnings: Some swearing

Genre: Fluff, Getting Together

Author’s Note: This is part one of probably three, so stay tuned for the rest soon!

Written for Day 5 of @phanfichallenge‘s week of fics!

Big thank you to @imnotinclinedtomaturity for betaing!

Link to AO3 Fics Masterlist

Dan sat in front of the makeup mirror in the character dressing room, scrolling mindlessly through his phone, too tired to process what he was reading, and occasionally sipping from one of the two coffees on the counter to keep himself from falling out of his chair in a dead sleep.

It was too damn early in the morning- the sun hadn’t even come out yet- but at least caffeine would get him going. Mostly.

Other handlers and characters were scattered throughout the room, putting on or helping to put on costumes. They were too busy to chat with Dan, not that he wanted company anyway. He was content to sit alone in the corner and wait for Phil to arrive.

Phil was an actor who was “friends with” Prince Eric, as the Disney cast members were required to call it (they had to preserve the magic; no child would want to come to Disney if they knew there was a human living inside Mickey Mouse), and Dan was completely enamored with him.

This was their fourth month working together as a handler-actor pair, and they had long since become friends. During breaks, they would chatter away about their many common interests until Dan remembered Phil had to save his voice for talking to the kids, and then Dan would gladly carry the whole conversation.

Their interactions gradually got flirtier and flirtier, and Dan often went home excited for work with Phil the next day.

This morning, however, Dan had gotten to work much earlier than he had anticipated and now he was bored, tired, and a little anxious. Phil would be there soon, of course, but Dan’s brain liked to mess with him.

What if today is the day the ever-dependable Phil Lester is finally late? He really needs to be here, though. I have to talk to him. Maybe he somehow knows and is trying to make me extra nervous. That’s legit, right?

But Dan’s worry was pointless, as, true to form, Phil arrived right on time- 6:30am on the dot.

“Hey, Dan,” Phil said as he walked into the room.

Dan looked up from his phone and smiled. Phil looked as cheery as ever, which always surprised Dan. Who could be that happy so early in the morning? Luckily, his attitude was contagious, so Dan couldn’t help but feel his nerves melt away and turn into a tired excitement for a new day right along with Phil.

“Hey, Prince. Ready for another day of bringing joy to small children?”

“Of course!” Phil chuckled. “I see you have my costume all ready for me already.” He quirked a questioning eyebrow at Dan. “You always make me get it myself. What’s up with today?”

Prince Eric’s blue slacks, yellow sash, royal jacket, and shiny black boots sat out on the chair next to Dan’s. Phil walked over and toed his own tennis shoes off.

“What, can’t I just be a helpful handler for once?” Dan asked incredulously. When Phil raised his eyebrows skeptically, Dan continued, “Fine, fine, I got here early and was bored while waiting for you to show up.”

Dan stood up, sliding his phone into the front pocket of his blue shorts, then walked over to Phil.

“Need any help?” he asked, watching as Phil took everything out of his pockets.

“Not just yet, but you know I always need someone to do the sash and zipper for me.”

Phil slipped his pants off and pulled up the costume pants, holding out the sash for Dan to help.

Dan took one end of the sash, then wrapped his arms around Phil’s waist to grab the other end of it and tie it. He was so tired that his hands fumbled the fabric a few times, but he hoped Phil didn’t think too much of it.

Don’t think about how you’re basically hugging him right now, or how you can feel how toned his stomach is when you brush against it, or how close your face is to his, or how you can literally feel his breath on your face, Dan thought. He pointedly kept his eyes down, focusing intently on tying the sash and keeping his expression neutral.

Once Dan had stepped back, Phil took off his t-shirt and slipped the white decorative jacket over his shoulders and let Dan zip up the front of the jacket and button the flap to hide the zipper.

“Do I look princely yet?” Phil giggled, carefully sitting down to put on his boots.

“Of course, my liege,” Dan joked with a mock bow. He leaned his butt against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his head to look at Phil.

“So, someone’s early today. You’re literally always late,” Phil wondered after a beat of silence. “What gives?”

Dan blushed and spluttered. “What? I am not always late!” he exclaimed, stalling for time as he thought of a good excuse.

Phil shot him a look that clearly said, Yeah, right, and Donald Trump is marrying the Queen of England.

“Okay, Mr. Perfectly Punctual, why were you especially early today?” There was a glint in Phil’s eye and a cheekiness to his smile that showed Dan just how pleased Phil was that he had taken the bait.

Dan loved that cheeky smile.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to just get up and get here early,” Dan explained, trying to appear nonchalant.

Phil glanced up from his now-finished task, concern clear on his face. Dan must not have done a very good job of playing it cool.

“Couldn’t sleep? Is everything okay?” Phil’s brow was furrowed and he had a slight frown tugging on his lips.

Dan refused to acknowledge the voice in the back of his head calling it adorable.

“Yeah, I think I just had too much caffeine or something. You know me.” He brushed it off with a wave of his hand and an awkward laugh. “I’ll be fine.”

It wasn’t a lie, really, it just wasn’t the full truth. Dan had had a lot of caffeine yesterday, and something made him unable to sleep. It just... wasn’t the caffeine. Caffeine never affected Dan so much he couldn’t sleep at night.

No, what had kept Dan lying awake most of the night was his decision to ask Phil out on a date after work today.

Months of pining and flirting had built up, and Dan finally decided to throw caution to the wind and ask Phil to dinner, or coffee, or a movie, or literally anything, so long as they were together and it was a date.

Unfortunately, Dan’s brain had the rather awful tendency to overanalyze anything and everything he could possibly come into contact with, so his night had been full of what ifs and worst-case scenarios. They ranged from What if Phil already has a boyfriend all the way to Phil’s straight and homophobic and if I ask him out he’ll throw up on my face at the very idea of dating another man.

He knew it was ridiculous, he knew nothing horrible would happen, and he was 86% sure Phil would accept the invitation of a date. He even knew for a fact that Phil was very much not straight, since they’d talked about how hot multiple male actors were. But of course Dan’s brain would insist this was a terrible idea and he’d surely get rejected.

So when 5am rolled around, Dan decided he’d had enough and instead distracted his thoughts by getting ready for work and leaving a whole fifteen minutes earlier than necessary.

Obviously, he couldn’t tell Phil any of this without seeming like a complete idiot, so Dan just hoped his vague half-truth would be enough to get Phil to let it go.

After one more suspicious side-eye, Phil turned to the mirror and began to apply the required Prince Eric makeup to his face.

“Just make sure you take care of yourself, yeah, Dan?” Their eyes met in the mirror and Phil flashed Dan a small smile. “Wouldn’t want you passing out in the middle of a meet-and-greet.”

Dan let out a quiet sigh of relief and nodded. “Of course. Extra water for me, today.”

He stood up straight and turned around to watch Phil in the mirror.

Mirror Phil rubbed sunscreen-infused foundation on his cheekbones, and Dan’s mind wandered.

I wish I could be the one touching his cheeks like that. I bet his skin is soft and warm. Dan sighed internally.

I wonder what it feels like when he’s blushing. And what it looks like up close. How does he even stay this pale? He works outside for half the day, but he still looks like a genderbent Snow White. His lips are too pale for Snow White, though. Not that that matters- he doesn’t have to be Snow White. He’s absolutely gorgeous just the way he is, anyway. And his eyes, god, they’re so pretty. So blue, but also not, and they’re attentive, and-

It took him at least ten seconds to realize that Phil was staring back at Dan. And Dan was staring at Phil like some kind of lovestruck princess.

“Are you really that tired, or do you see something you like?” Phil said with a smirk.

Dan felt his cheeks heating up again. He couldn’t come up with a good comeback quick enough, so he just settled for a mumbled, “Oh, shut up,” and flicked his gaze down to the counter again.

His coffee was still sitting there, and Dan eagerly reached out to take another sip from it, half for the distraction and half for the necessary caffeine. Leaning against the counter again, he slid the other Starbucks cup over to Phil.

“This one’s for you, by the way,” Dan said around the lip of his own travel cup. “An extra sugary Caramel Macchiato just for you.”

(What he had wanted to say was “It’s just as sweet as you”, but that’d have consequences he wasn’t prepared to deal with just yet.)

Phil gave an adorable little “yay!” of delight and took a sip.

“Mmmm, it’s perfect. Thanks, Dan,” Phil said with a smile. He set the coffee back down and continued applying his light makeup.

“Of course.”

They remained in comfortable silence for a few minutes as Phil finished getting ready. Dan desperately hoped the caffeine would finally wake him up enough to be decent at his job today, because he was likely to fall asleep standing up if it didn’t.

While he waited for Phil, Dan took a moment to make sure his uniform looked decent. Granted, it was hard to make blue culottes (the dumbest shorts in existence), a Mickey and Friends polo (who the hell thought blue and green stripes were a good idea?), a lanyard (heavy with stupid pins), and a black belt (dorky and dad-like) look good.

All together, it was kind of hideous.

Dan tried his best to spice the gross outfit up a little. He rolled the sleeves slightly, exposing a bit more bicep, and french-tucked the shirt (for Tan France), hopefully making the overall outfit less… garish, to put it nicely. If nothing else, he hopefully looked less like a sad sack of potatoes now.

Finally, Phil sat back in his chair and let out a sigh, then took a sip from his coffee.

Dan glanced away from his own reflection to find Phil looking unfairly pretty. Phil was always pretty, obviously, but the makeup smoothed everything out so well that he looked- well, like a prince.

Their eyes met, and Dan let out a small cough and trained his eyes back onto the ground.

“All set, then?” He took a drink of his coffee and chanced another glance up at Phil.

“Your prince is ready to go,” Phil declared triumphantly, throwing both hands in the air.

Dan snorted. “Alright, my liege, let’s get moving. We have to go get our assignment for the day and I’d rather not have to stand in line behind all the other characters again.”

He stood up straight and swallowed the final dredges of his coffee. When he turned to Phil, he was met with Phil’s hand outstretched, waiting for Dan to help his lazy arse up. Dan rolled his eyes, but took Phil’s hand and helped him stand.

How are his hands always so soft? He’s clearly magic. Probably has little animals that moisturize his hands for him.

“Thank you, my dear servant,” Phil said in a snooty tone, nose in the air.

“Oh, you are most welcome, my liege,” Dan replied sarcastically, bowing low with his right arm pointing towards the door to the dressing room.

As they walked out the door, Dan noticed a physical change in Phil’s demeanor; Phil was now in Prince Eric Mode, getting himself warmed up to be in character for a day of entertaining children.

It was always fascinating to watch Phil slip into character. He started by changing his posture: broad shoulders raised, back straightened, chin up just enough to appear confident without seeming cocky. Then, his facial expression would change. Some of the excitement would dim from his eyes, turning into a more relaxed openness. His smile would soften, too, making him seem less like a giddy puppy and more like a responsible-yet-kind adult.

By the time they made it to the door of the main office, Dan wasn’t walking next to Phil anymore, he was walking next to Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid.

And so the workday properly began.

Part Two

#phan #phanfic #disney fic #prince and his helper #fluff #au #week challenge #day five

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loudsuitlover · 6 years

Text

College Harry

“Hey, Fair Lady.” Styles smiled smugly as he walked inside the Starbucks where you worked to get his every day order.

You had grown used to his frat boy’s self-centered flirty behaviour by then and it didn’t really bother you anymore. As a matter of fact, you would be lying if you said you didn’t wait for him when you were on your morning shift. He had started calling you Fair Lady ever since you sat next to him on the only class you had together because he remembered that you had played Eliza Doolitle in the annual play of your Uni the year prior, when you were a fresman. You wondered if he treated Maggie- the girl who worked on the bar when you weren’t working- the same way he treated you. He probably did, you decided, for you knew he did flirt with any female on his way. He had quite the reputation.

You didn’t come back with a witty reply as you usually did that day though. No, because you were stressed to death. You did not know what you were going to do for the life of you and the thing was your so very competitive cousin Kylie was coming to campus to visit you for the weekend.

“Y/N?” Harry asked with a teasing smile widening his lips. “Where did you go?”

He was chuckling at you. You sighed frowning, thoughts about Kylie still running through your mind as you had a look at him. He was wearing a white cotton shirt with short black sleeves and his signature black tight jeans. He looked good. You on the other hand, had your hair worn up in a messy ponytail and looked stressed under the green Starbucks apron. Only he thought you looked cute.

“Sorry, I was out of it.” You told him. “Do you need anything else, Harry?” You smiled, handing him his coffee and a free biscuit that you only gave to special clients- those being the ones you liked.

He shook his head.

“No, thank you. I was just asking if you were coming to our party on thursday night.” He smiled, wiggling his eyebrows.

“No.” You said.

“Hey! And why not? You can’t have anything better to do! It’s on a thrusday.”

“Your assumption that I wouldn’t have plans is nearly offensive but I’ll just say that anything- even Netflix and chill- is better than going to some lame frat house party.” You smiled and he laughed at your backlash. He loved it.

“You know when people say netflix and chill they don’t actually mean watching movies right?” He teased, getting closer to you so he could whisper that.

You shook your head and bit back a smile as he walked away, leaving a generous tip for you.

Jess had taken over your dorm to be able to do her makeup without having to deal with Annoying Alice, her roommate whom she hated. You were lying on your bed looking at her as you tried to decide on a movie. Thrusday night had arrived sooner than you expected and Kylie was to come the next day. By then you had decided on telling her that your boyfriend, the one that you had told her about when she was making you sick at Christmas bragging about her gorgeous man, had gone to visit his family in Nevada. There were many things that could describe that boyfriend of yours, such us fictitious, but hey sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do.

“Are you seriously not coming?” Jess asked as you laid back on your mattress.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” You chuckled.

“Come on, Y/N! I mean hello? Harry Styles is flirting with you, girl! Get your lazy ass out of the bed and go to this fucking party.”

“Because my life revolves around Harry Styles.” You said sarcastically.

He had sent you a snapchat then, a selfie with the caption you better come that made you laugh. You sent him a picture of your laptop with netflix opened. He sent you a selfie very funny.

“I am just saying” She shrugs “You are smiling like it actually excites you.”

“He’s just playing.” You rolled your eyes. “And so am I.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to let me go alone to this party.” She dramatically complained as you pushed her out of your room. “You know what going alone means? It’s like a direct social suicide, don’t you mind?”

“Have fun.” With that you closed the door on her face bitting down a smile.

Harry was resting the lower part of his back against the counter and having a beer as people kept arriving. He couldn’t stop glancing at the door, hoping you were just teasing him and would actually appear. He would never admit it- and in fact he hated even thinking about it- but you had something on him.

He had met you last semester in a class you both passed so now you didn’t share any more lectures so that’s why he started going to Starbucks every monday, tuesday and wednesday morning so he could hang out for you if it were only for those fifteen minutes. He liked that you flirted back to him but had him on his toes, never quite giving him all the attention he wanted. It was as if you didn’t care and you might as well not care for all he knew but despite that- no matter how much he was thinking about you lately- you were friends. You were probably the first girl he’s had a friendship despite the physical attraction for the thing wasn’t that he didn’t have girl friends. He did, in fact Louise was his best friend, but he felt in no way attracted to her whatsoever despite her being a beautiful girl whereas with you... All he had to do was think of you with your wet hair after a shower to have him going.

He started looking for you the moment your friend Jess walked in the house but he frowned when he realized she came there alone. He snatched a quick picture of her looking for someone and snapchatted you what sort of friend leaves their friend alone? he wrote. Go talk to her you texted back over a pic of your popcorn. That looks cosy he sent you a picture of his kitchen. Jess is pretty anyway, a selfie of you crossing your eyes. Mmm Irresisitble.

He wouldn’t admit it but he was disappointed. For some reason, the idea of seeing you outside of Uni, wearing something other than the green Starbucks apron had him excited. He imagined you would wear your hair down, maybe some makeup, a dress; but he would also liked you if you were wearing jeans and a sweater as you usually went to your lectures. He just wanted you there really.

You were halfway through The Perks of Being a Wallflower when Harry dared to do it. He had been thinking about texting you with no jokes involved for a while now. He could blame the alcohol then he thought for if he texted you something out of line and he wasn’t clearly teasing, you could take it the wrong way and he could ruin whatever it was that you two had but he could blame the alcohol then.

Miss you x

Your mouth was stuffed with popcorn as you read his Snap. It was a picture of his thigh and surprisingly enough there was no girl sitting on it. You had seen it a lot, when you were a freshman and he had a different girl on his leg at every party you attended to. Of course he hadn’t even noticed you back then- why would he? But everyone knew who Harry Styles was so so did you.

You swallowed. What did you answer to that? Was he just messing around? He was probably just joking. He was Harry Styles for crying out loud. You received a call from Jess as you held the phone in your hands still thinking what to say back to him.

“Hello, Y/N?” Some guy you didn’t recognize asked.

“Yeah? Who’s this? Where’s Jess? Is she okay?”

“Hi, my name is Niall.” He said. “Jess is okay, don’t worry, she’s just had too much to drink and I thought it would be best if I called a friend of hers? I really think she should go home.” He said.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, I’ll go pick her up.” You stood up from your bed, putting on your jeans as you held the phone with your shoulder. “Where are you?”

“We’re at the frat house.” She said. “I saw some guy took her into a room but she wasn’t even walking straight so... I just got her out of there.”

“Fuck.” You cursed as you put on your vans. “Thank you, mate.” You told him. “She’ll appreciate that. So where is she now? Can I talk to her?”

“Yeah, sure.” The guy had a thick Irish accent what made you think you had never talked to him before, you’d remember. “Jess, this is your friend Y/N. She wants to talk to you, okay? I’ll hold your hair.”

Fuck it Jess must be really pissed. You heard as she puked, then the sound of her legs against the floor and then she sighed on the phone.

“Thank you.” She whispered, surely to Niall and not to you.

“Are you okay?” You asked as you left the room, your key and wallet in your hand. “Jess, are you safe? Do you know this guy?”

You can never be too careful.

“Hi, Y/N.” She blurred. “Don’t worry. Niall is gooooooood.” Hiccup. “He saved me which makes him a hero.” She said. Fuck she was hammered.

“Okay, listen to me, Jess.” You said sternly. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. In the mean time, you go to the living room or the kitchen or any place with lots of people around, yeah?”

“But I’m throwing up.”

“That’s okay.” You reassured her. “But I don’t want you to be alone with a guy you don’t know in this state okay? No matter how nice he seems.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” She reassured you. “Harry missed you by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah. Can I talk to Niall now sweetie?”

“Sure.” She said.

“I’m on my way. I’ll be there in 5 minutes.” You lied, just in case. “Thanks for calling. We owe you big time.”

“No problem.” He said. “I’ll stay with her.”

“Thank you.”

The minute you hang up- and while you ran as fast as you could towards the frat house because of course your car wasn’t working at the moment- you called Harry for the first time in all the time you had known him.

“Hey.” If you hadn’t been so nervous you would have heard the smirk on his voice.

“Hey Harry.” You breathed. “I need you to do me a favour, please.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Calm down, Y/N. What’s wrong? Were are you? Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes. It’s not about me.” You told him. “It’s about Jess. Somebody called saying she’s had too much to drink but Jess doesn’t drink, Harry. She has diabetes.” You cried. “So I think someone must have drugged her and-”

“Where is she? Do you know where she is? Who called you?”

“A guy.” You said. “His name was Niall.”

“Thank God.” He sighed. “She’s okay, Y/N. I know him. He’s a friend.”

“Really?” You stopped your running for you felt your lung was going to jump out of your throat. “He won’t hurt her?”

“No, no, I’m a hundred percent sure. Don’t worry, okay?” He soothed you and you nodded even if he couldn’t see you. “Now where are you?”

“I’m on my way to the house. I’m picking her up.”

“You’re running to the house?” He asked. “You live like 25 minutes away.”

“I know.” You breathed. “But my car is broken and I didn’t have time to get an Uber or anything.”

“How far are you? Do you want me to pick you up?”

“You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”

“Shit.” He cursed. “I can ask Louise. She doesn’t drink.”

“No.” You told him. “That’s fine, I’m 10 minutes away anyway. Can you please find Jess and stay with her until I arrive? I know Niall is a friend but... I would feel better if I know she’s with you.”

“Sure. I’ll go find her and call you when I do, yeah? Call me if there’s anything you need though.”

“Thank you, Harry.”

“No problem.”

He called Niall the second you hang up and he told him they were still in the bathroom upstairs. He ran up the stairs and almost flinched when she saw the state Jess was in. She was sitting down on the floor, her skin was pale and covered in sweat and she was trembling. Niall was standing next to her, keeping a close eye on her.

“Shit, mate.” Niall said. “As soon as her friend comes pick her up I’m going to beat the shit out of whoever did this to her.”

“Did you see him?” Harry asked.

“Yeah. I basically pulled her away from the prick.”

Jess threw up again and Harry creased his nose, the stink of alcohol was disgusting. You had said Jess didn’t drink because she has diabetes but her puking over the toilet said otherwise.

“Fucking hell, Jess.” Harry kneeled down next to her and held her hair away from her sweaty forehead. “Did you have anything to drink, sweetheart?”

“Hell yeah, Haz! What sort of question is that? Can’t you fucking see her?”

“She doesn’t normally drink, Niall.” Harry explain patiently. “She has diabetes.”

“I don’t know.” Jess cried. “I never drink, I swear but I don’t know what happened. I was feeling okay and then... I don’t know.” She cried.

“Okay.” Harry rubbed her back. “Let’s say you have drunk. What do you need to do when that happens?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never done it so I don’t know.”

“You don’t know why you’re not supposed to drink, love?”

She turned her head towards the toilet and puked again. Harry should probably call you and ask you what to do but he didn’t want to worry you anymore than you already were. He knew you had been worried for a few days, he had told, so he didn’t know if you would just full on cry on his phone if he were to tell you.

“Find Louise.” He told Niall.

You were now walking faster but you couldn’t run anymore. You were barely four minutes away and Harry wasn’t answering your texts. You felt awful and now Harry’s teasing text from before seemed to haunt you what sort of friend leaves their friend alone? And he was right, what sort of person does that? You had betrayed it- that secret silent agreed code between girls- of never leaving one of us alone, always going together to the bathroom. There was a reason for that and it was this and it had hit you in the face and now Jess was suffering having the worst best friend in the world.

Louise made it to the bathroom with a worried expression on her face. She was on her last year of nursing school so she managed to bring some calm to that bathroom once she collected her thoughts.

“What happened?” She asked Harry as she took Jess’ temperature and pulse.

“She has diabetes and she probably got drugged and then drank or different order. She doesn’t remember but I mean smell this- she drank.” He nodded.

“Okay. We need food.” She told Niall. “And water. The food, the more sugar the better, so chocolate or sweets, even candy. If there’s none, fruits or bread.” She said to Niall and he nodded making his way to the kitchen and asking people for help. “Hello, sweetie.” Louise rubbed her back. “Do you have anything to measure your blood glucose with you?” She smiled at her and she nodded, reaching for her bag.

Louise took the monitor and pricked her finger while Harry just sat there dumbfounded. She sighed after a few seconds.

“Thank God.” She breathed out. “She can eat and she’ll be fine.”

“I got Coke, chocolate and Y/N.” Niall said as he opened the door.

You started crying again the moment you saw her sitting on the ground, the stink of alcohol didn’t even bother you as you sat on your knees next to her, you didn’t even look at Harry not because you weren’t grateful but because you were too worried about Jess and because you were terribly embarrassed. He was right.

“She’ll be okay.” Louise smiled at you. “She just had hypoglycemia because of the alcohol but it was nothing too crazy so she shall eat and she’ll be fine, just like any of us really.”

“Thank you.” Tears fell down your cheeks. “Thank you all, really.” You looked around you and Harry smiled dismissing your gratitude.

“I think you should take her to the hospital though.” Louise said. “So they can have blood samples and find out which drug they used on her in case she wants to sue the asshole who did this. Usually this kind of drugs disappear very fast from the blood so I’d take as soon as she’s feeling better.”

“Sure.” You said. “Thank you again really.”

“No worries.” She smiled, placing her hand on your arm. “And Harry can give you my number in case she does decide to sue him and needs a witness. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.” She shook her head. “It could have been me or... Anyone.”

Four hours later Jess was sitting on the litter pressing a piece of cotton to her arm where the doctor had pricked her. She had filled the report and you were currently waiting for the police to arrive so you could make it official. Jess was so much better and you had noticed Niall had had a lot to do with that.

You were sitting on one the chairs on the waiting area on your own for Harry had gone to get you both a good cup of coffee. He had driven you to the hospital for by the time you had left he was sober enough but you hadn’t exchanged much words. You were still feeling awful and you didn’t want him to see you. Somehow you blamed yourself a little for what had happened, after all Jess had insisted a lot about you going to the party and sure she was an adult and blablabla but she was also your best friend and you were supposed to take care of her.

Harry walked to the waiting room with two plastic cups of coffee on his hands. He didn’t know how to approach you or how to talk to you because now that he came to think about it, he was always teasing you and you would always reply with a witty comeback, it was always a laidback enviroment and he didn’t know how to act when it was actually serious but he knew he wanted to be there and the thought of not being him the one silently sitting next to you or bringing you a cup of coffee, the jealousy that came with thought of it being someone else gave him the reassurance he needed to stay.

“Thanks.” You said, holding the cup between your hands.

Kylie had just sent you a text, that she wouldn’t make it on friday, that she would probably arrive Saturday for brunch. Nice. Kylie was the last of your worries then anyway.

“You’re very quiet.” You mentioned and Harry raised his eyebrows surprised that you’d talk to him.

“Frankly I just don’t know what to say.” He shrugged and you chuckled making him smile because he had made you smile if unintentionally.

“Who would have thought huh? Harry Styles having nothing to say.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He hit your arm playfully. “You’re also very quiet Miss I-became-a-barista-because-I-wouldn’t-shut-up.”

“That’s a long name for a miss.” You smiled and he chuckled.

“Yeah, I should have just probably said Miss Chatty.”

You smiled and snorted through your nose having a sip of your coffee and he nudged your knee with his gently when he sensed you were about to submit again in your penitential silence. He had known something was troubling you since monday morning when he had visited you on the coffee shop.

“What’s up?” He asked gently.

His green eyes stared into yours, gentle, trustworthy. You had never talked to him about real things and when you came to think about it, you didn’t really have many people to talk to about real things other than Jess in Uni. For some reason, even though your conversations had always been on a joking note, you felt like you could trust him.

“I’m just embarrassed.” You recognized.

“What for?” He frowned.

“I feel like I’m a terrible friend, like I just failed Jess and... I just don’t want you to see that.”

“What?” He turned his body so he was facing you inasmuch as the chairs allowed. “That is not true.” He placed his hand over your arm. “You’re a good friend. She kept saying that. Over and over again and I believe her, yeah?”

“What sort of friend leaves their friend alone?” You reminded him before looking ahead.

He sighed and placed two fingers on your chin, pulling your head so you were looking into his eyes.

“That was a joke.” He said. “This was not your fault. In any way.”

You nodded your head and readjusted your position on the chair so you could rest your head on his shoulder. Again, you had never done such a thing. The physical contact between the two of you was reduced to playful swatting, nudging or legs touching as you sat in class but that was all yet for some reason, it didn’t feel wrong to rest your head on his shoulder then and it didn’t feel wrong either when he turned his head and left a kiss on the top of yours.

“I’m sure you had your reasons for not coming.” He whispered.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, something’s off.” He shrugged, forgetting about your head there so it moved up and down with his shoulder. “I can tell.”

You sat down straight, looking ahead at the way Jess was smiling to Niall, him being the one pressing the cotton against her arm now. You liked Niall and apparently so did she.

“It’s nothing.” You told him, because in that moment it really was nothing, compared to everything else.

“Well, you can talk to me.” He offered. “Even if it is about nothing.”

You faced him just so you could give him a big smile. You certainly didn’t know this side of Harry and you quite liked it. It seemed like the cocky frat boy had a sweet, caring side as well and the fact that he had such nice friends said a lot about it too.

“This coffee is terrible.” You shook your head with a laugh.

“I wouldn’t know.” He shrugged. “I don’t really like coffee.”

You looked at him with a confused scowl and he smiled. He ordered a capuccino every morning before going to class.

“I didn’t use to go to Starbucks until you started working there anyway.” He shrugged.

Part 2 <3

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